Sarcophagus of Ni Hms Bastet in KV64
This brief article was written on 15th January when the discovery of Tomb KV64 in the Valley of the Kings was formally announced. Please refer to the Addendum of 18th January for the latest news, which also corrects some of the orginal report.
The tomb was announced in Luxor by Mansour Boraik in Luxor and Mohamed Ibrahim, Minister of State for Antiquities in Cairo on 15th January 2012. A pre-annoucement a few days earlier had indicated that something had been discovered and would be revealed shortly.
KV64 is not in the central valley of the Kings. It is not on the hillside near KV8. It is not in the Western Valley. All of these have been mentioned as locations for KV64 – and indeed there is a probability of further finds in each of these areas. This is not then the story of the hunt for Tomb KV64, a story I will tell in full at a later date. Despite all the efforts which have gone into finding new tombs, like KV63 the new tomb was found by accident. The University of Basel has a concession to clean, document and record a number of the poorly studied undecorated tombs in the Valley of the Kings. During routine ground clearance they stumbled on two new features. One is a new feature near tomb KV40, reported as either a trial and abandoned shaft or possibly as foundation deposit for KV40. Dubbed KV40b, the details have not been fully reported and it was scheduled for investigation during winter 2011/12, although it may now take second place to KV64.
KV64 was found by accident alongside the pathway leading to the well-known tomb of Thuthmosis III, KV34. It is a shaft or well tomb with (so far as is known) a single chamber at the bottom. Whether this has been fully cleared yet is unknown. There are no reports that the chamber is decorated. In Valley of the Kings terms, it is a minor tomb.
The reports say that it was originally cut during the New Kingdom in the 18th Dynasty. This is based on some finds, although what those are has not been revealed, nor whether the orginal burial can be identified. Obviously study will take time.
The burial discovered dates to the 22nd Dynasty and the Third Intermediate Period. An inscription reveals the occupant to be a Ni Hms Bastet. There is no standard representation of that yet, although Nehmes Bastet is being used. She was a Singer of Amun Re in the Temple of Karnak, and a Daughter of Amun Re. Jane Akshar reports a suggestion by Ken Griffin that she may have been the daughter of Djedkhonsuefankh (4th prophet of Amun):
Looks like the name should read as Nehmesbastet or Nehemsybastet. The second rendering of the name is in Kitchen (p.219), where she is listed as a daughter of Djedkhonsuefankh (4th prophet of Amun) of the 22nd Dyn
There is no official confirmation of that yet and obviously when the hieroglyhs are published things will be clarified. Jane reports further that Lynn Green is wondering whether this is the Nehmes Bastet who was the mother of Padimut whose mummy is in Birmingham:
If this Nehemes-Bastet is the mother of Padimut in Birmingham, she is the grandmother of Harwa, Chief Steward of God’s Wife Amenirdis I.
Harwa was son of Nestawereret and priest Padimut. According to Padimut’s coffin, he was the son of a woman called Nehemes-Bastet and Ankhefen-Mut
Nor is there any word as to whether the tomb was found intact, but at present it seems likely. Finds include a decorated sarcophagus with hieroglyphic markings. That is due to be opened in the next week or so and it is expected to contain a wrapped mummy and a cartonnage. Had it been empty, the weight would have been different so it seems a safe bet that there is a mummy. We may then know more about Nehmes Bastet.
It is a very interesting find. The 22nd Dynasty is not especially well known and an intact tomb could reveal a lot of information. At the moment she is not thought to be a member of the royal family, making this something of a unique burial in the Valley of the Kings; however, the concept of the Royal Family in Dynasty 22 is complex with the Priests of Amun having near royal status so further commentary on Nehmes Bastet’s social standing is expected over the coming weeks. This is a tomb for archaeologists rather than for tourists.
The rumour mill is in overdrive. There are totally unsubstantiated reports that another tomb has been found. Certainly Mansour Bouraik is saying that he thinks there are more undiscovered tombs in the Valley of the Kings. When Carter found Tutankhamun that was supposedly the last tomb in the valley. We now know that is not the case and the Valley of the Kings has still further secrets to reveal over coming years.
