WV23
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WV23 (KV23) |
|
|---|---|
| place | Valley of the Kings (West Valley) |
| Discovery date | Winter 1816 |
| excavation | Giovanni Battista Belzoni |
| Previous WV22 |
The following WV24 |
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WV23 (also KV23) is the tomb of Pharaoh Eje (18th Dynasty, New Kingdom ) in the Valley of the Kings . The grave, plundered in antiquity, was discovered in the winter of 1816 by Giovanni Battista Belzoni, who dug in West Thebes on behalf of Henry Salt . The designation WV ( W est V alley) refers to the location of the grave, as it is not in the eastern valley like the other royal tombs, but in the western valley like WV22 , WV24 , WV25 and WVA . WV23 is also known as the "monkey grave". The name goes back to the representation of the twelve baboons, which symbolize the night hours in the Amduat . WV23 is the last used grave in the western valley.
Grave owner
With one exception, both the names of the grave owner and his representations had been destroyed or removed by Belzoni before they were discovered. The "exception" is on the north-west wall of the burial chamber. Here the king can be seen as his ka . The representation is almost undamaged and the name of Horus can be read above his head : "Strong bull, with shiny apparitions." This allowed WV23 to be assigned to King Eje .
The royal tomb WV23 in the Valley of the Kings is the second tomb of Eje before he succeeded Tutankhamun to the throne. The “Father of God” held high offices under King ( Pharaoh ) Akhenaten and his son Tutankhamun. His first grave is a rock grave in the south cemetery in Akhenaten's former capital Achet-Aton ("Horizon of Aton"), near today's Tell el-Amarna . In his tomb in Amarna ( Amarna tomb 25 ) is the only version of the great Aton hymn , which is ascribed to King Akhenaten himself. The inscription was partially destroyed, but was previously documented by Urbain Bouriant and therefore translated.
Architecture and equipment
WV23 has no characteristic features of a royal tomb of the early 18th dynasty, but rather resembles the royal tomb Akhenaten ( Amarna grave 26 ) in Tell el-Amarna.
The grave has a size of 212.22 m² with a total volume of 618.16 m³ and a total length of 60.16 m. It is therefore quite small in relation to other royal tombs in the Valley of the Kings. The axis is straight north-south and is considered typical of the post-Amarna period . WV23 has a total of three chambers that can be reached via two separate corridors. In the first section of the corridor there are “sarcophagus holders” carved into the rock, which were used to lower the stone sarcophagus over beams into the burial chamber. Such indentations in the rock can also be found in grave KV20 , which is attributed to Queen Hatshepsut and King Thutmose I. The first room, which could originally have been planned as a shaft, connects in a straight line with the corridor. It is also known as the “ vestibule ” or “well chamber”. This is followed by the burial chamber, which is a little shifted to the axis. The doorway to the burial chamber is exceptionally on the right. It is believed that the burial chamber was originally planned as a "pillared hall". The small and last chamber behind it, the so-called canopic chamber , or extension, is again exactly on the axis of the grave and the doorway is here on the left.
The burial chamber
The burial chamber has a size of 57.29 m² and is the only decorated room in the tomb. Each wall also has a small niche for so-called “ magic bricks ”, which, however, were not found. All depictions of the king and almost all cartouches with his throne and proper names were destroyed, including that of his wife Tij .
Northwest wall
In the entrance area to the burial chamber, the four sons of Horus ( Amset , Hapi , Duamutef and Kebechsenuef ) are depicted above the passage, sitting at a richly set offering table. The depiction of the sons of Horus as helpers of Osiris is documented for the first time for a royal tomb for WV23. They should guarantee the deceased complete protection. This illustration is preceded by a longer scene in which the king is hugged by Osiris at the beginning and he and his Ka are then greeted by the goddesses Amentet and Nut . Behind the last ka of the king stands Hathor , whose back is turned to the king and her gaze is directed towards the passage to the burial chamber. Here you can find the only Horus name not destroyed in the grave ( K3-nḫt ṯḥn-ḫprw - "Strong bull, with shiny apparitions") from King Eje above the two Ka representations, which made it possible to assign a grave.
Southwest wall
In the upper third the goddess Nephthys can be seen standing between two boats. In the left boat there are two falcon standards, in the right boat behind Re-Harachte the deities Atum , Schu , Tefnut , Geb , Nut , Osiris , Isis and Horus stand . Proverbs 130, 144 and extracts from Proverbs 141 and 142 of the Book of the Dead are shown in the lower part of the wall .
