Valley of the Kings Egypt – What is the Secret of this Place?
Egyptian Temples & Tombs | March 2, 2010The Valley of the Kings in Egypt; is a mysterious valley where the burial chambers of the kings and nobles of the New Kingdom were built for nearly 500 years from the 16th to 11th century B.C. Dedicated to the kings of the 18th to 20th Dynasties of Ancient Egypt, the valley is on the west bank of the Nile off Thebes (Luxor) holding the East Valley of maximum royal tombs and the West Valley (WV). It is now a part of World Heritage Site.
As per the excavations, the Valley of Kings the Egypt boasts some 63 tombs and 120 chambers that vary from a small pit to a big complex. In general, the royal tombs are adorned with the episodes of the Egyptian mythology that provide an insight to the viewpoints and funerary rituals. Now-a-days, the valley is in minds of all people because of the discovery of the Tutankhamun tomb along with the gossip of the Curse of the Pharaohs.
The tombs are numbered in the sequence of discovery – Ramesses VII (KV1 – King Valley 1) to KV63 found in 2005. The tourist interest is in the East Valley with only 18 tombs opened that too not simultaneously due to restoration work. The secret of this Valley of the Kings Egypt is that the ancient Egyptians believed in life after death and that the spoken name of the dead makes him alive.
Tombs
- Ramesses IV:
Three white corridors go down to the sarcophagus chamber wherein the top of sarcophagus is adorned with Isis and Nephthys who were the guardians of the body. Initially, the priests located the sarcophagus in Amenhotep II’s tomb to veil the body. The ceilings of the chambers exhibit the sky goddess Nut. - Merneptah:
A steep descent leads to the tomb in a typical style of the XIX Dynasty. The entrance depicts Isis and Nephthys revering the solar disc, while the corridors hold the text from the Book of the Gates. Located in the anteroom is the outer granite cover of the sarcophagus and the cover of the inner sarcophagus is down in the pillared hall. On the pink granite lid, Merneptah as Osiris is shown. - Ramesses VI:
Initially dedicated to Ramesses V, the tomb holds four chambers including a pillared chamber by Ramesses VI. Along the chambers, you will find full texts of the Book of the Gates, the Book of Caverns, and the Book of Day and Night. In the pillared chamber, there are some parts of the Book of the Dead along with the exhibits of the sky goddess, Nut. - Seti I:
This is the longest tomb holding good quality reliefs in its 11 chambers and side rooms. Among the rear chambers, one of them shows the Ritual of the Opening of the Mouth indicating the mummy’s eating and drinking yet functioning organs. The sarcophagus is in the Sir John Soane Museum at London. - Tuthmosis III:
With a strange design, the tomb has an ascent of wooden steps, passing a pit, and then descending down towards the tomb mainly to prevent robbers to reach the real tomb. There are two small chambers adorned with stars, while a bigger hall is ahead of the sarcophagus chamber. - Amenhotep II:
A steep stairs to a long simple passage takes one to the sarcophagus chamber. In the side room, three mummies, Tuthmosis IV, Amenhotep II, and Seti II, were discovered. - Tutankhamun:
This is a small tomb one with an intact majestic seal on the door in Valley of the Kings Egypt. Besides the first three simple chambers, the next chamber is the home of the funerary items. The sarcophagus is in a four gilded wooden shrines along with three mummiform coffins. A sign of quickness in the reliefs and the sarcophagus marks the death of Tutankhamun at only 19 years whose reign culminated in short time.
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Despite the name, the Valley of the Kings also contains the tombs of favorite nobles as well as the wives and children of both nobles and pharaohs, meaning that only about 20 of the tombs actually contain the burials of kings, the burials of nobles and the royal family, together with unmarked pits and embalming caches make up the rest.