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Archaeological Site · Protected (UNESCO)

The Valley of the Kings

~1500 to 1070 BC · royal tombs, West bank of the Nile, Luxor, Egypt
PROTECTED
Evidence status: Historical tradition. no documented source (historical tradition); legal status unknown (manual verification recommended). This account is presented as historical tradition, not verified fact. Manual verification recommended. Repository evidence: 0 sources · 0 timeline events · 0 media items · legal unknown · view on the Map Evidence on file: historical tradition

The Valley of the Kings: still unexplained.

The pharaohs' burials, and Tutankhamun's untouched gold

The law of this ground: UNESCO World Heritage Site, excavation by the Egyptian authorities only.
The subject
developing the photograph…
Of note
The pharaohs' burials, and Tutankhamun's untouched gold
The account

For five centuries Egypt hid its pharaohs in a desert valley, and robbers emptied nearly every tomb in antiquity. Nearly. In 1922 Howard Carter broke into the one they missed, Tutankhamun's, and saw 'wonderful things': a solid gold coffin, the golden mask, a king's whole afterlife intact. Sixty-odd tombs are known here. Some still argue a few remain unfound.

Leads, where the trail points now
  • The valley holds more than 60 royal tombs; Tutankhamun's in 1922 was the last great intact find, and missing royals like Nefertiti and Ramesses VIII are still sought.
  • It is a strictly protected antiquities zone where only licensed Egyptian-led missions dig; radar surveys, like the KV62 scans, are the modern method.
  • The lead is the unlocated tombs and possible hidden chambers, chased now with muon imaging and ground radar rather than the spade.
What the record holds

What remains open

  • No period map of the site has surfaced.
  • No contemporary press coverage has been found.
What we know, and what we don't
Established

No documentary claim is yet established. The account rests on tradition.

Still open
  • No period map of the site has surfaced.
  • No contemporary press coverage has been found.
The evidence room

No documentary or visual exhibits have been located yet. The trail below and the open leads are where this dossier grows next — every exhibit that enters here carries a source.

Where the trail points now
  • The valley holds more than 60 royal tombs; Tutankhamun's in 1922 was the last great intact find, and missing royals like Nefertiti and Ramesses VIII are still sought.
  • It is a strictly protected antiquities zone where only licensed Egyptian-led missions dig; radar surveys, like the KV62 scans, are the modern method.
  • The lead is the unlocated tombs and possible hidden chambers, chased now with muon imaging and ground radar rather than the spade.
  • Search Library of Congress + DPLA (IIIF) for period cartography of the site.
  • Run Chronicling America for dated newspaper mentions.
  • Query NARA for archival records tied to the site.

Have a source, a map, or a clipping? Add a lead and it enters the record with its citation.

Start the hunt here
The first leads, so no one walks in cold.
Sources and the record
Related case files

The full hunt kit

Starting brief, what's known and disputed, evidence timeline, source list, map card, coordinate-confidence and legal-access summaries, and a field checklist, free with a Fellowship account.

Latest Word From the Newswire

Context, not proof. The dossier's own sources remain the evidence record.

Checking the wire…

Chart position 25.740°, 32.600° (approx.) View on the Map