93-571: WVA , also known as KV A , is a small single room tomb in the Western Valley of the Kings associated with WV22 , the tomb of Pharaoh Amenhotep III of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt . Located 60 metres (200 ft) south of the tomb of Amenhotep III, it was discovered by Karl Richard Lepsius in 1845; he recorded that it contained pottery bearing the name of a king. The tomb was re-excavated in
186-417: A UNESCO report titled "World Heritage and Tourism in a Changing Climate". The Australian government's actions, involving considerable expense for lobbying and visits for diplomats , were in response to their concern about the negative impact that an "at risk" label could have on tourism revenue at a previously designated UNESCO World Heritage Site. In 2021, international scientists recommended UNESCO to put
279-627: A further 16 tombs to the list, and explored several tombs that had already been discovered. During this time Georges Daressy explored KV9 . When Gaston Maspero was reappointed as head of the Egyptian Antiquities Service, the nature of the exploration of the valley changed again. Maspero appointed English archaeologist Howard Carter as the Chief Inspector of Upper Egypt, and the young man discovered several new tombs and explored several others, clearing KV42 and KV20 . Around
372-483: A minor boundary change, one that does not have a significant impact on the extent of the property or affect its "outstanding universal value", is also evaluated by the advisory bodies before being sent to the committee. Such proposals can be rejected by either the advisory bodies or the Committee if they judge it to be a significant change instead of a minor one. Proposals to change a site's official name are sent directly to
465-512: A relatively minor king, and other burials probably had more numerous treasures. In the same central area as KV62 and KV63, is "KV64" , a radar anomaly believed to be a tomb or chamber announced on 28 July 2006. It was not an official designation, and the actual existence of a tomb at all was dismissed by the Supreme Council of Antiquities , prior to finally excavating and describing it during 2011–2012. The nearby tomb of Horemheb , ( KV57 )
558-756: A remarkable accomplishment of humankind and serve as evidence of our intellectual history on the planet, or it might be a place of great natural beauty. As of July 2024, a total of 1,223 World Heritage Sites (952 cultural, 231 natural and 40 mixed cultural and natural properties) exist across 168 countries . With 60 selected areas, Italy is the country with the most sites, followed by China with 59, and Germany with 54. The sites are intended for practical conservation for posterity, which otherwise would be subject to risk from human or animal trespassing, unmonitored, uncontrolled or unrestricted access, or threat from local administrative negligence. Sites are demarcated by UNESCO as protected zones. The World Heritage Sites list
651-955: A single text was eventually agreed upon by all parties, and the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage was adopted by the General Conference of UNESCO on 16 November 1972. The convention came into force on 17 December 1975. As of November 2024, it has been ratified by 196 states: 192 UN member states , two UN observer states (the Holy See and the State of Palestine ), and two states in free association with New Zealand (the Cook Islands and Niue ). Only one UN member state, Liechtenstein , has not ratified
744-600: A systematic search, they discovered the actual tomb of Tutankhamun (KV62) in November 1922. Various expeditions have continued to explore the valley, adding greatly to the knowledge of the area. In 2001 the Theban Mapping Project designed new signs for the tombs, providing information and plans of the open tombs. A map of the Valley of the Kings with locations of tombs marked The earliest tombs were located in cliffs at
837-474: A thousand of them. The earliest positively dated graffiti dates to 278 BC. In 1799, members of Napoleon's expedition to Egypt (especially Vivant Denon ) drew maps and plans of the known tombs, and for the first time noted the Western Valley (where Prosper Jollois and Édouard de Villiers du Terrage located the tomb of Amenhotep III , WV22 ). The Description de l'Égypte contains two volumes (out of
930-465: A total of 24) on the area around Thebes. European exploration continued in the area around Thebes during the nineteenth century. Early in the century, the area was visited by Giovanni Belzoni , working for Henry Salt , who discovered several tombs, including those of Ay in the West Valley ( WV23 ) in 1816 and Seti I ( KV17 ) the following year. At the end of his visits, Belzoni declared that all of
1023-465: A total of 61 sepulchers being known by the start of the 20th century. KV5 was only rediscovered in the 1990s after being dismissed as unimportant by previous investigators. Some of the tombs are unoccupied, others remain unidentifiable as regards to their owners, and still others are merely pits used for storage. Most of the open tombs in the Valley of the Kings are located in the East Valley, and this
