Cut into the limestone cliffs of the Theban hills on the west bank of the Nile, the Valley of the Kings served as the royal burial ground of Egypt's New Kingdom pharaohs for nearly 500 years. With over 60 known tombs—including the world-famous KV62 of Tutankhamun—the Valley remains the most extraordinary concentration of royal funerary art anywhere on Earth.
A fast, practical snapshot of the Valley of the Kings—why it exists, what you'll find there, and what makes it unmissable for any Egypt visit.
The natural peak above the valley—al-Qurn ("the Horn")—resembles a pyramid, and the remote, dry limestone cliffs were ideal for cutting deep corridors that could be sealed and hidden from tomb robbers.
Pharaohs of Dynasties 18, 19, and 20, including Thutmose III, Akhenaten's successors, Seti I, Ramesses II, Ramesses III, and the boy-king Tutankhamun—plus some high-ranking nobles and royal wives.
European excavations began in earnest in the early 19th century. Howard Carter found the intact tomb KV62 in November 1922 after years of searching—the single greatest discovery in the history of Egyptology.
A general ticket admits visitors to three tombs of their choice. KV62 (Tutankhamun) and KV17 (Seti I) require separate add-on tickets. Photography permits are also available for purchase on-site.
The Valley of the Kings is humanity's most concentrated archive of royal funerary belief. Its painted corridors record complete versions of the Amduat, the Book of Gates, and the Book of the Dead— ancient Egyptian "guidebooks" for navigating the afterlife—preserved in pigments that have barely faded over three millennia. Together these tombs tell the story of New Kingdom theology, royal power, and the Egyptian understanding of death and resurrection.
The valley is on the West Bank of Luxor, reachable by taxi, ferry + bicycle, or organized tour from the east bank. A small electric train (taftaf) runs from the valley entrance to the main tomb clusters. The site is open daily; early morning visits (opening time, around 6 AM) offer cooler temperatures and thinner crowds.
Bring water and a small torch—some corridors go deep and can feel dim even when lit. Wear covered shoes with grip; slopes inside tombs can be slippery. The valley is fully exposed to the sun, so a hat and sunscreen are non-negotiable in summer.
Deep context for curious travelers and history lovers: origins and design, the key royal tombs, wall paintings and religious texts, the East versus West Valley, and practical visiting notes.
The Valley of the Kings—Wadi Biban al-Muluk in Arabic, "Valley of the Gates of the Kings"—lies in a remote limestone wadi on the west bank of the Nile, about six kilometres west of modern Luxor and directly behind the enormous mortuary temples of the Theban plain. The ancient Egyptians called the site Ta Set Aat, "the Great Place."
From roughly 1550 to 1070 BCE, spanning the 18th, 19th, and 20th Dynasties of the New Kingdom, the valley served as the principal burial ground for Egypt's pharaohs. Earlier rulers had built pyramids as visible monuments; New Kingdom pharaohs abandoned the pyramid tradition in favour of hidden, rock-cut tombs. The logic was partly theological—the pyramid-shaped peak of al-Qurn dominated the skyline above the valley, providing a natural "pyramid" while keeping the actual burial chambers concealed and, they hoped, secure.
The 420-metre limestone peak towering above the valley was revered as a natural manifestation of the pyramid form sacred to the sun god Ra. Its shadow fell across the valley at dusk, symbolically connecting the setting sun—and the dead pharaoh—with the horizon of renewal.
Early Dynasty 18 tombs followed a bent-axis plan, with corridors that turned sharply to confuse robbers. By the 19th Dynasty the layout straightened into long, descending corridors ending in a pillared hall and a sarcophagus chamber—a plan that maximized the surface area available for painted religious texts.
The artisans and labourers who excavated and decorated the royal tombs lived in a purpose-built village at Deir el-Medina, nearby on the west bank. The extraordinary archive of ostraca (pottery sherds used as writing surfaces) and papyri found there gives us detailed insight into their pay, strikes, disputes, and daily lives—making this one of the best-documented working communities in the entire ancient world.
Of the 63+ catalogued tombs, a handful stand out for the completeness of their decoration, historical significance, or sheer scale. Each is identified by a "KV" (King's Valley) number assigned by modern Egyptologists.
Discovered intact in November 1922 by Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon, KV62 is the only royal tomb found with virtually all its contents undisturbed. More than 5,000 objects—golden shrines, the iconic funerary mask, chariots, canopic jars—were catalogued over a decade of painstaking work. The burial chamber itself features vivid painted scenes of the Opening of the Mouth ceremony and extracts from the Amduat.
At over 100 metres long, KV17 is the deepest tomb in the valley and arguably the most beautifully decorated. Discovered by Giovanni Belzoni in 1817, its walls carry extraordinarily complete and crisply painted versions of the Amduat, the Book of Gates, the Litany of Ra, and the Opening of the Mouth ritual. Seti I's alabaster sarcophagus—now in the Sir John Soane's Museum, London—is a masterpiece of New Kingdom craftsmanship.
