The tomb of a missing pharaoh king has been found, in the first discovery of its kind since Tutankhamun more than a century ago.
The huge archaeology breakthrough is thought to be the tomb of Tutankhamun’s ancestor, Thutmose II, who died 3,500 years ago and ruled in the 18th dynasty.
Found in the Western Valleys of the Theban Necropolis in Egypt, it’s solved a huge mytery for scientists who thought he was buried at the other end of the mountain near the Valley of the Kings.
Originally archaeologists believed the tomb was of a royal wife, but the wide staircase and large doorway indicated it was likely to be the resting place of a king.
Leader and field director of the mission, Piers Litherland, said: “The discovery solves a great mystery of ancient Egypt: revealing the location of the tombs of the early 18th dynasty kings.”
He added: “The discovery that the burial chamber had been decorated with scenes from the Amduat, a religious text which is reserved for kings, was immensely exciting and was the first indication that this was a king’s tomb.”
Fragments of alabaster jars with inscriptions with his and his wife’s name, Hatshepsut, provided definitive evidence, and are the only artefacts connected with Thutmose II’s burial ever found.
Thutmose II is believed to have ruled for about four years around 1493 to 1479 BCE, and he fathered one child Thutmose III, although his father Thutmose I was perhaps more famous, whose wife Hatshepsut became one of the few women who reigned in her own right.
Archaeological evidence suggests there was a flood in this tomb which meant contents were moved to a second tomb, and the mission has discovered an intact foundation deposit in the same valley, which could be where it’s hidden.
It casts doubt on the identity of the CG61066 body found in the Royal Cache in 1881 and previously identified as Thutmose II.
Mohsen Kamel, assistant field director, said: “The possible existence of a second, and most likely intact, tomb of Thutmose II is an astonishing possibility.”
Minister of tourism and antiquities Sherif Fathy said: “It is an extraordinary moment for Egyptology and the broader understanding of our shared human story.”
The discovery is a result of 12 years’ work in the Western Valleys, in a joint mission between the New Kingdom Research Foundation (NKRF), a British independent academic foundation, and the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, Egypt, a project affiliated to the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research at the University of Cambridge.
The mission previously established the identities of more than 30 royal wives and court women in this era, and excavated 54 tombs in the western part of the Theban mountain in Luxor.
Litherland is is an Honorary Research Associate of the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research at Cambridge University. Co-head of the mission is Dr Judith Bunbury, Fellow of Wolfson College.