Overview
About this site
Overview
KV51 is a rock-cut tomb in the Valley of the Kings, Egypt. It was discovered in 1906 by Edward R. Ayrton, who was excavating on behalf of Theodore M. Davis. Together with KV50 and KV52 it forms a group of three known as the "Animal Tombs". KV51 contained the burials of three monkeys, one baboon, one ibis and three ducks, and is probably associated with the nearby tomb of Amenhotep II (KV35).
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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
KV51
The tomb lies on the same rocky promontory as KV49, in the side valley that leads towards KV35.
DescriptionSources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): KV51CC BY-SA 4.0
Sources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): KV51CC BY-SA 4.0
The tomb lies on the same rocky promontory as KV49, in the side valley that leads towards KV35. It is cut at a slightly higher level than KV49 and slightly to the north of KV50. It consists of a short shaft that opens to the south onto a single small chamber.
ExcavationsSources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): KV51CC BY-SA 4.0
Sources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): KV51CC BY-SA 4.0
KV51 was the second of a cluster of three tombs discovered by Ayrton in his methodical clearance of this part of the valley for Davis. He found the entrance buried under 6 feet (1.8 m) of debris and closed with stacked stones and the lid of a coffin, though some fill from the shaft had entered the tomb.
In the winter of 2009–2010 a Supreme Council of Antiquities team attempted to relocate tombs KV50, KV51, KV52 and KV53. The excavation revealed Eighteenth Dynasty blue painted pottery, tools, and ostraca bearing hieratic writing and images, including a sketch of a seated queen presenting an offering. Ostraca with the cartouches of Ramesses II were also found.
FindsSources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): KV51CC BY-SA 4.0
Sources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): KV51CC BY-SA 4.0
The room was found completely filled with animals, all of which had originally been mummified and wrapped in cloth. Immediately to the right were two monkeys, one wrapped and one partially unwrapped, sitting upright against the wall. Along the south wall were another monkey whose head had been unwrapped and an unwrapped ibis mummy sitting in a pile of bandages, together with a black box coffin. In the corner of the east wall was a baboon, unwrapped, wearing a necklace of blue beads. There were also the bodies of three mummified ducks. Ayrton noted that the mummies were likely fully or partially unwrapped by robbers searching for precious jewellery worn by the animals.
Also found were some wrapped organ packages made into the shape of mummies, and a small human-headed mask of plaster, brightly painted, which likely fitted one of the bundles. This treatment allowed Ayrton to date the tomb to the Eighteenth Dynasty. The wrapped organs of Thuya, mother of Queen Tiye, had been found similarly dressed in her tomb KV46 a year earlier.
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
From the article
Dated moments in the story
- 1906
It was discovered in 1906 by Edward R.
Source - 2009
In the winter of 2009–2010, a Supreme Council of Antiquities team attempted to relocate tombs KV50, KV51, KV52 and KV53. The excavation revealed Eighteenth Dynasty blue painted pottery, tools, and ostraca bearing hieratic writing and images, including a sketch of a seated queen presenting an offering and depictions...
Source
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.
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Sources
Every record behind this page, with the link it came from.
3 sources behind this page
- 01Wikidata Q2910785wikidata.org
- 02Source for this dateen.wikipedia.org
- 03Wikipedia: KV51en.wikipedia.org
Image files
- KV51.jpgR.F.MorganCC BY-SA 3.0
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Around this place
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Credit
Text, licence and sources
Adapted from the Wikipedia article "KV51" (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): KV51CC BY-SA 4.0
- Wikidata Q2910785CC0