KV9: Tomb of Ramesses V and Ramesses VI

Ancient Egyptian Royal Burial Chamber at Tanis

The Great Tomb Robberies of Ancient Egypt

King Ramesses XI of Ancient Egypt

Ramesses IX and X | Ancient Egyptian Pharaohs

Ramesses VII and VIII | Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt

The Amarna Letters

Tomb of Ineni - Nobles Tombs - Luxor Egypt. Part XIV

Tombs of the Nobles, Luxor, Egypt

Also called Enne, This was the architect who excavated the first tomb in the Valley of the Kings, that of Thutmose I. His tomb comprises a main chamber, the facade of which is formed of pillars which carry their
murals on the rear faces, and a corridor.
Three of the square pillars carry particularly interesting murals.
The first (a) is a hunting scene with a rearing hyena biting a broken arrow as a dog rushes the wounded creature from the rear and gazelles flee. The second (b) shows Ineni's country house and he and his wife are seen in the arbour (damaged) from whence he orders his gardener round the walled estate. On the third pillar (c) Ineni can be seen before a sumptuous feast.
On the left-hand rear wall of the first chamber (d) Ineni receives tributes from swarthy Nubians including two women who carry their babies on their backs (top row). Below he receives contributions from the peasants. This part of the mural is squared up for the draughtsman. On the right-hand wall (e) is a scene in poor condition of Ineni and his pet dog watching a parade of the estate animals including sheep, goats, flamingos and geese.
On the left-hand wall of the rear corridor (f) Ineni and his wife receive offerings. On the right-hand wall (g) are more funerary scenes and offerings. The roof is decorated.
In the niche at the rear are four seated statues of Ineni's wife Thuau, Ineni himself, his father Ineni, and his sister Aahhotep. (from left to right)

Tomb of Thutmose III Plan - Valley of the Kings - Egypt - Part IX

Valley of the Kings, Luxor, Egypt.

This is the tomb of the world's first empire builder. A steep flight of stairs across a dramatic ravine between sheer mountain faces leads to the remote entrance. It was excavated in the 18th Dynasty when the Pharaoh's chief aim was concealment. When it became evident that these precautions were useless, the tombs of the 19th Dynasty were grouped together under an armed guard The design is simple. After the stairway a sloping corridor descends to a staircase which has broad niches on both Sides (I). Beyond this is another corridor leading to a rectangular shaft (crossed by a hand-bridge) and into a chamber (2) which has two undecorated pillars and a ceiling covered with stars. The walls bear the names of 741 different deities. The tomb chamber (3) is approached by a stairway and is In the form of an oval. The scenes of the underworld are mostly In excellent condition. The representations on the pillars are delightfully simplified black drawings. On the face of the first is a religious inscription and on the left-hand face (from top to bottom)  are Thutmose and his queen-mother Isis in a boat, the king being suckled by Isis in the form of a tree and (below) the king being followed by his three wives and the princess Nofretere. On the third face of the pillar are demons. Demons and religious inscriptions adorn the other pillars. The sarcophagus, on an alabaster pedestal, was made of red sandstone and was found to be empty.

The Pharaoh's mummy was safely in the Deir el Bahri (Temple of Hatshepsut) shalt.

Tomb of Haremhab (Horemheb) Plan - Valley of the Kings - Egypt, Part VIII

Valley of the Kings, Luxor, Egypt.

This tomb, which was plundered in antiquity, has an unimpressive entrance with steps through two corridors and is followed by the well-room (3) and by a hall (4) that was completed to resemble the tomb chamber. The stairway on the left-hand side of this hall, though carefully concealed, was nevertheless found by robbers who, following
the corridor (5), passed through the ante-chamber (6) and plundered the tomb chamber (7).
This tomb is worth a visit for four reasons. First for the extremely high quality of the reliefs of the well-room (3) and the ante-chamber (6). Secondly, to see the stages of mural execution in some of the corridors where the work has not been completed and especially in the burial chamber (7). Thirdly, because in the six-pillared burial hall the sarcophagus is a fine piece of work in red granite with beautifully carved figures of the various deities along with the religious formulas. At the corners goddesses spread their wings to guard the deceased. Their protection was inadequate, for when the American archeologist Davis excavated the tomb in 1905 the mummy was in such poor condition as even to prevent confirmation of its sex. Fourthly, because on the higher reaches of the tomb chamber are the symbols for north, south, east and west and it is interesting to observe that these were instructions for the workers, who were given appropriate decorations for each.

