Valley of the Kings

[Josie Linde]

Sketch Map of East Valley of the Kings. Image taken from Egyptian Antiquities in The Nile Valley, published in 1932, by James Baikie (1866-1931). Modified to show location of KV63.

[Josie Linde]

List of burials in the Valley of the Kings

The following is a list of burials in the Valley of the Kings, in Thebes (modern Luxor in Egypt) and nearby areas.

Egyptologists use the acronym KV (from the words "King's Valley") to designate tombs located in the Valley of the Kings. The system was established by John Gardiner Wilkinson in 1821. Each tomb in the Valley of the Kings has since been allocated a sequential 'KV number' (those in the Western Valley are known by the WV equivalent) to aid identification.

The tombs are numbered in the order of 'discovery' from Ramesses VII (KV1) to (KV64), although some of the tombs have been open since antiquity, and KV5 has only recently been rediscovered. KV64 is a radar anomaly that can be an undisturbed tomb or a chamber.

[Josie Linde]

East Valley

Most of the open tombs in the Valley of the Kings are located in the East Valley, and this is where most tourists can be found.

KV1 – The tomb of Ramesses VII.

KV2 – The tomb of Ramesses IV.

KV3 – The tomb of an unnamed son of Ramesses III.

KV4 – The tomb of Ramesses XI.

KV5 – The recently rediscovered tomb of some of the sons of Ramesses II. With 120 known rooms and excavation work still underway, it is probably the largest tomb in the valley.

KV6 – The tomb of Ramesses IX.

KV7 – The tomb of Ramesses II.

KV8 – The tomb of Merenptah.

KV9 – Also known as the Tomb of Memnon or La Tombe de la Métempsychose, this is the tomb of Ramesses V and Ramesses VI.

KV10 – The tomb of Amenmesse.

KV11 – The tomb of Ramesses III (or Bruce's Tomb, The Harper's Tomb).

KV12 – The occupant of this tomb remains unknown. It was possibly used as a family tomb.

KV13 – The tomb of Bay and later Amenherkhepshef and Mentuherkhepshef.

KV14 – The tomb of Twosret, later reused by Setnakhte.

KV15 – The tomb of Seti II.

KV16 – The tomb of Ramesses I.

KV17 – The tomb of Seti I and is also known as Belzoni's tomb, the tomb of Apis, or the tomb of Psammis, son of Necho.

KV18 – The tomb of Ramesses X.

KV19 – The tomb of Mentuherkhepshef.

KV20 – This was the originally the tomb of Hatshepsut and Thutmose I.

KV30 – Known as Lord Belmore's tomb. Its original occupant remains unknown.

KV32 – The tomb of Tia'a.

KV34 – The tomb of Thutmose III.

KV35 – This tomb was originally the tomb of Amenhotep II. Over a dozen mummies, many of them royal, were relocated here (see list).

KV36 – The tomb of the noble Maiherpri.

KV38 – The tomb of Thutmose I.

KV39 – Possibly the tomb of Amenhotep I.

KV41 – The original owner of this tomb is unclear, but it may have been Queen Tetisheri.

KV42 – The tomb of Hatshepsut-Meryetre.

KV43 – The tomb of Thutmose IV.

KV45 – The tomb of the noble Userhet.

KV46 – The tomb of the nobles Yuya and Tjuyu, who were possibly the parents of Queen Tiy. Until the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun. this was the best preserved tomb to be found in the Valley.

KV47 – The tomb of Siptah.

KV48 – The tomb of the noble Amenemopet called Pairy.

KV49 – The original owner of this tomb is unknown, and it was possibly a store room.

KV50 – This tomb contains animal burials – which were possibly the pets of Amenhotep II, whose tomb is nearby.

KV54 – This was probably an embalming cache for the tomb of Tutankhamun.

KV55 – The tomb maybe another mummy cache, and has the possible burials of several Amarna Period royals –Tiy and Smenkhkare/Akhenaten.

KV56 – Known as the Gold Tomb, the original owner of this tomb is unknown

KV57 – The tomb of Horemheb.

KV58 – Known as Chariot Tomb, the original owner of this tomb remains unknown.

KV60 – The tomb of Sitre In.

KV61 – This tomb appears to have been unused.

