Valley of the Kings - KV7
tomb of Ramesses II and his sons - XIXth Dynasty

The condition of KV7 is poor, immense damage having been wrought by the seven or more distinct 'flooding events' to which the tomb has been subjected over the centuries and by moisture-induced swelling of the underlying shale. The site Ramesses II chose for his tomb was not a good one.Although the tomb reverts to the old bent-axis plan, perhaps to avoid an intrusive bed od shale encountered in its excavation, the structure is not atavistic in design, as can be seen from new elements such as the decreased slope of its passages, the form of its first pillared hall (F) with the added room (G) to the side, the radically new design of the burial chamber (K). The reason for turning the burial chamber sideways - and at an angle - is unknown, though the addition of the fourth set of pillars and the large size of this chamber allowed a new emphasis to be placed on the crypt, which was new positioned in the centre of the room instead of at its end. The KV7 is perhaps the largest in the valley, the whole tomb covering more than c.820 m2 and the burial chamber alone some c.181 m2.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A - entrance and stair-ramp (solar disc flanked by Isis and Nephtys and images of Maat)
B - 1st corridor
(scenes from the Litany of Ra)
C - 2nd stairs with ramp
(scenes from the Litany of Ra)
D - 2nd corridor
(scenes from Amduat)
E - shaft
(scenes of king before various deities)
F - 4-pillared hall
(Osiris shrine and scenes from the Book of Gates)
G - 4-pillared side hall with side chamber
H - 3rd corridor
('opening of the mouse' ceremony)
I - 4th corridor 
('opening of the mouse' ceremony)
J - antechamber
(scenes from the Book of the Dead)
K - burial chamber
(scenes from the Book of Gates, the Amduat and the Book of the Divine Cow)
L - side chambers
(images of king with Isis and Nephtys and scenes from the Amduat)
M - side pillared halls
(scenes from the Book of Gates, the Amduat and the Book of the Divine Cow)


 The mummy of Ramesses II was discovered in the  DB320 cache in Deir el-Bahari, contained within a closely contemporary anthropoid wooden coffin, in opinion more scholars, prepared originally for Ramesses I. The body itself, superficially intact when found, was unwrapped by Gaston Maspero at Bulaq on 3 June 1886. Beneath the outer bandages was found a hieratic docket recording its rewrapping and reburial in the tomb of Seti I (KV17) - before its removal to the Inhapy cliff tomb - and a shroud decorated within an image of the goddess Nut.  In September 1975 the king's mummy left Cairo for Paris, were it was to be conserved and studied for eight month before being returned to Egypt. This examination hinted at the opulence of the original burial: linen fragments were discovered within the body, woven in blue and metallic gold. It also provided a possible explanation for the family's devotion to the previously reviled god Seth: Ramesses II, at least, may have been red-haired - as, traditionally, was the god himself. A microscopic examination of sand particles associated with the body suggested that pharaoh was embalmed in the north of Egypt, at some distance from the Nile since no aquatic-plant pollen was found.
 

mumia Ramzesa II

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