Tomb KV64 in the Valley of the Kings

The 2009 announcement never came; talk of Nefertiti's tomb has continued but in an interview with the Discovery Channel reported on 3rd January 2011, the Head of the SCA, [a href="http://www.squidoo.com/zahi-hawass" target="_blank">Dr Zahi Hawass announced that he is investigating a new tomb in the Valley of the Kings and that there are indications that it belongs to Ankhesenamun, the wife of the Boy-King Tutankhamun. He even says he hopes it is intact.

We have been here before. KV64 has been pre-announced many, many times. Hopefully this time it's for real.

The excavations in the central Valley of the Kings have been filled in, hiding the workmen's huts which had been exposed, but the excavated water course alongside tomb KV8 (Merenptah) remains visible.

No tomb has been announced.

The latest rumours are that a promising feature has been found beneath the Rest House opposite Tutankhamun's tomb KV62, but few details. Any hints of a tomb in this area fuels rumour of an a> tomb, and Nefertiti in particular. In truth, the rumours this time lack substantiation and there is certainly nothing concrete at this stage pointing to Nefertiti's tomb.

Excavations are coninuing in other parts of the main Valley of the Kings but don't seem to be particularly major. There is no news at all of what is happening in the Western Valley of the Kings.

As reported on the News from the Valley of the Kings blog, at the end of March and start of April, there have been a total of four reports from Dr Hawass on the excavations during the 2008/9 winter dig season:

1) An article on Dr Hawass's own blog
2) A near-identical article on Nigel Hetherington's Past Preservers blog
3) A news report of an lecture given by Dr Hawass in Atlanta
4) Am article in Ahram Weekly

The only concrete findings announced are already visible in photos posted on the blog: a water course dug and lined to divert water away from KV8, and exposed workmen's huts. Dr Hawass reports that a cut in the bedrock, suggestive of a tomb, has been found beneath the Rest House which stands opposite Tutankhamun's tomb. This cannot be investigated until/unless the Rest House is moved. It is suggested that any tomb here would be an Amarna era tomb, but that is entirely speculation (unless there is ublublished evidence to support this). It is worth noting (see below) that Nicholas Reeves has also reports radar anomalies in that area.

Before Christmas, Dr Hawass was mentioning opening the tomb of Ramses VIII and an unknown queen. These are not mentioned in the latest release. Instead talk now is of locating the tomb of Nefertiti and looking for the tomb of Queen Tiye.

KV64 is in the Valley of the Kings on the West Bank of the Nile near Luxor, Egypt. The exact location hasn't been confirmed. The only known semi-official indication of the location is the photo used by Dr Hawass, Head of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities in a lecture during December 2008. (Apologies for the poor quality - this genuinely is the best version in circulation anywhere.)

KV64 is a possibly unexcavated tomb in Egypt's Valley of the Kings.

It is believed that a badly eroded set of steps heading down towards an entranceway was first discoverd in December 2008 near KV8, the tomb in which Pharaoh Merenptah was orginally burried. Rumours began to circulate in February 2008 and over the next few months clear photographs of workmen clearing rubble were posted. These workmen also confirmed that a probably tomb entrance has been found.

The tomb was first semi-officially announced by Dr Zahi Hawass, Director of Egypt's SCA, in an a interview he gave in July 2008. He revealed more at the 02 in a lecture towards the end of August 2008 and in December 2008, when lecturing in California, he stated confidently that he expected to open two tombs "In the next month".

Details remain sketchy, and there are no photographs of the entranceway yet but it is believed to be Ramesside in style. Dr Hawass has suggested it could be the tomb of the Pharaoh Ramesses VIII but it is unclear whether there is evidence for this - or whether his enthusiasm is designed to encourage press attention. Escavation of a major tomb would be very expensive, and assistance from a media organisation like National Geographic would help the work proceed quickly.

It is believed that the tomb shows signs of disturbance but the whether the tomb has been fully robbed or not (or indeed whether it is a tomb as such) remains unknown. However, even a tomb which was robbed in antiquity could provide enormous amounts of information if excavated to modern standards.

It is important to remember that the last major discover in the Valley of the Kings was Howard Carter's discovery of the young Pharaoh Tutankhamun in 1922. That's the only undisturbed tomb found in the Valley of the Kings. In March 2005, a small "tomb" was found in the valley which was announced in February 2006 and designated KV63. While interesting, this turned out to be a small pit containing some sarcophagi but no mummys or grave goods. It is now theorised that the pit was used as an embalmers store. It is undecorated.

Looking beyond KV64, a second discovery at about the same time has been designated KV65. See the separate lens for details. This shows less signs of disturbance and may prove to be an intact tomb.

You may also be interested in KV63, the most recent excavated tomb in the Valley of the Kings.

When the discovery of tomb KV63 was announced in 2006, Nicholas Reeves, Director of the onetime Amarna Royal Tombs Project (ARTP) revealed that an unpublished ARTP radar survey had detected a cavity in the location of KV63 some five years previously. He then published the results of the survey and revealed that several other features had been discovered, some of which he predicts will be as yet unknown tombs. He was particularly confident of one paricular cavity - Feature 5 - which showed similarly on the radar survey to the one which have proved to be KV63. Nicholas labelled this cavity "KV64" and is confident that this is another, undiscovered Amarna period tomb. Potentilally an Amarna period tomb would be hugely exciting as the quality of the artwork is high, and the tombs of some of the principle royals such as Nefertiti remain either undiscovered or in doubt.

It is likely that the label KV64 wil be assigned to one of the other tombs mentioned in this lens but at the present time it is unknown whether the mysterious cavity detected by Nicholas Reeves and his team is another unexcavated tomb. To follow the story in full, please visit Nicholas Reeves own site.

Dr Hawass claims that the excavations during winter 2008/9 have investigated this anomaly and found nothing there. An analysis of photographs taken by visitors to the Valley of the Kings cast serious doubt on this. It is hard to be certain but the anomaly seems to be beneath a path which has not been dug and the excavation was has taken place seems to be shallower than the deeper of the reflections reported by Nicholas Reeves. In the absence of published reports on the latest excavations, the status of this anomaly must remain open.

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