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The excavation led by Dr Otto Schaden had been concentrating for
several years on the area around the tomb of Amenmesse (KV10),
searching for foundation deposits relating to the tomb, when they
found a shaft crudely blocked with stones. The entrance to the shaft
is a little to the north-east of the floor level of some workmen's
huts, about 4 metres below ground level and was found at the end of the
2005 digging season. The find was reported to the SCA as significant
and then re-covered to await the following season's excavation. The
past few seasons' work had already revealed the Dynasty XIX workmen's
huts below the piled up rubble in front and to the sides of KV10, at
levels not excavated since Theodore Davis dug there in the early
1900s. Howard Carter had also previously excavated at these levels.
The 2006 season began with what must have been great excitement for
the excavation team as they started work to uncover the shaft and to
dig it out, finding ostraca on the way. Eventually the well-constructed
shaft, 4.5 metres deep, led to a single chamber. The doorway of the
chamber consisted of carefully placed stones, perhaps suggesting a
reburial or funerary cache, although no seals were visible. The first
view of the tomb was seen through a small opening in the blocking and
it appeared to contain five anthropoid coffins with coloured funerary
masks and twenty large storage jars.
The weeks following the discovery found the American team
concentrating on unblocking the doorway and clearing away stone and
debris prior to the removal of the contents. When the team entered the
tomb they found that there were actually seven coffins and a current
count of twenty-eight storage jars. Two of the coffins were empty and
contained discarded items of burial materials, natron and linen etc.
One of the coffins with a yellow-faced mask was stacked on top of
others and is smaller in size suggesting that it belongs to a youth.
Three of the remaining coffins have yellow-faced masks and it has been
suggested that they may belong to females, one with glass inlaid eyes
and eyebrows. The others are covered in black resin. Unfortunately
four of the coffins have been badly damaged by termites and possible
early plundering and are in poor condition. More recent news of the
excavation tells of another tiny infant's wooden coffin wedged between
two adult coffins which has been found to contain an inner coffin
covered in gold leaf. The storage jars have been inspected, most were
sealed but some have been opened and their contents examined to reveal
miniature vessels, scraps of papyri, natron and cloth.
There was much early speculation by the press that the tomb may
contain Amarna Period royal burials, as it is thought that some Amarna
mummies had been transported in antiquity to the Valley of the Kings
for reburial. One report from KV63 suggested that hieroglyphs on a
broken seal found among the debris in the tomb names the Aten, the
sun-disc worshiped by Akhenaten and the speculation was that the
chamber was constructed during that period, though I have not seen any
further reference to this. Other evidence for the late Dynasty XVIII
period is found in the similarity to material from jars found in pit
KV54, Tutankhamun's embalming cache where waste materials from his
burial were deposited. This cache was discovered in 1907 by Theodore
Davis and excavated by Edward Ayrton. One of the wine jars in KV63 was
found to contain residue similar to that in Tutankhamun's cache and
there were also many plant remains found which were similar to plant
materials in KV54. While the link with the Amarna royal family is just
wishful thinking at present, as no inscriptions or royal insignia have
yet been found, the coffins were almost certainly originally intended
for elite burials. Perhaps the most interesting object is the tiny
inner coffin of a child, covered in gold leaf. None of the seven
coffins contained any human remains, to the disappointment of many of
us.
The chamber currently presents a mystery to archaeologists - why go to
all the trouble of digging a shaft and chamber only to house a jumble
of sealed-up coffins full of rocks, embalming items and pottery sherds?
But we all love a good mystery don't we? Apart from the coffins, the
contents of KV63 are very similar to those found in KV54 and it is
suggested that this may also have been an embalmer's cache possibly
associated with an elite burial. While both KV54 and KV63 contained
necropolis seals, so far there have been no names or texts found to
prove any identities in the latter. The removal of the tomb contents
and conservation work to stabilise the items carried on throughout the
summer of 2006, until November when the excavation season ended and
all of the artefacts were removed for storage and preservation to the
nearby KV10.
In an update posted by Dr Schaden on September 12, 2007, he states
that as his contract with the University of Memphis has expired, the
Amenmesse Project [KV-10 and KV-63] is now affiliated with the Supreme
Council of Antiquities (SCA), The Egyptian Ministry of Culture. Dr
Schaden will continue as Director of the mission and Earl Ertman as
Associate Director. They are planning to resume their work in the
King’s Valley this coming winter.
See the KV-63
website for up to date information and pictures of the excavation. |
