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Valley of the Kings, Luxor Wadi el-Muluk means valley of the kings. The valley is located on the west bank of the Nile across from Thebes (modern Luxor). It is separated into the East and West Valley, with most of the important tombs in the East Valley. The West Valley has only one tomb open to the public: the tomb of Ay, Tutankhamun's successor.

The Valley was used from approximately 1539 BC to 1075 BC, and contains some 60 tombs, starting with Thutmose I and ending with Ramesses X or XI.

The Valley of the Kings also had tombs for the favourite nobles and the wives and children of both the nobles and pharaohs. Around the time of Ramesses IRamesses I Menpehtire was the founding Pharaoh of Egypt's 19th dynasty. The dates for his short period on the throne are unclear, but 1320-1318 BC, 1295-1294 BC, or 1292-1290 BC are frequently given. Originally called Paramessu, he was of non-royal birth, the Valley of the QueensThe Valley of Queens is a place in Egypt where the most memorable of queens were placed to start their journey into the afterlife. was begun, although some wives were still buried with their husbands.

The quality of the rock in the Valley is very inconsistent. Tombs were built, cutting through various layers of limestone, each with its own quality. This poses problems for modern day conservators, as it must have to the original architectAn architect is a person licensed in the art of planning, designing and overseeing the construction of buildings, or more generally, the designer of a scheme or plan. See architecture or landscape architecture Architects and landscape architects are consis. Building plans were probably changed on account of this. The most serious problem are the shaleShale is a fine-grained sedimentary rock whose original constituents were clays or muds. It is characterized by thin laminae breaking with an irregular curving fracture, often splintery, and parallel to the often indistinguishable bedding planes. Non-fiss layers. This fine material expands when it comes into contact with waterDrinking water This article focuses on water as we experience it every day. The water (molecule) article describes water from a scientific and technical perspective. Water is an abundant substance on Earth. It exists in many forms, such as sea, rain, and. This has damaged many tombs, particularly during floodA flood (in Old English flod a word common to Teutonic languages; compare German Flut Dutch vloed from the same root as is seen in flow, float is an overflow of water, an expanse of water submerging land, a deluge. In the sense of "flowing water", the wors.

1 Grave robbers

Almost all of the tombs have been ransacked, including Tutankhamun's, though in his case, it seems that the robbers were interrupted, so very little was removed. King Tutankhamun was a minor king and other kings probably had more numerous treasures.

The valley was surrounded by steep cliffs and heavily guarded. In 1090 BC, or the year of the Hyena, there was a collapse in Egypt's economy leading to the emergence of tomb robbers. Because of this, it was also the last year that the valley was used for burial.

The valley also seems to have suffered an official plundering during the virtual civil war which started in the reign of Ramesses XI. The tombs were opened, all the valuables removed, and the mummies collected into two large caches. One, the so-called Deir el-Bahri cache, contained no less than forty royal mummies and their coffins; the other, in the tomb of Amenhotep II, contained a further sixteen.