KV1

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KV1
tomb of Ramses VII.

place Valley of the Kings
Discovery date already in antiquity; scientific studies 1983/1984, 1990 and 1994
excavation Edwin C. Brock
Previous
- 		The following
KV2
Valley of the Kings
KV1 ↑
Valley of the Kings
(Eastern Valley)

KV 1 ( King's Valley 1 ) is the tomb of Pharaoh Ramses VII from the 20th Dynasty and one of the longest known tombs in the Valley of the Kings . It has been accessible since ancient times and was last examined and cleaned by the American Egyptologist Edwin Brock in 1983 and 1984 . It consists of only a single corridor and is one of the smallest royal tombs of the dynasty.

construction

KV1 is aligned along a straight axis , which is very typical for this era. All graves, which after the time of Ramses III. originated, have a similar structure and have a comparable image program. The tomb consists of four main parts: the entrance, a corridor , the burial chamber with the sarcophagus and a closing smaller room at the end.

Ramses VII died in the seventh year of his reign, leaving little time to build the tomb. Some evidence suggests that a much larger tomb with a second corridor was originally planned. The work was then stopped early and the corridor that had been started was converted into a burial chamber.

Astronomical ceiling with two depictions of the sky goddess Nut
Isometric view, floor plan and elevation of KV1

The walls of the first corridor are decorated with depictions of the Book of the Portals , the Book of Caves and the Book of the Earth , excerpts of which are also in the burial chamber. In terms of style and theme, it is based heavily on KV9 , the burial place of Ramses VII. ' Predecessor Ramses VI. on. An exception is the ceiling of the burial chamber with a double representation of the sky goddess Nut , the style of which is based on the royal tombs of the previous dynasty.

Inside the burial chamber there is a depression in the rock floor, which is covered by an upturned sarcophagus box. This is the last known example of a sarcophagus placed in the royal tomb. All subsequent burials contained deeper pits that were closed with a lid. The grave was looted in ancient times and the royal mummy also seems to have been lost. Four faience beakers with the name of Ramses VII found near the Deir el-Bahari cachette indicate a possible landfill.

Ancient visitors and early travelers

The grave is one of at least eleven graves that were open to visitors in ancient times. A total of 132 Greek and Roman graffiti were counted in KV1 , including the earliest datable graffito in the Valley of the Kings from the year 278 BC. Later the tomb was used as a dwelling cave for Coptic monks.

The name of KV1 goes back to members of the French expedition to Egypt , who list the grave in the Description de l'Égypte as 1er Tombeau ("1st grave"). However, Richard Pococke , one of the earliest European visitors to the Königsgräbertal, described it in his Observations of Egypt published in 1743 as "Grave A".

New archaeological research

A first undocumented purge occurred in the late 1950s. In 1983 Edwin Brock carried out a thorough excavation of the burial chamber floor on behalf of the Royal Ontario Museum , which was followed by excavations at the entrance ten years later. In 1994 the Egyptian Antiquities Administration undertook a cleaning and repair of the walls, which had been damaged by major cracks. However, ancient graffiti were also plastered over.

From the original grave equipment, some remains of Ushebti made of wood, calcite and faience as well as fragments of clay amphorae were recovered. The grave workers also left behind some limestone tablets with artist sketches. Among other things, Brock found basket fragments, a flower garland and amphora fragments with a five-line hieroglyphic text in the rubble from an earlier excavation .

See also

literature

Web links

Commons : KV1  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c KV 1 (Rameses VII). (No longer available online.) Theban Mapping Project, archived from the original on October 15, 2015 ; accessed on February 9, 2015 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.thebanmappingproject.com
  2. ^ A b Nicholas Reeves, Richard H. Wilkinson: The Valley of the Kings. Mysterious realm of the dead of the pharaohs. Augsburg 2000, pp. 166-167.
  3. ^ John Romer : Valley of the Kings. (Reprint) Castle Books, Edison NJ 2003, ISBN 0-7858-1588-0 , p. 144.
  4. ↑ Nicholas Reeves, Richard H. Wilkinson: The Valley of the Kings. Mysterious realm of the dead of the pharaohs. Augsburg 2000, p. 168.
  5. ↑ Nicholas Reeves, Richard H. Wilkinson: The Valley of the Kings. Mysterious realm of the dead of the pharaohs. Augsburg 2000, p. 51.
  6. ↑ Nicholas Reeves, Richard H. Wilkinson: The Valley of the Kings. Mysterious realm of the dead of the pharaohs. Augsburg 2000, pp. 54-55.
  7. ↑ Nicholas Reeves, Richard H. Wilkinson: The Valley of the Kings. Mysterious realm of the dead of the pharaohs. Augsburg 2000, pp. 52-53.
  8. ↑ Nicholas Reeves, Richard H. Wilkinson: The Valley of the Kings. Mysterious realm of the dead of the pharaohs. Augsburg 2000, p. 166.
  9. ↑ Nicholas Reeves, Richard H. Wilkinson: The Valley of the Kings. Mysterious realm of the dead of the pharaohs. Augsburg 2000, pp. 167-168.

Coordinates: 25 ° 44 ′ 33 ″  N , 32 ° 36 ′ 7 ″  E