Egypt confirms discovery of Pharaoh Tuthmosis II's tomb

BarcelonaEgypt has confirmed that the tomb discovered in 2022 in the west of the necropolis of Thebes (Luxor) is that of Tuthmosis II, the fourth pharaoh of the 18th dynasty, who reigned from 1490 BC to 1475 BC, and who married his sister. It is the first discovery of an Egyptian royal tomb since Howard Carter showed the tomb of Tutankhamun to the world in 1922. Tuthmosis II is believed to have had a rather weak constitution and died when he was about thirty. Hatshepsut then temporarily reigned in place of her stepson, Tuthmosis III, and became the first female pharaoh in history.

When the tomb of Tuthmosis II was discovered in 2022, researchers thought it was the burial place of a queen from the Tuthmosis period, because it was close to the burial place of Tuthmosis III's wives and the tomb of Queen Hatshepsut. The latest excavation campaign with researchers from the New Kingdom Research Foundation (NKRF) and the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities provided new evidence indicating that the tomb was actually that of Tuthmosis II.

A very deteriorated tomb

Inside the tomb, archaeologists have documented fragments with traces of polychromy and alabaster vessels bearing the inscription "the deceased king" as well as references to his principal wife, Hatshepsut, who probably supervised the burial. According to the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities, the funerary objects found are the first traces of the funerary goods of Tuthmosis II and they hope to find more. However, not even the mummy exists, which has been on display for years in the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization in Cairo. The high priests of Amun, religious and political leaders of the Valley of the Kings, moved it to Deir el-Bahari to protect it from looting during the 20th and 21st Dynasties (1190 BC-945 BC). Around fifty mummies were hidden in Deir el-Bahari. Keeping company with Tuthmosis II were Amenhotep I, Hatshepsut, Tuthmosis I and Tuthmosis III, Seti I and Ramesses II. The hiding place was discovered at the end of the 19th century.

The tomb was in a bad state of disrepair because shortly after the king's burial, floods covered it with water and sediment. The director of the British archaeological mission, Piers Litherland, has stressed that the tomb "had a very simple design, but it is important because it served as a model for the kings who later ruled during the 18th dynasty."