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63-439: Both the tomb's history and the identification of its single occupant have been problematic. It is presumed to be a royal cache and reburial dating from the late eighteenth dynasty , prepared after the abandonment of Amarna and the dismantling of the royal necropolis there. On the basis of the recovered artifacts, it is also suggested that the burial once contained more than a single occupant, either interred on one occasion or over

126-589: A few years earlier than the conventional date of 1550 BC. The radiocarbon date range for its beginning is 1570–1544 BC, the mean point of which is 1557 BC. The pharaohs of Dynasty XVIII ruled for approximately 250 years (c. 1550–1298 BC). The dates and names in the table are taken from Dodson and Hilton. Many of the pharaohs were buried in the Valley of the Kings in Thebes (designated KV). More information can be found on

189-450: A frame associated with the shrine, also comparable to Tutankhamun's shrines. However, the decoration and inscriptions on the shrine are markedly different from those of Tutankhamun: the decoration was dominated by large offering scenes rather than a multitude of smaller mythological scenes; the text was far more brief, and seems primarily concerned with titles, names and the shrine's dedication, rather than with excerpts from funerary books; and

252-402: A jasper burnisher and some fragments of copper rosettes from a funerary pall. After its excavation, the tomb's entrance was initially fitted with a steel door, which was later removed and replaced by stone blocking. By 1944, this blocking had collapsed and filled the tomb's entrance with debris. In 1993, the tomb was cleared again by Lyla Pinch Brock . In 1996, she undertook conservation work on

315-426: A king, through alterations to its inscriptions and the addition of a false beard, a uraeus and the royal scepters ( crook and flail ). The identity of the coffin's original owner has been a matter of much discussion over the years, with Tiye, Nefertiti , Meketaten and Meritaten all proposed as candidates. It is now widely accepted that the coffin was originally intended for Akhenaten 's secondary wife Kiya . It

378-405: A period of time. Queen Tiye is most often named in this context. It is also clear that the tomb was re-opened at a later time, almost certainly during the twentieth dynasty . At that time, any additional, hypothetical occupants of the tomb would have been removed and (possibly) relocated to KV35 , while the remaining mummy and some of the other artefacts were desecrated and abandoned. The tomb

441-524: A plan of the tomb, and possibly indicates a widening of the entrance after its initial cutting. This possibility is also suggested by mason's marks found on the walls by the tomb entrance. It appears that the stairwell has been enlarged, its ceiling raised, and the number of steps increased. When the tomb was discovered in 1907, the stairwell was covered with debris, probably originating from the cutting of KV6 directly above. The upper layer of this filling consisted of chips cemented together by water; underneath,

504-481: A single shrine was used in KV55, rather than a suite of four nested shrines, as in the tomb of Tutankhamun. The presence of a shrine dedicated to Tiye is usually seen as evidence that Tiye's mummy once reposed inside the shrine in KV55. Other objects inscribed with her name (such as the piece of furniture) and with those of Amenhotep III are also seen as belonging to her funerary equipment. The seal impressions found near

567-429: Is also recognized that the four canopic jars discovered near the coffin belonged to Kiya, and that the female heads on the stoppers of the jars portray her. Like the coffin, the canopic jars were altered for the burial of a king through the erasure of Kiya's titulary and the addition of a royal uraeus to each portrait head. All personal names inscribed on the coffin and the canopic jars were excised in antiquity, rendering

630-431: Is as follows: Akhenaten and his mother, Queen Tiye, were originally entombed at Akhenaten's new capital Akhetaten (modern Amarna), but their mummies were moved to KV55 following the total abandonment of Akhetaten during the reign of Tutankhamun , who was Akhenaten's son. The door to KV55 was sealed with Tutankhamun's name. There, the mummies remained for about 200 years, until the tomb was rediscovered by workmen excavating

693-675: Is known. In 1334 Akhenaten's son, Tutankhaten, ascended to the throne: shortly after, he restored Egyptian polytheist cult and subsequently changed his name in Tutankhamun , in honor to the Egyptian god Amun . His infant daughters, 317a and 317b mummies , represent the final genetically related generation of the Eighteenth Dynasty. The last two members of the Eighteenth Dynasty— Ay and Horemheb —became rulers from

