KV15

KV15
KV15
Burial site of Seti II
	KV15 (photo taken in June 2002)
	KV15
Coordinates	25°44′19.3″N32°35′59.6″E / 25.738694°N 32.599889°E
Location	East Valley of the Kings
Discovered	Open in antiquity
Excavated by	Howard Carter (1903–1904)
Decoration	Anubis jackals and followers of Ra and Osiris; Nut; Litany of Re' Amduat; Book of Gates.
	← Previous; KV14 Next →; KV16

Last updated February 20, 2024

Tomb KV15, located in the Valley of the Kings in Egypt, was used for the burial of Pharaoh Seti II of the Nineteenth Dynasty. The tomb was dug into the base of a near-vertical cliff face at the head of a wadi running southwest from the main part of the Valley of the Kings. It runs along a northwest-to-southeast axis, comprising a short entry corridor followed by three corridor segments, which terminate in a well room that lacks a well, which was never dug. This then connects with a four-pillared hall and another stretch of corridor that was converted into a burial chamber.^[1]

The walls and ceiling of the chamber were covered with plaster and painted with Anubis jackals and two rows of deities, representing the followers of Ra and Osiris, which are placed over a lower row of mummy-like figures. The winged goddess Nut appears along the length of the ceiling and what may be a representation of the Ba of Ra is painted above her head.^[1] The paintings are conventional depictions drawn from the Egyptian Litany of Re , Amduat and the Book of Gates .^[2] Wall paintings in the well room are more unusual showing the king in shrines in a number of different manifestations; for instance on the back of a panther or on a papyrus skiff. The objects shown in the paintings are reflected in the finds made in the tomb of Tutankhamun.^[2]

Relatively little is known about the history of the tomb. Seti II was buried there, but he may have originally been buried with his wife Twosret in her tomb in KV14 and subsequently moved to the hastily finished KV15 tomb, perhaps by the later pharaoh Setnakhte, who took over KV14 for his own tomb.^[2] Seti's name appears to have been carved, erased and then re-carved. Amenmesse or possibly Siptah may have been responsible for the erasure, while Twosret may have had Seti's name restored.^[1] Seti's mummy was later moved to the mummy cache in tomb KV35; only the lid of his sarcophagus remains in KV15.^[2]

KV15 is known to have been opened in antiquity, as there are 59 examples of Greek and Latin graffiti on the walls. Richard Pococke investigated it as early as 1738, but it was not until the arrival of Howard Carter in 1903–04 that the tomb was properly cleared.^[1] After Carter began to excavate the nearby tomb of Tutankhamun (KV62) in 1922, KV15 was used by his assistants Alfred Lucas and Arthur Mace as a makeshift laboratory for the cleaning and restoration of KV62's artifacts before their transport to the Cairo Museum.^[3]

The tomb is open to tourists with improved flooring, handrails and lighting.^[1]

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">WV23</span> Ancient Egyptian tomb in the Valley of the Kings

Tomb WV23, also known as KV23, is located in the Western Valley of the Kings near modern-day Luxor, and was the tomb of Pharaoh Ay of the Eighteenth Dynasty. The tomb was discovered by Giovanni Battista Belzoni in the winter of 1816. Its architecture is similar to that of the tomb of Akhenaten, with a straight descending corridor leading to a "well chamber" that has no shaft. This leads to the burial chamber, which now contains the reconstructed sarcophagus, which had been smashed in antiquity. The tomb had also been anciently desecrated, with many instances of Ay's image or name erased from the wall paintings. Its decoration is similar in content and colour to that of the tomb of Tutankhamun (KV62), with a few differences. On the eastern wall there is a depiction of a fishing and fowling scene, which is not shown in other royal tombs, normally appearing in burials of nobility.

Tomb WV22, also known as KV22, was the burial place of the Eighteenth Dynasty pharaoh Amenhotep III. Located in the Western arm of the Valley of the Kings, the tomb is unique in that it has two subsidiary burial chambers for the pharaoh's wives Tiye and Sitamen. It was officially discovered by Prosper Jollois and Édouard de Villiers du Terrage, engineers with Napoleon's expedition to Egypt in August 1799, but had probably been open for some time. The tomb was first excavated by Theodore M. Davis, the details of which are lost. The first documented clearance was carried out by Howard Carter in 1915. Since 1989, a Japanese team from Waseda University led by Sakuji Yoshimura and Jiro Kondo has excavated and conserved the tomb. The sarcophagus is missing from the tomb. The tomb's layout and decoration follow the tombs of the king's predecessors, Amenhotep II (KV35) and Thutmose IV (KV43); however, the decoration is much finer in quality. Several images of the pharaoh's head have been cut out and can be seen today in the Louvre.

