The pyramids are rightly Egypt's most famous monuments. The Valley of the Kings, and the
tombs within, continue to offer new insights into ancient Egypt to this day. Here's the
history of this ancient region explained.
The grandeur of the pyramids and the treasures locked inside were their undoing. The pyramids,
and other gravesites, became the target of tomb robbers. To prevent robberies, the ancient
Egyptians designed pyramids to keep out looters, even filling in hallways with debris. Many
tombs even featured curses.
This had little impact, as over the centuries, all the pyramids were plundered of their treasures,
which included the mummies themselves. Part of the problem was that the highly visible
pyramids might as well have had flashing "plunder me" signs on them.
Tomb robbing was a major dilemma, since Egyptian religion believed that the body of the dead
needed to be as whole as possible in order to successfully pass into the afterlife. In
the case of a pharaoh, he or she needed to have with them all the royal paraphernalia
on their journey to the afterlife.
The New Kingdom pharaoh Amenhotep I of the 18th Dynasty, circa 1541 to 1520 BC, decided
that a new location was needed to protect the tombs. So, Amenhotep commissioned the
building of a special village originally named Set-Ma'at, today called Deir el-Medina, in
which to construct a new necropolis.
The ancient Egyptians chose to build a new necropolis in the "red land," a term which
signifies the reddish sands found within the open desert. This is opposed to the rich,
arable "black land" next to the Nile River. The proposed location, opposite the ancient
city of Thebes, was carved out of a compact group of mountains near what is now the city
of Luxor.
Perhaps the pharaohs were attracted to the peak, which recalled the shape of the great
pyramids. But, aside from its fairly remote location, the Valley of the Kings had another
security advantage: there was only one entrance to the valley, which would be easy to guard.
That is where Deir el-Medina came into play. It was thought that the new town would help
provide security, as well as maintain discretion as to where the pharaohs and their treasures
were interred.
"It's a clear message. Do not mess with Egypt."
Deir el-Medina was called Set Ma'at by the ancient Egyptians, which means "The Place
of Truth." It was given the name because the artisans who worked there to build the tombs
were supposedly inspired by the gods. Those who lived there were called "Servants in the
Place of Truth." Because the village was to be set in the harsh environment of the red
land, it was entirely preplanned, unlike other Egyptian settlements.
It was designed in a rectangular pattern, with a dense arrangement of housing to maximize
space. Since it was in the middle of the desert, it had no resources to speak of, except what
was shipped in. Also, since all the inhabitants of Set Ma'at were tomb workers, there was
no agriculture. So, they were entirely dependent upon the generosity of the ancient Egyptian
government to furnish their needs, which even included water. Despite these difficulties,
the village was founded, and the artisans began their work with bronze and copper chisels.
And so began the long tradition of tomb-building throughout the New Kingdom. The construction
of these first tombs were overseen by an advisor named Ineni. The first pharaoh to be buried
in the Valley of the Kings was Tuthmose I, the successor of Amenhotep I.
The ancient Egyptians believed in an afterlife that was a mirror image of our living world.
The physical body was critical for passage into what they called the Field of Reeds.
Yet before crossing to the afterlife, the soul was thought to be trapped in the physical
body and needed to be coaxed out.
Egyptians embalmers kept busy preserving the dead through elaborate rituals. The entire
process took about 70 days, during which time the dead pharaoh's organs were removed and
placed in special Canopic jars. Then, the corpse was covered with salt to prevent decay.
By the time of the New Kingdom, the art and science of embalming had become so advanced
that the mummies of that period are among the most well-preserved today. This is also
undoubtedly due to the well-designed tombs found in this necropolis. .
The Valley of the Kings is home to some of the best known pharaohs and elites of ancient
Egypt. Seti I, Ramesses II, and the boy-king Tutankhamun were all entombed in the Valley.
Because the ancient Egyptians believed that physical bodies would become reanimated, they
stocked the tombs with things needed both for pleasure and practicality. These items
included not just treasure but also food and alcoholic beverages for ghostly royal feasts.
Changes of clothes, including fresh underwear, as well as furniture to sit on, were also
included.
In fact, archaeologists found one of the earliest known sundials in the Valley of the Kings.
Apparently, the deceased cared about time as much as the living in ancient Egypt.
The dead were also joined by lots of mummified animals. Some were for food. Others, such
as ibises, hawks, and crocodiles, were embalmed as sacrifices. Still more, such as cats, baboons,
and dogs, were included as pets. In fact, there were more animal mummies than human
mummies, although the preservation methods used to embalm animals wasn't as precise.
Another major necropolis, next to the Valley of the Kings, is the Valley of the Queens.
So far, over 90 tombs have been discovered at this site. The Valley of the Queens is
close to the pyramid-shaped mountain peak and contains a sacred grotto that was probably
dedicated to the goddess Hathor.
These tombs were used for Egyptian officials, before becoming the burial chambers of the
Egyptian queens, as well as other elite women of the New Kingdom. They are not as elaborate
as those found at the Valley of the Kings and consist of short halls and sarcophagi
chambers.
Notably, these tombs also tend not to have much description or decoration, making it
difficult for Egyptologists to identify who was buried where. Still, scholars have been
able to identify several famous residents of the Valley of the Queens, such as Nefertari,
the favored queen of Ramesses II. The location was called Ta Set Neferu, meaning "The Place
of Beauty" by the ancient Egyptians.
The Valley of the Kings was thought to be secure from the robbery that plagued the pyramids.
Hopes rested on artisans in the purposefully created village of Deir el-Medina to build
and care for the tombs. The village was secluded and entirely dependent upon the government
for supplies, wages, and housing. So, it was thought that the people living there would
protect the tombs while also keeping them secret.
