KV47

Tomb KV47, in the Valley of the Kings in Egypt, was used for the burial of Pharaoh Siptah of the Nineteenth Dynasty. Edward R. Ayrton, excavating for Theodore M. Davis, discovered it on December 18, 1905. Siptah's mummy had been found earlier, cached in KV35. KV47 was the last of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Dynasty kings' tombs to be uncovered in the Valley, and it was unfinished at the time of its use.

It lies in a bay at the southern end of the Valley, close to the contemporary tombs of Seti II (KV15), Bay (KV13), and Twosret (KV14). Unlike those, it was cut into a tongue of rock running north to south. A ramp flanked by stairs leads down to a large stucco-covered doorway, whose lintel depicts Isis and Nephthys adoring the sun. The tomb runs through three hallways, a square chamber and a pillared hall with four columns, then a descending staircase to two further corridors. The Sepulchral Hall, or burial chamber, measures 9.30 by 13.50 metres (30.5 ft × 44.3 ft). Only the beginning of the long passageway to it was decorated before work stopped. A side passage was abandoned after workmen broke through into Side Chamber Ja of the tomb of Tia'a, KV32.

Ayrton stopped in 1907 because of safety fears, and Harry Burton returned in 1912 to finish the work. On 2 January 1913 the Sepulchral Hall was reached. The ceiling had partly collapsed, but the pink granite sarcophagus of the king remained, measuring 10.25 by 5.25 feet (3.12 m × 1.60 m), with its lid lying face down beside it. It held only a handful of bones from a later, Third Intermediate Period burial. Other finds included alabaster ushabti of Siptah, limestone jar lids decorated with lotuses, and fragments of canopic chests and anthropoid coffins, some unexpectedly bearing the name of Merenptah.

Howard Carter excavated in the entranceway in 1922. The University of Basel's MISR Project re-examined the tomb in 2001/2002 and 2004/2005, cleaning and consolidating walls and revealing traces of decoration in the antechamber, and uncovering a Nineteenth Dynasty workmen's camp outside the entrance. Pieces naming the Royal Mother Thiy (Tiaa) are now thought to be strays washed in from the adjacent KV32.

KV47 is located in a bay at the southern end of the Valley of the Kings, close to the contemporary tombs of Seti II (KV15), Bay (KV13), and Twosret (KV14). Unlike these tombs, which are cut into the cliff face, this tomb was cut into a tongue of rock running north to south that separates the bay from the main valley.

In November 1905 Davis secured Ayrton as his excavator, looking to continue his systematic clearance of the Valley. The investigation began by systematically running trenches towards the rock face at regular intervals, encountering the top of a flight of steps on 18 December 1905. The entrance had been buried at a depth of 6–12 feet (1.8–3.7 m) in chippings and debris from the construction of the surrounding tombs. After a day of excavation the top of the lintel was revealed, bearing the cartouches of Siptah, who had, until that point, been thought to share the tomb of Twosret.

The tomb layout consists of a ramp flanked by stairs leading down to a large stucco-covered doorway. The jambs bear the king's names and titles while the lintel depicts Isis and Nephthys adoring the sun in the form of Khnum-Kheper-Re. The entrance was once sealed by large wooden doors, as evidenced by the sockets cut into the floor and ceiling. The tomb then progresses through three hallways, which are alternately descending and flat; small niches are cut on either side at the far end of the third corridor. Next is a square chamber with a level floor, followed by a pillared hall with four columns; only one unstable column remains. A descending staircase cut into the middle of the floor leads to two further corridors. A vestibule and antechamber adjoin the Sepulchral Hall or burial chamber, which measures 9.30 by 13.50 metres (30.5 ft × 44.3 ft). Four columns arranged across the width of the chamber once supported the flat section of the roof; the rest of the chamber has a vaulted ceiling.

Ayrton considered the layout of the tomb to be similar to that of KV14, and in the general style of the period of its construction. However, there are several unusual features: Two descending corridors, instead of the conventional corridor and stairway, lead from the pillared hall; the unfinished burial chamber lacks satellite storage chambers, perhaps due to the unstable nature of the rock. Most unique is the passage commencement on the left side of the final corridor which was abandoned after it broke through into KV32, on the opposite side of the hill. It was intended to be the start of the original burial chamber, or perhaps to provide the storage rooms. Siptah's tomb has a long almost 400 foot passageway to the burial chamber but only the beginning section of this section was decorated before work stopped here; the rest of this passageway is just bare hewn rock.