A project of the American Research Center in Egypt
A project of the American Research Center in Egypt
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KV A
Unknown

A
Entryway A
B
Chamber B
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Entryway A

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The entrance is cut below the cliff face to the east of KV 22. Twelve rough steps are cut into the lower slope of the entryway.

Architectural Features

Steps

Condition

Cutting finished
Excavated
Undecorated

Dimensions

  • Width:

    1.94 m

  • Length:

    5.08 m

  • Area:

    9.7 m2

  • Orientation:

    222.72°

Gate B

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The original rubble blocking is still preserved in the left (southwest) half of the gateway. There is some damage to the front edge of the soffit.

Condition

Partly excavated
Cutting finished
Undecorated
Damaged structurally

Dimensions

  • Height:

    2.42 m

  • Width:

    1.71 m

  • Length:

    0.93 m

  • Area:

    1.59 m2

  • Volume:

    3.85 m3

  • Orientation:

    0° from entryway A

Chamber B

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The chamber is roughly cut, particularly the corners and the rear (southwest) wall.

Condition

Cutting unfinished
Excavated
Undecorated

Dimensions

  • Height:

    2.22 m

  • Width:

    4.87 m

  • Length:

    3.64 m

  • Area:

    17.25 m2

  • Volume:

    38.3 m3

  • Orientation:

    0° from entryway A

About

KV A, located in the West Valley, is cut into the base of the cliff at the head of a water course 60 meters (197 feet) south of the entrance to KV 22. Perhaps originally intended as a tomb, it was reused as a storeroom for material from KV 22. An entryway of rough Steps (A) descends to a gate (B) that still retained much of its rubble blocking. The single chamber B inside the gate was partly filled with limestone chips and dirt. Numerous fragments of broken pottery vessels, some with blue painted decoration, were found in the debris. Jar sealings and dockets name Amenhetep III and give dates in his regnal years 32 and 37. Other artifacts are associated with tomb decoration, including limestone Ostraca with sketches, ceramic fragments used for holding pigments, lumps of plaster, and rope.

Noteworthy features:

The original blocking of gate B was found almost intact.

It is not known whether this tomb's construction was contemporary with that of KV 22 (Amenhetep III) or if it predates it. From the nature of the artifacts found in the debris, it appears to have been first used to store equipment during the construction of KV 22. Subsequently vessels belonging to Amenhetep III's burial equipment were stored here. Other artifacts belonging to the king's burial, such as part of a leather quiver, are thought to have come from debris removed from KV 22. There was no evidence from the artifacts of a burial there.

Dating

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

New Kingdom
Dynasty 18
Amenhetep III
1825-1835: Visit
Hay, Robert
1844-1845: Excavation
Lepsius, Carl Richard
1905: Excavation
Ayrton, Edward Russell
1905-1906: Excavation
1912: Excavation
Burton, Harry
1912: Excavation
Jones, Ernest Harold
1993-1994: Excavation
Waseda University

Conservation History

The remaining ancient blocking of the gate has been supplemented, following the clearance of the tomb, with additional rubble blocking.

Site Condition

Much of the original blocking of the tomb remains.

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Bibliography

Chassinat, Emile.  Un nom de roi nouveau?  Bulletin de l’Institut français d’archéologie orientale du Caire 10 (1912): 165-167.

Kondo, Jiro.  The Re-clearance of Tombs WV 22 and WV A in the Western Valley of the Kings.  In: Richard H. Wilkinson (ed.), Valley of the Sun Kings: New Expeditions in the Tombs of the Pharaohs.  Tucson: University of Arizona Egyptian Expedition, 1995.  Pp. 25-33.

Reeves, Carl Nicholas.  Valley of the Kings, The Decline of a Royal Necropolis.  London:  KPI, 1990. P. 40.

Wilkinson, Richard H. and Carl Nicholas Reeves.  The Complete Valley of the Kings.  London:  Thames and Hudson, 1996.  P. 113.

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