Egypt – Valley of the Kings

On the West bank of the River Nile lays the Valley of the Kings, not far from Egypt’s ancient capital Luxor.

The Valley of the Kings consist of two sides, the East Valley and the West Valley which is where most of the royal tombs are situated, many of the tombs in the East Valley was mainly for favourite nobles. The East side is the most popular for tourists as it is where you will find the tombs of the Pharaohs.

Evidence suggests that The Valley of the Kings was decided as the resting place over 3500 years ago by the Pharaoh Thuthmosis I with many more to follow, including Ramses IX, Ramses VI, Ramses III, Ramses I, Seti I, Tuthomosis III, Amenhotep (Amenophis) II, Horemheb and many more. The fascinating thing is that archaeologists believe there are still many more undiscovered tombs hidden under the sand!

Perhaps the most famous tomb in the Valley of the Kings is that of Tutankhamen. Although Tutankhamen was a young and not a particularly respected pharaoh in his time, but his tomb is regarded as one of the most important archaeological finds in the world, as when this tomb was discovered in 1922 by Howard Carter it was almost completely intact, unlike all others that had been robbed and left bare. Tutankhamen is also the only pharaoh (that has been discovered) that still resides in the Valley of the Kings, the rest have been moved to museums.

The tombs in the Valley of the Kings really are a key to insight what ancient Egyptian life was like, as they all display paintings and drawings on the tomb walls showing stories and portraits of everyday life.

Today The Valley of the Kings remains one of the biggest tourist attractions in Egypt. Many tourists include a trip to the Valley of the Kings on their holiday to Egypt; whether it’s cruising the Nile or a city break to Luxor, tourists from all over the world make time to see this fascinating insight of ancient Egyptian history!