Unfinished decoration in the burial site of Seti I 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). 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]. "KV 17, located in the southeast branch of the wadi, is the longest and deepest of all the tombs in the Valley of the Kings. It is the first tomb to be decorated with a complete program of religious texts. The tomb is decorated with the Litany of Ra, Book of the Dead, Imydwat, Book of Gates, Opening of the Mouth ritual, Book of the Heavenly Cow, astronomical scenes, Sety I with deities, deities, and representations of the king alone. It is also the first tomb to have a vaulted burial chamber." [The Theban Mapping Project]. 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.