The Valley of the Kings (KV) is most famous for the tomb of Tutankhamun (KV62), found in 1922. It was not until 2006, 84 years after the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb, that another tomb was discovered here: KV63. The excavation of KV63 was headed by Otto Schaden†, and in 2012 Salima Ikram (also the director of this White Levy publication project) became Field Director, and subsequently Director, in 2015 after the untimely demise of Schaden. This shaft tomb was cut in the 18th Dynasty (c. 1560-1292 BC) and escaped the attention of both of ancient tomb robbers and of early archaeologists. Only a handful of tombs (KV36, KV46, KV62, and KV64 (the second burial that re-used the tomb was intact)) have been found (virtually) intact since the beginning of systematic archaeological work in the Valley, which makes KV63 a rarity. The work on the tomb entailed the clearance of a shaft that led to a chamber that had been sealed by crude limestone chunks, and the subsequent documentation and clearance of a large tomb chamber, which contained a group of jars and coffins filled with loose natron, bags of natron, linen, pottery and calcite vessels, paint in its reed containers, tools used in mummification, and both stone and wooden mummification beds. These materials were painstakingly excavated and conserved and many are now in museums throughout Egypt.
KV63’s contents are not those of a tomb, but rather exclusively constitute an embalming deposit. Unlike other embalming deposits of the period that consist of jars filled with mummification materials, this one is comprised of both coffins and ceramic vessels containing materials used in royal mummification as well as funerary rituals, making it a unique find. In addition, the other remains of embalming deposits found in the Valley of the Kings tend to be buried with the deceased, save for that of Tutankhamun, whose embalming materials were probably divided between the corridor of his tomb and the nearby KV54, and thus the fact that the KV63 deposit is also an independent one raises intersting questions about its owner.
The publication of the tomb will present the history of the excavation of the tomb, its architecture, the technology and tools used to cut it, and its diverse contents. It will also attempt to decode these contextualised data in terms of elucidating mummification philosophy, practice, and the materials used at this particular chronological moment in ancient Egyptian history, as well as funerary rituals. Finally, the work will try to identify the person (or persons) associated with the embalming deposit and explore the historical ramifications of such a relationship.
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