The Valley of the Kings is the most famous concentration of royal tombs; its main purpose was to secure the royal tombs for the pharaohs of the new kingdom since the pyramids disappointed them to protect their royal treasures from thieves and desecration. The pyramids were the traditional burials for the royals and priests sited near the city of Memphis. Still, it was more exposed to robbery and occupation, especially during the Hyksos invasion. Hence, they had to figure out another way to create save necropolises and opted for deep rock-cut galleries and tombs underneath the ground that were much more hidden and secret.

it seemed that the ancient Egyptian preferred safety of the valley and the popularity of the regular prominent pyramids by designing the Valley of the Kings which contains the long-known tomb for the children of king Ramses II and more than 25 kings belonging to the 18th and 21st dynasties.

Our travel to Egypt company provides a visit to the valley of the Kings in packages that

includes Luxor city or Aswan to Luxor Nile cruise, make sure to check the website packages and Luxor attractions articles.

The interior design of the valley of the kings

The valley stands on the west bank far from modern Luxor, its halls, columns, long corridors, stairs, and the royal sarcophagi still in good condition.

The designers of the royal tombs did their best to keep them secured from violation, but unfortunately, the robbers proved to be more resourceful than the royal authorities.

Most treasures were stolen by thieves in antiquity. However, the famous tomb of the young boy king Tutankhamun was found almost untouched, with its complete collection. Some nonroyal tombs, likely belonging to high nobles and priests, survived desecration and erosion.

The walls, ceilings, and columns of these tombs are decorated with paintings and engravings. Despite the passage of time, these colors have resisted damage and survived urbanization. The valley entrances feature sloped stairways leading to the hidden burial chambers. Their walls are painted with traditional themes and figures in black and red, imitating papyrus. The ceilings are also decorated and painted. You’ll want to look everywhere to catch all the details.

20th dynasty renovations

By the 20th dynasty, the construction of royal tombs in the Valley of the Kings had evolved. The entrances became wider and the ceilings higher. However, the builders replaced stairs with more accessible entrances. This change required careful planning, hard work, and extensive preparation. Ancient Egyptians paid great attention to detail. They gathered artists to craft coffins, sarcophagi, jars, statues, and many funeral objects to be buried with the king.

The tomb of Tut Ankh Amen

Before discovering Tutankhamun’s tomb, archaeologists and Egyptologists believed the valley was exhausted. They had lost hope of finding an intact royal tomb since previous discoveries had been robbed. In the early 20th century, a limestone step led to the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb by Carter, complete with all his treasures and the mummy of the boy king.

The full collection included the king’s golden mask and three nested coffins to protect his mummified body. The coffins were decorated with religious and magical hieroglyphs. The collection also featured jars and a canopic chest containing the king’s inner organs. Despite spells written by priests to deter thieves, the tomb had been entered twice. This suggests it might have been incomplete, and some artifacts were taken.

The tomb of Horemheb

Horemheb is an Egyptian king of the late 18th dynasty, his burial took place in one of the valleys of the king’s tombs. You’ll find amazing colorful paintings on the walls of the tomb showing Horemheb beside the god of cemeteries and embalming. Other walls have paintings of gods Osiris, Anubis, and Horus addressing the dead king. However, there were unfinished decorations but the tomb in general still retains its beautiful catchy colors and hieroglyphic details.

The tomb of Ramses I

The tomb of Ramses the First is similar to the others but a little smaller, the walls of the tomb depict the dead king Ramses with the ancient Egyptian gods of Heliopolis and Horus blessing the king and telling him to rest forever in the afterlife.

The Tomb of Seti I

This burial chamber of Kings Seti is decorated from the bases of the wall on the ceilings with mythological representatives such as snakes,

lions, and crocodile refers to evil and war in the Egyptian myths, also decorated with astronomical figures that show how Egyptians observed astronomical phenomena.

Valley of the Kings also has many tombs of kings like Seti II, Ramses IV, Ramses IX