KV5
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KV5 |
|
|---|---|
| place | Valley of the Kings |
| Discovery date | before 1799 |
| excavation | Kent Weeks |
| Previous KV4 |
The following KV6 |
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KV5 is an ancient Egyptian tomb in the Valley of the Kings , which was laid out as a tomb for some sons of Pharaoh Ramses II . The discovery of the tomb and the results of the excavation work that followed over the years caused great astonishment. Grave KV5 turned out to be the largest burial complex in the Valley of the Kings to date and since the discovery of the grave of Tutankhamun ( grave KV62 ) it has become one of the most important burial places in this place.
exploration
The grave was visited and examined several times. The first expedition started in 1825 with James Burton and then in 1902 under Howard Carter , who only used the KV5 as a "dumping ground". However, both expedition groups were unable to penetrate further inside and consequently saw nothing unusual for the tomb.
The Theban Mapping Project , led by Kent Weeks , wanted to clear the grave because they wanted to see if there would be any damage from nearby buildings. From 1987 to 1994 the workers and the Egyptologist were clueless about what was really in the tomb.
The clean-up work in the facility in 1995 revealed that many more corridors existed. Up to this point, a total of 70 chambers had been found. This was a discovery that surprised the world and aroused great interest in Egyptology . To date, further research has produced thousands of broken vases , ushabti , faience beads , ostraka with hieratic script , glass vials, inlays and even a large statue of Osiris . At least six sons of Ramses are known to have been buried in KV5, but more than 20 depictions of sons suggest that the number was probably greater.
Further excavations have shown that the grave is even larger than initially thought. By 2006, 121 rooms and chambers were discovered. However, due to the symmetrical structure, 150 or more chambers are expected. This makes KV5 the largest grave in the Valley of the Kings. Research into the tomb is still ongoing.
architecture
KV5 has a structure that is unmistakable for an Egyptian tomb. Kent Weeks believes that the construction of the tomb began in the late 18th Dynasty . At that time it still consisted of two chambers and a cross room with four pillars . Ramses II then seems to have usurped it and had the transverse room expanded into a large square hall with 4 × 4 pillars. The 15 × 15 meter hall forms the center of the tomb complex and is unique in both its size and the number of pillars in the Valley of the Kings. Many other secondary chambers go from this. Some have a vaulted ceiling typical of the Ramesside period .
To the east of the pillar hall is a long T-shaped extension that contains many smaller side chambers. In the middle of the valley, a representation of the god of the dead Osiris is carved into the rock, two 20 meter long corridors lead off to the left and right, which contain further chambers. Each of the chambers is approximately 3 × 3 meters in size, there are 16 pieces on each T-side, which means that there are a total of 48 side chambers in this area. Since the doorways were too narrow to accommodate the stone sarcophagi , they were most likely not used as burial chambers - as is often mistakenly assumed - but presumably as sacrificial chambers . At the ends of the sloping side corridors, stairs that have not yet been finally exposed presumably lead to further rooms on a lower level.
On the west side of the portico, two additional passages were discovered in the autumn of 1996 that contain further chambers and lead down at an angle of 35 ° towards the grave of Ramses II . Multi-layer plaster floors in the area of the portico and a north side chamber indicate the existence of several rooms below.
See also
literature
- Kent Weeks : Ramses II - the dead house of the sons. The sensational excavation in the Valley of the Kings . Droemer, Munich 1999, ISBN 3-426-26968-6 .
- Kent Weeks: Thebes, Valley of the Kings, Tomb KV 5. In: Kathryn A. Bard (Ed.): Encyclopedia of the Archeology of Ancient Egypt. Routledge, London 1999, ISBN 0-415-18589-0 , pp. 831-833.
- 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. 144-147.
- Kent Weeks (Ed.): KV 5. A Preliminary Report on the Excavation of the Tomb of the Sons of Ramesses II in the Valley of the Kings. The American University in Cairo Press, Cairo / New York 2006, ISBN 977-424-951-8 .
- Kent Weeks: The Theban Mapping Project and Work in KV 5. In: CN Reeves: After Tutankhamun. Research and Excavation in the Royal Necropolis at Thebes. Routledge 2009, ISBN 978-041586-171-7 , pp. 99-121.
Web links
- Theban Mapping Project: KV5 (English)
- Excavation reports from KV5 (and from the Valley of the Kings )
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c KV 5 (Sons of Rameses II). General Site Information. (No longer available online.) Theban Mapping Project, archived from the original on May 12, 2016 ; accessed on December 19, 2012 . 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.
- ↑ Narmer: KV5 (English)
- ^ Pillared chamber 03 (KV Atlas of KV5). (No longer available online.) Theban Mapping Project, archived from the original on May 12, 2016 ; accessed on December 19, 2012 . 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.
- ^ A b Nicholas Reeves, Richard H. Wilkinson: The Valley of the Kings. Mysterious realm of the dead of the pharaohs. Econ, Düsseldorf 1997, ISBN 3-430-17664-6 , p. 145.
- ↑ Kent Weeks: Thebes, Valley of the Kings, Tomb KV 5. London 1999, p. 833.
- ↑ Nicholas Reeves, Richard H. Wilkinson: The Valley of the Kings. Mysterious realm of the dead of the pharaohs. Düsseldorf 1997, pp. 144-145.
- ↑ Kent Weeks: Thebes, Valley of the Kings, Tomb KV 5. London 1999, p. 832.
Coordinates: 25 ° 44 ′ 26 ″ N , 32 ° 36 ′ 9 ″ E