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The earliest
known tomb of the New Kingdom within the Valley of the Kings, is that of
Tuthmoses I, who started to use the valley as a royal burial site. It is
located in a desolate part of the valley, which is supposed to add
greater protection as it was small enough to be closely guarded. The
good quality of the stones gave the ancient Egyptians the chance to cut
many tombs close to each other.
Most of
the tombs were found already plundered! A few, like the tomb of
Tutankhamen (KV 62) or that of Yuya and Thuyu (KV 46), contained
thousands of precious artifacts. Some tombs have been accessible since
antiquity, as Greek and Latin graffiti will attest. Some were used as
dwellings, or as churches during the Greco-Roman and Byzantine Periods.
Most of them have been discovered in the past two hundred years.
Some
tombs, like KV 5, had been "lost," and their locations only recently
rediscovered. The very well known Egyptologist, Kent Weeks, who is still
working in the valley, on many projects, among them the Theban mapping
project, Kent weeks (Shown above with me in the picture on the
top-right ) spent more than 6 years exploring and trying to uncover the
secrets of this massive tomb. KV5 is the largest tomb ever found in the
valley! Re-excavated in 1995, it contains at least 121 chambers and
corridors! Mr. Weeks believes that it was built for the children of
Ramses II. On your way to the inner side of the valley,You can see
KV5’s entrance location (currently closed to the public)
Since
1922, and Howard Carter’s discovery of the Tomb of Tutankhamen (KV
62), there had been no new tombs discovered in the valley until, on
February 9, 2006, the Supreme Council of Antiquities of Egypt announced
the discovery of a new tomb. Designated the number KV63, it was
discovered by a joint effort between the University of Memphis (USA) and
the Supreme Council of Antiquities of Egypt. This is one of the smaller
tombs that have been found, consisting of a vertical shaft with an
adjacent chamber at the bottom.
Some
artefacts have been found, but as this is an ongoing project, the
details are still to be released
Our
advice for the best tombs to visit now:
• Tomb of Ramses IX (KV 6); both have very fine relief’s and
very elegant ceilings, with the scenes of the Goddess Nut, Goddess of
the sky
• Tomb of Mernpatah (KV 8); the largest in the valley
• Tomb of Ramses VI (KV 9);
• Tomb of Amenhotep II (KV35); where the best representation
of the “Book of the Dead” can be seen (Closed for refurbishment)
• Tomb of Thutmose (KV 34); it has full details of the “Book
of the Dead”, and represents the standard form for 18th Dynasty royal
tombs
• Tomb of Ramses VII (KV1)
• Tomb of Ramses I (KV16)
Tomb of Amonhotep II (KV35)
It is
considered as one of the best-completed tombs in the valley. The tomb is
full of religious scenes depicting full chapter so the Egyptian book of
the dead. Victor Loret discovered the tomb when he was antiquities
director in 1897; it was the only tomb beside the tomb of the boy king
Tutankhamen where we found the mummy of king intact in its sarcophagus.
Back in
1897 We have discovered into the tomb, a cache of another 11 mummies of
kings and queens together with many funerary objects. Upon the
discovery of these mummies, many were taken to the Egyptian museum and
three unknown mummies where left behind together with many funerary
objects.
Unfortunately later some of these pieces have disappeared or perhaps
stolen! Among these pieces where a 3500 years old boat made of cedar
wood and it was 4 M long! No one knows what happen to it!
Tomb of Seti I (KV 17)
It is
considered the longest tomb in the valley as it extends to more than 120
M inside the solid rock. The tomb was discovered by Giovanni Belzoni n
1817. It has a complete record of the book of the dead and characterized
by it is bas-relief on the walls and the amazing painting of high
quality especially at the burial chamber. The tomb consists of seven
corridors and ten champers all painted and decorated with the Litany of
Ra (Book of the Dead, Im-dwat, Book of Gates Opening of the Mouth
ritual, astronomical scenes)
There
we found many Tomb equipment including, writing equipment and Vessels
etc.
Into
the burial chamber a magnificent sarcophagus made of the finest
alabaster was found, it was later transferred by Giovanni Belzoni to the
U.K and was sold to the Sir John Sonne at the sum of 2000 English
pounds. Today you can still see it in Sir John Sonne museum in London.
Also
located in the valley, are the tombs of three of the sons of King Ramses
III, who were also buried there.
Tomb 55
is considered to be one of the most important tombs amongst them. It was
dedicated to Prince Amon-khopshef, a son of King Ramses III who had died
at an early age. Among the most beautiful scenes in this tomb, are on
the walls of the 1st chamber. It is a scene representing the Prince,
with his father, with the King making offerings to various deities. The
large hall is decorated with some scenes of the “Book of the Gates”.
Tomb 44
belongs to Prince Khaem-waset, who was another son of Ramses III. It
consists of 2 long corridors, with 2 side chambers, and a square burial
chamber. The walls of this tomb are decorated with various painted
scenes, some of them representing the Prince with different deities, and
with his father in front of the deities of the after world.
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