Valley of the Queens

Why go

On Luxor’s west bank, this valley was used from about 1550 to 1080 BCE for burials, at first of officials and later of royal wives, daughters and sons. Among its tombs is that of Nefertari, principal wife of Ramesses II, which the Getty describes as among the most beautiful to survive from Egyptian antiquity; Ernesto Schiaparelli’s Italian mission discovered it in 1904, and its wall paintings were conserved with the Getty Conservation Institute from 1986 to 1992. Many tombs were reused and damaged in later antiquity, and conservation of the Ramesside wall paintings has continued. The valley is part of the Ancient Thebes World Heritage property.