AL RI Ancient Egypt Course
Instructor: Tom
Wukitsch
Unit 7: Theban Tombs
OsirisNet
at http://www.osirisnet.net/e_centra.htm
has more information on Egyptian
tombs than anyone is likely to be able to absorb.
The Theban
Mapping
Project at http://www.thebanmappingproject.com/
has everything that is known about Thebes and its tombs and
temples.
Click
on images or
links for larger versions of the images.
http://www.mmdtkw.org/EGtkw0701NileRiver.jpg
http://www.mmdtkw.org/EGtkw0702ThebanHillsLuxorSata.jpg
http://www.mmdtkw.org/EGtkw0703ThebanHillsLocator1.jpg
http://www.mmdtkw.org/EGtkw0704ThebanHillsLuxorSatb.jpg
http://www.mmdtkw.org/EGtkw0705ThebanHillsLocator2.jpg
A series of images locates the major sites associated with the
Theban
Necropolis.
http://www.mmdtkw.org/EGtkw0706DayrAlBahriSatellite.jpg
http://www.mmdtkw.org/EGtkw0707DayrAlBahriSatellite.jpg
Two satellite images of the Dayr al-Bahri site, which has
three large
temple sites (Mentuhotep, Hatshepsut, and Thutmose III) and
which was
the site of a "mummy cache". where mummies form the Valley of
the Kings
were restored and hidden.
http://www.mmdtkw.org/EGtkw0708MentuhotepHatshepsut.jpg
http://www.mmdtkw.org/EGtkw0709MentuhotepHatshepsut.jpg
http://www.mmdtkw.org/EGtkw0710MentuhotepHatshepsut3.jpg
http://www.mmdtkw.org/EGtkw0711MentuhotepHatshepsutThutmoses.jpg
http://www.mmdtkw.org/EGtkw0712ThutmoseIII.jpg
The three major Dayr al-Bahri temples: The southernmost and
earliest
temple (at the top of the first three images) us that of
Mentuhotep, a
Middle Kingdom Pharaoh of the 11th Dynasty. The
northernmost and
largest temple is that of Hatshepsut. In between and
slightly to
the west is the temple of Thutmose III, whose efforts to blot
out
Hatshepsut are remembered with distaste and probably
contribute to the
lack of interest in excavating his temple.
http://www.mmdtkw.org/EGtkw0713DayrAlMedina.jpg
http://www.mmdtkw.org/EGtkw0714DeirAlMedina1.jpg
The Dayr al-Medina site is comprised of a the archeological
remains of
a village where lived the permanent workers who built,
maintained, and
guarded the tombs in the nearby valleys, their necropolis
(later shared
with some Theban nobles), a Ptolemaic temple that later became
a Coptic
Christian church (the "Dayr"), and the remains of some
structures that
may be quarters for seasonal workers.
http://www.mmdtkw.org/EGtkw0715DayrAlMedinaVillageLayout.jpg
http://www.mmdtkw.org/EGtkw0716WorkerVillageRooms.jpg
http://www.mmdtkw.org/EGtkw0717WorkerVillageHousing.jpg
http://www.mmdtkw.org/EGtkw0719DeirALMedinaReconst.jpg
The workers'
village at
Dayr al-Medina had minimal amenities -- not up to the standard
of urban
Egypt of the time, but definitely better than rural villages
along the
Nile. The people who lived here would have been tomb
building
bureaucrats (some of whom would have been nobles), skilled
artisans,
and construction crew leaders. One of the advantages of
living
here would have been the ability to build tombs of their own
near to
the tombs of the pharaohs and queens and thereby to share in
the
blessings of the location.
http://www.mmdtkw.org/EGtkw0720LimestoneOstracon.jpg
A
real bureaucracy controlled the tomb building industry and the
village,
and, as would be expected, detailed records were kept.
Some
official letters were found in a papyrus cache in Dayr
al-Bahri.
