Presented by
Wm. Max Miller,
M. A.
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Quickly Access Specific Mummies With Our
Mummy Locator
Or
View mummies in the
following Galleries:
XVII'th
Dynasty
XVIII'th
Dynasty
Revised 5/15/03
Gallery IV
Featuring the controversial KV 55
mummy. Now with a revised reconstruction of ancient events in this perplexing
tomb.
Gallery V
Featuring the mummies of Tutankhamen and his children.
Still in preparation.
XIX'th
Dynasty
Gallery I
Now including the
mummy identified as
Ramesses I
XX'th
Dynasty
XXI'st
Dynasty
Unidentified Mummies
Gallery I
Including the mummy which some experts believe
may be that of Nefertiti.
Gallery
II
Including the KV 60 mummy found by
Donald P. Ryan
About the Dockets
Inhapi's Tomb
Acknowledgements
Links
Using this website for research papers
Project
Updates
See what's new at the T. R. M. P.
The Hall of Records
Archived Update Reports
Biographical Data about William Max Miller
Special Exhibits
Updated!
The Treasures of Yuya and Tuyu
View
the funerary equipment of Queen Tiye's parents!
New!
Tomb
Raiders of KV 46!
How thorough were the robbers who plundered the tomb of
Yuya and Tuyu? How many times was the tomb robbed, and what were the thieves
after? This study of post interment activity in KV 46 provides some answers.
Updated!
Special KV 55 Section!
========
Follow the trail of the missing treasures from mysterious KV 55.
KV 55's Lost
Objects: Where Are They Today?
The KV 55 Coffin
Basin and Gold Foil Sheets
KV 55 Gold Foil
at the Metropolitan
Mystery of the
Missing Mummy Bands
KV
35 Revisited
See rare photographic plates of a great
discovery from Daressy's Fouilles de la Vallee des Rois.
Unknown Man E
Was he really
buried alive?
The Tomb of Maihirpre
Learn about Victor Loret's
important discovery of this nearly intact tomb in the Valley of the Kings.
Special Section!
Tomb Robbers!
Who were the real tomb raiders?
What beliefs motivated their actions? A new perspective on the ancient practice
of tomb robbing!
Special Section!
Spend a Night
with the Royal Mummies
Read Pierre Loti's eerie account of
his nocturnal visit to the Egyptian Museum's Hall of Mummies.
Special Section!
An
Audience With Amenophis II Journey
once more with Pierre Loti as he explores the shadowy chambers of KV 35 in the
early 1900's.
Most of the images on this website have been
scanned from books, all of which are given explicit credit and, wherever
possible, a link to a dealer where they may be purchased. Some images derive
from other websites. These websites are also acknowledged in writing and by
being given a link, either to the page or file where the images appear, or to
the main page of the source website. Images forwarded to me by individuals who
do not supply the original image source are credited to the sender. All written
material deriving from other sources is explicitly credited to its author.
Feel free to use material from the Theban Royal Mummy Project website.
No prior written permission is required. Just please follow the same guidelines
which I employ when using the works of other researchers, and give the Theban
Royal Mummy Project proper credit on your own papers, articles, or
web pages.
--Thank You
This website is constantly developing and contributions
of data from other researchers are welcomed.
Contact The Theban Royal Mummy Project at:
anubis4_2000@yahoo.com
Background Image: Wall scene from the tomb of Ramesses II (KV 7.) From Karl
Richard Lepsius, Denkmäler (Berlin: 1849-1859.)
The Theban Royal
Mummy Project
by
William Max Miller, M.A.
Presents...
The Tale of the Cache Tombs
July, 1881. Deir el-Bahri, Egypt:For several years, Gaston Maspero, head of the Service of Antiquities, knew that 21'st Dynasty funerary papyri were available on the antiquities market, and that someone had discovered a royal tomb somewhere in the vast Theban necropolis across the Nile from modern Luxor. Suspicion fell on members of the Abd el-Rassul family from the village of Qurna, but, when questioned, they would admit to nothing. By 1881, Maspero had all but given up hope of locating the hidden tomb. But finally, after seeing his brothers arrested and tortured, Mohammed el-Rassul confessed and led Emile Brugsch, Maspero's assistant, to the site of the tomb in the cliff's of Dier el-Bahri. When Brugsch climbed down the entrance shaft of the tomb that would later be named DB 320, he made a discovery unlike any other in the history of Egyptology. As his eyes adjusted to the candle-lit dimness of the roughly hewn corridors, he found himself confronting the massed remains of 50 different burials, among them the coffins and mummies of some of the greatest rulers from ancient Egypt's glorious past. Stunned by the unprecedented nature of his find, Brugsch had the tomb rapidly cleared of its valuable contents and sent the mummies to Cairo for further study.
