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37-564: This small, uninscribed tomb is located approximately 11.3 metres (37 ft) in front of the entrance of the tomb of Mentuherkhepshef ( KV19 ). It consists of a rough, steep, flight of stairs leading to a doorway blocked with large stones. A pair of niches are cut into the wall just inside the entrance. A straight passage that is about 8 metres (26 ft) long descends to a low, roughly cut chamber which measures about 5.5 by 6.5 by 2 metres (18.0 ft × 21.3 ft × 6.6 ft) high. A small side chamber branches off about halfway down

74-565: A sensation. The mummies quickly became a highlight of the new Egyptian Museum (then in Giza). In 1969, the discovery was dramatized in The Night of Counting the Years , which became one of Egypt's most widely respected films. In 2021 the mummies were moved to a modern display area in the new National Museum of Egyptian Civilization , following the high-profile Pharaohs' Golden Parade . The tomb

111-481: A singer if Elizabeth Thomas had not suggested Hatshepsut as one of the occupants. This well-preserved mummy is about 1.5 metres (4.9 ft) tall. She has long red hair remaining on her head. Her right arm at her side, and the left arm is placed across her torso; the left hand is closed. She was eviscerated through a V-shaped embalming incision. Traces of fine linen bandages remain, with the fingers individually wrapped. Robbers looking for valuables have torn away much of

148-423: A small human mummy when wrapped, and the limestone blocking that originally sealed the room's entrance. The burial chamber was found to be relatively clean, but was scattered with fragments of a burial. A pile of mummified food offerings sat opposite the entrance, and in the centre of the floor, still lay the lone female mummy (KV60A). Following mapping and excavation, she was placed in a new wooden coffin, and left in

185-431: Is assumed to be due to metastatic cancer , complications of diabetes, or an abscessed molar that was extracted shortly before her death. Elizabeth Thomas was the first to propose that this mummy was that of Hatshepsut, relocated to the tomb of her nurse by Thutmose III , as part of his campaign of official hostility towards her. Ryan and Papworth's 1989 excavation produced evidence both in favour of, and casting doubt on

222-612: Is followed by "of Ramesses". Similar text is found on the Book of the Dead papyrus with one exception, "the king's son" is followed by "of the lord of the two lands". This title is what gave the impression that he was royal but that title does not mean that he was royal. In fact it is believed that he was not royal at all. Cynthia Sheikholeslami says that "It is clear that the actual title [of Djedptahiuefankh] should be understood as 'king's son of Ramesses' rather than as an indication of membership in

259-451: Is reasonably preserved, with a height of 159 centimetres (5.22 ft), and aged 50–60 years old at the time of her death. She was obese in life, and suffered from poor health; many of her teeth are missing or badly decayed, and a single root from a molar is retained in the jaw. This tooth appears to have been abscessed and extracted just before death. Her poor oral health combined with her weight may indicate she had diabetes . Her brain

296-490: Is thought to have initially been the last resting place of High Priest of Amun Pinedjem II, his wife Nesikhons, and other close family members. Pinedjem II died around 969 BCE , in a time of decline of the Egyptian kingdom, during which mummies from former dynasties were vulnerable to grave robbery. During Ramesses IX 's reign, he had teams that went out and inspected the tombs of pharaohs. If it were discovered that repairs to

333-676: The New Kingdom , as it was used as a cache for royal mummies during the Twenty-first Dynasty . The eleven pharaohs found there include 1 of the 9 pharaohs from the 17th dynasty, 5 of the 15 pharaohs from the 18th dynasty, 3 of the 8 pharaohs from the 19th dynasty, and 2 of the 10 pharaohs from the 20th dynasty. The tomb was originally used as last resting place of High Priest of Amun Pinedjem II , his wife Neskhons , and other close family members. Its discovery by locals between 1860 and 1871, and by Egyptologists in 1881, caused

370-455: The Abd el-Rassul family may have actually discovered TT320 as early as 1860). For example, the Book of the Dead of Pinedjem II was purchased in 1876 for £400. The story that Ahmed Abd el-Rassul told was that one of his goats fell down a shaft and when he went down the shaft to retrieve the goat, he stumbled across this tomb. As he looked around, he discovered that this was no ordinary tomb. He saw that

407-569: The Eighteenth Dynasty queen was found at or near the entrance of the tomb, suggesting that she was placed in it last, which would indicate that this was not her tomb. If this was her tomb she would have been placed at the far, or back, end of the tomb. When the last of the mummies were placed in TT320, it seemed that the opening was naturally covered with sand and possibly other debris such as rocks, rendering it difficult to find. In 1881,