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#17328986939471116-536: Is a low-lying structure that has been particularly prone to the flash floods that sometimes hit the area. Tonnes of debris and material has washed in over the centuries, ultimately concealing its vast size. It is not currently open to the public. World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural heritage around
1209-402: Is a tomb commencement that is thought to have been started for Akhenaten , but it is no more than a gateway and a series of steps. The tomb of Ay , Tutankhamun 's successor is close by. It is likely that this tomb was started for Tutankhamun (its decoration is of a similar style), but later usurped for Ay's burial. This would mean that KV62 may have been Ay's original tomb, which would explain
1302-416: Is little more than a truncated descending corridor and a burial chamber. However, KV16 has vibrant decoration and still contains the sarcophagus of the king. Its central location makes it one of the more frequently visited tombs. It shows the development of the tomb entrance and passage and of decoration. His son and successor, Seti I 's tomb KV17 (also known as Belzoni's tomb , the tomb of Apis , or
1395-559: Is maintained by the international World Heritage Program administered by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee , composed of 21 "states parties" that are elected by the United Nations General Assembly , and advised by reviews of international panels of experts in natural or cultural history, and education. The Program catalogues, names, and conserves sites of outstanding cultural or natural importance to
1488-405: Is rarely open to visitors, but it has many unique features and is extensively decorated. The decoration shows a transition from the pre-Amarna tombs to those of the 19th dynasty tombs that followed. The Nineteenth Dynasty saw a further standardisation of tomb layout and decoration. The tomb of the first king of the dynasty, Ramesses I , was hurriedly finished due to the early death of the king and
1581-401: Is vast in size, about the same length, and a larger area, of the tomb of his father. At the same time, and just opposite his own tomb, Ramesses enlarged the earlier small tomb of an unknown Eighteenth Dynasty noble ( KV5 ) for his numerous sons. With 120 known rooms, and excavation work still underway, it is probably the largest tomb in the valley. Originally opened (and robbed) in antiquity, it
1674-609: Is where most of the tourist facilities are located. The Eighteenth Dynasty tombs within the valley vary quite a bit in decoration, style, and location. It seems that at first there was no fixed plan. The tomb of Hatshepsut has a unique shape, twisting and turning down over 200 metres from the entrance, so that the burial chamber is 97 metres below the surface. The tombs gradually became more regular and formalised, and those of Thutmose III and Thutmose IV , KV34 and KV43 , are good examples of Eighteenth Dynasty tombs, both with their bent axis, and simple decoration. Perhaps
1767-559: The Book of the Heavens , which again describes the sun's journey through the twelve hours of night. Again from Seti I's time, the Litany of Re , a lengthy hymn to the sun god began to appear. Each burial was provided with equipment that would enable a comfortable existence in the afterlife . Also present in the tombs were items used to perform magic rituals, such as shabtis and divine figurines. Some of
1860-792: The Giza Plateau have come to symbolize ancient Egypt , the majority of tombs were cut into rock. Most pyramids and mastabas contain sections which were cut into ground level, and there are full rock-cut tombs in Egypt that date back to the Old Kingdom. After the defeat of the Hyksos and the reunification of Egypt under Ahmose I , the Theban rulers began to construct elaborate tombs that reflected their newfound power. The tombs of Ahmose I and his son Amenhotep I (their exact location remains unknown) were probably in
1953-471: The Seventeenth Dynasty necropolis of Dra' Abu el-Naga' . The first royal tombs in the Valley of the Kings were those of Amenhotep I (although this identification is also disputed), and Thutmose I , whose advisor, Ineni , notes in his tomb that he advised the king to place his tomb in the desolate valley (the identity of this actual tomb is unclear, but it is probably KV20 or KV38 ). I saw to
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#17328986939472046-462: The Turin Strike Papyrus . The valley has been a major focus of modern Egyptological exploration for the last two centuries. Prior to this time, it was a site for tourism in antiquity (especially during Roman times). The area illustrates the changes in the study of ancient Egypt, starting as antiquity hunting, and ending as scientific excavation of the whole Theban Necropolis . Despite
2139-751: The United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm. Under the World Heritage Committee, signatory countries are required to produce and submit periodic data reporting providing the committee with an overview of each participating nation's implementation of the World Heritage Convention and a "snapshot" of current conditions at World Heritage properties. Based on the draft convention that UNESCO had initiated,
