Insects, stirred up by the noisy machines, are snapped up by gangs of red-rumped swallows, including this year's youngsters who have fledged several weeks ago.
Hatshepsut, the dead pharaoh's chief wife and widow, stepped in to help as her stepson's regent but ended up ruling beside him as a fully fledged pharaoh.
A balmy, soft warmth poured into the room, heavy with velvety smells, redolent of many blossoms, of newly fledged trees and of the moist, freshly turned red earth.