An
online catalogue of Egyptian mummies from the Theban cache tombs The Tale of the Cache Tombs
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 II
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. To explore these 3,000 year old mysteries...
DB 320
& KV 35, plus other mummies from the Theban
Necropolis.
July, 1881. Deir el-Bahri,
Egypt:
How had the mummies of so many Egyptian monarchs ended up in these
two special tombs? And why had they been removed from their own sepulchers?
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 from tomb robbers
(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
remaining 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 II (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.
Enter Here...