The Valley of the Kings in Egypt

The Valley of the Kings is where they buried most of the pharaohs of the New Kingdom, ie the time when ancient Egypt was an empire that stretched from the eastern Mediterranean coast (the dynasties XVIII, XIX and XX). It was there where he was buried, for example Tuthmosis III, Tutankhamun and Ramesses II.

At first, during the Old Kingdom and Middle Kingdom Egyptian kings were buried in pyramids built in the northern part of the country, near Memphis, which was the capital. After edify the last pyramids, Egypt was in crisis and the Pharaohs lost their power. Asia was a group of people who dominated the Delta, were the Hyksos. Meanwhile, the southern part of the country was in the hands of a ruling family settled in Thebes. Egypt was divided into two.

Obviously, the princes of Thebes were buried in their city, on the west bank of the Nile When the Theban royal family regain got the whole country and its members became the new pharaohs, Thebes decided that would be the new capital and not continue building pyramids, they were very large and easy to steal if no one watched. They preferred to bury their mummies in a more secluded and discreet, where anyone could come and were safer. The perfect spot was found on the west bank of Thebes. It was a lonely secluded valley with plenty of room inside to dig the graves to which access was a narrow passage. It is what we now know as the Valley of the Kings.

The change was important because at the same time decided that on one hand would with mummy’s tomb and on the other the temple where daily perform funerary cult. However, the pyramids still liked them a lot, as evidenced by the foot of the mountain which is the Valley of the Kings, which has that. In Arabic it is known as El-Qurna, which means «Horn».

All the tombs of the Valley of the Kings are numbered in the order in which they were discovered. The last of all was that of Tutankhamun, which makes the number 62. Egyptologists know them by their number and an abbreviation that lay ahead, the letters KV, which stands for «King Valley».

All the tombs in the Valley are different, but according to their structure can be divided into two main groups. The oldest are very steep and start with a straight corridor. After several corridors and stairs, the corridor turns to the left and this is where lies the tomb. This type of tomb was built during the XVIII Dynasty. The second type of tomb is completely straight and has little slope, is like a long corridor, stairs, corridors and rooms one behind the other. This type of tomb was built during the XIX and XX Dynasties.

The tombs, regardless of whatever type, are decorated with reliefs and fragments of the Book of the Dead and other funerary texts. These texts are a kind of travel guide to reach the Otherworld, for in them is explained to Pharaoh what was the path I had to follow and how to overcome the obstacles that might come up. Thus the pharaoh could be sure that his soul would arrive intact to the afterlife to live forever.