KV20

KV20 Tomb of Hatshepsut and Thutmose I.

The ancient Egyptian tomb KV 20 in the Valley of the Kings was probably the first Hypogeum in the ancient necropolis. It is now considered original tomb of Pharaoh Hatshepsut and her father Thutmose I, who ordered his architect to design it Ineni. The grave was discovered in 1799 on the eastern branch of the valley by the Egyptian Expedition Napoléon Bonaparte. Subsequently, it was identified by the Italian archaeologist Giovanni Battista Belzoni in 1817 and mapped and exposed in a test excavation in 1828 by James Burton. Excavated for the first time fully and scientifically KV20 was, however, only 1903-1904 by Howard Carter, who attributed it Hatshepsut and her father Thutmose I..

The grave in the ancient world

Carter assumed that was his opinion original Tomb of Tuthmosis I ( KV38 ) abandoned in favor of KV20. The British historian John Romer, however, showed that KV38 is recent and not out of the question for a Erstbestattung Thutmose I.. Instead, it is assumed that at the time of the death of Thutmose I. The grave was excavated only two-thirds and was then extended with a descent, another corridor a grave chamber and three additional side chambers during the reign of Queen Hatshepsut to a double grave.

The mummy of Tuthmosis I was later under the reign of Hatshepsut's stepson Thutmose III. possibly to protect against grave robbers reburied after KV38. From Hatshepsut's body no remains could be identified in KV20, a mummified liver or spleen were instead found in tomb TT320 in a box with Hatshepsut's cartouche.

Architecture and Facilities

The grave complex has an unusual for the tombs of the Valley of the Kings floor plan. So the access is located in a hard to reach 200 meter high cliff, the grave itself winds clockwise very deep for a total length of about 210 meters into the limestone, so the grave chamber 97 meters is below the earth's surface.

The uniaxial grave system initially oriented in an easterly direction, then south to kink in a long corridor and then open into an arc to the west in the grave chamber. This course weakens the theory that the grave was originally designed with an underground connection to Hatshepsut's mortuary temple at Deir el- Bahari.