Thebes is probably the richest archeological site in the world and at just over two square miles, one of the largest. It lies about 500 miles south of Cairo on the West Bank of the Nile. Thebes can be divided into three areas: the cultivated land lying between the Nile and the desert, the low-lying desert, and the barren desert cliffs and mountains.
Few traces of archeological evidence can be found near the cultivated land, due to the silt deposited by the annual flooding of the Nile River. Any important sites would be buried under several meters of mud. This area is now very important to the modern economy.
The low-lying desert is where New Kingdom Egyptians built mortuary temples near the edge of the desert. They buried their court officials in the limestone hills. Now, mud-brick houses are there. About a century ago, the villagers that lived there, to make a living plundered the Tombs of the Nobles. Today, they help 
archeological expeditions.
The Barren desert cliffs and mountains are home to over 60 tombs. Inside these deep valleys are tombs that range from huge underground complexes in the Valley of the Kings, to less elaborate tombs in the Valley of Queens.
The earliest known visitors from modern Europe to the Valley of Kings was in the 18th century. The earliest maps indicate that about twenty-five tombs were accessible prior to this century. In the 19th century, John Gardner Wilkinson was able to see twenty-one tombs and numbered them in geographical order from the entrance of the Valley southward, then to the east. Since then, they have been numbered in order of their discovery. KV 62 is the most recent of these.
One of the first people to dig in the Valley of the Kings was Giovanni Belzoni. From 1816-1817, he discovered eight tombs. KV 17, the tomb of Sety I, was the most amazing. Victor Loret uncovered sixteen tombs, in the late 19th century. These tombs included the collection of royal mummies in KV 35 and the tomb of Amenhetep II. In the early 20th century Theodore Davis sponsored thirteen years of work. During this time thirty-five tombs were cleared or discovered. Howard Carter was one of his excavators. Carter began working with Earl Carnavon in 1907. Their work led to the discovery of Tutankhamen's tomb (KV 62) in 1922.
Today, there are four major archeological expeditions working in the Valley. Otto Schaden is clearing KV 10. Edwin Brook is studying KV 8. Christian LeBlanc is clearing KV 7, and the Theban Mapping project is excavating KV 5.
