Valley of the Queens

The Valley of the Queens was originally known as the 'Place of Beauty' but is now called in Arabic the 'Gates of the Harem' (Biban El-Harem). It was used as a burial site for officials long before the queens and their offspring, who had previously been buried with their husbands, began to be buried here in the 19th Dynasty (1320-1200 BC). It contains more than 80 tombs but many are still unidentified. The tombs are generally quite simple with a long corridor, several antechambers branching off and the burial chamber at the end. The most famous tomb is that of Ramses II's wife Nefertari, but now that this is permanently closed the Valley of the Queens has become the sight to miss if you're short on time.

Prince Seth-Hir-Khopshef, a son of Ramses III who died during af smallpox epidemic when very young, was ceremonial charioteer of the great stables. His tomb-chapel is decorated with a series of scenes of the gods, clockwise from the entrance to the corridor, including Ramses III and Seth-Hir-Khopshef in front of Osiris and other deities, the sons of Horus, Osiris enthroned, Ramses III and Prince Seth-Hir-Khopshef offering gifts, and Ramses and the prince before a set of deities.

Although the tomb is dedicated to another of Ramses III's young sons, who also died of smallpox, it is dominated by the pharaoh himself. The reliefs depict the young boy being led to the underworld by his father who is offering sacrifices and helping his son through the judgement of Osiris to the Fields of Yaru.

Queen Titi was the daughter, wife and mother of a succession of 20th-Dynasty pharaohs called Ramses, but it is uncertain to which one she was married. Although the tomb is open to the public, the reliefs are faded and damaged. A corridor leads to a square shrine that branches into three antechambers with the badly preserved burial chamber on the left being dedicated to the four sons of Horus and Osiris. The central chamber features the Queen before the gods and the shrine is dominated by animal deities with pictures of jackals, baboons and guardian lions. The right-hand chamber is the best preserved and depicts the tree goddess and Hathor as a cow rejuvenating the Queen with Nile water.