The tomb of Egypt's most celebrated pharaoh is enormous, with at least 14 side chambers. Millennia of flash-flood damage have eroded much of its decoration, but ongoing restoration by the Getty Conservation Institute continues to reveal the scale of its original painted programme.
Known as the "Tomb of the Harpists" for a scene showing two blind musicians, KV11 is unusually accessible for visitors and boasts vivid painted side chambers showing scenes of daily life—rare in royal tombs, which usually focus on religious and funerary themes.
One of the oldest tombs in the valley, with the cartouche-oval shape of its burial chamber unique in the valley. The stick-figure-style paintings of the Amduat on sandy-coloured walls give this tomb an archaic, almost papyrus-like aesthetic.
The largest tomb in the entire valley, KV5 was built not for a pharaoh but for the many sons of Ramesses II. With over 120 chambers mapped so far, it is still being excavated by Kent Weeks and the Theban Mapping Project—likely the most complex ancient Egyptian tomb ever found.
The walls of the Valley's tombs are not merely decorated—they are texts. Each corridor and chamber carries specific religious compositions that were intended to guide the deceased pharaoh through the dangers of the Duat (the underworld) and secure his resurrection alongside the sun god Ra. The quality of the pigments—Egyptian blue, yellow ochre, red and black carbon—has preserved their brilliance remarkably well.
Meaning "That Which Is in the Underworld," the Amduat describes the nightly journey of the sun god Ra through twelve hours of the night—each hour a region of the Duat with its own inhabitants and perils. First attested in the tomb of Thutmose I, it became the core decorative programme of 18th-Dynasty royal tombs.
Prominent in 19th and 20th Dynasty tombs, the Book of Gates depicts the underworld structured around twelve guarded gates that Ra's bark must pass through each night. The famous "judgement scene" showing the weighing of souls appears here in its most monumental form.
A hymn listing 75 forms of the sun god, typically painted in the outermost corridor of Dynasty 19–20 tombs as the first text a visitor would encounter. It emphasised the pharaoh's identification with Ra as the theological basis for his royal power.
Artists first plastered walls with a mix of mud and gypsum, sketched outlines in red, corrected them in black, then filled with Egyptian blue (a synthetic copper-calcium silicate, the world's first synthetic pigment), yellow ochre, red ochre, white calcite, and black carbon. The dry desert climate meant these pigments have survived largely intact.
Many burial chambers have ceilings painted deep blue and scattered with five-pointed golden stars, turning the stone ceiling into a sky. Some, such as in the tomb of Seti I, include astronomical charts—constellations, decans, and deities—forming some of the oldest star maps known to science and giving modern astronomers data on New Kingdom astronomical knowledge.
The Valley of the Kings divides into two distinct branches. The East Valley is the main site visited by tourists and contains the vast majority of the royal tombs. The West Valley (also called the Western Valley or Wadi al-Gharbi) is a quieter, less-visited arm that holds only a handful of tombs but includes some important burials.
Contains 58+ tombs, including all the most famous pharaonic burials. The paved path from the visitor centre leads directly here. Most open tombs are in the East Valley; the electric taftaf drops visitors at the main intersection point. This is where KV62 (Tutankhamun), KV17 (Seti I), KV11 (Ramesses III), and KV7 (Ramesses II) are all located.
A longer, quieter walk (or short drive) from the main entrance area. Its most important tomb is WV22— the tomb of Amenhotep III, grandfather of Tutankhamun, one of Egypt's wealthiest and most powerful pharaohs, though its decoration is heavily damaged. WV23 belongs to Ay, who succeeded Tutankhamun and is one of the few tombs in the West Valley open to visitors.
The Valley of the Kings is just one part of the larger Theban Necropolis on the west bank of Luxor. Nearby sites include the Valley of the Queens (QV; tombs of royal wives and princes, including the spectacular tomb of Nefertari), the tombs of the nobles (colourfully painted with scenes of daily life), Deir el-Bahari (Hatshepsut's mortuary temple), and the towering Colossi of Memnon. A full west-bank day can combine several of these sites with a Valley of the Kings morning.
Despite the elaborate security measures the ancient Egyptians devised—sealed doorways, rubble fill, hidden corridors—virtually every royal tomb in the valley was robbed in antiquity, most within a century or two of the burial. We know this because the priests of the 21st Dynasty re-wrapped and re-buried the royal mummies in two mass caches to protect them from further looting.
The Napoleonic expedition (1798–1801) produced the first systematic descriptions and drawings of accessible tombs in the Description de l'Égypte. Giovanni Battista Belzoni, a former circus strongman turned explorer, opened a remarkable series of tombs between 1816 and 1819, including KV17 (Seti I), KV3, and the West Valley tomb of Ay.
After years of methodical, grid-by-grid searching funded by Lord Carnarvon, Howard Carter's team uncovered steps below the workers' huts on 4 November 1922. On 26 November Carter made the famous "small hole" through which he first glimpsed the antechamber filled with golden objects. The formal opening of the burial chamber followed on 16 February 1923.
