Tomb KV58, also known as the "Chariot Tomb", is located in the

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 ...

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 ...

. It was discovered in January 1909 by Harold Jones, excavating on behalf of Theodore M. Davis. The circumstances of the discovery and specifics of the excavation were only given a passing mention in Davis' account, who attributes the discovery to Edward Ayrton in 1907 instead. The tomb consists of a shaft leading to a single chamber and contained only embossed gold foil, furniture knobs, and a single ushabti. The contents likely originated from the Eighteenth Dynasty tomb of Ay in WV23. Davis considered this tomb to be the burial place of the then little-known pharaoh

Tutankhamun Tutankhamun or Tutankhamen, (; ), was an Egyptian pharaoh who ruled during the late Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt, Eighteenth Dynasty of ancient Egypt. Born Tutankhaten, he instituted the restoration of the traditional polytheistic form of an ...

Discovery, excavation, and contents

The tomb was discovered on 10 January 1909 and is located between the tomb of

Horemheb Horemheb, also spelled Horemhab, Haremheb or Haremhab (, meaning "Horus is in Jubilation"), was the last pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt, 18th Dynasty of Egypt (1550–1292 BC). He ruled for at least 14 years between 1319 ...

( KV57) and the "Gold Tomb" ( KV56). Harold Jones encountered the top of the shaft over below ground level. Excavation of the shaft yielded box handles and knobs, pieces of gold foil, small uraei, and pieces of

faience Faience or faïence (; ) is the general English language term for fine tin-glazed pottery. The invention of a white Ceramic glaze, pottery glaze suitable for painted decoration, by the addition of an stannous oxide, oxide of tin to the Slip (c ...

inlay, concentrated at a depth of . The shaft opened to the west onto a single chamber. The room was filled with of water-deposited fill; this contained more gold foil and an

alabaster Alabaster is a mineral and a soft Rock (geology), rock used for carvings and as a source of plaster powder. Archaeologists, geologists, and the stone industry have different definitions for the word ''alabaster''. In archaeology, the term ''alab ...

ushabti. Davis, in his publication, states that the gold foil was found within a broken box, and that the ushabti was "lying on the floor in one corner." Comparison with Jones' journal reveals that this "neat picture...is almost certainly incorrect" with the gold found in the fill of both the shaft and chamber. Given KV58's proximity to the tomb of Horemheb, it was likely cut as a satellite tomb. The single uninscribed ushabti is possible evidence of an earlier use of the tomb. Davis saw this tomb as the burial place of the then little-known pharaoh

. The box handles, knobs, and gold foil bear the names of Tutankhamun,

Ankhesenamun Ankhesenamun (, "Her Life Is of Amun"; c. 1348 or c. 1342 – after 1322 BC) was an ancient Egyptian queen who lived during the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt, 18th Dynasty of Egypt. Born Ankhesenpaaten (, "she lives for the Aten"), she was the ...

, and both the royal and non-royal names of Ay. The gold foil is embossed with designs of the king (Tutankhamun or Ay) defeating enemies with both a mace and chariot, trampling enemies as a sphinx, and practicing archery; floral designs are also present. These fragments likely represent the remains of the fittings of at least one chariot. Their ultimate origin is likely the tomb of Ay, WV23, being deposited by robbers into the half filled shaft during the official dismantling of the royal burials at the end of the New Kingdom. If this is the case, its proximity to KV57 may indicate the transfer of Ay's mummy of that tomb, which Reeves suggests was employed as a cache of royal mummies.

References

Bibliography

* * * *

External links

Theban Mapping Project: KV58
includes detailed maps of most of the tombs. {{DEFAULTSORT:Kv58 1909 archaeological discoveries Valley of the Kings