Tomb of Amenophis II Luxor

Tomb of Amenophis II Luxor

The Valley of the Kings, East Bank, Luxor holds all the tombs of the royal men folk of Ancient Egypt. The 35th tomb discovered by archeologists in this Valley of the Kings (March 1898) was the one belonging to the Pharaoh Amenhotep II. Thus the Tomb of Amenophis II was named KV35 by archeologists. The pharaoh is believed to have reigned in Egypt from 1427 to 1401 BC. The tomb has recently been revamped and opened up to public view.

The Tomb of Amenophis II conforms to the traditional tomb architecture in the construction of corridors and stairways that lead up to the ritual shaft. However the tomb is unique in its depiction of the pharaoh offering ritual obeisance to the Egyptian gods Osiris, Anubis and Hathor. From the ritual shaft visitors need to turn left into a two pillared antechamber. As we continue our sojourn through a staircase into a large chamber held up by 6 pillars we come across exquisite many wall paintings. This room leads to the main burial chamber. Here the king's mummy was found in a red sarcophagus made of quartzite. The mummy was eventually put up on display at the Cairo Museum in 1928.

The walls of the burial chamber are embellished with texts and paintings from the sacred Book of Amduat. As with most other tombs, the ceiling of Tomb of Amenophis II is painted in dark blue spangled with golden stars. Two annex chambers were found adjoining the burial chamber. One of these annex chambers contained the mummies of 9 more members of the royal family including the son and mother of Amenophis II. These mummies have been identified as belonging to Webensenu, Hatshepsut-Meryetre, Tuthmosis IV, Amenophis III, Merneptah, Sethos II, Siptah, Setenakhte, Ramesses IV, Ramesses V and Ramesses VI. These were probably relocated in the Tomb of Amenophis II, Luxor, for safety reasons.

Book Luxor hotels now