On a more personal level, people apparently expected receipts
when they
delivered tools or supplies, and the receipt were written on
limestone
chips generated by the tomb work. The workers took these
chips --
their protection against accusations of theft -- back to their
village
quarters where very many of them were found by
archeologists. The
chips are valuable clues to the organization of the
tomb-building and
of town life.
http://www.mmdtkw.org/EGtkw0718PtolemaicTemple.jpg
The Dayr al-Medina village was abandoned during the lawless
days of the
end of the New Kingdom, the Third Intermediate Period,
and the
Late Period: without central organization from Thebes
there was
no protection against raiding Libyans and others. It was
during
this period that the tombs in the Valleys of the Kings and
Queens were
despoiled and that the Theban priests of Amun retrieved royal
mummies,
rewrapped
them if necessary, and placed them in hidden caches. The
Dayr
al-Medina cemetery was also still visited. When order
was finally
reestablished the Ptolemies built a temple to the north of the
abandoned village, and that temple was later used as a Coptic
Christian
monastery, the "Dayr" in Dayr al-Medina. (There was also
a
monastery or "Dayr" on the upper terrace of Hatshepsut's
temple at Dayr
al-Bahri, but all traces of it have been removed by the
restorers.) Most of the art in the Ptolemaic temple was
defaced
either by the Coptic monks or by later Islamic
iconoclasts. For
more information on the temple see http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/medinahathor.htm.
http://www.mmdtkw.org/EGtkw0721CommonerPyramid.jpg
http://www.mmdtkw.org/EGtkw0722RichDayrAlMedinaTomb.jpg
http://www.mmdtkw.org/EGtkw0723PyramidTomb.jpg
As noted in the unit on pyramids, the pyramid tomb form was
adopted by
non-royals as soon as the pharaohs abandoned it. these
later
pyramids had steeper slopes and might also have chapels inside
--
things
that would have been impossible in pyramids with greater upper
mass. There was also usually a niche in the front wall
for a
funerary stele.
http://www.mmdtkw.org/EGtkw0724PaintingDayrAlMedina.jpg
http://www.mmdtkw.org/EGtkw0725DeirAlMedinaPashedu2.jpg
http://www.mmdtkw.org/EGtkw0726DeirAlMedinaPashedu1.jpg
http://www.mmdtkw.org/EGtkw0727DeirAlMedinaSennedjem1.jpg
http://www.mmdtkw.org/EGtkw0728DeirAlMedinaSennedjem2.jpg
http://www.mmdtkw.org/EGtkw0729NobleRoyOsirisNet.jpg
It is clear that the Dayr al-Medina artists didn't give their best work
to the royals. They
saved it for their own tombs and for those of high paying
officials and
other rich people. The best Egyptian tomb art is in the
tombs of
bureaucrats and nobles. In addition, there is a greater
range of
subject matter in the non-royal tombs. The royals were
bound by
religion to ensure that they passed all the afterlife tests so
that
they could be deified and then continue to be a conduit
between the
gods and their people, and they had to record their victories
and
accomplishments on the walls of their tombs. Non-royals
had
simpler afterlife duties and requirements, so they had room on
their
tomb walls
for more mundane scenes. It's from paintings on the
walls of the
non-royal tombs that we get images of farm and river life.
http://www.mmdtkw.org/EGtkw0730NobleTombsLocator.jpg
The tombs of artisans and nobles are intermixed both in
locations and
in categories -- this because some people who we would
consider
artisans achieved ancient Egyptian noble titles. The
tombs are
spread through several areas on the Nile west bank opposite
Luxor.
http://www.mmdtkw.org/EGtkw0731QVSatellite.jpg
The Valley of the Queens is the site of over 90 tombs of royal
wives,
sons, and daughters from the 18th, 19th, and 20th Dynasties.
(Royal
women of the 18th Dynasty appear not to have had one exclusive
cemetery
but were buried in many, often remote locations, as well as
occasionally in the Valley of the Kings). Early tombs
lie at the
northern 'mouth' of the valley, later tombs nearer its
southern
end. For more information on the Valley, see http://www.touregypt.net/queens.htm
and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valley_of_the_Queens.
http://www.mmdtkw.org/EGtkw0732QVNefertari1.jpg
http://www.mmdtkw.org/EGtkw0733NefertariTombQV.jpg
http://www.mmdtkw.org/EGtkw0734NefertariGetty.jpg
http://www.mmdtkw.org/EGtkw0735NefertariTombQV2.jpg
http://www.mmdtkw.org/EGtkw0736NefertariHorus.jpg
Nefertari's tomb has always been one of the major attractions
in the
Valley of the Queens, but now, unfortunately, it has had to be
closed
because of its popularity. After the Getty Museum
restored the
tomb visitations were limited to 150 persons per day, and even
that was
too much for the fragile wall paintings -- the space is too
tightly
closed and human moisture, just like any other moisture, is
highly
destructive. (One site I know in Rome is limited to ten
persons per
week for a ten minute visit.) At any rate, Nefertari's
tomb can
now only be visited by pre-arrangement with the Supreme
Council for
Antiquities and at a cost of over $4000 per visitor. For
information on the Getty restoration project, see http://www.getty.edu/conservation/field_projects/nefertari/nefertari_images.html.