Southeast wall
Here is the only scene of a swamp bird hunt in a royal tomb. The representations of the king and his wife are destroyed and the names have also been removed.
Northeast face
The first four hours from the amduat are shown . The decoration is very similar to that in Tutankhamun's tomb, which is located in his tomb ( KV62 ) on the west wall.
Finds
The broken sarcophagus , found by Belzoni and removed by Howard Carter, was restored in 1993 and returned to the tomb in 1994. However, it is not in its original orientation, but in reverse. In the grave, there were also parts of funeral equipment, sculptures, jugs, human remains and writing materials.
exploration
The tomb was discovered in 1816 by Giovanni Battista Belzoni , who was commissioned by Henry Salt , during his first investigation of the Valley of the Kings. Belzoni wrote his name and the date of discovery on a rock at the entrance. The excavations took place in the same year. Actually, the discoverer had the grave of Amenhotep III. ( WV22 ) and found WV23 by chance during his further explorations in the western valley. Belzoni was disappointed as the sarcophagus was badly damaged. The parts of the destroyed sarcophagus were brought to the Egyptian Museum in Cairo by Howard Carter in 1908 , where it was exhibited for a long time. The first epigraphic work, the analysis of the inscriptions and the decoration, was carried out by Karl Richard Lepsius in 1924 , others followed in 1958 by Alexandre Piankoff , who published them in the communications of the German Archaeological Institute, Cairo (MDAIK 16) in the same year . During the systematic examination and uncovering of the grave by Otto Schaden for the University of Minnesota in 1972 , the sarcophagus lid was discovered.
See also
literature
- Erik Hornung : The Valley of the Kings. Beck, Munich 2002, ISBN 3-406-47995-2 , pp. 26-27.
-
Bertha Porter , Rosalind LB Moss : Topographical Bibliography of Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphic Texts, Statues, Reliefs, and Paintings. several volumes, 2nd edition, Griffith Institute, Oxford 1960 and 1964.
- Volume I Part 2: The Theban Necropolis. Royal Tombs and Smaller Cemeteries. 1964, Reprint 1999, ISBN 0-900416-10-6 , pp. 550-551. ( PDF ; 22.3 MB)
- Nicholas Reeves , Richard H. Wilkinson : The Valley of the Kings. Mysterious realm of the dead of the pharaohs. Bechtermünz, Augsburg 2000, ISBN 3-8289-0739-3 , pp. 128-129.
- Alberto Siliotti: Valley of the Kings. Müller, Cologne 2001, ISBN 88-8095-602-7 , pp. 44-45.
- Kent R. Weeks , Araldo de Luca: In the Valley of the Kings - Of funerary art and the cult of the dead of the Egyptian rulers. Weltbild, Augsburg 2001, ISBN 3-8289-0586-2 , pp. 172-175.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Alberto Siliotti: Valley of the Kings. Cologne 2001, p. 45.
- ^ Theban Mapping Project: Ay's ka with Horus name on its head
- ↑ Theban Mapping Project, Tomb 23: Measurements ( Memento of the original from January 29, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) 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. (engl.)
- ^ N. Reeves, RH Wilkinson: The Valley of the Kings. Mysterious realm of the dead of the pharaohs. Augsburg 2000, p. 129.
- ^ N. Reeves, RH Wilkinson: The Valley of the Kings. Mysterious realm of the dead of the pharaohs. Augsburg 2000, p. 128.
- ^ N. Reeves, RH Wilkinson: The Valley of the Kings. Mysterious realm of the dead of the pharaohs. Augsburg 2000, p. 128.
- ↑ Erik Hornung : Valley of the Kings. The resting place of the pharaohs. Weltbild, Augsburg 1996, ISBN 3-89350-741-8 , p. 89.
- ↑ Theban Mapping Project: Burial Chamber J ( Memento of the original from January 29, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) 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.
- ↑ TGH James : The Tomb of Eje. In: Kent R. Weeks, Araldo de Luca: In the Valley of the Kings - Of funerary art and the cult of the dead of the Egyptian rulers. Augsburg 2001, p. 172.
- ↑ Theban Mapping Project: History of Exploration ( Memento of the original from January 29, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) 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.
