 Programme
Kent Weeks
Exploring the Valley of the Kings
Nicholas Reeves
The Enduring Mystery of KV55
Nicholas Reeves
The Tombs of Tutankhamun and his Predecessor
Kent Weeks
KV5: A Tomb for the Sons of Ramesses II
Reviewed by Janet Picton:
Study Days organised by the Bloomsbury Summer School are always interesting but few have been as exciting and challenging as that held on the 17 May 1997. The Bloomsbury Theatre was filled to capacity so it must have been the subject matter, and the warmth and skill of the speakers that made it feel like an intimate gathering of friends.
Our speakers were Professor Kent Weeks and Dr Nicholas Reeves and they demonstrated what can be achieved both from new exploration and from re¬analysis of old evidence. Professor Weeks of the American University in Cairo is Director of the Theban Mapping Project and the excavation of tomb KV5. Dr Nicholas Reeves is the author of The Complete Valley of the Kings among other publications, and is the advisor to the Earl of Carnarvon. During the morning session the two speakers outlined the background to their work and then in the afternoon discussed their topic in more detail.
Kent Weeks opened the day with an impassioned description of the importance of the Theban Mapping Project to the long term survival of one of humanity`s most priceless heritage sites. In the last 150 years the importance of the role of Egypt has been recognised but it is only now that scholars are beginning to interpret what the monuments mean in terms of both Egyptian history and the history of humanity. Great discoveries remain to be made as Professor Weeks has demonstrated so spectacularly in his own work on KV5. Thebes achieved its greatest importance in the New Kingdom as the cultic capital of the 18th Dynasty whose rise to power and expansionist policies made Thebes the hub of a fabulous empire. Consequently this nine-square¬mile World Heritage site is one of the most important in Egypt, if not the world. It therefore comes as a shock to discover that despite the countless expeditions and excavations of the last century no consistent recording of the sites and monuments had been undertaken and no inventory exists of the richest archaeological site in the world.
Thus in 1977 the Theban Mapping Project was born. Its primary purpose was to map and record the Theban monuments. The archaeological database was started in 1979 with aerial photography, survey and `rapid` mapping. The sheer scale of the monuments slowed down the work. Even `ruin` sites contain invaluable information. Aerial photography provides an invaluable record of sites and also shows up details unrecognisable on the ground. Its secondary task was to assess the ongoing damage being done to the monuments by pollution, changing climate conditions (flooding has become a serious problem and has damaged many tombs and monuments), and the inevitable damage caused by tourism and the tourist industry. There is also a major illegal market in Egyptian antiquities which a proper inventory might help to check.
One of the major tasks of the project is an attempt to locate and record all the tombs of Thebes which number tens of thousands! Only 410 tombs so far discovered were considered well enough decorated or important enough to be allocated a tomb number and an iron door. Many others have provided living accommodation over the centuries and have only been reclaimed in recent years. The Project will create topographical maps, attempting to locate all the tombs, drawing the accessible parts, evaluating the condition of the tombs and identifying the urgency of conservation. This part of the Project`s work started in the Valley of the Kings because it was a well-defined area of a manageable size which would provide a learning experience on which to base further work. In addition, the Valley of the Kings is an area under serious threat from tourism and where much damage has already occurred.
Work in the Valley of the Kings began in the early `80`s. There are 62 numbered tombs, a dozen or so unnumbered, plus some `false starts` where the limestone quality was too poor to continue. The Valley was used as a royal burial site for over five hundred years and is consequently one of the most excavated areas in Thebes, as well as one of the most looted sites in antiquity. Only the tomb of Tutanhamun and the joint tomb of Yuya and Thuya have been found relatively intact. Of the rest the quality vanes from tiny and undecorated to spectacular tombs such as that of Seti I. Despite all the interest, and despite the fact that there is always an archaeological team working in the Valley, the tombs have never been systematically recorded or planned. No programme for the preservation or protection of the tombs exists. The project was not looking for new discoveries, that was an accidental by¬product of the recording process. In rediscovering tomb KV5 and beginning the task of recording and planning the tomb they had no idea that they were to uncover the largest single tomb in the Valley of the Kings.
When Professor Weeks opened his afternoon session it was to a packed Bloomsbury Theatre buzzing with expectation. Brief excavation reports had aroused interest in the work on KV5, and recent rum ours and press releases suggesting fascinating discoveries had only whetted appetites even further. To an audience of professional and student Egyptologists, and dedicated enthusiasts, the chance to hear the excavator of KV5 talk about his work and discoveries in the tomb was a rare opportunity. They were not disappointed.
