KV44
| KV44 | |
|---|---|
| Burial site of unknown | |
 Schematic of KV44 | |
  KV44 | |
| Coordinates | 25°44′24.5″N32°36′10.8″E/ 25.740139°N 32.603000°E |
| Location | East Valley of the Kings |
| Discovered | 26 January 1901 |
| Excavated by | Howard Carter(1901) Donald P. Ryan(1991) |
←Previous KV43 Next→ KV45 | |
KV44is anancient Egyptian tombin theValley of the KingsnearLuxor,Egypt. It was discovered and excavated byHoward Carterin 1901 and was re-examined in 1991 byDonald P. Ryan.The single chamber accessed by a shaft contained three intactTwenty-second Dynastyburials; the remains of seven mummies from the original interment were found within the fill. The original cutting of the tomb is dated to theEighteenth Dynasty.[1]
Location, discovery and layout
[edit]KV44 is situated nearKV28and next toKV45in a small sidewadithat runs east from the main valley.[2]The location of the tomb was already known in Western Thebes some time before late January 1901 and was opened by Howard Carter on 26 January 1901 after two days of excavation. The tomb consists of a shaft 5.5 metres (18 ft) deep ending in a single chamber. The doorway to the room was securely, if roughly, sealed.[3]
Contents
[edit]The chamber was partly filled with water-washed earth. On top of this fill sat three wooden coffins placed beside each other against one wall and draped in floral wreaths. Nearest the wall was a black-painted wooden coffin with yellow decoration and red text; this coffin contained the well wrapped mummy of Iuf'a.[3][4]Beside this was another coffin, also painted black with yellow designs but with inlaid eyes housing acartonnagecoffin covered in resin; inside was a mummy identifiable only as a chantress by the legible portion of the inscription.[3]However, Porter and Moss identify her as Keramama.[4]The third coffin was of rough wood but contained a beautifully decorated cartonnage coffin; inside was the well wrapped mummy of Tentkeresherit, fitted with red leather mummy braces stamped at the ends with thecartoucheofOsorkon I.[3][4]Percy Newberryidentified the floral wreaths as being composed ofMimusops,Mimosa nilotica,Centaurea depressa,andNymphaea cerulea.[3]
These three burials were not the original occupants however, as Carter noted that the room was a fifth full of debris "amongst which were remains of earlier mummies without either coffins or funeral furniture". The tomb had evidently stood open for some time in the past as several bee nests were seen on the ceiling.[3]
Re-investigation
[edit]In 1991 the tomb was re-investigated by thePacific Lutheran UniversityValley of the Kings Project headed byDonald P. Ryan.Other than removing the three coffins to Cairo, Carter had undertaken little work in the tomb. Careful excavation of the fill recovered the remains of seven individuals; two were young women, and three were children including one two year-old.[5][6]The foot board of a child's coffin was also found along with an uninscribed piece of acanopic jar.Small finds included pottery fragments and a blue cylinder bead.[1]
The project resumed in 2005, and found that water had penetrated several of the tombs under study, likely during the 1994 flood events. All artefacts from KV44 and KV45, barring pottery and human remains, were moved toKV21for protection from further flooding.[5]
Intended occupants
[edit]The intended occupants of KV44 are not known.Elizabeth Thomasproposed that this was a tomb forAnen,the brother ofTiye,theGreat Royal WifeofAmenhotep III.This theory was proposed based on the clustering of late Eighteenth Dynasty tombs in this area and the fact that Anen was not buried in his known intended tombTT120.However, Ryan's excavations found no material in the tomb to date later than the middle of the Eighteenth Dynasty, and as such there is no archaeological evidence for the burial of Anen within KV44.[7]
Citations
[edit]- ^abReeves & Wilkinson 1996,p. 184.
- ^Carter 1903.
- ^abcdefCarter 1901.
- ^abcPorter & Moss 1964,p. 587.
- ^abRyan 2007.
- ^Ryan 1995.
- ^Brock 1999.
References
[edit]- Brock, Lyla Pinch (1999)."Jewels in the Gebel: A Preliminary Report on the Tomb of Anen".Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt.36:71–85.doi:10.2307/40000203.ISSN0065-9991.JSTOR40000203.Retrieved17 April2021.
- Carter, Howard (1901)."Report on a Tomb-Pit Opened on the 26th January 1901, in the Valley of the Kings Between No. 4 and No. 8".Annales du Service des Antiquités de l'Égypte.II.Le Service: 144–145.Retrieved15 April2021.
- Carter, Howard (1903)."Report on General Work Done in the Southern Inspectorate".Annales du Service des Antiquités de l'Égypte.IV.Le Service: 43–50.Retrieved15 April2021.
- Porter, Bertha; Moss, Rosalind (1964).Topographical Bibliography of Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphic Texts, Statues, Reliefs and Paintings Volume I: The Theban Necropolis, Part 2. Royal Tombs and Smaller Cemeteries.Griffith Institute.Retrieved16 April2021.
- Reeves, Nicholas; Wilkinson, Richard H. (1996).The Complete Valley of the Kings: Tombs and Treasures of Egypt's Greatest Pharaohs(2010 paperback ed.). London: Thames and Hudson.ISBN978-0-500-28403-2.
- Ryan, Donald P. (1995). "Further Observations Concerning the Valley of the Kings". In Wilkinson, Richard H. (ed.).Valley of the Sun Kings: New Explorations in the Tombs of the Pharaohs(PDF).Tucson: The University of Arizona Egyptian Expedition. pp. 157–161.Retrieved17 April2021.
- Ryan, Donald P. (2007). "Pacific Lutheran University Valley of the Kings Project: Work Conducted during the 2005 Field Season".Annales du Service des Antiquités de l'Égypte.81:345–356.
External links
[edit]- Theban Mapping Project: KV44includes detailed maps of most of the tombs.