Tomb of Ramses IX Plan – The Valley of the Kings, Egypt. Part VII

Valley of the Kings, Luxor, Egypt.
This tomb is constructed on fairly classical lines and comprises three chambers, one following the other in a straight line. It is approached by an inclined plane with stepson either side. Flanking
the doorway are representations of the deceased standing before Harmaches and Osiris (a), and Amon and a goddess of the dead (b). The two pairs of chambers in this part of the corridor have no decorations.
On the right-hand wall, over the second chamber on the right (c ) are demons of the underworld including serpents and ghosts with the heads of bulls and jackals. At this point is the beginning of the text of the sun's journey through the underworld. On the left-hand side of the corridor (d) a priest pours forth the symbols for life, wealth, etc on the deceased Pharaoh, who is dressed like Osiris.
The priest wears the side-lock of a royal prince and is probably a son of the deceased.
The roof of the second corridor (2) is decorated with constellations. To both left and right (e) serpents rear themselves. Note the recesses for figures of the gods, followed on the left-hand wall (f) with the beginning of another text from the Book of the Dead and the deceased Pharaoh before the hawk-headed Sun God . On the opposite wall (g) are demons and spirits.
The third corridor (3) is also protected by serpents. On the right-hand wall (h) the Pharaoh presents an image of Maat to Ptah, the god of Memphis, beside whom stands the goddess Maat. Note that the transparent cloth of the skirt is cut in low relief thus enabling the foot and front legs of the Pharaoh to appear in high relief. Immediately beyond this representation we see the mummy of the Pharaoh across a mountain, symbolizing the resurrection.
The scarab and the sun-disc (above) indicate the bringing forth of renewed life on the earth. Towards the middle of this same wall (at i) are ritualistic representations including four men spitting out scarabs as they bend over backwards, demons standing upon serpents, serpents pierced by arrows and the scarab in a boat with two Horus eyes.
On the left-hand wall (j) are the boats of the Sun God (center) traveling through the second and third hours of night bearing protective divinities.
We now enter a chamber (4). Beyond, at (k) and (I), are priests with panther skins and side-locks, sacrificing and making offerings before a standard. The next chamber (s) is rough and unfinished
and slopes downwards to the burial chamber through another corridor (6). In the burial chamber (7) there are traces (on the floor) of the sarcophagus. On the walls are gods and demons. The goddess Nut, representing the morning and evening skies, is shown across the rough ceiling in two figures. Below are constellations, boats of the stars, etc . On the rear wall (m) the child Horus, seated within the winged sun-disc, is symbolic of rebirth after death.

Tomb of Ramses VI Plan - Valley of the Kings - Part V - Luxor, Egypt

Valley of the kings, Luxor, Egypt.

This tomb was started by Ramses V and was usurped by his successor. It has three entrance halls, two chambers, a further two corridors, an ante-chamber and the tomb chamber. The wall representations are carried out in low painted relief. The standard of craftsmanship is not high but the tomb chamber itself has one of the most important ceilings in the Valley of the Kings. In fact names and mottoes in Coptic and Greek show that this Golden Hall was an attraction from the first century A.D.

The first three corridors carry texts and representations from the Praises of Ra .On both sides of the first corridor, at (a) and (b), the deceased Pharaoh stands before the deities Harachte (Horus) and Osiris. On the right-hand side of the second corridor (c) is the barge of the Sun God with the twelve hours of night. Towards the end of the left-hand wall (d) is the figure of Osiris before whom is the boat of the Sun God. A pig (representing evil) is being driven away from it by sacred dog-headed apes. We now pass into the third corridor.

On the roof there is a painting of the goddess Nut which extends from the beginning of the corridor (3) , through the ante-chamber (4) when: her body curves to the right of the roof, and ends in the chamber (5). On the right-hand wall of the third corridor is a superb representation of Osiris under a canopy (e).

The chamber (5) has four columns and a sloping passage at the rear which is guarded by sacred winged snakes. The columns show the Pharaoh making offerings to the deities. The roof is rich in color. On the rear walls (f) and (g) are representations of the enthroned Osiris before whom the deceased burns incense. 

