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The Valley of the Kings

Known in Egyptian Arabic as وادى الملوك (Wādī el-Mulūk) and in Coptic as ϫⲏⲙⲉ (Džēme), also referred to as the Valley of the Gates of the Kings (وادى ابواب الملوك Wādī Ebwāb el-Mulūk), is a historic site in Egypt ranging from the Eighteenth Dynasty to the Twentieth Dynasty of over 500 years.

The Valley of the Kings resides within the heart of the Theban Necropolis. The site comprises two main sections: the East Valley, housing the majority of royal tombs, and the West Valley, also known as the Valley of the Monkeys and the valley is known to contain 63 tombs and chambers.

Serving as the primary burial ground for major royal figures of the New Kingdom and privileged nobles, the royal tombs feature intricate decorations depicting scenes from Egyptian mythology. These artistic representations provide insights into the funerary practices and afterlife beliefs of the time.

**The Temple of Ramses II**: Built during the 19th Dynasty by Pharaoh Ramses II in the 13th century BCE, the temple served as a memorial to the pharaoh’s reign and a place for the worship of the deities, particularly the god Ra-Harakhty. The Ramesseum is renowned for its colossal seated statue of Ramses II. The temple complex includes a large courtyard, a hypostyle hall, and various chambers adorned with intricate reliefs depicting scenes from Ramses II’s military victories and religious ceremonies.

Despite signs of ancient looting, the Valley of the Kings offers a glimpse into the opulence and authority of Egypt’s pharaohs. Since the late 18th century, Egyptologists and archaeologists have focused their attention on this area, and ongoing exploration and conservation efforts keep the site a focal point of research.

The valley became a royal burial ground for pharaohs such as Tutankhamun, Seti I, and Ramses II, as well as queens, high priests, and other elites of the 18th, 19th, and 20th dynasties.

The discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb in 1922 catapulted the Valley of the Kings into global fame, and in 1979, it earned recognition as a UNESCO World Heritage Site alongside the broader Theban Necropolis. Today, ongoing efforts and a new tourist center ensure that the Valley of the Kings continues to captivate visitors and scholars alike.

The Royal Burial Ground

While the Valley of the Kings is celebrated for its historical significance, it is not exempt from tales of supernatural occurrences. The allure of ancient Egyptian treasures, combined with the mystique of royal burials, has fueled stories of ghostly encounters within the hidden chambers.

There seems to be especially two ghost stories about the Valley of the Kings that seem to echo through the valley. that is the haunted story about the tomb of Tutankhamun and the pharaoh riding the fiery chariot.

The Ghost of the Pharaoh and his Fiery Chariot

At any given day there are thousands of visitors in The Valley of Kings. Visitors and archaeologists exploring the Valley have reported eerie encounters and unexplained phenomena.

The valley’s night watchmen say they have heard odd screams echoing through the desert valley as well as angry shouting. There are also mysterious footsteps and wheels clattering heard in the dead of night. These mysterious sounds are thought to come from the ghosts of the deceased kings and queens.

Some claim to have seen shadowy figures flitting through the tomb corridors, while others speak of disembodied whispers echoing within the ancient chambers in the Valley of the Kings. The presence of an otherworldly energy is said to intensify during the silent hours of the night, when the Valley rests in an eerie stillness.

Most popular though is the tale of the pharaoh in a chariot riding around in the Valley of the Kings. According to legend he rides with fiery horses and has been spotted by many night guards. Some claim it is a fiery chariot pulled by black horses.

The ghost is often also described as being short in a full Egyptian Pharaoh outfit controlling the reigns of the horses. Who this pharaoh is supposed to be, is unclear though. Could it be the story of the infamous Tutankhamun whose tomb was found in the Valley of the Kings?

The Curse of the Pharaohs

Before getting into the story about tutankhamun, we need too look a he history of the phenomenon he curse of the pharaohs.