2232-807: The Valley of the Gates of the Kings , is an area in Egypt where, for a period of nearly 500 years from the Eighteenth Dynasty to the Twentieth Dynasty , rock-cut tombs were excavated for pharaohs and powerful nobles under the New Kingdom of ancient Egypt . It is a wadi sitting on the west bank of the Nile , opposite Thebes (modern-day Luxor ) and within the heart of the Theban Necropolis . There are two main sections:
2325-442: The 1990s by a team from Waseda University led by Sakuji Yoshimura and Jiro Kondo. They found the tomb contained assorted jars and sealings, indicating the tomb was likely used as storage for overflow from the nearby tomb of Amenhotep III. The tomb is located 60 metres (200 ft) south of the tomb of Amenhotep III, dug into the base of the cliffs. It was discovered by Karl Richard Lepsius in 1845. He notes in his publication that
2418-569: The Ancient Egyptians as ta dehent , or "The Peak". It has a pyramid-shaped appearance, and it is probable that this echoed the pyramids of the Old Kingdom , more than a thousand years prior to the first royal burials carved here. Its isolated position also resulted in reduced access, and special tomb police (the Medjay ) were able to guard the necropolis. While the iconic pyramid complex of
2511-476: The East Valley, where the majority of the royal tombs are situated; and the West Valley, otherwise known as the Valley of the Monkeys. With the 2005 discovery of a new chamber and the 2008 discovery of two further tomb entrances, the Valley of the Kings is known to contain 65 tombs and chambers, ranging in size from the simple pit that is KV54 to the complex tomb that is KV5 , which alone has over 120 chambers for
2604-679: The Great Barrier Reef on the endangered list, as global climate change had caused a further negative state of the corals and water quality. Again, the Australian government campaigned against this, and in July 2021, the World Heritage Committee , made up of diplomatic representatives of 21 countries, ignored UNESCO's assessment, based on studies of scientists, "that the reef was clearly in danger from climate change and so should be placed on
2697-408: The Kings also contains the tombs of favorite nobles as well as the wives and children of both nobles and pharaohs. Therefore, only about twenty of the tombs actually contain the remains of kings. The remains of nobles and of the royal family, together with unmarked pits and embalming caches, make up the rest. Around the time of Ramesses I (ca. 1301 BC) construction commenced in the separate Valley of
2790-968: The List of World Heritage in Danger and the World Heritage List. Only three sites have ever been delisted : the Arabian Oryx Sanctuary in Oman, the Dresden Elbe Valley in Germany, and the Liverpool Maritime Mercantile City in the United Kingdom. The Arabian Oryx Sanctuary was directly delisted in 2007, instead of first being put on the danger list, after the Omani government decided to reduce
2883-668: The Queens . The official name for the site in ancient times was The Great and Majestic Necropolis of the Millions of Years of the Pharaoh, Life, Strength, Health in The West of Thebes (see below for the hieroglyphic spelling), or Ta-sekhet-ma'at (the Great Field). At the start of the Eighteenth Dynasty , only kings were buried within the valley in large tombs. When a non-royal person was buried, it
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2976-416: The West Valley as WV1 through WV4. The tombs in the West Valley were later incorporated into the East Valley numbering system as WV22 through WV25 , and tombs that have been opened since Wilkinson's time have been added to the list. The numbers range from KV1 (Rameses VII) to KV64 (discovered in 2011). Since the early 19th century AD, antiquarians and archaeologists have cleared and recorded tombs, with
3069-609: The World Heritage Committee for new designations. The Committee meets once a year to determine which nominated properties to add to the World Heritage List; sometimes it defers its decision or requests more information from the country that nominated the site. There are ten selection criteria – a site must meet at least one to be included on the list. Until 2004, there were six sets of criteria for cultural heritage and four for natural heritage. In 2005, UNESCO modified these and now has one set of ten criteria. Nominated sites must be of "outstanding universal value" and must meet at least one of
3162-944: The World Heritage Fund to facilitate its conservation under certain conditions. UNESCO reckons the restorations of the following four sites among its success stories: Angkor in Cambodia, the Old City of Dubrovnik in Croatia, the Wieliczka Salt Mine near Kraków in Poland, and the Ngorongoro Conservation Area in Tanzania. Additionally, the local population around a site may benefit from significantly increased tourism revenue. When there are significant interactions between people and
3255-486: The awards, because World Heritage listing can significantly increase tourism returns. Site listing bids are often lengthy and costly, putting poorer countries at a disadvantage. Eritrea 's efforts to promote Asmara are one example. In 2016, the Australian government was reported to have successfully lobbied for the World Heritage Site Great Barrier Reef conservation efforts to be removed from
