The Valley of the Kings by Liam Scully (best books to read all time TXT) 📖

The Valley of the Kings: The Pharaohs' Place


Liam Scully


Abstract
The Valley of the Kings is a rich part of Egypt's culture. For centuries, Pharaohs of Egypt have been buried in the valley. Many people wonder how come such kings and queens have been put to rest here in this desolate area. Since many tombs and famous mummies have been discovered, no one doubts that more mummies are to be found. This paper will cover the history of the Valley of the Kings, the jobs of priests in the Valley, background landscape, some famous pharaohs buried there and archaeological risks and concerns. The Valley of the Kings is a rich cultural statement to the world about the beliefs of the ancient Egyptians, their intelligence in constructing the tombs and monuments and the technology they used for these purposes.

Intro
During the New Kingdom, the area around the Nile River Valley was green and lush with vegetation. This was provided by the Nile, itself. Every year, rain would swell the banks, thus causing the water to come pouring through the valley. This gave the plants that are on the bank the rich soil for new seeds. Farmers in this region also depended on the Nile for water and agriculture. Temperatures during the winter there would have an average high of of 50-60 degrees Fahrenheit . In the spring and summer, it would, again, have a high average of 90-100 degrees (Life in Ancient Egypt, n.d.). In many places, there was only desert, however, where Thebes and many other cities where founded, wildlife and plants were abundant, the perfect set up for a dominant civilization.


Historical Landscape
When the New Kingdom began, about 1567 B.C., at the beginning of the period known as the 18th Dynasty, it was decided to find a secret area where the pharaohs would be buried in underground tombs. A place was chosen in the south, on the west bank of the Nile River and hidden among the Theban Hills. It was in the region of ancient Thebes (modern Luxor), the religious capital. This place became the Valley of the Kings. This sight was chosen for several reasons. The cliffs were easy to get to and there were only two openings. The cliffs formed into a natural pyramid, which religously meant that the dead kings would be lying in the shadow of a pyramid . One opening was a dead end, while another narrow path led over the hills, from the village of Dier El-Medina; where the workers lived. Both entrances were guarded by necropolis guards. The rock was also easier to carve. Egyptians believed that Pharaohs were gods, and when they died, they went on a journey to the sun. If they failed, the world might end. Since the Valley of the Kings was on the west bank of the Nile, the kings had a shorter trip to the afterlife. So, unlike the pyramids that stuck out like a sore thumb and were easier to break into, the place was perfect for protecting the bodies of the Pharaohs.


The first pharaoh that was ever buried in the valley was Thutmose I who reigned from 1524 b.c to 1518 B.C., while the last pharaoh to be buried here was Ramses X in 1104 B.C.. In fact, Ramses XI had cut a tomb for himself in the valley, but he was not buried there. This ended nearly 500 years' of burial in the valley. There are 64 tombs in tomb in total. Sixty-three tombs have been excavated. Nearly twenty-three tombs are found abandoned, although fifteen of the owners have been found. Two of them were animal burials. The rest were found in their plundered or as in Tutankhamun's tomb, intact tombs.


Tomb Robbers
Toward the beginning of the 20th dynasty, there were many problems in Egypt, including invasions from foreigners such as the Babylonians and the Romans, and bankruptcy which was due to the wars. There are ancient records that told us that work sometimes stopped in the valley because of these problems. These records are called Tomb Robbery Papyri. Think of it as a Egyptian Great Depression. At such times it was difficult to maintain strict security in the valley and it was at those times that the tombs in the valley have been broken into and looted. Among those records, we have other records of robbers who where caught. More than a dozen of the papyri have survived and over half of them are in the British Museum in London.
Many of the robbers who were caught came from the workers' village. The village was where the men and their families lived. The men were the ones who built the tombs and found it easy to break into the tombs since they were stonemasons. To get information, the suspects would be beaten on the sole of their feet to make them confess. The papyri also contained long lists of items stolen from the tombs, the longest being nearly seven feet long. To be caught robbing the tombs carried the death penalty, and the criminals were executed by being impaled on stakes like shish-kabobs . Apparently, the thought of so much buried gold in the tombs was to much for some people, and they were prepared to risk being caught and executed to steal it. However, another reason for all of this carnage might be that people were not being payed enough and that they decided that robbing would add to their cash flow.

