A wide wadi in the southernmost part of the Theban necropolis, the Valley of the Queens is where royal birds, princes, princesses, and members of the royal court were buried. At least 75 tombs are burrowed into the rock, of which only a handful are ever open to the public.

If you have already visited the Valley of the Kings, then you know what to expect here: a craggy, sun-blasted landscape pocked with the small black openings of tunnel-like entrances. Of the tombs that can be visited, three are of sons of Ramses III, builder of the great temple at Medinat Habu. These are all fairly modest endeavours, tunnelled straight and level into the rock face with few steps or slopes and consisting of a single, fairly short corridor with one or two small side rooms.

The Tomb of Khaemwaset belongs to the oldest son. He is easy to pick out in the reliefs because of his distinctive hair style, collected in a tress and falling sideways over his ear. In the final chamber is the prince alone making offerings to a seated Osiris, lord of the afterlife, whose face is painted green, the colour of regeneration.