Tutankhamen: the Life and Death of the Boy King

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Tutankhamen the Life and Death of the Boy King

• By Christine el Mahdy
• Reading Guide

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Tomb 54
KV 54 is a small pit, perhaps an unfinished shaft
cutting, that was reused after the reign of
Tutankhamen as a storeroom for his funerary
equipment. Noteworthy features This tomb is
unique in that it was a cache containing
embalming material and elements of a funerary
meal.
Theban Mapping Project KV 54
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Tomb 55
This appears to be a cache of burial equipment
and human remains from the Amarna royal
necropolis. Analyses of the assortment of objects
found in the tomb have contributed to several
theories concerning the use and owner of KV 55.
It is now generally believed that the mummy found
inside the tomb was Amenhetep IV/Akhenaten. Perh
aps Tiye or Akhenaten?
Theban Mapping Project KV55 Archeology Mar/Apr
2002 Mark Rose Joyce Filer
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Amun of Karnak
Ramses with Amun, Khons, and Mut Feather crown
with sun disk Amen-Re
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The Beautiful Feast of OpetThe secret chamber
Karnak the barque of Amun
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Held near beginning of flood season (workers
could participate) Expanded from 11 to 27
days Images of gods taken in barques out of the
Karnak temple, transported by barge to Luxor
temple Read more
Sixth Barque Rest Station Built by Hatshepsut
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A close study of the tombs KV55 (see "Who's in
Tomb 55") and KV62 (Tutankhamun) reveals how the
process actually worked. Brought to the Valley of
the Kings en masse, the Amarna burial furniture
seems to have been dipped into first by the
necropolis administration to help prepare a
funerary equipment for Tutankhamun himself. What
was left over was then redivided out among its
original owners who were assigned fresh tombs in
the Valley of the Kings. That's the reason
Tutankhamun's core burial equipment is
essentially made up of reused, secondhand stuff.
And that's the explanation for KV55--why the tomb
is such a hotch-potch of altered and adapted
Amarna material.
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Maya
Overseer of the Treasury, Overseer of Works from
time of Tutankhamen and Horemheb Tomb at Saqqara
Read more at the Saqqara excavation website
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Resources
Theban Mapping Project