CHAPTER VIII

THE TOMBS OF THE KINGS

THE valley in which the tombs of the Pharaohs of Dynasties

XVIII., XIX., and XX. are situated, known to the natives as Bibân el Molûk, lies amidst the limestone hills behind the temple of Dêr el Bahri and the Theban plain. There are several ways of approaching it. The main road leads north-west from the temple of Sety at Gûrneh, and, turning west, soon passes in between the hills, where it is clearly marked, and cannot be mistaken. A ride of less than half-an-hour through rugged desert scenery brings one to the wooden barrier which marks the entrance of the royal necropolis. There is a bridle-path over the hill, leading from Cook's rest-house at Dêr el Bahri; a steep path, somewhat dangerous for inexperienced climbers, leads from immediately above the north galleries of the temple of Dêr el Bahri; there is a third path between the two above mentioned; and from the south of Dêr el Medineh a long but easy track leads over the hills. The visitor, however, will find it best to ride up the long valley road and to return over the hill by the path which leads to Cook's rest-house. As the tombs are lit by electricity from 9 A.M. to I P.M. (after about March 15 from 8 A.M. to 12 P.M.), and are closed in the afternoons, the visitor will find it best to bring the excursion to an end at Cook's rest-house at lunch-time. In or near the valley there are the tombs of all the Pharaohs of the three above-mentioned dynasties, from Amenhotep Ist to Rameses XIIth, with rare exceptions. The tomb of Tutantkhamen has not yet been found (1908). The tombs of Rameses VIIIth and Rameses IXth have not been found, and probably are not situated in this valley at all, these Pharaohs having reigned in the north for but a year each. Akhnaton was buried at El Amarna, and his successor Smenkhkara's tomb has not yet been discovered. The position of the tombs will be seen upon the accompanying map. The list is as follows:

Tombs marked with two asterisks are lit by electricity. Those marked with one asterisk are open to the public, but are not lit. All other tombs are closed to the general public.

Those who only have a short time to spend in the valley are advised to visit as many of the seven best tombs as they can in the following order :

35. Amenhotep IInd, as an example of a mid-XVIIIth dynasty tomb. The king's mummy still lies in this tomb.

16. Rameses Ist, which, though small, shows the development of the entrance and passage, and the extension of the painting.

17. Sety Ist, the largest and finest tomb in the valley, and a good example of the art of the XIXth dynasty.

8. Merenptah, in which is the Pharaoh's great sarcophagus.

II. Rameses IIIrd, showing the developments of the XXth dynasty.

9. Rameses Vth and VIth, a good example of late Ramesside work.

6. Rameses Xth, one of the last tombs in this valley.

The his

tory of the valley.

In the following pages the tombs are described in the order of their numbers, but by examining the best ones in the above chronological order the visitor will obtain a better understanding of the points which have now to be discussed.

Thebes became the residence of the Pharaohs of Egypt in the XIth dynasty, when the princes of this locality made themselves rulers of all Egypt. These kings were buried in rock-cut tombs in various parts of the Theban necropolis; and the visitor may perhaps have seen the sepulchre of Mentuhotep IIIrd at Dêr el Bahri. Some of the other kings of this house were buried in the face of the hills just to the left, or south, of the entrance to the valley, a part of the necropolis now known as Dra abu'l Neggar. The Pharaohs of the XIIth dynasty were buried near Memphis; but some of those of the XIIIth to XVIIth dynasties were again interred at Dra abu'l Neggar, and here the immediate ancestors of the great kings of the XVIIIth dynasty lay. King Amenhotep Ist (B.C. 1557) decided to be buried in quite new ground. He selected a desolate hillside above the cliffs which form the southern end of the valley of the Tombs of the Kings, and not far from the summit of the First use of range of cliffs which rises behind Dêr el Medineh. During the the valley. reign of his successor Thothmes Ist there lived a noble named

The personages buried in

Anena, whose tomb (No. 81) is to be seen on the hillside of Shêkh abd' el Gûrneh. This noble seems to have advised his royal master to place his tomb down in the desolate valley which subsequently became the royal necropolis, but which at this time was absolutely devoid of tombs of the dead or habitations of the living. In his biographical inscription Anena says: "I saw to the excavation of the rock-tomb of his majesty, alone, no one seeing, no one hearing." Thus, with the utmost secrecy, the Pharaoh Thothmes Ist was buried in his tomb which is now numbered 38, deep in the valley below the place at which his father lay; and from that time onwards for four and a half centuries the Pharaohs were buried in the valley, Rameses XIIth, the last king of the XXth dynasty (B.C. 1100) being the last monarch to be interred here (No. 4).

As a general rule in the XVIIIth dynasty only the Pharaohs themselves, or queens who reigned in their own right, constructed the valley. large tombs here, the bodies of their nearest relations being buried with them. Generally also a favourite vizir or noble was allowed to be buried in a little rock chamber excavated near the tomb of his master. Amenhotep IIIrd, however, allowed Queen Thiy both to bury her non-royal parents Yuaa and Tuau here in a large tomb (though on the outskirts of the royal area), and also to