Tomb KV39 in the Valley of the Kings:
A Double Archaeological Enigma

author

Dr John Rose

Tomb KV39 was discovered in 1900 by Macarios and Andraos, two local Luxor residents. When Weigall entered it around 1908 he described what he found as entirely ruinous. From these inauspicious beginnings Dr John Rose has, after five years of painstaking excavation, pieced together some of the history of the tomb. The result is a plan of a complex, large construction and a thought provoking analysis of the evidence to suggest that it may originally have been built for King Amenhotep I.

The tomb itself lies at the head of the small wadi above the tomb of Tuthmosis III, south of the Valley of the Kings. When Dr Rose began excavations the tomb had been blocked for many years, the only extant plan one drawn up by Elizabeth Thomas in 1966, based largely on conjecture. The archaeological investigation aimed to clear, study and record the tomb to produce a more accurate plan and description for publication.

This book charts the experience of Dr Rose and his team, their work on the tomb, the details of their finds and the results of their quest to establish the name and title of KV39's owner. It also provides some insights into the likely use of the tomb over its turbulent working life. Finds such as sandstone dockets bearing cartouches of Pharaohs of the 18th Dynasty and a gold signet ring of Tuthmosis III suggest a royal burial. Dr Rose argues that the number and types of mummy bandages and embalmers' materials found may mean the tomb was later used as a staging post for bodies being relocated in the Deir el-Bahari cache TT320.

Sadly, Dr Rose suffered a severe stroke in 1994, shortly after completing his final Summary Excavation Report, leaving him unable to walk without assistance and impairing his speech. Despite this, with the help of family and friends, he has spent the last five years preparing this work for publication. Scholars will now be able to study Dr Rose's findings in their entirety: whether or not they agree with his conclusions about the ownership and use of the tomb, the availability of his data will allow full discussion of the tomb for the first time.

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© Western Academic & Specialist Press Ltd 2004