As described in the morning session Professor Weeks underlined the importance of mapping the VK tombs. The tombs vary in size and complexity but all served the same function of acting as a `road-map` of the afterlife for the recently deceased occupant. The decorations on the tomb walls and ceilings are a travel guide along a corridor guarded by gates and monsters through which the dead king must pass. His successful passage ensured the prosperity of his kingdom and his people; only through his intervention could the people communicate with the gods, and vice versa.
The complexity of the tombs may vary but the engineering and architectural skills displayed in their construction demonstrate a care and an accuracy that would not shame the most skilled engineers of the present day. The decorations on the wall are equally interesting and vital for the study of kingship and religion in ancient Egypt and map the changing theology of the
18th and 19th dynasties. Unfinished decoration allows us to visualise how the ancient craftsmen built up their work on a grid from first outline sketch to completed painting.
The Project`s intention is to put all the VK information onto a CD ROM and into a hard copy Atlas. They intend to re-photograph tombs every five years to maintain an ongoing assessment of conservation needs. First they needed to find all the tombs known to exist within the Valley of the Kings. It may seem strange that tombs recorded in nineteenth century diaries and maps can disappear. How can you `lose` a tomb? Heavy rains can move hundreds of tons of shale debris while nineteenth century excavators paid scant regard to where they positioned their spoil dumps. The only clues were old maps and records. The road widening scheme improving tourist access to the VK made it imperative that at least one tomb, mentioned by Belzoni, be located before the work commenced.
The team dug through piles of broken modem fakes produced by the gift sellers who congregate at the entrance to the Valley site. (Professor Weeks told us that passing tourists were horrified to see archaeologists throwing aside `artefacts`!). Within the cleared doorway was a cartouche of Ramesses II indicating that this was the tomb seen by James Burton in 1822 that he referred to as `Tomb M` in his journal, recording that the tomb contained two small chambers and a main room. He had dug a channel through the flood debris that had filled the tomb to reach the pillared hall but fmding no decoration and no contents had abandoned it.
Professor Weeks and his team cleared the debris from the outer rooms and in the process discovered thousands of fragmentary objects on the floor, the result of the plundering of the tomb in antiquity. To give some idea of the scale of the work undertaken - the team spent six seasons clearing the first two rooms which measured 4 x 4 x 4 metres! The flood debris had set like concrete but within this matrix at all levels were the fragmented tomb objects and pieces of the plaster wall decoration. In clearing away the debris they also had to preserve and conserve the remains of wall decoration. It was painstaking work.
The sixteen pillared hall was full to the ceiling with debris. It is unique in being the largest chamber in any tomb in the Valley and the only tomb chamber with sixteen pillars. Before work could begin engineers had to assess the ability of the pillars to support the ceiling if the debris was removed. It was decided to bypass the hall and look for the door in the rear wall mentioned by Burton in his journal. The excavators expected to [md one room. Instead they found a set of corridors extending back into the mountain. The corridors were T shaped with rooms leading off, all with fragments of wall decoration remaining. At the junction of the `T` stood an over-life-sized statue of Osiris. In all, sixty-seven chambers were located.
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The conditions were extremely difficult. All the chambers were flooded with the same concrete-like debris, it was hot and humid, and sometimes access was only possible by crawling along at ceiling height. The chambers had to be cleared but all the walls had been decorated over a poor limestone surface and much of this painted material had slid into the debris over centuries of flooding, so extra care was needed. The care paid off as it was possible to reconstruct substantial areas of decoration. One area of decoration indicated a prince following his father who stood before an offering table which gave a clue as to the nature of the tomb.
During the clearance the team found thousands of sherds. This material helped to establish that the tomb had been robbed within a century of its closure. However, the tomb had not been occupied in later periods and had remained undisturbed for three thousand years except for the ravages of nature. It was possible to reconstruct whole vessels and establish function and date that helped to identify the function of the rooms. The remains provided clues that enabled the team to weave larger pictures from fragments of evidence. Among the material found were alabaster unguent jars, ostraca containing hieratic memos, and canopic jar fragments bearing names and titles which established that the tomb was destined for at least four sons of Ramesses II.
Ramesses II was one of Egypt`s most powerful rulers and one of her greatest builders. In his long life he fathered at least 50 sons and as many daughters. Unlike many of his predecessors he gave prominence to his children and they are frequently seen in procession on temple walls, sometimes in birth order, and sometimes accompanied by names and titles. Ramesses gave his sons positions of authority in the military, the priesthood and as administrators and court officials. Ramesses deified himself during his reign and it is perhaps this fact that required his sons to perform some of his `mortal` functions. It also perhaps explains why he gave his sons burials of quality although we will probably never know why they were buried in one tomb.
