Tombs in the Valley of the Queens

By Anneke Bart

 

    The Valley of the Queens was known to the Egyptians as Ta-Set-Neferu , which means something like "Seat of Beauty" or "Place of Perfection". It is the second great royal cemetery after the famous Valley of the Kings. The Valley owes its modern name to the numerous toms of Queens which were cut into the hills during the 19th and 20th Dynasty. This is the place where some of the tombs of the Queens of Ramesses the Great can be found.

    The tombs are numbered, just as the tombs in the Valley of the Kings, and there are quite a few tombs where all evidence of the original owner has disappeared. Below is a list of the 95 tombs, and a description of the owner of the tomb, when this information is available.

    At the bottom of the page is a list of individuals for whom fragments of their burial equipment has been found in the valley, but no tomb has been located. Finally there is a short list of individuals we may expect to have been buried in the Valley of the Queens, but no tomb or funerary equipment has been found.

     For some of the tombs external links have been provided. Some of the links will give a floor-plan, others may include some photographs of tombs.


QV1..QV7 - anonymous tombs (18th Dynasty)

QV 3 and 4 were found to contain Ibis and Falcon mummies.

(Encyclopedia of the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt By Katheryn A. Bard, 1999 (Routledge)
 

QV8 - Hori, King's Son and [?..], King's Daughter (18th Dynasty)

QV9 - QV10 - anonymous tombs (18th Dynasty)

QV 3 and 4 were found to contain Ibis and Falcon mummies.

(Encyclopedia of the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt By Katheryn A. Bard, 1999 (Routledge)


QV11 - anonymous tombs (18th Dynasty)

Expanded during the Third Intermediate Period. The tomb contained the funerary equipments of someone named Pairyiah. Four limestone canopic vases vases were found with lids in the form of the four sons of Horus.


QV12 - Unknown (18th Dynasty)

This tomb contained the golden cap of a scepter with the name of Tuthmosis II.


QV3..QV16 - anonymous tombs (18th Dynasty)


QV17 - Merytre, King's Daughter and Wermeryotes, King's Daughter (18th Dynasty)


QV18 - Unknown (18th Dynasty)

This tomb contained an early18th Dynasty amphora painted with a band of prancing horses.


QV19..21 anonymous tombs (18th  Dynasty)


QV22 - Unknown (18th  Dynasty)

This tomb contained unbaked earthenware jar stoppers bearing the name of Amenhotep III.


QV23 - anonymous tomb (18th  Dynasty)


QV24 - anonymous tombs (20th Dynasty)


QV25..QV29 - anonymous tombs (18th dynasty)


QV30 - Nebiri  , Head of the Stable, Time of Tuthmosis III(18th Dynasty)

 

QV31 - A Princess-Queen (19th dynasty)

Unnamed Great Royal Wife. Attributed to the time of Sety I due to its location and floor-plan.
(Encyclopedia of the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt By Katheryn A. Bard, 1999 (Routledge)

http://members.tripod.com/~ib205/vq31.html


QV32 - anonymous tomb (18th Dynasty)


QV33 - Queen Tanedjemy Time of Sety I?

Attributed to the time of Sety I due to its location and floor-plan. This Queen was unknown previous to the discovery of the tomb in the 1980s.
(Encyclopedia of the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt By Katheryn A. Bard, 1999 (Routledge)


QV34 - Anonymous princess-queen Time of Sety I?

Attributed to the time of Sety I due to its location and floor-plan.
(Encyclopedia of the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt By Katheryn A. Bard, 1999 (Routledge)


QV35 - anonymous tomb (18th Dynasty)


QV36 - King's Daughter Time of Sety I?

Attributed to the time of Sety I due to its location and floor-plan.
(Encyclopedia of the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt By Katheryn A. Bard, 1999 (Routledge)

http://members.tripod.com/~ib205/vq36.html


QV37 - anonymous tomb (18th Dynasty)


QV38 - Queen Sitre  God's Wife, King's Great Wife, Lady of the Two Lands, Mistress of Upper and Lower Egypt.  (19th Dynasty)

Wife of Rameses I, Mother of Sety I. She may be identical to a lady named Tia who was married to Sety before he came to the throne (according to the 400 year stela).

Her full name may be Tia-Sitre.

The tomb is not finished, and consists of a stairway leading to two chambers, one after the other. Only the first of these rooms is decorated.

http://members.tripod.com/~ib205/vq38.html


QV39 - anonymous tomb (18th Dynasty)


QV40 - A Queen, cartouche blank  Time of Sety I?
Attributed to the time of Sety I due to its location and floor-plan.
(Encyclopedia of the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt By Katheryn A. Bard, 1999 (Routledge)

http://members.tripod.com/~ib205/vq40.html


QV41 - unfinished tomb (20th Dynasty)

This tomb is architecturally contemporary to the tombs from the time of Ramesses III.