The Curse of the Pharaohs, commonly known as the Mummy’s Curse, is a legendary curse believed to afflict those who disturb the mummies of ancient Egyptians, particularly pharaohs. This curse is said to bring bad luck, illness, or even death, indiscriminately affecting both thieves and archaeologists. While some argue that scientific explanations such as bacteria or radiation may underlie the curse, its origins trace back to cultural narratives rather than scientific evidence.

Despite stories of curses dating back to the 19th century, stories about them increased after Howard Carter’s discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb. However, no curse was found inscribed in the pharaoh’s burial chamber, although strange rumors started about what happened to the crew present after.

The Pharaohs’ Restless Spirits

On November 4th that year a group led by the British Egyptologist Howard Carter descended the tomb of Tutankhamun in the Valley. Tut was a pharaoh believed to begin his rule as a 9 year old in 1333 BCE until his untimely death in 1323 BCE. After he was mummified and buried he stayed that way in peace for 3000 years. Until 1922 that is.

**The Death Mask**: Tutankhamuns mask is one of the most iconic artifacts from ancient Egypt made of gold and weighs 11 kg. It covers the head and shoulders of the Tutankhamun and is detailed with inlaid semi-precious stones and colored glass. The mask served both a protective and ritualistic purpose, believed to assist the pharaoh in the afterlife. Today, Tutankhamun’s death mask is housed in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo

Carter and his team spent the end of November excavating their way down to his tomb and burial chamber. When Carter reached the door to this room, he made a tiny hole and saw the room filled with treasures and the final resting place for the Egyptian pharaoh. And it is believed that when they opened that door, they also opened up the curse that lingered inside of the tomb.

The widely publicized belief in the curse surged after the deaths of Lord Carnarvon and others associated with the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb. The 5th Earl of Carnarvon was a keen amateur Egyptologist who was financing the project and joined Carter as they opened the door. He died aged 56 of blood poisoning, and so did the rumors of the curse that killed off the crew in a decade begin.

He was not the only one people thought were cursed though. Prince Ali Kamel Fahmy Bey of Egypt, shot dead by his wife in 1923. People have speculated that he actually was cursed by the mummy. So was allegedly Sir Archibald Douglas Reid, who supposedly X-rayed the mummy and died mysteriously in 1924.

Sir Lee Stack was the governor-general of the Sudan and he was assassinated in Cairo in 1924. Arthur Mace of Carter’s excavation team, said to have died of arsenic poisoning in 1928. Carter’s secretary called Richard Bethell died his bed in 1929 by smothering and his father committed suicide in 1930.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and spiritualist interpretations further fueled the superstition and he told a reporter: “An evil elemental may have caused Lord Carnarvon’s fatal illness.”

But Howard Carter remained skeptical and called the curse ‘Tommy Rot’.. Carter himself lived until 1939, long after the curse was supposed to take him. Scientifically, the deaths attributed to the curse have been questioned, with some proposing links to toxic fungi.

Despite the sensationalized deaths linked to Tutankhamun’s curse, a study showed that six of the 26 present during the tomb’s opening lived long and healthy lives. Ancient curses, occasionally found in tombs, are rare and often directed towards protecting the tomb’s ritual purity rather than warning against intrusion. Skeptics argue against the curse’s validity, highlighting that many individuals associated with the excavation had no ill fate.

Modern Exploration and Preservation

Despite the enduring tales of haunting, the Valley of the Kings continues to be a hub of archaeological exploration more so than speculations about curses and ghosts. Researchers and Egyptologists work tirelessly to unravel the mysteries hidden within the tomb-laden cliffs, while also preserving the site’s historical and spiritual integrity.

The Valley of the Kings is a part of Egypt’s rich history and the quest for immortality pursued by its pharaohs. Yet, beneath the golden veneer of antiquity lies a tapestry woven with spectral threads. Whether fueled by ancient curses, mysterious deaths, or the ethereal energy that echoes through the tombs, the haunted mysteries of the Valley of the Kings persist, inviting those who dare to explore its depths to uncover the secrets that lie beyond the veil of time.