Contemporary work in the valley combines ground-penetrating radar, 3D photogrammetry, DNA analysis of royal mummies, and multispectral imaging to read damaged texts invisible to the naked eye. The Theban Mapping Project has produced the most comprehensive digital database of all known tombs, and the Grand Egyptian Museum (opened 2023) now houses the complete Tutankhamun collection.
Tourism itself poses a threat: the humidity and carbon dioxide exhaled by thousands of daily visitors accelerate salt crystallisation in the plaster and cause flaking of the painted surfaces. Several tombs operate timed-entry limits, and some—including KV17—were closed for years of careful restoration before being reopened with strict visitor controls.
The Valley of the Kings is the West Bank of Luxor's centrepiece—plan it as the anchor of a longer west-bank day that can also include Medinet Habu, Hatshepsut's temple at Deir el-Bahari, and the Colossi of Memnon.
The standard admission ticket covers entry to the valley and any three open tombs of your choice. Separate add-on tickets are required for KV62 (Tutankhamun) and KV17 (Seti I). Photography permits are sold at the gate. Student discounts apply with a valid international student card.
Arrive at opening time (6 AM) to beat the tour groups and midday heat. October–April is the comfortable season; summer (June–August) sees temperatures above 40 °C at the exposed valley floor. The valley is typically open from 6 AM to 5 PM (winter) or 6 PM (summer), with the last entry around 4 PM.
Take the public ferry from Luxor corniche (very cheap) to the west bank, then a local taxi or microbus to the valley entrance. Alternatively, many visitors rent a bicycle or hire a private driver for the full west-bank circuit. Organised tours from east-bank hotels typically include transport, an Egyptologist guide, and all tickets.
Bring plenty of water—there are vendors at the entrance but not inside. A small torch or headlamp is useful in the deeper corridors. Closed-toe shoes with grip are recommended (slopes can be polished smooth by foot traffic). No large bags are permitted inside tombs; deposit them at the entrance lockers.
KV11 (Ramesses III) for accessibility and vivid colour; KV6 (Ramesses IX) for a complete painted programme in a well-lit, spacious tomb; KV34 (Thutmose III) for the oldest Amduat in the valley (a steep climb, but worth it). Add KV62 and/or KV17 as paid extras if budget allows—both are transformative experiences.
The questions visitors most often ask before and after their trip to the Valley of the Kings.
Yes. Tutankhamun's mummified body remains in the outermost of his three nested coffins inside his sarcophagus in KV62, where visitors can see it today. His golden funeral mask and the majority of his burial equipment are now displayed at the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) in Giza, which opened to the public in 2023.
Pyramids were highly visible and had proved extremely difficult to protect from robbers—virtually all of the Old and Middle Kingdom pyramids were looted in antiquity. New Kingdom pharaohs chose hidden, rock-cut tombs in a remote valley as a more secure alternative. The natural pyramid-shaped peak of al-Qurn above the valley also provided the symbolic solar connection that a built pyramid had offered, without advertising the location of the burial below.
There are over 63 catalogued tombs (KV1–KV63 and a few unnumbered), but only around 15–20 are open to the public at any given time. The others are either under active conservation, not yet fully excavated, or too fragile for regular visitor access. The standard ticket covers three open tombs of your choice; separate tickets are needed for Tutankhamun's and Seti I's tombs.
Quite possibly. KV63—an embalming cache rather than a tomb—was only found in 2005, and ground-penetrating radar surveys have suggested anomalies in the bedrock near KV62 that some Egyptologists believe could indicate additional chambers. The British Egyptologist Nicholas Reeves proposed in 2015 that a hidden chamber might lie behind the north wall of Tutankhamun's tomb, potentially containing the burial of Nefertiti. No confirmed discovery has been made as of 2026, but work continues.
The "curse" originated largely from newspaper sensationalism following the death of Lord Carnarvon—Howard Carter's patron—from blood poisoning in April 1923, shortly after the opening of KV62. Statistical analyses of the lifespans of those who entered the tomb show no significant departure from normal life expectancy. Proposed scientific explanations for occasional "curse-related" deaths have included ancient mould spores and bat guano in sealed chambers, though none have been proven for KV62. Howard Carter himself, who spent a decade inside the tomb, lived until 1939.
Allow a minimum of two to three hours for the valley itself, assuming you visit three tombs at a comfortable pace. Add an hour if you purchase the Tutankhamun or Seti I add-on tickets. Most visitors combine the valley with Hatshepsut's Temple at Deir el-Bahari (20 minutes away) and the Colossi of Memnon on the return journey—a full west-bank morning from 6 AM to around noon, after which the heat and crowds in summer make extended visits uncomfortable.
Key references on the Valley of the Kings' archaeology, royal tombs, wall paintings, and the history of its discovery and conservation.