QV42 - Prince Prehirwenemef, First King's Son, Charioteer of the stable of the Great House, (20th Dynasty)

Son of Ramesses III. Predeceased his father. S. Redford suggests that Prehirwenemef may be the son of Ramesses III and Queen Tiye, the Queen implicated in the plot against her husband.


QV43 - Prince Set-hirkhopshef, King's son, Hereditary prince of the royal children of his Majesty, Charioteer of the Great Stable. (20th Dynasty)

Son of Ramesses III. S. Redford suggests that Set-hirkhopshef may be the son of Ramesses III and Queen Tiye, the Queen implicated in the plot against her husband.

This tomb was never used. He survived his (half ? -)brothers and his nephew, and took the throne as Ramesses VIII.

Reused as a family burial place in the Third Intermediate Period.

http://members.tripod.com/~ib205/vq43.html


QV 44 - Prince Khaemweset, First King's Son, Sem-priest of Ptah. (20th Dynasty)

Son of Ramesses III. S. Redford suggests that Khaemwese may be the son of Ramesses III and Queen Tiye, the Queen implicated in the plot against her husband.

The tomb was discovered by Schiaparelli. Khaemweset's possible mummy and his sarcophagus lid are now in the Turin Museum.

Reused as a family burial place in the Third Intermediate Period.

http://members.tripod.com/~ib205/vq44.html


QV45 - unfinished tomb (20th Dynasty)

This tomb is architecturally contemporary to the tombs from the time of Ramesses III.


QV46 - Imhotep   Vizier. Time of Tuthmosis I. (18th Dynasty)


QV 47 - Princess Ahmose King's Daughter, King's Sister.  (17th Dynasty)

Daughter of Sekenenre-Taa (II) and Sit-djehuty


QV48 - anonymous tomb (18th Dynasty)


QV49 - anonymous tomb (19th Dynasty)


QV50 - anonymous tomb (20th Dynasty)


QV 51 - Queen Isis (Ta-hemdjeret), King's Great Wife, King's Mother, God's Wife.

Wife of Ramesses III,  mother of Ramesses VI and Ramesses VI (20th Dynasty)

She was the daughter of a Lady called Hemdjeret. She lived on into the reign of her son Ramesses VI.

http://members.tripod.com/~ib205/vq51.html


QV52- Queen Tyti  King's Daughter, King's Sister, King's Wife, King's Mother,  Ramesside (20th Dynasty)

It's not certain where this Queen fits in the 20th dynasty. She may be the Daughter of Ramesses IX, Wife and Sister of Ramesses X and the Mother of Ramesses XI.
Leblanc (in Bard's Encyclopedia)  suggests that Queen Tity was possibly the mother of Ramesses III's sons Khaemwaset, Amenhirkhepeshef and Ramesses-Meriamen. If so, it's not clear if Tyti was a daughter of Sethnakht or  a daughter-wife of Ramesses III. It seems that  the theory that Tyti was the daughter-wife of Ramesses III is more polular recently. (Also see "The Identity of the Ramesside Queen Tyti" by J Grist. J. Egypt. archaeol. 1985, vol. 71, pp. 71-81)

http://members.tripod.com/~ib205/vq52.html

http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/tyti.htm


QV53 - Prince Ramesses  King's Son, Generalissimo (20th Dynasty).

Son of Ramesses III and Isis Ta-Hemdjeret.

This tomb was not used because Ramesses took the throne as Ramesses IV.


QV54 - unfinished tomb (20th Dynasty)

 

QV55 - Prince Amenhirkhopshef , Eldest King's Son, Royal Scribe, Overseer of Horses, (20th Dynasty).


Amenhirkhopshef lead by his father. The image is artifically colored, hence the real colors may be slightly different.


Son of Ramesses III.  His name is also written as Ramesses-Amenhirkhopshef. Apparently died young as heir presumptive. Susan Redford suggests that Amenhirkhopshef is a son of Ramesses III and Queen Isis Ta-Hemdjeret.

http://members.tripod.com/~ib205/vq55.html



QV56 - unfinished tomb (19th Dynasty)


QV57 - unfinished tomb (19th Dynasty)


QV58 - Unknown (late 18th Dynasty)

This tomb is anonymous, but the plan of the tomb indicates that it may dathe from the end of the 18th Dynasty


QV59 - anonymous tomb (19th Dynasty)

 

QV60 - Queen Nebettawy, King's Daughter of his Body, King's Great Wife, Lady of the Two Lands, Mistress of Upper and Lower Egypt. (19th Dynasty)

Daughter of Ramses II and Queen Nefertari. Nebettawy served as her father's Great Wife later in his reign. This tomb was transformed into a chapel during the Coptic period.


