KV18

The tomb consists of a large entryway with a decorated lintel and two steps, which lead to two sections of gently sloping corridor separated by steps and gates. It ends in a stepped back wall, which illustrates the quarrying method used by the workmen.

Despite its unfinished state, KV18 was partially decorated. The lintel above the entrance has a carved and painted scene of a central solar disc containing a scarab and a ram-headed god, adored on both sides by kneeling figures of Ramesses X, who is accompanied by the goddesses Isis on the left and Nephthys on the right. The door jambs preserve parts of the king's names. The first corridor has traces of decoration, but the only identifiable figure is that of Ra-Horakhty on the left wall.

The tomb was open in antiquity and filled with flood debris; the University of Basel's MISR: Mission Siptah-Ramesses X project counted a total of 30 layers of sediment in the second corridor. The entrance was visible in the early 19th century, when the lintel decoration was copied by early Egyptologists such as Jean-François Champollion in 1826 and later Karl Richard Lepsius.

The first known excavation took place in the winter of 1901-2, when Howard Carter dug around the entrance and found a partial foundation deposit consisting of model tools made of faience. Between 1998 and 2000 the University of Basel's mission carried out a full clearance of the tomb. It removed the wall built by Carter at the far end of the tomb and excavated the flood-washed fill to reveal the unfinished state of the tomb. The team also recorded, catalogued and partially reassembled generator components, and cleaned the walls and lintel of the grime produced by the generators.