Tombs of the Nobles in Luxor Egypt | List of Thebes Pharaonic Tombs “Theban”

Valley of Nobles is one of the spectacular and important places you can visit while you are in Luxor Tours, Egypt.  The Valley of the Nobles is famous for its 500 Nobles tombs inside the mountain on the west bank of the Nile River.

A lot of tombs were cut in the mountain between Hatshepsut temple and the entrance to the Valley of the Kings and facing Ramesseum temple. Here everything is different from the royal places, from the Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens. Tombs of Nobles are private tombs, family tombs, that were built for the owners of the tombs.

Every Noble wants to be proud of what he did in his lifetime, they wrote their autobiography on the walls. They mentioned the titles they had during their job, they designed the relationship between them and their families. The daily life activities like fishing, hunting, and farming. We knew about their clothes, home furniture, their drinks, and jewellery. We can easily say that the tombs of Nobles are like an open book for us and living figures told us about their life.

When the valley of the Nobles starts to be the burial place for the New Kingdom Nobles?

When the valley of the Nobles was discovered?

Who is buried in the valley of Nobles?

What is the Valley of the Nobles famous for?

What are the most famous tombs in the Valley of the Nobles?

Who robbed the Valley of the Nobles?

List of the tombs in the Valley of the Nobles

Price for Valley of the Nobles tombs

Tomb Digging and Cutting Techniques

Tomb Numbering Systems in the Valley of the Nobles

Foundation Deposits

Tomb robbers, treasure hunters

Tombs of the Nobles in Luxor Egypt

Tombs  of the Nobles location

Valley of the Nobles is located on the West Bank of the River Nile, in the Theban necropolis between Deir El Madina and the entrance to the Valley of the Kings. The name of the place where we can see hundreds of these cut-rock tombs is Sheikh Abd El Korna, facing Ramesseum.

 Valley of the Nobles Names during history

  • Valley of the Nobles
  • Tombs of the Nobles
  • The Theban Necropolis
  • The city of the Workers

How many Valleys of the Nobles in Egypt?

As long as the work Noble goes for the high priests, viziers, foremen, soldiers, officials, and workers, so we have many places called Valley of Nobles between Luxor, Aswan, Cairo, and El Minya.

  • Tombs of Nobles Luxor
  • Tombs of Nobles Saqqara
  • Tombs of Nobles Amarna or El Minya
  • Tombs of Nobles Aswan or Qubbet El Hawa (QH)

How many nobles are buried in the tombs of the Nobles?

Putting in mind that more than 500 tombs were found till now, so we can tell that more than 500 Nobles were buried here.

Who was the first Noble’s tomb in the Valley of the Nobles?

We know for sure that the tombs of Nobles were used as burial places for the Nobles of The New Kingdom of Ancient Egypt and their family from about 1550 – to 1080BC. A lot of them suffered damage and were targets for the treasure hunters since 1820 when the first tomb came to light.

Why did they choose the site of the valley of the Nobles?

Normally Nobles, rich people, and royal family members wanted to be buried beside the king’s tomb of Pyramid to be with or near him in the afterlife as they were close to him in the first life. Also, they can get benefits from whatever they were offering their majesty and their souls will be saved and blessed forever.

For how much time tombs of the Nobles was used as a burial place?

Valley Of the queens was used as a burial place for the wives of the pharaohs and their princesses and princes from the 18th dynasty till the end of the 20th dynasty.

When the Valley of the Nobles was discovered?

The Valley of the queens was hidden for a very long time like the Valley of the Kings but archaeologists discovered the place in 1904 by the Italian Egyptologist Ernesto Schiaparelli. Surprisingly, many tombs were found till 1979, when UNESCO listed the valley of the queens on the World Heritage list alongside the Valley of the Kings.

 Who Built the tombs of the Nobles?  

We have much evidence that the workers of Deir El Madina, those who built the Valley of the King’s tombs, also built the Royal tombs for the wives. The workers and their families were not slaves but free citizens. They were working, getting salaries, free days, and housing for themselves and their families. Workers of Deir El Medina received care for their health problems through medical treatment, prayer, and magic.

Who robbed the Valley of the Nobles?

The main purpose of the tombs in ancient Egypt is saving the corpse and possessions of the deceased for eternity. Djoser (c. 2670 BCE), the founder of the third dynasty put his burial chamber at the end of a 28m deep shaft. The builders of the Giza Pyramids did their best to keep their corpses and possessions saved.

New Kingdom Kings put their tombs inside the cliff to protect them from the tomb robbers. Also, their wives did the same and they dug their tombs very close to the Valley of the Kings to save their corpses for a second life. Unfortunately, all tombs found robbed since 1904.

Tombs of the Nobles layout 

an entrance and a small room or two that leads to an antechamber, and at the end is the funerary chamber.

Tombs of the Nobles Numbering

Numbering the tombs of the Valley of the Nobles is very similar to those of the kings and Valley of the Queens.