Though the color is well-preserved, the reliefs are inferior when compared to those in the tomb of Seti I. The following corridor (6) takes us further along the road to the underworld. On the left -hand side (h) is the journey in the fourth hour with the sacred cow (center row) and the crocodile in a boat (second row).

The sloping corridor (7) has sacred and protective emblems and religious formulas from the book of "That which is in the Underworld" , and leads to an ante-chamber (8). On the right-hand wall (i) is the deceased Pharaoh with Maat. The left-hand wall (j) has texts from the Book of the Dead.

Dark blue and gold predominate in the tomb chamber (9). Across the vaulted ceiling 'the goddess Nut is twice represented along its entire length, in a graceful semi-circle with backs touching. This represents the morning and evening skies. Her elongated body curves to touch the earth with finger and toe, head to the west, loins to the east.

The entire chamber is a complex of appropriate texts from the Book of the Dead. For example, on the right-hand wall (k) is a small representation (second row) of the boat of the Sun God, who is represented in the shape of a beetle with a ram's head. The boat is being worshiped by two human-headed birds and the souls of Khepri and Atum (forms of the Sun God). Below this scene (to left and right) are the beheaded condemned and above is a representation of the goddess Nut with upstrctched arms.

In the niche at the rear of the tomb chamber (l) is the barge of the Sun God held aloft in upstretched arms.

The smashed sarcophagus of the Pharaoh and his molested mummy were left onsite by the grave-robbers who violated the tomb.

Egypt: Tomb of Amenhotep II Plan - Valley of the Kings part IV

Valley of the Kings, Luxor, Egypt.

This tomb was excavated in1898. The attention of Loret, the French archeologist, was drawn to it by local farmers. It was a remarkable find. For one thing it was the first tomb ever opened in which the Pharaoh was found where he had been laid. Secondly, there was a windfall of mummies in a sealed-off chamber, including nine of royalty. Thirdly, the burial chamber proved to be one of the most beautiful, certainly the most original, in the entire Valley of the Kings. But more important, the tomb was nearly complete and contained a complete and unspoiled set of texts from the Book of the Dead.
The first corridors are rough and undecorated. They lead to a shaft (now bridged), a false burial chamber (J) created to confuse robbers, and finally to the actual tomb chamber (2). This is supported by six pillars and the sarcophagus of the Pharaoh lay in the crypt-like section at the rear. The mummy was festooned and garlanded and the sandstone sarcophagus was all that the grave-robbers had left . Everything else had been ruthlessly plundered.

As one enters the tomb chamber one is immediately struck by the originality and beauty of the decorations. The figures on the columns -for the most part depicting Amenhotep and the gods of the underworld - are outlined in black with only his crown, jewelery, belt and the surrounding decorations in color. The drawing is exquisitely fine and the blue roof is covered with stars. The walls are painted yellow and the traditional religious formulas are so drawn as to give the impression of papyrus texts having been pinned to the walls. There is not too much detail and the use of the pigment is beneficially restrained. As already explained, the Book of the Dead was a development of the magical formulas inscribed on the inside of the coffins of the Middle Kingdom. With the aid of these formulas the deceased would overcome the foes to his eternal
triumph in the underworld. Only with the magic inscriptions could he hope to make his heart (conscience) acceptable in the awesome presence of Osiris when it was weighed against the feather of truth; and only thus could he hope to live securely forever.
On each side of the chamber are two small rooms. Three mummies lay in the first to the right (3), and in the second (4) were nine royal mummies including Thutmose IV, Amenhotep III, Seti II and Ramses IV, Ramses V and Ramses VI. All have been taken to Cairo Museum. Not surprisingly this quickly became known as the
Safety Tomb and this is undoubtedly what the priests had intended it for. When they found that Amenhotep II's tomb had been violated they reasoned that the robbers would not return to its ravaged corridors. In fact they never did. The royal personages remained in peace for centuries.
When Loret excavated the tomb quite a controversy arose as to whether the mummy should be left on site or whether it should be removed with the others to the museum. It was finally agreed that it should remain on site but with an armed guard. Nearly three years later the tomb was rifled when, deliberately or otherwise, the backs of the guards were turned. The mummy of Amenhotep was found on the floor, in a very much poorer condition as a result of delving and prying hands in search of overlooked treasures in the folds of the cloth. There was now no question about it. The mummy of the Pharaoh was placed in Cairo Museum. The marvellous sandstone sarcophagus stands on site.

