The Valley of the Queens: Where some of Egypt's greatest women were buried

By the start of the New Kingdom, royal women had often been buried in temple areas or simple tombs near their husbands, and changes in both security concerns and religious thinking prompted a new approach.

Under Thutmose I, who ruled approximately between 1506 and 1493 BCE, architects relocated royal burials west of the Nile, where natural terrain provided protection and a stronger association with the setting sun.

Officials carefully selected a site near the artisan village of Deir el-Medina, which allowed them to manage construction and supply skilled labour in ways that reduced the risk of tomb robbery. 

Over time, the site had become known as Ta-Set-Neferu, traditionally translated as “The Place of Beauty,” though some scholars interpret it as “The Place of the King's Children,” and its use had expanded as more members of the royal household died.

The valley offered both a degree of privacy and religious meaning, since it lay close to the sacred temple of Hathor and aligned with ritual pathways that were used during Theban festivals.

Each tomb often showed the identity of the person buried there and also indicated the court’s level of resources and devotion at the time of burial.

By locating the tombs near Deir el-Medina, the state ensured that decoration could continue efficiently, and it relied on master craftsmen who had already built the tombs of kings.

Some of these workers are known from ostraca and tomb inscriptions, and examples include Pashedu and Paneb, whose records show their professional roles, along with disputes and personal details that have survived through their correspondence.

Tombs varied in design, but many followed a common pattern: a sloping corridor and antechamber that led into a rectangular burial hall, which was filled with spells and hymns accompanied by images from funerary books such as the Book of the Dead and Amduat.

Wall scenes featured deities who guarded the gates of the underworld, and ceiling patterns showed the sky, filled with stars and constellations that connected the deceased to the cosmic order.

Of all the tombs in the valley, probably none displayed more care and artistry than that of Queen Nefertari, wife of Ramses II.

Discovered in 1904 by Ernesto Schiaparelli, QV66 is still the best-preserved and most richly decorated female tomb in Egypt.

Nefertari held very high status during her lifetime and received honours rarely granted to royal wives, such as formal letters with foreign rulers and repeated images in temple reliefs, and her name meant “Beautiful Companion.” 

Inside her tomb, the walls came alive with colour. Artisans used red ochre, malachite green, lapis blue, and black carbon ink to show her journey through the afterlife.

Scenes showed her as she played the board game senet and as she crossed the gates of the Duat, and she received blessings from Isis and Hathor, together with Ma’at.

Specific chapters from the Book of the Dead, such as Spell 17 and Spell 144, appeared clearly alongside depictions from the Amduat.

Every surface followed strict religious design principles, with gods and hieroglyphs balanced according to sacred harmony.

In the burial chamber, stars covered the ceiling in a deep blue field that symbolised the heavens, while prayers protected the queen’s soul as she joined Ra’s solar boat on its nightly voyage.

The tomb measured approximately 520 square metres and included side chambers and false doors flanked by highly decorated painted pillars.

Although robbers had emptied the tomb centuries earlier, the wall paintings stayed largely intact.

However, by the 20th century, salt crystals had started to flake the plaster, and human breath during early tourism visits had caused damage.

After decades of damage over time, the tomb had closed for restoration, and conservators worked for years to protect its delicate surfaces.

In 1986, the Getty Conservation Institute partnered with the Egyptian Antiquities Organisation to assess and document the tomb’s artwork and restore it by means of digital mapping and climate control measures.

As a result, the tomb reopened only under strict limits to protect what was left of its remarkable decoration.

While Nefertari’s tomb had become famous, the Valley of the Queens actually contained over ninety tombs, many of which housed other royal women and children.

Tombs were numbered sequentially by modern archaeologists, using the prefix "QV" to denote "Queens' Valley," and the valley currently includes over 90 numbered tombs, which range from QV1 to QV95, though not all are confirmed as burials.

Some of these tombs displayed clear connections to powerful dynasties, though the names of their occupants remained difficult to confirm due to damage or incomplete inscriptions.

One of the most important belonged to Tyti, a royal woman who likely lived during the 20th Dynasty.

Her tomb was numbered QV52 and showed her receiving blessings from Osiris and Anubis, together with Horus, though her exact relationship to Ramses III (whether daughter, wife, or sister) is still unclear. 

Importantly, the valley included burials for queens and also for others. Some princes received burials there, especially those who died young or before inheriting royal titles.

Tomb QV55 belonged to Prince Amunherkhepeshef, son of Ramses III. Wall scenes showed him accompanied by his father, with gods standing nearby to protect him.

His presence in the Valley of the Queens suggested that royal mothers held ritual responsibility for their sons’ afterlife preparations, and that maternal lineage held sacred value within the court.

Several princesses also received their own tombs. Nebettawy and Bintanath appeared in tomb scenes dressed in priestly robes, and Henuttawy also appeared in these scenes, and they held sistrums as they presented offerings to goddesses such as Hathor and Taweret, and each of them was linked to Ramses II or Ramses III.

Some tombs also featured Meritamen and Henutmire, whose iconography confirmed their status as daughters of the king and their roles in court ceremonial life.

Although their political roles were limited, their funerary images emphasised their purity and sacred roles, along with their capacity to perform sacred rites.

Even when their tombs had suffered damage, the surviving artwork showed the religious duties assigned to royal daughters. 

Later in the 20th Dynasty, Egypt’s political and economic strength gradually declined, and evidence from the valley showed a reduction in tomb quality.

In several cases, builders left wall scenes unfinished or reused earlier tombs. As a result, the contrast between richly painted chambers from earlier periods and the simpler burials of later queens showed the limits of royal patronage during the collapse of central authority.

Serious modern study of the Valley of the Queens began during the late 19th century, when early Egyptologists noted tomb entrances that lay near the cliffs southwest of Medinet Habu.

Early efforts to map and clear the area uncovered dozens of tombs, though many had been looted or reused in later periods.

Italian archaeologist Ernesto Schiaparelli worked for the Turin Museum and made the most important find in 1904 when he uncovered the tomb of Nefertari, which immediately drew attention due to its very impressive colour and design. 

Afterwards, both the Egyptian Antiquities Service and French-led archaeological teams launched careful surveys of the valley.

By the 1970s, the CNRS and Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities had begun joint projects to document tomb layouts and inscriptions along with their iconographic programs.

The Franco-Egyptian team later expanded its work into conservation, and they focused on tombs that had suffered from moist air, salt damage, or unstable plaster.

More recently, the team adopted 3D scanning technology to digitally preserve fragile tomb interiors.

As excavation progressed, archaeologists discovered that several tombs had been used by Roman and Coptic communities.

Hermits had left Christian symbols scratched over older reliefs, and some burials had contained later pottery and textile fragments alongside wooden coffins.

In at least one case, a reused tomb included a painted cross added to the wall of a burial niche, and, meanwhile, ostraca that were found near the tomb entrances recorded construction schedules and supply deliveries, together with disputes between workers. 

When archaeologists compared the tombs of women buried over multiple generations, they traced changes in religious ideas and political focus.

Some tombs placed more weight on Hathoric imagery, while others included solar texts that associated the deceased with Ra’s journey across the sky.

In all cases, tomb decoration had both a religious purpose and a political message, reinforcing the queen’s bond with sacred order and her role in protecting the royal line.