As we have already seen, this tomb, which lies close to that of the
chancellor Bay (*), was originally that
of Queen Tausert . It makes the apex of a triangle of which the tomb of Siptah
( 47 ) and that of Bay ( 13 ) are the other two angles .
Queen Tausert reigned in her own right after the short reign of
Amenmesses ( 1220 or 1215 B.C. ) . She married Siptah, thus giving him a
legitimate title as Pharaoh, and in the first passages of her tomb Siptah is
represented along with her ; farther on in the tomb we see that Siptah must
have died, as Tausret's husband is now Seti II .
Setnakht, on the failure of his first tomb, took possession of
Tausret's, altering the cartouches, figures and inscriptions to suit himself .
Either at the command of Setnakht, or as part of the loot of a band of
robbers who had not opportunity to carry all their treasure out of the valley,
some of Tausret's jewellery was stored in the unidentified tomb No. 56, where
it was found in 1908 by Mr. Edward Ayrton and Mr. Theodore M. Davis . The find
embraced a diadem, a fine necklace, bracelets, rings, and various other
articles of personal adornment belonging to the queen and her second husband
Seti II, and her first husband Siptah . These are now at Cairo Museum ( Nos.
4192 sq., U 3, Case 14 ) .
The queen's mummy was not moved, apparently, and it was evidently
mistaken by the priests for that of Setnakht, which had seemingly been
destroyed by robbers . It was placed by the priests in the empty coffin of Setnakht,
and removed to the cache, to be found on unrolling to be that of a woman, who
must have been Tausret, as other queens of this period were buried in the
Valley of the Queens . Tausert thus, in a sense, came to her own again, in
spite of Setnakht's usurpation .
The tomb is lighted by electricity, and is accessible, and is, as the
plan shows a fairly elaborate one .
The first corridor has figures of Tausert and Siptah before various
gods, Ptah, Harakhte, Anubis, Isis and others (1, 2) .
The third corridor shows Setnakht's cartouche and figure imposed in
plaster over the earlier names and figures (3, 4) .
Beyond this corridor, a small chamber opens into a larger one, where
Anubis and Horus worship Osiris .
Another triple corridor has poor paintings of Setnakht's work over the
work of Tausert .
A large eight-pillared hall, with four angle annexes, was the original
burial-chamber designed for the queen .
By this time Siptah had died, as Seti II now appears in his place . From
this point onwards the work is wholly that of Setnakht, who added a small
transverse chamber with an annexe on the right, a double corridor, and another
eight-pillared hall like Tausret's, with the addition of a recess in the rear
wall .
Here was found the lid of the granite sarcophagus of Setnakht, finely
sculptured with a figure of the king as Osiris . The body of the sarcophagus
was broken .
(*)KV13
– Tomb of the Chancellor Bay
This
tomb lies up the path to the south end of the valley, close to the tombs of
Siptah, Setnakht, and Tuthmosis I . Burial in the valley was very rarely
conceded to any who were not of royal blood ; but Bay seemingly was so much a Grateful
person to Siptah and Queen Tausret, or at least was so indispensable to them,
that this great privilege was accorded to him . The tomb is comparatively
insignificant .
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