Burial site of Merneptah in the Valley of the Kings, Necropolis of Thebes, Egypt

"In a departure from tradition, most kings of the 18th Dynasty were buried not in pyramid complexes but in tombs tunneled deep into the limestone cliffs flanking a wadi in Thebes known as the Valley of the Kings (Bībān al-Mulūk). Their mortuary temples were separate from the tombs and located on the plain. Royal tombs consisted of a series of passages leading via steps and ramps to a burial chamber housing the king's body in a stone sarcophagus." [Freed R.E., markowitz Y.J., D'auria S.H., 1999: Pharaohs of the Sun. Akhenaten, Nefertiti, Tutankhamen. Bulfinch Press / Little, Brown and Company]. "Ancient Thebes spanned the Nile River. The east bank is the site of modern Luxor and El Karnak, and was formerly the city of the living, with great temples and residences. On the west bank was the city of the dead, the "Necropolis of Thebes," containing the valleys of the royal tombs, royal mortuary temples, and the houses of priests and workers devoted to the dead." [The J.P.Getty Fund: Thesaurus of Geographic Names]. This photograph was taken when Eliot Elisofon was on assignment for Life magazine and traveled to Africa from January 8, 1947 to end of June 1947.