Valley of the Kings rains. There is currently little year-round rain in this part of Egypt, but there are occasional flash floods that hit the valley, dumping tons of debris into the open tombs. The quality of the rock in the Valley is inconsistent, ranging from finely-grained to coarse stone, the latter with the potential to be structurally unsound. The occasional layer of shale also caused construction and conservation difficulties, as this rock expands in the presence of water, forcing apart the stone surrounding it. It is thought that some tombs were altered in shape and size depending on the types of rock the
Valley of the Kings perform magic rituals, such as Shabtis and divine figurines. Some equipment was what the king may have used during his lifetime (Tutankhamun's sandals for example), and some was specially constructed for the burial. The modern abbreviation "KV" stands for "Kings' Valley", and the tombs are numbered according to their order of 'discovery', from KV1 (Rameses VII) to KV64 (discovered in 2012). Since the early 19th century AD, antiquarians and archaeologists have cleared and recorded tombs, with a total of 61 sepulchers being known by the start of the 20th century. KV5 was only rediscovered in the 1990s after being dismissed