In April 1997 at the end of the current season it was decided to clear out the front chambers. In the northern part of the chamber over two dozen representations of the Pharaoh and a son were found. If each son was different then the number of princes represented in the tomb was now at least twenty-¬four.
Chamber 2 contained a pit in the northern comer, 4 m long, 1 m wide and over 1 metre deep. Again, the pit was full of flood and tomb debris. Canopic jar fragments here contained the names of Ramesses` sons Seti, Amunherkhepshef, Meryamun, and others. Among the skeletal remains were four skulls, all young adult males. The skeletal material was well preserved with some mummified tissue. The jumbled state of the remains suggests that tomb robbers had hauled the mummies from their resting places to the mouth of the tomb where they could be stripped of amulets and jewellery and then tossed aside. The pit may have contained one original burial but this too had been disturbed and replaced on top of later material. It is possible that Amunherkhepshef was buried here. Were all of Ramesses sons buried in this tomb?
Clearance of the front chambers revealed access to a new corridor leading from the front of the tomb downwards in the direction of the tomb of Ramesses II himself. The corridor is a mirror image of the one already excavated, and there is evidence of yet more corridors which remain to be explored. One hundred and eighteen rooms have so far been exposed, although only five have been cleared. Five different levels have been established from 4 metres to 30 metres below ground - not all have been explored. An 1857 guidebook listed KV5 as a `dirty, unimportant, hole`; the current excavation shows that it is one of the most important tombs in the Valley of the Kings.
As interesting and important as the excavation of this tomb has been, it is only one extremely small part of the Theban Mapping Project. The work remaining is an immense task that will last for many generations to come.
Nicholas Reeves is a leading expert on the post Amarna period, particularly on the tombs, and his work demonstrates how invaluable re-analysis of existing evidence can be, and what amazing discoveries remain to be made from material already available for study. His morning presentation (The Enduring Mystery of KV55) laid out the background to the study of the post-Amarna period at the second half of the fourteenth century. The sources are rich and varied for this period, but contradictory. Every scholar holds a different opinion based on the same material!
The major exploratory excavations in the Valley of the Kings took place between 1898 and 1922 when many tombs were uncovered. Theodore Davis was an American lawyer and fmancier who started digging in VK in 1902. Over a ten-year period he financed extensive excavations in the valley, clearing thirty tombs. His involvement proved costly to the long term
development of Egyptology since, as a treasure hunter rather than an archaeologist, his excavation methods left much to be desired. Although he employed a succession of Egyptologists, including Howard Carter, they were often sidelined .. The excavation of Tomb KV55 is a case in point.
On the 6th January 1907 the entrance to Tomb 55 was uncovered a few metres to the West of the tomb of Ramesses IX. The original door blocking survived in part and had obviously been resealed in antiquity with a rubble fill which, in turn, had been penetrated by ancient looters. Arthur Weigall, Chief Inspector of Antiquities, recorded in his diary that the resealing bore the seal of Tutankhamun but no evidence remains to support this assertion. The excavators entered the main chamber on the 9th January 1907.
Among the records of the tomb we have water-colour sketches and photographs. The original photographs provide an invaluable resource for re¬evaluating the evidence and are crucial to modem understanding of the tomb. These showed the corridor full of rubble that flowed into the chamber. On top ofthis corridor-fill lay part of a shrine showing the figures of Akhenaten and his mother Queen Tiye. Elements of the gilded shrine stood in the south-east comer of the tomb chamber. Inscriptions show that the shrine was prepared for Tiye by Akhenaten. The decoration includes scenes of the pair making offerings to the sun disc from which the figure of Akhenaten had been hacked out. Martha Bell has analysed the old photographs and drawn a reconstruction of the shrine which indicates that it resembled the famous second and third shrines of Tutankhamun.
A decayed wooden coffm inlaid with glass was found on the southern side of the chamber. A crook and flail had been laid on the surface but all the cartouches had been cut out in antiquity so it was impossible to positively identify the occupant. In the comer of the recess rested four canopic jars of extraordinary quality but again the inscriptions had been erased. This had been done before the jars were placed in KV55.
Two of the `magic bricks` (inscribed blocks carrying spells to seal the tomb) carried a hieroglyphic inscription of Akhenaten`s prenomen while the two companion bricks were similarly inscribed in hieratic script. An uraeus was found on the floor bearing an Aten cartouche. Among the tomb objects that had escaped the tomb robbers were miniature faience figures of the god Bes; various model vessels, fruits, cosmetic equipment; amulets and caskets. Recent sieving of the waste deposits has revealed additional pottery and some dockets dating to the reign of Amenophis III, Akhenaten`s father. There was also an ostracon which contained a working drawing of the corridor of KV55.