The last two images represent how the Nefertari tomb paintings
looked
before and after restoration.
http://www.mmdtkw.org/EGtkw0737QVKhaemwaset1.jpg
http://www.mmdtkw.org/EGtkw0738QVKhaemwaset2.jpg
Khaemwaset was the eldest son of Ramesses III but he is
sometimes
misidentified as the son of Ramesses II, another
Khaemwaset. His tomb paintings show him as an
adolescent (wearing the characteristic child's
topknot) but
with royal attributes and being led into the presence of the
gods by
his father. He (and his brother Amenherkhepshef in his
own tomb)
are shown with grossly enlarged heads, usually ascribed to
artistic
convention, but reminiscent of the distorted depictions of
Akhenaten
and his brood. For information on the tombs of the two
young sons
of Ramesses III in the Valley of the Queens, see http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/khaemwasett.htm
and http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/Amenherkhepshef.htm.
http://www.mmdtkw.org/EGtkw0739KVSatellite.jpg
http://www.mmdtkw.org/EGtkw0740KVHieroglyphName.jpg
The Valley of the Kings has fascinated travelers since ancient
times. Ancient Greek and Roman sources already knew of
at least
ten pharaonic tombs in the valley -- and knew that the tombs
had
already been looted. The local population, of course,
knew of
more, but they kept them secret because they were still
removing and
selling to foreign travelers and adventurers the few small
artifacts
that the ancient looters had missed. Giovanni Belzoni,
exploring
for the British, was aware of the ancient descriptions when he
became
the first modern European to explore the valley beginning in
1817.
http://www.mmdtkw.org/EGtkw0741ZahiHawass.jpg
http://www.mmdtkw.org/EGtkw0742CarterCarnarvon.jpg
http://www.mmdtkw.org/EGtkw0743BelzoniPortraits.jpg
We are now in the third century of popularization of the
Valley of the
Kings, and these are the men who have/had the most influence
on keeping
the valley before the eyes of the anxious public: Zahi
Hawas (no longer head of the Supreme Council of Antiquities
but still often on TV),
Howard Carter (with Lord Carnarvon), and Giovanni Belzoni.
http://www.mmdtkw.org/EGtkw0744KingsValleySatellite.jpg
http://www.mmdtkw.org/EGtkw0745KV-map.jpg
Satellite view and corresponding map of the Valley of the
Kings.
http://www.mmdtkw.org/EGtkw0746KV62Tutankhamun.jpg
Tut was an insignificant pharaoh and his tomb is also "nuthin
special".
Nonetheless, it always attracts the biggest crowds, hoping to
see all
that gold. But the gold (if they did any research) is in
the
Egyptian Museum in Cairo -- or on tour in Europe, Japan, or
the
US. The artifacts really are impressive. They're
just not
here. Tut, on the other hand, is here in
his sarcophagus and in his closed coffin again after being CT
scanned
to try to determine his cause of death. Tut is still in
his tomb sans
(coffin soon) covered to his neck with a plain white sheet out
of respect for the dead.
Mummies like Tut are really ugly -- my daughter once described
one
as human jerky. With or without the coffin, Tut and his
tomb are
not worth the price of the extra ticket you have to buy to
enter nor
the time you would probably have to waste in line.
http://www.mmdtkw.org/EGtkw0747RamessesIISonsKV5.jpg
The tomb that everyone will want to see when it opens to the
public (in
a few years -- it's still being excavated) is KV-5, the tomb
now
identified as being that of many of the sons of Ramesses
II. At
least 120 rooms have been identified thus far although only
about 10%
of them have actually been cleared. Since the tomb seems
to have been dug on a
symmetric plan, there should be a few dozen more rooms yet to
be
found. It is, in fact, possible to take a peek inside to
see the
excavations in progress, but only if you have the price of the
annual
Theban Mapping Project Fund Raising Tour: $6895 plus
international air fair (call
800-480-3385
for
details).
