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KV7: Pharaoh Ramses II

King's Valley - The Valleys - The Places

Pharaoh Ramses II

Born: Approx. 1302BC
Died: Approx. 1213BC 
Reigned for: 66 years
Known for: Grand Buildings and Monuments; his love with his wife; his 100 plus children and his age

Type:     Bent Axis Tomb
For:        Pharaoh Ramses II
When:   19th Dynasty of Ancient Egypt
Where: Main Branch of Valley of the Kings

Relief of Pharaoh Ramses II

Click on the Image to learn about the life of Pharaoh Ramses II

It is the largest Tomb within this area of the Valley and has a layout similar to that of his father’s Tomb. The maximum height of the Tomb if 5.8 meters; with a maximum width of 13 meters; it is 168.5 meters long and has a total area of 868.4 meters.

Commissioned and hewn from the bedrock in the Valley of the Kings, KV7 is next door to where his son and successor, Pharaoh Merenptah, constructed his Tomb, KV8, and directly opposite to the Tomb that Pharaoh Ramses II had hewn out for his sons, named KV5.

Regretfully the Tomb has greatly suffered from Floods and much of the decoration and interior walls have been washed away.

Luckily, the Priests of Amun had recovered the Mummy of Pharaoh Ramses II and relocated it eventually to the Mummy Cache in Tomb DB320 in the Valley of the Nobles.

Funerary Goods

Not much was left after being robbed in antiquity and the flashing flooding, but what remained was:

  • Shabtis made from Wood
  • Fragments of Glass and Limestone
  • Fragments of Statues and Calcite
  • Bronze Shabti – partially damaged

 

Decorations

Reliefs include Spells from:

  • Book of Gates
  • Book of the Heavenly Cow,
  • Litany of Ra
  • Opening of the Mouth
  • Book of the Dead

 

Layout

Above the entrance is a Lintel which is decorated with a Solar Disk and the Goddesses of Isis and Nephthys. The Entrance is via a ramped Corridor which descends downwards via a stairway and then continues down the Corridor to another split stairway with a central ramp. Nearly directly after is the Ritual Shaft and is about 6 meters deep.

You then enter the Chariot Room or First Pillared Hall which was decorated with a Shrine of the God Osiris and scenes from the Book of Gates. On the right of the Chariot Room is a smaller annex room which also has 4 Pillars.

The central stairway then continues downwards to the next Corridor which is decorated with the Opening of the Mouth Ceremony Scenes. This Corridor leads directly into the Antechamber which is decorated with Spell 125 from the Book of the Dead. On the right-hand side of the Antechamber is where Pharaoh would have originally been buried.

The Burial Chamber or Golden Chamber has 8 Pillars, its own sunken area with a vaulted ceiling, was decorated with Spells from the Book of Gates and was reused in the Roman and 3rd Intermediate Periods for their own burials. Off the Burial Chamber were further rooms:

  • 2 small Annex Rooms were used for Funerary Goods and were also decorated. The Right Annex was decorated with Spells from the Book of the Divine Cow
  • 2 Annex Rooms each with 2 Pillars are on the rear wall of the Burial Chamber. The right-hand side was decorated with Scenes from the Amduat and the Book of Gates; whilst the left-hand side was decorated with Scenes from the Amduat
  • Plain and Larger Chamber that was created off the right-hand axis and leading off this room was the final Annex which was decorated with Spells from Chapter 110 from the Book of the Dead
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