When Davis`s team, under the direction of Ayrton, prepared the tomb objects for shipment to Cairo the shrine panels, in a dire condition when found, fell apart before they had been fully copied. On the 25th January 1907 work started on the coffm. The lid had been dislodged in antiquity and was later reconstructed in Cairo. The lion headed bier on which the coffm had rested was not properly recorded by Davis but Ayrton took some photographs which show that four types of seal were used. These included one seal with the prenomen of Akhenaten, while the others showed Tutankhamun as a sphinx trampling captives, as a king standing before a goddess, and a lion standing before a crocodile with a captive between the two. Similar seals to the last two were found in the tomb of Tutankhamun.
Joseph Lindon Smith was responsible for dismantling the already fragile mummy. The mummy wrappings were removed revealing three gold foil bracelets on each arm. A vulture pectoral was placed as a crown upon the head which was separated from the body. Other jewellery included a cartouche with the name of Akhenaten. On the coffm lining sheet the name of Akhenaten was found intact.
Davis published the tomb as belonging to Queen Tiye but it was quickly established that the body recovered was in fact that of a young male adult. Since 1907 there has been continuing debate as to the identity of the occupant of KVSS. Tutankhamun was suggested (prior to the discovery of his tomb), but the main choices since has been between Akhenaten (reburied from his tomb in Amarna) and Smenkhkare, his probable successor.
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Recent attempts to umavel the puzzle of the tomb have depended on a complete re-analysis of the existing evidence. In 1981 Reeves began this research with an attempt to reconstruct the discovery of the tomb and analyse the contents. Amidst the chaotic collection of evidence several items are firmly linked to the burial of Queen Tiye: the shrine, the magic bricks, the altered coffin, and the canopic jars, all bearing inscriptions, scenes or cartouches relating to either Tiye or Akhenaten. The shrine had been dismantled. Both the coffIn and the canopic jars were found at the sides of the tomb and could have been introduced later.
Nicholas Reeves maintains that the deposits represent two different reburials, those of Akhenaten and Tiye. Both were originally buried at Amarna but their funerary assemblages were moved when that royal burial site was cleared. The seals of Tutankhamun possibly present on the door, and certainly among the debris, suggest that this king was responsible for the removal of the royal mummies to Thebes. During the original quarrying of the tomb of Ramesses IX (KV6) it is suggested that the workers accidentally discovered KVSS and, finding the cartouche of Akhenaten, the `heretic king`, and believing the mummy to be that of the king, set` about eliminating all evidence of his existence. They erased his name, tore off his uraei, damaged the skull of the mummy, all of which consigned the deceased to eternal danmation. Only Akhenaten could arouse quite such hatred. Reeves further suggested that the body of Queen Tiye was removed at this time and reburied away from the corrupting influence of Akhenaten. Her shrine was dismantled, ready for removal, but the panels were too large to pass through the already rubble¬filled corridor and were abandoned. Tiye`s mummy and funeral equipment were removed although some pieces were missed, or dropped on the way out. Tiye may have been placed in the tomb of Amenophis II as the `elder lady`, recently tentatively identified from hair samples as Queen Tiye.
Dr Reeves presented a cogent and well-reasoned argument for the identification of the remaining mummy as that of Akhenaten, using only information and evidence already a part of the public record. However, if the body was that of Akhenaten where was the body of Queen Kiya for whom the coffin had originally been built? And where was Smenkhkare?
Dr Reeves opened the afternoon session with a discussion of the tombs of Tutankhamun and his predecessor(The Tombs of Tutankhamun and his Predecessor). Various items belonging to the funerary equipage of Tutankhamun had been found during the early twentieth century and Tomb KV58 had been attributed to the king. Howard Carter had an intuition that the real tomb had not been found. With the sponsorship of Lord Carnarvon, Carter dug in the Valley of the Kings from 1915 and although Carter worked on a variety of important sites not enough of material interest (treasure!) was recovered to maintain Carnarvon`s interest. As the world knows, their collaboration resulted in the discovery of Tutankhamun`s tomb. What Carter chose not to reveal to the waiting Press was that he had re¬opened a hole into the burial chamber that had been replastered in antiquity. This was a political decision made while contract negotiations with the Times newspaper were conducted!
