Regrettably, the huge tomb of perhaps the greatest ruler,
Ramesses II, is unsuitable for excursions by tourists.
For all his greatness, he perhaps chose one of the worst
places for his tomb, which has seen no less then seven major
flooding events. Even the underlying shale has
 been
subjected to moisture induced swelling. The once magnificent
paintings on the wall have mostly flaked off, and are now
buried in different layers of flood strata.A number of people have examined this tomb (KV 7) in the
Valley of the Kings on the West Bank at
Luxor (ancient Thebes). It
is located at the foot of the northern side of the main
valley. The tomb has at least partially stood open
since antiquity. Explorers and Egyptologists who have
investigated the tomb include Henry Salt around 1817, Champollion and
Rosellini, Lepsius, Harry Burton (for Theodore Davis) between
1913 and 1914, and the Howard
Carter, who cleaned up the entrance between 1917 and 1921. All of them came away from the tomb feeling
as though there was nothing in it to explore, due to the
extreme damage. However, the French are back under
Christian Leblanc, once again excavating this tomb but
apparently with some success. Today the tomb is almost
completely cleared of flood debris.
 The tomb is not the longest tomb of any king in the Valley
of the Kings, but it is probably the largest in area. It
covers more then 820 square meters (8,800 square feet). We
believe he began construction on it during the second year of
his reign.
The tomb reverts to an older plan for tombs, with a
bent-axis plan, but it does not regress in style. The bent
axis is most likely because its architects were required to
avoid a bed of shale during the tomb's construction. In order
to enter the tomb, one must progress down a short ramp and
stairway and then make a left turn. The decorative program is
similar to the tomb of
Seti
I, but with some new additions. It is the last royal tomb
that still features decoration entirely in true relief. At the entrance and for the first time, we find a lintel
with decorations of a solar disc flanked by Isis and
Nephthys.
In the doorway we find scenes of Ma'at seated above
heraldic plants of Egypt.
From here, there is a split stairway with a descending ramp
that leads to the first corridor, which along with the next
stairway, is decorated with scenes from the Litany of
Re. This stairway is also split with a center ramp, and
descends to the second corridor, where passages from the
scenes of the Amduat can be found. This corridor is
followed by the ritual shaft, which is decorated with the
twelve divisions of the Book of Amduat, a feature not repeated
in any other tombs in the Valley of the Kings. This shaft is
six meters (20 feet) deep.
 Just after the ritual shaft is the first pillared hall,
known as the Chariot Room,
which is decorated with an Osiris shrine and scenes from the
Book of Gates. Within this room there are four pillars,
with a central stairway descending down to the third
corridor. On the right side of the first pillared hall is
a smaller four pillared annex. The long third corridor is
decorated with scenes from the Opening of the Mouth ceremony.
It leads finally to the antechamber.
The antechamber is decorated with scenes from chapter 125
of the Book of
the Dead, a new innovation the future kings would follow.
There are also scenes of the weighing of the heart that cover
parts of the wall. On the antechamber's right side, so that the tomb makes somewhat more then a
90 degree turn, is the entrance to the burial chamber. The
burial chamber (or Golden Chamber) has eight pillars and is decorated with scenes
from the Book of Gates, and the Amduat.. Interestingly, the crypt is positioned in the center of
the room instead of at the rear as most other tombs are
arranged. Two small annexes sprout off from the burial chamber
on both sides, and are also decorated. The right front annex
is decorated with scenes from the Book of the Divine
Cow, while the other mostly repeat the decorative theme of
the burial chamber.
Two, two pillared annexes are located at each corner at the
rear of the burial chamber. The left chamber is decorated
with scenes from the Amduat, while the right chamber was
decorated with scenes from both the Amduat and the Book of
Gates. The right annex next leads
to a plain, large room that had four containers for canopic
jars, guarded by the
 goddesses Isis and Nephthys, who flanked
the doorway. This room leads to the final two pillared annex
which is decorated with chapter 110 from the Book of the Dead.
