Thebes · West Bank · New Kingdom

The Valley of the Kings

tA st aAt — "The Great Place". Sixty-five numbered tombs cut into a single desert wadi opposite Luxor, beneath the natural pyramid of the Qurn.

This page draws extensively on the Theban Mapping Project — Kent Weeks's American Research Center in Egypt initiative that has surveyed every KV tomb since 1980 and remains the definitive open source for the Valley. Every tomb image and link below points back to their record.

Interactive Map

Every tomb in the Valley — zoom, pan, tap

A schematic plan of the Valley after the Theban Mapping Project atlas. The East Valley (right) holds almost every tomb tourists visit; the West Valley (left) is the quieter side, with only Amenhotep III (KV22) and Ay (KV23). Zoom in to read the labels, drag to pan, tap any marker to see who lies inside and jump to its full TMP record.

PharaohqueennobleCache / animalunknownScroll / pinch to zoom · drag to pan · tap a marker

Schematic plan after the Theban Mapping Project atlas. Positions are approximate and intended for orientation, not survey-accurate measurement.

What you can actually visit

The eight tombs that matter on a first trip

A standard ticket opens three tombs from a rotating set; the supplements for Seti I (KV17), Tutankhamun (KV62) and Rameses V/VI (KV9) are well worth paying. The Luxor Pass Premium covers every open tomb in the Valley.

KV62

Tutankhamun

The only virtually intact royal burial. Small chamber, gilded shrines now in GEM; the mummy and the painted burial chamber remain in situ.

KV17

Seti I

The longest, deepest and most ambitious royal tomb. Astronomical ceiling and complete Book of Gates. Premium ticket only.

KV9

Rameses V & Rameses VI

Probably the most spectacular painted ceiling in the Valley — the double Book of the Day and Night with the body of Nut spanning the whole burial chamber.

KV11

Rameses III

Wide, well-lit corridors with the famous 'harpers' scenes and side-chamber reliefs of trade goods and foreign tribute. Excellent for non-specialists.

KV2

Rameses IV

Short and very accessible; vivid blue ceiling and a giant pink-granite sarcophagus still in place. Often the calmest tomb in the Valley.

KV8

Merenptah

The second-longest tomb in the Valley. Two nested granite sarcophagus lids remain in the burial chamber — staggering scale.

KV34

Thutmose III

Cut high in a cleft; reached by a metal staircase. Cursive 'papyrus-on-stone' Amduat in the oval burial chamber — the earliest fully decorated KV tomb.

KV57

Horemheb

Unfinished decoration captured mid-process: gridded ink drawings beside fully carved and painted scenes. A masterclass in how the tombs were made.

Excavation History

Two centuries of digging

1799
Napoleon's savants map the visible tomb entrances; about 25 are known.
1816–17
Giovanni Belzoni clears eight tombs, including KV17 (Seti I) — the longest then known.
1827
John Gardner Wilkinson paints the KV numbers we still use, working from the entrance southward.
1898
Victor Loret finds sixteen tombs and the royal mummy cache in KV35 (Amenhotep II).
1902–14
Theodore Davis sponsors 13 seasons; 35 tombs cleared. His excavator: Howard Carter.
1922
Carter and Carnarvon open KV62 — Tutankhamun. The only virtually intact royal burial ever found in the Valley.
1978–80
John Romer (Brooklyn Museum) records KV4, Rameses XI — the last royal tomb cut in the Valley.
1980–present
The Theban Mapping Project (Kent Weeks, AUC) maps every KV tomb. In 1995 the team rediscovers KV5: 120+ chambers for the sons of Rameses II.
2005
Otto Schaden finds KV63 — an embalming cache, the first 'new' KV tomb since Tutankhamun.
2011
KV64 located by the Basel team — a 22nd-Dynasty reuse burial of a Chantress of Amun.
2025–
Zahi Hawass announces a tentative KV65 in the West Valley; excavation ongoing.

Conservation

What's threatening the tombs

Flash floods

The Valley is a natural drainage funnel. Catastrophic floods in 1916, 1994 and 1995 sent water cascading into KV5, KV13, KV14 and KV15. Concrete deflection walls and tomb-entrance shelters are now standard.

Visitor humidity

Each visitor exhales moisture; multiply by 5,000 a day in KV62 and the paint surface salts every season. Tombs now rotate open/closed, plexiglass panels protect walls, and KV62 has an active air-circulation system installed by the Getty Conservation Institute.

Rock movement

The Esna shale layer beneath the limestone swells when wet. The TMP has been monitoring crack propagation above KV5 and KV7 (Rameses II) for thirty years — the slowest, most decisive threat.

