The road where God Ra “The Sun God” sets. Egypt’s affluent New Kingdom (1550–1069 BC) kings chose a barren, dry river valley across the Nile from Luxor for their burials. This gives the Valley of the Kings its current name. However, the title isn’t entirely accurate. The valley also holds burials for some royal family members other than kings. Additionally, a few highly-ranked non-royal individuals found their final resting places here.The East and West Valleys make up the Valley of the Kings. The eastern valley is by far the more famous of the two, with only a few graves in the western valley. In total, there are 65 tombs in the Valley of the Kings.
Choosing the Royal Burial Ground
Caretakers chose this royal burial ground’s location with great care. Its placement on the west bank of the Nile holds significant meaning. The west acquired strong funeral connections because the sun god set (died) in the western horizon. He then resurrected and regenerated on the eastern horizon. For this reason, ancient Egyptians primarily located their graves on the Nile’s west bank.
The New Kingdom’s powerful rulers found their final rest under the shadow of a pyramid-shaped peak rising from the rocks surrounding the valley.
The rulers carefully chose the exact valley for the royal tombs. A natural pyramid-shaped peak symbolized renewal and perpetual life. Therefore, Egyptians saw the peak’s existence as a divine omen. Furthermore, they dedicated the entire region, including the peak itself, to Hathor’s funeral aspect, the “Mistress of the West.”
The Valley’s Secrecy and Early Burials
The valley’s remote location played a crucial role in its selection as the kings’ ultimate resting place. Even in ancient times, tomb thefts occurred. Egyptians understood this well, noting the fate of Old and Middle Kingdom pyramids. Therefore, they chose to bury their dead in secret, underground graves within a desert valley.
Thutmose I: The First Royal Burial
Thutmose I (c.1504–1492 BC), the third king of the Eighteenth Dynasty, became the first New Kingdom ruler buried in the Valley of the Kings. Ineni, the senior official overseeing his tomb’s excavation, reported, “I oversaw the excavation of his Person’s [the king’s] cliff-tomb in secret; none seeing, none hearing.” This highlights the deliberate efforts to conceal royal burials.
Minor Tombs and Their Purposes
Most of the Valley of the Kings’ 65 numbered tombs classify as minor. This is either because they have yielded little information or because explorers kept poor records of their findings. Some have received little attention or only brief mentions. Most of these tombs are small, featuring only a single burial chamber. A shaft or stairway connects this chamber to a hallway or series of corridors.
However, some tombs are larger and contain multiple chambers. These small tombs served various purposes. Some held burials of lower royalty or private individuals. Others contained animal remains. Some even appeared to have never held burials at all. Furthermore, many of these tombs performed additional roles. Subsequently, excavators have discovered intrusive material from these other activities. While some tombs have been exposed since antiquity, the majority were discovered during the valley’s peak research in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Tourism at the Valley of the Kings
Limited Access to Tombs
Most of the tombs remain closed to the public. Currently, 18 are open, but they are rarely all open simultaneously. Furthermore, open tombs periodically close for repair work. Due to high visitor numbers, KV62 now requires a separate entry fee.
West Valley Visitation
In the West Valley, only Ay’s tomb is open to the public, requiring a special ticket. Tour guides can no longer lecture inside the tombs. Tourists must move through the tombs quietly and in a single line. This reduces time spent inside and prevents crowds from damaging decorated surfaces.
Visitor Numbers
The main valley attracts 4,000 to 5,000 people on most weekdays. In contrast, the West Valley receives far fewer visitors since only one tomb is publicly accessible.
Tomb Robbers in the Valley of the Kings
Tutankhamun’s Undisturbed Tomb
In 1922, KV62 (Tut’s Tomb) was discovered undisturbed. However, this proved a rare exception. Almost all of Egypt’s tombs have been looted throughout history.
Evidence from Papyri
Archaeologists have found several papyri detailing tomb robber trials. Most date from the late Twentieth Dynasty. Papyrus Mayer B, for example, describes the theft of Ramesses VI’s tomb. Scribes likely wrote it around Ramesses X’s eighth or ninth year, about 1118 BC.
The script, 14 lines long, uses the common hieratic script of the twentieth century. It explicitly mentions a heist at Ramesses VI’s tomb. One confession states: “Sesamum, a foreigner, led us up and showed us King Ramesses VI’s tomb. I spent four days breaking into it, with all five of us present. We entered the tomb after opening it. We discovered a bronze kettle and three bronze washbasins.” The thief further confessed to a minor squabble among the thieves over dividing the treasures evenly.
Valuables and Perishables
Tombs were filled with treasures, making them prime targets for robbery. Robbers frequently targeted mummies’ rooms and bodies for valuable metals and stones, especially gold and silver. They also sought linens and ointments or unguents. Importantly, many items buried with mummies were perishable, so tombs were often looted soon after burial.
Government-Sanctioned Looting
The valley appears to have suffered from government looting during the virtual civil war that began in Ramesses XI’s reign. Officials uncovered the graves, removed the riches, and gathered the mummies into two large caches. They hid some mummies within Amenhotep I’s tomb. Authorities found another cache in Amenhotep II’s tomb.
Officials transported most of them to the Deir el-Bahari cache a few years later. This cache held no fewer than forty royal corpses and their coffins. During this period, only tombs whose locations archeologists had lost (KV62, KV63, and KV46) remained untouched. However, looters plundered both KV62 and KV46 shortly after their initial closure.
The Great Pyramid’s Fate
King Khufu, the Old Kingdom’s most powerful monarch, built the Great Pyramid of Giza, the oldest of the seven wonders. Builders designed a system of tunnels to deter robbers from stealing the tomb within the largest pyramid. Sources indicate that thieves left the pyramid unbroken until the ninth century AD. However, once inside the King’s bedroom, invaders found the mummy stolen and the sarcophagus opened.
Repurposed Tombs
Tombs were raided not just for their contents, but also for their intended function. An empty tomb might be repurposed as a burial site for another mummy after being plundered. This happened in the smallest of Giza’s pyramids.
The Valley of the Kings photo Gallery
