The Valey ot the Kings, Luxor, Apr.2017

The Valley of the Kings is west of the Nile in the Theban Hills. It is the Valley in Egypt, where for a period of nearly 500 years from the 16th to 11th century BC, tombs were constructed for the Pharaohs and power nobles of the New Kingdom  (the Eighteenth to Twentieth Dynasties of Ancient Egypt). The Valley stands on the west bank of the Nile, opposite Thebes (modern Luxor), within the heart of the Theban Necropolis. The Valley consists two valleys, Eats Valley (where the majority of the royal tombs are situated and West Valley. The Valley is known to contain 63 tombs and chambers (ranging in size of KV54, a simple pit, to KV5. A complex tomb with over 120 chambers. The royal tombs are decorated with scenes from Egyptians mythology and shown funeral rituals of the period. Almost all the tombs seem to have been opened and robbed in antiquity, but they st ill give ideas of the power of the Pharaohs. In modern times the Valley has become famous for the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun by an English archaeologist Howard Carter in 1922 and is of the most  visited archaeological sites in the world. In 1979 it became a Would Heritage Site. Exploration, excavation and conservation continues in the Valley, and a new tourist center has recently been opened. We visited 3 tombs: of Merpentan, Ramses IV and Ramses VI. The Tutankhamun Treasures we saw in Egyptian Museum in Cairo. It was forbidden to us cameras or video cameras in the Valley. We took only first 4 photos of the House of Carter on the hills around road. We left ours in the car in the parking place outside. Our guide Ragab  immediately found (to buy) a set of photos of most of the tombs. I scanned the most representative of them, shown in this album.