KV30

Tomb KV30 is an ancient Egyptian tomb in the Valley of the Kings in Egypt. It likely dates to the mid-Eighteenth Dynasty and was used for the burial of an unknown individual. It lies in a side valley that leads to the tomb of Thutmose III (KV34), among other tombs of similar date, including the tomb of Thutmose IV's mother Tiaa (KV32) and KV42. It is approximately opposite KV26.

The layout consists of a vertical shaft 7 metres (23 ft) deep, which opens onto a corridor leading to one large chamber surrounded by four smaller rooms. The tomb has a total length of 23 metres (75 ft). Red ink outlines of the intended door widths for all the side chambers show that construction marks remain in the tomb.

Its modern history is uncertain. In the 1960s Elizabeth Thomas suggested that it was one of the two tombs excavated by Giovanni Belzoni for Lord Belmore, and so might be where the sarcophagus came from that Lord Belmore donated to the British Museum. The early Egyptologist James Burton visited it in the early 1800s and noted a red ink inscription, theorised to be a quarry mark. Thomas made a map in the 1960s and mentioned a single Eighteenth Dynasty pot sherd, and the Theban Mapping Project mapped the tomb again in the 1980s.

The University of Basel's Kings' Valley Project excavated the tomb in 2009. The shaft held modern rubbish above older sandy fill, and a large boulder filled almost the entire shaft. Beneath it were a wooden docket for fat and pottery, one sherd of which refit with a vessel from KV26. The red ink inscription noted by Burton was found in the shaft, approximately 1.70 metres (5.6 ft) above the floor, and proved to be a graffito made of components of the name Menkheperre, the throne name of Thutmose III, although its exact reading is unclear.

The corridor was filled to within 50 centimetres (20 in) of the ceiling. The mixed fill held reed matting, fragments of painted wooden coffins, ostraca, faience, a piece of coloured glass and cartonnage, which indicates a burial presumably in the Eighteenth Dynasty. The main chamber was only partly filled with debris, including pieces of wooden and stone vessels, and its far side was filled with bat droppings. The tomb was re-cleared, a protective door was fitted to the entrance, and it was accurately mapped in 2010 and comprehensively photographed in 2016.

KV30 is located in a side valley that leads to the tomb of Thutmose III (KV34) and other tombs of similar date including the tomb of Thutmose IV's mother Tiaa (KV32) and KV42. It is approximately opposite KV26.

The layout consists of a vertical shaft 7 metres (23 ft) deep which opens onto a corridor that leads to one large chamber surrounded by four smaller rooms. It has a total length of 23 metres (75 ft).