One of the top attractions in Egypt today is the Valley of the Kings in southern Egypt near Luxor. Whereas earlier Egyptian kings (or pharaohs) built the famed pyramids as their funerary monuments in the Old Kingdom, the later pharaohs of the New Kingdom built hidden tombs in the rock. One of the most elaborate and famous of these tombs is the Tomb of Ramesses VI in the Valley of the Kings.

While in southern Egypt, see the many other breathtaking constructions to have survived from the temples and colossal statues of Abu Simbel to the mᴀssive Luxor Temple of ancient Thebes. But first, explore the place where Ramesses VI is entombed.

The Valley of the King with tombs of Pharaohs of the Ancient Egypt

Ramesses VI: A Pharaoh Of A Declining Egypt

Ramesses VI is not to be confused with his more famous predecessor Ramesses II (also called Ramesses the Great). Ramesses VI was the 5th pharaoh of the Twentieth Dynasty of Egypt and reigned for around eight years.

He was the son of Ramesses III and Queen Iset Ta-Hemdjert. He succeeded Ramesses V (who was his nephew and the son of his older brother, Ramesses IV).

Ramesses VI is best known for his excellent tomb but is also noted for stopping the raids by marauders in Upper Egypt. At the same time, Egypt seems to have lost the last of its strongholds in Canaan. It seems this was a period of unrest and decline for Egypt. This had the effect of depleting the Egyptian treasury and made new construction projects difficult to fund (part of the reason why he usurped his predecessor’s tomb and other monuments).

Ramesses VI boasted of covering “all the land in great monuments in my name…” but he did so only by engraving his inscriptions over his forbears. In truth, he ruled during the final years of the New Kingdom which would spell the end of Ancient Egypt.

Tomb KV9 in the Valley of the Kings where Pharaohs, Ramesses V and VI are

Ramesses VI did not live long and pᴀssed away in his forties. If he had wished to spend eternity in his tomb, he would have been disappointed to know that less than twenty years after his death, his mummy was disturbed and damaged by grave robbers.

Consequently, his mummy was relocated to tomb KV35 during the reign of Pinedjem I. There the mummy was safe and lost to history until it was rediscovered by Victor Loret in 1898.

What To Know Of Tomb KV9 – The Tomb Of Ramesses VI

The Tomb of Ramesses VI (or KV9) was actually intended for Ramesses V, but he chose to usurp it. He had it enlarged and redecorated for himself. It was the craftsmen’s huts working on this tomb that covered the entrance to the small Tutankhamun’s tomb.

Inadvertently, that had the effect of hiding the tomb for thousands of years and saving it from tomb robbers.

• Built: Circa 1147 BC to 1136 BC

The digging of the burial chamber was actually never fully completed (note when visited that to pillars on the back wall are still connected to the wall and not standing separately). As the workmen carved the tomb, they accidentally broke into another tomb — KV12.

The Valley of the Kings in Luxor, Egypt

Ramesses VI’s Tomb is celebrated as one of the most stunning tombs in the Valley of the Kings with one of the most diverse decorations. See representations from the Book of the Day, the Book of the ᴅᴇᴀᴅ, the Book of the Night, the Book of the Caverns, the Book of Gates, and more. The ceilings are adorned with astronomical scenes and texts.

Visiting The Tomb Of Ramesses VI Today

Today the Tomb of Ramesses VI is one of the most iconic attractions in Egypt. It is one of the three tombs in the Valley of the Kings that is not included on the standard entry ticket.

Visitors can visit any three open tombs of their choosing with a general admission ticket, but not this one (the other two are the Tomb of Tutankhamun and the Tomb of Seti I).

Decoration inside the  Tomb KV9 in the Valley of the Kings of  Ramesses VI

Perhaps the most impressive tomb to visit in the Valley of the Kings is KV17 (the Tomb of Seti I) while the most famous is tomb KV62 (the Tomb of Tutankhamun). The Tomb of Tutankhamun is famous for having been discovered with many funerary artifacts intended to take the deceased pharaoh into the afterlife.

The history of Ancient Egypt is breathtaking. It is crazy to think that the Great Pyramid of Giza was already over a thousand years old when the Tomb of Ramesses VI was built.