valley of the kings

It's easy to understand why the Valley of the Kings was not discovered until the 1800's. It is located over a mountain ridge and in a secluded valley, miles from civilization. The Valley of the Kings contains approximately sixty-two excavated tombs, not all of which are royal. Some belonged to the privileged members of nobility and were not decorated. The earliest tombs of such kings as Thutmose I contained stairways, corridors, and right-angle bends; whereas, the latter tombs of such kings as Ramesses XI, were little more than huge sloping corridors. One of the most recently discovered tombs, that of the children of Ramesses II, fifty-four in all, is being excavated, with eight or nine rooms thus far uncovered. The work is being financed by Chicago House in the United States.

Depending on the power and length of reign of a king determined the opulence of the tomb itself. Most tombs were robbed thousands of years ago, but you can still see the spectacular color-painted hieroglyphics lining the corridors of some. The stories told are of kings bearing gifts to the gods or perhaps stories of the king's travels or battles. Much can be learned from these pictures concerning ancient life in Egypt.

Most tombs contained false entrances or false burial chambers, etc. to confuse robbers and deter them from finding the riches needed in the afterlife.

King Tut's Tomb (Tutankhamun)

King Tut's tomb was not discovered until 1922 by Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon, as it was concealed beneath the mud brick houses of the workmen who cut the tomb of Ramesses VI. Most likely this tomb was not carved for a king, but for a high official. But due to the fact that King Tut died at an early age, the rooms were hastily converted. Items for the afterlife were seemingly thrown into the various rooms. What makes this particular find important is that the contents were untouched by robbers. The real antiquities can be found in the Cairo Museum. The pictures shown here are replicas indicating how they were positioned when discovered by Carter.

Three coffins were found in the tomb, the last of solid gold. King Tut's mummy was not in very good shape and so is kept at his tomb. He was found with 15 rings of various sizes on his mummy fingers depending on the amount of linen used to wrap his hands.