KV62 (King Tut's Tomb)

KV62 is the archaeological designation for the tomb of Egyptian pharaoh King Tutankhamen. The burial chamber is located in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings, an area near the west bank of the Nile River and the city of Luxor. Discovered by British archaeologist Howard Carter in November 1922, King Tut’s tomb became world famous because the ancient treasures within it had remained largely untouched for more than three thousand years. After serving as pharaoh for about ten years, Tutankhamen died suddenly at about the age of eighteen or nineteen. Researchers speculate that the ancient Egyptians had planned to bury Tutankhamen in a royal tomb, but it was not yet finished at the time of his death. Because of this, Tutankhamen was buried in a smaller tomb built for a person of non-royal stature.

Background

Tutankhamen was born about 1345 BCE. He was the son of Amenhotep IV, an Egyptian king better known as Akhenaten. During his reign, Akhenaten radically transformed ancient Egypt’s religion and art. He forced the Egyptian people to stop worshipping multiple deities and worship only the sun god, Aten. After Akhenaten’s death about 1336 BCE, Tutankhamen became king. With Akhenaten’s rule over, Egypt reverted to its old religious beliefs and once again worshipped multiple gods. To show their disapproval of Akhenaten and his reformations, the Egyptian people smashed his monuments and statues.

Tutankhamen ruled Egypt until he died about 1327 BCE. Some theories have speculated that the boy king was murdered, but archaeological evidence does not support those claims. Because of his connection to Akhenaten, Tutankhamen name was stricken from Egyptian records by his successor. Tutankhamen and his tomb were essentially forgotten. At the time of Tutankhamen’s death, the Egyptians buried their kings and queens with vast treasures in underground tombs in the Valley of the Kings to protect the resting places from thieves. Over the course of centuries, these efforts proved unsuccessful, as most tombs in the Valley of Kings were looted in antiquity. Because Tutankhamen’s reign had been stricken from ancient records, many grave robbers never knew about his tomb.

Overview

King Tut’s tomb was eventually discovered by famed British archaeologist Howard Carter. Carter began searching for the tomb after World War I (1914-1918), and searched for more than six years to find its location. Though his sponsors urged him to give up the hunt, Carter convinced them to allow him to press on. In 1922, while studying another nearby tomb, Carter discovered a hidden staircase beneath a large amount of debris. He and his team cleared the rubble and descended the stairs, discovering a sealed door decorated with the symbol of the royal necropolis, a mark designating a burial site. As more debris was cleared away, Carter found Tutankhamen’s royal seal.

The tomb had been opened and resealed at some point, meaning that it was not entirely intact. However, Carter was hopeful that the effort spent to reseal the tomb meant that it had not been emptied. On November 25, 1922, Carter and his team breached the seal on the tomb and opened the door. Inside was a passageway filled with limestone chips to keep out trespassers. One section of the hallway had been refilled with a different color stone, marking the point where past grave robbers had dug and resealed an access tunnel to the tomb. Because the grave robbers had been forced to dig through the limestone, it is likely that they could not escape with larger items. Carter and his team carefully worked to excavate the limestone, eventually finding a second door similar to the first.

Upon looking inside, Carter was amazed at what he saw. Though potentially disturbed, the tomb remained mostly full of Egyptian relics. The team carefully documented the seals on the second door and then removed it. Immediately upon opening the new passage, researchers could see piles of gold objects and two life-sized statues of Tutankhamen. Between the two statues was another sealed door that showed evidence of breaking and entering. Another sealed door to an additional section of the tomb was quickly discovered.

Before more work could be done, researchers needed to catalogue and remove every item in the first room, later named the antechamber. They worried that numerous priceless artifacts might be damaged if excavation continued while the objects were still nearby. To help with this task, Carter recruited the help of several specialists. He devised a process used to thoroughly document each object before its removal. First the object was photographed in its original location. It was then photographed again with an assigned number visible. Next the object was sketched, described, and recorded with the same number present in the photograph. The object’s location was then carefully noted on a map of the tomb before the object was finally removed for storage.

Carter and his team took immense precautions when transporting objects from the tomb. Most were wrapped in bandages, placed on stretchers, and carefully carried to a distant conservational laboratory. Collectively, the process of documenting and removing objects from the tomb took weeks. Once the relics had been removed, archaeologists removed the door to the burial room. It contained a massive golden shrine covered in gilded wood and other relics. However, upon examining the shrine, Carter realized that it was simply a shell. After dissembling numerous other shells, they finally discovered Tutankhamen’s sarcophagus and inside was a gilded coffin.

Archaeologists worked inside the tomb for more than a year before opening the coffin. Similar to the antechamber, Carter and his team decided to catalogue and remove each relic before undertaking any major construction. Upon opening the coffin, the team discovered a smaller coffin. Three coffins were opened in total before revealing Tutankhamen’s mummy. Though it was in good condition, the mummy had been damaged by a form of resin, and many of the objects found within its linen wrappings had disintegrated. Later medical examinations revealed that Tut may have died from complications from both a broken leg and malaria. They also revealed the king suffered from a cleft palate.

In addition to the burial chamber, archaeologists discovered a treasure room located within the tomb. The room included numerous gilded objects and a large shrine containing Tutankhamen’s embalmed organs. Archaeologists also discovered coffins containing two fetuses, which they believe to have been the king’s stillborn offspring.

Bibliography

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“King Tut’s Tomb Not Concealing Hidden Rooms After All,” NBC, 6 Mar. 2018,

“King Tut’s Tomb Unveiled After Being Restored to Its Ancient Splendor,” CBS News, 2 Feb. 2019, www.cbsnews.com/news/king-tuts-tomb-unveiled-after-being-restored-to-its-ancient-splendor/. Accessed 6 Mar. 2019.

Mascort, Maite. “Close Call: How Howard Carter Almost Missed King Tut’s Tomb,” National Geographic, 12 Apr. 2018, www.nationalgeographic.com/archaeology-and-history/magazine/2018/03-04/findingkingtutstomb/. Accessed 6 Mar. 2019.

Rizzo, Cailey. “King Tut’s Tomb Is Reopening to Visitors After 9 Years of Dazzling Restoration Work—Take a Look Inside.” Travel+Leisure, 31 Jan. 2019, www.travelandleisure.com/travel-news/king-tut-tomb-reopening. Accessed 6 Mar. 2019.

Rosenberg, Jennifer. “The Discovery of King Tut’s Tomb,” ThoughtCo., 18 Jan. 2018, www.thoughtco.com/tomb-of-king-tut-discovered-1779242. Accessed 6 Mar. 2019.

“Tutankhamen,” History.com, 30 Jan. 2019, www.history.com/topics/ancient-history/tutankhamen. Accessed 6 Mar. 2019.