Edward R. Ayrton discovered Tomb KV55 in Egypt's Valley of the Kings on January 6, 1907; Ayrton's sponsor, Theodore M. Davis, published an account of the dig (The Tomb of Queen Tîyi) in 1910. KV55 is a problematic archeaological site of the 18th Dynasty. It may have been used for several burials, but it is most often attributed as first being a burial site for Queen Tiye, based on the broken wooden shrine dedicated to her. (Tiye was possibly relocated here after the abandonment of Amarna, and then perhaps moved finally to KV35.) The mummy found here may be her son, the Pharaoh Akhenaten (or, some argue, it may instead be his successor, Smenkhkare). Tiy (c. ... Smenkhkare (sometimes spelled Smenkhare and Smenkare; meaning Strong is the Soul of Ra) was a Pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty, successor of the heretic Akhenaten, and predecessor of Tutankhamen. ... Bust of Pharaoh Akhenaten. ... View over the East Valley The Valley of the Kings, or Wadi el-Muluk (وادي الملوك) in Arabic, is a valley in Egypt where tombs were built for the Pharaohs and powerful nobles of the New Kingdom, the Eighteenth through Twentieth Dynasties of Ancient Egypt. ... January 6 is the 6th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1907 (MCMVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Edward R. Ayrton was an English archaeologist. ... Tomb KV54 is located in the Valley of the Kings, in Egypt. ... Tomb KV56, located in the Valley of the Kings, is known as the Gold Tomb, and was discovered by Edward R. Ayrton in January, 1908. ... Edward R. Ayrton was an English archaeologist. ... View over the East Valley The Valley of the Kings, or Wadi el-Muluk (وادي الملوك) in Arabic, is a valley in Egypt where tombs were built for the Pharaohs and powerful nobles of the New Kingdom, the Eighteenth through Twentieth Dynasties of Ancient Egypt. ... January 6 is the 6th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1907 (MCMVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... An American lawyer, Theodore M. Davis (1837 - 1915) was most famous for his work excavating Egypts Valley of the Kings between 1889 and 1912. ... 1910 (MCMX) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Sunday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar. ... Known rulers, in the History of Egypt, for the Eighteenth Dynasty. ... Tiy (c. ... Map of Amarna The site of Amarna (commonly known as el-Amarna or incorrectly as Tell el-Amarna; see below) (Arabic: العمارنة) is located on the east bank of the Nile River in the modern Egyptian province of al-Minya, some 58 km (38 miles) south of the city of al... KV35 in the Valley of the Kings (Luxor, Egypt) is the tomb of Amenhotep II. It was discovered by Victor Loret in April 1898. ... A mummy is a corpse whose skin and dried flesh have been preserved by either intentional or accidental exposure to chemicals, extreme cold or dryness, or airlessness. ... Pharaoh (Arabic فرعون ) (Hebrew פַּרְעֹה ); is a title used to refer to the kings (of godly status) in ancient Egypt. ... Bust of Pharaoh Akhenaten. ... Smenkhkare (sometimes spelled Smenkhare and Smenkare; meaning Strong is the Soul of Ra) was a Pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty, successor of the heretic Akhenaten, and predecessor of Tutankhamen. ...

The site itself was heavily disturbed in antiquity, thus making it difficult to interpret. Though it may have been desecrated in antiquity to defame the memory of Akhenaten, it was also certainly disturbed during the building of nearby KV6 during the 20th Dynasty. Ramses IXs names appear on the doorway to the tomb This article is about a tomb in the Theban Necropolis. ... Known rulers, in the History of Egypt, for the Twentieth Dynasty. ...

The evidence of the tomb complicates its attribution even further. Its door carries Tutankhamun's name. The sarcophagus names Kiya; the broken shrine, Tiye. Amenhotep III, Akhenaten, and Sitamun are also named: the conclusion is that the site contained several temporary burials, possibly at different times. A speculative portrait of the young Tutankhamun by Winifred Brunton. ... Stone sarcophagus of Pharaoh Merenptah Detail of a stone sarcophagus in the Istanbul Archeological Museum showing a hunting scene Anthropoid sarcophagus discovered at Cádiz A sarcophagus is a stone container for a coffin or body. ... Kiya was a wife of Pharaoh Akhenaten. ... nomen or birth name Nebmaatre Amenhotep III (called Nibmu(`w)areya in the Amarna letters) was an Egyptian pharaoh of the Eighteenth dynasty. ... Sitamun (also Sitamen, Satamun ) c. ...

However, when the tomb was opened in 1907, the only mummy interred within was a male. This mummy is now believed to be Akhenaten due to the presence of some funerary items (chiefly Akhenaten's magical bricks) as well as the vandalism of the sarcophagus – Akhenaten was later reviled as a heretic. The cartouches bearing the mummy's name are erased, and the uraeus removed. A cartouche, in Egyptian hieroglyphs, is an oblong enclosure with a vertical line at one end, indicating that the text enclosed is a royal name, coming into use during the beginning of the Fourth Dynasty with pharao Sneferu. ... The Uraeus (plural Uraei or Uraeuses) is a stylised upright cobra (or snake / serpent), used as a symbol of sovereignty, royalty, deity and divine authority in ancient Egypt. ...

But this attribution is not fully accepted; recent examinations^[1] estimate that this person died near the age of twenty – too young to be Akhenaten. Thus some suggest that the mummy may instead be Smenkhkare.

In 1923, Harry Burton used KV55 as a darkroom to develop his photographs documenting Howard Carter's excavation of Tutankhamun's tomb. 1923 (MCMXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... Harry Burton (Lincolnshire, 1879 – 1940) was a British Egyptologist and archaeological photographer. ... A darkroom is a given space, usually a separate area in a building or a vehicle, that is made dark so as to allow photographers to use light-sensitive materials to develop photographs and film. ... A sepia-tinted photograph of an English couple, taken in 1895. ... Plate LXXA shows detail on a ceremonial walking staff found buried with Tutankhamun; it depicts the two foes, or the Northern and Southern enemies of Egypt. ... The pharaohs solid gold funerary mask was laid to rest with him in KV62 The wall decorations in KV62s burial chamber are modest in comparison to other tombs in the Valley Tomb KV62 in Egypts Valley of the Kings is the Tomb of Tutankhamun, famous the world...

Further reading

• Theodore M. Davis, Nicholas Reeves, The Tomb of Queen Tiyi (reprinted KMT Communications, 1990)
• John Romer, Valley of the Kings (Henry Holt, 1981) pp. 211-219
• Cyril Aldred, Akhenaten, King of Egypt (Thames and Hudson, 1988) pp. 195-218
• C. N. Reeves, Valley of the Kings: The Decline of a Royal Necropolis (Keegan Paul, 1990) pp. 42-49
• Nicholas Reeves and Richard H. Wilkinson, The Complete Valley of the Kings (Thames & Hudson, 1996) pp. 116-121

External links

• Theban Mapping Project – Plans of the tomb and other details.
• Royal Mummies Group

References

1. ^ Mark Rose, "Royal Coffin Controversy", Archaeology, September/October 2000 (Vol. 53, No. 5).