The heart of every Ancient Egyptian temple was the sanctuary, a small room always located at the very deepest part of the temple’s interior. Temple architectural standards dictated that the ceiling of every temple would drop lower and lower as the building stretched onward, so that the sanctuary’s ceiling would be the lowest. A similar method was applied to temple floors; as the temple expanded inward, the floor rose higher and higher, reaching its zenith in the sanctuary chamber. The heavily sacred nature of the sanctuary was due to its sole purpose: to house the “naos,” or the sculptural image of the god or goddess to whom the temple was dedicated. Therefore, access to the sanctuary chamber was highly restricted at all times; only the main priest/priestess of each temple and the currently-reigning pharaoh were ever allowed to enter.

Throughout the New Kingdom, as more and more temples were being built, gradually a sort of system of temple classification developed. According to this unofficial and yet ubiquitous pattern, there existed two primary kinds of temples: divine and mortuary. Divine temples were those in which a deity or deities were worshipped on a regular basis, through ritual acts carried out by resident priests and/or the visiting pharaoh. While this same system was practiced in mortuary temples as well, the deceased pharaoh who had commissioned this second type of temple would be deified and worshipped alongside the more traditional gods and goddesses. Some mortuary temples also encouraged the worship of deceased royal ancestors, who were believed to be worldly incarnations and/or relatives of the divine pantheon. Both divine and mortuary temples were typically built along an East-West axis, towards the Nile and the horizon.

The most important institution in every Ancient Egyptian temple was the funerary cult. According to Ancient Egyptian religious teachings, the various gods and goddesses had the same basic physical needs as their human worshippers, and so just as each temple served as a god or goddess’s home, each temple also had a funerary cult whose job it was to provide for the resident deity. Comprised of specially trained priests, priestesses, assistants, and devotees, the primary responsibility of these funerary cults was to keep each god and goddess both physically and spiritually satiated. The deities’ physical needs were attended to with daily offerings of food and drink, while their spiritual needs were nourished through the performance of sacred rituals.

The Valley of the Kings is part of the Theban Necropolis. It was where Pharaohs and powerful nobles were buried, or entombed, during the five-hundred year rule of the New Kingdom. It is the site of famous burial tombs, such as that of Tutankhamun.

Most of the tombs in the Valley of the Kings were plundered by unknown raiders and treasure hunters during antiquity. As a result, there is a limit to what modern archaeologists can glean from these great monuments.

The Book of the Dead was a funerary text used from the early part of the New Kingdom until approximately 50 BCE. There was no "official" copy of the Book of the Dead, and copies could vary considerably between individuals. It was a collection of spells purported to direct a soul through the underworld and to help it reach the afterlife. It was most commonly written on a papyrus scroll and placed in the coffin or burial chamber with the deceased. It often had illustrations depicting the deceased and their journey into the afterlife along with the spells. 

Hatshepsut ruled as pharaoh as a co-ruler with her two year old stepson Thutmose III. The major accomplishments of her reign include establishing new trade routes to the land of Punt, and being one of the most prolific builders of ancient Egypt. She commissioned hundreds of construction projects, and so much statuary that most major museums contain some pieces of Hatshepsut sculptures. Most depictions of her show her in the traditional male Pharaonic attire, including the false beard and Khat head cloth. She ruled a prosperous and peaceful kingdom until her death, when her co-regent Thutmose III rose from control of the army to ruling all of Egypt.  

From 1964 to 1968 the Temple of Ramses II was saved from inundation due to the implementation of the Aswan dam. The project was funded by UNESCO, the U.S. and Egyptian governments.  

The Book of Gates was written during the New Kingdom period of ancient Egyptian history. It is one of the many surviving funerary texts from this time period. It describes the passage of an individual through the various “gates” of the afterlife. The book suggests that at each “gate” an individual must pay respect to a certain God before being allowed to continue. It also suggests that some individuals will fail to pay proper respect and will be condemned to eternal torment.

The Book of Gates and The Book of Caverns are both funerary texts dating from the New Kingdom period of ancient Egyptian history.