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756-415: Is not corroborated by any of the other reports dating from the initial discovery, leaving Weigall's claim open to question. The first wall had been partially pulled down in antiquity, and the tomb was closed again by a second wall made of loose limestone fragments, erected in front of the remains of the first wall. Because Weigall described these consecutive blockings in ambiguous terms, it is unclear whether

819-451: Is often referred to as the "Amarna cache", given the mixed nature of its contents. The entrance to KV55 was uncovered by Ayrton on 6 January 1907. Its discovery was brought to Davis's attention on the following day. The tomb was first entered on 9 January by Ayrton, Davis, Joseph Lindon Smith and (as the representative of the antiquities service) Arthur Weigall . On 11 January 1907, the finds were photographed. Ayrton then began clearance of

882-541: Is one of the events recounted in the novel The Ape Who Guards the Balance by the Egyptologist Barbara Mertz (writing as Elizabeth Peters). and R. Leprohon, (eds), (San Antonio, 1997), vol. I, pp. 121–136. Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt The Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt (notated Dynasty XVIII , alternatively 18th Dynasty or Dynasty 18 ) is classified as the first dynasty of

945-506: Is unclear whether or not the original blocking of the tomb was stamped with Tutankhamun's seal, the several small seal-impressions carrying his prenomen are most likely related to the reburial(s) in KV55, since he was probably not involved in the original burial preparations of either Tiye (who died several years before Tutankhamun came to the throne) or Akhenaten (who, presumably, was buried by his co-regent and probable immediate successor, Smenkhkare). One scenario, suggested by Nicholas Reeves,

1008-570: The New Kingdom of Egypt , the era in which ancient Egypt achieved the peak of its power. The Eighteenth Dynasty spanned the period from 1550/1549 to 1292 BC. This dynasty is also known as the Thutmoside Dynasty ) for the four pharaohs named Thutmose . Several of Egypt's most famous pharaohs were from the Eighteenth Dynasty, including Tutankhamun , whose tomb was discovered by Howard Carter in 1922. Other famous pharaohs of

1071-501: The area as Kush and it was administered by the Viceroy of Kush . The 18th dynasty obtained Nubian gold, animal skins, ivory, ebony, cattle, and horses, which were of exceptional quality. The Egyptians built temples throughout Nubia. One of the largest and most important temples was dedicated to Amun at Jebel Barkal in the city of Napata. This Temple of Amun was enlarged by later Egyptian and Nubian Pharaohs, such as Taharqa . After

1134-431: The body had suffered from Frölich's syndrome which delayed normal skeletal maturation. These results were seen to support the initial claims by Weigall, Maspero and Smith, based on other evidence found in the tomb (see above) that the body was that of Akhenaten. Later re-examinations of the remains confirmed Smith's original identification of the mummy as belonging to a young male (although with feminine traits) but pushed

1197-482: The burial chamber indicate plans for yet another room. When finished these would have made the tomb's layout roughly similar to that of the tomb of Tutankhamun. Such a plan seems to indicate that KV55, like KV62, was initially intended as a private burial site and only later taken over for a royal interment. The tomb is accessed by a flight of 20 steps, cut into the bedrock and covered by an overhanging rock. An ostracon found by Pinch Brock in 1993 has been interpreted as

1260-401: The burial chamber seem to have suffered water damage, most notably the coffin, bier and boxes; however, the elements of the gilded shrine appear to have been reasonably solid. Moisture is also the likely cause of the discoloration visible on some of the faience objects, although other, similar objects appear unaffected. The problems surrounding the interpretation of KV55 are due in large part to

1323-486: The chips were dry and clean. When it was discovered, the tomb's outer door was blocked by two consecutive walls. The primary blocking consisted of a wall of cemented limestone blocks, plastered and stamped with the seal of the Royal Necropolis (with the jackal and nine captives motif). Weigall later stated that a fragment of Tutankhamun's seal had been recovered from this original blocking. However, his statement

