This book is the definitive account of the Valley of the Kings, visited by millions of tourists and famous throughout the world as the burial place of the New Kingdom pharaohs, from Amenophis I to Ramesses XI, including Tutankhamun and Ramesses the Great. Over three thousand years ago, at the height of Egyptian power, some eighty tombs were dug in the valley, their chambers stocked with treasures and decorated with magnificent wall paintings. Reeves and Wilkinson bring together the history, archaeology, and art of this spectacular necropolis in one exciting volume. Recently the Valley of the Kings made international headline news with the discovery by Kent Weeks, professor of Egyptology at the American University in Cairo, of the burial chapels of Ramesses the Great’s many sons in the huge tomb KV5. In a special section commissioned for this book, Professor Weeks describes the continuing excavations and the findings so far. The format of the book follows the highly successful spread-by-spread style of The Complete Tutankhamun, creating both an essential sourcebook and an entertaining guide for scholars, students, armchair travelers, and tourists.

Nicholas Reeves, formerly a curator in the Department of Egyptian Antiquities at the British Museum, is the author of The Complete Tutankhamun and an acknowledged authority on tomb-robbing and the history of exploration in the Valley of the Kings. Richard H. Wilkinson, a lecturer in ancient and Egyptian culture at the University of Arizona, is the director of an archaeological expedition in the Valley of the Kings. He also recently organized a major international conference on research in the valley.