KV60

Tomb KV60 in Egypt's Valley of the Kings is one of the more perplexing tombs of the Theban Necropolis, due to the uncertainty over the identity of one female mummy found there (KV60A), thought by some, such as the Egyptologist Elizabeth Thomas, to be that of the Eighteenth Dynasty pharaoh Hatshepsut.[1] This identification has been advocated by Egyptologist Zahi Hawass.[2]

KV60
Burial site of Sitre In and Hatshepsut
KV60
Coordinates25°44′20.6″N 32°36′11.3″E
LocationEast Valley of the Kings
Discovered1903
Excavated byHoward Carter
Edward R. Ayrton
Donald P. Ryan
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KV61

Layout
Isometric, plan and elevation images of KV60 taken from a 3d model

This small, uninscribed tomb is located immediately in front of the entrance of the tomb of Mentuherkhepshef (KV19). It consists of a rough flight of stairs leading to a straight passage that is about 5 metres (16 ft) long; this passage ends in a low, roughly cut chamber which measures about 4 by 5 metres (13 ft × 16 ft).[3]

Discovery and investigation

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.[3]

In 1906, Edward R. Ayrton reopened it while clearing KV19; he removed one mummy (KV60B) together with the coffin base to the Egyptian Museum.[4] Since neither Carter nor Ayrton drew plans or maps indicating the location of the tomb, the whereabouts of the tomb became forgotten.

In 1989, the tomb was rediscovered, reopened and properly excavated by a team led by Donald P. Ryan and Mark Papworth. The remaining mummy (KV60A) was placed in a new wooden coffin, and left in the tomb, which was resealed.

Mummies

KV60A

This mummy is reasonably preserved, with a height of 159 centimetres (5.22 ft), and 50-60 at the time of her death. She was obese in life, and suffered from poor health. Many teeth are missing or badly decayed; one molar retains a single root. 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 was not removed; her torso is filled with embalming packs, and the heart is preserved in the chest. Her left arm is crossed over her chest while the right arm is at her side. She may have had cancer: a tumor destroyed part of her left hip, and spread to her lumbar vertebrae. Her cause of death is assumed to be due to the metastatic cancer, complications of diabetes, or an abscessed molar that was extracted shortly before her death.[5]

Elizabeth Thomas was the first to propose that this mummy was that of Hatshepsut, relocated there (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 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 a royal mummy. On the other hand, none of the pottery fragments recovered during the excavation could be dated to the 18th Dynasty. A wooden face-piece from a coffin possibly destined for a male (it seemingly had a place to fit a false beard) was found – but the tomb contained only females, and Hatshepsut is known to have used the false beard.

The identification of this mummy as Hatshepsut hinges on the contents of a wooden box inscribed with her cartouches discovered inside 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.[6] 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.[5][2]

Doubts have been cast on this attribution; Egyptology writer Dylan Bickerstaffe wrote that "it is important that the join with the root in the mouth of the mummy is physically corroborated. DNA tests should then also be able to confirm that the tooth and KV60A are one and the same person."[7] Later, in a 2013 book, science journalist Jo Marchant reported:

Most Egyptologists I’ve spoken to are very skeptical that this mummy has anything to do with Hatshepsut, and say they would like to study the team’s evidence. Unfortunately, neither the CT scans nor the DNA results have yet been published in a scientific journal. (Gad and Corthals [the DNA researchers] are quite open about the fact that their DNA results are far too preliminary to publish, and although Selim [who did the CT scan] describes the CT identification of Hatshepsut as "one of our greatest discoveries," he acknowledges that it has yet to be confirmed by DNA analysis.)[8]

KV60B

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 the bandaging, which is bundled at the bottom of the coffin.[9] She was once thought by Hawass to be the mummy of Hatshepsut.[10]

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.[9]

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References

Notes

  1. Highfield, Roger (27 June 2007). "How I found Queen Hatshepsut". Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 14 July 2020. Retrieved 2014-09-22.
  2. "Search for Hatshepsut".
  3. Carter, Howard (1903). "Report of Work Done in Upper Egypt (1902-1903)". Annales du Service des antiquités de l'Egypte. 4: 176–177. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  4. Reeves, Nicholas; Wilkinson, Richard H. (2010). The Complete Valley of the Kings : Tombs and Treasures of Egypt's Greatest Pharaohs (Paperback reprint ed.). London: Thames and Hudson. pp. 186–187. ISBN 978-0-500-28403-2.
  5. Hawass, Zahi; Saleem, Sahar N. (2016). Scanning the Pharaohs : CT Imaging of the New Kingdom Royal Mummies. Cairo: The American University in Cairo. pp. 59–63. ISBN 978-977-416-673-0.
  6. Hawass, Zahi; Saleem, Sahar N. (2016). Scanning the Pharaohs : CT Imaging of the New Kingdom Royal Mummies. Cairo: The American University in Cairo. pp. 54–55. ISBN 978-977-416-673-0.
  7. Bickerstaffe, D., The Burial of Hatshepsut. The Heritage of Egypt, Issue 1 - January 2008, pp. 2-9.
  8. Marchant, J., (2013), The Shadow King: The Bizarre Afterlife of King Tut's Mummy, Da Capo Press, 2013, Chapter 13.
  9. Hawass, Zahi; Saleem, Sahar N. (2016). Scanning the Pharaohs : CT Imaging of the New Kingdom Royal Mummies. Cairo: The American University in Cairo. pp. 58–59. ISBN 978-977-416-673-0.
  10. Hawass, Zahi; Saleem, Sahar N. (2016). Scanning the Pharaohs : CT Imaging of the New Kingdom Royal Mummies. Cairo: The American University in Cairo. p. 48. ISBN 978-977-416-673-0.

Further reading

  • Nicholas Reeves and Richard H. Wilkinson, The Complete Valley of the Kings (Thames & Hudson, 1996) pp. 186–187.
  • Donald P. Ryan, "Who is buried in KV60", KMT 1:1, 1990.
  • Siliotti, A. Guide to the Valley of the Kings and to the Theban Necropolises and Temples, 1996, A.A. Gaddis, Cairo.
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