The Valley of the Kings, also called the Valley of the Tombs of the Kings or the Valley of the Gates of the Kings, is a long, narrow area west of the Nile River in Upper Egypt. It was part of the ancient city of Thebes and was the burial place of almost all the kings (pharaohs) of the Eighteenth, Nineteenth and Twentieth Dynasties (1539–1075 BC), from Thutmose I to Ramesses Bahri, the Sixty-Second King. The known tombs show a variety of layout and decoration. In 1979, UNESCO designated the valley part of the Ancient Thebes World Heritage Site, which also includes Luxor, the Valley of the Queens and Karnak.
