I watched yesterday a documentary on Discovery Knowledge about KV 63. The beauty of the findinds left me bewildered. The sarcophagus was incredibly beautiful, the face exumes a radiance not always matched in other sarcophagi. Unfortunately, at this stage, nothing has been recovered that gives us any clues to whom it may have belonged to. No other items recovered help us in any way.
However, the thing that annoyed me was the interview with Zahi Hawass. Mr Hawass affirms, just by looking at the sarcophagus, that the face reminds him of Tutankhamun's face on his sarcophagus (which is not even Tut's), so, it attributes the sarcophagus in KV 63 to Kiya which he calls mother of Tutankhamun and adds that Tut may have chosen to be buried in KV 62 so he could be beside his mother.
Now, this is science fiction!!!
There are no proofs that Kiya was Tut's mother, there are no proofs that KV63 belonged to her, there are no proofs that Kiya was buried in Kings Valley, there are no proofs that that sarcophagus belongs to her, we know KV62 was set in a hurry to contain King Tutankhamun's body...what is Zahi playing at?
Sensationalism? Publicity at every cost? Misleading?
It left a bad taste in my mouth....
Minister of Culture, Farouk Hosni, announced today that an Egyptian archaeological mission led by Dr. Zahi Hawass, Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), has discovered an 18th Dynasty tomb (1570-1315 BC) in the necropolis of Dra Abu el-Naga, on Luxor's west bank.
Dr. Hawass stated that the newly discovered tomb belongs to the Supervisor of Hunters, Amun-em-Opet, and that it dates to shortly before the reign of King Akhenaten (1372-1355 BC).
Dr. Hawass added that the entrances to two further undecorated tombs have also been found to the north-west of this tomb; seven funerary seals bearing the name of Amenhotep-Ben-Nefer, the Supervisor of the Cattle of Amun, were found in the courtyard of the first tomb, while seals bearing the name of Eke, the Royal Messenger and Supervisor of the Palace, were unearthed in the courtyard of the second. Furthermore, fragmentary remains of unidentified mummies have also been found, as well as a collection of Ushabti figures made of burned clay and faience.
Zahi Hawass is Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities and a very high profile archeologist. The link for his website is: www.drhawass.com
I am very excited about this latest discovery, especially belonging at the start of the reign of Akhenaten, which is a very much controversial time and not much is known.
Now, let's wait for developments.
