West Valley of the Kings - WV22
tomb of Amenhotep III - XVIIIth Dynasty

The tomb of Amenhotep III, most splendid pharaoh of XVIII dynasty was officially discovered in August 1799 by two members of Napoleon's Expedition. Most noticeable are the position of the room cut at the base of the well shaft, the connection between the anteroom and burial chamber, the direction of the latter room and the addition of two large rooms to the crypt, each with a pillar and subsidiary storeroom. The first of these (Je) appears to have been designed for the burial of Amenhotep III principal wife, Tiji, and a number of funerary items are evidently to be associated with this burial. The second suite (Jd) seems to have been expanded from an original storeroom, it was destined for burial place of Queen Sitamon. The body of the king himself was removed from WV22 to a side room in the tomb of Amenhotep II - KV35. The 'Elder Lady', identified by some as the mummy of Tiji, was recovered from this same tomb, though stripped of its bandages and cached in room (Jc). In the tomb H.Carter and, later, S.Yoshimura & J.Kondo were founded some small objects and fragments of funerary equipment.
 

A - entrance and first stairs
B - first corridor
C - second stairs
D - second corridor
E - well shaft
(scenes of the king before various deities)
Ea - well shaft chamber
F - first pillared hall
(undecorated)
G - third corridor

H - fourth stairs
I - antechamber
(scenes of the king before various deities)
J - burial chamber of Amenhotep III
(walls decorated with scenes from the Amduat; pillars with king before various deities)
Jd - burial chambert intended for Queen Sitamon
Je - burial chamber intended for Queen Tiji
Ja, Jb, Jc - storerooms

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