Tomb KV7 was the tomb of Ramesses II ("Ramesses the Great"), an ancient Egyptian pharaoh during the Nineteenth Dynasty.
It is located in the Valley of the Kings opposite the tomb of his sons, KV5, and near to the tomb of his son and successor Merenptah, KV8.
Decoration and layout
KV7 follows the bent-axis plan of tombs of the earlier Eighteenth Dynasty: the entrance to the tomb is dug into the Theban limestone hillside near the valley floor. The first gate, Gate B, has decorations on the lintel "of the solid disk flanked by Nephthys and Isis, representations of Ma'at kneeling above the heraldic plants of Lower and Upper Egypt, and door jambs contain[ing] the names and epithets of the King."
"The passage descends for about 58 meters (190 feet) into the bedrock at an angle that varies between 12 and 22 degrees." Gates C and D are painted with texts from the Litany of Re and images of the four sons of Horus respectively. In a recess of the doorway between the 3rd and 4th corridors, the cartouche of his Great Royal Wife, Nefertari, appears.
Unlike other tombs in the area, Tomb KV7 was placed in an unusual location and has been badly damaged by the flash floods that periodically sweep through the valley. Because of this, much of the decoration has been damaged beyond repair.
Tourists during the Third Intermediate and Roman periods left "abundant quantities" of potsherds in the burial chamber and nearby antechamber. Greek tourists, like "Herakleos, Echeboulos of Rhodes, Deilos and a certain Se(l)aminion of Cyprus", carved their names into the first corridor.