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Where It's At
Luxor is divided in half by the River Nile.
The modern city is located on the East Bank, and the West
Bank is home to the famous Valley of the Kings. After
the Pyramids, it's the most visited Pharaonic site in the
whole of Egypt.
The valley is set back a mile from the riverbank, and is
concealed from view by high cliffs and a long, winding entrance.
It's still a working archaeological site and new treasures
are regularly discovered.
What happened here?
The Valley of the Kings was the burial site of the Egyptian
rulers during the period of the New Kingdom (1570-1070
BC). More than 60 tombs have already been excavated: some
are modest pits, others are vast complexes of chambers and
corridors, originally decked out with precious possessions
of the Pharaoh. Most of the tombs had already been plundered
by the time they came to be properly excavated, and Greek
and Latin graffiti indicates that some were even accessible
in antiquity.
A few of the tombs, such as that of Tutankhamun, which
was discovered in 1922, contained an incredible array of precious
artefacts. There's evidence that Tutankhamun's Tomb had actually
been plundered twice before, but as 5000 valuable items were
recovered by archaeologists it appears that the robbers were
disturbed before they could make off with most of the grave
goods. Tutankhamun was a uniquely important discovery because
the mummy of the young king was intact, positioned on the
original funerary furniture. It gives us a detailed insight
into the life and death of a Pharoah in the New Kingdom.
King Amenhotep I, who reigned from 1551-1524BC, departed
from the tradition of locating his tomb within the valley
and built his closer to the river, well hidden in the cliffs.
His successors continued the tradition of positioning their
tombs away from those of their predecessors, but they still
remained within the valley. It's likely that this practice
of separation was a move to prevent the ransacking of their
final resting places, possibly already a common practice in
the New Kingdom.
In 1995, Shi'ite Muslims massacred fifty tourists who were
visiting Luxor. The episode rocked the Egyptian tourist industry
and economy, and although the tourist crowds have now returned
to the Valley of the Kings, the Egyptian authorities have
invested heavily in security at major tourist sites.
What's there to see & do?
- Not all the tombs are open to tourists, and occasionally
particular tombs are closed for restoration. Nonetheless,
visitors can explore examples spanning the whole of the 500-year
period of the New Kingdom. It's interesting to note how burial
practices and figurative art which decorated the interior
of the tombs developed over time:
- Tuthmse III was buried at the far end of the East
Valley and his tomb is one of the earliest. The oval shaped
chamber is decorated with inscriptions and stick figures.
- Ramesses III's tomb contains the famous paintings
of two blind harpists.
- Ramessess VI has a magnificent burial chamber, the
ceiling of which is decorated with images of the sky goddess
Nut swallowing and giving birth to the sun.
- Adjacent to Ramesses VI is the fantastically rich tomb
of Tutankhamun, in which fine examples of rich artefacts
and kingly possessions were preserved for centuries.
- A great way to get an overview of the entire site is to
take trip in a hot air balloon at dawn. It is expensive,
but an aerial view ancient burial ground and flight across
the Nile is a unique experience.
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