Entryway A
See entire tombA gradually sloping shaft provides access to the tomb. The northern side of the shaft has a back wall and ledge constructed of rough stones. There is no protective masonry surround.
Burial chamber B
See entire tombA rectangular, undecorated burial chamber that lies on axis with the tomb's entrance.
Chamber plan:
RectangularRelationship to main tomb axis:
ParallelChamber layout:
Flat floor, no pillarsFloor:
One levelCeiling:
Flat
About
About
QV A is located at the mouth of the Valley of the Three Pits, in close proximity to tombs QV B through QV K. It consists of a rectangular shaft (A) leading to an undecorated burial chamber (B).
The tomb was explored by both Georges Daressy (1895) and Ernesto Schiaparelli (1903-1905), who found that it had already been looted. Elizabeth Thomas surveyed the tomb in 1959-1960, followed by the Theban Mapping Project (TMP) in 1981. QV A was last excavated and cleared by the Franco-Egyptian Mission in 1989-90. Several objects were recovered, including a seal impression showing bound prisoners before Anubis, fragments of two Canopic jars, a pair of leather children’s sandals, and a piece from a senet game board. Several fragments of utilitarian and imported pottery vessels were also found and, together with the ceramic material from the other tombs in the area, suggest that they came from the same workshop. The inscriptions on the canopic jar fragments tell us that the tomb belonged to an 18th Dynasty official named Minmes, who held the title of ‘cup-bearer’ for Thutmes III.
Noteworthy features:
QV A belongs to a group of 18th Dynasty tombs in the Valley of the Three Pits that were all constructed under the reign of Thutmes III and belonged to elite officials and members of the royal court.
Site History
The tomb was constructed in the 18th Dynasty.
Dating
This site was used during the following period(s):
Exploration
Conservation
Site Condition
Concerns about structural stability prevented the GCI-SCA from assessing the interior of QV A. They record, however, that the area immediately adjacent to the entrance is severely eroded, and the shaft has been partially filled with debris. Erosion of the surrounding slope is the primary mechanism of decay. Water infiltration has also contributed to deterioration since the tombs were carved into a friable shale.
Hieroglyphs
Minmes
Minmes
mnw-ms
Articles
Tomb Numbering Systems in the Valley of the Queens and the Western Wadis
Geography and Geology of the Valley of the Queens and Western Wadis
Bibliography
CNRS mission report: Centre national de la recherche scientifique (France). Rapport des activités scientifiques et administratives 1992-1994. URA no. 1064. Recherches sur les nécropoles thébaines et le Ramésseum; Publication des temples de la Nubie, 1992-1994.
CNRS mission report: Centre national de la recherche scientifique (France). Rapport des activités scientifiques et administratives: perspectives 1991-1992 URA no. 1064, 1991-1992.
Daressy, Georges. Trois points inexplorés de la nécropole thébaine, Annales du Service des antiquités de l’Egypte 2 (1901): 133-136.
Demas, Martha and Neville Agnew (eds). Valley of the Queens. Assessment Report. Los Angeles: The Getty Conservation Institute, 2012, 2016. Two vols.
Leblanc, Christian and Magdi Mohamed Fekri. L’exploration archéologique des vallées laterales de tA st nfrw. Atti del Sesto Congresso Internazionale di Egittologia. Vol. 1. Turin: International Association of Egyptologists, 1993: 259-268.
Loyrette, Anne-Marie. À propos de boules en fritte glaçurée trouvées dans la Vallée des trois puits. In: Jacke Phillips, and Lanny Bell (eds.) Ancient Egypt, the Aegean, and the Near East: Studies in Honour of Martha Rhoads Bell, Vol. 2. San Antonio: Van Sicklen Books, 1997: 359-68.
Loyrette, Anne-Marie. Les tombes de la Vallée des trois puits à Thèbes-Quest. Memnonia, 8 (1997): 177-195.
Schiaparelli, Ernesto. Realazione sui lavon della Missione archeologica italiana in Egitto, anni 1903-1920. Explorazione della “Valle delle Regina” nella necropolis di Tebe. Vol. 1. Turin: Casa editrice Giovanni Chiantore, 1923.
Thomas, Elizabeth. The Royal Necropoleis of Thebes. Princeton: privately printed, 1966.
