The Tomb of Ramesses III (KV
11) is really a rather complex system. It has been
known since antiquity, but was first partially explored during modern times by James Bruce
in 1768.  Later,
William Browne gained access to the burial chamber in 1792, and Belzoni
removed the sarcophagus and lid, which are now, respectively, in the Louvre and
Fitzwilliam Museum. He named it the "Tomb of the Harpists", due to a bas
relief representation of two blind harpists. However, European travelers
often referred to the tomb as "Bruce's Tomb". The tomb is beautifully
decorated with grand colors that remain vivid.The tomb is 125 meters long and follows typical plans of the Nineteenth
Dynasty's tombs, though it has an unusual number of annexes. From the
entrance, a stairway leads to the first corridor, which has an annex on either
side. This corridor leads directly two a second corridor that has four
small annexes on either side. The second corridor leads to a dead end room, but
with a third corridor leading off from the right side. This change in axis was
due to the fact that workmen came across Amenemesses' tomb and so were required
to make adjustments to avoid it. Up to the point of this change in axis, the
tomb was actually built for Setnakht,
who apparently abandoned the work at this point. Ramesses III offset the
tomb, and continued the work as his own.
 From the third corridor,
we finally reach the ritual shaft, and then a four pillared hall with one large
annex off to its right. After the pillared
 hall, a fourth corridor takes
us to a two room vestibule, and then finally to the burial chamber. The
burial chamber has one annex leading off from each of its corners, plus a fifth
annex at the rear.
At the entrance to the tomb are unique, twin Hathor-headed columns. Between
them is the standard solar disc with goddesses. The first several
corridors were decorated for Sethnakhte, with remnants of his name still
present. Passages from the Litany
of Re adorn their walls. However, the side chambers were added by
Ramesses III, and are decorated with unique secular scenes, including paintings
of the royal armory, representations of boats, and the famous blind harpists.
There are also scenes of the king's treasury showing luxury items, some of which
were clearly imported from Aegean.
 After
the offset, the decorative program clearly becomes that of Ramesses III's
work. Scenes from the Amduat
are found in the corridor leading from the offset, while standard divine scenes
decorate the ritual shaft. The four pillared hall is decorated with scenes
from the Book
of Gates, with Ramesses and various deities on the pillars themselves.
The final corridor is inscribed with material from the Opening
of the Mouth ceremony.
In the antechambers, we find decorations depicting various deities.
Within the burial chamber itself are to be found decorations form the Book of
Gates and the Book
of the Earth. Interestingly, there are no ceiling decorations, but the
side rooms are decorated with texts an an example of the Book
of the Divine Cow.
There was little in the way of funerary equipment found in the Tomb. Other
then the sarcophagus mentioned above, with the exception of five shabtis figures
cast in solid bronze, now in the British Museum, in Turin, in the Louvre, and in
the Oriental Museum in Durham.
General Site Information
- Structure: KV 11
- Location: Valley of the Kings, East Valley, Thebes West Bank, Thebes
- Owner: Rameses III
- Other designations: 1 [Champollion], 11 [Lepsius], 17 [Hay], 5e Tombeau à l'est
[Description], Bruce's Tomb, F [Burton], Harper's Tomb, K, plan K
[Pococke]
- Site type: Tomb
Orientation
- Axis in degrees: 178.72
- Axis orientation: South
Site Location
- Latitude: 25.44 N
- Longitude: 32.36 E
- Elevation: 175.89 msl
- North: 99,539.973
- East: 94,050.193
- JOG map reference: NG 36-10
- Modern governorate: Qena (Qina)
- Ancient nome: 4th Upper Egypt
- Surveyed by TMP: Yes
Measurements
- Maximum height: 6.55 m
- Mininum width: 0.75 m
- Maximum width: 13.85 m
- Total length: 188.11 m
- Total area: 702.02 m²
- Total volume: 2174.29 m³
Additional Tomb Information
- Entrance location: Base of sloping hill
- Owner type: King
- Entrance type: Ramp
- Interior layout: Corridors and chambers
- Axis type: Straight
Decoration
- Grafitti
- Painting
- Sunk relief
Categories of Objects Recovered
- Human mummies
- Tomb equipment
- Vessels
Dating:
History of Exploration
- Pococke, Richard (1737-1738): Mapping/planning
- Bruce, James (1769): Epigraphy
- Bruce, James (1769): Mapping/planning
- Browne, William George (1792): Visit
- Napoleonic Expedition (1799): Epigraphy
- Belzoni, Giovanni Battista (1816, 1819): Excavation (removal of sarcophagus and lid)
- Burton, James (1825): Mapping/planning
- Hay, Robert (1825-1835): Epigraphy
- Franco-Tuscan Expedition (1828-1829): Epigraphy
- Lepsius, Carl Richard (1844-1845): Epigraphy
- Service des Antiquités (1895): Excavation
- Marciniak, Marek (1981): Epigraphy
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 |
|
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 |
|
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