Addendum 18th January
The University of Basel has released two reports, one in English and one in German, which provide much firmer details. It is now confirmed that KV40b is one and the same as KV64, which is the new, official designation. It was first found on 25th January 2011, the day the Egyptian Revolution started, and secured by a metal door. The discovery was kept quiet, although at that stage it had not been firmly identified as a tomb. When the shaft was excavated in January 2012, a side chamber 4m x 2.4m was found with the top of the entrance at a depth of 2.5m. The shaft is 1.60m x 1.10m There is a picture of the shaft in the English report.
The German report has a better picture of the black anthropoid coffin – click on the picture for a larger image. The upper section is covered in dust but the coffin is in a good state of preservation. The coffin was opened on Monday and Professor Susanne Bickel of the University of Basel told the BBC that she could see the “nicely wrapped” mummy of Nehmes Bastet, which is 1.55m tall.
The wooden stellae found next to the feet of the coffin measures wooden 27.5 x 22.5 x 2cm and seems to be part of the evidence for a Dynasty 22 date.
There is a thick debris layer which has not yet been excavated but which contains remains of a 18th Dynasty burial. There is no more information yet.
Various people have noted that there in fact are other 22nd Dynasty instrusive burials in the Valley of the Kings, but these are generally poorly documented.
Bibliography
University of Basel, Kings’ Valley Project, Short Preliminary Report January 2012 - Discovery of a new tomb in the Valley of the Kings, KV 64 (English), http://aegyptologie.unibas.ch/forschung/projekte/university-of-basel-kings-valley-project/report-2012/
Universität Basel, Basler Ägyptologen entdecken neues Grab im Tal der Könige, http://www.unibas.ch/index.cfm?uuid=EC0DA492063193575200541907AFD90A&type=search&show_long=1
Luxor News, Jane Akshar, http://luxor-news.blogspot.com/2012/01/kv64.html
Luxor News, Jane Akshar, http://networkedblogs.com/sJ66v
Yahoo News / Associated Press, Aya Batrawy, http://m.yahoo.com/w/news_america/rare-tomb-woman-found-egypt-valley-kings-153839689.html?orig_host_hdr=news.yahoo.com&.intl=us&.lang=en-us
By
Hello friends of egyptology!
a new video of the ouveture af the sarcophagus on the pharaon magazine site: http://pharaon-magazine.com/actualites/actualite/kv64-ouverture-du-cercueil
Best,
Etienne.
this explains the activity on the hill side on the way up to the Tutmosis tomb we saw last week when we were in the Valley of the Kings. By the way there are so few tourists currently in Egypt we had in effect private viewings of the tombs that were open to see – great for us really horrible for the Egyptian economy
[...] in January 2011 on the same day as the Egyptian Revolution began, but was hastily secured and left unexcavated until this season. The current occupant of the tomb is not the original occupant, but a later burial of a female [...]
Thanks everyone for the links and comments- i have been offline, so it is nice to come back to see this “news” from the Valley of the Kings (ala Kate Phiz’ bog).
Some initial thoughts from me, for what they’re worth..
Great to have the excavators doing the speaking and not some hurriedly put together documentary, narrated by someone who has no interest in AE. Also, none of the silly comments we have been used to in the past where 2 and 2 are added together to make Nefertiti/ Ankhesenamun, etc (for effect and publicity). It seems that additional information will be added only when facts are known- that’s a big step forward.
I am unsure if they have cleared doen to the lower levels (i guess not), so i will listen out for any quality information regards the 18th Dynasty finds. I hope we are able to locate just one foundation deposit which we can secure against an individual.
Does anyone know if the Basle Uni have a dig-diary of sorts? I am thinking of the KV63 project (Dr. Otto Schaden’s team), which was a joy to follow? Thanks.
Also “no flood debris” may mean a better quality preservation of small and/or fragile objects would usually become destroyed/ damaged by such flood water- time will tell.
