 The tomb of Ay
is located in the Valley
of the Kings on the West
Bank at Luxor
(ancient Thebes)
near the new rest house. This area is known as the West
Valley, but is sometimes also called Wadi el-Gurud (Valley of
the Monkeys or Baboons), because of a scene in this tomb
depicting the twelve Baboon, very similar to a scene in the Tomb
of Tutankhamun.
In fact, this tomb may have originally been intended for
Tutankhamun, but he died unexpectedly early so another,
private tomb was quickly enlarged for his burial. It is
very possible that both the tomb of Tutankhamun and this one
were decorated by the same artists.
Ay's tomb is designated WV 23 and is a fairly simple affair
as royal tombs go in the Valley of the Kings. It has a fairly
straight axis, though the burial chamber is offset. Typically,
tombs of this era usually had corridors that were offset from
the axis, so Ay's tomb built in the 18th
Dynasty seems to anticipate the stylistic attributes of
the 20th
Dynasty tombs. It was only recently opened to the public,
after the tomb was
 restored
However, it has no pillared halls, or even a ritual shaft, as
we find in most royal tombs.
The tomb was discovered in the winter of 1816 by Belzoni
who carved his name and the date on the rock at the side of
the entrance. It had been looted in antiquity, and also
seems to have been the object of deliberate mutilation.
Upon entering the tomb, a stairway is first encountered,
leading to the first corridor. After this corridor is
another steep stairway leading to the second corridor.
This corridor first leads to a vestibule, and then the burial
chamber, which is offset to the right (northeast). Behind the
 burial chamber is the tombs one storage
annex, in this case, often referred to as the canopic chamber.
Only the burial chamber is decorated, and even here, the
decorations form a simple scheme. However, some of the
paintings are both interesting and unusual. Perhaps this tomb
is most famous for a bird and hippopotamus hunting
scene. Ay, holding decoy ducks, and his first wife, Teye are
also depicted within this double scene. Most royal tombs of
this period rarely departed from a religious theme.
 On the southwest wall of the tomb in the top register we
find a scene depicting the goddess Nephthys
standing behind a boat carrying the nine gods of the Ennead,
consisting of Re-Horakhty
in front, followed by Atum,
Shu,
Tefnut,
Geb,
Nut,
Osiris,
Isis
and Horus.
Behind Nephthys is another boat carrying two falcon standards.
On the rear wall (northwest), we find a scene with Ay,
sometimes with his ka.
He is receiving offerings from Nut and is embraced by Osiris.
Turning the corner, on the northeast wall we find the scene of
the twelve baboons representing the first stage of the Book
of Amduat. Above the entrance to the storage annex is a
rare scene depicting the four sons of Horus shown as mummified
royal figures holding flails,
but not crooks. On the left are Duamutef and
Qebhsenuef wearing the crowns of Upper Egypt, while on the
right are Amsety and Hapy wearing the crowns of Lower Egypt.
Not much in the way of funerary equipment was found in this
tomb. Large fragments of the kings sarcophagus were
recovered, but Ay's mummy has never been found. The
sarcophagus was at one time moved to the Egyptian
Antiquities Museum in Cairo,
but after repairs were completed and the tombs burial chamber
cleared by Otto Schaden from the University of Minnesota in
1972, the sarcophagus was returned to the tomb. This red
quartzite sarcophagus is very similar to Tutankhamun's
with carved images of Isis, Nephthys, Selkis and Neith
at its corners protecting the deceased.
General Site Information
-
Structure: KV 23
-
Location: Valley of the Kings, West Valley, Thebes West Bank, Thebes
-
Owner: Ay
-
Other designations: 1 [Belzoni], 23 [Lepsius], b [Burton], Schai [Prisse d'Avennes and
L'Hote], W. 2 [Wilkinson], WV 23, WV23
-
Site type: Tomb
Orientation
Site Location
-
Latitude: 25.44 N
-
Longitude: 32.36 E
-
Elevation: 197.49 msl
-
North: 99,267.509
-
East: 93,177.253
-
JOG map reference: NG 36-10
-
Modern governorate: Qena (Qina)
-
Ancient nome: 4th Upper Egypt
-
Surveyed by TMP: Yes
Measurements
-
Maximum height: 5.44 m
-
Mininum width: 1.51 m
-
Maximum width: 8.89 m
-
Total length: 60.16 m
-
Total area: 212.22 m²
-
Total volume: 618.26 m³
Additional Tomb Information
Decoration
Categories of Objects Recovered
-
Human remains
-
Sculpture
-
Tomb equipment
-
Vessels
-
Writing equipment
Dating:
History of Exploration
-
Belzoni, Giovanni Battista (1816): Discovery (made for Henry Salt)
-
Belzoni, Giovanni Battista (1816): Excavation (conducted for Henry Salt)
-
Lepsius, Carl Richard (1824): Epigraphy
-
Wilkinson, John Gardner (1824): Visit
-
Burton, James (1825): Visit
-
Carter, Howard (1908): Excavation (removal of sarcophagus fragments to Cairo for
-
Gaston
Maspero, who had them re-assembled and displayed in the Egyptian
Museum)
-
Piankoff, Alexandre (1958): Epigraphy
-
Schaden, Otto J. (1972): Excavation (conducted for the University of Minnesota)
References:
| Title |
Author |
Date |
Publisher |
Reference Number |
|
Guide to the Valley of the Kings |
Siliotti, Alberto |
1997 |
Barnes & Noble Books |
ISBN 0-7607-0483-x |
|
Valley of the Kings |
Weeks, Kent R. |
2001 |
Friedman/Fairfax |
ISBN 1-5866-3295-7 |
|
Valley of the Kings |
Heyden, A. Van Der |
|
Al Ahram/Elsevier |
|
Archives
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