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1386-433: The collapse of wooden objects caused by falling plaster and stone. The "cemented" chips and stains in the corridor indicate that water entered the tomb along the corridor ceiling, but the amount of water might not have been great, and most damage could have been caused by increased humidity rather than direct contact with water. Bell also suggested that the moisture under the mummy might have resulted from rainfall shortly after

1449-418: The corridor indicate that water had infiltrated the tomb in the past. On top of the rubble fill were found a panel and door of a large gilded shrine, although the exact position of these items is unclear. Additional pieces of the same shrine were recovered from the burial chamber. The walls of the burial chamber were plastered, but otherwise undecorated. This plastering seems to have been done some years after

1512-417: The cutting of the tomb, and repairs are evident. Rubble fill from the corridor had spread down into the chamber, partially covering its floor with debris. Elsewhere in the burial chamber, the floor and numerous objects were covered with fragments of plaster fallen from the walls and stones fallen from the ceiling. Items found in the burial chamber can be grouped into several categories: Some wooden objects in

1575-531: The daughter of Akhenaten and the only known wife of Tutankhamun. The identity of the KV55 mummy, therefore, remains controversial for many. In March 2021, the results of a new forensic facial reconstruction were released. The deposit, as it was found in KV55, presents a mixture of chronological and religious anomalies. Objects inscribed with Amenhotep III's nomen and prenomen might be contemporary with that king's reign and could be interpreted as possessions of Queen Tiye. Other items inscribed with Tiye's name (such as

1638-427: The dynasty include Hatshepsut (c. 1479 BC–1458 BC), the longest-reigning woman pharaoh of an indigenous dynasty, and Akhenaten (c. 1353–1336 BC), the "heretic pharaoh", with his Great Royal Wife , Nefertiti . The Eighteenth Dynasty is unique among Egyptian dynasties in that it had two queens regnant , women who ruled as sole pharaoh: Hatshepsut and Neferneferuaten , usually identified as Nefertiti. Dynasty XVIII

1701-444: The east wall might indicate further items that were removed together with the queen's mummy at some later point. When KV55 was initially opened, Theodore Davis believed that he had found the tomb of Queen Tiye . However, it was quickly recognized that the human remains interred there were male. Georges Daressy further deduced that the gilded coffin found in the tomb was originally made for a woman and only later adapted to accommodate

1764-472: The embalming cache found in KV54 , but because the find was never properly published, the precise nature of its contents, the date of the jars, and its relation (if any) to KV55 are now unclear. KV55 is a relatively small, undecorated, single-chamber tomb, its total length measuring only 27.61 meters. It is located in the central area of the valley, immediately adjacent to and below KV6 ( Ramesses IX ) and across

1827-533: The end of the Hyksos period of foreign rule, the Eighteenth Dynasty engaged in a vigorous phase of expansionism, conquering vast areas of the Near-East , with especially Pharaoh Thutmose III submitting the "Shasu" Bedouins of northern Canaan , and the land of Retjenu , as far as Syria and Mittani in numerous military campaigns circa 1450 BC. Radiocarbon dating suggests that Dynasty XVIII may have started

1890-485: The estimated age of death back to around 20 years. These re-examinations also indicated that the body showed no signs of delayed maturation, and that, while the skull was of unusual shape, it was not abnormal, and showed no indication of hydrocephalus. Reconstruction of the facial features of the skull also indicated that the mummy's face in life bore no particular resemblance to Akhenaten's representation on his monuments. However, as Akhenaten's depictions were highly stylised,

1953-507: The extent of which can only be compared with those of the much longer reign of Ramesses II during Dynasty XIX. Amenhotep III's consort was the Great Royal Wife Tiye , for whom he built an artificial lake, as described on eleven scarabs. Amenhotep III may have shared the throne for up to twelve years with his son Amenhotep IV. There is much debate about this proposed co-regency, with different experts considering that there

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2016-454: The fact that Tiye outlived her husband by possibly as much as twelve years seems to have disrupted such plans. On the other hand, from inscriptional evidence on the KV55 shrine, it seems likely that Tiye was buried at Amarna by her son Akhenaten. In the case of Akhenaten, it seems almost certain that he was originally buried in the tomb he prepared for himself in the Amarna royal wadi. Although it