Stuart
Yes they do
See latest update
http://aegyptologie.unibas.ch/forschung/projekte/university-of-basel-kings-valley-project/report-2012/
Thanks Val,
Stuart
[...] A summary of the find has been posted by Kate Phizackerley, with photos. [...]
[...] Discovery at the Valley of the Kings, Ahram Online (Jan. 15, 2012); Kate Phizackerley, Tomb K64 in the Valley of the Kings – The Story as it Broke, Egyptological (Jan. 16, 2012); see also Aya Batrawy, Rare Tomb of Woman Found in Egypt Valley of [...]
News!!!
News!!! Sarcophagus opened, there is a well preserved mummy!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-16576265
It is right up against KV40 that is why it was designated KV40b as it was thought when found, to be the associated cache.
Please stop using the ‘stumbled upon’ quote!
“Found Unexpectedly” is more correct. It is demeaning to the expertise of skilled egyptologists to refer to their recent finds as the same those made by bumbling peasants in the past.
Hawass called his digs 64 and 65 without there being even the commencement of a tomb. No official numbering was made, so these have to be dismissed as his wishful thinking.
Val
Thanks Val for promping me to clarify.
Yes the numbering of KV40b makes perfect sense. At the moment is seems to a be feature associated with KV40 an it is sensible that they should share the same numbering. I sometimes wish KV54 was labelled KV62b even though they are further apart.
As to stumbled upon, I was trying to be complimentary and obvioulsy failed. It was found without destruction of large areas of stratigraphy. It is ideal archaeology – maximum gain for minimum destruction. The fact they were not looking for tombs but were intent in conservation and recording is important and something very much in their favour. In fact, for their hard work in tombs others have overlooked for years I am glad they were rewarded some some fortune.
There have been over 1,500 unique readers in the past 24 hours. It shows that people wanted something out quickly. Is it perfect? No Is it my best very piece of writing? No Are there parts I could write better? Absolutely. Andrea and I learned something important last year while covering the terrible events of the Revolution. There is a big demand when stories are unfolding for pieces of quality in terms of facts but where the writing has not been polished to the n-th degree. I wrote the story in 20 minutes. Andrea reviewed it in 10 and I spent another 10 addressing some of the points she picked up in review. We got the article on the site in well under an hour. Andrea and I will be talking about it tomorrow, but I think we got the decision right even if the article lacks polish. It is something we probably wish to see more of. We can carry the basic news reports on our blogs but if a story is breaking then getting an interim article up here can be valuable we think, although we would welcome the views of readers.
Does the piece need re-writing? Yes. There is no question about it. The timing of that is uncertain, it will depend what more information is released, but I am committed to doing a more polished version in the coming weeks. And I promised I won’t used “stumbled upon” when I do.
Best wishes
Kate
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-16576265
Professor Susanne Bickel of the University of Basel told the BBC that the coffin was opened on Monday and she was able to see the “nicely wrapped” mummy of the woman who was buried in the tomb. The opening of the coffin was carried
out by Prof Bickel and her Basel colleague, field director Elina Paulin-Grothe, together with the Chief Inspector of Antiquities of Upper Egypt, Dr Mohammed el-Bialy and inspector Ali Reda.
Val
Hi Kate
Not a personal critisism – all journalist misuse that term, which came about when indeed a
donkey ‘stumbled’ into a hole, and the arab owner
dung out and made a discovery. Let us not fall into (pun there!) using the same error.
Refreshing also is the allowance of an announcement to be made by members of the mission – and not the usual only one by ZH as his own accomplishment.
Good to once again see Mansour Boriak back in place.
Val
Thanks Val,
Yes you are not the only one to feel that it was good that Mansour who so loves the Valley was involved. We feel as though we are getting the news from the people who really know what is going on because they are personally involved. The new administration have gone up a few notches in the estimate of the Egyptology community I suspect for how this has been handled.
Here is encouraging statement by the new head of the MSA and a face to his name – Mohamed Ibrahim
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2012/1080/eg42.htm?mid=57
regards
These 22nd Dynasty ‘intrusive’ burials are quite common in the Valley of the Kings, often re-using tombs built for 18th dynasty nobles, coutiers, and minor royals.
