Valley of the Kings (& Queens)
The Valley of the Kings, located in the ancient region of Thebes (now Luxor), was a burial ground for pharaohs that ruled from about 1500 BCE to 1100 BCE (the New Kingdom era). Burial chambers are carved deep into the walls of the valley, and many of these carved chambers were created at the height of Egypt's wealth. Among the famous pharaohs buried in this ancient necropolis are Ramses II (among other Ramses'), Seti I, Amenhotep II, Thutmose II, and, possibly the most well known, Tutankhamun. Some tombs within the necropolis were left unfinished due to the elaborate, time-consuming nature of their construction. Many of the chambers were robbed in the years after a burial; the treasure in the tomb of Ramses II, for example, is said to have been robbed only about 150 years after his death.
Though over sixty tombs have been identified, very few of the burial chambers are open to the public. The tombs that are available for public visitation and tourism require a ticket for entry, therefore fueling the relationship between tourism and monetary gain. Sometimes, the tombs may not be open due to renovations; because of the millions of visitors the tombs accommodate each year, they have slowly been decaying.
Other forms of decay come from grave robbings. Towards the end of the New Kingdom era, tomb robbing became a source of income because of the failing kingdom, and tomb robbers both then and now have done a lot of damage over the years as well. Though the tombs have been restored, they will never be back to their former glory. After restoring the chambers, power was given back to the burial, but the boxes and shrines destroyed by the robbers were not resealed. Although Egyptian culture dictates that disturbing a burial chamber guarantees one an awful afterlife, this has not deterred tomb robbers over the centuries.
Inside the Burial Chambers
Royal tombs were often decorated with religious images and texts. Throughout the use of the Valley of the Kings, pharaohs were buried in chambers painted with illustrations from religious and funerary texts such as Amduat, the Book of Gates, the Book of Caverns, the Book of the Earth, the Book of the Heavens, and the Litany of Re. Most of these texts were concerned with the travels of the sun and passing time during the twelve hours of night.
Other images might depict gods and goddesses or the royals' triumphs, such as those on the postcards below.
On Egypt Postcard 249, the goddess Isis is depicted threefold: goddess Isis sitting on nob, goddess Isis with protecting wings, and goddess Isis aduring. Isis is the wife and sister of Osiris, a god from Heliopolitan theology, and is known as the goddess of heaven. In the first image, she is sitting and kneeling over nob (the symbol of gold), with protective wings and holding a feather to resemble truth and justice.
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Spirit of Heaven, Goddess of Fire and Life by John Stachowicz
The illustration depicted on Egypt Postcard 250 is dedicated to Ramses II, shown here in a war scene on his chariot. On the backside of this post card, this description is written: "King Ramesses II, XIX th dynasty, 1292-1225 BC, the most famous of all the kings of ancient Egypt. He reigned about 67 years. During his reign were built the great temples of Abousymbol, Karnak, Abydos, Luxor, etc. He is represented in a war scene, standing in his chariot shooting an arrow."
Egypt Postcard 252 includes an illustration which depicts the god Seth training King Thutmose III who reigned for 54 years, from 1479 BCE to 1425 BCE.
The Treasures of King Tutankhamun
King Tutankhamun is arguably the most well known pharaoh of Egyptian history solely because of the immaculate state in which his tomb was found. When Howard Carter unearthed the young pharaoh's chamber in 1922, he discovered it to have been only entered twice before; the inner two shrines were left sealed and relatively undisturbed, allowing Carter to document and study how a royal tomb may have looked in its original time.
Egypt Postcard 278 shows a wooden chest found within the tomb, decorated and guilded to look like Anubis, the god of death, sitting atop a shrine.
These small figures on Egypt Postcard 275 are called Ushabti, ranging from 4 to 20 inches tall, and were made of wood, stone, or ceramic material. The three statuettes shown here were found in King Tutankhamun's burial chamber. The word "ushabti" rougly translates to "answerer." They have been located in large number in royal tombs. Their purpose was to take the place of the deceased owner when the gods requested him or her to do tasks in the afterlife. During the New Kingdom, the figures were supposedly made to resemble the tomb owner by being in the form of a mummy with the owner's name.
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King Tut by Normand Veilleux
Below are more postcards in the collection which showcase the various treasures discovered inside the Tomb of Tutankhamun.
Egypt Postcard 170. The mummy of King Tutankhamun in his sarcophagus.
Egypt Postcard 274. The mortuary chamber in the Tomb of Tutankhamun.
Egypt Postcard 280. King Tutankhamun's throne, made of carved wood and coated with gold, richly decorated with semi precious stones and silver.
Egypt Postcard 279. Model boat of alabaster on a pedestal, with real ibex horns.
Egypt Postcard 276. Gold bracelet, decorated with a large lapis-lazuli scarab.
Egypt Postcard 272. Life-size statue of King Tutankhamun, posted like a sentry at the entrance of the sepulchral chamber.
Resources
Facts and Details - Valley of the Kings and Famous Ancient Egyptian Tombs
Best Tombs to Visit in the Valley of the Kings, Luxor, Egypt