Tomb KV21 is an
ancient Egyptian tomb
The ancient Egyptians had an elaborate set of funerary practices that they believed were necessary to ensure their immortality after death. These rituals included mummifying the body, casting magic spells, and burials with specific grave good ...
located in the
Valley of the Kings
The Valley of the Kings ( ar, وادي الملوك ; Late Coptic: ), also known as the Valley of the Gates of the Kings ( ar, وادي أبوا الملوك ), is a valley in Egypt where, for a period of nearly 500 years from the 16th to 11th ...
in
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
. It was discovered in 1817 by
Giovanni Belzoni and later re-excavated by
Donald P. Ryan Donald P. Ryan (born 1957) is an American archaeologist, Egyptologist, writer and a member of the Division of Humanities at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington. His areas of research interest include Egyptian archaeology, Polynesian a ...
in 1989. It contains the
mummies
A mummy is a dead human or an animal whose soft tissues and organs have been preserved by either intentional or accidental exposure to chemicals, extreme cold, very low humidity, or lack of air, so that the recovered body does not decay furth ...
of two women, thought to be
Eighteenth Dynasty queens.
In 2010, a team headed by
Zahi Hawass used DNA evidence to tentatively identify one mummy, KV21A, as the biological mother of the
two fetuses preserved in the tomb of King
Tutankhamun
Tutankhamun (, egy, twt-ꜥnḫ-jmn), Egyptological pronunciation Tutankhamen () (), sometimes referred to as King Tut, was an Egyptian pharaoh who was the last of his royal family to rule during the end of the Eighteenth Dynasty (ruled ...
.
Layout
The tomb consists of a sloping descending passageway, a staircase, and another descending passage. The passage ends in a room with a single central column and a small chamber adjoining it.
The walls are well cut and ready to receive plaster
if plastering was intended.
The tomb is most similar in layout scale to
KV32
Tomb KV32, located in the Valley of the Kings in Egypt, is the burial site of Tia'a, the wife of Amenhotep II and mother of Thutmose IV.
The tomb was discovered in 1898 by Victor Loret. It is an undecorated tomb and runs back some 40 metres into ...
, the tomb of
Tiaa
The Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America-College Retirement Equities Fund (TIAA, formerly TIAA-CREF), is a Fortune 100 financial services organization that is the leading provider of financial services in the academic, research, ...
, mother of
Thutmose IV.
Marc Gabolde considers that the more precise cutting and regular layout of this tomb date it to slightly later than KV32.
Discovery and contents
The tomb was discovered by
Giovanni Belzoni in 1817. He found a brick wall at the end of the first section of passageway; it had been broken through in antiquity. In the larger room Belzoni found two naked female mummies with long hair; he notes how easily the hair of one of the mummies pulled out when he tugged at it. The smaller chamber contained pottery and alabaster sherds. A complete large ceramic jar was found at the top of the stairs.
James Burton, who mapped it in 1825, called it a "clean new tomb – the water not having got into it."
Re-investigation
The tomb was re-investigated in 1989 by Donald Ryan as part of the
Pacific Lutheran University Valley of the Kings Project. He found the entrance buried under flood debris; water had penetrated the tomb as evidenced by the "tide-line" on the wall of the burial chamber which indicated it had been filled with several inches of water. The once well-preserved mummies were found in scattered pieces, the white-washed jars in the side chamber had been smashed with large rocks, and a large graffito on one of the tombs walls proclaimed "ME 1826." The presence of bat guano indicated that the tomb had been open for some time after Belzoni and Burton had visited.
In 1993 a crack monitor was installed; no or minimal movement was detected. The small finds from the tomb were analysed by the Project in 2005 and were able to group them into three categories: those that dated to the Eighteenth Dynasty; those that suggested the tomb was reused in the
Third Intermediate Period; and strays washed in, one of which was an
ushabti
The ushabti (also called shabti or shawabti, with a number of variant spellings) was a funerary figurine used in ancient Egyptian funerary practices. The Egyptological term is derived from , which replaced earlier , perhaps the nisba of "' ...
for a Ramesside
pharaoh
Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian: ''pr ꜥꜣ''; cop, , Pǝrro; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') is the vernacular term often used by modern authors for the kings of ancient Egypt who ruled as monarchs from the First Dynasty (c. 3150 BC) until the an ...
. Though a small amount of water had penetrated the tomb during the 1994 floods, the packed contents were secure and dry; objects from
KV44
KV44 is an ancient Egyptian tomb located in the Valley of the Kings, Egypt. It was discovered and excavated by Howard Carter in 1901 and was re-examined in the 1991 by Donald P. Ryan. The single chamber accessed by a shaft contained three intact ...
and
KV45 were moved to this tomb for flood protection.
