Her Majesty Queen Mathilde of Belgium and Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Brabant turned their working visit into an educational tour as they learned more about Egypt's most important archaeological discoveries.Â
Day 2 of their working visit brought them to Luxor, the oldest and most Ancient Egyptian site. Originally called 'Thebes' in ancient Egypt, Luxor is often known as the 'World's greatest open-air Museum'.
 |
| Queen Mathilde and Princess Elisabeth visit Egypt's ancient sites |
 |
| Exploring Ancient Thebes Photo: Frederick Andrew/Belgian Royal Palace |
The royals then visited the archaeological sites of El Kab and Shaykh Abd-al-Qurna, learning how important Belgian researchers work, in close collaboration with their Egyptian counterparts in studying ancient Egyptian culture.Â
In El Kab, Queen Mathilde and Princess Elisabeth learned more about the oldest archaeological site in Egypt. According to the Belgian Royal Palace, Professor Bavay guided the Queen and the Princess to the site of Shaykh Abd al-Qurna.
 |
| Exploring Ancient Thebes Photo: Frederick Andrew/Belgian Royal Palace |
 |
| Exploring Ancient Thebes Photo: Frederick Andrew/Belgian Royal Palace |
They explored monumental tombs of the ancient city of Thebes and excavations on the site and were given a deep understanding of the entire sector of this necropolis.Â
El Kab is an Upper Egyptian site on the east bank of the Nile at the mouth of the Wadi Hillal about 80 kilometers south of Luxor (ancient Thebes).
 |
| Exploring Ancient Thebes Photo: Frederick Andrew/Belgian Royal Palace |
They also visited the famous Valley of the Kings and explored the greatest archaeological discovery of the 20th century: the tomb of Tutankhamun.
Tutankhamun (c.1336–1327 BC) was a pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty of ancient Egypt. And the tomb is world-famous because it is the only royal tomb from the Valley of the Kings that was discovered relatively intact.
 |
| tomb of Tutankhamun |
Its discovery in 1922 by Howard Carter made headlines worldwide and continued to do so as the golden artifacts and other luxurious objects discovered in this tomb were being brought out.Â
The tomb and its treasures are iconic of Egypt, and the discovery of the tomb is still considered one of the most important archaeological discoveries to date.
Despite the riches it contained, the tomb of Tutankhamun, number 62 in the Valley of the Kings, is in fact quite modest compared to the other tombs on this site, in both size and decoration.
 |
| Exploring Ancient Thebes Photo: Frederick Andrew/Belgian Royal Palace |
 |
| Exploring Ancient Thebes Photo: Frederick Andrew/Belgian Royal Palace |
 |
| El Kab visit. Photo: Frederick Andrew/Belgian Royal Palace |
The visit to the tomb was special to Queen Mathilde and Princess Elisabeth as it has some connection to the Belgian royal family. In 1923, a year after the tomb of Tutankhamun was discovered. Queen Elisabeth, the great-grandmother of King Philippe, and Prince Leopold, the future King Leopold III, attended the opening of the burial chamber and were among the first people to visit the tomb.
Queen Mathilde and Princess Elisabeth ended their day with a visit to the "Lost Golden City of Luxor", which was only discovered in September 2020. The site is more than 3,400 years old and its preservation is impressive. It's one of the most important archaeological discoveries since the tomb of Tutankhamun.
 |
| Princess Elisabeth's fashion during the visit |
On the last day of their visit, Queen Mathilde and Princess Elisabeth traveled to Dayr al-Barsha, where researchers from the KU Leuven, Europe's most innovative university located in Belgium, are conducting excavations.
KU Leuven researchers' work became world-famous in 2007 when the 4000-year-old Henu tomb was discovered virtually intact.Â
Her Majesty and Her Royal Highness ended their educational visit to Egypt with a meeting with researchers, learning from them their work and current excavation activities on the site.
 |
| Mother and daughter visit Dayr al-Barsha. Credit: Frederick Andrew/Belgian Royal Palace |
 |
| Princess Elisabeth descends to the excavation site. Photo: Frederick Andrew/Belgian Royal Palace |
 |
| Queen Mathilde descends to the excavation site. Photo: Frederick Andrew/Belgian Royal Palace |
 |
| The Queen and Princess visit Dayr al-Barsha. Credit: Frederick Andrew/Belgian Royal Palace |
 |
| Meeting researchers at the excavation sites |
Royal FashionÂ
On the second day of their visit and ancient sites tour, Queen Mathilde donned an embroidered dress in beige from Scapa fashion with a coffee brown belt. While the Duchess of Brabant rocked a Khaki ensemble from Bash Paris. She also wore a pair of trainers from Veja.
 |
| Princess Elisabeth fashion |
| Queen Mathilde's fashion during the visit |
On their visit to Dayr-al-Barsha, Princess Elisabeth donned a yellow and pink knitted polo top from Essentiel Antwerp and trainers from Veja. While Queen Mathilde wore a double-breasted coat blouse in beige and matching trousers.
0 Comments