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A project of the American Research Center in Egypt

KV 42
Hatshepsut-Meryet-Ra

About the image
Star pattern; kheker frieze; quartzite sarcophagus.
More Details

Entryway A

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The entryway is cut in the cliff face. The steps are relatively well cut. There are beam holes in front of the gate, used to lower the sarcophagus.

Architectural Features

Beam holes
Steps

Condition

Cutting finished
Excavated
Undecorated

Dimensions

  • Width:

    1.86 m
  • Length:

    3.53 m
  • Area:

    6.59 m2
  • Orientation:

    178.08°

Graffiti

  • Hieratic text:

    one text telling of some sort of work undertaken by the scribe Butehamen at the end of Dynasty 20/beginning of Dynasty 21

Gate B

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The jambs of the gate are slightly rounded. The lower section of the original sealing of the tomb was still in situ when the tomb was cleared.

Condition

Undecorated
Excavated
Cutting finished

Dimensions

  • Height:

    1.9 m
  • Width:

    1.13 m
  • Length:

    1.07 m
  • Area:

    1.21 m2
  • Volume:

    2.3 m3
  • Orientation:

    5.33° left from entryway A

Corridor B

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The corridor slopes steeply down to stairwell C. The left (east) section of the ceiling is rough, since the workmen encountered harder stone there. The rest of the ceiling is well cut. Red masons' marks can be seen along the right (west) wall.

Condition

Cutting unfinished
Excavated
Undecorated

Dimensions

  • Height:

    1.79 m
  • Width:

    1.6 m
  • Length:

    16.69 m
  • Area:

    17.21 m2
  • Volume:

    30.81 m3
  • Orientation:

    5.33° left from entryway A

Graffiti

  • Mason's marks:

    right (West) wall

Gate C

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The threshold has the same slope as corridor B. The soffit is level. The corners of the jambs are slightly rounded at the ceiling.

Condition

Undecorated
Excavated
Cutting finished

Dimensions

  • Height:

    1.63 m
  • Width:

    1.2 m
  • Length:

    1.09 m
  • Area:

    1.3 m2
  • Volume:

    2.12 m3
  • Orientation:

    0° from corridor B

Stairwell C

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The recesses are almost completely filled with limestone chips. There are masons' marks on the left (east) and right (west) walls, and on the ceiling.

Architectural Features

Overhang
Recesses
Steps

Condition

Cutting finished
Excavated
Undecorated

Dimensions

  • Height:

    4.33 m
  • Width:

    1.6 m
  • Length:

    3.58 m
  • Area:

    5.77 m2
  • Volume:

    20.6 m3
  • Orientation:

    0° from corridor B

Graffiti

  • Mason's marks:

    Ceiling
  • Mason's marks:

    left (East) wall
  • Mason's marks:

    right (West) wall

Gate F

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The stairway continues through the gate. The left (east) jamb is broken at the bottom.

Architectural Features

Steps

Condition

Undecorated
Excavated
Cutting finished
Damaged structurally

Dimensions

  • Height:

    2 m
  • Width:

    1.12 m
  • Length:

    0.97 m
  • Area:

    0.98 m2
  • Volume:

    1.96 m3
  • Orientation:

    0° from stairwell C

Chamber F

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The chamber is square and has a bench along the entire length of the right (west) wall. The northeast corner and the southeast corner are damaged. There is a shallow pit in the southeast quadrant. The floor gently slopes down towards gate G, in the east wall.

Architectural Features

Benches
Pit

Condition

Cutting unfinished
Damaged structurally
Excavated
Undecorated

Dimensions

  • Height:

    1.99 m
  • Width:

    4.94 m
  • Length:

    4.98 m
  • Area:

    24.64 m2
  • Volume:

    43.03 m3
  • Orientation:

    0° from stairwell C

Gate G

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The gate lies on a west-east axis and leads to corridor G.

Condition

Undecorated
Excavated
Cutting finished

Dimensions

  • Height:

    1.8 m
  • Width:

    1.21 m
  • Length:

    1.17 m
  • Area:

    1.42 m2
  • Volume:

    2.56 m3
  • Orientation:

    89.15° left from chamber F

Corridor G

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The corridor is level and leads to burial chamber J.

Condition

Cutting finished
Excavated
Undecorated

Dimensions

  • Height:

    2.05 m
  • Width:

    1.59 m
  • Length:

    4.31 m
  • Area:

    6.88 m2
  • Volume:

    14.1 m3
  • Orientation:

    89.15° left from chamber F

Gate J

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The gate leads directly to the burial chamber. There are red lines squaring the upper left (north) jamb on both sides of the gate. The right (south) jamb has been recut.

Condition

Undecorated
Excavated
Cutting finished

Dimensions

  • Height:

    1.67 m
  • Width:

    1.15 m
  • Length:

    1.07 m
  • Area:

    1.23 m2
  • Volume:

    2.05 m3
  • Orientation:

    0° from corridor G

Burial chamber J

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The burial chamber lies on an west-east axis and is cartouche-shaped. It has two pillars; the west one is damaged, the east one badly broken. The sarcophagus lies in the east section of the chamber. There is a kheker-frieze, a star pattern on the ceiling, and a band of color below the decorated area of the wall. Several copper pins are still in place at the top of the west wall. Holes for others can be seen on other walls. They may have served as pins for plumbbobs. The walls of the chamber were plastered, but the decoration was never finished.

