KV19
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Tomb KV19, located in a side branch of
Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
's
Valley of the Kings The Valley of the Kings, also known as the Valley of the Gates of the Kings, is an area in Egypt where, for a period of nearly 500 years from the Eighteenth Dynasty to the Twentieth Dynasty, rock-cut tombs were excavated for pharaohs and power ...
, was intended as the burial place of Prince Ramesses Sethherkhepshef, better known as
Pharaoh Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian language, Egyptian: ''wikt:pr ꜥꜣ, pr ꜥꜣ''; Meroitic language, Meroitic: 𐦲𐦤𐦧, ; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') was the title of the monarch of ancient Egypt from the First Dynasty of Egypt, First Dynasty ( ...
Ramesses VIII Usermaatre Akhenamun Ramesses VIII (also written Ramses and Rameses) or Ramesses Sethherkhepshef Meryamun ('Set is his Strength, beloved of Amun') (reigned 1130–1129 BC, or 1130 BC), was the seventh Pharaoh of the Twentieth Dynasty of the New K ...
, but was later used for the burial of Prince
Mentuherkhepshef Mentuherkhepeshef was an ancient Egyptian prince of the 20th Dynasty, a son of pharaoh Ramesses IX., p.193 His name also occurs as ''Ramesses-Montuherkhepeshef.'' He is likely to have been the brother of pharaoh Ramesses X and prince Nebmaatr ...
instead, the son of
Ramesses IX Neferkare Setepenre Ramesses IX (also written Ramses) (originally named Amon-her-khepshef Khaemwaset) (ruled 1129–1111 BC) was the eighth pharaoh of the Twentieth Dynasty of Egypt. He was the third longest serving king of this Dynasty after ...
, who predeceased his father. Though incomplete and used "as is," the decoration is considered to be of the highest quality.


Location and layout

The tomb is located under the cliffs on the eastern side of the Valley of the Kings, between the tombs of
Thutmose IV Thutmose IV (sometimes read as Thutmosis or Tuthmosis IV, Thothmes in older history works in Latinized Greek; Ancient Egyptian: ''ḏḥwti.msi(.w)'' "Thoth is born") was the 8th Pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty of Egypt, who ruled in approximately t ...
(
KV43 Tomb KV43 is the burial place of Thutmose IV, a pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty in the Valley of the Kings in Luxor, Egypt. He was interred with two of his children who predeceased him. The tomb has a dog-leg shape, typical of the layout of earl ...
) and
Hatshepsut Hatshepsut ( ; BC) was the sixth pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Ancient Egypt, Egypt, ruling first as regent, then as queen regnant from until (Low Chronology) and the Great Royal Wife of Pharaoh Thutmose II. She was Egypt's second c ...
(
KV20 KV20 is a tomb in the Valley of the Kings (Egypt). It was probably the first royal tomb to be constructed in the valley. KV20 was the original burial place of Thutmose I (who was later re-interred in KV38) and later was adapted by his daughter Hat ...
). The simple layout consists of a single corridor; quarrying had barely progressed into the second corridor when work stopped. At the end of the corridor, an oblong pit was sunk into the floor to receive the burial, which was covered with limestone slabs. The quarrying style and projected layout date it to the
Twentieth Dynasty The Twentieth Dynasty of Egypt (notated Dynasty XX, alternatively 20th Dynasty or Dynasty 20) is the third and last dynasty of the Ancient Egyptian New Kingdom period, lasting from 1189 BC to 1077 BC. The 19th and 20th Dynasties together constitute ...
. The location of the tomb and size of the corridor suggest it was initiated for a king. However, traces of an original inscription on the door jambs reveal that the tomb was intended for Ramesses VIII when he was a prince.