TT – Theban Tomb

Number – When they found the tomb

According to the Wikipedia, the numbering system was first published Arthur Weigall’s 1908 Report on the Tombs of Sheikh Abd el Kurna and el Assasif (up to TT 45-100) and then more fulsomely in Alan Gardiner and Arthur Weigall’s 1913 A Topographical Catalogue of the Private Tombs of Thebes (TT 1 – 252).

Reginald Engelbach’s a Supplement to the Topographical Catalogue of the Private Tombs of Thebes (TT 253 to 334), extended further in Bernard Bruyère, N. de Garis Davies, Ahmed Fakhry, and later in Bertha Porter’s Topographical Bibliography of Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphic Texts, Reliefs, and Paintings.

In their publication, Gardiner and Weigall acknowledged that the numbers do not follow any topographical order, and are due to the order in which the tombs were discovered.

opening hours

Tombs of Nobles open daily from 07.00 am to 17.00 pm but ticket windows close at 16.00 pm.

How to get to the Tombs of the Nobles?

If you plan to visit the Tombs of the Nobles by limousine, taxi, bicycle, donkey, or any transportation method, you will end at the parking lot. Then you have to climb the mountain to the entrance of the tombs of Nobles.

Tickets

While you visit the Valley of the Nobles, you will need to purchase an entrance ticket for the Valley of the Nobles including access to 2 – 4 tombs. Tickets window by the Antiquities Inspectorate ticket office at the end of the street of Memnon Colossi to the left-hand side before turning right to Ramesseum. There are groups if tickets, each group as follows:

  • Tombs of Khonsu, Userhet, and Benia
  • the Tombs of Menna, Nakht and Amenenope
  • the Tombs of Ramose, Userhet and Khaemhet
  • Tombs of Sennofer and Rekhmire
  • Tombs of Neferronpet, Dhutmosi and Nefersekheru.

Adult: EGP 100 ($)

Students with valid cards: EGP 50($)

Children aged 6-12 years: EGP 50 ($)

Children under 6 years: FREE

Best time to visit the Tombs of the Nobles

The Valley of the Nobles is not as busy or crowded as the valley of the Kings. so, you can visit the tombs of Nobles at any time. Summer, better visit the Valley of the noble’s early morning or later afternoon. During winter, whenever you like between 07.00 am till 17.00 pm.

How much it cost a ticket for a Camera in the Tombs of the Nobles?

Nowadays cameras and Mobil phones are free inside the tombs of the Valley of the Nobles.

List of Thebes Pharaonic Tombs “Theban”

The best-visited tombs in the Valley of the queens are

  • TT 83 – AAMETJU (AHMOSIS)
  • TT 82 – AMENEMHAT
  • TT 277 – AMENEMINET
  • TT148 – AMENEMOPE
  • TT 41 – AMENEMOPET (IPY)
  • TT 60 – ANTEFOQER AND SENET
  • TT 343 – BENIA (PAHEQAMEN)
  • TT 295 – DJEHUTIMES (PAROY)
  • TT 45 – DJEHUTY, USURPED BY DJEHUTYEMHEB
  • TT 38 – DJESERKARESENEB
  • TT 78 – HOREMHEB
  • TT 40 – HUY
  • TT 192 – KHERUEF
  • TT 31 – KHONSU
  • TT 409 – KYKY (SAMUT)
  • TT 69 – MENNA
  • TT 5 2- NAKHT
  • TT 341 – NAKHTAMON
  • TT 181 – NEBAMUN – IPUKY
  • TT 365 – NEFERMENU
  • TT178 – NEFERRENPET (KENRO)
  • TT 296 – NEFERSEKHERU
  • TT 55 – RAMOSE
  • TT 100 – REKHMIRE
  • TT 255- ROY
  • TT 127- SENEMIAH AND LATER PIAY AND PAIRY
  • TT 96 – SENNEFER (THE TOMB OF THE VINEYARDS)
  • TT 13 – SHUROY

 

The most important Tombs of the Nobles

Tombs of the Nobles is not like the Valley of the Kings as the tombs are smaller in size and a lot of them have ana amazing scenes from the daily life.

  • Tombs of Khonsu
  • Userhet and Benia
  • the Tombs of Menna
  • Nakht and Amenenope
  • the Tombs of Ramose
  • Userhet and Khaemhet
  • Tombs of Sennofer
  • Rekhmire
  • Tombs of Neferronpet
  • Dhutmosi and Nefersekheru

Tips for visiting 

  • We advise visiting the valley of the Nobles with an archaeologist guide.
  • Upper Class, Royal Families, Officials, Priests, and doctors
  • Middle Class, merchants, manufacturers, and artisans
  • Lower Class, Unskilled, Farmers, prisoners
  • Read before you go and make up your mind if you are an individual visitor which tombs from the opened ones you like to visit. Despite this, Make up your mind if you like to have more than one ticket.
  • Take extra water with you and some snacks, especially in the summer months, and drink at least 5 small bottles of mineral water to not hydrate.
  • Small change for the WC
  • Do not forget to take your hat, sunglasses, and sun cream with you
  • Cotton dress during summer