Egypt: Valley of the Kings Plans - Tombs of the Kings

Valley of the Kings, Luxor, Egypt.

The Valley of the Kings, is situated about two miles inland from the edge of the valley. A tarmac road makes the distance seem short. Before its construction a visitor had a sense of the arid remoteness of the site chosen

by the Pharaohs of the 18th, 19th and 20th Dynasties for their tombs. There are over sixty in the valley of the Kings.

The Pharaohs of the New Kingdom, as already explained, chose to separate their tombs from their mortuary temples as a safeguard against pillage, and to burrow through solid rock in an effort to ensure eternal seclusion. The actual tomb design was relatively uniform, differing only in length and in the number of chambers. There were usually three corridors, one following the other, leading to the inner chambers. High up on the walls of the second corridor were sometimes oblong recesses for the reception of the furniture and effects of the deceased. Alternatively other recesses or chambers were provided at the end of the third corridor for the same purpose. At the end of the third corridor was a door leading to an ante-chamber; the main hall or tomb chamber lay beyond. The roof of the tomb chamber was often supported by pillars and

small chambers led off it. In the center or to the rear was a crypt containing the sarcophagus, usually of red sandstone.

A shaft, sometimes dropping to a depth of over six meters, was a feature of several tombs. Whether this was designed to discourage possible grave-robbers from proceeding further is not sure, though there are positive indications that this was their purpose; for example, the representations on the upper walls of the pit shaft were usually left unfinished with the outer frame of decoration missing, where as the chambers beyond the shaft were fully decorated. Another theory is that the shaft was for the drainage of rain-water; though rain is not common in Egypt the tomb designers may well have taken precautions against the possibility of seepage.

The concern of the Pharaoh was not with his death, which was inevitable, but that his journey to the hereafter should be as smooth as possible. There was no apprehension, no fear. Man continued lite after death in much the same manner as he had lived on earth, so long as the necessities for his existence were provided, safe-guards were taken to prevent his body from decay, and the religious formulas were scrupulously followed.

In the Middle Kingdom the religious formulas by which the dead were to triumph had been recorded both inside and outside the sarcophagus. Gradually the texts were elaborated and scrolls of papyrus were placed in the coffin as well. Enlarged over the years these gradually became uniform and the nucleus of what has

become known as the Book of the Dead.

The rock-hewn passages and chambers represent stages in the journey to the underworld, which was supposedly divided into twelve hours or caverns. The deceased sailed through them at night in the boat of the Sun God - in fact actually absorbed by him- and representations on the first corridors of the tombs often show the ram-headed Sun God surrounded by his retinue who are standing in a boat and temporarily bringing light to the places he -traverses. As they pass from one leg of the journey to another they have to go through massive gates, each guarded by huge serpents. These chapters of the formula are known as the Book of the Gates.

The forward corridors were generally devoted to Praises of Ra - hymns to be sung and illustrations of the ceremonies to be performed before the statue of the deceased Pharaoh to imbue it with eternal life. And finally the deceased reached the judgement seat of Osiris, King of the Underworld.

Osiris, the creator of law and agriculture, had once ruled on earth. With his wife and sister Isis at his side he had been a just and much loved ruler who was slain by his jealous brother Set. Set, as the myth goes, conspired against Osiris and at a banquet persuaded him to enter a chest which was then scaled and thrown into the Nile. It was carried down to the sea. The broken-hearted Isis wandered far and wide in tortured misery seeking the body of her loved one. Accompanied on her sad mission by the goddess Nephthys she eventually found the body entangled in a tamarisk bush in the marshes of the delta . She hid the body, but Set, out boar-hunting, found it and cut it into fourteen pieces, scattering it in all directions. Isis continued her mission, collected the pieces (at each spot a monument was erected, which accounts for the widespread myth) and sought the help of the jackal-god Anubis, who became god of embalmment , to prepare it for the netherworld. While he carried out her orders Isis wept and prayed and drew near her dead lord "making a shadow with her pinions and causing a wind with her wings... raising the weary limbs of the silent-hearted (dead), receiving his seed,and bringing forth an heir"

Isis, the myth continues, raised her son Horus in the marshes until he was strong enough to avenge his father's death by slaying Set. He then set out to seek his father and raise him from the dead. The risen Osiris, however, could no longer reign in the kingdom on earth and now became king of the underworld where, with Isis still at his side, he ruled below with the same justice as he had exercised above. Horus took over the throne of his father on earth.

