The tomb of Ramesses IX (KV 6) is the first tomb one encounters within the
modern entrance to the Valley of the
Kings. It is a rather simplistic tomb
in most respects, though the art work is interesting. John Gardner
Wilkinson said of the artwork:
"The features of the king are peculiar, and from the form of the
nose, so very unlike that of the usual Egyptian face, it becomes very probable
that their sculptures actually offer portraits..."
The tomb has stood open
since antiquity, and was visited by many ancient tourists, including 46 who left
inscriptions within the tomb. This tomb was apparently explored by Henry
Salt, who collected some of the funerary equipment which is now in his
collection at the British Museum. In 1888, the sepulchre was cleared by
George Daressy.
 Entrance is made to the tomb down a corridor with steps on either side,
which then connects to the first true corridor with two annexes on either side.
However, one of the annexes was never completed. This is followed by a
second and third corridor, prior to reaching a vestibule. Note the absence
of a ritual shaft. The vestibule opens into a four pillared hall, and then
a very short corridor which leads to the burial chamber with no annexes.
It is possible that the burial chamber was originally meant to be another
corridor, as it is very small, but was converted because of the kings
death. An unusual feature of the burial chamber is a two tiered pit in the
floor. No sarcophagus has ever been found.
 The
decorative theme for this tomb begins with the king's adoration of the sun disk,
accompanied by Isis
and Nephthys on the
lintel over the entrance. Variations of this are also found on the door lintels
of the second and third corridors. The art in this tomb is similar to that of Ramesses
VI, though here, the
first two corridors have passages from the Litanies of
Re, rather then the Book
of Gates. It appears that only decorative theme of the first corridor was
completed during Ramesses IX's lifetime, with the remainder of the artwork
completed with much less care and skill after his death.
 In the second and third corridors, in addition to the Litanies of Re, there
are also passages from the Book of the
Dead, the Book of
Caverns, and in the
last part, the Book of Amduat. Probably due not only to the changing
concept of the Afterlife, but also the lack of space, most of the texts are abbreviated,
and the Book of Gates does not show up at all. There are figures of two priests
to either side of the door to the pillared hall representing the Opening of the
Mouth ritual. The burial chamber has a vaulted ceiling with a double
representation of Nut and passages from the Book of the Day and the Book of the
Night.
The body of Ramesses IX was found in the Deir el-Bahri cache in 1881, in a
coffin originally prepared for the lady Neskhons, wife of Pinudjem II.
There is little in the way of funerary equipment which was discovered for
this tomb. As stated above, no sarcophagus was found.
 From the Salt Collection at the British Museum:
- Wooden shabtis
- Figured ostraca
- Wooden statues
- Life size wooden "ka" figure.
Discovered by George Daressy:
- About one hundred ostraca
- Runners of a large wooden shrine
General Site Information
- Structure: KV 6
- Location: Valley of the Kings, East Valley, Thebes West Bank, Thebes
- Owner: Rameses IX
- Other designations: 12 [Champollion], 3e Tombeau à l'est [Description], 6 [Lepsius], 9
[Hay], L [Burton], N (?) [Pococke]
- Site type: Tomb
Orientation
- Axis in degrees: 123.01
- Axis orientation: Southeast
Site Location
- Latitude: 25.44 N
- Longitude: 32.36 E
- Elevation: 171.481 msl
- North: 99,614.405
- East: 94,075.487
- JOG map reference: NG 36-10
- Modern governorate: Qena (Qina)
- Ancient nome: 4th Upper Egypt
- Surveyed by TMP: Yes
Measurements
- Maximum height: 4.61 m
- Mininum width: 0.81 m
- Maximum width: 8.55 m
- Total length: 105.02 m
- Total area: 396.41 m²
- Total volume: 1076.35 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
- Sculpture
- Tomb equipment
- Transport
- Written documents
Dating:
History of Exploration
- Pococke, Richard (1737-1738): Mapping/planning
- Salt, Henry (1817): Excavation
- Wilkinson, John Gardner (1824): Visit
- Hay, Robert (1824): Mapping/planning
- Burton, James (1825): Mapping/planning
- Franco-Tuscan Expedition (1828-1829): Epigraphy
- Daressy, Georges (1888): Excavation (conducted for the Service des Antiquités)
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 |
|
Archives
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