Discovery and excavation

The tomb was rediscovered on 9 October 1817 by
Giovanni Battista Belzoni Giovanni Battista Belzoni (; 5 November 1778 – 3 December 1823), sometimes known as The Great Belzoni, was a prolific Italian explorer and pioneer archaeologist of Egyptian antiquities. He is known for his removal to England of the seven-tonn ...
, who briefly described it, making special mention of the decoration:
The painted figures on the walls are so perfect, that they are the best adapted of any I ever saw so give a correct and clear idea of the Egyptian taste.
The tomb was later visited by explorers and researchers including
Jean-François Champollion Jean-François Champollion (), also known as Champollion ''le jeune'' ('the Younger'; 23 December 1790 – 4 March 1832), was a French philologist and orientalist, known primarily as the decipherer of Egyptian hieroglyphs and a founding figure ...
,
Karl Richard Lepsius Karl Richard Lepsius (; 23 December 181010 July 1884) was a German people, Prussian Egyptology, Egyptologist, Linguistics, linguist and modern archaeology, modern archaeologist. He is widely known for his opus magnum ''Denkmäler aus Ägypten ...
, and Eugène Lefébure as part of their respective archaeological and epigraphical missions. In 1903
Howard Carter Howard Carter (9 May 18742 March 1939) was a British archaeologist and Egyptology, Egyptologist who Discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun, discovered Tomb of Tutankhamun, the intact tomb of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt, 18th Dynasty Pharaoh ...
excavated in front of this tomb, discovering
KV60 Tomb KV60 is an ancient Egyptian tomb in the Valley of the Kings, Egypt. It was discovered by Howard Carter in 1903, and re-excavated by Donald P. Ryan in 1989. It is one of the more perplexing tombs of the Theban Necropolis, due to the uncertai ...
. KV19 was excavated 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 McClatc ...
in 1906. He notes in his report that the tomb had never been fully cleared, and resolved to end his 1905–1906 fieldwork season with its excavation. By this time only the porch was visible as the rest was covered by debris. The tomb was found to be half filled with large blocks. Ayrton concluded that they could not have been washed in by accident as there was a high drystone wall only from the door. Few portable artefacts were recovered. The finds consisted of ostraca naming
Ramesses IV Usermaatre Heqamaatre Setepenamun Ramesses IV (also written Ramses or Rameses) was the third pharaoh of the Twentieth Dynasty of the New Kingdom of Ancient Egypt. He was the second son of Ramesses III and became crown prince when his elder br ...
and
Ramesses X Khepermaatre Ramesses X (also written Ramses and Rameses) (ruled ) was the ninth pharaoh of the 20th Dynasty of Ancient Egypt. His birth name was Amonhirkhepeshef. His prenomen or throne name, Khepermaatre, means "The Justice of Re Abides." Reig ...
, faience items inscribed with the name of Ramesses IV from a
foundation deposit Foundation deposits are the archaeological remains of the ritual burial of materials under the foundations of buildings. Ancient Egypt In the case of Ancient Egypt, foundation deposits took the form of ritual mudbrick lined pits or holes dug at s ...
, and parts of a large stela dedicated by a necropolis workman named Hay. Ayrton theorised, based on the presence of a part of the stela being recovered from a
Copt Copts (; ) are a Christian ethnoreligious group native to Northeast Africa who have primarily inhabited the area of modern Egypt since antiquity. They are, like the broader Egyptian population, descended from the ancient Egyptians. Copts pre ...
ic
midden A midden is an old dump for domestic waste. It may consist of animal bones, human excrement, botanical material, mollusc shells, potsherds, lithics (especially debitage), and other artifacts and ecofacts associated with past human oc ...
in front of the tomb of Ramesses IV (
KV2 Tomb KV2, found in the Valley of the Kings, is the tomb of Ramesses IV, and is located low in the main valley, between KV7 and KV1. It has been open since antiquity and contains a large amount of graffiti. Contemporary plans of the tomb There a ...
), that the items from that king's foundation deposit had been moved to KV19 as a result of robber activity. He noted that only wooden items were found during his excavation of Ramesses IV's foundation deposit and that it was clearly originally much larger. The burial pit contained broken pottery vessels and the upper part of a mummy. Earlier visitors had found the tomb to contain intrusive burials of a later, Twenty-second Dynasty date.