March 9'th, 1898. Biban el-Muluk, Egypt:
Seventeen years after the incredible Deir el-Bahri discovery, French Egyptologist Victor Loret entered the just-uncovered tomb of Amenhotep the 2'nd in the Valley of the Kings, and soon discovered that the New Kingdom Pharaoh did not rest alone. He found thirteen other mummies, most of them royal, interred in side chambers of the 18'th Dynasty ruler's tomb. These mummies were also eventually sent to Cairo for examination.
How had the mummies of so many Egyptian monarchs ended up in these two special tombs? And why were they removed from their own sepulchers to begin with? Investigators soon discovered many clues, including hieratic inscriptions (which they called "dockets,") on the coffins and wrappings of the mummies. Like pieces from an ancient puzzle, the physical evidence and inscriptions fit together into a strange tale of tomb robbers and priest-king rulers who tried to keep one step ahead of them. It turned out that Egypt's most illustrious rulers had not rested easy in their tombs, and had embarked upon many secret journeys since their departure to the Underworld. In an attempt to safeguard the bodies of their sacred dead (and also out of a desire to prop up a failing economy by exploiting the riches that had been buried with them) the Theban high-priest rulers of the late 20'th and 21'st Dynasties entered the tombs concealed by the cliffs of the Valley of the Kings, appropriated most of the the valuable funerary equipment for themselves, and shifted the mummies from tomb to tomb until they finally came to rest in DB 320 and the tomb of Amenhotep the 2'nd (KV 35.) There they lay, hidden and undisturbed, for almost three thousand years until modern searchers discovered their secret hiding places. This website tells their amazing story.
While You're Here,
Be Sure To See Our Featured Items!
Nicholas Reeves Announces New Tomb Discovery
In Valley of the Kings!
July 28, 2006--Reeves announces that radar reveals the presence of yet
another undiscovered tomb near KV62! Click the above link to go
directly
to the website of the Valley of the Kings Foundation.
New Cache Discovered in The Valley of the Kings!
Read the latest data about the amazing discovery of KV63!
Updated July 30, 2006.The Treasures of Yuya and Tuyu
New Images Added--I'd also like to hear web viewer's comments about the rest of the Yuya/Tuyu pages on this website. A lot of work has gone into "The Treasures of Yuya and Tuyu." I've even added some of my own artwork--my computer generated "paintings" of the coffins of Yuya and Tuyu now accompany the photographs of these objects. I've attempted to present photos and text in an aesthetically pleasing way, and have tried to provide more information and images about KV 46 than any other site currently online (with the exception, perhaps, of The Theban Mapping Project.) So be sure to visit the Yuya and Tuyu exhibit and let me know what you think I even added a sound track to this page, courtesy of Rudy Adrian & Ron Boots from the Groove Unlimited website. who kindly permitted me to use their beautiful sound composition.
Learn About Tomb Robbers--The detailed analysis of the robberies and restoration work done in the tomb of Yuya and Tuyu is now complete. All the published accounts concerning KV 46 as it was discovered are examined, and the reconstructions of events in the tomb that were formulated by the excavators, as well as the one provided by C. N. Reeves, are evaluated. A whole new reconstruction of events in KV 46 is then presented which is based on a close study of Joseph Lindon Smith's diagram of the burial chamber. Through examining the diagram, certain facts emerge which seem to have been overlooked concerning the disposition of the objects in the burial chamber which supply important information regarding the number of robberies that actually occurred in the tomb.
I originally entitled the study "Post Interment Activity in KV 46," but my son, Max, argued that this sounded too dry and technical! In order to attract more "hits" from net surfers, he suggested that I call it the more appealing "Tomb Raiders of KV 46." I've followed his advice and the paper now appears bearing the more dramatic title.
I would appreciate feedback about this study. It represents the result of a lot of research and detective work. So let me know what you think about this reconstruction by writing to me at anubis4_2000@yahoo.com.
KV 55 Data Revised--The section on the KV 55 mummy in 18'th Dynasty Gallery IV has been updated with the addition of a revised reconstruction of ancient events in KV 55. When I reread my original version, first published about two years ago, I realized that the arguments I presented for redating the KV 55 deposit to the reign of Ay were vague, hard to follow, and not entirely convincing. The whole section has now been rewritten in an easier-to-follow fashion, and a slightly different argument is employed to explain my dating of identical seal impressions found in KV 55 and near-by KV 62. This argument now cites sufficient evidence in its favor to be effectively persuasive. Previous reconstructions have been overly complicated by several assumptions, the main one being that KV 55 had been established as a cache by Tutankhamen for the official reburial of Smenkhkare/Akhenaten and Tiye. I formulate a slightly different interpretation which manages to avoid the complications entailed by this assumption.
Web Ring Affiliations
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