Well known examples include KV44, discovered by Howard Carter in 1901, with the beautiful coffin housing the 22nd dynasty Lady Tentkerer; KV45 (also Carter, 1902) with two 22nd dynasty burials; also probably WV24; two burials in KV34 (dated to the Late Period by Elliot Smith); WV22; KV4; and others.
Nice to have one which will be documented and photographed though isn’t it?
Yes, even Carter was not that meticulous when it came to these 22nd Dynasty intrusive burials – and clearly wasn’t bothered to excavate the original 18th Dynasty contents in KV44 and KV45. So thanks are due to Donald Ryan and the University of Basel mission (MISR) for doing this careful work.
Wonderful news, to see the story is still a long way from being concluded!
Can I ask? Where is Dr Hawass these days?
Dr Hawass is probably writing books – he is no longer with the SCA.
Hawass has been banned from leaving Egypt and is awaiting trail for numerous offenses. When/ If proven, he then faces a lengthy jail term
Beneath the stone, the scorpion! Val.
Kate, I’ve only skim-read a few reports, but is it the case that this 22nd Dynasty woman could be a secondary burial in this tomb shaft? If so, might the original may have been a minor 18th Dynasty royal, moved to a cache?
That is exactly what the reports are suggesting. The horror for many would be if it turned out the tomb had originally been for somebody famous today (e.g. Amarna era) but there is now nothing left of the original burial.
http://aegyptologie.unibas.ch/forschung/projekte/university-of-basel-kings-valley-project/report-2012/
Layest Report of find by Mission.
This are really great news and I´m very nosy about hearing, seeing more!!! 22 Dynasty… there is a bug lack of informations and I hope very much, this tomb will speak to us. Very exciting, who may have been the original tomb-owner. The 18th Dynasty was quite turbulent. :-) I wish very much for more possibilities to see such things, visit such sites Even, when I never studied egyptlogy I follow it with great interest since my 7 thn year of life, that means, since 40 years :-) But now I understand why the KV 34 was closed, when I was there the last time. But: is this now the tomb, Dr. Hawass spoke about some time ago? Or did he think about another tomb??? I´m a bit confused :-)
No, Dr Hawass never talked about this tomb. He was talking about tombs elsewhere in the Valley. It s very difficult to know whether he was talking about actual tombs or ones he hoped were there but never found. When I have time I will got back over the story.
“… At the moment she is not thought to be a member of the royal family, making this something of a unique burial in the Valley of the Kings; …”
And KV 60 for a royal nurse of Hatshepsut?
Agree Lutz, I rushed the article to get it out and spoke with a certain imprecision – and Andie to be fair did pick it up in review for me and I still got it wrong.
So yes, I agree I was imprecise but I still think this burial may change our view of the history of the Valley of the Kings.
I am also interested why the tomb was available? Had it lain open since the 21st Dynasty? Was there some sort of market in second-hand tombs? Was it cleared for her? I happen to really like that it is a 22nd Dynasty Burial and a woman who isn’t a Queen or a Princess. I know some people will think me strange, but I think this is a wonderful find.
This is exciting news. Keep us posted!!
[...] jQuery("#errors*").hide(); window.location= data.themeInternalUrl; } }); } http://www.egyptological.com – Today, 1:39 [...]
Great reporting. Look forward to hearing more!
One wonders how many times it has been said that the V of K is exhausted, only for another new and exciting discovery to be announced. The contents of this tomb, if it has not been breached in antiquity, will be of incredible interest and will hopefully reveal more of the little known 3rd Intermediate Period when Pharaohs ruled Lower Egypt and High Priests ruled Upper Egypt. Thanks Kate for the report.
This is great news. I had been disappointed by the closing of KV34 as I like to take people to visit it. But if this is the reason why it is closed, I approve! I look forward to more information on the tomb as well as how it was accidentally discovered too.
WOW this is fantastic news, look forward to reading
more infomation when It becomes available.