The Valley of the Kings is a place where kings reign over their subjects.

Topics covered include:

  • Valley of the Kings: Driving directions
  • The ancient history of the Valley
  • Deir el-Madina
  • Tips and thoughts on visiting the Valley

The Valley of the Kings is included in the best Egypt vacation packages because it is located on the West Bank of the River Nile, directly across from Luxor City, and is the site of the world-renowned ‘Valley of the Kings,’ which is still the most well-known site for excavations of antiquities and ancient ruins today.

Throughout this vast territory there are several amazing buildings, tombs, and temples to be discovered, such as the burial chamber of the young King Tutankhamun, the Temple of Queen Hatshepsut, and the two Colossi of Memnon, to mention a few.

If you want to enjoy a memorable trip in Egypt, check out our Egypt Excursions with our certified Egyptologist and Egypt travel guide.

Directions:

In addition to being a one-hour flight from Cairo, three hours by road from the Red Sea resort of Hurghada, and three hours by road from the Egyptian capital of Aswan, Luxor is readily accessible by a variety of modes of transportation, including railways connecting Cairo and Aswan.

History:

During the New Kingdom (1550-1070 BC), the majority of Egypt’s pharaohs were interred at Thebes in rock-cut tombs in the valley of the Kings, where they lay for about five hundred years.

At least 26 of the 32 monarchs of dynasties 18, 19, and 20 were buried there, according to historical records.

In the Valley of the Kings, there are 62 numbered tombs, 21 of which were numbered in geographical order by John Gardener Wilkinson in 1827, and the other tombs have been numbered in order of discovery since that time.

Furthermore, there are perhaps two dozen “commencements,” which are tomb shafts that were started but abandoned nearly soon for unclear reasons. A variety of officials, royal family members, and pries were interred in non-royal tombs in the Valley of the Kings, including:

When building tombs in the Valley of the Kings during the 18th dynasty, preference was often given to locations at or near the base of the sheer cliffs that surround the valley.

These locations were ideally below gullies through which, in the rare event of rain, a “waterfall” would pour over the cliff and deposit debris over the tomb’s entrance, burying it ever deeper over time.

While talus slopes were the chosen location in the late 18th and early 19th dynasties, it was one of the tiny spurs of bedrock that extended from the valley’s sides during the 20th dynasty that served as the site of choice.

Deir el-Madina is a medieval fortification.

We know a great deal about how the Valley of the Kings’ graves were carved and adorned, thanks in part to the hundreds of items and inscriptions discovered in the town of Deir el-Madina, which were discovered in the valley.

At around one kilometer (one mile) south of the Valley of the Kings, Deir el-Madina served as the residence and burial site for the artists who carved and embellished the tombs in the Valley of the Kings during their time in Egypt’s the New Kingdom

. It is possible to view the ruins of around 70 buildings in the town proper, and during the New Kingdom, over 400 people resided here in tiny stone structures that were erected along a short roadway.

Many various experts resided in Deir el- Madina, including quarrymen, plasterers, scribes, sculptors, architects, and draftsmen, all of whom were required to assist in the preparation of the royal tombs, which took many years.

They were compensated in kind for their work, receiving bread, beer, dried fish, onions, and other vegetables in exchange for their efforts. Men worked eight hours every day for eight days before taking a two-day weekend off.

Note* Tickets are offered per three tombs, with a separate ticket for the tombs of Ay and Tutankhamun, and may be purchased at the ticket office located at the entrance to the Valley of the Kings.

Tickets are available in advance only. Also located here is the Tutankhamun Visitor Center, where you may see a video about the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb.

The rotation of tomb entrances is done to shield the paint from human harm.

If you want to escape the crowds, visit the tombs that are farther away from the entrance.

Don’t miss to check our Egypt Vacation Packages