Valley of the Kings

On the West Bank of the Nile, burrowed into the dusty hillsides, the extravagantly painted tombs of kings, queens and nobles have kindled our imaginations for centuries.

The Valley of the Kings is a limestone valley situated in the Theban Hills where the mummified bodies of many Egyptian pharaohs were interred. The area marks a period in ancient Egyptian history in which the pharaohs abandoned the pyramid style and chose instead tombs dug within limestone in order to preserve the mummies for eternity and prevent grave robbing.

The tombs, although stripped of many of their contents centuries ago, still display fantastic wall paintings depicting the lives of the pharaohs in ancient Egypt, down to the minutest detail. The most famous tomb is that of Tutankhamun, discovered in pristine condition by Howard Carter in 1922. The many treasures found in the tomb are now exhibited in the Egyptian Antiquities Museum in Cairo.

Nearby, the wall paintings in the tombs of the Valley of the Queens and the Valley of the Nobles are equally fascinating. The most famous tomb in the Valley of the Queens is the Tomb of Queen Nefertari, the principal wife of Ramses II, which was only opened to the public in 1995.