Egyptian Travel Destination: Valley of the Kings

A mere mention of the name 'Egypt' conjures up images of pyramids and the mighty sphinx, mummies, oddly shaped symbols and hieroglyphics. Egypt was once an enormous kingdom whose rulers and kings watched over the land for hundreds of years. One of the most interesting places to visit in modern Egypt is known as 'The Valley of the Kings' - a quiet valley where many of Egypt's rulers lay buried in less than grand tombs.

The Valley, whose Egyptian name is Biban el-Muluk, or 'Gateway to the Kings', is a large, dry gully known as a wadi, located on the left bank of the Nile near Thebes in Upper Egypt. Two conjoining valley branches form this particular wadi. The eastern most branch is called, ta set aat, or The Great Place, and is where most of the tombs of the royal family can be found. The valley itself is easy to miss because not only is it situated in a secluded valley miles from the nearest town, but it's also guarded by cliffs which must be climbed before one can see into the valley below.

Many kings and pharaohs of early Egypt built grand pyramids to mark their resting places, complete with stairways, corridors and sharply turning angles and false chambers to thwart prospective thieves. But the kings of 'The New Kingdom', who were among the first to call themselves pharaohs,began with the rule of Ahmose and included that of Tuthmose III, just a child when he became king. The Kingdom ended with the reign of the Ramesses XI.

Those pharaohs preferred less obvious and opulent resting places, perhaps due to rampant looting of crypts and pyramids even in their day. Instead, they chose to be buried in a less public manner than their predecessors, choosing the harsh and desolate cliffs of the area west of Thebes for their burial ground. Today this area is called Valley of the Kings, and while the rocks and cliffs seem harsh and unwelcoming, the insides of the tombs and crypts secluded there, which sometimes extend well into the surrounding mountainsides, are packed with priceless treasures that accompanied their leaders into the afterlife. Still, as in the old days, the power and duration of a king's rule often determined how large or opulent his resting place was to be, and many tombs and underground chambers continued to be designed with false entrances and chambers to foil grave robbers.

The Valley is home to sixty-two tombs that have been excavated so far. Most of the tombs belong to kings and their families, but some have been found to belong to high-ranking nobles or officials, though obviously aren't as large or opulent as the royal tombs. The most famous tomb in the valley belongs to young King Tutankamun, or Tut, as he is more commonly known. Though only a teenager of around eighteen when he died unexpectedly, he is nonetheless one of the most famous Egyptians in history. His remains lay undisturbed in his tomb for over 3,300 years before being discovered by British Egyptologist Howard Carter in 1922. Three coffins, each nestled inside the other, protected the young king. The first two coffins were fashioned from gold hammered over wooden frames, but the third and innermost coffin is made of 110 kilograms of solid gold. Because his mummy isn't in very good condition, it remains in the Valley of the Kings to this day, though his burial mask of gold and many artifacts from his tomb are displayed in the Cairo Museum and around the world.

Because of mass tourism, increase in pollution and rising groundwater, many of the ancient tombs have been damaged, and today, only a few selected tombs remain open to visitors and tourists. Among these are the tombs of Tutankamun, Ramesses VI, Amenhotep II and Seti I. Each of these has been provided with electricity to make it easier for both researchers and visitors to get around.

The earliest known king to be buried in the Valley was Thutmose I, while the last was Ramesses XI, though by far the most famous was the tomb of the young Tut. Directly opposite young Tut's tomb is that of the children of Ramesses II. The recent discovery of Ramesses II's family crypt, which contains the mummies of fifty-four of his sons, is an exciting find that may provide a wealth of information for scholars for years to come. So far, eight or nine rooms have been uncovered, the finances needed for this great undertaking being funded by Chicago House of the United States. One of the largest tombs in the valley belongs to Ramesses VI, and is decorated with scenes from the Egyptian Book of the Underworld. The tomb of Seti I is the most grand of the royal tombs, but because of its condition, it is often off limits to visitors. Believe it or not, many early visitors to the Valley of the Kings left their mark, and in the tomb of Ramesses VII, markings on the wall in the form of ancient graffiti can be traced to 278 B.C., while hundreds of markings left in Greek and Latin are visual reminders of visitors from Cyprus, Phoenicia and other Classical empires over the ages.

Interest in the valley increased toward the latter end of the 1600's, when a French Father by the name of Charles Francois visited 'The Place of the Mummies'. Still, it wasn't until the early 1700's that curious travelers began to explore the tombs and write extensively about their eerie presence in the silent valley in the middle of the desert. Archaeologists and Egyptologists came and went, not only recording the sites of the tombs, but pillaging them as well. It was not until 1899 that the focus of these expeditions became more intellectual and less 'glory hunting' expeditions and Howard Carter was named Antiquities Inspector for Upper Egypt. His main responsibility was to maintain and protect the archaeological sites in Upper Egypt and to issue permission for archaeological digs. Only then did investors who backed the digs succeeded in taking the field from an amateurish level to the utmost professionalism.

Today, a great deal of importance is given to the ancient hieroglyphics and paintings found on the walls within these crypts and caverns because of their importance to our understanding of not only ancient Egypt but also global history. Such drawings decorate many of the tomb walls, telling stories of the travels, battles and lives of the kings buried within. Hieroglyphics were at one time thought of be religious in context, but now are known to be one of the earliest forms of writings, an artistic form of writing comprised of pictures or symbols that represent ideas and words spelled out by how they sound. Combining more than six hundred symbols, these pictures can imply a single sound or an entire thought or idea. For example, if a scribe wanted to write the word for 'belief', he would combine the signs designated for a 'bee' and a 'leaf'. It is these works of ancient art that have given modern civilization the opportunity to peek through the window of the past to discover such an ancient people, whose great contributions in architecture, medicine and politics have served to advance the human race.

The Valley of the Kings is more than just a place. It's more than caves and caverns, mummies and secrets. It's living history, both ancient and modern. It's about more than treasures and artifacts, but about ideals and beliefs. The pyramids in the sand have endured thousands of years, providing modern man with sites of wonder and visions of grandeur rarely experienced, a legacy to be treasured and explored... and cared for.