QV61..QV65 anonymous tombs (19th Dynasty)

 

QV66 - Queen Nefertari, King's Great Wife, Lady of the Two Lands, Mistress of Upper and Lower Egypt.  (19th dynasty)

Image from the tomb. (watercolor and ink)


Nefertari was the wife of Ramesses II and mother of four sons (Amenhirkhopshef, Prehirwenemef, Meryre and Meryatum), as well as three daughters (Nefertari, Merytamen and Nebettawy).

Discovered in 1904 by Schiaparelli. The tomb had been plundered in antiquity, but several items were found by Schiaparelli. These include fragments of a pink granite sarcophagus lid, pieces of a gilded coffin, pottery fragments, remains of shabti figures, the lid from a shabti-box, the wooden djed-pillar from a magical brick, and a knob from a wooden chest bearing the name of King Aye of the 18th dynasty.

The wall paintings were restored by the Getty Conservation institute in 1988.

http://www.osirisnet.net/tombes/pharaons/nefertari/e_nefertari.htm

http://members.tripod.com/~ib205/nefertari.html


QV67 - anonymous tomb (18th Dynasty)


QV68 - Queen Merytamun, King's Daughter of his Body, King's Great Wife, Lady of the Two Lands, Mistress of Upper and Lower Egypt. (19th Dynasty)

Daughter of Rameses II and Queen Nefertari. Served as one of her father's Great Wives after her mother's death in ca. Year 24.


QV69 - anonymous tomb (18th Dynasty)


QV70 - Nehesy (18th Dynasty)


QV71 -Queen Bint-anath, King's Daughter of his Body, King's Great Wife, Lady of the Two Lands, Mistress of Upper and Lower Egypt  (19th Dynasty)

Eldest daughter of Ramesses II and Queen Isetnofret. She served as her father's Great Wife after her mother's death. Bintanath had at least one (unnamed) daughter who is depicted in the tomb.

 

QV72 - Baki, King's Son and  Hatneferet, King's Daughter (18th Dynasty)


QV73 - Queen Henuttawy?,  (possibly dated to the 20th Dynasty)


QV74 - Queen (Dua-)Tentopet  Great King's mother and King's wife. (20th Dynasty)

Daughter of Ramesses III, wife of Ramesses IV and mother of Ramesses V. Appears as a Divine Adoratrix (probably during the reign of Ramesses III) in the Temple of Khonsu at Karnak.
This tomb may have originally been started for an unnamed princess from the time of Ramesses II.

(Encyclopedia of the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt By Katheryn A. Bard, 1999 (Routledge)


QV75 -Queen Henutmire, King's Daughter, King's Great Wife (19th Dynasty)

Probably a daughter of Sety I and hence a sister-wife of Ramses II. A trough of her coffin was usurped by Harsiese for his internment in Medinet Habu (some 250 years later?). Others  see Henutmire as the daughter-wife of Ramesses II. She appears on some fairly late dating statues. The one exception is the Vatican staue of Queen (Mut-)Tuy which depicts Henutmire  as a secondary figure on the side.


QV76 - Merytre, King's Daughter (18th Dynasty)


QV77..QV79 - anonymous tombs (18th Dynasty)


QV80 - Queen (Mut-)Tuy, King's Wife, King's Mother, God's Wife (19th Dynasty)


Canopic lid depicting Queen Mut-Tuy


Wife of Seti I and mother of Ramesses II. She was the daughter of Raia (an officer of the chariotry) and his wife [R]uia. Her tomb contained a calcite portrait canopic lid and a faience ushabti. Dated sherds of wine amphorae show that Queen Tuy was still alive in year 22 of her son Ramesses II's reign.





QV81 - Heka... (18th Dynasty)


QV82 - Minemhat, King's Son and Amenhotep, King's Son (18th Dynasty)


QV83 - anonymous tomb (18th Dynasty)

 

QV84..QV86 - unfinished tombs (20th Dynasty)


QV87 - anonymnous tomb (18th Dynasty)


QV88 - Ahmose, King's Son (18th Dynasty)


QV89..QV94 - anonymous tombs (18th Dynasty)


QV95 - unfinished tomb (20th Dynasty)


Tombs in Branch valley, south-west of the Valley of the Queens


Fragments of Burial equipment found:


Other individuals who may be buried in the Valley of the Queens:


Sources:

1. Dodson A. and Hilton D. The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt, London 2004

2. Lecuyot, G., Ta Set Neferu, The Valley of the Queens: A Brief History of Its  Excavations, KMT: A Modern Journal of Ancient Egypt, Summer 2000.

3. Redford,S., The Harem Conspiracy: The Murder Of Ramesses III, Northern Illinois Univ. Press, 2002.

4. Reeves, N. Ancient Egypt: The Great Discoveries, Thames & Hudson, 2000

5. http://members.tripod.com/~ib205/VQ.html

6. http://www.narmer.pl/kv/qv_en.htm


Some of the illusttrations courtesy of  Jon Bodsworth  http://www.egyptarchive.co.uk/index.htm