2079-600: The greatest military pharaoh ever, also had a lengthy reign after becoming pharaoh. He had a second co-regency in his old age with his son Amenhotep II . Amenhotep II was succeeded by Thutmose IV , who in his turn was followed by his son Amenhotep III , whose reign is seen as a high point in this dynasty. Amenhotep III's reign was a period of unprecedented prosperity, artistic splendor, and international power, as attested by over 250 statues (more than any other pharaoh) and 200 large stone scarabs discovered from Syria to Nubia. Amenhotep III undertook large scale building programmes,

2142-419: The identity of the human remains inside the coffin a matter of long debate. Over the past century, the chief candidates for this individual have been either Akhenaten or Smenkhkare , another male member of the Amarna royal family. Evidence that the occupant of the coffin was Akhenaten is provided by the four magical bricks found inside the tomb. Two were inscribed in hieratic , but they are poorly preserved and

2205-609: The interior of the shrine was uninscribed and undecorated. The text on the shrine states that it was made by Akhenaten for his mother Tiye. With one exception, the names of Akhenaten were erased and in some places were replaced by those of Amenhotep III (the father of Akhenaten) in ink. The text also refers to the "House of the Aten in Akhetaten", perhaps indicating that the shrine was made and originally used in Amarna. The decoration, which appears to have been very similar on all sides of

2268-417: The lack of similarity is not conclusive. After the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun, a close resemblance was noted between his mummy and the body found in KV55 and later tests showed both shared the same blood-group (A2) and serum antigen (MN), all of which suggests Tutankhamun and the individual found in KV55 were closely related to each other, either as father and son, or brothers. Based on these results it

2331-480: The late 2000s, published in 2010 and 2016, showed the mummy to have died between age 35–45, which the examiners believe supports the theory that the mummy is Akhenaten's. The archaeological, inscriptional, and now genetic evidence indicate that the ancient Egyptians who buried (and later desecrated) the body in KV55 believed this to be Akhenaten's. However, a number of experts dispute these findings, claiming that Hawass et al. have not provided sufficient evidence to assume

2394-409: The mummy to be of a man who died around age 25–26; beside Smith, Douglas E. Derry and Ronald G. Harrison came to this conclusion. John R. Harris in the late 1980s offered 35 years as its age, while Joyce Filer in the early 2000s suggested early 20s. Elsewhere, an analysis of the skeletal remains based on dentition and X-rays of the long bones indicated 35 years. Finally, examinations using CT scans from

2457-542: The name of their owner is lost. The other two, however, are of better quality, with hieroglyphic inscriptions naming the Osiris Neferkheprure Waenre , a reference to Akhenaten's nomen. The fact that all four bricks were oriented correctly and that three of them were positioned in close association with the coffin suggests that they were intended as a set and were made for the coffin's final occupant, who therefore, would be Akhenaten. The mummy found in

2520-539: The older age at death. In fact, the original 2010 paper only cites a single point of spinal degeneration, while other analyses, such as Strouhal's cite multiple indicators for a younger age. Further complicating the identity of the KV55 mummy is the fact that he does not seem to be the father of the female mummy KV21a . The latter has been identified as a likely candidate for the mother of two foetuses found in Tutankhamun's tomb, thus probably making her Ankhesenamun ,

2583-470: The pelvic bones and the absence of male genitalia have been suggested. But when anatomist Grafton Elliot Smith examined the skull and bones in Cairo a few months later he concluded that they were those of a young male, with wide hips, a pendent chin, and distorted cranium brought on by chronic hydrocephalus . The age of death he estimated as being around 25 years although he later suggested the possibility that

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2646-420: The ranks of officials in the royal court, although Ay might also have been the maternal uncle of Akhenaten as a fellow descendant of Yuya and Tjuyu . Ay may have married the widowed Great Royal Wife and young half-sister of Tutankhamun, Ankhesenamun , in order to obtain power; she did not live long afterward. Ay then married Tey , who was originally Nefertiti's wet-nurse. Ay's reign was short. His successor