http://www.mmdtkw.org/EGtkw0748SetiITomba.jpg
http://www.mmdtkw.org/EGtkw0749SetiICorridorK.jpg
http://www.mmdtkw.org/EGtkw0750SetiIh.jpg
If you only had the chance to visit one tomb in the Valley of
the
Kings, it should be this one (but actually, the ticket at the
gate of
the Valley tourist area gets you into any three open tombs --
separate
ticket for Tut). The tomb of Seti I (Sethos I) is the longest
(at more
then 120 meters), deepest and most completely finished in the
Valley of
the Kings. It also represents the fullest development of
offset,
or jogged royal tombs in the valley. It was discovered in
October 1817
by the strongman of the early antiquarians, Italian Giovanni
Battista
Belzoni. In fact, the tomb is still known marginally as
Belzoni's
Tomb. The tomb was discovered only a few days after the
tomb of
his father, Ramesses I. When originally discovered, the tomb
made
international headlines, and Belzoni's exhibits of
reconstructions of this tomb were held in London
in 1821, and later in Paris. The tomb is located in a small
lateral
wadi in the Valley of the Kings. For more information, see http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/seti1t.htm
http://www.mmdtkw.org/EGtkw0751SetiILondon-a.jpg
http://www.mmdtkw.org/EGtkw0752BelzoniExhibitionLondon.jpg
Belzoni made wax impressions of the painted reliefs in Seti's
tomb
(thereby damaging them) and from them made full size painted
plaster
models, which he displayed in London and Paris. The
London show
was particularly successful and it, along with the book of his
travels
and adventures (Narrative of
the
Operations and Recent Discoveries in Egypt and Nubia),
and with
the "Young Memnon" (Ramesses II) head that he had delivered to
the
British Museum, made Belzoni a social lion.
http://www.mmdtkw.org/EGtkw0753SetiIInterior.jpg
http://www.mmdtkw.org/EGtkw0754SetiIMetShabti.jpg
http://www.mmdtkw.org/EGtkw0755Seti1Mummy.jpg
Images and artifacts from Seti's tomb. His mummy, which
was one
of the ones that had been desecrated by thieves and later
re-wrapped by
priests of Amun from Thebes, was found along with others in a
cave in
Dayr al-Bahri that is now known as the Dayr al-Bahri mummy
cache.
http://www.mmdtkw.org/EGtkw0756KV9RamessesVI.jpg
Another tomb worth a visit in the Valley of the Kings is this
one of
Ramesses VI. For more information visit the Theban
Mapping
Project website, the largest
Egyptological site on the internet, which has complete
coverage of the
Valley of the Kings in images, text and maps: http://www.thebanmappingproject.com/.
http://www.mmdtkw.org/EGtkw0757KV63-02OttoSchaden.jpg
http://www.mmdtkw.org/EGtkw0758KV63-01Shaft.jpg
http://www.mmdtkw.org/EGtkw0759KV63-03CoffinsJars.jpg
http://www.mmdtkw.org/EGtkw0760KV63-04PiledCoffins.jpg
http://www.mmdtkw.org/EGtkw0761KV63-05WoodBabyCoffin.jpg
Recent developments: KV 63, near the tomb of
Tutankhamun, is the
most recent discovery in the valley. Zahi Hawas
officially
pronounced the newly discovered tomb on 10 February 2006.
However, the
initial shaft was discovered a few days before the end of our
2005
season. KV-63 is the first tomb to be discovered in the Valley
of the
Kings since 1922 when Howard Carter discovered KV 62, the Tomb
of Tut.
http://www.mmdtkw.org/EGtkw0762KV63-06PackedYouthCoffin
copy.jpg
http://www.mmdtkw.org/EGtkw0764KV63-07GoldChildCoffin.jpg
http://www.mmdtkw.org/EGtkw0765KV63-08SchadenGold.jpg
http://www.mmdtkw.org/EGtkw0766KV63-09GoldInfantCoffin.jpg
Everyone was greatly disappointed that Schadden's "tomb"
turned out to
be only a storage space for mummification supplies and excess
coffins. Even the infant coffin, which was initially
reported as
being "solid gold" proved to be wood covered with gold
leaf. The most significant find was the "tomb" itself,
because it
showed that the Valley of the Kings was not, as had been
thought, fully
explored. The KV 63 internet site is at http://www.kv-63.com/.
http://www.mmdtkw.org/EGtkw0767KV64-GPRImageAndMap.jpg
?More discoveries? A void detected by ground penetrating
radar in
2004 turned out to be exactly where Dr. Otto Schadden found KV
63, and
there is another, as yet uninvestigated possible void,
nearby.
The head of the GPR team has unofficially announced "KV 64"
and, in so
doing, riled up Zahi Hawas. Read about the tempest in
the
teapot at http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/columnist/vergano/2006-08-13-egyptian-controversy_x.htm,
and at http://www.valleyofthekings.org/vofk/, and at http://www.archaeology.org/online/interviews/reeves.html.