KV

   An abbreviation used by Egyptologists to denote the Valley of the Kings on the west bank of the Nile opposite Thebes. Sometimes the further abbreviation of WV is used to denote the west valley of the burial ground. The numbering of the tombs was begun by John Gardner Wilkinson. Some pit tombs and tentative constructions have not been numbered. Most of the tombs had been plundered in antiquity, although the royal tomb of Tutankhamun and several private tombs have been found intact. The royal tombs of Dynasty 18 were decorated by painted plaster, but from Horemheb onward the tombs were carved in raised relief and then painted.

   See also Deir el-Medina.

Historical Dictionary Of Ancient Egypt by Morris L. Bierbrier