Britannica
Sources used in this answer
How were royal tombs in the Valley of the Kings designed to hide them from robbers?
Created from Britannica articles
using AI.
AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
Egyptian art and architecture
Anubis weighing the soul of the scribe Ani, from the Egyptian Book of the Dead, c. 1275 bce.
During the New Kingdom, pharaohs moved away from building conspicuous pyramids, which were frequent targets for tomb robbers, and instead adopted a strategy of concealment in the Valley of the Kings.12
To protect their burials, these royal tombs were designed with the following security measures:
- Hidden Locations: Tombs were carved deep into the limestone of a remote, lonely valley in the western hills of Thebes, intentionally lacking any outward monumental structure.13
- Subterranean Design: The tombs were sunk deep into the heart of the mountain. The earliest examples were entirely hidden from view, while later tombs from the Ramessid period were marked only by a simple doorway carved into the rock face.12
- Defensive Architecture: The internal plans were designed to baffle intruders. They typically consisted of long, descending corridors interrupted by deep shafts and various pillared chambers or vestibules, leading to a burial chamber located far from the entrance.32
Despite these efforts, virtually all of the tombs in the valley were eventually breached and cleared out in antiquity.3