VALLEY OF THE KINGS
The kings of the New Kingdom abandoned the idea of building pyramids and instead began to bury their departed pharaohs in a narrow valley across the Nile from the ancient Temple of Karnak.
Colossus of Memnon
These two giant statues served as guardians to the valley. When the Greeks came to Egypt, they named them the Colossus of Memnon, but the heiroglyphs tell a different story. This is not Memnon, but Amenhotep III of the 18th Dynasty.
The Mortuary Temple of Hatshepset is built partly of stone and partly carved out of the very mountainside.
In the Valley
The narrow valley does not look all that impressive. It was not built to impress, but to hide the tombs of the pharaohs. With the sole exception of the tomb of the young boy-king Tutankhamun, the tombs failed in their purpose, for they were all emptied by tomb robbers long ago.