Tales of the Valley Trivia Quiz

Answer: Luxor

The first capital of the unified kingdom of ancient Egypt was Memphis, which was built at the point where the kingdoms of Upper and Lower Egypt joined. As the population shifted south along the Nile, the capital was moved to Thebes, which had served as the capital of a nome in Upper Egypt before unification.

It is believed that by the time Thebes was made capital of Egypt, it was the largest city in the world. Even after it ceased to be the ancient capital, Thebes remained an important city due to its connection with Amon-Ra, the sun god, and the Temple of Karnak, which was located there, continued to be a sacred site.

The modern city of Luxor has been called the "world's greatest open-air museum".

Answer: It made it easier to find the kingdom of Osiris, which was located somewhere in the western desert.

After the seventy-day embalming procedure was completed and a funeral service was held, the mummy would begin its trip to Osiris, the god who weighed the heart. The weighing of the heart was very important as it determined whether or not the deceased would go on to the afterlife. Osiris would remove the heart from the mummy, and place it on a scale opposite a feather. If the heart was lighter than a feather, the person was judged to be worthy of the afterlife.

The problem was that no one knew for certain where to find the kingdom of Osiris where their heart would be weighed.

It was believed to be somewhere in the western desert. Being buried on the west bank of the Nile meant that even though the deceased had to travel to Osiris for the weighing of his heart, he did not have to cross the dangerous river in order to begin his search. Just think, he might fall in or be attacked by a hippo, and never have the chance to stand before Osiris to be judged!

Answer: New Kingdom

During the Middle Kingdom, which was characterized by a civil war which caused the kingdoms of Upper and Lower Egypt to break apart, the Hyksos established a small kingdom at the city of Avaris in the Nile Delta. After about one hundred years of peacful co-existence, hostilities began to break out, and the Egyptian pharaoh, Kamose, began to formulate a plan to defeat the Hyksos; his brother, Ahmose, successfully drove the Hyksos out of Egypt, reunited the two kingdoms, and began the era which is known as the New Kingdom or Empire Period. Pharaohs at this time wished to show their wealth and power by building elaborate tombs. Burials in the Valley of the Kings during the New Kingdom began with the 18th dynasty kings, and continued through the 21st dynasty.

Answer: Servant

The Valley of the Kings not only contains tombs of pharaohs, but also those of their wives and children, along with high ranking nobles. In fact, the majority of the known tombs in the Valley were not built for pharaohs. That makes the name of the cemetery, of course, a bit misleading, especially when there is a Valley of the Queens nearby.

It is not known why the Valley of the Queens was chosen as a funeral site, but the Valley of the Queens, along with other nearby valleys, contains over one hundred burials. One must remember that with the practice of polygamy, some pharaohs had many wives which they would eventually want to provide with a royal burial; for example, Ramses II had eight royal wives and a number of royal concubines. Perhaps it was realized that there would not be room for the tombs of all the wives in the Valley of the Kings.

Answer: There wasn't an organized plan as to where and in what order the tombs should be constructed.

Apparently the ancient builders did not keep an organized schematic of the tombs as they were built in the Valley of the Kings. This problem is evident in looking at some of the constructions. For example, when Pharaoh Setnakhte's workmen were excavating for a tomb, the diggers broke into the tomb of another pharaoh, Amenmesse. Construction was stopped, and a new location for a tomb was found; Setnakhte's son, however, went back to the partly-excavated tomb begun by his father, and finished the construction, using part of it for his own tomb.

Many historians hypothesize that King Tut wasn't an important pharaoh because he was apparently forgotten shortly after his death. Approximately two hundred years later, the tomb of Ramses VI was literally built on top of King Tut's tomb. Debris from the tomb, along with worker's huts covered the entrance to Tut's tomb, and the tomb itself was built so close to Tut's, that workmen came within mere inches of breaking into a passage that would have lead them to Tut's treasures.

Answer: Bent Axis

There were three types of tombs built in the Valley of the Kings. Early ones, called bent axis tombs, had a long corridor that descended through halls toward a burial chamber. The corridor would make a 90 degree turn at least once. After burial, it was intended that the corridor would be filled in with stone rubble and the entrance would be hidden. Later a jogged axis was used, which meant that the turn in the corridor was not as sharp as the previously used 90 degrees; eventually a straight axis design was used.

Answer: Tutankamun

It is believed that grave robbers entered King Tut's tomb at least twice in antiquity, stealing valuable perfumes, oils, and other small items, such as jewels. Although Tut was buried in a small tomb which perhaps had been constructed for a less important person, and was, when compared to others, a rather insignificant pharaoh, his name became known world-wide in 1922 when Howard Carter discovered his almost-intact tomb.

As for other tombs in the Valley of the Kings, most were either plundered in ancient times, or never used. Let's face it, does it seem wise to bury a fantastically wealthy pharaoh with his worldly possessions in such an obvious place? Even though grave robbers were brutally punished in Egypt, there were still many who tried to earn a living that way. Trials that date mostly to the 20th dynasty are well documented.

It even appears that "official" plundering took place. Luckily for Tut his tomb was forgotten, covered either by man or nature and thanks to rock debris and workmen's huts.

Answer: Ramses II

Tombs in the Valley of the Kings (KV) are numbered in order of their discovery. The tomb known as KV5 was excavated as early as 1825; in fact, in 1902 it was used by Howard Carter as a dumping ground. Believed to be a small, typical tomb, it was not until 1995 that its true significance was revealed. Working with the Theban Mapping Project to create an archaeological map of the Valley of the Kings, Kent Weeks found approximately 70 rooms that extended far back into the hillside and by 2006, 130 rooms had been uncovered.

The tomb contained the remains of many of the children of Ramses, especially the ones who proceeded him in death. Some sources claim that altogether Ramses fathered a whopping 96 sons and 60 daughters! Living to the age of 93 years, of course, Ramses saw many of his children buried in the Valley of the Kings; it is estimated that he trained at least twelve sons who were designated to be the crown prince before he died.

Answer: Deir el-Bahri

As the power of ancient Egypt began to wane, and tomb plundering in the Valley of the Kings is believed to have been carried out by the pharaoh's officials, the priests made a desperate attempt to preserve the mummies and grave goods. In 1881, a grave cache was discovered at the site of Deir el-Bahri, which revealed forty royal mummies, including the mummy of Ramses II, and 153 reburied priests.

Answer: 65

After the discovery of King Tut's tomb (KV62) in 1922, it was believed there would be no more important discoveries in the Valley of the Kings. In fact, another discovery, labeled KV63, was not made until 2005. Originally thought to be a burial chamber, it is now presumed that KV63 was used as a storage chamber for supplies used in the mummification process. Although several coffins and jars were found, they only contained mummification materials. Two other sites, KV64 and KV65, have been named, however, their exact function is still unknown.

It must be noted that the majority of the numbered tombs in the Valley of the Kings are considered to be minor tombs. They may have been intended for the burial of lesser royalty or a noble, but some may have never been used as tombs or for any other purpose. Some of the chambers have been open since ancient times, however, the majority were found in the 19th and 20th centuries.