The valley of Kings
When we look at the eastern bank of the Nile we find beautiful gardens and Nile boats with sails, while we find in the western side the mountains of the desert where the graves which were considered as the Kingdom of the dead or the other world, where the dead have their rest, this desert has no one in, it is not flat and but is also full of sand and each mountain follow the mountain in a beautiful chain that continues as far as your eye can see. Here lay the dead bodies near the line where he meets the green (fields) in the desert cane plantations and sheep pastures.
The two statues of Memnoun were erected in honor of King Amenhotep III, the father of Akhenaten, each carved from a single block of limestone. They are orientated to the east, where the ancient capital of the modern state lies.
The tourists come here from every place since ancient times to see what these ancient people did from the reign of Abra the Persians, where the temples of Taybeh and its tombs attracted the tourists until they arrived in increasing numbers during the reign of Alexander the Great and after these tourists the Christians came to the area in search of a new way to God in the difficult days Days of Persecution
The historical writings of the region began at the hands of Claude Secard who visited the Valley of the Kings in 1708 and saw 10 open tombs. The first scientific description of the Valley of the Kings was written by Richard Brckock in 1738 and he drew the first scientific map. By the arrival of Napoleon’s expedition to Alexandria in 1798, a new phase of scientific interest began in the region. Denon recorded the monuments of Upper Egypt and the first hidden cemetery was discovered.
After the evacuation of the French campaigns and the arrival of the English to Egypt, the field became open to them to make discoveries. Then came the Italian scientist Giovanni Belzoni and discovered the tombs of City I and Ramses I. Then Maspero came and did his research and discoveries. His name was associated with the name of the royal mummy. In 1881 he discovered the oldest collection of religious texts which are the texts of the pyramids in the old state when the pyramids of the fifth and sixth families opened in Saqqara. Finally came Howard Carter, where he reached the Valley of the Kings as a painter of archeology and with time gained the discovery experience and discovered the tomb of the family 18, Thutmose the second and the other to Tuthmosis IV In 1907, Carter joined the service of Lord Cartervon, the Englishman who helped Carter search after 1917. Their aim was to search for the tomb of Tutankhamun until 1922 when workers found staircases under the tomb of Ramesses VI leading to the tomb of Tut.
Evolution of the royal tombs
The history of the Egyptian tomb extends for more than 3000 years, from the kings of the ancient era to the dream in Alexandria, which is divided into 4 stages.
1 – From 3000 BC to 2600 BC the stage is molded
- From 2600 BC to 1500 BC the stage of the pyramid
3 – From 1500 BC to 1100 BC the tomb carved into the rock
- The last is the baptismal tomb
*The first stage
The state appeared in Egypt in 3000 BC. This marks the beginning of the historical period. The first tombs were modest about 1 m * 2 m, but they were also developed for prehistoric tombs. They were built in houses. The tombs in the first stage were built in rectangular blocks of brick with slanted sides Until King Den came from the family and first used the stone to build his tomb. Many kings then used the stones to build their tombs, such as Zoser, who built his tomb of stone and surrounded by a wall of white limestone. When moving to the fourth family, Dideh In the era of Cheops arrived in the shape of the pyramid and the way the four aspects rookie
The last kings of the fifth family developed a list for the development of royal tombs in the old state
The tomb in the Middle Kingdom era
The tomb in the middle country was a spacious temple covered with a roof and then in the second floor columns and booths for the dead pharaoh to offer sacrifices. Then the third floor was the tomb of the deceased king where it was believed that there were always individuals and workers or slaves and priests responsible for the temple and difficult to steal
The tomb in the era of the modern state
After 1500 BC we found the tombs carved into the Valley of the Kings and the funerary temples near the cultivated land on the edge of the desert
– The reasons for choosing this area
First, a religious reason is the connection of Hathor to the region, which was worshiped in the monastery of the sea
Second, the geometric shape represents the pyramid shape in the bright opening on the valley
Third, the isolation of this valley away from the eye of thieves
Fourth, it should be a mountainous area because it was normal for people to dwell
Fifthly, it must be his stone, because if it is possible, it will be sown
The development of religious inscriptions in the tombs
After the Amenhotep III, parts of the Amidawat were dedicated to the burial chambers only. The remaining surfaces were reserved for the pharaoh’s images in front of the gods. The ceiling of the corridor and the attached rooms are painted with blue and yellow stars
The growth principle of the cemetery
Each tomb was intended to be larger than its predecessor, regardless of the length of the rule of the king and with time each new king was trying to set up some new elements in the magnification of the royal tomb, such as new cathedrals or rooms or sides of the columns or increase the space of rooms or put a coffin plated larger Akhnaton To enlarge and inflate the buildings in a continuous manner and deliberately to be the buildings in the hill of Al-Amarna with small stones and introduce a significant change in the return to the one axis of the royal tomb, but not as it was in the era of the pyramids directed towards the stars and constants but became directed towards the sun to enter the graveyard rays Akhenaton
The labor force was 40 to 120 workers. When they reached the final stages, the number was much lower. When the pharaoh died and the new pharaoh was waiting for 70 days, the pharaoh was mummified. In these 70 days, the final touches were made. Once the ancient pharaoh is buried
Parts of the The vestibule refers to the corridors of the God reference to the Sun God
The Foothill Cliff The first passage of the god Ra that is above the sun’s path and breaks this slope with the chamber connected to the well, which is called the separation list,
The burial chambers are called the Gold House where the deceased Pharaoh sits
It was natural to search for the appropriate place to the tomb and then dug and they were always returned to the map of the valley to be avoided with any other cemetery and when the place is chosen, the team starts digging the first helipad and basement and they used the simple stone tools in the lemongrass stone either solid rocks were Using copper and bronze, the tomb was carved from top to bottom, then the walls were smoothed and the cracks and gaps were filled. Then the walls were covered with a plate of white plaster and the tomb was carved from paragraphs of the book of the other world
