Also in the Western Valley, are uninscribed and
unidentified .
KV24 ( WV24 )
The tomb was discovered before 1832, and Mr. Otto John Schaden continued the excavation on 1991-1992 on
behalf of the University of Arizona .
" It seemed that nearly every basket of turab [
debris ] removed contained tattered mummy wrappings, some bones and some late
Roman wares … " . By : Otto Schaden .
WV24 has stood open and neglected for 150 years ;
during that time it has been noted by Robert Hay and John Gardner Wilkinson and
probably entered by Émile Gaston Chassinat, Davis's excavators, Howard Carter
and several other Egyptologists . Its clearance was undertaken by Otto Schaden
in 1991-19921 .
The tomb consists of a deep and well-cut rectangular
shaft which opens at one side of its base into an irregularly cut and evidently
unfinished room . Although roughly rectangular, the chamber is rounded at its
eastern end, perhaps reflecting its unfinished state ( an undamaged mason's
mallet was found in the tomb, together with several copper fragments broken
from the mason' chisels ) . A rough, low shelf cut along one side of the
chamber is the only feature distinguishing the tomb from the very similar KV44,
KV50, KV61 and others, in the main valley .
Excavation of the shaft brought to light the remains
of probably intrusive burials of 22nd Dynasty date, including
fragments of a wooden child's coffin, fragments of cartonnage, masses of mummy
linen, and the remains of at least five human bodies ( one that of a child ) .
Later material included fragments of late Roman ribbed amphorae and cooking
pots, presumably of Coptic origin . A coil of ancient rope was also recovered,
the leg of a small box or chair, and several fragments of 18th
Dynasty glass – including inlay strips and a broken bead which may have strayed
from the nearby tomb of Ay ( WV23 ) . An interesting fragment of ivory with
gold attachments may be another stray from WV23 .
The evidence is that WV24 dates from the late 18th
Dynasty, and most probably had been prepared for a retainer of the owner of
WV25 . It may, however, represent an ancillary storage chamber for this latter
tomb ( a similar relationship to that of WV A to WV22 – the tomb of Amenhotep
III ) . Roughly the same amount of rock seems to have been removed from both
WV24 and WV25, possibly as a result of the two tombs being begun and abandoned
at more or less the same time .
KV25 ( WV25 )
" The following day … I made a machine not unlike
a battering-ram . The walls resisted the blows of the Arabs for some time … ;
but they contrived to make a breach at last, and in the same way the opening
was enlarged . We immediately entered … " . By : Giovanni Battista Belzoni
.
Tomb WV25 was discovered by Belzoni in 1817, blocked
off at the base of the staircase with a well-built stone wall, beyond which lay
two rows of four coffined mummies arranged with their heads to the outside,
lying in dried mud . To judge from Belzoni's description, the coffin contained
intrusive burials of Third Intermediate Period date ; the finds recovered
during Otto Schaden's clearance of the tomb in 1972-1973, though including a
handful of objects which had evidently been washed into the tomb from nearby
WV23 ( the burial place of Ay ), basically confirm this view, while the
presence of cartonnage fragments suggests that the assemblage did not predate
the 22nd Dynasty .
" … certainly royal in inception … contemporary with
the identified tombs of the wadi " . By : Elizabeth Thomas .
Although begun with care and according to royal
dimensions and design, this structure achieved little more than the first two
passages of the regular 18th Dynasty royal tomb plan . It is clear
that WV25 was far from complete, and the incipient royal tomb appears to have
been halted in its construction without any attempt to adapt it for use . The
entrance is cut through a deep surface level of hard-packed gravel, and the
first seven levels of steps are constructed of blocks set into the earth above
the solid rock . Another 18 steps were cut into the rock itself . The doorway
at the bottom of this stairway is set into an extension which reaches out from
the lowest step in a design not found in the sepulchers of the monarchs who
reigned before Amenhotep III or after Ay .
Part ( 32 ) .. Coming
SoOoOon .....
Uploading ..... ↻
Follow us to receive
our latest posts, Leave your comment and Tell your friends about our Blog ..
Thank you ☺☺
No comments:
Post a Comment