Tomb KV14 is a joint tomb, used originally by Twosret and then reused and extended by Setnakhte. It has been open since antiquity, but was not properly recorded until Hartwig Altenmüller excavated it from 1983 to 1987.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KV43</span> Tomb of Pharaoh Thutmose IV

Tomb KV43 is the tomb of Pharaoh Thutmose IV in the Valley of the Kings in Luxor, Egypt. It has a dog-leg shape, typical of the layout of early 18th Dynasty tombs. KV43 was rediscovered in 1903 by Howard Carter, excavating on behalf of Theodore M. Davis.

Tomb KV9 in Egypt's Valley of the Kings was originally constructed by Pharaoh Ramesses V. He was interred here, but his uncle, Ramesses VI, later reused the tomb as his own. The architectural layout is typical of the 20th Dynasty – the Ramesside period – and is much simpler than that of Ramesses III's tomb (KV11). The workmen accidentally broke into KV12 as they dug one of the corridors. In 2020, the Egyptian Tourism Authority released a full 3D model of the tomb with detailed photography, available online.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siptah</span> Pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty

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KV4 is a tomb in the Valley of the Kings (Egypt). The tomb was initiated for the burial of Ramesses XI but it is likely that its construction was abandoned and it was not used for Ramesses's interment. It also seems likely that Pinedjem I intended to usurp this tomb for his own burial, but that he too abandoned the plan. KV4 is notable for being the last royal tomb that was quarried in the Valley and because it has been interpreted as being a workshop used during the official dismantling of the royal necropolis in the early Third Intermediate Period.

Tomb KV47, located in the Valley of the Kings in Egypt, was used for the burial of Pharaoh Siptah of the Nineteenth Dynasty. It was discovered on December 18, 1905 by Edward R. Ayrton, excavating on behalf of Theodore M. Davis; Siptah's mummy had been found earlier, cached in KV35. It was the last of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Dynasty kings tombs to be uncovered in the Valley. Ayrton stopped his excavation in 1907 due to safety fears, and Harry Burton returned in 1912 to dig further. The cutting of a side passage was halted after the workmen cut into Side Chamber Ja of the tomb of Tia'a (KV32). The tomb was unfinished at the time of its use.

Tomb KV57 is the royal tomb of Horemheb, the last pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty and is located in the Valley of the Kings, Egypt.

Tomb KV54 is located in the Valley of the Kings, in Egypt. It was originally excavated by Edward R. Ayrton on behalf of the American lawyer Theodore M. Davis, who funded the work.

The Valley of the Kings, also known as the Valley of the Gates of the Kings, is an area in Egypt where, for a period of nearly 500 years from the Eighteenth Dynasty to the Twentieth Dynasty, rock-cut tombs were excavated for pharaohs and powerful nobles under the New Kingdom of ancient Egypt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mask of Tutankhamun</span> Gold mask of Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun

The mask of Tutankhamun is a gold funerary mask of the 18th-dynasty ancient Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun. After being buried for over 3,000 years, it was excavated by Howard Carter in 1925 from tomb KV62 in the Valley of the Kings and is now in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. The death mask is one of the best-known works of art in the world and a prominent symbol of ancient Egypt.

References

1 2 3 4 5 Khalil, Essam E. (2013). Air Distribution in Buildings. CRC Press. pp. 85–87.
1 2 3 4 Strudwick, Nigel; Strudwick, Helen (1999). Thebes in Egypt: A Guide to the Tombs and Temples of Ancient Luxor. Cornell University Press. p. 110.
↑ Winstone, H.V.F. (2006). Howard Carter and the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun. Barzan, Manchester. p. 173. ISBN 1-905521-04-9. OCLC 828501310.

External links

Theban Mapping Project: KV15 includes description, images, and plans of the tomb.

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[Khalil-1] 1 2 3 4 5 Khalil, Essam E. (2013). Air Distribution in Buildings. CRC Press. pp. 85–87.

[Strudwick-2] 1 2 3 4 Strudwick, Nigel; Strudwick, Helen (1999). Thebes in Egypt: A Guide to the Tombs and Temples of Ancient Luxor. Cornell University Press. p. 110.

[3] Winstone, H.V.F. (2006). Howard Carter and the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun. Barzan, Manchester. p. 173. ISBN 1-905521-04-9. OCLC 828501310.

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