Valley of the Kings

Valley of the Kings Latest News

Two researchers recently identified close to 30 inscriptions in Tamil Brahmi, Prakrit and Sanskrit at tombs in the Valley of the Kings in Egypt.

About Valley of the Kings

• It was the burial site of dozens of pharaohs, or kings, of ancient Egypt. 
• The valley lies in the southern half of Egypt, just west of the Nile River. 
• It was part of the ancient city of Thebes.
• Most of the pharaohs of the 18th, 19th, and 20th dynasties were buried in the Valley of the Kings. 
• These pharaohs ruled from 1539 to 1077 BC, during the period of Egyptian history known as the New Kingdom. 
• By that time the pharaohs had stopped building pyramids to serve as their tombs. 
• Not only pharaohs were buried in the Valley of the Kings. Several queens, a few high-ranking officials, and some royal children were also laid to rest there. 
• The tomb built for the many sons of Ramses II is the largest and most complex in the valley.
• The tombs in the Valley of the Kings were carved into rocky hillsides with only a doorway marking their location. 
• The interior varied from tomb to tomb, but most consisted of a series of descending corridors with multiple openings leading to chambers, or rooms. 
• Deep underground, one corridor ended at the burial chamber. It held a sarcophagus, or stone coffin, in which the pharaoh’s mummy was laid. 
• The burial chamber also included furniture, clothing, jewelry, and other items that it was believed the pharaoh would need in the afterlife.
• Virtually all the tombs in the valley were cleared out in antiquity. 
• Some had been partially robbed during the New Kingdom, but all were systematically denuded of their contents in the 21st dynasty, in an effort to protect the royal mummies and to recycle the rich funerary goods back into the royal treasury. 
• The only tomb to remain mostly intact was that of Tutankhamun (reigned 1333–24 BC).
• In 1979 UNESCO made the Valley of the Kings part of the World Heritage site of ancient Thebes.

Source: TH

‹ ›