KV 39
Amenhetep I (?)
Entryway A
See entire tombThe entrance stairwell is cut into the base of a cliff on the southeast side of a water course leading to the tomb of Thutmes III. Roughly cut stairs descend through a gravel and shale stratum to the entrance gate. The stairs cut into the shale are broken away and the others are damaged.
Gate B1
See entire tombThe lintel of the gate is missing, and the roughly cut jambs are damaged.
Corridor B1
See entire tombThis rough-cut sloping corridor has an extension to the left (south) that is cut at its rear (west) end to form chamber B1a. According to Rose, a rough recess in the right (north) wall may be either from rock fall or an abandoned cutting. There are traces of red paint on the ceiling.
Chamber B1a
See entire tombThis southward extension at the end of corridor B1 was apparently added secondarily. It gives access to two sets of descending passages to burial chambers on different axes, with a descent in its floor to the rear (south) and a corridor descending to the east from the left (east) wall.
Descent B1a
See entire tombSteps descend from the center of the floor to the rear (south).
Corridor B2
See entire tombThis long corridor is oriented on a west-east axis and descends from the left (east) wall of chamber B1a.
Corridor B3
See entire tombThis roughly cut narrow corridor descends to the south with three widely spaced drops in floor level.
Descent C1
See entire tombThis stepped descent is cut into the left (south) end of the floor of chamber C1, on the axis of corridor B1.
Gate C1
See entire tombThe gate is a low, rough opening and has a rubble-built pillar near the right (north) thickness, perhaps for additional support. Rose describes this pillar, but it is shown only schematically in the published plan. There is damage to the jambs and lintel.
Chamber C1
See entire tombThis rectangular chamber extends to the right (north) of its entrance. There is a stepped descent in the floor at the left (south) end of the chamber.
Stairwell C2
See entire tombThis stairwell, oriented towards the east, immediately follows corridor B2, without any gate between the two components.
Stairwell C3
See entire tombThis is the second stairwell in the eastern set of components. There is no intervening gate between these stairs and corridor D1 which precedes it.
Stairwell C4
See entire tombThis stairwell, the third major component on the southern axis, has broken steps that first led the excavators to believe that a chamber lay beneath the stairs. This is not the case.
Corridor D1
See entire tombThis is the second sloping corridor in the eastern set of components.
Gate D1
See entire tombThe well-cut gate leads into corridor D1.
Gate D2
See entire tombThis well-cut gate leads into burial chamber J1.
Corridor D2
See entire tombThis short, shallow sloping corridor leads to burial chamber J1.
Gate J1
See entire tombThe gate is well-cut and leads into burial chamber chamberJ1.
Burial chamber J1
See entire tombThis almost-square chamber marks the end of the tomb's eastward passages. It has a low, flat ceiling. There is a large fissure running through it.
Chamber plan:
RectangularRelationship to main tomb axis:
ParallelChamber layout:
Flat floor, no pillarsFloor:
One levelCeiling:
Flat
Burial chamber J2
See entire tombAt the end of the south corridors is a very narrow, rectangular chamber. In the floor of this chamber is a pit which would have served as a sarcophagus emplacement.
Chamber plan:
RectangularRelationship to main tomb axis:
ParallelChamber layout:
Flat floor, no pillarsFloor:
One levelCeiling:
Flat
About
About
KV 39 is located at the head of a water course on the plateau above and to the south of KV 34. The entryway stairway (A) is cut in the side of the hill below al Qurn followed by a sloping corridor (B1) that has been enlarged to the south at its lower end (B1a). Beyond this corridor, a rectangular chamber (C1) extends to the north of the axis. There is a stepped descent cut on the axis in the floor at the south end of this chamber. Two other descending corridors open off the south extension B1a. One descends southwards from a stairwell in the floor and continues as a rough cut sloping corridor (B3) to another stairwell (C4) leading to a rectangular burial chamber (J2) extending to the east with a pit in the floor beneath the rear wall. The other set of passages extends on a west-east axis parallel to the entrance.
A sloping corridor (B2) descends to a stairwell (C2) followed by a second corridor ( D1) and stairwell (C3), a short corridor (D2) and a low rectangular burial chamber (J1). Weigall's description of the tomb suggests that some decoration remained intact at the time of his entry. All traces of decoration were obliterated by the time Rose cleared the tomb. Weigall based his belief that the tomb belonged to Amenhetep I on perceived similarities of position between KV 39 and that described for Amenhetep I's tomb in the tomb robbery papyri.
Noteworthy features:
The tomb descends in three different directions on three axes. Each axis consists of a series of corridors and two at least end in rectangular chambers.
Site History
There appear to have been three construction phases, suggested by differences in architectural typology and the orientation of component groups. Entryway A, corridor B1, and chamber C1 and its descent would have been cut first, and suggest a date in the first half of Dynasty 18. Following a southward extension at the end of the corridor B1, two other complexes of corridors and stairs leading to burial chambers were cut to the south and to the east, although it is not certain in which order these were done.
Dating
This site was used during the following period(s):
Exploration
Conservation
Site Condition
The upper components of the tomb are cut in poor quality shale and preserve less of their original surfaces. The lower corridors and chambers are cut in better limestone, although several large cracks or fissures have led to structural damage as rock has fallen away. The lower chambers to the east were partly filled with debris by the 1994 floods, although they are still accessible. The southern corridors and chamber were completely filled up to descent B1a.
Hieroglyphs
Amenhetep I
King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Sacred is the Ka of Ra, Son of Ra, Amen is Satisfied
niswt-bity Dsr-kA-Raw sA-Raw Imn-Htp
Articles
Anatomy of a Tomb: Ancient and Modern Designations for Chambers and Features
Bibliography
Buckley, Ian M., Peter Buckley and Ashley Cooke. Fieldwork in Theban Tomb KV 39: The 2002 Season. Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 91 (2005): 71-82.
Buckley, Ian M. Excavations at Theban Tomb KV 39. In: Ashley Cooke and Fiona Simpson (eds.), Current Research in Egyptology, II (= BAR International Series, 1380). Oxford, 2005. Pp. 21-28.
Carter, Howard. Report on the Tomb of Zeser-ka-ra Amenhetep I, Discovered by the Earl of Carnarvon in 1914. Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 3 (1916): 147-54.
Helck, Wolfgang. Königsgräbertal. Wolfgang Helk, Ebrnart Otto and Wolfhart Westendorf (eds.). elck, Evbermnart Lexikon der Ägyptologie, 3. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 1980. Pp. 520.
Manley, Bill. Tomb 39 and the Sacred Land. Journal of the Ancient Chronology Forum 2 (1989): 41-57.
Polz, Daniel K. The Location of the Tomb of Amenhotep I: A Reconsideration. In: Richard H. Wilkinson (ed.), Valley of the Sun Kings: New Explorations in the Tombs of the Pharaohs. Tucson: University of Arizona Egyptian Expedition, 1995. Pp. 8-21.
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. 559.
Reeves, Carl Nicholas. Valley of the Kings: The Decline of a Royal Necropolis (= Studies in Egyptology). London: KPI, 1990. Pp. 155.
Rose, John. An Interim Report on Work in KV 39, September-October 1989. In: Nicholas Reeves (ed.), After Tut'ankhamun: Research and Excavation in the Royal Necropolis at Thebes. London: KPI, 1992: 28-40.