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444-689: The Head of the Two Lands. This Ancient Egypt biographical article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . DB320 The Royal Cache , technically known as TT320 (previously referred to as DB320 ), is an Ancient Egyptian tomb located next to Deir el-Bahari , in the Theban Necropolis , opposite the modern city of Luxor . It contains an extraordinary collection of mummified remains and funeral equipment of more than 50 kings, queens, and other royal family members of

481-607: The bandaging, which is bundled at the bottom of the coffin. She was once thought by Hawass to be the mummy of Hatshepsut. The 2.13 metres (7.0 ft) coffin base she was found lying in was inscribed with the name and title wr šdt nfrw nswt In , meaning the Great Royal Nurse, In . This personage has been widely identified with Sitre In , the royal nurse of Hatshepsut, who is known from her sandstone statue from Deir el Bahari . Notes Further reading Mentuherkhepeshef (son of Ramesses IX) Mentuherkhepeshef

518-414: The cache DB320 . When it was CT-scanned in 2007, it was found to contain a mummified liver and intestine, as well as a molar tooth that lacks one root. The tooth was found to match the size, shape, and density of the remaining molars, as well as lacking the same root that is still present in the jaw. However, doubt has been cast on the validity of this attribution; the tooth may have been misidentified, and

555-640: The coffin base to the Egyptian Museum . Since neither Carter nor Ayrton drew plans or maps indicating the location of the tomb, its whereabouts became forgotten. In 1989, the tomb was rediscovered, reopened and properly excavated by a team from the Pacific Lutheran University Valley of the Kings Project led by Donald P. Ryan . They found the tomb corridor littered with assorted debris; in niches on either side of

592-527: The coffins. In addition to this, there were fragments of royal coffins and other items found in the bottom meter of debris in TT320. However, there were approximately ten coffins that were found with their foot ends missing. It is believed that this happened before they were placed in TT320 because there was no mention, by Brugsch, of foot ends whether they were whole, in pieces or fragments being found. A research team entered TT320 in 1998 for research and that team did not find any evidence of foot ends either. Once

629-412: The coffins/mummies and items made it back to Cairo they were examined. It became clear that some of the mummies were found in the wrong coffins and that they were in different stages of preservation. For instance, the bandages around some of the bodies had been ripped apart in earlier times in order to remove any precious ornaments, such as amulets that were placed on the bodies for protection. Considering

666-552: The descending corridor. This tomb was discovered by Howard Carter in 1903 during excavations conducted by the Antiquities Service on behalf of Theodore M. Davis . The burial was found to have been ransacked in antiquity but still held two female mummies, one lying in the base of a coffin, and some mummified geese. Carter reclosed the tomb, only removing the geese. In 1906, Edward R. Ayrton reopened it while clearing KV19; he removed one mummy (KV60B) together with

703-403: The door were piled broken pieces of funerary equipment, including the face of a coffin, its golden surface and inlaid eyes having been adzed off in antiquity. A wedjat eye was painted in each niche. An unwrapped piece of mummified meat sat on the doorstep of the small side chamber. This chamber, which was not noted by Carter, contained the discarded wrappings of the leg, which may have looked like

740-467: The first Egyptian Egyptologists, Ahmed Kamal, to explore and examine TT320. Rather than just exploring, Brugsch had all of the contents, including the mummies, of this tomb removed within 48 hours of them entering this tomb. Neither Brugsch nor Kamal documented the tomb before having the contents removed, which made future study of this tomb difficult. Locations of the coffins were not documented and items were not catalogued. Brugsch went back later to document

777-405: The inconsistencies of some of the mummies mentioned previously, one mummy in particular raises many questions due to inconsistencies in two of his papyri. The first papyrus, Book of the Dead of Djedptahiufankh A was read incorrectly. The person who read it thought that one of Djedptahiuefankh A's titles was part of his name. On the second papyrus, The Amduat papyrus, Djedptahiuefankh A's first title

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814-453: The location of TT320 became publicly known. Later research, conducted by Gaston Maspero , stated that members of the local Abd el-Rassul family discovered TT320 as early as 1871, because items such as canopic jars and funeral papyri from this tomb showed up on the antiquities market in Luxor as early as 1874 (the reidentification and repatriation of the mummy of Ramesses I in 2003 shows that

851-402: The match has yet to be confirmed by DNA testing. A large resin-covered coffin fragment recovered from the burial chamber was found, when cleaned, to name a hitherto unknown temple singer called Ty. Ryan suggests in his retrospective that, given the concerns over the accuracy of the identification of KV60A as Hatshepsut, it may have been readily accepted that the tomb belonged to a royal nurse and

888-486: The mummies entombed in TT 320 were royal. This was indicated by the royal cobra head dress on some of the coffins. Local authorities were expecting to find several tombs belonging to the family of Herihor. When items started appearing on the antiquities market with their names on them, local authorities started to investigate the items and were able to trace them back to the Abd el-Rassul family. Authorities interrogated and tortured

