Dig Days: The Valley of the Kings: treasure without end III By Zahi Hawass My last article discussed the remarkable tomb that was recently found in the Valley of the Kings. This tomb, or cache, was given the name KV 63. It contained five anthropoid coffins with mummification materials stored inside. Also found in the tomb were numerous vessels. Before the investigation of KV 63, many people dreamed that it would contain the mummies of the Pharaohs that are believed to be buried in the Valley of the Kings but have not yet been found, such as the mummy of Thutmosis I. Other missing mummies include the Pharaohs Ay and Horemheb. Some scholars hypothesise that the bone remains found in the tomb of Horemheb might be part of the mummies of these Pharaohs. Other scholars speculate that the mummy found in KV 55 might be that of Akhenaten. The mummy of Queen Nefertiti has never been found. Mummies of the Rammeside Pharaohs have also not been found, such as the those of Ramses VII, Ramses VIII, Ramses X and Ramses XI. The dream of finding one of the missing royal mummies has been alive for a very long time, and so when this cache was discovered people thought it could perhaps be a tomb of one of the Pharaohs like Thutmosis I whose tombs have not been found. Previously people thought -- wrongly -- that Thutmosis I was originally buried in tomb KV 20 and that Queen Hatshepsut re- used the tomb for herself. Some scholars believe that the tomb of Thutmosis I has never been found and that he is not buried in the Valley of the Kings. This would make Queen Hatshepsut the first Queen-Pharaoh to choose the Valley of the Kings for burial. Some scholars also think that the tomb of Thutmosis II, which is thought to be tomb KV 42, belonged to him, while others believe that KV 42 is not a royal tomb and that the Pharaoh is buried in tomb number 258 at Deir Al-Bahari near the temple of Queen Hatshepsut. These are some of the mysteries associated with the Valley of the Kings. It is clear that many secrets are still waiting to be uncovered. Egyptologists are therefore always dreaming of discovering something there. Before the discovery of KV 63, the Valley of the Kings had been silent for 83 years, three months and six days since the magical day when Howard Carter discovered the tomb of the golden boy-king Tutankhamun. The discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun gave birth to the so-called curse of the Pharaoh. One of the curses attributed to the discovery of Tutankhamun was the dismissal of Howard Carter. He was expelled from Egypt by Marcos Pasha Hana, the minister of education who was in charge of antiquities; because he did not open the tomb for Egyptian dignitaries and prevented the press from visiting the tomb. The tomb of King Tutankhamun was huge, and many curses followed its discovery. However the KV 63 find is a relatively small discovery and therefore only small curses have occurred, such as the fight between the two fine Egyptologists Otto Schaden and Lorilei Cocoran. They both want to be director of the excavation. They even argue over who can give interviews. Cocoran went to Memphis Tennessee and made the president of the university write a letter to Schaden supporting her claim. Schaden never answered the letter. Salima Ikram, who joined the expedition to work on the mummies (no mummies have been found), tried to make peace between them. Unfortunately these little curses are still plaguing the discovery of KV 63. Even with all the curses, the dream of finding the lost royal mummies continues...
