Tomb KV48 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 1906 by
Edward R. Ayrton
Edward Russell Ayrton (17 December 1882 – 18 May 1914) was an English Egyptologist and archaeologist.
Early life
Ayrton was the son of William Scrope Ayrton (1849-1904), a British consular official in China, and his wife Ellen Louisa McClat ...
excavating on behalf of
Theodore M. Davis
Theodore M. Davis (May 7, 1838 – February 23, 1915) was an American lawyer and businessman. He is best known for his excavations in Egypt's Valley of the Kings between 1902 and 1913.
Biography
Theodore Montgomery Davis was born in Springfield, ...
, and contained the robbed burial of the
Eighteenth Dynasty noble
Amenemipet called Pairy
Amenemipet called Pairy (sometimes Amenemopet called Pairy) was a Vizier of ancient Egypt. He served during the reign of Amenhotep II and Tuthmosis IV.
Family
Amenemipet called Pairy was the son of Ahmose Humay and Nub. He was the cousin of ...
.
Location, discovery, and contents
The tomb is located to the west of the animal tombs
KV51 and
KV52, on the southern side of the ''
wadi
Wadi ( ar, وَادِي, wādī), alternatively ''wād'' ( ar, وَاد), North African Arabic Oued, is the Arabic term traditionally referring to a valley. In some instances, it may refer to a wet (ephemeral) riverbed that contains water onl ...
'' that leads towards
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, ...
, the tomb of
Amenhotep II.
The tomb consists of a shaft approximately deep that opens to the south-west to a relatively large chamber measuring ; the doorway had been roughly blocked with a wall of stacked stones. The walls were not plastered or smoothed. The floor was covered in of debris including and broken objects, including coffin fragments with yellow on black decoration, pieces of a wooden chair, sherds of white-washed pottery, and a mud seal bearing the inscription 'Amun hears good praises.'
The unwrapped and broken mummy of the owner of the tomb was found thrown to one side; Ayrton describes him as "tall and well-built."
The presence of three inscribed mud bricks wrapped in resin-coated fabric and fragments of a fourth (so-called magical bricks), along with a number of wooden
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 "' ...
allowed him to be identified as the
vizier
A vizier (; ar, وزير, wazīr; fa, وزیر, vazīr), or wazir, is a high-ranking political advisor or minister in the near east. The Abbasid caliphs gave the title ''wazir'' to a minister formerly called ''katib'' (secretary), who was a ...
and
mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...
of
Thebes, Amenemipet.
Re-investigation
The tomb was part of the Pacific Lutheran University Valley of the Kings expedition’s work in 2009. The expedition was led by Dr. Don Ryan. The tomb was recorded and excavated. It is awaiting publication.
References
External links
Theban Mapping Project: KV48– Includes detailed maps of most of the tombs.
1906 archaeological discoveries
Valley of the Kings
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