Valley of the Queens

Valley of the Queens
This valley was where some of the queens and royal children of the 19th and 20th Dynasties were buried. There are over twenty tombs; many are unfinished and entirely without decoration. The most beautiful, that of Nefertari, beloved wife of Ramses II, is not open to visitors. However, we are fortunate that there is another tomb in the same style and with similar representations.

Valley of the Queens

Tomb No. 40
This is the burial place of an unidentified queen. Her tomb so closely resembles that of Nefertari that it is believed to date to the beginning of the 19th Dynasty.-

Valley of the Queens

A stairway leads to a large hall, which has two pillars, from which two chambers lead off; one to the rear (south), and one to the right (east). All are beautifully decorated in elaborate low relief, partly filled with stucco and painted in brilliant colours.

To the left of the entrance to the main chamber the deceased queen is seen before a kiosk containing the Anubis jackal, being adored by Nephthvs and Isis. This is followed by a beautiful scene of the queen, with an offering, adoring the Hathor cow who emerges from the mountain.

Valley of the Queens

Because of the funerary nature of the wall reliefs of the room to the right, showing scenes of the funeral and the sarcophagus of the deceased, it is thought that this, and not the room to the rear, was the actual burial chamber.

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