Located in the Valley of the Kings

Valley of the Kings

The Valley of the Kings , less often called the Valley of the Gates of the Kings , is a valley in Egypt where, for a period of nearly 500 years from the 16th to 11th century BC, tombs were constructed for the Pharaohs and powerful nobles of the New Kingdom .The valley stands on the west bank of...

, Tomb KV12 is an unusual tomb, used originally in the Eighteenth Dynasty of Ancient Egypt

Ancient Egypt

Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...

, and then again in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Dynasties. It was probably used for multiple burials of royal family members, rather like KV5

KV5

Tomb KV5 is a subterranean, rock-cut tomb in the Valley of the Kings.It belonged to the sons of Ramesses II. Though KV5 was partially excavated as early as 1825, its true extent was discovered by Dr Kent R. Weeks and his exploration team. The tomb is now known to be the largest in the Valley of the...

.

The builders of KV9

KV9

Tomb KV9 in Egypt's Valley of the Kings was originally constructed by Pharaoh Ramesses V. He was interred here, but his uncle Ramesses VI later reused the tomb as his own....

broke into KV12 whilst excavating that tomb. During the excavation, rumors of the second tomb had circulated throughout the camp, however, leading scientists dismissed the idea and continued on. Little did they realize the mistake that was about to be made. On the morning of August 8, 1995 diggers broke though the ground into the tomb only to find the remains of multiple family members in the new tomb. Researchers are still working on identifying the family members and collecting the other artifacts in the tomb.

External links

• Theban Mapping Project: KV12 - Includes description, images, and plans of the tomb.