Background:

At an assembly at the American University in Cairo (AUC) on 22 November 1995, guest speakers Dr. ʿAbd al-Ḥalīm Nūr al-Dīn, Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA – 1993-1996) and Professor Kent R. Weeks, were invited. Since the discovery of Tutankhamun’s work, the Valley of the Kings had been neglected but even the public has reclaimed their interest in Egyptian archaeology after the discovery of KV5; the tomb of the children of Rameses II.

Side A:

KV5 is a mystery worth unravelling. The tomb was choked up with debris for several years but Prof. Weeks and his team continued to clean out the tomb which was far more significant than anyone could have ever anticipated.

An earthquake happened the day of the interview, Dr. Nūr al-Dīn says it was not as serious as the one in 1992 and thankfully not much has been damaged. The discovery of KV5 is a very important one and he believed that what Weeks had said in regards to the significance of the tomb. Everything that is related to Rameses II is of great importance and impressive, says Nūr al-Dīn. Everyone is fascinated by the late pharaoh, even those who have little knowledge of Ancient Egypt, have heard of the great Rameses.

Dr. Nūr al-Dīn further describes the structure of the tomb which was shaped in a tentacle like manner and had many chambers. The Valley of the Kings was not only dedicated to kings, but it is discovered that it was also assigned for the queens (excluding the ruling queens who had their own valley; the Valley of the Queens).

Rameses II had 52 known sons, Weeks said there were around 80 rooms and admits that he does not know whether this would mean that there were also daughters buried in the same tomb. However, he does mean to know that the tomb is of extremely complex design and is very different from all other formerly excavated tombs.

For 2000 years, people have been coming to the Nile Valley and see what it holds. The huge temples like that of Rameses attract so many tourists. Weeks says it is virtually impossible to stand anywhere on the West Bank and not be close to an ancient monument of which most are still unexcavated. The creation of an archaeological map was needed according to Weeks, as it was helpful in protecting these monuments and finding them again later. Most of the tombs in the Valley of the Kings remain unstudied; some belong to priests but most belong to the royal family. The professor says it is usual for a general pattern to be followed when it comes to the building of royal tombs, but the KV5 was extraordinary in every way.

Side B:

Back in 1987, within a few days of clearing the entrance of the tomb, the archaeologists found a cartouche with the name of Rameses II on it. This was not surprising as the KV5 is located closely to Rameses’ own tomb. He allegedly lived till his 90s and is known to be one of the most powerful rulers of Egypt. Examples of Rameses’ work are the colossal statue in front of the Luxor temple and the temple of Abu Simbel.

Over the next six years, they cleared the first two chambers of the temple of Rameses’ children. The rooms were filled with debris as hard as cement and this is why it took so long. They had to go extremely slow to make sure they would not destroy anything in the process. The cambers showed representations of Rameses II with his son to the gods. Some of the sons’ names were written on the wall and son number one was writing on one of the walls in the first chamber along with the name of another son. The tomb looks like no other tomb in the Valley of the Kings and seems to be more of a mausoleum.

The history of the knowledge of KV5 goes as follows; Howard Carter used to work in the Valley of the Kings in the early 1900s. He, however, only cleared the entrance of the room and decided the room was uninteresting. According to Professor Weeks, Carter used the tomb as a dumpsite while he began excavating the tomb of Tutankhamun which was 50 meters away from KV5.

Early 1995, the archaeologists including Weeks wanted to explore more of the tomb besides the two chambers they had been working on for six years. They were interested in the sixteen-pillared hall which was the largest hall of the Valley of the Kings. The attention was directed at the back of the hall which was filled almost to the ceiling with debris. They discovered the tomb contained not six rooms, but a vast number of chambers; more than sixty. 

In October, they began cleaning a very steep corridor of which either side of the corridor held a series of 12 rooms. They also found another corridor parallel from the former, leading to what could be a lower level. KV5 is speculated to be connected and lead to Rameses II’s chamber which is located several meters away.