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TT320 - Royal Mummy Cache

Nobles' Valley - The Valleys - The Places

In brief, the Tomb was reused and is most famous for being reused as a Royal Mummy Cache. Originally the Tomb is thought to have been prepared family members of High Priest of Amun Pinedjem I and his wife, Nesikhons, during the 21st Dynasty.

Pharaoh Ramses IX commissioned Teams, probably from the Priesthood in Thebes, to inspect the Royal Valleys and their Tombs, and at this juncture the majority of the Tombs remained untouched. This appears to have changed by the later in Pharaoh’s reign and when he, or the Theban Priesthood, realised how much unsanctioned, non-State approved looting and robbing was occurring in so many of the Royal Tombs from the Valleys they understood the need to secure and deposit the 50 Royal Mummies, and place them in safety. This process appears to have taken some considerable time and this Tomb, TT320, may not have been where they were originally reinterred.

The Tomb itself is not easily accessible and was hidden by the natural covering of sand and rocks. This kept them safe until the 1870s when it has been assessed that the Tomb was found by the el-Rassul Family. Regrettably the family acted with no thought for preservation, respect, history or care. They plundered the Tomb and sold off many of the goods that were found there on the black market. When the Family was caught and eventually gave up the location of where their loot was emanating from the authorities immediately moved to secure the Tomb.

This was not the last tragedy from an archaeological perspective to be made. On locating the Tomb in 1881 the Mummies and other contents were removed from the Tomb within 48 hours without any real duty of care. When examined in Cairo every coffin and item to be removed had been damaged.

Lastly, no recordings of their positions, details or names were made whilst they remained in the Tomb. This was handled by seemingly an unexperienced team as the Head of Antiquities was on holiday from his post at the time. A later catalogue was attempted but neither of the leaders of the retrieval team could remember all the details. Although, at the very least, the mummies and goods were now in much safer hands.

List of the Mummies

Known

17th Dynasty Click here to learn more about the 17th Dynasty Theban Pharaohs

Pharaoh Seqenenre Tao

Queen Ahmose Inhapi

Princess Ahmose Henutemipet

Great Royal Wife Ahmose Henuttamehu

Great Royal Wife Ahmose Meritamen

Great Royal Wife Ahmose Sitkamose

Princess Merytamun, daughter of Pharaoh Seqenenre, known as the Screaming Mummy, as she had suffered a Heart Attack and despite the best efforts of the embalmers, they could not sufficiently realign her jaw

 

18th Dynasty

Pharaoh Ahmose I

Royal Nurse Rai, Nurse of Great Royal Wife, Queen Ahmose Nefertari

Prince Sitamun and Princess Ahmose Sitamun

Pharaoh Amenhotep I

Pharaoh Tuthmose I

Princess Baketamun

Pharaoh Tuthmose II and his Great Royal Wife, Queen Iset. Father and Mother of Pharaoh Tuthmose III

Pharaoh Tuthmose III

 

19th Dynasty

Pharaoh Ramses I

Pharaoh Seti I

Pharaoh Ramses II, click here to learn about Ramses the Great

20th Dynasty               

Pharaoh Ramses III, click here to discover the details of his life and reign

Prince Pentawere, son of Pharaoh Ramses III, who was forced to commit suicide over his role in the Harem Conspiracy, click here to read about the Harem Conspiracy

Pharaoh Ramses IX

 

21st Dynasty                

Queen Nodjmet

High Priest of Amun, Pinedjem I – original owner of the Tomb

Wife of High Priest of Amun, Pinedjem I, Duathathor Henuttawy

God’s Wife of Amun and Daughter of High Priest of Amun, Pinedjem I, Maatkare

High Priest of Amun and Son of High Priest of Amun, Pinedjem I, Masaharta

Singer of Amun and wife of High Priest of Amun, Masaharta, Tayuheret

High Priest of Amun, Pinedjem II

Chief of the Harem of Amun Ra and sister-wife of High Priest of Amun, Pinedjem II, Isetemkheb D

First Chantress of Amun and wife of High Priest of Amun, Pinedjem II, Nesikhons

4th Prophet of Amun, Djedptahiufankh

Wife of 4th Prophet of Amun, Djedptahiufankh, Nesitanebetashru

 

Disputed

17th Dynasty               

Great Royal Wife, Queen Tetisheri, click here to learn more about Queen Tetisheri

Prince Ahmose Sipair

 

18th Dynasty               

Great Royal Wife, Queen Ahmose Nefertari

Noble Senenmut. To learn more about Pharaoh Hatshepsut’s trusted noble, click here.

 

All other mummies found remain unidentified.

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