The Valley of the Kings
It was J.F. Champollion in the nineteenth century to call Valley of the Kings the place until then known in Egyptian as Ta Sejet Aat , ie the Great Prairie, and in Arabic Biban el Muluk (meaning "The Gates of the King" referring to the numerous entrances to the hypogeum tombs) this solitary valley, in the western Theban mountains, where the pharaohs of the New Kingdom (1550-1070 BC), court nobles, queens and princes were buried.
The religious symbolism is the reason why the pharaohs of the New Kingdom chose this place to be buried: the West was in fact, in the Egyptian religious beliefs, the kingdom of the dead, the place where the sun sets and also a pyramid-shaped mountain (la Cima) which stands out in this valley made it the chosen place. The Valley of the Kings is a wadi carved between the Theban mountains that at a certain point is divided into two branches: to the west there is the Valley of the Apes where 4 tombs were discovered and to the east the Valley of the Kings where most of them are located of the hypogeums discovered so far, about 58.
The pharaohs therefore chose a quiet place to rest in peace, sheltering from the profaners of tombs, but despite the surveillance of a special police (called medyai), many burials were looted.
The founder of the Valley of the Kings was the pharaoh Amenhotep I, whose tomb has not yet been found; he changed the concept of a funerary complex by separating the tomb from the temple due to the need to protect the mummies and the rich funerary objects: the temple was built in the valley, accessible, while the tomb was excavated in the mountain, as a hypogeum. The first royal tomb identified is that of Thutmosi I, while the only king of the New Kingdom not buried in this valley is Akhenaton, who chose his city Tell-Amarna as a burial place; of the great pharaohs the burials of Thutmosi II, Smenkhare and Ramesse Siptah have not yet been identified.
The general structure of the tombs , albeit in their variations, has a long descending corridor on the sides of which there are niches and chapels, and which leads to the ritual well, to the pillared halls and to the sarcophagus room. In the XVIII dynasty the plan was L-shaped, while during the XIX dynasty it followed a straight axis. Only the sarcophagus did not change position and was always placed in the deepest part of the tomb. The dimensions of the tomb were also variable: from small hypogeums to tombs deeper than 100 m, a length that did not reflect the reign of each pharaoh.
In many tombs there is a deep well at a certain point in the corridor: it was thought to be a trap for thieves, but in reality it symbolizes the tomb of Osiris (the kingdom of Sokari) in the concept of rebirth of the pharaoh, who dying he identified with Osiris and had to cross the twelve regions of the beyond (that is, the 12 hours of the night) on a boat at night, hampered by monstrous beings. This path in the underworld as well as the history of each pharaoh is depicted in the corridors and chambers of the royal tombs, along with the deities and various religious scenes (Book of the Amduat), while in private graves only scenes of earthly life were represented.
The discovery of these tombs is due to European explorers who, since 1700, ventured into the Valley of the Kings leaving interesting descriptions of the burials. Since then the tombs discovered, but not all identified, are about 62, marked with the letters KV indicating "King Valley" and the number of the tomb.
They are:
KV 1 of Ramesses VII - KV 2 Ramesses IV: presents the oldest plan of the Valley and a papyrus of the Turin museum preserves the planimetry. It also contains the most impressive granite sarcophagus in the Valley of the Kings, cut into the shape of a scroll - KV 3 Ramesses III (children) - KV 4 Ramesses XI - KV 5 Ramesses II (children) - KV 6 Ramesses XI: composed of seven halls and decorated corridors, unfortunately very deteriorated. - KV 7 Ramesses II - KV 8 Merenptah - KV 9 Ramesses V / VI: started by Ramses V and later expanded to nine sections - KV 10 Amenmeses - KV 11 Ramesses III: whose corridor was diverted due to the existence of a previous tomb. - KV 13 Bay - KV 14 Tausert / Setnakht - KV 15 Sethi II - KV 16 Ramesses I - KV 17 Sethi I: discovered by the Italian G.B. Belzoni in 1817, is the deepest and best preserved tomb, which develops for 15 rooms and corridors, decorated with religious texts, themes of daily life, divinities and various myths, often written upside down, according to the belief that the world of beyond was the mirror image of the living. - KV 18 Ramesses X - KV 19 Mentuherkhepshef - KV 20 Thutmoses I / Hatshepsut - KV 22 Amenhotep III - KV 23 Ay - KV 34 Tuthmosis III with the hall of the sarcophagus shaped like a scroll - KV 35 Amenhotep II, discovered by V.Loret in 1898, it has a sarcophagus of red quartzite - KV 36 Maiherperi - KV 38 Tuthmosis I - KV 43 Tuthmosis IV - KV 46 Yuya and Thuya - KV 47 Siptah - KV 48 Amenemopet - KV 55 Amarnian age, - KV 57 Horemheb - KV 62 Tutankhamun, the last great discovery dating back to 1922 by Carter. It is a private tomb adapted to a royal tomb due to the premature death of the pharaoh, the only one that was found still intact and which bears witness, with its precious funerary equipment, of the fabulous treasures and the extraordinary features of furniture, jewels, objects and Egyptian statuary.
The KV 12, 21, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 37, 39, 40, 41, 42, 44, 45, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 56, 58, 59, 60 and 61 are still unknown: their possible discovery is what fascinates archaeologists and explorers in the fascinating search for lost treasures, in a future we hope very close!