3348-404: The central area of the valley. This central area appears to have been flooded at the end of the Eighteenth Dynasty , with several tombs buried under metres of debris. The tombs KV55 , KV62 , and KV63 are dug into the actual wadi bedrock rather than the debris, showing that the level of the valley was five meters below its present level. After this event, later dynasties levelled the floor of
3441-504: The commitment of countries and local population to World Heritage conservation in various ways, providing emergency assistance for sites in danger, offering technical assistance and professional training, and supporting States Parties' public awareness-building activities. Being listed as a World Heritage Site can positively affect the site, its environment, and interactions between them. A listed site gains international recognition and legal protection, and can obtain funds from, among others,
3534-450: The committee. A site may be added to the List of World Heritage in Danger if conditions threaten the characteristics for which the landmark or area was inscribed on the World Heritage List. Such problems may involve armed conflict and war, natural disasters, pollution, poaching, or uncontrolled urbanisation or human development. This danger list is intended to increase international awareness of
3627-417: The common culture and heritage of humankind. The programme began with the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage , which was adopted by the General Conference of UNESCO on 16 November 1972. Since then, 196 states have ratified the convention, making it one of the most widely recognised international agreements and the world's most popular cultural programme. In 1954,
3720-404: The contents; the sherds most commonly represent wine jars and blue painted pottery. Also found were wine jar stands, jar sealings, and jar dockets dating to years 32 and 37 of Amenhotep III's reign. However, no items were found to indicate that the tomb itself ever contained a burial. The presence of ostraca, some of which were used as paint palettes, and items such as a length of rope, indicate that
3813-412: The convention. By assigning places as World Heritage Sites, UNESCO wants to help preserve them for future generations. Its motivation is that "heritage is our legacy from the past, what we live with today" and that both cultural and natural heritage are "irreplaceable sources of life and inspiration". UNESCO's mission with respect to World Heritage consists of eight sub targets. These include encouraging
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3906-619: The cultivation facing Thebes . These mortuary temples became places visited during the various festivals held in the Theban necropolis. Most notable is the Beautiful festival of the valley , where the sacred barques of Amun-Re , his consort, Mut , and son, Khonsu , left the temple at Karnak in order to visit the funerary temples of deceased kings on the West Bank and their shrines in the Theban Necropolis . The tombs were constructed and decorated by
3999-418: The descending path of the sun god into the underworld) to the burial chamber. In the earlier tombs, the corridors turn 90 degrees at least once (such as KV43 , the tomb of Thutmose IV ), and the earliest ones had cartouche -shaped burial chambers (for example, KV43 , the tomb of Thutmose IV ). This layout is known as "Bent Axis", After the burial, the upper corridors were meant to be filled with rubble and
4092-627: The endangered monuments and sites. In 1960, the Director-General of UNESCO launched the International Campaign to Save the Monuments of Nubia . This resulted in the excavation and recording of hundreds of sites, the recovery of thousands of objects, as well as the salvage and relocation to higher ground of several important temples. The most famous of these are the temple complexes of Abu Simbel and Philae . The campaign ended in 1980 and
4185-471: The entrance to the tomb hidden. After the Amarna Period , the layout gradually straightened, with an intermediate "Jogged Axis" (the tomb of Horemheb , KV57 is typical of this layout and is one of the tombs that is sometimes open to the public), to the generally "Straight Axis" of the late Nineteenth and Twentieth Dynasty tombs ( Ramesses III 's and Ramesses IX 's tombs, KV11 and KV6 respectively). As
4278-410: The excavation of the rock-tomb of his majesty, alone, no one seeing, no one hearing. The Valley was used for primary burials from approximately 1539 BC to 1075 BC. It contains at least 63 tombs , beginning with Thutmose I (or possibly earlier, during the reign of Amenhotep I) and ending with Ramesses X or XI , although non-royal burials continued in usurped tombs. Despite its name, the Valley of
4371-536: The exploration and investigation noted below, only eleven of the tombs have actually been completely recorded. Many of the tombs have graffiti written by those ancient tourists. Jules Baillet has located over 2,100 Greek and Latin instances of graffiti, along with a smaller number in Phoenician , Cypriot , Lycian , Coptic , and other languages. The majority of the ancient graffiti is found in KV9, which contains just under
