From: nicole bernadette hansen <nbhansen@midway.uchicago.edu>

Subject: Vast tomb should throw light on Pharaoh's family 

Vast tomb should throw light on Pharaoh's family
a0823LBY352reulb
r i BC-EGYPT-TOMB   05-16 0596
^BC-EGYPT-TOMB (SCHEDULED, PICTURE)@
 ^Vast tomb should throw light on Pharaoh's family@
    By Dominic Evans
    CAIRO, May 16 (Reuter) - A vast 3,000-year-old royal tomb
uncovered in Egypt's Valley of the Kings should throw new light
on the family of one of the ancient world's most colourful and
powerful rulers, archaeologists said on Tuesday.
    The tomb, explored by a team of American archaeologists
earlier this year, is believed to have housed the mummified
corpses of up to 50 sons of the military pharaoh Ramses II.
    Egyptian authorities announced on Monday that 67 chambers
have so far been discovered in the underground tomb, and
archaeologists say it may be the biggest found in Egypt.
    Ramses ruled ancient Egypt for 67 years in the 13th century
BC, waging war on his enemies and peppering the countryside with
monuments perpetuating his glory.
    But virtually nothing is known about his offspring.
    ``We know their names, but that is about all,'' said Kent
Weeks, who led the excavations at the tomb, known as KV 5.
    Archaeologists had previously discovered the tombs of just
two of the 52 sons Ramses is believed to have fathered.
    ``We knew nothing of the remaining 50 sons until the
rediscovery of KV 5,'' Weeks said in a written statement.
    The entrance to the tomb was discovered last century in the
rugged limestone walls of the valley, just 30 metres (yards)
from the tomb of Ramses II himself, but floodwater debris had
blocked off all but three of the outermost chambers and the
entrance itself later became blocked up and eventually hidden.
    Weeks's team, working from the diaries of 19th century
travellers to the Valley of the Kings, rediscovered the entrance
and in February found a passageway leading past 20 chambers to a
statue of Osiris, god of the underworld.
    The corridor then divided into two more passages, each with
20 rooms, which end in stairs and a sloping corridor which could
lead to dozens of more chambers, Weeks's statement said
    None of the rooms so far discovered is less than three
metres (yards) by three metres.
    Most tombs in the valley, where the mummy of young pharaoh
Tutankhamun was discovered in 1922 amid fabulous treasures,
comprise just one corridor leading to a handful of rooms.
    ``What makes KV 5 important is that it is a multiple burial
of many royal children, a tomb of unique plan and large size,
and a tomb whose decoration and artefacts promise to provide
information about Egypt's royal family at a crucial time in
Egypt's history,'' Weeks said.
    ``The tomb also raises many questions about what else the
Valley of the Kings and other areas at (the pharaonic capital
of) Thebes may have to offer,'' he added.
    The tomb itself, described as magnificent by the head of
Egypt's antiquities department, is nevertheless in poor
condition and has been badly looted by ancient grave robbers.
    But excavators have found fragments of mummified bodies,
statues, jewellery, furniture and food offerings inside the
chambers, and some of the walls still bear ancient decorations.
    Hieroglyphic names of at least four of Ramses's sons were
found in the tomb, including his eldest son Amun-Her-Khepeshef.
    Some historians believe Ramses II was pharaoh during the
exodus of Israelites from Egypt recorded in the Bible.
    In that case Amun-Her-Khepeshef, along with first-born
chidren throughout Egypt, may have suffered the unfortunate fate
of death by heavenly command.
    ``And all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from
the firstborn of Pharaoh that sitteth upon the throne, even unto
the firstborn of the maidservant,'' the biblical book of Exodus
says.
Reut10:42 05-16-95

Reuter N:Copyright 1995, Reuters News Service

..

From: William Peck <WPECK%WAYNEST1.BITNET@uchimvs1.uchicago.edu> (by way of cejo@midway.uchicago.edu (Charles E. Jones))
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Subject: Re: KV 5
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The Reuters report is essentially accurate in its description. What it
does not tell you is the condition of the first large hypostyle room,
before the entrance to the corridor with twenty offering chapels(?).
The columns are fractured and, when I was there, the room was filled with
limestone debris close to the ceiling. Once you crawl through that space,
it is possble to almost stand and walk down the corridor with rooms facing
each other on both sides. At the point with the engaged Osiris statue,
the corridor branches at right angles but I thought there were descending
passages, not stairs, leading to the lower level Kent expects to find.
Kent is concerned with the condition of columns, walls and ceilings because
part of the tomb complex is located under what used to be the bus parking
area and there are engineering problems, as one might expect, which have
to be solved before excavation can be taken as far as one might like.
There is a lot of fragmentary relief, mainly in the plaster coat, left
on the walls and probably much more to come in the debris levels below.
Where the plaster is gone, there is some indication of the decoration where
the incision went though to the limestone.  As to the plan, all I can say
is that it looks like a dormitory arrangement, and does not resemble the plan
of any royal tomb. Some of the members of the Brooklyn/Detroit excavations
at the Precinct of Mut were lucky to have seen KV5 in March. Kent Weeks
graciously allowed collegues to visit and I am glad that the news has
finally been announced.   Congratulations Kent!

========================================================================
WILLIAM H. PECK - CURATOR OF ANCIENT ART - THE DETROIT INSTITUTE OF ARTS
WPECK@CMS.CC.WAYNE.EDU  5200 WOODWARD AVE. DETROIT, MICHIGAN 48202-4008