The archaeological site I decided to take a closer look at is the Valley of the Kings in Egypt. The Valley of the Kings is located on the west bank of the Nile in Thebes. Thebes is located in the current modern city of Luxor. The Valley of the Kings is a burial place, the “royal cemetery” for most of the Egyptian kings of the New Kingdom. The Valley of the Kings was used as a royal cemetery for over 400 years; the cemetery grew to house at least 62 graves in this time period. As time passed during the 400 years of service as a burial site, the tomb designs became more elaborate, complex, and colossal (Manley 108). The Valley of the Kings is located in a "desert wadi," which is a dry stream with hills on either side, hence the term "valley" in the site's name. The site covers ten square kilometers of land in the valley (1 weeks). One of the hills flanking the valley is Al Qurn, the highest cliff of the hills in the area (Manley 108). The site is divided into two parts, the Western Valley and the Eastern Valley. Most of the graves are located in the eastern valley and so far only two have been discovered in the western valley. Being in Egypt, the site is a desert landscape, located just west of the Nile, which is the only significant water source near the site. The valley is made up of predominantly white limestone which may have been a factor in why this location was chosen as a burial site, limestone is a soft rock and is easy to work with; the limestone walls of the tombs are smooth (Theban Mapping Project). The Valley of the Kings was first documented in 1799 during Napoleon's exploration of Egypt by one of his scholars. In 1816 Giovanni Belzoni carried out one of the first excavations of the necropolis, revealing and identifying eight tombs. Since then, other excavations have been carried out. Starting in 1902, Theodore M. Davis financed a major and