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Only on rare occasions were non-ruling members of the royal family accorded a tomb in the Valley of the Kings. The formal site of burial for ro al wives and children Of the new Kingdom, was the Valley of the Queens (Biban el-Harim . it is situated a few kilometers south of the Kings Valley, due west of the temple of Medinat Habu.Known in antiquity as "the palce of Beauty" or "the Place of Perfection", the valley of the queens was less protected and more accessible than its august coun;ses IX. terpart. For that reason, perhaps, its tombs were robbed in antiquity even mole thoroughly than those of the Valley of the Kings.
The site is composed of several interconnected wadis, honeycombed by around 70 rock-cut tombs. The main valley ends in a picturesque, dried up waterfall.
The tombs are generally smaller and less majestic than those of the kings, though some of them were prepared by the same gifted workmen who were normally engaged at work in the Valley of the Kings.
By far the most interesting and beautiful tomb in the valley belongs to Queen Nefertari, Great Wife of Ramesses Il. Its special design and exquisite paintings have attracted many visitors ever since it was discovered by Ernesto Schiaparelli at the turn of the 19th century. Owing to the fast deterioration of its painted decoration, access was forbidden for many years, during which time the authorities undertook an ambitious project of consolidation and skilled restoration. Recently the tomb was made accessible once again, though the number of visitors per day has been strictly limited. Among the remainmg tombs, there is a group of rather similar burials belonging to children of Ramesses Ill (Ramesses, Amenherkhepeshef, Khaemwaset and Sethherkhepeshef). They were prepared by the workmen of Deir el-Medina at the initiative of the authorities who hoped that the project would keep the workmen busy and out of trouble after they had practically completed the construction of the royal tomb in the Valley of the Kings.
On the short way leading over the cliffs from Deir elMedina to the Valley of the Queens, there is a group of rock inscriptions dating from the early twentieth dynasty. That site served as a desert shrine for the gods Ptah and Meretseger. Workmen who passed by the shrine on their way to the Valley of the Queens used to place tokens of their dévotion to these deities in the form of tiny stelae mentioning their names.