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.

