How are tombs in the valley of the kings hidden?

Question: How are tombs in the valley of the kings hidden!?
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The tombs in the Valley of the Kings were dug in secrecy by craftsmen who lived with their families on the west bank of the Nile!.
The city of Thebes was on the east bank and these people were never allowed to leave throughout their lifetime to preserve the secrecy!.
Once the pharoah was buried the tombs were sealed and all traces of the entrance covered over!.
The people who dug them knew where they were and , when the Egyptian empire disintegrated in later centuries!. many of the tombs were robbed by the descendents of the tomb builders which is why only one has been found intact so far (Tutankhamun)Www@QuestionHome@Com

The following is an excerpt from an article in Encyclopedia Britannica Online!. Check your local library Web site for access to this database!.

The kings of the New Kingdom, fearing for the safety of their rich burials, adopted a new plan of concealing their tombs in a lonely valley in the western hills behind Dayr al-Bahri!. There, in tombs sunk deep into the heart of the mountain, pharaohs were interred, as were two queens, a few officials of high rank, and the numerous sons of Ramses II!. The plan of the tombs varies considerably but consists essentially of a descending corridor interrupted by deep shafts to baffle robbers and by pillared chambers or vestibules!. At the farther end of the corridor is a burial chamber with a stone sarcophagus in which the royal mummy was laid and store chambers around which furniture and equipment were stacked for the king's use in the next world!.

The walls were in many cases covered with sculptured and painted scenes depicting the dead king in the presence of deities, especially the gods of the underworld, and with illustrated magical texts similar to those found in funerary papyri, designed to help him on his journey through the nether regions!. There were a number of these texts; they represent differing but not necessarily conflicting views of the afterlife, in which the king had to undergo trials and surmount perils!. In the “Book of That Which Is in the Underworld,” for instance, he travels in the boat of the sun god through 12 caverns that represent the 12 hours of the night!. In the “Book of Gates,” giant serpents guard the portals through which the sun has to pass as strange jinn and demons help or hinder the boat on its way!. Astronomical figures often decorated the ceilings of the burial chambers, and the sky-goddess Nut herself is sometimes painted across the firmament of stars!.

http://www!.thebanmappingproject!.com/
http://www!.valleyofthekings!.org/vofk/def!.!.!.Www@QuestionHome@Com