Valley of Kings, Egypt

Valley of Kings located on west banks of Nile River in the heart of Theban Necropolis, is known as Wadi Biban el-Muluk in Arabic. This valley of Egypt was the home of many tombs of Kings of 16th century to 11th century and powerful nobles of New Kingdom period (18th to 20 dynasties of Ancient Egypt).

Valley of Kings includes two valleys one is East Valley that has majority of the royal tombs and the other one is West Valley. The area comprising this ancient treasure along with the rest of Theban Necropolis has been declared as a World Heritage Site and is one of the world's most famous archeological sites.

Among the excavations carried out so far in the valley of Kings, the most famous was the discovery of tomb of Tutankhamun (a Pharaoh of the 18th century). Most of the tombs of the Valley of Kings were carved into limestone following similar pattern of three corridors, an antechamber and a sunken sarcophagus chamber.

Not all tombs of the valley are open for the public. The style of tombs also underwent changes throughout the New kingdom. West Valley has only one remote tomb open for public view and that is of King Ay, the successor of Tutankhamun.

Tomb of Tuthmose III located in the far end of the East valley is one of the earliest tombs of the Valley of Kings. The burial chamber of the king is of oval-shaped and the inscriptions are interspersed with stick figures.

Tomb of Tutankhamun is located adjacent to tomb of Ramesses VI. Ramesses's tomb has a grand magnificent burial chamber that contains broken remains of large stone sarcophagus.

A normal ticket to Valley of Kings permits only three tombs at a time. But to visit Tomb of Tutankhamun a special ticket is required.