11/07/2024
Valley of the Kings Egypt in 1982. Once called the Great Necropolis of Millions of Years of Pharaoh, or the Place of Truth, the Valley of the Kings has 63 magnificent royal tombs, each quite different from the other. I visited The Valley as a break from my project with professors from three universities: Ain Shams University, Cairo University and Alexandria University. Working closely with faculty, we designed a national survey of the operations and membership of rural co-operatives, dating back to the time of Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein, the second President of Egypt, serving from 1956 until his death in 1970. One aim was to see how the system of rural cooperatives could serve to integrate political participation of villagers within democratic reforms of Muhammad Anwar el-Sadat who was the third President of Egypt, serving from 15 October 1970 until his assassination by fundamentalist army officers on 6 October 1981. Regardless, the Valley of the Kings was fascinating, little visited [compared to years later] and relatively open for me to wander about taking pictures with my Asahi Pentax camera. I understand that areas have been restricted as far as taking pictures. So - I am not sure if my pictures are common scenes or restricted viewing. I should add that I rode a donkey to the Valley from the Nile River. It took my small critter 2 hours and I couldn't sit the following day for pain and bruises. I tipped generously for the up-keep up my donkey. Hope you enjoy the show.