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References:

Valley of the Kings: Information and Facts | National Geographic

Curse of the pharaohs – Wikipedia

Haunted Places: Valley of the Kings – Joshua Dowidat

Excavation King Tutankhamun’s Tomb Begins

Tutankhamun’s Curse? | History Today

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/curse-of-the-mummy

King Tut’s tomb, discovered 100 years ago, unleashed a deadly ‘curse’ – The Washington Post

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Khonsuemheb and the Ghost of Theban Necropolis

7. April 2020 Mirror 5 Comments

The Normalising of Ghosts in Ancient Egypt

The ancient Egyptians believed in life after death, and in the book “Book of the Dead”, they wrote down a series of spells they thought would help them reach the afterlife. The people living at the time thought of the afterlife as a sort of continuation of life were it would be paradise to end up in. So why on earth do we still have ghost stories of people that never reach this perfect afterlife?

In ancient Egypt ghosts (called akh) were somewhat similar to their former self, more a piece of the soul of the living person, the immortal and transformed part of the soul. Interactions between ghosts and living people were seen in a lesser supernatural way than in modern depictions, just as the ghost in Khonsuemheb and the Ghost was more of a task to be handled than something unnatural happening.

**Anubis God of Lost Souls:** is the god of funerary rites, protector of graves, and guide to the underworld, in ancient Egyptian religion, usually depicted as a canine or a man with a canine head. If the family didn’t do the funeral rites correctly or were cheap with the money, the Gods would sort of grant the part of the soul, the akh permission to go back and complain and haunt the family or its grave.

The akh was a consequence of the burial ritual not being right, the tomb being destroyed or so forth. This ritual was important as it was the way into the afterlife. An akh could harm the living, giving them nightmares, feelings of guilt, punish people or sickness. But it could also do good deeds to help their living family members, influencing for the better etc.

As well as coming on their own volition, they could be invoked by prayers or written letters left in the tomb’s offering chapel, just like what happened in Khonsuemheb and the Ghost.

Read Also: If graves or tombs are not well kept, bad things can happen. Read about The Haunted Barbie Doll in The Shrine and how they take care of that ghosts final resting place.

The Story of Khonsuemheb and the Ghost

The beginning of the story is lost forever, as it being a fragment of some pottery. So the full length of it, is nowhere to be found. But it is implied the story is set in Theban Necropolis, a burial place near the Valley of the Kings and Valley of the Queens.

The burial city was built at the west bank of the Nile, near the ancient city of Thebes, which at the time was the capital and the perhaps even the biggest city in the world at that time. The ruins of the city lies within the modern day city, Luxor, in Upper Egypt. At this time in the New Kingdom, Thebes reached new height of prosperity. It was the time right before the decline of the great city, and it would soon fall into unrest, strikes, looting of the Necropolises.

**Ruins of Medinet Habu** (Arabic: مدينة هابو) is an archaeological locality situated near the foot of the Theban Hills of the River Nile opposite the modern city of Luxor, Egypt. it is the Mortuary Temple of Ramesses III. This is where the ruins of Thebes can be found.

The Servant in the Place of Truth

But before all this, a man had to spend the night next to a tomb in the Theban Necropolis, literally meaning the city of the dead. He is unnamed in the fragment of Khonsuemheb and the Ghost. Perhaps he was just walking by, perhaps he was a looter. Perhaps he was a Servant in the Place of Truth. That was an ancient Egyptian title of the people working in the Necropolis.

The servants in the Place of Truth constructed the eternal dwelling of the kings, and isolated themselves to safeguard their secrets. They lived in the village Set-Maat (Place of truth) in the Holy Land of the Dead, today known as Deir el-Medina. The village that happens to be were the last bit of fragment of the story was found.

