DB320

Theban tomb TT320
Burial site of Royal cache
TT320
Coordinates	25°44′12.48″N 32°36′18.13″E / 25.7368000°N 32.6050361°E / 25.7368000; 32.6050361Coordinates: 25°44′12.48″N 32°36′18.13″E / 25.7368000°N 32.6050361°E / 25.7368000; 32.6050361
Location	Deir el-Bahari, Theban Necropolis
Discovered	1881 (Officially)
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Tomb DB320 (now usually referred to as TT320) is located next to Deir el-Bahri, in the Theban Necropolis, opposite modern Luxor, and was found to contain an extraordinary cache of mummified remains and funeral equipment of more than 50 kings, queens, royalty and various nobility.

Usage of tomb

The tomb is thought to have initially been the last resting place of High Priest of Amun Pinedjem II, his wife Nesikhons and other close family members. Pinudjem II died around 969 BC in a time of decline of the Egyptian kingdom. In this time the mummies from former dynasties were vulnerable to grave robbery and were moved here to protect the remains of these royal personages.

The list of mummies in the tomb is as follows;

Other mummies possibly buried in the tomb:

• Ahhotep I
• Merymose
• Nebseni, father of Tentamun, possible wife of Ramesses XI
• Paheripedjet
• Pediamun
• Seniu
• Siese
• Sutymose
• Wepmose
• Wepwawet-mose

Discovery and clearance

TT320 Cache Tomb Shaft

Initially the discovery of the tomb was concealed and a local family, the Abd el-Rasuls, used the mummies as a store of precious articles that were then sold on the antiquities market. This caused the local authorities to investigate and locate the source of these items.

It was cleared in a hurry (within 48 hours of its official discovery in 1881) by Émile Brugsch, in order to ensure no more antiquities were sold.

The chamber is reached by a nearly vertical chimney, which was left open in 1881, and has since filled with rocks and other debris (in fact every object that was left in the tomb has now been damaged in some way). It was reinvestigated in 1938. Since 1998 a Russian-German team led by Erhart Graefe has been working on reinvestigating and preserving the tomb.^[3]

See also

• KV35 – Mummy cache in tomb of Amenhotep II
• The Night of Counting the Years – A 1969 Egyptian film based on the story of the Abd el-Rasuls

References

External links

• CACHETTE of the Royal Mummies – TT320
• Plan of the tomb from recent re-exploration
• William Max Miller's Theban Royal Mummy Project

Bibliography

• Dylan Bickerstaffe, The Royal Cache Revisited, JACF 10 (2006), 9–25