The Tomb Of Siptah
Pharaoh Siptah ruled during ancient Egypt's Nineteenth Dynasty. His tomb is referred to as KV47 and is located in the Valley of the Kings on the west bank of Luxor.
The tomb of Siptah was first discovered by Edward R Ayrton and Theodore M Davis in December 1905. From what was discovered during this excavation, the archaeologists concluded that KV47 was the burial place of Siptah and his mother, Queen Tia II. Siptah was the Son of Seti II and his tomb is located near the tomb of his father.
The Tomb's Design
The tomb of Siptah consists of three corridors that were gently sloping, followed by two chambers, one pillared, two subsequent corridors, and a final chamber that leads into a passage. The passage contains abandoned lateral cuts for the burial chamber. This is the actual unfinished burial chamber and inside was a granite sarcophagus. The tomb's entrance is a ramp with divided stairways. One noteworthy feature of KV47 is that the pillared chamber was followed by two subsequent corridors, a rarity since most tombs had only one corridor and a stairway.
Decorations Inside The Tomb
Being that the tomb was never finished, it does not feature many decorations. In fact, only the first chamber and corridors of the tomb were plastered and decorated. Scenes from the Litany of Ra, Book of the Dead, and Imydwat adorned the walls of these decorated halls. Also, representations of the deceased with Ra-Horakhty and with the sun disk on the horizon alongside figures of Ma’at can be seen.
The ceiling, meanwhile, is decorated with scenes of flying vultures and serpents. The paintings inside the tomb have now been protected by glass panels. The next corridor is decorated with text from the Litany of Ra and scenes of Anubis with Isis and Nephthys. The ceiling here is adorned with goddesses depicted as birds.
Damage To The Tomb
KV47 underwent severe damage in ancient times because of repeated flooding. A major part of the decoration has been lost, but some paint fragments can still be seen here and there on the wall. The uncompleted state can be seen from the red outlines which were drawn by the mason but were never really finished. The transverse burial chamber at the end of the tomb was undecorated but contained the red granite cartouche-shaped outer sarcophagus of Siptah. The vertical mason's mark shows that it was intended that more pillars were to be cut but the plan remained unfinished.
The tomb of Siptah is currently open to visitors and tickets can be bought at the gate.
