QV44

The Valley of the Queens (Arabic: وادي الملكات Wādī al-Malekāt) is a site in Egypt, in which queens, princes, princesses, and other high ranking officials were buried. Pharaohs themselves were buried in the Valley of the Kings. The Valley of the Queens was known anciently as Ta-Set-Neferu, which has a double meaning of "The Place of Beauty" and/or "the Place of the Royal Children". Excavation of the tombs at the Valley of the Queens was pioneered by Ernesto Schiaparelli and Francesco Ballerini in the early 1900s.The Valley of the Queens consists of the main wadi, which contains most of the tombs, along with the Valley of Prince Ahmose, the Valley of the Rope, the Valley of the Three Pits, and the Valley of the Dolmen. The main wadi contains 91 tombs and the subsidiary valleys add another 19 tombs. The burials in the subsidiary valleys all date to the 18th Dynasty.The reason for choosing the Valley of the Queens as a burial site is not known. The close proximity to the workers' village of Deir el-Medina and the Valley of the Kings may have been a factor. Another consideration could have been the existence of a sacred grotto dedicated to Hathor at the entrance of the Valley. This grotto may have been associated with rejuvenation of the dead.Along with the Valley of the Kings and nearby Thebes, the Valley of the Queens was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1979.

QV66 is the tomb of Nefertari, the Great Wife of Pharaoh Ramesses II, in Egypt's Valley of the Queens. It was discovered by Ernesto Schiaparelli (the director of the Egyptian Museum in Turin) in 1904. It is called the Sistine Chapel of Ancient Egypt. Nefertari, which means "beautiful companion", was Ramesses II's favorite wife; he went out of his way to make this obvious, referring to her as "the one for whom the sun shines" in his writings, built the Temple of Hathor to idolize her as a deity, and commissioned portraiture wall paintings. In the Valley of the Queens, Nefertari's tomb once held the mummified body and representative symbolisms of her, consistent with most Egyptian tombs of the period. Now, everything had been looted except for two thirds of the 5,200 square feet of wall paintings. For what still remains, these wall paintings characterized Nefertari's character. Her face received particular attention to emphasize her beauty, especially the shape of her eyes, the blush of her cheeks, and her eyebrows. Some paintings were full of lines and color of red, blue, yellow, and green that portrayed exquisite directions to navigating through the afterlife to paradise.

The Theban Tomb TT359 is located in Deir el-Medina, part of the Theban Necropolis, on the west bank of the Nile, opposite to Luxor. It is the burial place of the ancient Egyptian workman Inherkhau, who was Foreman of the Lord of the Two Lands in the Place of Truth during the reigns of Ramesses III and Ramesses IV. He also owned Tomb TT299. Inherkau was the son of the similarly titled Foreman Huy. Inherkau's wife was named Wab.

The tomb of Kha and Merit, also known by its tomb number TT8, is the funerary chapel and tomb of the ancient Egyptian foreman Kha and his wife Merit, in Deir el-Medina. Active during the mid-Eighteenth Dynasty, Kha supervised the workforce who constructed royal tombs in the reigns of pharaohs Amenhotep II, Thutmose IV and Amenhotep III (r. 1425 – 1353 BC). Of unknown background, he rose to this position through skill and was rewarded by at least one king. He and his wife Merit had three known children. Kha died in his 50s or 60s, while Merit died before him, seemingly unexpectedly, in her 30s. The couple's pyramid-chapel was known since at least 1824 when one of their funerary stele entered the collection of the Museo Egizio in Turin, Italy. Scenes from the chapel were first copied in the 19th century by early Egyptologists including John Gardiner Wilkinson and Karl Lepsius. The paintings show Kha and Merit receiving offerings from their children and appearing before Osiris, god of the dead. The texts of the chapel were defaced during the reign of Akhenaten and later restored, indicating it was one of the oldest chapels in the cemetery. Kha and Merit's undisturbed tomb was discovered in February 1906 in excavations led by the Egyptologist Ernesto Schiaparelli on behalf of the Italian Archaeological Mission, dug into the base of the cliffs opposite the chapel. This separation contributed to its survival, allowing the entrance to be quickly buried by debris. The burial chamber contained over 400 items including carefully arranged stools and beds, neatly stacked storage chests of personal belongings, clothing and tools, tables piled with foods such as bread, meats and fruit, and the couple's two large wooden sarcophagi housing their coffined mummies. Merit's body was fitted with a funerary mask; Kha was provided with one of the earliest known copies of Book of the Dead. Their mummies were never unwrapped. The use of X-rays, CT scanning and chemical analysis has revealed neither were embalmed in the typical fashion but are well preserved. Both wear metal jewellery beneath their bandages, although only Kha has funerary amulets. Almost the entire contents of the tomb was awarded to the excavators and was shipped to Italy soon after the discovery. It has been on display in the Museo Egizio in Turin since its arrival and has been redisplayed several times, most recently in 2015, where an entire gallery is dedicated to the exhibition of TT8.

