KV57

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KV57
Tomb of Haremhab

place Valley of the Kings
Discovery date February 22, 1908
excavation Edward Russell Ayrton for Theodore M. Davis
Previous
KV56 		The following
KV58
Valley of the Kings
Valley of the Kings
(Eastern Valley)

KV57 ( Kings' Valley no. 57 ) is the ancient Egyptian rock tomb number 57 in the Valley of the Kings , which was laid out for the king ( pharaoh ) Haremhab as the last ruler of the 18th Dynasty ( New Kingdom ) and was probably also used for his burial. Overall, the tomb is quite well preserved and, with its decorations, is one of the most important works of art in the Valley of the Kings. There is some evidence that this tomb was originally sealed, but was robbed by grave robbers in ancient times .

Discovery, excavation and exploration

Grave entrance with Arthur Weigall , shortly after discovery

The grave was discovered on February 22, 1908 by the Egyptologist Edward Russell Ayrton , who dug in the Valley of the Kings for his financier, the American millionaire Theodore M. Davis , and had found other tombs there in previous years. Ayrton excavated the tomb that same year and originally intended to submit a detailed report on the excavation. However, such a description was never published by him and the manuscript has ultimately been lost.

Theodore M. Davis published the mapping and object plans of the entire tomb in 1912 .

In 1923 Harry Burton created a complete photographic documentation of the tomb for the Metropolitan Museum of Art . In 1971 Erik Hornung then documented and published the wall decorations for the first time in color.

location

The grave KV57 is located just above the ancient valley floor on the northern side in the western branch of the southwest running, central wadi in the Valley of the Kings near Thebes- West. In the vicinity of this grave complex is the grave KV58 , which up to now could not be assigned to any person and which, due to its location and construction, is regarded as a "satellite grave " by KV57.

architecture

Isometric representation, floor plan and sectional drawing of the tomb

The tomb of the Haremhab runs on a north-south axis, is 469.67 m² in size, 106.58 m long and leads to a depth of 29.52 m. In the plan supervision, the overall construction of the facility appears like a dog with its paws completely spread apart on each side.

This grave complex differs from the previous royal tombs of the 18th dynasty in several respects and represents, for example, a transitional stage in grave architecture with regard to its longitudinal axis. Until then, the main axes that were bent to the right were characteristic of the royal tombs of the 18th dynasty , but these gradually change to the straight axes of the royal tombs of the 19th and 20th dynasties .

Finds and their meaning

Some of the murals discovered in this grave complex are not only simply painted walls, but also, for the first time for a royal grave, as colored bas-reliefs . In addition, for the first time, instead of the amduat , individual sections of the ancient Egyptian underworld book ( gate book ) are present and thus documented on wall representations in this grave complex . The decoration of the grave complex has not been completed in all areas, although according to Wolfgang Helck the reign of the Haremhab lasted twelve years and three months, or according to Rolf Krauss even a total of 27 years.

Image gallery

  • Unfinished wall decoration with a scene from the port book

  • Unfinished wall decoration with scene from the port book
    ( Re on the sun barge)

  • Sarcophagus and wall decoration in the burial chamber

  • Haremhab as Osiris with Anubis , Horus and Hathor

  • Panoramic view over three walls

  • Haremhab and Amentet in the form of Hathor

See also

literature

Web links

Commons : KV57  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. Jump up ↑ Theodore M. Davis, G Maspero, Georges Daressy, Lancelot Crane: The tombs of Harmhabi and Touatânkhamanou (= Excavations in the tombs of the kings  .; Theodore M. Davis' excavations: Bibân el Molûk. ). Constable, London 1912.
  2. ↑ Erik Hornung, Frank Teichmann: The grave of the Haremhab in the Valley of the Kings. Francke, Bern 1971.
  3. ↑ Erik Hornung: The Egyptians' underworld books. Artemis-Verlag, Zurich / Munich 1992, ISBN 3-7608-1061-6 , pp. 195-308.

Coordinates: 25 ° 44 ′ 24 ″  N , 32 ° 36 ′ 3 ″  E