Egyptian Tomb Discoveries

Egyptian Tomb Discoveries

Egyptian Tomb Discoveries
Who were the men who made the Egyptian Tomb Discoveries in the Valley of the Kings? The Egyptian Tomb Discoveries were made in the Valley of the Kings necropolis ( a large cemetery or burial place near the sites of the centers of ancient civilizations) located near the Ancient Egyptian city of Thebes (now modern-day Luxor). Many of the tombs were discovered by the Egyptian tomb robbers of antiquity but during the 19th and 20th centuries renewed interest in Egyptology led European Egyptologists to make further excavations in the Valley of the Kings, hoping to find undiscovered tombs complete with fabulous treasures.

How many Egyptian Tomb Discoveries have been made in the Valley of the Kings?
There are 63 tombs which have been discovered in the Valley of the Kings belonging to the Pharaohs and leading dignitaries.

History of Egyptian Tomb Discoveries
The table below provides a list of important royal Egyptian tomb discoveries and the names of the Egyptologists who excavated them. But before the modern excavations people were aware of the tombs. In 57BC a Greek historian called Diodorus Siculus wrote about the tombs in the Valley of the Kings. The tombs were visited by the Greeks and the Romans who left graffiti on the walls of the tombs in Greek and Latin. The fall of the Roman Empire led to many hundreds of years of silence regarding the tombs and the next documented evidence is by a Jesuit priest called Claude Sicard who rediscovered the Valley of the Kings between 1708 and 1712. A plan of 18 tombs on the site was then drawn by an English clergyman called Richard Pococke in 1734. James Bruce, a Scottish Egyptologist, explored the tomb of Ramses III in 1769. In 1798 Napoleon Bonaparte led a military campaign into Egypt. The French were stranded in Egypt for 3 years and during this time the French studied Egyptian monuments and history and Napoleon Bonaparte gave orders that valuable Ancient Egyptian antiquities should be transferred to Paris. The discovery of the Rosetta Stone sparked even more interest in the Ancient Egypt civilisation and excavations began.

Legend used for Egyptian Tomb Discoveries
John Gardiner Wilkinson (1797–1875)  assigned the numeration system for the Egyptian tombs. All tombs are and numbered according to this system and the legends KV, QV, WV & TT  indicate their location as follows:

• KV (e.g. KV no.35) refers to the King Valley
• QV (e.g. QV no.66) refers to the burial site of Nerfertari in the Queen Valley
• WV (e.g. WV no.23) refers to the burial site of the Pharaoh Ay in the Western Valley
• TT (e.g. TT no.55) refers to the burial site of Ramose designated to the category of Theban Tomb
  • There are at least 415 catalogued tombs, designated TT for Theban Tomb which are burial places of nobles and important court officials

Egyptian Tomb Discoveries
The following table lists some of the famous and important Egyptian Tomb Discoveries made in the Valley of the Kings, including the name of the occupant, date of the discovery and a list of the names of the Egyptologists who excavated the tombs.
 

Egyptian Tomb Discoveries
Each section of the Egyptian Tombs Discoveries addresses all topics and provides interesting facts and information about the Golden Age of Pharaohs and of Egypt. The Sitemap provides full details of all of the information and facts provided about the fascinating subject of the Pharaoh - Tutankhamun and the Egyptian Tomb Discoveries!