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A project of the American Research Center in Egypt

Wadi A-2
Anonymous (Baraize's Tomb)

About the image
Chamber B in the Baraize tomb post-clearance with the shaft on the left and Chamber C on the right
More Details

Entryway A

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A pit cut into the platform of a waterworn cleft in a cliff provides access to a stepped entryway leading into the tomb. The original Steps are broken and the ceiling above the steps is eroded.

Architectural Features

Overhang
Steps

Condition

Cutting finished
Damaged structurally
Excavated

Burial chamber B

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This large chamber lies on axis with the tomb's entrance and is unplastered and undecorated. The center part of the ceiling has collapsed and a shallow recess was cut into the floor of the southwestern corner. 

Condition

Cutting finished
Damaged structurally
Excavated
Undecorated

Gate C

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This gate is cut into the eastern side of the main chamber and provides access to another chamber. The gate is unplastered and undecorated and the thicknesses are broken. The gate's blocking stones were still present on the floor of the gate when the tomb was surveyed by the TMP.

Condition

Cutting finished
Damaged structurally
Excavated
Undecorated

Chamber C

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This rectangular chamber lies perpendicular to the tomb's axis and is unplastered and undecorated. The ceiling has eroded and the floor is uneven.

Condition

Cutting finished
Damaged structurally
Excavated
Undecorated

About

About

Wadi A-2, also known as ‘Baraize’s tomb’ is located approximately 200 m south of Hatshepsut’s Wadi A-1 and is cut into the same line of cliffs that form the eastern border of Wadi A. As with Hatshepsut’s tomb, it is some 70 m above the valley floor and is well hidden, especially as it was cut behind a vertical ridge of rock deep within a water worn cleft. The tomb consists of a very steep stepped entryway (A) opening into a large Burial chamber (B) with a smaller, roughly rectangular chamber (C) lying to the east. In the southern corner of burial chamber B, a shallow rectangular recess was cut into the floor. Piers Litherland has noted that as with Hatshepsut’s Wadi A-1 tomb, Menhet, Menwi and Merti’s tomb (Wadi D-1), and Neferure’s tomb (Wadi C-1), the cliff face below the entrance to Wadi A-2 had been cut back to impede access.

The tomb appears to have been robbed in ancient times. It was rediscovered by locals from the West Bank, who subsequently pointed out its location to Howard Carter (1916-1917), as well as Émile Baraize (1921). Baraize excavated the tomb in 1921, finding a dressed stone block with a layer of mortar at the entrance suggesting that the tomb had been blocked. He also discovered a bit of gold leaf, the neck and stopper of a pottery jug, and fragments of a cosmetic jar’s alabaster lid. While the owner remains anonymous, the tomb’s location within the cliffs, proximity to Hatshepsut’s tomb, and nature of the objects found within the tomb indicate that it most likely belonged to an 18th Dynasty Queen. 

Site History

The tomb was constructed in the 18th Dynasty and plundered in antiquity.

Dating

This site was used during the following period(s):

New Kingdom
Dynasty 18

Exploration

1916-1917: Survey and Documentation
Carter, Howard
1921: Excavation
Baraize, Émile
1959-1960: Survey and Documentation
Thomas, Elizabeth
1982: Mapping/planning
Theban Mapping Project
1988: Survey and Documentation
Metropolitan Museum of Art
2014-present: Tomb clearance
New Kingdom Research Foundation (NKRF)

Conservation

Site Condition

The tomb was last cleared by the New Kingdom Research Foundation. The ceiling in Chamber B had collapsed, as noted by Baraize in 1921. Due to its distant location and the dangerous nature of its entry, the tomb is not open to public visitation.

Articles

Geography and Geology of the Valley of the Queens and Western Wadis

The Valley of the Queens and the Western Wadis are made up of numerous valleys spread out over a vast space of desert, each containing tombs for the New Kingdom queens and other royal family members. The poor quality rock has led to damage in several tombs after suffering from earthquakes and floods.

Bibliography

Baraize, Émile. Rapport sur la Découverte d'un Tombeau de la XVIII Dynastie a Sikket Taget Zayed. Annales du service des Antiquités de L'Egypte 21 (1921): 183-187.

Carter, Howard. A Tomb prepared from Queen Hatshepsut and other Recent Discoveries at Thebes. The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, 4 no. 2/3 (1917): 107-118.

Lilyquist, Christine with contributions by James E. Hoch and A.J. PedenThe Tomb of Three Foreign Wives of Tuthmosis III. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2003.

Litherland, PiersThe western wadis of the Theban necropolis: a re-examination of the western wadis of the Theban necropolis by the joint-mission of the Cambridge Expedition to the Valley of the Kings and the New Kingdom Research Foundation, 2013-2014. London: New Kingdom Research Foundation, 2014.