The Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities recently announced the discovery of the tomb of Thutmose II, the last undiscovered tomb of the pharaohs of the 18th Dynasty. The tomb, numbered C4, is located 1.5 miles (2.4 km) west of the Valley of the Kings. It was discovered in October 2022 and was initially thought to have belonged to a wife of one of the Thutmosid pharaoh since it is close to the tombs of Thutmose III’s wives and the tomb of Hatshepsut. The tomb itself is relatively small and in poor condition due to flooding. The excavation team discovered remains of painted plaster that featured, among other things, blue inscriptions from the Amduat, a religious text known from other royal tombs. During the most recent excavation season, archaeologists unearthed fragments of alabaster vessels inscribed with the name of Thutmose II beside that of Queen Hatshepsut, and with the words ‘the deceased king.” Another pottery fragment bore a label that the original vessel once contained natron, which is used in embalming. This implies that a body was once buried in the tomb. Based on these finds, some scholars believe this to be the original tomb of Thutmose II. Others are skeptical, however, given the tomb’s simplicity and strange location. Those who believe this is the original tomb of Thutmose II hypothesize that his mummy and grave goods were moved to a new tomb when the original one was damaged by flooding. If this is confirmed to be the actual tomb of Thutmose II, it would be the first royal tomb unearthed in Egypt since the discovery of King Tutankhamun’s tomb in 1922. The archaeological team plans to continue its work to locate the place the original contents were moved to. Thutmose II is most famous for marrying his half-sister Hatshepsut, whom some biblical scholars have identified as the ”daughter of Pharaoh” who pulled Moses from the Nile River (Ex 2:5).
SOURCES:
- https://www.facebook.com/tourismandantiq/posts/pfbid029w4T4rPomFLHFDHJeNJuM4ovBN8GaSAT17C353YTzSbgYRoixffjvcLdk61UPcafl
- https://www.egypttoday.com/Article/4/138532/Discovery-of-King-Thutmose-II%E2%80%99s-Tomb-Last-Missing-18th-Dynasty
- https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/ancient-egyptians/archaeologists-discover-tomb-of-thutmose-ii-1st-ancient-egyptian-burial-of-a-pharaoh-to-be-found-in-100-years
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