On the walls of the tomb chamber, or in the rear corridors,are dramatic representations of the dangers carefully guarded against: enemies withdrawing the breath from the nostrils of the deceased; water bursting into flame as he drinks; foes robbing him of his throne, his organs and, worst of all, his very name, which would thus deprive him forever of his identity.

The tombs in the Valley of the Kings, which are guidebooks to the hereafter, give us an insight into the hopes, expectations and fears of the living Pharaoh. Very soon after his coronation he must have ordered the construction of these usually vast complexes. His artists made initial sketches on the walls. His artisans began to turn out the 403 Shawabti (little statues bearing the implements of labor and usually put in big wooden boxes in the tomb to save the Pharaoh from tedious work in the hereafter). Funerary furniture was designed and made. And since secrecy was vital, only the workers from the city at Deir el Medina toiled on the tombs and only the Pharaoh himself and the high priests knew the actual site.

It is probable that the priests actually possessed an architectural plan or blue print for the construction of tombs in the valley. Though none has ever been found , one cannot believe that a people capable of placing an obelisk of solid granite upright on a small rectangular base, of planning irrigation canals, and, with their obsession for accuracy, of dividing the year nearly 4000 years B.C. into 365 days and thus forming the basis of the calendar we use today, that such a people would hazard a guess about that most vital decision : where to dig a Pharaoh's tomb. Admittedly the first corridor of the tomb of Ramses III actually breaks through into

another tomb-that of Amen-mesis, one of the pretenders to the throne at the end of the 19th Dynasty - and is consequently diverted and continued to the right. While this might indicate the absence of any blueprint it may equally be the exception that proves the rule.

What a sad tum of fate that, despite the remoteness of the site, enforced secrecy, complexity of structure and diversion shafts, the tombs were robbed from earliest times! In fact they were probably penetrated soon after they were sealed. Lust for gold, though the main, was not the only reason for their violation. The sacred corridors were also penetrated by enemies of the Pharaoh who wanted to prevent him from continuing his rule in the hereafter. There has been vicious mutilation of some of the mummies. Ramses VI, for example, when unwrapped after having been found hidden in the tomb of Amenhotep II, was discovered to have been

literally hacked to pieces.

On the sarcophagi of Seti I and Ramses II are records of a century and a half of persistent effort by the priests to safeguard the royal mummies. Ramses II was first taken from his own tomb to that of his father Seti I. Later he was hidden in the tomb of Queen Inhapi . And finally he was placed in the shaft at Deir el Bahri. In

their haste to re-wrap and hide the mummies, the priests sometimes failed to take the necessary precautions; in the wrappings of Ramses I the body of an old lady was found! This was no isolated instance.

As we pass along the corridors of the violated tombs we wonder to what happy stroke of fortune we owe the preservation of one single tomb left intact. We wonder why the first robbers of Tutankhamun's tomb- and there are indications that it had been opened and re-sealed, never went hack to complete the job. When

Ramses VI had his tomb constructed above that of Tutankhamun the rubble undoubtedly fell and obliterated the latter's, but that was over a century later. Whatever the reason, it is thanks to the preservation of the tomb of Tutankhamun that we know the story of the lavish splendor, the artistic merit and the able craftsmanship of the 18th Dynasty. And if this was the tomb of Egypt's youngest, and one of its least significant monarchs, what unimaginable treasures must have been stolen from the tombs of Amenhotep the Magnificent , Ramses II who loved size and splendor, Seti I who encouraged an artistic revival, and Ramses III who was known as

the 'Wealthiest of Pharaohs'.

