<P> The area has been a major focus of modern Egyptological exploration for the last two centuries . Prior to this time it was a site for tourism in antiquity (especially during Roman times). This area illustrates the changes in the study of ancient Egypt, starting as antiquity hunting, and ending as scientific excavation of the whole Theban Necropolis . Despite the exploration and investigation noted below, only eleven of the tombs have actually been completely recorded . </P> <P> Many of the tombs have graffiti written by these ancient tourists . Jules Baillet has located over 2,100 Greek and Latin instances of graffiti, along with a smaller number in Phoenician, Cypriot, Lycian, Coptic, and other languages . The majority of the ancient graffiti is found in KV9, which contains just under a thousand of them . The earliest positively dated graffiti dates to 278 B.C. </P> <P> In 1799, members of Napoleon's expedition to Egypt (especially Dominique Vivant) drew maps and plans of the known tombs, and for the first time noted the Western Valley (where Prosper Jollois and Édouard de Villiers du Terrage located the tomb of Amenhotep III, WV22). The Description de l'Égypte contains two volumes (out of a total of 24) on the area around Thebes . </P> <P> European exploration continued in the area around Thebes during the nineteenth century, boosted by Champollion's translation of hieroglyphs . Early in the century, the area was visited by Belzoni, working for Henry Salt, who discovered several tombs, including those of Ay in the West Valley (WV23) in 1816 and Seti I (KV17) the following year . At the end of his visits, Belzoni declared that all of the tombs had been located and nothing of note remained to be found . Working at the same time (and a great rival of Belzoni and Salt) was Bernardino Drovetti, the French Consul - General . </P>

Map of tombs in valley of the kings