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A project of the American Research Center in Egypt
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View of Wadis A through D.
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Entryway A

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A large, shallow, and badly eroded shaft that leads down to the burial chamber. It is unplastered and debris in the shaft obscures its exact dimensions.

Condition

Cutting finished
Damaged structurally
Excavated
Flood Damage
Undecorated

Burial chamber B

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A large, shallow, and irregular burial chamber that lies on axis with the tomb's entrance. The walls are highly fractured and undecorated and debris in the chamber obscures its exact dimensions.

  • Relationship to main tomb axis:

    Parallel
  • Chamber layout:

    Flat floor, no pillars
  • Floor:

    One level
  • Ceiling:

    Flat

Condition

Cutting finished
Damaged structurally
Excavated
Flood Damage
Undecorated

About

About

Wadi D-2 is located in Wadi D, southwest of the tomb of Menhet, Menwi, and Merti (Wadi D-1). The tomb is cut into a slope on the western side of the valley  and consists of a shaft (A) leading down into a chamber (B). Howard Carter noted this tomb, as well as 6 others in the immediate area, during his survey of the Western Wadis in 1916-1917. According to Carter, the tombs contained the graves of baboons and were already lying open and plundered by the time of his visit. The New Kingdom Research Foundation (NKRF) surveyed these tombs in 2013-2014. According to Piers Litherland, director of the NKRF, Wadi D-2 is now mostly blocked and badly eroded. The meaning of these baboon burials and the reason for their positioning remains unclear, although they may be associated with a private tomb in the area similar to the animal burials located southeast of the tomb of Amenhetep II (KV35) in the Valley of the Kings. 

Site History

The tomb was constructed in the 18th Dynasty and plundered either in antiquity or during the modern period.

Dating

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

New Kingdom
Dynasty 18

Exploration

1916-1917: Survey and Documentation
Carter, Howard
1959-1960: Survey and Documentation
Thomas, Elizabeth
1982: Mapping/planning
Theban Mapping Project
1988: Survey and Documentation
Metropolitan Museum of Art
2013-2014: Survey and Documentation
New Kingdom Research Foundation (NKRF)

Conservation

Site Condition

According to the survey of the New Kingdom Research Foundation, the tomb is now mostly blocked and badly eroded.

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

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.