Explore all different parts of the Valley of the Kings in details:

Tomb of Tutankhamun - Valley of the Kings Part II

Tomb of Seti I - Valley of the Kings - Part III Largest Tomb

Tomb of Amenhotep II - Valley of the Kings part IV

Tomb of Ramses VI - Valley of the Kings - Part V

Tomb of Ramses III -:Valley of the Kings, Egypt- Part VI

Tomb of Ramses IX – The Valley of the Kings, Egypt. Part VII

Tomb of Haremhab (Horemheb) - Valley of the Kings - Egypt, Part VIII

Tomb of Thutmose III - Valley of the Kings - Egypt - Part IX

Egypt's Necropolis And the Necropolis Temples.

It was to the West, where the Sun God at the end of each day began his nocturnal journey through the underworld, that man also gained admittance to the hereafter. Life after death was a concept most deeply. rooted in the minds of the ancient Egyptians. Since the earliest times they had seen the passing of the mortal

body not as an end but as a beginning. Belief in the hereafter was the focal point of their outlook. It stimulated their thought, their moral principles and their art.

Man, as they saw him, comprised the body, the spirit (or Ba), and the Ka, a sort of guardian double which, though born at the same time, did not share death with him. After the passing of his mortal body man could live again through his Ka, provided that it was nourished and surrounded by all that was necessary for a continued existence. His Ba (spirit) ascended to higher spheres and could fly around the world and return to the tomb, provided that his body was properly preserved. Without the body, in fact, there could be no continued existence. So it can readily he seen that the repository for the dead and the manner in which they were to be interred were of the utmost importance.

Even in pre-dynastic times the dead, laid to rest in simple oval pits surmounted by a pile of rubble, were covered with a protective animal skin and surrounded by pots containing food and drink, a few primitive weapons and ornaments. Each slow development from these crude pit burials through the Mastaba development to the pyramid proper, and its ultimate abandonment in favor of rock-hewn tombs, was a battle to preserve the body. When a stone superstructure was placed atop a tomb in place of the rubble, this was because it was a stronger safeguard against the elements. When, in place of skin, linen cloth was used to swathe the body this was because it afforded better protection. When the tombs were made deeper , when a system of blocking entrance passages was devised, when funerary customs under went change, each stage was an advancement in the protection of the body to allow the deceased to live again, forever. 

Mastabas, low rectangular bench-like brick structures were tombs. The earliest comprised a single burial chamber hewn deep in the ground , in which the deceased, placed in a wooden sarcophagus, lay surrounded by pottery jars filled with food, drink and ointments, and chests of weapons and jewelery. In the funerary room built in the super structure there was a false door through which the Ka could join the world of the living. In front of it was an offering table where relatives and friends could place food and drink to sustain the deceased in the hereafter.

Since tombs were regarded as the places where the deceased would dwell, they closely resembled contemporary houses both inside and out. Naturally, increased prosperity meant a better life and, since a man's good fortune led to an increased concern to take it all with him to the hereafter, the Mastaba underwent transformation. It became larger and more complex, constructed to fit each individual's special requirements. The sarcophagus, still laid in the central chamber of the substructure, stood on a platform.Other chambers were constructed for the funerary equipment . Abundant food and drink meant more sustenance for the body. Perfected furniture meant more eternal comfort. Ointments, weapons, games, clothing, all meant abetter afterlife. And since it was desirable to be surrounded by loved ones, chambers were sometimes constructed for the wife, sons and daughters of the deceased.

But larger tombs and richer funerary equipment led to increased risk of violation by robbers. It is somewhat ironical that, whereas mummification was to be perfected and art and architecture were to rise to a high degree of sophistication , no secure method of hindering the robber was ever found. During fifty centuries tombs were violated, their contents taken and the bodies exposed to the elements.

The burial chamber and adjoining rooms for the funerary equipment were originally constructed first and then, after the superstructure was raised, the deceased and his belongings were lowered through the roof of the Mstaba, down the pit and straight into the burial chamber. With bigger and more elaborate tombs, however, an easier means of entry had to be devised. Access was thenceforth made via a stair way from a point outside the superstructure and leading directly underground to the tomb chamber. It was hoped that robbers would be deterred by an elaborate system of blockings.

In many Mastabas dating from the latter part of the 4th Dynasty a special room was constructed in the super structure, separated by a wall from the other rooms. This was the statue house, now known on the hills south of the Valley of the Kings and built his mortuary temple in the valley. His successor, Thutmose I, followed his innovation of separating the burial chamber from the mortuary temple, being the first Pharaoh to construct his tomb in the Valley of the Kings. His architect Ineni excavated it through solid rock across a precipitous valley, and recorded for posterity on a stele in his tomb that he carried out his Pharaoh's request 'no one seeing and no one hearing'. His mortuary temple was built at the edge of the verdant valley on the west bank of the Nile. Thus, he believed, could his cult be continued while his actual resting place was unknown.

