Article Series Egyptian Sites

Places

Prefectures / cities Monuments / Temples

Region

Lower Egypt / Middle Egypt Upper Egypt / Nubia

Location

Valley of the Kings

25 44 '27 "North 32 36 '08 "East / 25.7408, 32.6022

Valley of the Kings is a region of Egypt located on the western bank of the Nile at the height of Thebes (now Luxor ). The valley is formed by a fault in the Libyan chain that leads to the Nile Valley. His name Arabic of al-Biban Moulouk means "the doors of kings" in reference to doors that once closed the tombs.

Valley of the Kings is known for hosting the tombs of many pharaohs of the New Kingdom , but it also houses the tombs of some Pharaohs wives and children, and those nobles whose pharaohs wanted to reward value. It is from the period of the reign of Ramses ^I the Valley of the Queens is commonly used, although some wives are buried with their husbands again later.

The oldest known grave site is that of Thutmose ^I. and, from Thutmose III , with the exception of Akhenaten , the pharaoh of all ^eighteenth , ^nineteenth and ^twentieth dynasties will be buried (approximately - 1539 to -1075). The last known grave is that of Ramses XI (tomb KV4 ).

Summary 1 Prehistory 2 Geology 3 The tombs 4 tomb robbers 5 Tourism 5.1 The surrounding area 6 Notes 7 Related Articles 8 External links

/ / Prehistory

The site of the Valley of the Kings is populated at least since the Middle Paleolithic.

Geology

The quality of the rock in the valley is very variable. Graves were dug through various layers of stone, each with its own quality. This poses problems for modern conservatives, as it has had to ask the original architects. The building plans were probably changed accordingly. The most serious problem comes from layers of shale whose crystals tend to increase in volume on contact with water. This has damaged many tombs, especially during floods. " La Cima ", which overlooks the valley of kings, was required for the residence of the goddess Mertseger , the protector of the village artisans of Deir el-Medina , who built the tombs in the Valley of the Kings.

Tombs

Seventy-three tombs of the Valley are listed under the names of KV1 to KV63 (KV of English Kings' valley, some being listed WV for West Valley as WV22 ) ^{Raiders fall}

All the graves identified in the valley have been looted from the ancient times. Even the tomb of Tutankhamun has not escaped the looters. We do think that the door of the tomb has been forced twice, but the robbers, having been interrupted, could not win a game of treasure. The splendor of the pharaoh's burial treasure Tutankhamun , the short reign and erased, suggests that the enormous treasures of the kings should have, such as Ramses II. Other graves have not had the chance to fall into oblivion and modern archaeologists do not often found that small objects or remains without value estimated by the ancient robbers.

The valley, surrounded by high cliffs that form a natural barrier, was heavily guarded by Medjay , elite troops since the start of the operation of the site. It was around -1090 , the reign of Ramses XI , the collapse of the economy of Egypt and the royal power will lead to the onset of grave robbers. Tearing the country leading to the ^Third Intermediate Period will be an opportunity for organized pillage of the wealth of the valley. Some documents tend to prove that the looting had begun in the reign of Ramses XI , perhaps because of unscrupulous officials.

The tombs were opened, all valuables were removed and the mummies were collected in two large caches: cache of Deir el-Bahari , which contained no less than forty royal mummies and their coffins, and the other in the tomb of Amenhotep II , which contained sixteen.

Tourism

The tombs were the sights from the time of Greece and ancient Rome.

Nowadays, most of the tombs are not open to the public for conservation reasons, it is estimated that a large number of tourists can double the moisture of a tomb. The authorities are rolling by opening the graves the least exposed and those who received the necessary facilities for their preservation. The bas-reliefs of some tombs remain relatively bright colors despite the ravages of time, weather and human action.

Surroundings

• Site of Deir el-Bahari : mortuary temples of Hatshepsut , Mentuhotep II and falls DB320 ;
• Valley of the Queens ;
• Theban necropolis :
  • Valley of the nobles ;
  • Deir el-Medina , village artisans;
  • Sheikh Abd el-Qurna , Dra Abu el-Naga , El-Assas , El-Khokha , Qurnet Murai : villages of the necropolis;
• Medinet Habu , temple of million years of Ramses III ;
• Ramesseum , mortuary temple of Ramses II ;
• Colossi of Memnon , the remains of the funerary temple of Amenhotep III.

Notes

Related articles

External Links

• (In) Theban Mapping Project , detailed maps of all the tombs in the valley and virtual tour in 3D.