4464-477: The government of Egypt decided to build the new Aswan High Dam , whose resulting future reservoir would eventually inundate a large stretch of the Nile valley containing cultural treasures of ancient Egypt and ancient Nubia . In 1959, the governments of Egypt and Sudan requested the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to assist them to protect and rescue
4557-412: The items may have been used by the king during his lifetime ( Tutankhamun 's sandals for example), and some were specially constructed for the burial. The modern abbreviation "KV" stands for "Kings' Valley". In 1827, Wilkinson painted KV numbers over the entrances to the 21 tombs that lay open in the East Valley at that time, beginning at the valley entrance and moving southward, and labeled four tombs in
4650-980: The last two decades. These activities endanger Natural World Heritage Sites and could compromise their unique values. Of the Natural World Heritage Sites that contain forest, 91% experienced some loss since 2000. Many of them are more threatened than previously thought and require immediate conservation action. The destruction of cultural assets and identity-establishing sites is one of the primary goals of modern asymmetrical warfare. Terrorists, rebels, and mercenary armies deliberately smash archaeological sites, sacred and secular monuments and loot libraries, archives and museums. The UN, United Nations peacekeeping and UNESCO in cooperation with Blue Shield International are active in preventing such acts. "No strike lists" are also created to protect cultural assets from air strikes. The founding president of Blue Shield International Karl von Habsburg summed it up with
4743-508: The list." According to environmental protection groups, this "decision was a victory for cynical lobbying and [...] Australia, as custodians of the world's biggest coral reef, was now on probation." Several listed locations, such as Casco Viejo in Panama and Hội An in Vietnam , have struggled to strike a balance between the economic benefits of catering to greatly increased visitor numbers after
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#17328986939474836-825: The local level which can result in the site being damaged. Rock art under world heritage protection at the Tadrart Acacus in Libya have occasionally been intentionally destroyed. Chalcraft links this destruction to Libyan national authorities prioritizing World Heritage status over local sensibilities by limiting access to the sites without consulting with the local population. UNESCO has also been criticized for alleged geographic bias, racism , and colourism in world heritage inscription. A major chunk of all world heritage inscriptions are located in regions whose populations generally have lighter skin, including Europe, East Asia, and North America. The World Heritage Committee has divided
4929-411: The most imposing tomb of this period is that of Amenhotep III , WV22 , located in the West Valley. It was re-investigated in the 1990s by a team from Waseda University , Japan , but it is not open to the public. At the same time, powerful and influential nobles began to be buried with the royal family; the most famous of these tombs is the joint tomb of Yuya and Tjuyu , KV46 . They were possibly
5022-704: The natural environment, these can be recognised as "cultural landscapes". A country must first identify its significant cultural and natural sites in a document known as the Tentative List. Next, it can place sites selected from that list into a Nomination File, which is evaluated by the International Council on Monuments and Sites and the World Conservation Union . A country may not nominate sites that have not been first included on its Tentative List. The two international bodies make recommendations to
5115-401: The opulence and power of Egypt's pharaohs. This area has been a focus for Egyptologists and archaeological exploration since the end of the 18th century, and its tombs and burials continue to stimulate research and interest. The Valley of the Kings garnered significant attention following the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun in 1922, and is one of the most famous archaeological sites in
5208-410: The parents of Queen Tiy . Until the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun, this was the best-preserved of the tombs that had been discovered in the Valley. The return of royal burials to Thebes after the end of the Amarna Period marks a change to the layout of royal burials, with the intermediate 'jogged axis' gradually giving way to the 'straight axis' of later dynasties. In the Western Valley, there
5301-543: The protected area's size by 90%. The Dresden Elbe Valley was first placed on the danger list in 2006 when the World Heritage Committee decided that plans to construct the Waldschlösschen Bridge would significantly alter the valley's landscape. In response, the Dresden City Council attempted to stop the bridge's construction. However, after several court decisions allowed the building of the bridge to proceed,
5394-467: The recognition and preserving the original culture and local communities. Another criticism is that there is a homogeneity to these sites, which contain similar styles, visitor centres , etc., meaning that a lot of the individuality of these sites has been removed to become more attractive to tourists. Anthropologist Jasper Chalcraft said that World Heritage recognition often ignores contemporary local usage of certain sites. This leads to conflicts on