This precedent was followed. The Pharaohs that succeeded Thutmose I in the 18th, 19th and 20th Dynasties continued to dig their tombs deep in the sterile valley which is now known as the Valley of the Kings. Royal consorts and children from the 19th Dynasty were buried at a separate site, the Valley of the Queens. Noble men had their tombs dug at various cemeteries among the foot hills of the range.

This is the Theban necropolis, the City of the Dead. It was not always as lifeless as we see it today. At one time beside each mortuary temple there were dwellings for the priests and stables for the sacrificial animals. Near by were the guard houses and granaries each with its superintendent . Surrounding or in front of each temple were lakes, groves and beautifully laid-out gardens.

A large community of laborers and craftsmen were engaged on the building, the decorating, the making of statue and sarcophagus, and,of course, on the very specialized job of preparing the deceased for the hereafter : mummification. The ruins of this community have been excavated near the temple of Der el Medina. Some 40,000 pieces of pottery and scraps of papyrus give fascinating revelations of the artists and artisans who lived there. The village comprised about eighty families, each possessing a small, uniform and sparely furnished house. They worked under a strict system of administration and the people were classified according to their work. The designers and scribes were considered superior to the artists, painters and draughtsmen. The quarrymen and.masons naturally came above the porters, digger sand mortar mixers . At the bottom of the scale were the watchmen and refreshment carriers. At the top, in charge of the whole community, were the Director of Works and the various foremen immediately under his control.

Attendance was strictly marked and an absent worker had to account for himself. The written excuses have survived the centuries. One had to visit "my mother-in-law", Another had to get urgent supplies from the market. Illness was a frequent excuse. The scandals, quarrels and complaints of the workers were all recorded. On one occasion a complaint reached the authorities that a chair, a box and a mirror were missing from the tomb of a worker. He described them in detail. A check was made. Now Egyptologists found these described items in the surrounding cliffs where the dead of the city were buried!

There were also complaints of a more serious nature, as for example the backlog of salaries which led to the famous Revolution of  the 20th and the 21st Dynasties, written on papyri and recording that the authorities failed to give allowances to the people of the village for two months. Payment normally came regularly each month in the form of charcoal, dried meat, fish, bandages and cloth, along with materials for their work. When the caravan failed to turn up the villagers staged a revolt and attempted to send representatives in protest to Thebes. They were stopped from crossing the river. However, they did finally send the Admin of the village to speak on their behalf and were consequently promised their salaries within a week.

The men of the village were all skilled workers. Those that toiled in the Valley of the Kings for ten day stretches slept in makeshift shelters in a mountain pass above the village until their term of work was over. On their return they had ample time to enjoy sculpting at leisure, making jewelery, household objects and statues of their own guardian deity, Hathor , to whom they built a small shrine. One village resident, Kha, a draughts man who rose to the position of architect, placed in his tomb a selection of furniture which appears unused. It is doubtful whether he actually enjoyed these luxuries in his home. They were evidently placed In his tomb that they might ensure him a better afterlife. It is strange to note that nowhere on the Theban necropolis have the ruins of a mummification center yet been found.

The Necropolis Mortuary Temples:

As we have seen, the reigning Pharaoh was the embodiment of the Sun God and the God of the Imperial Age, When he died and Amon cast his protective shield over his successor, the cult of the deceased Pharaoh was continued in his mortuary temple, which was also dedicated to Amon.

The largest of these temples, that of Amenhotep III, is no more; all the remain are the twin statues known as the Colossi of Memon seated in solitary isolation in the plain. The mortuary temple of Seti I at Kurna contains someof the most exquisite relief work on the Theban necropolis. The most beautiful, Queen Hatshepsut's at Der el Bahri, lies slightly in land from the semi-circle along the valley's edge. The Ramasseum of Ramses II is a page in history, and Medinet Habu, the name given to a group of buildings begun in the 18th Dynasty and continuing to Roman times, includes a splendid temple built by Ramses III on the same pattern as the Ramasseum.