KV64

KV64 is the tomb of an unknown Eighteenth Dynasty individual in the Valley of the Kings, near Luxor, Egypt. It was re-used in the Twenty-second Dynasty for the burial of the priestess Nehmes Bastet, who held the office of chantress at the temple of Karnak. The tomb lies on the pathway to KV34, the tomb of Thutmose III, in the main Valley of the Kings. It was discovered in 2011 and excavated in 2012 by Susanne Bickel and Elina Paulin-Grothe of the University of Basel.

On 25 January 2011, work to install a protective iron cover over the shaft of KV40 uncovered the edges of a shaft cut into the rock 1.8 metres (5.9 ft) north of it. Because of its small size, approximately 1 by 2 metres (3.3 ft x 6.6 ft), it was first thought to be an embalming cache or an unfinished shaft. Excavation resumed in early January 2012, and the find was officially announced on 15 January 2012 and given the designation KV64.

The tomb has a short, narrow shaft 3.5 metres (11 ft) deep that opens onto a single room measuring 4.1 by 2.35 metres (13.5 by 7.7 ft), about 2 metres (6.6 ft) high. The doorway was blocked with stacked stone but not sealed. The room held the intact burial of the Twenty-second Dynasty chantress Nehmes Bastet, with her painted wooden funerary stele propped against the wall at the foot of the coffin. Her father Nakhtef-Mut was a priest of Amun at Karnak, and the stele shows her worshipping a composite deity with attributes of a sun-god and Osiris.

Within the debris were remnants of the robbed Eighteenth Dynasty burial: fragmentary canopic jars, fragments of coffins and cartonnage, glass, faience, leather, furniture parts, and a broken, unwrapped mummy who was likely the original owner. X-ray analysis showed the body belonged to a middle aged woman. A partial wooden label bears the name of Princess Satiah, and if it and the furniture naming Amenhotep III belong to this burial, the original owner may have been a princess of that reign.

The name KV64 had earlier been used tentatively for other anomalies: one detected by ground-penetrating radar during the autumn of 2000, 50 feet (15 m) north of KV63, and a possible tomb entrance in 2008 between the tombs of Merenptah (KV8) and Ramesses II (KV7).

On 25 January 2011, during the University of Basel Kings' Valley Project's 2011 excavation season, work to install a protective iron cover over the shaft of KV40 uncovered the edges of a shaft cut into the rock 1.8 metres (5.9 ft) north of KV40. Given the small size of the cutting, approximately 1 by 2 metres (3.3 ft × 6.6 ft), and its proximity to the neighbouring tomb, it was initially suggested to be a possible embalming cache or an unfinished shaft. The feature was given the initial designation of 'KV40b.' Due to its discovery coinciding with the beginning of the 2011 Egyptian revolution, it was fitted with a metal cover to await clearance the following season. Excavation resumed in early January 2012 and it soon became apparent that the feature was a tomb; the find was officially announced on 15 January 2012 and given the designation KV64.

The tomb consists of a short, rather narrow shaft 3.5 metres (11 ft) deep which opens onto a single room measuring 4.1 by 2.35 metres (13.5 by 7.7 ft) long and wide; the chamber has a height of approximately 2 metres (6.6 ft). The doorway was blocked with stacked stone but was not sealed. This blocking was evidently not original, as it sat on top of an earlier plastered blocking; a bowl of Eighteenth Dynasty-date containing Nile mud used for plastering the original blocking was encountered at the base of the door.