2709-577: The reign of Tutankhamun, when the statue was made. The cartouches of King Ay, Tutankhamun's successor appearing on the statue, were an attempt by an artisan to "update" the sculpture. The Eighteenth Dynasty empire conquered all of Lower Nubia under Thutmose I . By the reign of Thutmose III , the Egyptians directly controlled Nubia to the Nile river, 4th cataract, with Egyptian influence / tributaries extending beyond this point. The Egyptians referred to

2772-421: The secondary wall was found intact or had already been partially dismantled, like the primary wall. The sloping corridor beyond the entrance was partially filled with rubble. Since the secondary wall was built on top of material originating from this rubble, the fill seems to date from the time of the original interment. By 1907 this rubble had spread down into the burial chamber. Stains on the ceiling and walls of

2835-414: The shortcomings of Davis's original publication of the excavation. Its mix of fact, assumption, error and omission has obscured a full understanding of the deposit. The blame for these shortcomings usually falls on Davis (as editor of the publication) and Ayrton (as supervising archaeologist). Recent careful re-examinations of the original publication, of eyewitness reports, and of the photographs taken before

2898-465: The shrine and furniture elements) also clearly belonged to her. Akhenaten's presence is indicated by items originally inscribed for him (such as the magical bricks) and items that were adapted for his use (such as the coffin and canopic jars). It is nevertheless highly unlikely that either of these two burials within KV55 was original. In the case of Tiye, evidence found in tomb WV22 suggests that Amenhotep III prepared her burial in his own tomb. However,

2961-424: The shrine, features Akhenaten and Tiye making offerings to the Aten, with a focus on the king rather than his mother. As with his names, Akhenaten's figure was erased from the scenes, with one exception. The orderly arrangement of the shrine parts inside the tomb seems to indicate that it once stood up, fully assembled, with its doors facing south, and that it was later dismantled inside the tomb. It appears that only

3024-416: The south up to Kanisah Kurgus beyond the fourth cataract of the Nile. Thutmose I was succeeded by Thutmose II and his queen, Hatshepsut , who was the daughter of Thutmose I. After her husband's death and a period of regency for her minor stepson (who would later become pharaoh as Thutmose III) Hatshepsut became pharaoh in her own right and ruled for over twenty years. Thutmose III , who became known as

3087-539: The stairs and the plastering inside the burial chamber through a grant from the American Research Centre in Egypt. Three days before the discovery of KV55, Ayrton uncovered a recess in the rock (now designated as KVC) located immediately above the entrance to KV55 and containing jars of twentieth dynasty type. This recess may have been an unfinished tomb commencement, and its contents may be analogous to

3150-472: The subject of debate within the academic community. Some state that Akhenaten created a monotheism, while others point out that he merely suppressed a dominant solar cult by the assertion of another, while he never completely abandoned several other traditional deities. Later Egyptians considered this " Amarna Period " an unfortunate aberration. After his death, Akhenaten was succeeded by two short-lived pharaohs, Smenkhkare and Neferneferuaten , of which little

3213-495: The throne next. Horemheb also died without surviving children, having appointed his vizier, Pa-ra-mes-su, as his heir. This vizier ascended the throne in 1292 BC as Ramesses I , and was the first pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty . This example to the right depicts a man named Ay who achieved the exalted religious positions of Second Prophet of Amun and High Priest of Mut at Thebes . His career flourished during

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3276-452: The tomb of Ramesses IX ( KV6 ) nearby. By this time, Akhenaten was reviled as the "heretic king"; consequently, Queen Tiye's sarcophagus was hastily removed from his defiling presence, except for its surrounding gilded wooden shrine, which would have had to be dismantled for removal. Akhenaten's likeness was chiseled off the shrine's carved relief. Moreover, the gold face mask was ripped from Akhenaten's sarcophagus and his identifying cartouche

