KV 23
Ay
Entryway A
See entire tombKV 23 is entered by a rock-cut stairway descending into the talus slope fronting the cliffs on the north side of the wadi. There is a roughly cut overhang next to gate B.
Porter and Moss designation:
Gate B
See entire tombGate B contains a compound jamb.
Porter and Moss designation:
Corridor B
See entire tombThis sloping corridor has a pair of beam holes near the end. These were to control the descent of the sarcophagus into the tomb.
Porter and Moss designation:
Gate C
See entire tombThe sloped floor of corridor B continues through the gate.
Porter and Moss designation:
Stairwell C
See entire tombBeyond the second gate, a stairwell, flanked at the top by trapezoidal recesses, passes beneath a projecting overhang at its lower end. The steps are badly damaged.
Porter and Moss designation:
Gate D
See entire tombThis simple, undecorated gate leads from stairwell C to corridor D.
Porter and Moss designation:
Corridor D
See entire tombThe ceiling and floor of this corridor have a moderate sloping descent. The upper part of the front section of the corridor is uncut.
Porter and Moss designation:
Gate E
See entire tombThe undecorated gate leads into chamber E. Its threshold is sloped, while its soffit is level. Traces of rocks and plaster show that the gate was sealed in antiquity.
Porter and Moss designation:
Chamber E
See entire tombChamber E is the usual location of the well shaft, but here it was not cut through the level floor. There are traces of plaster blocking at the entrance.
Porter and Moss designation:
Burial chamber J
See entire tombThe long axis of the burial chamber that extends to the northeast is perpendicular to the axis of the preceding chambers. This turn of the axis, in what would have been intended as the pillared chamber (with the pillars removed), suggests that KV 23, if completed, would have followed the usual Dynasty 18 royal tomb plan, with a descent in the floor at the far end of the chamber. A rectangular niche for a magical brick is cut into the center of each wall of burial chamber J, approximately a meter (three feet) above the floor. Four square depressions in the center of the floor served as emplacements for limestone blocks under the corners of the rectangular sarcophagus. This sarcophagus was returned to the chamber from the Egyptian Museum in 1993, although its present orientation is reversed from the original one.
The decoration in burial chamber J, the only decorated chamber in the tomb, is stylistically and thematically similar to that in KV 62. It also contains scenes unique for a royal tomb, showing the king and his wife engaged in activities in a marsh that had apotropaic symbolism.
Chamber plan:
RectangularRelationship to main tomb axis:
PerpendicularChamber layout:
Flat floor, no pillarsFloor:
One levelCeiling:
Flat
Porter and Moss designation:
Gate J
See entire tombThe gate into the burial chamber is not centered in the rear (northwest) wall of chamber E, but offset to the right.
Porter and Moss designation:
Gate Ja
See entire tombThis low gate lies on the axis of the tomb and leads from chamber J to side chamber Ja.
Porter and Moss designation:
Side chamber Ja
See entire tombChamber Ja was probably carved secondarily to the original intended plan of the tomb to store the canopic equipment and additional tomb furnishings.
Porter and Moss designation:
About
About
The tomb of Ay is located part way up the west branch of the main Wadi of the West Valley, beyond KV 24 and KV 25. The tomb consists of an entryway (A), two corridors (B and D) separated by a stairwell (C), a chamber (E), a burial chamber (J), and a single side chamber (Ja). The burial chamber, the only decorated chamber in the tomb, is decorated with scenes from the Imydwat, Book of the Dead, and representations of the king and various deities. The decoration is similar in style and content to that of Ay's predecessor, Tutankhamen.
Noteworthy features:
KV 23 was the last tomb to be used in the West Valley. In burial chamber J, the deceased is shown in a marsh, the only occurrence of this scene in a royal tomb.
Site History
It is generally believed that KV 23 was not originally intended for Ay. Proposed candidates for ownership have included Amenhetep IV, Semenkhkara, and Tutankhamen. It has also been suggested that Tutankhamen was first interred here before being moved to KV 62. Unfortunately, no foundation deposits have been found to support any of these proposals. Although it is not certain if Ay was buried here, remains of some of his funerary equipment have been found in the tomb. At an undetermined date, the images and names of Ay were hacked out from the wall paintings. It may have been at this time, or perhaps earlier, that the southeast side of the Sarcophagus was smashed and the lid overturned on the floor. It should be noted that none of the cartouches on the fragments from this side or from the lid show evidence of erasure.
Dating
This site was used during the following period(s):
Exploration
Conservation
Conservation History
The Supreme Council of Antiquities has restored and re-installed the Sarcophagus previously displayed in the Egyptian Museum (in reverse of its original position). It has placed the lid on the sarcophagus box, installed fluorescent lighting in burial chamber J, and installed wooden stairs and walkways in the corridors, as well as railings and a wood floor in the burial chamber. Breaks in the painted plaster have been patched and the surfaces of the undecorated upper corridors whitewashed.
Site Condition
Throughout burial chamber J, parts of the decoration have been lost. In some instances, this is the result of deliberate damage to the figures and names of the king, but there are also areas (e.g., to the right of the entrance) where stone has simply fallen away.
Hieroglyphs
Ay
King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Manifestations of Ra Have Come into Being, The One who Does Right, Son of Ra, God's Father Ay, God who Rules at Thebes
niswt-bity xpr-xprw-Raw ir(w)-mAat sA-Raw it-nTr iy HqA-nTr-WAst
Articles
Historical Development of the Valley of the Kings
Anatomy of a Tomb: Ancient and Modern Designations for Chambers and Features
Funerary Compositions
Bibliography
Belzoni, Giovanni Battista. Narrative of the Operations and Recent Discoveries within the Pyramids, Temples, Tombs, and Excavations, in Egypt and Nubia. London: Murray, 1820. Pp. 123-124.
Drenkhan, Rosemarie. Eine Umbettung Tutanchamuns? Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts: Abteilung Kairo, 39 (1983): 29-37.
Helck, Wolfgang. Königsgräbertal. Wolfgang Helck, Eberhart Otto and Wolfhart Westendorf (eds.). Lexikon der Ägyptologie. 7 vols. Wiesbaden, 1972-1992. 3: 519.
James, T.G.H. The Tomb of Ay. In: Kent R. Weeks (ed.). The Treasures of the Valley of the Kings: Tombs and Temples of the Theban West Bank in Luxor. Vercelli: WhiteStar, 2001; Cairo: American University in Cairo Press, 2001. Available in English, Italian, French, German, Spanish. Pp. 172-175.
Lefebure, Eugène. Les hypogées royaux de Thèbes, seconde division: Notices des hypogées (=Mémoires publiés par les members de la mission archéologie française au Caire 3, 1). Paris, 1889. P. 175-176.
Marqués Lopez, José. El final del periodo de Amarna y el Valle de los Reyes. Boletin de la Asociación Española de Egiptologia 4-5 (1992-1994): 57-80.
Piankoff, Alexandre. Les peintures dans la Tombe du roi Ai. (= Festschrift zum 80. Geburtstag von Hermann Junker =Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts: Abteilung Kairo, 15- 16). Wiesbaden, 1957-1958. 2: 247-251.
Porter, Bertha and Rosalind Moss. Topographical Bibliography of Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphic Text, Reliefs, and Paintings. I, 2. The Theban Necropolis: Royal Tombs and Smaller Cemeteries. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1964. Pp. 550-551.
Reeves, Carl Nicholas. A State Chariot from the Tomb of Ay? GöttMisz 46 (1981): 11-19.