Decoration

The exterior surfaces of the tomb are plastered and undecorated. The outside of the door jambs are plain for most of their height except for roughly cut hieroglyphs outlined in red at the base. Inside, the jambs are completely covered by three columns of black hieroglyphs; below them on each side are a pair of rearing cobras spitting fire. Those on the right side are named as
Isis Isis was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingdom () as one of the main characters of the Osiris myth, in which she resurrects her sla ...
and
Nephthys Nephthys or Nebet-Het in ancient Egyptian () was a goddess in ancient Egyptian religion. A member of the Great Ennead of Heliopolis in Egyptian mythology, she was a daughter of Nut and Geb. Nephthys was typically paired with her sister Isis ...
; those on the left are named as
Serket Serket /ˈsɜːrˌkɛt/ (Ancient Egyptian: ''srqt'') is the goddess of protection against the venomous stings and bites of scorpions in Egyptian mythology. She was primarily worshiped in Lower Egypt during the Predynastic Period (c. 6000 – c ...
and
Neith Neith (, a borrowing of the Demotic (Egyptian), Demotic form , also spelled Nit, Net, or Neit) was an ancient Egyptian deity, possibly of Ancient Libya, Libyan origin. She was connected with warfare, as indicated by her emblem of two crossed b ...
. The interior decoration is executed on a fine white plaster background. Painted immediately on either side of the entrance are the two halves of a door; the left leaf is covered in the
hieratic Hieratic (; ) is the name given to a cursive writing system used for Ancient Egyptian and the principal script used to write that language from its development in the third millennium BCE until the rise of Demotic in the mid-first millennium BCE ...
text of Chapter 139 of the
Book of the Dead The ''Book of the Dead'' is the name given to an Ancient Egyptian funerary texts, ancient Egyptian funerary text generally written on papyrus and used from the beginning of the New Kingdom of Egypt, New Kingdom (around 1550 BC) to around 50 BC ...
, while the right has Chapter 123 with two extra lines. The length of the corridor is painted with seven scenes on each side; the ceiling is plain white. The paintings are of the finest Ramesside style. Overall, the decorative scheme is similar to that seen in the tombs of princes in the
Valley of the Queens The Valley of the Queens is a site in Egypt, in which queens, princes, princesses, and other high-ranking officials were buried from roughly 1560 BC to 1130 BC. Pharaohs were buried in the Valley of the Kings. The Valley of the Queens was known an ...
. Mentuherkhepeshef, with the
sidelock of youth The sidelock of youth (also called a Horus lock, Prince's lock, Princess' lock, lock of childhood or side braid) was an identifying characteristic of the child in Ancient Egypt. It symbolically indicates that the wearer is a legitimate heir of O ...
on his wig and wearing a fine translucent robe, is depicted making offerings to
Osiris Osiris (, from Egyptian ''wikt:wsjr, wsjr'') was the ancient Egyptian deities, god of fertility, agriculture, the Ancient Egyptian religion#Afterlife, afterlife, the dead, resurrection, life, and vegetation in ancient Egyptian religion. He was ...
, Ptah-Tatenen, Khonsemweset-Neferhotep,
Bastet Bastet or Bast (), also known as Ubasti or Bubastis, is a goddess of ancient Egyptian religion, possibly of Nubian origin, worshipped as early as the Second Dynasty (2890 BC). In ancient Greek religion, she was known as Ailuros (). Bastet was ...
, Imseti, Qebehsenuef, and
Amun-Ra Amun was a major ancient Egyptian deity who appears as a member of the Hermopolitan Ogdoad. Amun was attested from the Old Kingdom together with his wife Amunet. His oracle in Siwa Oasis, located in Western Egypt near the Libyan Desert, rema ...
on the left wall; on the right he makes offerings to
Ptah Ptah ( ; , ; ; ; ) is an ancient Egyptian deity, a creator god, and a patron deity of craftsmen and architects. In the triad of Memphis, he is the husband of Sekhmet and the father of Nefertem. He was also regarded as the father of the ...
,
Thoth Thoth (from , borrowed from , , the reflex of " eis like the ibis") is an ancient Egyptian deity. In art, he was often depicted as a man with the head of an African sacred ibis, ibis or a baboon, animals sacred to him. His feminine count ...
(whose belt buckle bears the
prenomen The praenomen (; plural: praenomina) was a first name chosen by the parents of a Ancient Rome, Roman child. It was first bestowed on the ''dies lustricus'' (day of lustration), the eighth day after the birth of a girl, or the ninth day after the ...
of
Ramesses IX Neferkare Setepenre Ramesses IX (also written Ramses) (originally named Amon-her-khepshef Khaemwaset) (ruled 1129–1111 BC) was the eighth pharaoh of the Twentieth Dynasty of Egypt. He was the third longest serving king of this Dynasty after ...
),
Banebdjedet Banebdjedet also spelled Banebdjed is an Ancient Egyptian ram god with a cult centre at Mendes. Khnum was the equivalent god in Upper Egypt. Most notably known for appearing in the myth of Horus and Set. Family His wife was the goddess Hatmeh ...
, Hapi,
Duamutef The four sons of Horus were a group of four deities in ancient Egyptian religion who were believed to protect deceased people in the afterlife. Beginning in the First Intermediate Period of Egyptian history ( 2181–2055 BC), Imsety, Hapy, Duamut ...
,
Meretseger Meretseger (also known as Mersegrit' or Mertseger) was a Theban cobra-goddess in ancient Egyptian religion, in charge with guarding and protecting the vast Theban Necropolis — on the west bank of the Nile, in front of Thebes — and especiall ...
, and
Sekhmet In Egyptian mythology, Sekhmet ( or Sachmis , from ; ) is a warrior goddess as well as goddess of medicine. Sekhmet is also a solar deity, sometimes given the epithet "the Eye of Ra, eye of Ra". She is often associated with the goddesses Hatho ...
. As an adult son, Mentuherkhepeshef appears alone before the gods, instead of being escorted by his father.


Graffiti

Ayrton noted numerous graffiti scratched into the walls. On the right side is a graffito that records the name of a hitherto unknown Scribe in the Place of Truth Ptahemwia. On the left wall are two graffiti: one names the tomb's owner; the other names the Overseer of the Workshop of the Mansion of Gold Ser- jeuty.


References


External links

*
Theban Mapping Project: KV19
includes description, images, and plans of the tomb. {{DEFAULTSORT:Kv19 1817 archaeological discoveries Buildings and structures completed in the 12th century BC Valley of the Kings