  • Chamber plan:

    Oval
  • Relationship to main tomb axis:

    Perpendicular
  • Chamber layout:

    Flat floor, pillars
  • Floor:

    One level
  • Ceiling:

    Flat

Architectural Features

Pillars
Sarcophagus

Condition

Cutting finished
Damaged structurally
Decoration unfinished
Excavated

Dimensions

  • Height:

    2.66 m
  • Width:

    7.62 m
  • Length:

    15.25 m
  • Area:

    108.61 m2
  • Volume:

    288.9 m3
  • Orientation:

    0° from corridor G
  • Number of pillars:

    2
  • Average pillar width:

    1.11 m

Decoration

  • Star pattern

    unfinished Ceiling
  • Kheker frieze

    All walls

Sarcophagus

  • Extant remains:

    Box and lid
  • Sarcophagus form:

    Rectangular
  • Material:

    Quartzite
  • Length:

    2.4 m
  • Width:

    0.91 m
  • Height:

    0.9 m
  • Emplacement:

    Floor
  • Comments:

    The sarcophagus is aligned on a northeast-southwest axis in the east end of the burial chamber. Since the sarcophagus is undecorated, it is impossible to know its original owner and orientation. The lid is rectangular, with maneuvering handles still attached.

Side chamber Ja

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The small chamber, located to the right (south) of burial chamber J, is trapezoidal in plan.

Condition

Cutting finished
Excavated
Undecorated

Dimensions

  • Height:

    1.75 m
  • Width:

    2.31 m
  • Length:

    3.59 m
  • Area:

    8.17 m2
  • Volume:

    14.3 m3
  • Orientation:

    83.73° right from burial chamber J

Gate Ja

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This simple gate leads into chamber Ja.

Architectural Features

Steps

Condition

Undecorated
Excavated
Cutting finished

Dimensions

  • Height:

    1.15 m
  • Width:

    0.86 m
  • Length:

    0.88 m
  • Area:

    0.76 m2
  • Volume:

    0.87 m3
  • Orientation:

    83.73° right from burial chamber J

About

About

KV 42 is located in the south branch of the southwest Wadi. A steep stepped entryway (A), a steep corridor (B), and a stairwell (C) lead down to a chamber (F) where the axis turns ninety degrees to the left (east). Another corridor (G) leads to the cartouche-shaped, pillared burial chamber J, which is flanked by a side chamber (Ja). Except for an unfinished star pattern and a kheker-frieze in burial chamber J, the tomb is undecorated.

Noteworthy features:

The cartouche-shaped burial chamber.

Site History

Since the discovery of the foundation deposits bearing the name of Hatshepsut-Meryet-Ra in 1921, there is no doubt concerning the original owner of KV 42. The tomb was not finished or used by the queen, the wife of Thutmes III. Instead, she might have been buried in KV 35, the tomb of her son, Amenhetep II. KV 42 may have been reused by Sennefer, mayor of Thebes, Senetnay, his wife, and Baketra, the "king's adornment," during the reign of Amenhetep II or used as a cache for materials from their burials elsewhere. The tomb was plundered in antiquity.

Dating

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

New Kingdom
Dynasty 18
Thutmes III

Exploration

1921: Excavation
Carter, Howard
1899: Discovery
Loret, Victor
1900: Excavation
Carter, Howard
1900: Excavation
Andraos, Boutros
1900: Excavation
Macarios, C.
1999: Excavation
Supreme Council of Antiquities
1999: Conservation
Supreme Council of Antiquities

Conservation

Conservation History

The tomb has been cleared by the Supreme Council of Antiquities.

Site Condition

KV 42 has suffered from flood damage. Burial chamber J contains two pillars: the rear (west) one is damaged and the front (east) one is broken.

Hieroglyphs

Hatshepsut-Meryet-Ra

Great Royal Wife (Queen), Foremost of the Noble Ladies, Beloved One of Ra
Hmt-niswt wrt HAt-Spswt mr(y)t-Raw

Articles

Foundation Deposits

While more commonly found in association with temple constructions, foundation deposits also have been unearthed at some royal tombs in the Valley of the Kings.

Bibliography

Carter, Howard.  Report upon the Tomb of Sen-nefer Found at Biban el-Molouk, near that of Thotmes III, No, 34.  Annales du Service des Antiquités de l’Égypte 2 (1901): 196-200.

Eaton-Krauss, M.  Who Commissioned KV 42 and for Whom? Göttinger Miszellen 234 (2012): 53-60.

Eaton-Krauss, Marianne.  The Fate of Sennefer and Senetnay at Karnak Temple and in the Valley of the Kings.  Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 85 (1999): 113-129.

El-Bialy, Mohammed.  Récentes recherches effectuées dans la tombe no. 42 de la Vallée des Rois.  Memnonia 10 (1999): 161-178.

Hayes, William C.  Royal Sarcophagi of the XVIIIth Dynasty (= Princeton Monographs in Art and Archaeology, Quarto Series, 19).  Priceton, 1935.  Pp. 7-10, 15-16, 48-51, 156-157.

Helck, Wolfgang.  Königsgräbertal.  Wolfgang Helck, Eberhart Otto and Wolfhart Westendorf (eds.).  Lexikon der Ägyptologie.  7 vols. Wiesbaden, 1972-1992.  3: 521.

Hornung, Erik.  Das Grab Thutmosis' II.  Revue de l’égyptologie.  Paris. 27 (1975): 125-131.

Johnson, George B.  Reconsideration of the King’s Valley Tomb 42.  KMT  10, 3 (1999): 20-33, 84-85.

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.