KV62 – The Tomb of King Tutankhamun. Perhaps the most famous discovery of modern Western archaeology was made here by Howard Carter on November 4, 1922, with clearance and conservation work continuing until 1932. Tutankhamun's tomb was the first royal tomb to be discovered that was still largely intact (although tomb robbers had entered it), and was the actually the last major discovery in the valley. The opulence of his grave goods notwithstanding, King Tutankhamun was a rather minor king and other burials probably had more numerous treasures. Some members of the archaeological teams led by Carter and later archaeologists contracted local lethal viruses through food or animals (particularly insects), resulting in the infamous "Curse of the Pharaohs" modern legend.

KV63 – The purpose of this tomb is currently unknown.

KV64 – A radar anomaly detected by the ARTP team, believed to be a tomb or chamber.

KV51, KV52 and KV53 – These contained the burials of animals, and their precise location has been lost since their discovery.

KV21, KV26, KV27, KV28, KV29, KV31, KV33, KV37, KV40, KV44 and KV59 – The original owners of these tombs are unknown.

KVB – KVT – These are non-burial pits, some of which may have been intended as tombs, others were probably funerary deposits.


West Valley

The numbering the West Valley follows in sequence to that of the East Valley, and there are only four known burials / pits in the valley.

WV22 – This is the tomb of one the greatest rulers of the Egyptian New Kingdom, Amenhotep III. It has recently been investigated, but is not open to the public.

WV23 – This is the tomb of Ay and is the only tomb that is open to the public in the West Valley.

WV24 – The original owner of this tomb is unknown.

WV25 – This tomb may have been started as the Theban burial of Akhenaten, but it was never finished.

WVA – This was a storage chamber for Amenhotep III's tomb which was located nearby.


Deir el-Bahri
DB320 – This tomb contained an astounding mummy cache. It is located in the cliffs overlooking Hatshepsut's famous temple at Deir el-Bahri, was found to contain many of Egypt's most famous pharaohs. They were found in a great state of disorder, many placed in other people's coffins, and several are still unidentified.

[Josie Linde]

Location

The earliest tombs were located in cliffs at the top of scree slopes, under storm-fed waterfalls (for example KV34 and KV43). As these locations were soon used, burials then descended to the valley floor, gradually moving back up the slopes as the valley bottom filled up with debris. This explains the location of the tombs KV62 and KV63 buried in the valley floor.

The tomb of Twosret and Setnakhte showing descending corridor

[Josie Linde]

Architecture

The usual tomb plan of a long inclined rock-cut corridor, descending through one or more halls (possibly mirroring the descending path of the sun-god into the underworld), to the burial chamber. In the earlier tombs the corridors turn through 90 degrees at least once (such as KV43, the tomb of Thutmose IV), and the earliest had cartouche-shaped burial chambers (KV43, the tomb of Thutmose IV). This layout is known as 'Bent Axis', and after the burial the upper corridors were meant to be filled with rubble, and the entrance to the tomb hidden. After the Amarna period, the layout gradually straightened, with an intermediate 'Jogged Axis' (the tomb of Horemheb, KV57 is typical of this, and is one of the tombs that is sometimes open to the public), to the generally 'Straight Axis' of the late Nineteenth and Twentieth Dynasty tombs (Ramesses III's and Ramesses IX's tombs, KV11 and KV6 respectively). As the tomb's axes straightend, the slope also lessened, and almost disappeared in the late Twentieth Dynasty. Another feature that is common to most tombs is the 'well', which may have originated as an actual barrier intended to stop flood waters entering the lower parts of the tombs. It later seems to have developed a 'magical' purpose as a symbolical shaft. In the later Twentieth Dynasty, the well itself was sometimes not excavated, but the well room was still present.

[Josie Linde]

Detail of decoration from KV2

[Josie Linde]

Decoration

The majority of the royal tombs were decorated with religious texts and images. The early tombs were decorated with scenes from Amduat ('That Which is in the Underworld'), with describes the journey of the sun-god through the twelve hours of the night. From the time of Horemheb, tombs were decorated with the Book of Gates, which shows the sun-god passing through the twelve gates that divide the night time, and ensure the tomb owner's own safe passage through the night.

Late in the Nineteenth Dynasty the Book of Caverns, which divided the underworld into massive caverns containing deities and the deceased waiting for the sun to pass through and restore them to life. The burial of Ramesses III saw the Book of the Earth, where the underworld is divided into 4 sections, climaxing in the sun disc being pulled from the earth by Naunet.

