Valley of the Kings

From around 1539 to 1075 BCE, Egyptian pharaohs abandoned the practice of building pyramids — which had proven impossible to protect from tomb robbers — in favour of concealed tombs cut deep into the limestone cliffs of a remote valley opposite Thebes (modern Luxor). At least 64 tombs and chambers have been identified in the valley, ranging from small pits to the sprawling KV5, the tomb of the sons of Ramesses II, which contains over 130 corridors and chambers and is the largest tomb yet found in Egypt. Despite elaborate concealment — sealed entrances, hidden shafts, and false passages — nearly every tomb in the valley had been robbed, in most cases in antiquity, with only one major exception.

In 1922, the British archaeologist Howard Carter discovered the nearly intact tomb of Tutankhamun, a minor pharaoh who died around 1323 BCE at roughly 18 years old — the only royal tomb in the valley found with the bulk of its grave goods undisturbed, owing largely to the fact that its entrance had been buried under debris from the construction of a later tomb above it and forgotten. The discovery and the subsequent deaths of several people connected to the excavation — including Carter's patron, Lord Carnarvon, who died of an infected mosquito bite within months — gave rise to the popular legend of the "Curse of the Pharaohs," fuelled by sensationalist press coverage and an inscription, never actually found in Tutankhamun's tomb, popularly believed to threaten death upon those who disturbed the king's rest.