5487-410: The rock in the Valley is inconsistent, ranging from finely grained to coarse stone, the latter with the potential to be structurally unsound. The occasional layer of shale also caused construction (and in modern times, conservation) difficulties, as this rock expands in the presence of water, forcing apart the stone surrounding it. It is thought that some tombs were altered in shape and size depending on
5580-565: The royal necropolis. The Nineteenth and Twentieth Dynasties saw an increase in the number of burials (both here and in the Valley of the Queens), with Ramesses II and later Ramesses III each constructing a massive tomb used for the burial of their sons ( KV5 and KV3 respectively). There are some kings that are not buried within the valley or whose tomb has not been located: Thutmose II may have been buried in Dra' Abu el-Naga' (although his mummy
5673-420: The smaller size and unusual layout for a royal tomb. The other Amarna Period tombs are located in a smaller, central area in the centre of the East Valley, with a possible mummy cache ( KV55 ) that may contain the burials of several Amarna Period royals – Tiy and Smenkhkare or Akhenaten . In close proximity is the burial of Tutankhamun, perhaps the most famous discovery of modern Western archaeology . It
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#17328986939475766-463: The sons of Ramesses II . It was the principal burial place for the New Kingdom's major royal figures as well as a number of privileged nobles. The royal tombs are decorated with traditional scenes from Egyptian mythology and reveal clues to the period's funerary practices and afterlife beliefs . Almost all of the tombs seem to have been opened and robbed in antiquity, but they still give an idea of
5859-430: The start of the 20th century, American explorer Theodore M. Davis held the excavation permit for the valley. His team (led mostly by Edward R. Ayrton ) discovered several royal and non-royal tombs (including KV43 , KV46 and KV57 ). In 1907, they discovered the possible Amarna Period cache in KV55. After finding what they thought was all that remained of the burial of Tutankhamun (items recovered from KV54 and KV58), it
5952-411: The sun god passing through the twelve gates that divide the nighttime and ensures the tomb owner's own safe passage through the night. These earliest tombs were generally sparsely decorated, and those of a non-royal nature were totally undecorated. Late in the Nineteenth Dynasty the Book of Caverns , which divided the underworld into massive caverns containing deities as well as the deceased waiting for
6045-441: The sun to pass through and restore them to life, was placed in the upper parts of tombs. A complete version appears in the tomb of Ramesses VI. The burial of Ramesses III saw the Book of the Earth , where the underworld is divided into four sections, climaxing in the sun disc being pulled from the earth by Naunet . The ceilings of the burial chambers were decorated (from the burial of Seti I onwards) with what became formalised as
6138-416: The ten criteria. A country may request to extend or reduce the boundaries, modify the official name, or change the selection criteria of one of its already listed sites. Any proposal for a significant boundary change or to modify the site's selection criteria must be submitted as if it were a new nomination, including first placing it on the Tentative List and then onto the Nomination File. A request for
6231-405: The threats and to encourage counteractive measures. Threats to a site can be either proven imminent threats or potential dangers that could have adverse effects on a site. The state of conservation for each site on the danger list is reviewed yearly; after this, the Committee may request additional measures, delete the property from the list if the threats have ceased or consider deletion from both
6324-477: The tomb entrance was buried 10 feet (3.0 m) below ground level and contained "some earthenware vases... which contained the name of a king hitherto unknown." The tomb was re-excavated in the 1990s by a team from Waseda University led by Sakuji Yoshimura and Jiro Kondo. The doorway preserves most of its original stone blocking, one of the only tombs in the valley to do so. The objects recovered consisted mostly of pottery sherds, consistent with earlier reports of
6417-433: The tomb of Amenmesse , so construction was abandoned and he instead usurped the tomb of Twosret , KV14 . When looking for a tomb, Ramesses III extended the partly excavated tomb started by his father. The tomb of Ramesses II returned to an early style, with a bent axis, probably due to the quality of the rock being excavated (following the Esna shale). Between 1998 and 2002, the Amarna Royal Tombs Project investigated
6510-460: The tomb of Psammis, son of Necho ), is usually regarded as the finest tomb in the valley. It has extensive relief work and paintings. When it was rediscovered by Belzoni in 1817, he referred to it as "a fortunate day." The son of Seti, Ramesses II (Ramesses the Great), constructed a massive tomb, KV7 , but it is in a ruinous state. It is currently undergoing excavation and conservation by a Franco-Egyptian team led by Christian Leblanc . The tomb