Carter established that the tomb had been entered twice in antiquity, and there were indications that the looters were caught red-handed on the second occasion as a knotted scarf full of booty was abandoned in the tomb. Carter estimated that at least 60% of the jewellery had been stolen from the tomb. Knowing what fabulous treasures were found it is astounding to consider that these were only a small proportion of the original contents. The tomb was repacked in antiquity, and the contents of looted boxes repacked and docketed by the scribe Djehutymose. Despite the thefts the tomb still contained a. rich and varied assemblage. It remains the only tomb to yield the gilded wooden figures of the king and gods covered in black resin and gold, symbolic of rebirth. The question remains: why if Tutankhamun had time to prepare such a magnificent assemblage for himself was he buried in such an unprepossessing tomb? The answer, Reeves believes, is that the objects were not intended for him. If not for him, then who?
Some pieces appear to have been intended for Akhenaten, some for Smenkhkare. The four gilded wooden shrines, the quartzite sarcophagus, the four coffins with one made of gold, may well have been appropriated for use in the tomb of Tutankhamun. The second inner shrine bears a cartouche of Tutankhamun but this cartouche is patched over one that ended in `aten`. There are also changes in the columns of text on the sarcophagus. The outer coffm shows the king wearing plaited hair, a very rare event, and only otherwise seen on the head-dress of a statue of Akhenaten at Karnak. The second coffin of wood again shows indications of usurpation, and displays the same facial features as the canopic jars which were inscribed originally for Smenkhkare. The innermost gold coffin also shows evidence of a change in design. There is no sure evidence that the golden mummy mask was anything other than a product of Tutankhamun`s reign, although the scarab chain and mummy bands had originally been inscribed for Neferneferuaten. Half of the ten main items connected with the burial show evidence, therefore, of adaptation or re-use; a very high average indeed. The rest of the funeral assemblage also indicates that a number of other second hand items were used. Many carry dockets dating to Year 3 of Akhenaten. There are boxes inscribed for Akhenaten and Nefertiti. Funerary jewellery of Akhenaten had been changed for Tutankhamun. There were also several non inscriptional usurpations: for example, some of the statues have defmite female attributes. If it is possible to identify so much material as being visibly altered then how much else unrecognised was also usurped?
How and why were second hand objects placed in Tutankhamun`s tomb? Were they surplus objects kept in the state treasury, Akhenaten material out of favour from early in the reign, brought into use by the unexpected death of the king? This has been the accepted view for many years.
Dr Reeves maintains that this is missing the point and suggests a radically different view. He has long believed that the present ransacked state of the royal tombs in the Valley of the Kings was not the random result of tomb robbery but of official policy resulting from a failing economy. Ramesses XI of the 20th Dynasty abandoned Thebes at the beginning of the eleventh century Be. The mechanics of that abandonment are traceable. The royal tombs were emptied of all usable material, the mummies were re-wrapped and buried in caches. Much of the material is found re-used in 21st Dynasty tombs. What he suggests is that we are witnessing the same scenario under Tutankhamun: a reallocation of Amama burial material which had been stripped from the Amama royal tombs. Tutankhamun died young so it is reasonable to assume that he had barely started to accumulate his own funerary equipment. The cost of restoring the Amun temples and eliminating the Aten heresy had left the economy in a difficult condition. The administration found itself short of money and time to bury the young king in a fitting style. The seals on Tomb 55 indicate that the evacuation of Amama was in progress during the reign of Tutankhamun: therefore the contents of the Amama tombs were available for use and a ready source of raw materials. The re-use of ancestors` funerary equipment was a pragmatic phenomenon which also held a potent magic.
If the royal mummies buried at Amama had been re- interred in the Valley of the Kings as the evidence from tomb KV55 indicates then their funerary equipment was readily available for Tutankhamun`s burial. Even the famous throne chair traditionally thought to represent Tutankhamun and his young wife Ankhesenamun may well show Akhenaten and Kiya.
Dr Reeves therefore proposes that the burial of Tutankhamun is an example of the pragmatic re-use of burial equipment from Amama, which was later repeated by the Ramesside kings when they stripped the Theban royal necropolis. This theory solves the puzzle of both Tomb KV62 and KV55 and makes many aspects of history and funerary archaeology more understandable. As Dr Reeves further remarks, this raises an interesting point. If dismantling royal tombs was common practice, then the boast of Prince Khaemwaset, the son of Ramesses II, to have restored the ancient pyramids may in reality have concealed their official despoliation.
The missing tomb(s) of the Amama royal family remain just one among many puzzles waiting to be solved in the endlessly fascinating Valley of the Kings.
© Janet Picton 1997
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