AN ANCIENT Egyptian tomb has been uncovered in the Valley of the Kings, a necropolis reserved for the New Kingdom royal family, but Nevine El-Aref reports that unlike other tombs there this one is not royal. When Pharaoh Ahmose I, founder of the 18th Dynasty and the first ruler of the New Kingdom, drove out the Hyksos and brought Egypt under unified rule, he chose Thebes as his capital. He built the city -- now the upper Egyptian town of Luxor -- on the east bank of the Nile, opposite the west bank which was dedicated to the dead. Ancient Egyptian royalty had underground tombs dug in the valleys of the Kings and Queens so their sacred mummies could lie in peace for eternity. Nobles and officials were laid to rest in the Tombs of the Nobles in the cemetery of Dra Abul-Naga. Over the past two centuries these areas have been a focus of exploration for foreign and Egyptian archaeologists, who up to now have discovered 63 royal tombs in the Valley of the Kings, the Valley of the Queens and at Dra Abul-Naga. This week Swiss archaeologists from Basel University discovered a tomb dating from the 22nd Dynasty that was built for a woman who in life was a singer of the god Amun Re. Her name was Nehmes Bastet, which means that she was protected by the cat deity, Bastet. The tomb was discovered by chance when the Swiss team was carrying out routine cleaning of an unidentified royal tomb discovered almost 100 years ago, KV 40. "We were not looking for a new tomb," said Elina Paulin-Grothe, the field director. The team made the discovery when they came across a deep burial shaft that led to the almost intact tomb. Minister of State for Antiquities Mohamed Ibrahim says further excavation inside the tomb uncovered the intact wooden sarcophagus of Nehmes Bastet, who was not only a singer at the temple to Amun Re at Karnak but also the daughter of a Karnak high priest. A wooden votive stela engraved with her many titles and names was also found. Ibrahim described the discovery as very important. "It shows that in the 22nd Dynasty the Valley of the Kings was used for the burial of priests and ordinary people," he said. According to Grothe, early studies on the site and the funerary collection found there reveal that the tomb originally housed another occupant, not yet identified, and was reused for the singer almost 400 years later. Susanne Bickel, the director of the Swiss mission in Egypt, told the BBC that the sarcophagus was opened on Monday and she was able to see the "nicely wrapped" mummy of the singer. She said the upper edge of the tomb was found last year on 25 January, the first day of the revolution, but because of the ensuing turmoil the team sealed the shaft with an iron cover and kept the discovery secret until last week when the mission resumed its field season. "It really is a distinguished and unique discovery, since it is the first time a non-royal tomb has been found in the Valley of the Kings," Luxor antiquities supervisor Mansour Boreik told Al-Ahram Weekly. He said this unusual event could easily be justified. The kings of the 22nd Dynasty were Libyan, but the high priests of Amun enjoyed full authority in Thebes and this enabled them to use the royal cemetery for their families. To forge ties with the kings of the Libyan dynasty, the priests of Thebes married their daughters to the Pharaohs and other royal family members. The tomb has been given the number KV 64, adding another to the tombs in the Valley of the Kings. Excavations and studies reveal more of the tomb's funerary collection are now in full swing.
