The entrance to the tomb of Thutmose II (Image: New Kingdom Research Foundation)
The archaeologist behind the discovery of an Ancient Egyptian tomb believes he may have found another tomb.
Piers Litherland, the archaeologist who uncovered Pharaoh Thutmose II’s tomb, says he may have found the location of a second tomb which dates back three-and-a-half thousand years.
The first tomb, near the Valley of the Kings in West Luxor, is the first royal burial chamber unearthed since King Tutankhamun. The Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities announced its discovery last week.
Litherland thinks the second chamber could contain the mummy of Thutmose II – despite a mummy at the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization in Cairo having long been identified as the ancient Egyptian king.
The archaeologist, who led a joint British-Egyptian delegation which discovered the first tomb in 2022, told The Observer: “There are 23 metres of a pile of man-made layers sitting above a point in the landscape where we believe—and we have other confirmatory evidence—there is a monument concealed beneath.”
The team who found the tomb (Image: New Kingdom Research Foundation)
The mummy of King Thutmose II, who ruled from 1493 to 1479 BC, was believed to have been discovered in the 19th century at the nearby archaeological site Deir el-Bahari Cachette.
But Litherland told The Art Newspaper it is possible this mummy, which now resides at the Cairo museum, may not be Thutmose II.
He explains that “the only basis” for identifying the mummy, was through the “Aa-en-re” label, as Thutmose II’s regnal name was “Aa-kheper-en-re”.
DON’T MISS [REPORT]
Litherland said: “It is known that several of the mummies were mislabelled so this evidence is pretty shaky. It is only the fact that it has been repeated over and over again which has given it any weight.”
The archaeologist added that not a single funerary item relating to Thutmose II’s burial is in any museum or private collection, with any that are known found by his own team over the last two years.
He said: “If his body has been found why, unlike many other kings of the New Kingdom, have his funerary goods, or fragments of his burial equipment, never been found?”