WV22

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WV22
Burial site of Amenhotep III
Location West Valley of the Kings
Discovery Date before 1799
Excavated by Howard Carter
Sakuji Yoshimura
Jiro Kondo
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Tomb WV22, in the Western arm of the Valley of the Kings, was used as the resting place of one of the greatest rulers of Egypt's New Kingdom, Amenhotep III. The tomb is unique in that it has two subsidiary burial chambers for the pharaoh's wives Tiye and Sitamen (who was also his daughter).

The tombs layout and decoration follow the tombs of the kings predecessors Amenhotep II and Thutmoses IV however the decoration is much finer in quality.

It was officially discovered by Prosper Jollois and Édouard de Villiers du Terrage, engineers with Napoleon's expedition to Egypt in August 1799, but had probably been open for some time before that. Subsequently someone removed images of the pharaoh's head in several places, which can be seen today in the Louvre.

The tomb was officially cleared by Howard Carter in the early twentieth century.

The sarcophagus is missing from the tomb.

[edit] References

  • Reeves, N & Wilkinson, R.H. The Complete Valley of the Kings, 1996, Thames and Hudson, London
  • Siliotti, A. Guide to the Valley of the Kings and to the Theban Necropolises and Temples, 1996, A.A. Gaddis, Cairo

[edit] External links