had initially been closed during Tutankhamenâs reign: the layer of flood debris suggested that the re-entry and re-sealing occurred no later than the early part of Horemhebâs reign.
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3. Tomb KV 55: a private tomb used as a storage chamber, home to a secondary Amarna burial.
The entrance opened into a descending passageway, partially filled with stone and blocked by a large wooden panel, one of the four sides of a gilded funerary shrine with bronze fittings. The panel was in poor
condition and could not be moved without treatment: rather than wait, the over-eager excavators constructed a plank bridge which would allow them to cross to the burial chamber beyond. This proved to be an unfinished and undecorated room whose seemingly random collection of grave goods â the remainder of the shrine, a cosmetic box, alabaster jars, mud bricks, a decayed funerary pall, faience objects and beads which had once been strung together to form jewellery â were, according to Weigall, âroughly arrangedâ. A coffin with a dislodged lid lay on the floor, while a niche in the south wall â probably an unfinished chamber â held a set of human-headed canopic jars (jars designed to hold the preserved entrails of the deceased). Clearly, this was by no means a primary burial. It was a secondary burial, or re-burial, incorporating artefacts prepared for several Amarna royals, some of which had been adapted for use by someone other than their original owner.
Davisâs companion, Mrs Emma B. Andrews, entered the chamber after the passageway had been cleared, and was struck by the sheer quantity of gold on display:
1907, Jan 19⦠I went down to the burial chamber and it is now almost easy of access; and saw the poor Queen as she lies now just a bit outside her magnificent coffin, with the vulture crown on her head. All the woodwork of the shrine, doors etc. is heavily overlaid with gold foil and I seemed to be walking on gold, and even the Arab working inside had some of it sticking in his woolly hair. 18
Mrs Andrewsâs âvulture crownâ had a missing leg and, like so many objects in the tomb, a confusing history. It had started life as a gold pectoral or collar designed to rest on the mummyâs chest; it is not clear whether it had simply been displaced, perhaps when the coffin fell to the ground, or whether it had been deliberately re-used as a headdress. The funerary bricks â magical bricks intended to ensure the rebirth of
the deceased â bore Akhenatenâs titles with his cartouche erased, and almost certainly came from his Amarna burial. The funerary shrine, however, had been commissioned by Akhenaten as part of his motherâs burial equipment. Akhenatenâs image had subsequently been deleted, although Tiy still remained to worship beneath the Atenâs rays. Vases inscribed with the name of Amenhotep III, husband of Tiy, may also have formed a part of the queenâs funerary equipment.
The four alabaster canopic jars had originally been carved with the name of their owner, but this inscription had then been ground away, leaving the cartouches of the Aten and Akhenaten intact. Next the cartouches had been chiselled away, leaving the anonymous jars suitable for re-use by either a man or a woman. Egyptologists are fairly certain that these jars were originally made for Akhenatenâs favoured secondary queen, Kiya. 19 The near-identical jar lids are beautifully carved female heads dressed in the Nubian-style bobbed wigs worn by the Amarna royal women. Holes in the forehead indicate where the uraei (the protective cobras worn on the brow) should be; it would appear that these were a late addition to the lids. The delicate lids do not sit well on their rather heavy bases, and this suggests that they may not be the original stoppers. 20 On the basis of the wigs and the facial features, which have been compared to images found at Amarna, it seems likely that
Â
3. Tomb KV 55: a private tomb used as a storage chamber, home to a secondary Amarna burial.
The entrance opened into a descending passageway, partially filled with stone and blocked by a large wooden panel, one of the four sides of a gilded funerary shrine with bronze fittings. The panel was in poor
condition and could not be moved without treatment: rather than wait, the over-eager excavators constructed a plank bridge which would allow them to cross to the burial chamber beyond. This proved to be an unfinished and undecorated room whose seemingly random collection of grave goods â the remainder of the shrine, a cosmetic box, alabaster jars, mud bricks, a decayed funerary pall, faience objects and beads which had once been strung together to form jewellery â were, according to Weigall, âroughly arrangedâ. A coffin with a dislodged lid lay on the floor, while a niche in the south wall â probably an unfinished chamber â held a set of human-headed canopic jars (jars designed to hold the preserved entrails of the deceased). Clearly, this was by no means a primary burial. It was a secondary burial, or re-burial, incorporating artefacts prepared for several Amarna royals, some of which had been adapted for use by someone other than their original owner.
Davisâs companion, Mrs Emma B. Andrews, entered the chamber after the passageway had been cleared, and was struck by the sheer quantity of gold on display:
1907, Jan 19⦠I went down to the burial chamber and it is now almost easy of access; and saw the poor Queen as she lies now just a bit outside her magnificent coffin, with the vulture crown on her head. All the woodwork of the shrine, doors etc. is heavily overlaid with gold foil and I seemed to be walking on gold, and even the Arab working inside had some of it sticking in his woolly hair. 18
Mrs Andrewsâs âvulture crownâ had a missing leg and, like so many objects in the tomb, a confusing history. It had started life as a gold pectoral or collar designed to rest on the mummyâs chest; it is not clear whether it had simply been displaced, perhaps when the coffin fell to the ground, or whether it had been deliberately re-used as a headdress. The funerary bricks â magical bricks intended to ensure the rebirth of
the deceased â bore Akhenatenâs titles with his cartouche erased, and almost certainly came from his Amarna burial. The funerary shrine, however, had been commissioned by Akhenaten as part of his motherâs burial equipment. Akhenatenâs image had subsequently been deleted, although Tiy still remained to worship beneath the Atenâs rays. Vases inscribed with the name of Amenhotep III, husband of Tiy, may also have formed a part of the queenâs funerary equipment.
The four alabaster canopic jars had originally been carved with the name of their owner, but this inscription had then been ground away, leaving the cartouches of the Aten and Akhenaten intact. Next the cartouches had been chiselled away, leaving the anonymous jars suitable for re-use by either a man or a woman. Egyptologists are fairly certain that these jars were originally made for Akhenatenâs favoured secondary queen, Kiya. 19 The near-identical jar lids are beautifully carved female heads dressed in the Nubian-style bobbed wigs worn by the Amarna royal women. Holes in the forehead indicate where the uraei (the protective cobras worn on the brow) should be; it would appear that these were a late addition to the lids. The delicate lids do not sit well on their rather heavy bases, and this suggests that they may not be the original stoppers. 20 On the basis of the wigs and the facial features, which have been compared to images found at Amarna, it seems likely that
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