Tuthmosis I & Hatshepsut (Kings Valley - KV20)

All About KV20

Tomb KV20 is believed to have been built by Ineni, the famous architect of Thutmosis I. But, findings depict that the daughter of the king- Hatshepsut was also buried in the same tomb. The tomb's unfinished state at the time of the king’s death has helped in leading to the conclusion that it belonged to both father and daughter.

 

The Discovery

KV20 has been known for more than a century now and it was first noted by Belzoni. Later, Howard Carter succeeded in clearing the tomb and declared that the foundation deposits inscribed with the name of Hatshepsut showed that the tomb actually belonged to her. From these objects and the two sarcophagi found inside the tomb, it was summarized that the queen had this tomb built for herself and her father. The king was transferred here from KV38 which was intended to be his original tomb. Later findings by Carter were proved wrong by John Romer who said that the design of KV38 was much newer than that of KV20, so the former would have been the second place of burial for the king. Howard Carter is world famous for his discovery of the fabulous tomb of Tutankhamun.

Tomb Design

The tomb is about 213 meters long from its entrance and where the two burial chambers are located. The corridor looks like a wide U-shaped structure. After these are two stairwell chambers which are not like those found in KV38.

The tomb is mostly undecorated and lies at a point that is just behind the impressive temple of Hatshepsut located in Deir el Bahri. The long tomb length is believed to have been so because it enabled the queen’s body to lie underneath her temple. The sarcophagi chamber revealed two sarcophagi, one of which belonged to Hatshepsut and the second to his father Tuthmosis I, but both of these were empty.

The only decoration in KV 20 was that seen in the burial chamber. It had fifteen limestone blocks that had the text from the Amdywat.

Other Objects Found In The Tomb

A foundation deposit of Hatshepsut was found at the entrance to KV20 which included fragments of funerary furniture, potsherds, fragments of faience, and burnt pieces of a statue -possibly a guardian statue. Also, a shabti figure belonging to Hatshepsut in The Hague was found. The findings also included some funerary equipment belonging to Hatshepsut found in the Royal Cache of TT320.

The mummy of Queen Hatshepsut was identified in 2007 by a tooth that was found in the temple in a box and which bears the name of this queen, conforming to the belonging. The tooth was found to be the exact match for a gap in the upper jaw of a previously unidentified mummy. The mummy, since identified as the remains of Hatshepsut, is now displayed in the Cairo Museum.