Mummies
Ryan's re-excavation of the tomb found that the two female mummies had been badly damaged some time after the initial report by Belzoni. The head and torso of one mummy was found in the first corridor. Other pieces were scattered on the stairs, but the majority of the remains were still in the burial chamber; a pile of snapped-off hands and feet were located here. The head of one mummy was missing, Ryan suggests that it was taken as a souvenir. Mark Papworth gave a preliminary description of both mummies some time after Ryan had collected them.
CT scan
A computed tomography scan (CT scan; formerly called computed axial tomography scan or CAT scan) is a medical imaging technique used to obtain detailed internal images of the body. The personnel that perform CT scans are called radiographers ...
ning and DNA analysis was conducted on both mummies in the 2010s.
KV21A
This mummy is headless and poorly preserved. The back half of the torso is present and the abdominal cavity contains linen embalming packs and stones. The left shoulder and arm are missing; the left hand associated with the body is clenched, indicating the 'queenly' pose. Sections of the spine are missing. Both legs are present but are no longer articulated with the body. The left and right feet are severely
clubbed
''Clubbed'' is a 2008 British drama film about a 1980s factory worker who takes up a job as a club doorman, written by Geoff Thompson and directed by Neil Thompson.
Plot
In 1984, Danny - a lonely factory worker intimidated by life - is batter ...
. In his earlier report, Mark Papworth suggests this is due to soaking and compression of the body by debris during flood events. Her height in life is estimated at approximately and her age is estimated to be no older than 21 based on the degree of
epiphyseal
The epiphysis () is the rounded end of a long bone, at its joint with adjacent bone(s). Between the epiphysis and diaphysis (the long midsection of the long bone) lies the metaphysis, including the epiphyseal plate (growth plate). At the joi ...
union.
The results of the DNA analysis announced in 2010 suggests that this mummy is the mother of the two mummified foetuses from the tomb of Tutankhamun, but not enough data was obtained to make a definitive identification. Hawass suggests this mummy may be
Ankhesenamun, the
Great Royal Wife
Great Royal Wife, or alternatively, Chief King's Wife ( Ancient Egyptian: ''ḥmt nswt wrt'', cop, Ⲟⲩⲏⲣ Ⲟⲩⲣϣ), is the title that was used to refer to the principal wife of the pharaoh of Ancient Egypt, who served many official ...
of Tutankhamun, and daughter of
Nefertiti.
Using a different interpretation of the DNA results, Gabolde suggests this mummy is instead that of
Mutemwiya, the mother of
Amenhotep III
Amenhotep III ( egy, jmn-ḥtp(.w), ''Amānəḥūtpū'' , "Amun is Satisfied"; Hellenized as Amenophis III), also known as Amenhotep the Magnificent or Amenhotep the Great, was the ninth pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty. According to different ...
.
KV21B
This mummy is the one that was found in the upper corridor. The upper frontal part of the skull is missing but her left eye socket remains. The teeth that are present show moderate wear. Dark hair is present on the nape of the neck. Much of the chest wall is missing; the torso contains linen embalming packs. The left arm is broken but was once flexed across the chest in the 'queenly' pose; the left hand is clenched. Degenerative changes to the spine are present across multiple vertebrae. Most of both legs are present, but the front parts of both feet are missing. Her height in life is estimated to be approximately while her age is estimated at 45 years based on degenerative bone changes.
DNA analysis did not yield enough data to make a firm identification but tied her to the late Eighteenth Dynasty royal line.
Hawass considers this mummy is a candidate for the body of Nefertiti; this is based on her association with the possible body of Ankhesenamun. It is now known that in
KV35
Tomb KV35 is the tomb of Pharaoh Amenhotep II located in the Valley of the Kings in Luxor, Egypt. Later, it was used as a cache for other royal mummies. It was discovered by Victor Loret in March 1898.
Layout and history
It has a dog's leg shape, ...
, a mother (
Tiye
Tiye (c. 1398 BC – 1338 BC, also spelled Tye, Taia, Tiy and Tiyi) was the daughter of Yuya and Thuya. She became the Great Royal Wife of the Egyptian pharaoh Amenhotep III. She was the mother of Akhenaten and grandmother of Tutankhamun. I ...
) was found lying next to her daughter (
the Younger Lady
The Younger Lady is the informal name given to a mummy discovered within tomb KV35 in the Valley of the Kings by archaeologist Victor Loret in 1898. The mummy also has been given the designation KV35YL ("YL" for "Younger Lady") and 61072, and cur ...
); it is possible the same relationship exists between these mummies.
References
External links
Theban Mapping Project: KV21- Includes description, images, and plans of the tomb.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kv21
1817 archaeological discoveries
Valley of the Kings