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The Valley of the Queens
In Arabic , 'The Valley of the Queens' means 'Wadi al-Malikat' and 'Ta Set Neferu' in Ancient Egyptian means 'The Place of Beauty" .
It contains more than 80 tombs of queens , princes , and princesses of the Eighteenth , Nineteenth and Twentieth Dynasties . Normally , queens were buried alongside their husbands in the Valley of the Kings with the belief that they were to continue living as a family in the afterlife – just as their ancient gods existed in a "holy family" . Significantly , since the Ramses I's wife , Queen Sit-Re , was buried here in his reign , this tradition was changed . Mostly , this valley contains unfinished tombs , without decoration . After the limestone walls were covered with a layer of Nile mud , they were whitewashed and then painted . Nearly ninety tombs were located in the valley , some of which were merely simple pit tombs , while others had corridors , pillared halls , stairways and large burial chambers . Probably due to the poor quality of the bedrock , many of the tombs that had been primarily constructed in the valley were never finished: since poor stones meant that heavy layers of plaster had to be applied before walls could be decorated , some of them fell of their own weight . Either damaged by floods or plundered by thieves , the majority of the tombs here are anonymous . There is some evidence that the activity of burying people continued after the New Kingdom: tombs from the 4th century AD were found and a Christian monastery called Dair Rumi was built . Three tombs are currently open in this valley , all from the reign of Ramses III of the 20th Dynasty . The Tomb of Nefertasri is now closed for some security measures . Towards the end of the New Kingdom , the tombs of the Valley of the Queens were plundered (just like those of the Valley of the Kings) and their mummies moved to more secure hiding places . |
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