Right: Part of Ramesses II's Sarcophagus
Not much was found in the tomb in the way of funerary
equipment. What a pity. Imagine if you will what
might have been found had the tomb been largely undisturbed
like the tomb
of Tutankhamun. The only funerary equipment
we know of consists of:
- A badly damaged cast bronze shabti, now in the Berlin
collection
- A wooden shabtis now in the Brooklyn Museum
- A wooden shabtis, transformed into a resin coated Osiris
figure now in the British Museum
- Fragmentary shawabty carved in bluish anhydrite
- Fragments of statues
- Fragments of faience
- Bits of glass, calcite and limestone lids from vessels
- A fragment of calcite from either the kings sarcophagus
or canopic chest
- Other fragments
A robbery of Ramesses' tomb was the subject of a well known
papyrus known as the Strike Manuscript, which dates back to
the 28th year of the reign of Ramesses
III.
The mummy of Ramesses II was not found in his tomb. It was
first removed to the tomb of his father (KV 17) during
antiquity, and later moved to the cache at Deir el-Bahari,
where it was discovered in 1881 by H. Brugsch and Maspero.
General Site Information
- Structure: KV 7
- Location: Valley of the Kings, East Valley, Thebes West Bank, Thebes
- Owner: Rameses II
- Other designations: 10 [Hay], 7 [Lepsius], 8 [Champollion], C
[Pococke],Commencement d'excavation ou grotte fermée [Description], K [Burton]
- Site type: Tomb
Orientation
- Axis in degrees: 324.76
- Axis orientation: Northwest
Site Location
- Latitude: 25.44 N
- Longitude: 32.36 E
- Elevation: 169.75 msl
- North: 99,621.308
- East: 94,063.747
- JOG map reference: NG 36-10
- Modern governorate: Qena (Qina)
- Ancient nome: 4th Upper Egypt
- Surveyed by TMP: Yes
Measurements
- Maximum height: 5.82 m
- Mininum width: 0.74 m
- Maximum width: 13.06 m
- Total length: 168.05 m
- Total area: 868.4 m²
- Total volume: 2286.43 m³
Additional Tomb Information
- Entrance location: Base of sloping hill
- Owner type: King
- Entrance type: Ramp
- Interior layout: Corridors and chambers
- Axis type: Bent
Decoration
- Grafitti
- Painting
- Raised relief
- Sunk relief
Categories of Objects Recovered
- Sculpture
- Tomb equipment
- Vessels
Dating:
History of Exploration
- Pococke, Richard (1737-1738): Mapping/planning
- Napoleonic Expedition (1799): Mapping/planning
- Burton, James (1825): Mapping/planning
- Franco-Tuscan Expedition (1828-1829): Epigraphy
- Lepsius, Carl Richard (1844-1845): Epigraphy
- Lepsius, Carl Richard (1844-1845): Excavation
- Lepsius, Carl Richard (1845): Mapping/planning
- Burton, Harry (1913-1914): Excavation (conducted on behalf of Theodore M. Davis)
- Maystre, Charles (1938): Excavation
- Maystre, Charles (1938): Epigraphy
- Brooklyn Museum (1978): Excavation
- Theban Mapping Project (1979): Mapping/planning
- Leblanc, Christian (1993-): Excavation
- Leblanc, Christian (1993-): Conservation
- Salt, Henry (ca. 1817): Excavation
- Salt, Henry (ca. 1817): Visit
References:
| Title |
Author |
Date |
Publisher |
Reference
Number |
| Complete Valley of the
Kings, The (Tombs and Treasures of Egypt's Greatest
Pharaohs) |
Reeves, Nicholas; Wilkinson,
Richard H. |
1966 |
Thames and Hudson Ltd |
IBSN 0-500-05080-5 |
| Valley of the Kings |
Weeks, Kent R. |
2001 |
Friedman/Fairfax |
ISBN 1-5866-3295-7 |
Archives
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