Deir el-Medina (Egyptian Arabic: دير المدينة), or Dayr al-Madīnah, is an ancient Egyptian workmen's village which was home to the artisans who worked on the tombs in the Valley of the Kings during the 18th to 20th Dynasties of the New Kingdom of Egypt (ca. 1550–1080 BCE) The settlement's ancient name was Set maat ("Place of Truth"), and the workmen who lived there were called "Servants in the Place of Truth". During the Christian era, the temple of Hathor was converted into a Monastery of Saint Isidorus the Martyr (Coptic: ⲡⲧⲟⲡⲟⲥ ⲙ̄ⲫⲁⲅⲓⲟⲥ ⲁⲡⲁ ⲓⲥⲓⲇⲱⲣⲟⲥ ⲡⲙⲁⲣⲧⲉⲣⲟⲥ) from which the Egyptian Arabic name Deir el-Medina ("Monastery of the City") is derived.At the time when the world's press was concentrating on Howard Carter's discovery of the Tomb of Tutankhamun in 1922, a team led by Bernard Bruyère began to excavate the site. This work has resulted in one of the most thoroughly documented accounts of community life in the ancient world that spans almost four hundred years. There is no comparable site in which the organisation, social interactions, working and living conditions of a community can be studied in such detail.The site is located on the west bank of the Nile, across the river from modern-day Luxor. The village is laid out in a small natural amphitheatre, within easy walking distance of the Valley of the Kings to the north, funerary temples to the east and south-east, with the Valley of the Queens to the west. The village may have been built apart from the wider population in order to preserve secrecy in view of sensitive nature of the work carried out in the tombs. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The Theban tomb TT12 is located in Dra' Abu el-Naga', part of the Theban Necropolis, on the west bank of the Nile, opposite to Luxor. It is the burial place of the ancient Egyptian Hery, who was Overseer of the Granary of the King's Mother Ahhotep, during the reigns of Seqenenre Tao II to Amenhotep I. The tomb is located near to TT11, connected to it by a third tomb, TT399.Hery (also written as Hray) was the son of a lady named Ahmose. A son named Ahmose is shown offering to his father. Other children are shown including daughters Bakamun and Tjentnub and another son named Amenmes.

Tomb TT280, located in Sheikh Abd el-Qurna, part of the Theban Necropolis, is the burial place of the ancient Egyptian noble Meketre who was chancellor and chief steward during the reign of Mentuhotep II and Mentuhotep III, during the Eleventh Dynasty.

The Theban Tomb TT17 is located in Dra Abu el-Naga, part of the Theban Necropolis, on the west bank of the Nile, opposite to Luxor. It is the burial place of the ancient Egyptian noble named Nebamun, who lived during the 18th Dynasty, during the reign of Amenhotep II. Nebamun was a scribe and a physician to the King. Nebamun was the son of Nebseny, a judge, and Amenhotep (?). His wife's name is not completely preserved but resembles Ta[..]nefer. The tomb consists of a hall and an inner room. The hall is decorated with scenes of the deceased offering to his parents, and scenes from his life. Men are shown filling granaries, women are baking bread, etc. In the inner room funerary scenes show a procession, rites before the mummy and offerings.

The Theban Tomb TT214 is located in Deir el-Medina, part of the Theban Necropolis, on the west bank of the Nile, opposite to Luxor. TT214 is the burial place of the ancient Egyptian guardian in the Place of Truth and servitor of Amun of Opet (Luxor) named Khawy, who lived during the 19th Dynasty. Khawy lived in Deir el-Medina during the reign of Ramesses II.Khawy's wife was named Taweret, and they had a son named Huy.

The Theban Tomb TT3 is located in Deir el-Medina, part of the Theban Necropolis, on the west bank of the Nile, opposite to Luxor. It is the burial place of the ancient Egyptian artisan (his exact title was Servant in the Place of Truth), Pashedu and his family.Pashedu was a son of Menna and Huy. His wife was named Nedjmet-behdet. Pashedu was also owner of TT326.

The Theban Tomb TT48 is located in El-Khokha, part of the Theban Necropolis, on the west bank of the Nile, opposite to Luxor. TT48 was the burial place of the ancient Egyptian named Amenemhat called Surer, who was a Chief Steward, At the head of the King, Overseer of the Cattle of Amun. Amenemhat called Surer dates to the time of Amenhotep III from the middle of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt. He was a son of Ith-taui, who was an overseer of the cattle of Amun and the lady Mut-tuy.

The Theban Tomb TT30 is located in Sheikh Abd el-Qurna, part of the Theban Necropolis, on the west bank of the Nile, opposite to Luxor. It is the burial place of the ancient Egyptian official, Khonsumose. Khonsumose was a scribe of the treasury of the estate of Amun during the Ramesside Period. His wife Henutenkhunet is mentioned in the tomb.