Valley of the Kings - KV4
tomb of Ramesses XI - XXth Dynasty

The tomb of Ramesses XI, having stood open since antiquity and been used as a dwelling and a stable by the Copts. In 1979 it was excavated by John Romer. Ramesses XI had abandoned the tomb unfinished, opting for burial elsewhere, perhaps in the north. Subsequently the tomb was taken over by Pinedjem I with a view to his own interment there. The tomb displays several unique features, among them the increased slope of the second corridor (C) and - even more pronounced - of the descent (G) from the first pillared hall (F). The inner corridors (B,C,D) are noticeably abbreviated, to the point that, as in Ramesses IX (KV6), there is only a short passage (G) leading from the first pillared hall (F) to the sarcophagus hall (H), which is unusual in its four rectangular pillars and in the deep (over 10 m) central burial shaft, perhaps intended as an additional security measure.


 

 

 

A - entrance (scenes with king kneeling between goddesses)
B - 1st corridor (king before Re-Horakhty, Meretseger and various deites)
C - 2nd corridor
D - 3rd corridor
E - well room (undecorated)
F - first pillared hall (undecorated)
G - short descending corridor
H -burial chamber with deep shaft (undecorated)

Copyright © 2000-2013 Dariusz Sitek, Czestochowa - Chicago - Ann Arbor