925-484: The royal family". There are eight other individuals known to hold this same title. It is argued that this title was given to someone from a certain region, more specifically a town in the Delta called Ramesses . The chamber is reached by a nearly vertical chimney, which was left open in 1881, and has since filled with rocks and other debris (in fact every object that was left in the tomb has now been damaged in some way). It

962-420: The royal mummies being moved to this tomb to protect them, with each coffin given dockets stating when they were moved and where they were reburied; some of the mummies had been moved multiple times before they were placed here. It was initially believed that this tomb originally belonged to an Eighteenth Dynasty queen who was found buried here. However, mummies were cached here in the Twenty-first Dynasty and

999-404: The suggestion. On the supporting side, the mummy proved to be that of a relatively elderly lady, with her left arm flexed in the pose thought to mark royal women of the 18th Dynasty. On the other hand, few inscribed or dateable materials were recovered, meaning that a date range could not be firmly established. The wooden coffin face had a notch, presumably to take a false beard despite the fact that

1036-403: The tomb but the problem with this is that when he went back, he was not able to remember every detail of the tomb. His recollection of the tomb is questionable since he did not document the details immediately upon entering the tomb. The removal of the items from TT320 so quickly presented problems that the removal team at the time did not take into account. The hasty removal of the items in TT320

1073-418: The tomb contained only women, and Hatshepsut is known to have used a false beard. Ryan felt, at that time, that advocating for KV60A as the mummy of Hatshepsut would be "foolishly premature", instead suggesting she could be any of a number of royal women or nurses from the period. The identification of this mummy as Hatshepsut hinges on the contents of a wooden box inscribed with her cartouches discovered inside

1110-403: The tomb or the mummy were needed, arrangements would be made to make the necessary repairs. The tombs that were inspected were found untouched at that time. During Herihor 's reign, however, some tombs and mummies were found to be in need of what they called "renewing the burial places" . The tombs of Ramesses I , Seti I , and Ramesses II required "renewing" after pillaging, and this led to

1147-507: The tomb, which was resealed with a new metal door. In 1993 the Project installed a crack monitor to measure the movements of cracks in the rock. In 2005, the fourteen victual mummies remaining in the tomb were investigated using x-ray analysis by Salima Ikram . The packets were revealed to contain the femur , humerus , foreleg, ribs, vertebrae, and scapula of a cow; a piece of liver; three birds; and three packets of rolled meat. This mummy

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1184-475: The two brothers until one of the brothers eventually gave up the location of the tomb where the items were plundered from. Authorities were sent out to TT320 immediately to secure it. On July 6, 1881, authorities arrived at TT320 without the head of the Egyptian Service of Antiquities, because he was on vacation. Instead, the only other European member of the team, Émile Brugsch , was sent with one of

1221-456: Was "the third prophet of Amun". However, he is called "the second prophet of Amun" on his coffin. This is thought to be because the items that had "the third prophet of Amun" were prepared prior to him reaching the position of "the second prophet of Amun". Djedptahiuefankh was believed to be royal because on the Amduat papyrus his "priestly title" is immediately followed by "the king's son" and that

1258-569: Was an ancient Egyptian prince of the 20th Dynasty , a son of pharaoh Ramesses IX . His name also occurs as Ramesses-Montuherkhepeshef. He is likely to have been the brother of pharaoh Ramesses X and prince Nebmaatre . He was buried in his tomb KV19 in the Valley of the Kings , which was probably originally made for Ramesses VIII . His titles were: First King's Son of his Body; Eldest King's Son of his Body; Generalissimo ; and Executive at

1295-459: Was not done carefully. When the items were received in Cairo, it was discovered that some coffins had damage that would have happened if they were banged around during removal or transport. Evidence suggests that the damage to the coffins happened during removal from TT320. Brugsch documented the height of the different parts of the tomb and the measurement of the opening was just big enough to drag out

1332-482: Was not removed. Her heart is preserved in her chest and her torso is filled with embalming packs. She was eviscerated through the pelvic floor instead of through an embalming incision, perhaps due to her weight. Her left arm is crossed over her chest while the right arm is at her side. The fingernails of her left hand are tinted red and outlined in black. She may have had cancer : a tumor destroyed part of her left hip, and spread to her lumbar vertebrae. Her cause of death

1369-496: Was reinvestigated in 1938. Since 1998 a Russian-German team led by Erhart Graefe has been working on reinvestigating and preserving the tomb. Research teams have entered TT320 a number of times since its discovery, but the most successful research team entered TT320 in 1998. They cleared the passageways of fallen debris such as stones and fallen walls. They were able to find fragments of coffins and other small items. They were able to see some paintings after clearing debris away from

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