Exploration of the Valley of the Kings Carter to explore it. After a systematic search they discovered the actual tomb of Tutankhamun (KV62) in November 1922. At the end of the century, the Theban Mapping Project re-discovered and explored tomb KV5, which has since been discovered to be probably the largest in the valley (having at least 120 rooms) and was either a cenotaph or real burial for the sons of Ramesses II. Elsewhere in the eastern and western branches of the valley, several other expeditions cleared and studied other tombs. Until 2002 the "Amarna Royal Tombs Project" explored the area around KV55 and KV62, the Amarna
The Jewel of Seven Stars an attempt to eradicate any hints of an unconventional, female ruler, "best erased to prevent the possibility of another powerful female ever inserting herself into the long line of Egyptian male kings". The tomb of Queen Hatshepsut was discovered by Howard Carter early in 1903, the same year as the publication of "The Jewel of Seven Stars", in the Valley of the Kings—similar to the Valley of the Sorcerer, where Tera is found in the novel. The similarities between the two, Hebblethwaite states, are "almost too overt to be mere coincidence"; both are extremely powerful female rulers who take on