3339-419: The tomb was cleared have brought some clarity to the situation. Although the tomb was clearly disturbed in antiquity and its contents have been described as disordered and chaotic, Martha Bell argued that this disarray was more apparent than real. Her reconstruction of the layout of the tomb indicates an orderly and deliberate arrangement of artefacts, and she suggests that the impression of chaos might be due to

3402-401: The tomb was, however, at first identified as belonging to a woman by two visiting physicians who examined the remains in situ. This led Davis to conclude he had found the mummy of queen Tiye and he therefore published his account of the discovery as The Tomb of Queen Tiyi . As possible reasons for this initial identification the (typical female) position of the mummy's arms, post-mortem damage to

3465-411: The tomb's opening in 1907. Other damage to wooden objects might result from insects. A recent reconstruction of the shrine, based on photographic evidence, drawings, eyewitness descriptions and two surviving planks on display in Cairo, indicate that it resembled Tutankhamun's second and third shrines in general appearance and size. The presence of copper rosettes indicate that a funeral pall was draped on

3528-483: The tomb. On 25 January 1907, the coffin and mummy were investigated in situ . According to a letter from Davis to Gaston Maspero , some of the objects found in KV55 were still in place in January 1908, and their study and attempts at conservation were still ongoing at that later date. In 1921, while excavating south of the tomb, Howard Carter discovered several items that seem to have originated in KV55. These include

3591-454: The valley floor from KV7 ( Ramesses II ) and the near-contemporary tomb KV62 ( Tutankhamun ). Oriented almost due east, its entrance way consists of a set of stairs cut into the valley bedrock that leads to a gently sloping corridor and then to the single chamber of the tomb. The tomb appears to be unfinished: in the south wall of the burial chamber is a small niche, the commencement of an unfinished antechamber, while red masonry marks within

3654-426: Was Horemheb, a general during Tutankhamun's reign whom the pharaoh may have intended as his successor in case he had no surviving children, which is what came to pass. Horemheb may have taken the throne away from Ay in a coup d'état . Although Ay's son or stepson Nakhtmin was named as his father/stepfather's Crown Prince, Nakhtmin seems to have died during the reign of Ay, leaving the opportunity for Horemheb to claim

3717-504: Was a lengthy co-regency, a short one, or none at all. In the fifth year of his reign, Amenhotep IV changed his name to Akhenaten ( ꜣḫ-n-jtn , "Effective for the Aten ") and moved his capital to Amarna , which he named Akhetaten. During the reign of Akhenaten, the Aten ( jtn , the sun disk) became, first, the most prominent deity, and eventually came to be considered the only god. Whether this amounted to true monotheism continues to be

3780-452: Was concluded that the KV55 body was too young to be Akhenaten and they were seen to support the claim that the mummy was that of Smenkhkare , an idea first proposed by Rex Engelbach in 1931. Before February 2010, it was pointed out that the reliability of methods to assess the age of death for mummies in general was uncertain. For these reasons the correctness of the age estimates was repeatedly called into question. Several studies estimated

3843-458: Was deified after she died. Ahmose was succeeded by his son, Amenhotep I , whose reign was relatively uneventful. Amenhotep I probably left no male heir and the next pharaoh, Thutmose I , seems to have been related to the royal family through marriage. During his reign, the borders of Egypt's empire reached their greatest expanse, extending in the north to Carchemish on the Euphrates and in

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3906-543: Was founded by Ahmose I , the brother or son of Kamose , the last ruler of the 17th Dynasty . Ahmose finished the campaign to expel the Hyksos rulers. His reign is seen as the end of the Second Intermediate Period and the start of the New Kingdom. Ahmose's consort, Queen Ahmose-Nefertari was "arguably the most venerated woman in Egyptian history, and the grandmother of the 18th Dynasty." She

3969-515: Was removed from its hieroglyphic inscription, thus consigning its occupant to oblivion. As a final insult, a large rock was thrown at the coffin. However, a finely made vulture pectoral—a symbol of royalty in Ancient Egypt—was still found placed around this mummy's head. In 1923, Harry Burton used KV55 as a darkroom to develop his photographs documenting Howard Carter 's excavation of Tutankhamun's tomb . The discovery and opening of KV55

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