KV34

Tomb KV34, in the Valley of the Kings near the modern-day Egyptian city of Luxor, was the tomb of the 18th Dynasty Pharaoh Thutmose III. It was plundered in antiquity and its location lost, then rediscovered and first excavated in 1898 under Victor Loret.

One of the first tombs dug in the Valley, it was cut high in the cliff face of the furthermost wadi. On the cliff wall beside the staircase leading up to it is graffiti done by the workmen building the tomb. A steep corridor leads down, in a dog-leg shape, from the entrance past a deep well, which was intended to throw off potential tomb robbers and was later adapted in the tombs of Thutmose's successors. Beyond the well lies a trapezoidal antechamber.

Beyond the antechamber is the cartouche-shaped burial chamber, the first pharaonic tomb to have that shape, although later tombs reverted to a rectangular shape. Four smaller side chambers stand within it. The stone sarcophagus in which Thutmose's body was placed is still in place, albeit damaged by tomb robbers.

Many of the wall decorations are in an unusual style that, other than in KV35, the tomb of Thutmose III's son Amenhotep II, is not found elsewhere in the Valley of the Kings. On a yellow-tinged background intended to resemble aged papyrus, one of the earliest known versions of the Amduat is traced, showing the deities as simple, almost naive stick figures, with text in the cursive hieroglyphic book hand used more commonly for sacred texts on papyrus. The Litany of Ra also appears in the burial chamber, with a similar execution.

Rock-cut royal tombs of this kind were excavated on the west bank of the Nile opposite Thebes for a period of nearly 500 years, from the Eighteenth to the Twentieth Dynasty. The Valley, which became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979 with the rest of the Theban Necropolis, is known to contain 65 tombs and chambers.

One of the first tombs to be dug in the Valley, it was cut high in the cliff face of the furthermost wadi. On the way up the staircase to the tomb, on the cliff wall, is graffiti done by workmen building the tomb. A steep corridor leads down, in a dog-leg shape, from the entrance past a deep well. The well, intended to throw off potential tomb robbers, was later adapted in the tombs of Thutmose's successors. Passing across the well leads to a trapezoidal antechamber.

Beyond the antechamber lies the cartouche-shaped burial chamber, the first pharaonic tomb to have that shape, although later tombs reverted to a rectangular shape. In the burial chamber, there stand four smaller side chambers. The stone sarcophagus in which Thutmose's body was placed is still in place in the burial chamber, albeit damaged by tomb robbers.

Many of the wall decorations are in an unusual style that, other than KV35 (the tomb of Thutmose III's son, Amenhotep II), is not found elsewhere in the Valley of the Kings. On a yellow-tinged background (intended to resemble aged papyrus), one of the earliest known versions of the Amduat is traced, depicting the ancient Egyptian deities as simple (almost naive) stick figures, with text written in the cursive hieroglyphic book hand used more commonly for sacred texts on papyrus. The Litany of Ra also appears in the burial chamber, with a similar execution.