Dig Days: Secrets from the embalming storeroom By Zahi Hawass Excavations continue in the Valley of the Kings inside tomb KV63, which has now been identified as a storage place for embalming materials. The little curse of this tomb continues. In a previous article, I told the story of this remarkable discovery and the fight between the two Egyptologists Otto Shaden and Lorilei Cocron, who both wanted to be director of the excavation. Since that article was published many things have happened. Cocron came back to Egypt from Memphis and wanted to take photographs of the excavation. Shaden, as the official director according to the concession, prevented her from doing so. Mansour Boraik, director of Luxor antiquities, told me that Cocron had been seen sobbing in the valley. I do not know what we can do to resolve this problem but I believe we must encourage them both to finish their work, because the wood is deteriorating and they still have two coffins (one for an adult and one for a child) that have not been opened. Shaden wanted to leave the excavation for 10 days while he presented a talk at the American Research Center in New Jersey, and planned to close the excavation because he would not be there. I thought this might be dangerous because the work should have continued and conservation needed to be done. The Discovery Channel was also filming a documentary, and they cannot just stop production for 10 days. This film is not exclusive. In fact, it will be aired all over the world and shown free on Egyptian TV. KV63 requires more work. No royal names have been found there, but one of the most interesting seals shows a crocodile and a lion with a captive man standing between them. One of the jars is believed to have contained moringa oil (related to horseradish). Hieratic inscriptions were also found on one of the pottery shards that has been restored by a member of the Egyptian team. We can see now that this tomb was cut at the beginning of the 18th Dynasty and was perhaps robbed at some time during this period. Later in the same dynasty it was used for storing embalming materials. It is clear from the pottery and masks discovered that this storage space bears a close resemblance to the tombs in the Valley of the Kings from the late 18th Dynasty. KV63 contains 28 pottery jars and three alabaster jars. Most of them have been opened and studied, and all their contents were found to be materials for mummification purposes. Five of the seven coffins have been opened. All of them are badly deteriorated except one, which has a beautiful mask that I saw when I was there to announce the discovery on 10 February this year. This mask deceived me, making me think that it could belong to a royal coffin or a royal tomb. However, the Valley of the Kings can deceive anyone because kings are not the only ones buried there. We have discovered 63 tombs in the Valley of the Kings, and only 26 belong to kings. KV63 also contains two coffins that have still not been opened. I do not think they contain mummies: most likely their contents are more precious embalming materials. They will be opened soon. I invited Shaden to come and give a lecture in Cairo on the occasion of the great celebration of the life of Ali Radwan as part of a two-day conference dedicated to this great man. I do not know and I cannot predict how this little curse will end. But, I do know that Shaden travelled to the United States, that the work continued, and that Lorilei Cocron stopped crying and was happy that Shaden was away for a few days.
