V 8 Valley
of the Kings The cemetery for pharaohs of the New Kingdom (1550–1069 b.c.), the Valley of the Kings is located on the west bank of the Nile across from modern Luxor. For a period of almost 500 years, the most talented artists and craftsmen worked on the tombs of the pharaohs in the Valley of the Kings, decorating the walls of the royal tombs with elaborate scenes from Egypt’s religion and mythology. The Valley of the Kings has an eastern and western spur, and of the 62 tombs discovered thus far, only four are in the more remote Western Valley. The following chart identifies the tombs as KV for King’s Valley and WV for the Western Valley. Each is numbered in the order in which it was discovered. Two tombs in the Western Valley have been identified, the tomb of Amenhotep III, the grandfather of Tutankhamen (WV 22), and the tomb of Aye, vizier and possible murderer of Tutankhamen (WV 23). There are two unfinished tombs with no inscriptions (WV 24 and 25). Unfinished tombs in the Eastern Valley are not listed. On February 6, 2006, the discovery of a new tomb in the Valley of the Kings was announced by the Supreme Council of Antiquities. Designated KV 63, the tomb is located near that of Tutankhamen (KV 62) and was discovered when archaeologists were excavating nearby workmen’s huts. A 20-foot shaft leads to a single chamber that appears to have been entered and resealed several times. Inside the chamber are seven wooden coffins, two of them for children. Some coffins were badly damaged by termites, and no names or inscriptions have been found. When the coffins were conserved and opened, they revealed not mummies but pieces of pottery, linen, and natron—all materials used in mummification. In addition to the coffins, 28 large storage jars were found, and they, too, contained bits of linen, natron, and pottery—leading Egyptologists to speculate that KV 63 was the burial of an embalmer’s cache and not an actual tomb.
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KV Tomb Number and King
King Mythological Decoration
KV 1 Ramses VII KV 2 Ramses IV KV 5 Sons of Ramses II KV 6 Ramses IX KV 7 Ramses II KV 8 MernePtah KV 9 Ramses VI KV 10 Amenmesse KV 11 Ramses III KV 14 Tausret/ Setnakht KV 15 Seti II KV 16 Ramses I KV 17 Seti I KV 18 Ramses X KV 20 Hatshepsut KV 34 Thutmose III KV 35 Amenhotep II KV 38 Thutmose I KV 42 Thutmose II KV 43 Thutmose IV KV 47 Siptah
Book of Gates, Book of Caverns, Book of Earth Litany of Re, Book of Gates, Book of the Dead, Book of Caverns Damaged Amduat, Litany of Re, Book of Gates, Book of the Dead Damaged Litany of Re, Amduat, Book of Gates, Book of the Dead Book of Gates, Amduat, Litany of Re, Book of Caverns, Book of Heavens, Book of the Earth Litany of Re Amduat, Litany of Re, Book of Gates, Book of the Dead Book of the Dead, Book of Gates Litany of Re, Amduat, Book of Gates Book of Gates Litany of Re, Amduat, Book of Gates Incomplete Amduat, fragmented Amduat, Litany of Re Amduat Undecorated Undecorated Unfinished decoration Amduat, Litany of Re