The ceilings of the burial chambers were decorated (from the burial of Seti I onwards) with what become formalised as the Book of the Heavens, which again describe the sun's journey through the twelve hours of night. Again from Seti I's time, the Litany of Re, a lengthy hymn to the sun god.

[Josie Linde]

Pillar in Seti I's tomb

[Josie Linde]

Tomb equipment

Each burial was provided with equipment that would enable them a continued existence in the afterlife in comfort. Also present in the tombs were ritual magical items, such as Shabti's and divine figurines. Some equipment was that which the king may have used in their lifetime (Tutankhamun's sandles for example), and some was specially constructed for the burial.

Tomb numbering

The modern abbreviation "KV" stands for "Kings' Valley", and the tombs are numbered in the order of 'discovery' from Ramesses VII (KV1) to KV63 (which was discovered in 2005), although many of the tombs have been open since antiquity, and KV5 was only rediscovered in the 1990s (after being dismissed as unimportant by previous investigators).[38] The West Valley tombs often have the "WV" prefix, but follow the same numbering system. A number of the tombs are unoccupied, the owners of others remain unknown, and others are merely pits used for storage.[39] Most of the open tombs in the Valley of the Kings are located in the East Valley, and this is where most tourists and facilities can be found.

[Josie Linde]

KV34

[Josie Linde]

Eighteenth Dynasty

The Eighteenth dynasty tombs within the valley vary a good deal in decoration, style and location. At first there seems to have been no fixed plan, indeed the tomb of Hatshepsut is of a unique shape, twisting and turning down over 200 metres from the entrance so that the burial chamber is 97 metres below the surface. The tombs gradually became more regular and formalised, and the tomb's of Thutmose III and Thutmose IV, KV34 and KV43 are good examples of Eighteenth Dynasty tombs, both with their bent axis, and simple decoration.

Perhaps the most imposing tomb of this period is that of Amenhotep III, WV22 located in the West Valley. It has been re-investigated in 1990s (by a team from Waseda University, Japan), but is not open to the public. At the same time, powerful and influential nobles started to be buried with the royal family, the most famous of these tombs is the joint tomb of Yuya and Tjuyu, KV46. They were possibly the parents of Queen Tiy, and until the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun, this was the best preserved tomb to be found in the Valley.

[Josie Linde]

Typical 'Bent axis' early Eighteenth Dynasty tomb

[Josie Linde]

The return of royal burials to Thebes after the end of Amarna period marks a change to the layout of royal burials, with the intermediate 'jogged axis' gradually giving way to the 'straight axis' of later dynasties. In the Western valley, there is a tomb commencement that is thought to have been started for Akhenaten, but is no more than a gateway and a series of steps. Close by to this tomb is the tomb of Ay, Tutankhamun's successor. It is likely that this tomb was started for Tutankhamun (its decoration is of a similar style), but later usurped for Ay's burial (this would mean that KV62 may have been Ay's original tomb, which would explain the smaller size and unusual layout for a royal tomb).

The other Amarna period tombs are located in a smaller, central area in the centre of the East Valley, with a possible mummy cache (KV55) that possibly contains the possible burials of several Amarna Period royals – Tiy and Smenkhkare or Akhenaten.

Close to this is the burial of Tutankhamun, perhaps the most famous discovery of modern Western archaeology and was made here by Howard Carter on November 4, 1922, with clearance and conservation work continuing until 1932. This was the first royal tomb to be discovered that was still largely intact (although tomb robbers had entered it), and was, until the excavation of KV63 on 10 March 2005, considered the last major discovery in the valley. The opulence of his grave goods notwithstanding, Tutankhamun was a rather minor king and other burials probably had more numerous treasures.

In the same central area as KV62 and KV63, is 'KV64' a radar anomaly believed to be a tomb or chamber announced on 28 July 2006. It is not an official designation, and indeed the actual existence of a tomb at all is dismissed by the Supreme Council of Antiquities.

The nearby tomb of Horemheb, (KV57) is rarely open for visitors, but it is superbly decorated and has excellent tomb paintings.

[Josie Linde]

Typical 'Jogged axis' post-Amarna tomb

[Josie Linde]

KV62