The valley of the kings is a necropolis on the western bank of the Nile before Luxor, in Egypt, the burial place for the pharaohs of the new reign (1570 – 1070 BC). Although it’s near the river, the valley is hidden by high rocks and the entrance is long, narrow and turtuous. Before the new reign, the royal necropolis were consisted in the complexes formed by the tomb-pyramids and temples. Amenofi I (1551 – 1524 BC) broke the tradition, ordering to build his own temple a short way from the river and to build the tomb at north-west, inside the valley, probably to avoid the possible desecration. The excavations have brought to light 34 tombs, beginning from Sethi’s I one, found by the italian Belzoni in 1817; Sethi’s I body, togheter with other 39 royal mummies moved from the sepulchrals, was discovered, in 1881 in a great funeral chamber excavated in the rocks that are toward the Nile. Almost all the tombs have many rooms the walls of which have texts in hyeroglyphics engraved or painted, and magical and symbolic scenes. The last tomb discovered (1922) was Tutankhamon’s one, a pharaoh of the XVIII dynasty, they only one safa from the sacks in ancient times.
Although it had two thefts, the tomb still had more than 5000 objects buried with the young king. Except Hatshepsut, Tutmosi’s II wife, who reigned in full title, the pharaohs’ wives were buried several kilometers wouthward, in the Valley of the queens.