by a mere barrier some 500 cubits in thickness.

In this there was nothing to dismay such practised miners.

They therefore cut a trench some fifty or sixty cubits deep through the solid rock, at the end of which a narrow passage opens like a gateway into the hidden valley beyond.

Was it in the time of Horemheb, or during the reign of Rameses I., that this gigantic work was accomplished?
Rameses I.is, at all events, the earliest king whose tomb has as yet been found in this spot.

His son, Seti I., then his grandson, Rameses II., came hither to rest beside him.