How were royal tombs in the Valley of the Kings designed to discourage robbers?

During the New Kingdom, pharaohs moved away from building conspicuous pyramids, which were frequent targets for tomb robbers, and instead chose to hide their burials in the Valley of the Kings at Thebes.12

To discourage looting, these royal tombs were designed with the following security features:

• Concealment: The tombs were carved deep into the limestone of the mountain, intentionally lacking any outward structure or monumentality that would draw attention to their location.13
• Hidden Entrances: The earliest royal tombs were entirely hidden from view. During the later Ramessid period, entrances were marked only by a simple doorway carved directly into the rock face.12
• Defensive Architecture: The internal layouts 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 deep within the mountain.32

Despite these efforts, almost all of the tombs were eventually cleared out in antiquity, with the notable exception of the tomb of Tutankhamun, which remained hidden beneath rock chippings from a later construction.3