The Kings, in Order

Every pharaoh buried here, Thutmose I → Rameses XI

Five centuries of New Kingdom rulers, listed chronologically with regnal dates and a direct link to each tomb's record on the Theban Mapping Project.

01
Thutmose I
18th Dynasty · c. 1504–1492 BC
First king buried in the Valley. Later moved by Thutmose III.
Tomb KV38
KV38Open tomb
02
Hatshepsut
female pharaoh
18th Dynasty · c. 1479–1458 BC
Re-cut her father's tomb to lie beside him.
Tomb KV20
KV20Open tomb
03
Thutmose III
the warrior king
18th Dynasty · c. 1479–1425 BC
Earliest fully decorated tomb — cursive Amduat.
Tomb KV34
KV34Open tomb
04
Amenhotep II
18th Dynasty · c. 1427–1400 BC
Held the royal mummy cache discovered by Loret, 1898.
Tomb KV35
KV35Open tomb
05
Thutmose IV
18th Dynasty · c. 1400–1390 BC
Tomb KV43
KV43Open tomb
06
Amenhotep III
the Magnificent
18th Dynasty · c. 1390–1352 BC
West Valley. Father of Akhenaten.
Tomb KV22
KV22Open tomb
07
Tutankhamun
18th Dynasty · c. 1336–1327 BC
Only virtually intact royal burial. Carter, 1922.
Tomb KV62
KV62Open tomb
08
Ay
18th Dynasty · c. 1327–1323 BC
West Valley. Successor of Tutankhamun.
Tomb KV23
KV23Open tomb
09
Horemheb
the general
18th Dynasty · c. 1323–1295 BC
Decoration captured mid-process.
Tomb KV57
KV57Open tomb
10
Rameses I
19th Dynasty · c. 1295–1294 BC
Founder of the 19th Dynasty; very short reign and small tomb.
Tomb KV16
KV16Open tomb
11
Seti I
19th Dynasty · c. 1294–1279 BC
Longest, deepest, most ambitious tomb in the Valley.
Tomb KV17
KV17Open tomb
12
Rameses II
the Great
19th Dynasty · c. 1279–1213 BC
Ruined by ancient floods; his sons lie opposite in KV5.
Tomb KV7
KV7Open tomb
13
Merenptah
19th Dynasty · c. 1213–1203 BC
Second-longest tomb; two nested granite sarcophagus lids remain.
Tomb KV8
KV8Open tomb
14
Amenmesse
usurper
19th Dynasty · c. 1203–1200 BC
Tomb KV10
KV10Open tomb
15
Seti II
19th Dynasty · c. 1200–1194 BC
Tomb KV15
KV15Open tomb
16
Siptah
19th Dynasty · c. 1194–1188 BC
Tomb KV47
KV47Open tomb
17
Tausret
regent-queen turned pharaoh
19th Dynasty · c. 1188–1186 BC
Tomb later usurped and extended by Setnakht.
Tomb KV14
KV14Open tomb
18
Setnakht
20th Dynasty · c. 1186–1184 BC
Took over Tausret's tomb; founder of the 20th Dynasty.
Tomb KV14
KV14Open tomb
19
Rameses III
20th Dynasty · c. 1184–1153 BC
The 'harpers' tomb. Killed in the harem conspiracy.
Tomb KV11
KV11Open tomb
20
Rameses IV
20th Dynasty · c. 1153–1147 BC
Vivid blue astronomical ceiling; great pink granite sarcophagus.
Tomb KV2
KV2Open tomb
21
Rameses V
20th Dynasty · c. 1147–1143 BC
Buried in his uncle Rameses VI's tomb.
Tomb KV9
KV9Open tomb
22
Rameses VI
20th Dynasty · c. 1143–1136 BC
Spectacular Book of Day & Night ceiling — body of Nut spanning the chamber.
Tomb KV9
KV9Open tomb
23
Rameses VII
20th Dynasty · c. 1136–1129 BC
Tomb KV1
KV1Open tomb
24
Rameses IX
20th Dynasty · c. 1126–1108 BC
Visible from the main entrance — usually open.
Tomb KV6
KV6Open tomb
25
Rameses X
20th Dynasty · c. 1108–1099 BC
Tomb KV18
KV18Open tomb
26
Rameses XI
20th Dynasty · c. 1099–1069 BC
Last royal tomb cut in the Valley; never used for the burial.
Tomb KV4
KV4Open tomb

Thutmose II's tomb is uncertain (a candidate was announced in the Western Wadis in 2025). Akhenaten was buried at Amarna, not here.

Full Tomb Index

Every numbered tomb, KV1 → KV63

Most are closed to visitors — many are little more than pits or unexcavated shafts — but every one is mapped and recorded by the TMP. Click any tile for the full TMP record, plans and photo archive.