Archaeologists have found a grave of Pharaoh in an Egyptian valley west of Luxor, the Ministry of Egyptian Antiquities announced this week, in what officials called the first excavation of a royal tomb since the Chamber of Tutankhamhen burial was discovered over a century ago.
The newly identified tomb belonged to Thutmose II, which would have reigned around 1480 BC, it was “the last missing royal tomb of the 18th dynasty,” the Egyptian ministry said in a press release.
The excavation was a joint project of Egyptian and British researchers who started in 2022, when the entrance and the main corridor of the tomb were found.
Archaeologists first thought that the tomb belonged to a royal husband, because of its location near the funeral places of the royal wives and that of Hatshepsut, a queen who took the throne for herself after the death of Thutmose II .
The grave was also in an unlikely place for the king’s burial: under two waterfalls and at the bottom of a slope, during the much humid conditions of the 15th century BC
But evidence of the interior of the tomb have shown that it had in fact been built for a king, including fragments of alabaster pots appointing Thutmose II as “deceased king” and inscriptions appointing Hathepsut. Part of the ceiling was still intact also, showing blue paint with yellow stars on it, which, according to archaeologists, were only in King’s tombs.
“Sometimes discoveries are made, but it is only later that their true meaning becomes clear with additional exploration,” said Peter Der Manuelian, professor of Egyptology at Harvard who was not involved in excavation .
He noted a similar case when, a few decades ago, a grave into the Kings valley proved “greater and more unusual than anyone who had not made it before”. It turned out to have been built for the many sons of Ramses II, one of the most powerful pharaohs in ancient Egypt.
Thutmose II, Professor Manuelian said: “lived for a fascinating period in Egyptian history: the 18th imperialist and cosmopolitan dynasty.” His reign may have been overshadowed by those of his father, his son and her queen, who reigned for almost 20 years and built a large temple and a tomb for herself.
“We are always trying to understand the ins and outs of that time,” said Manuelian professor, “and a” new “falls will undoubtedly provide us with additional clues.”
Despite the assertion of the ministry that it was the first discovery of this type since 1922, everyone will not agree: archaeologists said they had found the graves of Pharoahs in 1940 and in 2014. A member of the recent research team did not immediately answer questions to obtain clarifications.
However, the secretary general of the Supreme Council for Egypt Antiquities, Mohamed Ismail Khaled, described discovery as one of the most important in decades. “This is the first time that funeral furniture belonging to Thutmose II have been discovered,” he said in a statement.
But unlike the tomb of Tutankhamhen, whose rooms were found Packed with artefacts During a 1922 excavation, the tomb of Thutmose II had been almost emptied.
Archaeologists believe that he was flooded shortly after the king’s death and that his content was moved to another place. (Mummified remains of Thutmose II were find In Deir El-Bahari, a mortuary complex in the 19th century.)
“Water damage caused a serious deterioration, resulting in the loss of many original contents, which would have been relocated over ancient times,” according to Mohamed Abdel Badie, the head on the Egyptian side of the archaeological mission.
He said that archaeologists had been able to restore parts of fallen plaster “adorned with complex designs, including blue inscriptions, yellow stars patterns and elements of the AMDUAT book, a key religious text used in the royal tombs. »»
