Overview
About this site
Overview
KV38 is an ancient Egyptian rock-cut tomb in the Valley of the Kings, Egypt. It was used for the reburial of Pharaoh Thutmose I of the Eighteenth Dynasty, whose body was moved to it from KV20 by Thutmose III before being relocated to the Royal Cache at Deir el-Bahri during the Third Intermediate Period.
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Where it sits in time
The site's dated range, placed against world reference points.
The scale is logarithmic: each step to the left is about ten times older than the last.
Article
KV38
Sjef Willockx has proposed that KV38 was originally built by Hatshepsut as a tomb for a young Thutmose III, in case the boy-king did not live to adulthood.
InterpretationSources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): KV38CC BY-SA 4.0
Sources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): KV38CC BY-SA 4.0
Sjef Willockx has proposed that KV38 was originally built by Hatshepsut as a tomb for a young Thutmose III, in case the boy-king did not live to adulthood. After he reached adulthood, Willockx proposed, Thutmose III chose to carve a new tomb, KV34, for himself rather than extend KV38, and the old tomb was expanded to accommodate the reburial of his grandfather Thutmose I.
FindsSources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): KV38CC BY-SA 4.0
Sources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): KV38CC BY-SA 4.0
Fragments of the background of the burial chamber show that the tomb also contained portions of the Amduat, a funerary text commonly found in royal tombs of the period, intended to guide deceased royalty through the afterlife.
ContextSources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): KV38CC BY-SA 4.0
Sources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): KV38CC BY-SA 4.0
In the Valley of the Kings, on the west bank of the Nile opposite Thebes, tombs were excavated for pharaohs and powerful nobles of the New Kingdom over a period of nearly 500 years, from the Eighteenth to the Twentieth Dynasty.
Tradition and region
About this kind of monument
Rock-cut tombs of Egypt
Egypt has some of the best-known rock-cut tombs in the world. In the Valley of the Kings, on the west bank of the Nile opposite Thebes, tombs were excavated for pharaohs and powerful nobles of the New Kingdom, for a period of nearly 500 years from the Eighteenth to the Twentieth Dynasty. The valley has two main sections, the East Valley where most royal tombs lie and the West Valley, known as the Valley of the Monkeys, and it is known to contain 65 tombs and chambers. It gained great attention after the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun in 1922, and became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979 with the rest of the Theban Necropolis.
Much earlier, Beni Hasan in Middle Egypt is an ancient funerary site cut into the limestone cliffs on the east bank of the Nile about 20 kilometres south of Minya. In the Middle Kingdom it was the principal cemetery of the sixteenth nome of Upper Egypt, the Oryx nome, and its monumental tombs were cut roughly halfway up the cliff, overlooking the valley. Rock-cut tombs are also found at Deir el-Medina, between the Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens.
The mastaba is a different tradition: a flat-roofed rectangular tomb with sloping sides, built of mudbrick or limestone, which marked the burial sites of eminent Egyptians in the Early Dynastic Period and Old Kingdom. The mastaba was built above ground and the rock-cut tomb into the cliff.
Egyptian tombs are among the best dated monuments in the Atlas, because the dynasty or reign of the king or noble who owned them is known.
When visiting, remember that access to many tombs is limited.
Paraphrased from Wikipedia: Valley of the Kings, Wikipedia: Beni Hasan, Wikipedia: Rock-cut tomb, Wikipedia: Mastaba · CC BY-SA 4.0
Photographs
1 photograph, each with its author and licence
Lore
Evidence & Lore
What the sources actually support — and, kept apart, what has been claimed.
What the evidence supports
Dates
Est. 1539–1075 BCEHow this date was established: Type comparisonTypical range for hypogeums in Egypt; this site has not been dated itself. The Valley was used for primary burials from approximately 1539 BC to 1075 BC.Source for this date
Where it stands
Egypt
The pin marks the monument itself — its exact point.
- Coordinates
- 25°44′27″ N, 32°36′08″ EFor a GPS or map app: 25.74083, 32.60222
Access is as our sources describe it; we have not visited the site to check.
Nearby
The closest sites in the Atlas, by straight line.
Sources
Every record behind this page, with the link it came from.
3 sources behind this page
- 01Wikidata Q2771864wikidata.org
- 02Source for this dateen.wikipedia.org
- 03Wikipedia: KV38en.wikipedia.org
Image files
- KV38.jpgR.F.MorganCC BY-SA 3.0
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Around this place
The ten nearest sites, by compass
Credit
Text, licence and sources
Adapted from the Wikipedia article "KV38" (English), licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; authors are listed in the page history. Reused under CC BY-SA 4.0. Read on Wikipedia · Edit history and authors
- Wikipedia (English): KV38CC BY-SA 4.0
- Wikidata Q2771864CC0