KV5

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KV5
Burial site of Sons of Ramesses II
KV5 sons of Rameses II Schematic.jpg
Schematic drawing of KV5
Egypt adm location map.svg
Red pog.svg
KV5
Coordinates 25°44′26.2″N32°36′07.1″E / 25.740611°N 32.601972°E / 25.740611; 32.601972
Location East Valley of the Kings
Discovered1825
Excavated by Kent R. Weeks (1995)
DecorationOpening of the Mouth
LayoutLabyrinth
 Previous
KV4
Next 
KV6

Tomb KV5 is a subterranean, rock-cut tomb in the Valley of the Kings. It belonged to the sons of Ramesses II. Though KV5 was partially excavated as early as 1825, its true extent was discovered in 1995 by Kent R. Weeks and his exploration team. The tomb is now known to be the largest in the Valley of the Kings. Weeks' discovery is widely considered the most dramatic in the valley since the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun in 1922.

Contents

History

Standing near the entrance to the Valley, KV5 was robbed in antiquity. [1] In addition, over the centuries, it suffered the fate of other low-lying tombs, which was to be filled with rubble washed down in the flash floods that accompany thunderstorms over the Valley.

The tomb was examined several times once exploration of the Valley in relatively modern times started, first in 1825 (by James Burton), and later in 1902 (by Howard Carter, discoverer of the tomb of Tutankhamun, who used KV5 only as a dumping ground). However, they were not able to penetrate past the first few rooms, and thus saw nothing unusual about the tomb.

It was not until the Theban Mapping Project, under Kent R. Weeks, began clearing the tomb (in part to see if it would be damaged by proposed building works nearby, and in part so that it could be mapped) that the stage was set for the discovery of its true extent and nature. Although the works had begun in 1987, the first substantial finding came in 1995, after extensive clearing in the outer chambers of the tomb: approximately 70 rooms, lined along long corridors, running back into the hillside. The number of rooms corresponds roughly to the number of sons the pharaoh sired. This discovery caused a worldwide sensation and reignited popular interest in Egyptology. Findings so far include thousands of potshards, ushabti , faience beads, hieratic ostraca, glass vials, inlays and a large statue of Osiris, the god of the afterlife.

Further excavations have revealed that the tomb is even larger than was first thought, as it contains more corridors, with more rooms, branching off from previously discovered parts of the tomb. At least 130 rooms or chambers have been discovered as of 2006 (only about 7% of which have been cleared), and work is still continuing on clearing the rest of the tomb. [2] [3]

Located near the tomb of Ramesses II (KV7), KV5 contained most of his children, both male and female, in particular those who died in his lifetime. The skull fragments of Amun-her-khepeshef, among others, were found inside and reconstructed.

See also

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The majority of the 65 numbered tombs in the Valley of the Kings can be considered minor tombs, either because at present they have yielded little information or because the results of their investigation was only poorly recorded by their explorers, while some have received very little attention or were only cursorily noted. Most of these tombs are small, often only consisting of a single burial chamber accessed by means of a shaft or a staircase with a corridor or a series of corridors leading to the chamber, but some are larger, multiple chambered tombs. These minor tombs served various purposes, some were intended for burials of lesser royalty or for private burials, some contained animal burials and others apparently never received a primary burial. In many cases these tombs also served secondary functions and later intrusive material has been found related to these secondary activities. While some of these tombs have been open since antiquity, the majority were discovered in the 19th and early 20th centuries during the height of exploration in the valley.

References

  1. Weeks, Kent R. (1998). The Lost Tomb. New York: William Morrow. ISBN   0-688-17224-5.
  2. "Audio - Atlas of the Valley of the Kings - Theban Mapping Project". Archived from the original on 2012-04-02. Retrieved 2011-10-25.
  3. "Valley of the Kings - KV5". Ancient Egypt - History & Chronology. Retrieved 2007-04-08.

Further reading