The elaborate precautions taken to conceal the royal burials rarely sufficed. Only one tomb in the Valley of the Kings was found substantially intact in modern times, the burial of the late Eighteenth Dynasty king Tutankhamun (ruled ca. 1336—1327 BC), the young son-in-law, perhaps also the son, of Akhenaten. Robbed twice in antiquity, although little was taken, the resealed tomb was effectively hidden by the later construction of the adjacent tomb of Ramses VI, a king
Figure 6.17 Coffin for the Organs, Tomb of Tutankhamun. Egyptian Museum, Cairo
Of the Twentieth Dynasty. The discovery of the tomb in November 1922 by British Egyptologist Howard Carter represented the culmination of years of painstaking examination of the already scrutinized valley. Ten more years were needed to record the grave goods and remove them from the chambers, and the scholarly publication of the objects continues to this very day, long after Carter’s death in 1939.
The Tomb of Tutankhamun differed from the standard type, but then it was originally destined not for royalty but for an official. Upon the early death of the king, it was hurriedly pressed into service. At the foot of a descending passage lie four small unfinished rooms (see Figure 6.16c), only one of which has wall paintings. A tremendous array of objects was packed into this small space. Included were statues of sentries, both human (in the image of the king) and of Anubis, the jackal-headed god who presided in cemeteries; furniture, such as chairs and beds; hunting equipment, such as chariots, bows and arrows; personal effects, such as gaming boards; and food. Most of these are on display in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.
The king was only sixteen or seventeen when he died. The cause of his death is unknown. He was buried inside an elaborate complex of shrines and coffins that took up most of the space in the burial chamber proper. Four shrines covered with gold leaf, one inside the other, contained a rectangular sarcophagus of yellow quartzite. Inside the sarcophagus were found three anthropomorphic coffins, also one inside the other. The innermost coffin was solid gold, weighing 110kg. Holes were left for the eyes, however, so that the mummy could look out. A mask of gold in the likeness of Tutankhamun, inlaid with glass and lapis lazuli, provided further protection for the king’s head (Figure 6.17: this miniature coffin for the organs imitates the full-sized middle coffin). Tucked into the linen strips that wrapped the body was a magnificent collection of jewelry and amulets. As for the body itself, it has not fared so well; despite careful mummification, the copiously used embalming fluids proved corrosive rather than protective.
World History
