[1][2] The royal necropolis is located on the southern hillside of the 272 m (892 ft)-high Mount Harşena north of the city Amasya and the river Yeşilırmak.

The monumental king tombs are carved in limestone rock formation after Mithridates I (reigned 281–266 BC) established the Kingdom of Pontus and made Amaseia (modern Amasya) the capital city.

The area is called "Valley of the Kings" in respect to the kingdom's size as the largest in northern Anatolia and its glorious past for hundreds of years during the Hellenistic period.

The grave chambers inside each of the five tombs are accessible only by a ladder due to their high position of the entrance.

An inscription is carved above the rock-tomb, which reads as "the phrourarch (commander of the castle) Metrodorus dedicated an altar and a flower-bed for the king Pharnaces I to the gods".