|  Beginning
with the 18th Dynasty and ending with the
20th, the kings abandoned the Memphis area
and built their tombs in Thebes. Most of
the tombs were cut into the granite following
a similar pattern: three corridors, a hall
and a sunken sarcophagus chamber. These
catacombs were harder to rob and were more
easily concealed. The text in the tombs
are from the Book of the Dead, the Book
of the Gates and the Book of the Underworld.
New kingdom royal cemetery located on the
west bank of the Nile, about 5 Km to the
west of modern Luxor, which actually consists
of two separate valleys. The eastern valley
is the main royal cemetery of the 18th to
20th Dynasties, while the so-called western
Valley (or Cemetery of the Monkeys/Apes)
contains only four tombs: those of AMENHOTEP
III (1390-1325 BC; kv22) and AY (1327-1323
BC; kv23), and two others which are uninsurable
(kv24-5). There are sixty-two tombs in the
cemetery as a whole: the earliest is perhaps
kv38, at the far end of the main valley,
which has been identified as that of TUHOTMOSE
I (1504-1492 BC) and the latest is KV4,
belonging to Ramses XI(1099-1069 BC). It
has been suggested that KV39 may be the
tomb of TUHOTMOSE I's ancestor, that his
tomb was at Dra Abu el-Naga .
One of the major features of the royal tombs
at the Valley of the Kings was their separation
from the mortuary temples, which, for the
first time since the Early Dynastic period,
were built some distance away, in a long
line at the edge of the desert. Each of
the tombs was therefore a long series of
rock-cut corridors and chambers, sloping
downwards into the cliffs. The earlier tombs
(from TUHOTMOSE I to Amenophis III) consisted
of a bent-axis corridor leading down to
a burial chamber which was a first egg-shaped
(or CARTOUCHE-shaped) and later square.
The wall-decoration in these 18th-Danesty
tombs consisted of scenes from the Amduat
executed in a simplified linear style, apparently
imitating painted papyrus, with the background
color changing from one tomb to another.
The tomb of TutAnkhAmon is famous as it
was the only tomb found undamaged. This
was in fact a very minor Pharaoh who was
murdered at the age of 18 .
There is very little to see above ground
except on the other side of a ridge. There
is the magnificent funerary complex built
for Queen Hatshepsuit.
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