6603-415: The tomb was likely used by craftsmen during the cutting and decorating of the nearby royal tomb and then later utilized to store overflow from the tomb itself. However, Kondo cautions that "the precise nature and contents of WVA should be assessed with caution" due to the mixed nature of finds in the area immediately surrounding the tomb. Valley of the Kings The Valley of the Kings , also known as
6696-486: The tombs had been located and nothing of note remained to be found. Working at the same time was Bernardino Drovetti , the French Consul-General and a great rival of Belzoni and Salt. John Gardner Wilkinson , who lived in Egypt from 1821 to 1832, copied many of the inscriptions and artwork in the tombs that were open at the time. The decipherment of hieroglyphs , though still incomplete during Wilkinson's stay in
6789-414: The tombs' axes straightened, the slopes also lessened. They almost disappeared in the late Twentieth Dynasty. Another feature that is common to most tombs is the "well", which may have originated as an actual barrier intended to stop flood waters from entering the lower parts of the tomb. It seems to have developed a "magical" purpose later as a symbolic shaft. In the later Twentieth Dynasty, the well itself
6882-436: The top of scree slopes, under storm-fed waterfalls ( KV34 and KV43 ). As these locations were filled, burials descended to the valley floor, gradually moving back up the slopes as the valley bottom filled with debris. This explains the location of the tombs KV62 and KV63 buried in the valley floor. The usual tomb plan consisted of a long inclined rock-cut corridor, descending through one or more halls (possibly mirroring
6975-475: The types of rock the builders encountered. Builders took advantage of available geological features when constructing the tombs. Some tombs were quarried out of existing limestone clefts, others behind slopes of scree , and some were at the edge of rock spurs created by ancient flood channels. The problems of tomb construction can be seen with the tombs of Ramesses III and his father Setnakhte . Setnakhte started to excavate KV11 but unintentionally broke into
7068-486: The valley floor using ground-penetrating radar and found that, below the modern surface, the Valley's cliffs descend beneath the scree in a series of abrupt, natural "shelves", arranged one below the other, descending several metres to the bedrock in the valley floor. The area of the Theban hills is subject to infrequent, violent thunderstorms causing flash floods in the valley. Recent studies have shown that there are at least seven active flood stream beds leading down into
7161-615: The valley was removed from the World Heritage List in 2009. Liverpool 's World Heritage status was revoked in July 2021, following developments ( Liverpool Waters and Bramley-Moore Dock Stadium ) on the northern docks of the World Heritage site leading to the "irreversible loss of attributes" on the site. The first global assessment to quantitatively measure threats to Natural World Heritage Sites found that 63% of sites have been damaged by increasing human pressures including encroaching roads, agriculture infrastructure and settlements over
7254-559: The valley, enabled him to assemble a chronology of New Kingdom rulers based on the inscriptions in the tombs. He also established the system of tomb numbering that has been in use, with additions, ever since. The second half of the century saw a more concerted effort to preserve, rather than simply gather, antiquities. Auguste Mariette 's Egyptian Antiquities Service started to explore the valley, first with Eugène Lefébure in 1883, then Jules Baillet and Georges Bénédite in early 1888, and finally Victor Loret in 1898 to 1899. Loret added
7347-473: The valley, making the floods deposit their load further down the valley, and the buried tombs were forgotten and only discovered in the early 20th century. This was the area that was the subject of the Amarna Royal Tombs Project ground-scanning radar investigation, which showed several anomalies, one of which was proved to be KV63. The Theban Hills are dominated by the peak of al-Qurn , known to
7440-436: The words: "Without the local community and without the local participants, that would be completely impossible". The UNESCO-administered project has attracted criticism. This was caused by perceived under-representation of heritage sites outside Europe, disputed decisions on site selection and adverse impact of mass tourism on sites unable to manage rapid growth in visitor numbers. A large lobbying industry has grown around
7533-526: The work of the World Heritage Committee was developed over a seven-year period (1965–1972). The United States initiated the idea of safeguarding places of high cultural or natural importance. A White House conference in 1965 called for a "World Heritage Trust" to preserve "the world's superb natural and scenic areas and historic sites for the present and the future of the entire world citizenry". The International Union for Conservation of Nature developed similar proposals in 1968, which were presented in 1972 at