These assumptions were wrong. Deir el-Medina's supplies were rationed, and everybody received
generally the same allotment of goods, including the water that was brought in from the Nile
every day. It wasn't luxurious living, and the workers soon gave into temptation. They
broke into tombs and stole treasure which they sold in the nearby city of Thebes.
As the New Kingdom wound down, conditions worsened, and robberies proliferated, despite
punishments which included amputation, torture, and execution. At one point, the situation
was so bad in Deir el-Medina that the workers actually staged the first strike in Egyptian
history.
Throughout the rest of antiquity, the tombs were unused, although they were often visited
by Roman and Greek tourists who inscribed graffiti on the stonework. After the rise
of Christianity, some of the tombs were even used as Coptic churches. By then, all the
known tombs had been ransacked.
Interest in the Valley of the Kings virtually vanished until the 18th century, when Europeans
found and began to explore it. Exploration continued into the 19th century, in part propelled
by the successful translation of Egyptian hieroglyphics. It was during this time that
Europeans started designating tombs with numbers preceded by "KV."
New tombs were being found and explored. This was no mean feat, as some of the tombs were
quite extensive. The Theban Mapping Project, of the American Research Center in Egypt,
has created detailed blueprints of the royal tombs. Some, such as KV5, has well over 100
individual chambers. KV5 is the largest tomb in the Valley, but it is demonstrative of
the intricacies and work put into building them. It also shows the difficulties in exploring
them.
The most famous and fabulous discovery in the Valley of the Kings occurred in 1922.
By the end of the 19th century, archaeologists believed that the Valley had yielded all its
secrets. However, British archaeologist Howard Carter suspected otherwise.
In 1922, he discovered the tomb of what was then an obscure boy-pharaoh of the 18th dynasty:
Tutankhamun. To Carter's delight, he found that the seals on the tomb were unbroken.
What probably saved this tomb from robbery was King Tut's relation to Akhenaten.
After Tutankhamun's death at age 15 or 16, later rulers tried to erase the memory of
the blasphemous dynasty, even though Tutankhamun restored traditional religion. His tomb was
later hidden by flood debris.
The thousands of artifacts found in King Tut's tomb dazzled not just Egyptologists but the
people around the world. Some of these treasures include a gold chariot, a gold mask, and gold
sandals. Alongside these glamorous grave goods were the practical supplies. Among the 5,000
objects found in the tomb were baskets of chickpeas, lentils, and dates, as well as
bread and meat. What's more, the assembly of statues and other religious paraphernalia
enhanced our insight into the worldviews of ancient Egypt.
Even though the Valley of the Kings has been excavated for centuries, it is widely believed
that there are still major tombs to be found. There are several prominent royals from the
New Kingdom whose tombs have not been located, including Ramesses VIII.
To find a tomb, archaeologists usually comb through historical records looking for unaccounted
elites to whom no tomb is attributed. David P. Silverman, an Egyptologist from the University
of Pennsylvania explains,
"You try to find out what hasn't been discovered, and figure out where they might possibly be,
and then look in those areas. You never know what you are going to find."
Excavations aren't limited to the Valley of the Kings. Of equal, but different, importance
is the work being carried out at Deir el-Medina itself. Macquarie University emphasizes that,
although the town wasn't a typical ancient Egyptian village, the unique preservation
qualities of the desert environment has allowed a large array of artifacts to survive to the
present day.
One of the most important artifacts found are ceramic shards with inscriptions such
as poems, caricatures, and matters of business. Through this, we have learned much about how
ancient Egypt functioned as a society.
As archaeologists continue to work at the Valley of the Kings, new discoveries are still
occurring. The first tomb to be discovered, after Tutankhamen, was in 2006 and dubbed
KV63. This tomb, although not believed to be a royal tomb, has encouraged further exploration
with the ultimate hope that a tomb like King Tut's may be discovered.
In 2019, Live Science reported the discovery of additional mummies and workshops, which
provided more insight into the lives of common people in ancient Egypt. Then Nature reported,
in 2020, that ground-penetrating radar had revealed the possibility of deeper chambers
in King Tut's tomb. Archaeologists have speculated that this may be the burial chamber of the
famous Queen Nefertiti. Her daughter was married to King Tut and Nefertiti briefly served as
pharaoh.
According to British Egyptologist Nicholas Reeves,
"If Nefertiti was buried as a pharaoh, it could be the biggest archaeological discovery
ever."
Others Egyptologists, such as Egypt's former antiquities minister Zahi Hawass, contend
that no major discovery has been found that way. He is continuing his own explorations
using traditional methods.
Since 1979, both sites have enjoyed the status of being UNESCO World Heritage Sites, with
the original declaration stating,
"[The Valley] certainly merits recognition, and seems to be indisputable from the point
of view of world heritage."
The site has, therefore, been closely monitored for decades. You would think that with this
level of scrutiny, the conservation of the Valley of the Kings would be assured. However,
a 2019 report by UNESCO on the state of preservation cites erosion, rising underground water levels,
and human development as factors which threaten the site.
One of the largest threats is tourism. The World Monument Fund notes that 1.5 million
tourists visit the Valley annually. These tourists are a direct cause of deterioration
of the site. They note,
"...While every traveler deserves an opportunity to see this spectacular site, measures must
stay in place to ensure that eager visitors are aware of the fragility of the ancient
tombs."
It's a delicate balance between the preservation of these ancient tombs that have survived
f or millennia, and the desire of modern people to look into the past. Hopefully it can be
achieved while, at the same time, gleaning more insights and treasures from antiquity.
Check out one of our newest videos right here! Plus, even more Grunge videos about your favorite
stuff are coming soon. Subscribe to our YouTube channel and hit the bell so you don't miss
a single one.