The Egyptian Pharaoh’s tomb was first discovered in Luxor since Tutan Kamun.
The entrance to the newly discovered tomb of the king is King III. Credit: Ancient Ministry of Egypt
Thutmose II was the fourth ruler of the illustrious 18th dynasty of ancient Egypt, including Tutankhamun. Now, one of the last missing royal tombs, the location of his long-failed tomb, is confirmed by the New Kingdom Research Foundation, a British and Egyptian archaeological team led by Piers Litherland. This is the first Pharaoh tomb to be discovered in Luxor for over a century.
Thutmose II had a relatively short and peaceful reign, but his lasting legacy is his family. He was the husband and brother of the female Pharaoh Hatsheptz and the father of Thutmose III, perhaps the greatest military leader of ancient Egypt.
Thutmose was royal blood as the biological son of Thutmose I, but because his mother is a minor wife, his marriage to Hatshepsut (the daughter of Ahmose, who is also the daughter of Thutmose I) was on the throne, and he was on his throne. I’ve solidified my position. .
Approximately 500 years after Thutmose II’s death, the ancient Egyptian officials of the 21st Dynasty became vulnerable to his tomb (and other royal tombs from the new kingdom) attracting attention from floods and tomb robbers I realized that. They chose a secret location on the cliffs of Teban to relocate royal relics.
Mummified bodies of the king, queen and other important people were buried in a new rest area near the temple in Hatsheptut. The entrance was well disguised as sand and rocks, and was not accessible on foot. There they lay down until the late 19th century.
When the area became known to Egyptologists in 1881, it was discovered that the cache contained, among other things, the remains of Ramses II, Seti I, Thutmose III, and of course, Thutmose II.
A stone salvation of King Satmes II, discovered at the Karnak temple in Luxor. Credit: Wikicommons, CC by
They were moved from the Egyptian Museum in Taharil Square in Cairo to the newly opened Museum of Egyptian Civilizations in 2021 in a spectacular, globally broadcast parade.
The tomb, designated C4, is in a relatively inaccessible position. It is the principal of Tutumose, the site of Deia El Bali on the west bank of the Nile River in Luxor, and later Prime Minister of Pharaoh and next to the Pharaoh’s grand funeral temple.
Discovered in 2022, the site is about 1.2 miles from the Valley of Kings, where the tombs of Thutmose I and III and Hatshepsut were planned. As a royal woman was discovered there, the first theory was that this newly discovered tomb belonged to one of Thutmose’s fewer wives.
The grave was also blocked by the fragments of the flood. The drilling team had to pass through deep entrance stairs, ceiling collapses, corridors filled with flood debris, and limestone fragments.
The inside of Thutmose II’s grave is before it is cleared. Credit: Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Ancient Ministry
What was there in the grave?
Further exploration by the excavation team provided bright evidence confirming that the tomb belongs to Thutmose II itself.
Initial observations showed that the shape of the entrance had strong similarities to the shape of the KV20 tomb in Hatstutt in the Valley of Kings. There are wide staircases, doorways and a downward corridor, and therefore a considerable amount of space lies.
As the ceiling and walls are clean, beautiful decorations of the starry sky and extracts from funeral texts known as Amdoat appear, strongly suggesting that this is the king’s burial. Sieve through pieces of limestone reveals a broken alabaster container with the king’s name on it. This reduced the list of potential candidates to just one.
Otherwise, C4 has empty funeral products such as stone co, which is actually good news. This indicates that the grave’s contents have been moved elsewhere, probably due to the flood. These items were not found in the relocated body of Thutmose II, so the search is still in progress.
Contrary to many reports, the C4 is not the first royal tomb by Howard Carter in Tutankhamun in 1922. The excavation of Pierre Montet in the capital city of Tanis in the 1930s revealed the royal necropolis of the 21st and 22nd dynasties. However, the C4 is the first time since Tutan Kamun in Luxor, and is the tomb of the last missing king in the 18th dynasty.
Still for discovery there are a handful of tombs belonging to the other rulers of Egypt: Nefertiti. Ramesses XIII; 21st dynastic high priest of Amun in Helihall. Cleopatra VII; and Alexander the Great. Other important tombs that may still be brighter are Ankh Hei Henamun, wife of Tutan Kamun, and the great architect imhotep.
Some of these graves are never found. However, the new Kingdom Research Foundation is currently trying to find the next stage of Thutmose II’s post-death journey.
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