**A Night at Thebes Necropolis**: The man in the story spent the night in the desolated place of Theban Necropolis, a place outside of today’s Luxor in Egypt. //Source: wikimedia

The man was woken by the ghost residing in the tomb. Was he afraid? Perhaps not if he worked there. Perhaps he was terrified, especially if he was a looter, trying to steal the possessions in the tomb. In any case, he went to the High Priest of Amun, Khonsuemheb, and told what happened in the tomb.

The High Priest Invoking the Ghost

The High Priest of Amun, takes matters into his own hands. He stands on his rooftop, calling to the gods to summon the ghost. Invoking the gods of the sky and the gods of the earth, southern, northern, western and eastern, and (the) gods of the underworld, saying to them: “Send me that august spirit.” And it does. “I grew, and I did not see the rays of the sun. I did not breathe the air, but darkness was before me every day, and no one came to find me,” the ghost says (translation by Maspero).

Khonsuemheb asks his name. Nebusemekh, son of Ankhmen and of the lady Tamshas, the ghost answers. So how does one please an ancient egyptian ghost? Khonsuemheb at least offered to rebuild his tomb, making it better with a gildet ziziphus-wood coffin to make peace with the ghost. But the ghost doesn’t trust Khonsuemheb and his intentions. So what do they do?

**The Ghost story on the pottery:** Ancient Egyptian ostrakon with the beginning of the Ghost story of of Khonsuemheb and the Ghost. Terracotta from Deir el-Medina, 19-20th Dynasty, New Kingdom. Found by Schiaparelli in 1905. Turin, Museo Egizio.

Khonsuemheb sits down with the ghost, starts to cry and shares his unhappy fate. “I will remain here] without eating or drinking, without growing old or becoming young. I will not see sunlight nor will I inhale northerly breezes, but darkness shall be in my sight every day. I will not get up early to depart.”

Then the ghost proceeds to tell about his life on earth, how he was an overseer of the treasuries and a military official under pharaoh Rahotep. When the ghost, Nebusemekh died in the 14th regnal year of pharaoh Mentuhotep, the ruler gave him a canopic set, an alabaster sarcophagus and a ten-cubits shaft tomb.

But time took over the tomb, and over the centuries, the tomb partially collapsed, allowing wind to reach the burial chamber. Nebusemekh also told Khonsuemheb that others before him offered to rebuild his grave, but never did. Khonsuemheb says to the ghost that he will do it and also offers to send ten servants to make daily offerings at his grave. But the ghost says that wouldn’t be necessary or of any use.

Only Fragments of the Ending Left

Here, the text of Khonsuemheb and the Ghost on the pottery breaks, and in the next fragment three men are sent out by Khonsuemheb to search for a proper place for Nebusemekh new tomb. They find it at Deir el-Bahari, near to the causeway of the mortuary temple belonging to pharaoh Mentuhotep the second.

This is the end, the text suddenly ends here. But perhaps Khonsuemheb honored the last wish of Nebusemekh, giving peace in his afterlife the Egyptians were all so desperate at having.

**The Afterlife in Ancient Egypt:** Egyptian religious doctrines included three afterlife ideologies: belief in an underworld, eternal life, and rebirth of the soul. The path to the afterlife for the deceased was a difficult one with gates, doors and pylons located in Duat, the land of the underworld. Ultimately, the immortality desired by ancient Egyptians was reflected in endless lives. By doing worthy deeds in their current life, they would be granted a second life for all of eternity.

The tale of Khonsuemheb and the Ghost is a piece of fragment, written in another era of time entirely and there are of course dispute how much of it is an historical account of something that happened and a cautionary tale of what could happen if the living didn’t honor the dead. And the details of the tale are still open to interpretations. Particularly the identity of the to pharaohs in Nebusemekh’s time, and in the ghost actually got to rest in peace and finally enjoy paradise in the afterlife.