Priests and Embalmers
The priests had many different roles in the Valley of the Kings. Priests, when the pharaoh died, would embalm the mummy, wrapping precious amulets for the dead pharaoh in the linen. On the first day, the embalmers would de-brain the body, then the skull would be washed out. Afterward, the body would be gutted and then washed and stuffed. Drying was the most important part of the embalming. The embalmers would literally bury the body with natron, which is a type of salt, for 40 days. This was to remove rot-inviting moisture. After that is done, the natron is washed away and the embalmers stuffed the empty body with sawdust and linen rags. Then the body is rubbed with oils to preserve it, eye sockets are stuffed, nose holes plugged and the body is covered in resin to help the oil preserve it. Finally, the body is wrapped, secured with ropes and is placed in it's sarcophagus.

Cache Tombs
There have been the finds of only three cache tombs, one of which included Ramses the Great, along with another 40 mummies. A cache tomb is a single, sometimes undecorated room containing mummies from all over the Valley. This is another job of the priest; when tomb robbers are out on the prowl, priests would take the royal mummies and gather them in one location. They would take the kings and they would rebury them in a secret location, such as a tomb that all but the priests have forgotten or in one such case, in the temple! Usually, they would take the body and that was it.
Many of the tombs in the Valley of the Kings are just one long corridor with rooms spreading out on both sides until it ends with the burial chamber. However, tombs like Ramses II's sons have more than 120 rooms! Another example of a tomb with only one corridor and several rooms is KV 62..


Archaeological Techniques
Radiocarbon dating was developed in 1949, as a way of dating organic matter, such as bones, skin and wood. It is based on the fact that organic matter contains a tiny amount of istope carbon 14. The proportion of carbon 14 decreases after death. Carbon 14 reaches it's halfway point after about 5,568 years, plus or minus 30 years. By measuring the amount of carbon 14 in an object, its age can be calculated. The method is reliable for dating matter that is up to 30,000 years in age. When excavating Mohenjo-Daro, Sir Mortimer Wheeler developed a way of excavating a site in a regular pattern of squares or rectangles, leaving uninterrupted ground in between. This helped him excavate at different levels across the site and easily record his findings. This became known as "The Wheeler System".

Tools
In the valley, many detectors are used to find pieces of gold. However, digging up the artifacts have not changed at all of the years. Everyone uses the same old shovel, trowel and wheelbarrow. However, there have been some differences in the tools of yesterday, and today. There is an addition of the pickax in the valley. Radar has been another addition to tools for archaeology today. If you want to open a mummy but you don't want to damage it, you can do the scientific way of opening the body. This is called a CT scan. A CT scan is basically x-rays of the body, while it is still in its case, of course. This is used to examine the embalmed body without damage.

Conservation and Risks
Another thing that archaeologist have to do when they open up a tomb, is to conserve it.
When a tomb is opened, the archaeologists have to label, date, and preserve the item, once its found. If the item is damaged, someone who is specially trained for conservation and preservation will set a special liquid on it to preserve the paint or wood. If it is a wooden sarcophagus, then all you can do is try to restore it against termites.
Risks come in many shapes and sizes. Like I had said earlier, the banks of the Nile would swell, every few years. The water would splash over the valley, spreading chaos. This is one case when KV5 was excavated. The tomb was full of debris from a flood that happened many years ago. Air is also a big problem to deal with as well. After years of being "bottled up" in a tomb, the air will start to deteriorate the artifacts. However, the biggest problem are tomb raiders!! Modern tomb robbers to be exact. One example was that some of King Tut's gold was found hidden away in a castle in England. The cost of the gold was nearly $100,000. Now it is away in Egypt, safe from harm.

Famous Pharaohs

Tutankhamun
Many people think he is the most famous king of Egypt; that is correct, a little. King Tut was only a little king. In fact, his reign was only a little more than nine years long. When his tomb was found, however, it was the most complete tomb ever found in the Valley of the Kings. And you might be surprised, but his tomb was robbed twice, however, the tomb robbers were either caught, or took little. It was a treasure for all.
Tutankhamun was born in 1344 B.C.E as Tutankhaten, which meant "living image of the Aten". Tutankhamun came to the throne at the age of nine. He had succeeded his dad, Akhenaten
who had turned the country into a civil war when he replaced the old gods of Egypt with one god, the Aten. When Tutankhamun came to the throne, he replaced Aten with the old gods. Peace came. Then, at the age of eighteen, he died, unknown by archaeologists and he was packed up and wrapped up. Then his tomb was forgotten.
Tutankhamun's wife was his half-sister, Ankhesenamun. They had two stillborn children, whom