KV45

Tomb KV45 is an ancient Egyptian tomb in the Valley of the Kings. It was originally used for the burial of the noble Userhet of the Eighteenth Dynasty and was reused by Merenkhons and an unknown woman in the Twenty-second Dynasty. It lies in a small wadi that runs east from the main valley, adjacent to KV44.

Howard Carter discovered and excavated the tomb in 1902, in his role as Chief Inspector of Antiquities, on behalf of Theodore M. Davis. Gaston Maspero and Carter had identified promising locations in January. After finding nothing between KV2 and KV7, or at the mouth of the small valley and KV5, excavation shifted to clearing the small valley itself. A trench ran the entire width of the valley and, near KV28 and next to KV44, an intact tomb was found. The burial was opened on 25 February 1902 when Davis returned from Aswan.

The tomb consists of a vertical shaft 3 metres (9.8 ft) deep ending in a small chamber, which was a third full of debris when found. It held an intact burial dating to the Twenty-second Dynasty: a man and a woman, each in a set of two nested coffins, with two boxes of clay ushabti and the remains of floral wreaths scattered around. Water had penetrated the tomb in the past, and Carter noted that it had 'been completely destroyed by rain water.' The coffins and mummies were in very poor condition, and only the face of one of the man's coffins was salvaged.

The man was identified from the titles on a small black limestone heart scarab as Merenkhons, Doorkeeper of the House of Amun, while nothing identifiable was found on the woman's mummy. Because these burials sat on top of the fill, they were clearly not the original occupants. Of the presumed original owner, Userhet, Overseer of the Fields of Amun, only fragments of alabaster canopic jars bearing his name were found.

The Pacific Lutheran University Valley of the Kings Project, headed by Donald P. Ryan, re-investigated the tomb in 1991. Apart from the heart scarab and the male coffin face, Carter had left everything as found. Careful excavation recovered all remaining pieces of the double wooden coffin sets, including the face of the woman's coffin, along with eighty-eight ushabti fragments and the remains of two further individuals, presumably the original occupants. The project resumed in 2005 and found that water had penetrated the tomb, probably during the 1994 floods. All artefacts from KV45 and KV44, barring pottery and human remains, were moved to KV21 for protection.

KV45 is located in a small wadi that runs east from the main valley and is adjacent to KV44. The tomb was discovered in February 1902 in the course of excavations sponsored by the American millionaire Theodore Davis. In the January Gaston Maspero and Carter had identified promising locations for exploration in the main valley. Having encountered nothing in the spans between KV2 and KV7, and the mouth of the small valley and KV5, excavation shifted to clearing the small valley itself. Running a trench the entire width of the valley excavation advanced up the valley and in the vicinity of KV28 and next to KV44, which was investigated the previous year, an intact tomb was discovered. The burial was opened on 25 February 1902 when Davis returned from Aswan.