KV64

[Glyphdoctor]

A few days ago Mohammed Ibrahim said that an announcement would be made about a new discovery in the Valley of the Kings. Now a source is saying in one of the papers that the Swiss team working there has found a new tomb.

[Jane Akshar]

From Janes blog:

Lots and lots of interesting stuff from the University of Basel who are working in the Valley of Kings.

1. Clearing of the tombs KV 29 and KV 40 was started.
2. KV 29 and KV 40 were covered with an iron door.
3. Clearing of the chamber in KV 59.
4. Documenting of finds from earlier seasons.
5. New feature was discovered on the north side of KV 40.

I love the use of the word feature, they know it could be something or nothing none the less it will be their something or nothing. Well done them on finding their feature.

[A-Four]

...........I'm saying nothing,........ though it is nice to see Jane back where she belongs.

[Glyphdoctor]

There is something. A tomb at the bottom of a 3 meter pit with a black coffin and a painted wooden board 30x35cm.

However, in my opinion, the timing for opening and announcing this is completely insane. Any PR benefits from this will probably be completely reversed next week after the events of Jan25 not to mention the security is simply not in place to really secure such a find at this time if it cannot be removed. I mean the antiquities police were on strike in Luxor this morning and showed up at their jobs 4 hours late! And there was that insurrection of sellers in the KV last week? And now we are opening new tombs? Dumb, dumb and dumber.

Securing the archaeological sites and museums in advance of Jan25 should be the one and only priority right now and this is simply a stupid distraction that also has the potential to distract the minister's time from ensuring the security and safety of the sites if he winds up having to deal with the media.

[Jane Akshar]

I think that they have managed to keep it under wraps for so long is doing pretty well. They decided to release the information that they found a feature last March, which was when I blogged it. They actually found it a long time before that. Consequently I guess this announcement is deliberately timed, Mansour has confirmed he will be saying more tomorrow

[Glyphdoctor]

Of course it is deliberately timed, as long as they can get the stuff out of the ground in the next few days and somewhere safe I see no problem with it security wise, but if they don't then this is really poor timing.

It's obviously timed to promote the Tut show in Japan which is opening on Thursday but considering the cancellation of so many flights to Japan in the last year and the aftereffects of the earthquake and tsunami I am not sure that is going to bring in the Japanese tourists like it is intended to do, especially if all hell breaks lose later this month. And we all know now these Tut shows aren't really about raising revenue for the GEM so we should cut this pretense of them being good for the country.

[A-Four]

Before we go any further with this discussion, are we sure that we are talking here about KV 64 and not KV 65.

I just want to make sure, as an 'old boy' down at Eton ain't sure either.

[Who2]

Nobody ever mentions KV 1O1, 'we're saving that for a special day, 'you lucky archeologist people you........
PS: Old stuff ? 'We've garage loads of the stuff, round the back.

[JOJO]

Before we go any further with this discussion, are we sure that we are talking here about KV 64 and not KV 65.

I just want to make sure, as an 'old boy' down at Eton ain't sure either.

That's thrown me too! I thought it would have to be the discovery of KV65 as we already knew about KV 64?

[A-Four]

Oh no JoJo, KV 65 is well known about, with-in the inner circle.

The case is which one is being discussed here, that's all.

[Glyphdoctor]

It is KV64, but you may be confused because a certain person has been squatting on the KV64 domain name for several years clearly hoping to cash in when it is found.

[A-Four]

Yes Glyph, I think I see what you mean now.

I did have a chat with some one, here in London who shall we say, thinks he's in the know, (The very same person who I am sure you discribe here above). He said that after studying the scans in detail, it look like there are two separate tombs, but more or less next to each other.

Could you bring me up to date on this.

P.S.- Be careful about saying names, you never know who will get the concession in the end.

[Glyphdoctor]

Not sure what scans you are talking about or who you met but this new tomb is located at the end of the branch of the wadi where T3's tomb is located.

[Jane Akshar]

The tomb found by Dr Elina of the University of Basel is of the Lady Nekhmet Bastet a daughter of the priest of Amun Re from 22nd dynasty when the Libyans were ruling. Mansour believes the valley has much more to be found. Mansour Boraik will give more details at the lecture tonight.

[Glyphdoctor]

http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/31799.aspx

[Brian Yare]

The first I have heard of a lecture priest in Egypt!

Is this an intrusive burial or a complete new tomb? In any case it sounds 'unusual'.

[A-Four]

http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/31799.aspx

Thanks Glyph, though this find must begger more questions, than we have answers. -1st Q = What the hell is that doing buried there.

[Glyphdoctor]

The skeletons found in KV5 are likely later burials, not the sons of R2. So it is not without precedent.

[A-Four]

Yes, fair enough. I'll think about the next Q.

[LivinginLuxor]

From the Press Association:-

"Archaeologists have unearthed the 1,100-year-old tomb of a female singer in Egypt's Valley of the Kings, officials revealed.
It is the only tomb of a woman not related to the ancient Egyptian royal families ever found there, said Mansour Boraiq, the top government official for the antiquities ministry in the city of Luxor.
Mr Boraiq told reporters that the coffin of the female singer is remarkably intact and that when the coffin is opened this week, Egyptian and Swiss archaeologists will likely find a mummy and a cartonnage mask moulded to her face and made from layers of linen and plaster.
The singer's name, Nehmes Bastet, means she was believed to be protected by the feline deity Bastet. The tomb was found by accident, according to Elina Paulin-Grothe, field director for excavation at the Valley of the Kings with Switzerland's University of Basel.
She said: "We were not looking for new tombs. It was close to another tomb that was discovered 100 years ago."
The field director added the tomb was not originally built for the female singer, but was reused for her 400 years after the original one, based on artefacts found inside. Archaeologists do not know whom the tomb was originally intended for.
The coffin of the singer belonged to the daughter of a high priest during the 22nd dynasty.
Archaeologists concluded from artefacts that she sang in Karnak Temple, one of the most famous and largest open-air sites from the Pharaonic era, according to evidence at the site.
At the time of her death, Egypt was ruled by Libyan kings, but the high priests who ruled Thebes, which is now within the city of Luxor, were independent. Their authority enabled them to use the royal cemetery for family members, according to Mr Boraiq.
The unearthing marks the 64th tomb to be discovered in the Valley of the Kings in Luxor, which is a major tourist attraction. In 1922, archaeologists there unearthed the gold funeral mask of Tutankhamen and other stunning items in the tomb of the king who ruled more than 3,000 years ago"