The Valley of the Kings is a valley in Egypt where, for a period of nearly 500 years from the 16th to 11th century BCE, rock-cut tombs were excavated for the pharaohs and powerful nobles of the New Kingdom (the Eighteenth to the Twentieth Dynasties of Ancient Egypt). The valley stands on the west bank of the Nile opposite Thebes (modern Luxor). Currently, the valley is known to contain 63 tombs and chambers. Almost all of the tombs seem to have been opened and robbed in antiquity.