7626-426: The workers of the village of Deir el-Medina , located in a small wadi between this valley and the Valley of the Queens , facing Thebes . The workers journeyed to the tombs through various routes over the Theban hills. The daily lives of these workers are quite well known due to their being recorded in tombs and official documents. Amongst the events documented is perhaps the first recorded workers' strike, detailed in
7719-648: The world considered to be of outstanding value to humanity". To be selected, a World Heritage Site is nominated by its host country and determined by the UNESCO's World Heritage Committee to be a unique landmark which is geographically and historically identifiable, having a special cultural or physical significance, and to be under a sufficient system of legal protection. For example, World Heritage Sites might be ancient ruins or historical structures, buildings, cities, deserts, forests, islands, lakes, monuments, mountains or wilderness areas. A World Heritage Site may signify
7812-717: The world into five geographic regions: Africa, Arab states, Asia and the Pacific, Europe and North America, and Latin America and the Caribbean. Russia and the Caucasus states are classified as European, while Mexico and the Caribbean are classified as belonging to the Latin America and the Caribbean region. The UNESCO geographic regions also give greater emphasis on administrative, rather than geographic associations. Hence, Gough Island , located in
7905-510: The world. In 1979, it became a UNESCO World Heritage Site alongside the rest of the Theban Necropolis. Exploration, excavation, and conservation continues in the area and a new tourist centre has recently been opened. The Valley of the Kings is situated over 1,000 feet of limestone and other sedimentary rock, which form the cliffs in the valley and the nearby Deir el-Bahari , interspersed with soft layers of marl . The sedimentary rock
7998-400: Was announced that the valley was completely explored and that no further burials were to be found. Davis's 1912 publication, The Tombs of Harmhabi and Touatânkhamanou closes with the comment, "I fear that the Valley of Kings is now exhausted." After Davis's death early in 1915, Lord Carnarvon acquired the concession to excavate the valley, and he employed Howard Carter to explore it. After
8091-668: Was collected from 50 countries. The project's success led to other safeguarding campaigns, such as saving Venice and its lagoon in Italy, the ruins of Mohenjo-daro in Pakistan, and the Borobodur Temple Compounds in Indonesia. Together with the International Council on Monuments and Sites , UNESCO then initiated a draft convention to protect cultural heritage. The convention (the signed document of international agreement ) guiding
8184-931: Was considered a success. To thank countries which especially contributed to the campaign's success, Egypt donated four temples; the Temple of Dendur was moved to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City , the Temple of Debod to the Parque del Oeste in Madrid , the Temple of Taffeh to the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden in Leiden , and the Temple of Ellesyia to Museo Egizio in Turin . The project cost US$ 80 million (equivalent to $ 295.83 million in 2023), about $ 40 million of which
8277-401: Was discovered by Howard Carter on 4 November 1922, with clearance and conservation work continuing until 1932. This was the first royal tomb to be discovered that was still largely intact, although tomb robbers had entered. Until the excavation of KV63 on 10 March 2005, it was considered the last major discovery in the valley. The opulence of his grave goods notwithstanding, Tutankhamun was
8370-472: Was in a small rock cut chamber, close to the tomb of their master. Amenhotep III 's tomb was constructed in the Western Valley, and while his son Akhenaten moved his tomb's construction to Amarna , it is thought that the unfinished WV25 may have originally been intended for him. With the return to religious orthodoxy at the end of the Eighteenth Dynasty, Tutankhamun , Ay , and Horemheb returned to
8463-512: Was in the Deir el-Bahari tomb cache ), Smenkhkare's burial has never been located, and Ramesses VIII seems to have been buried elsewhere. In the Pyramid Age , the pyramid tomb of a king was associated with a mortuary temple located close to the pyramid. Since the tombs of the kings in the Valley of the Kings were hidden, the kings' mortuary temples were located away from their burial sites, closer to
8556-516: Was originally deposited between 35 and 56 million years ago during a time when the Mediterranean Sea sometimes extended as far south as Aswan . During the Pleistocene the valley was carved out of the plateau by steady rains. There is now little year-round rain in this part of Egypt, but there are occasional flash floods . These floods dump tons of debris into the open tombs. The quality of
8649-482: Was sometimes not excavated (by the builders), but the well room was still present. The majority of the royal tombs were decorated with religious texts and images. The early tombs were decorated with scenes from Amduat ('That Which is in the Underworld'), which describes the journey of the sun god through the twelve hours of the night. From the time of Horemheb, tombs were decorated with the Book of Gates , which shows
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