Tomb KV19, located in a side branch of Egypt’s Valley of the Kings, was intended as the burial place of Prince Ramesses Sethherkhepshef, better known as Pharaoh Ramesses VIII, but was later used for the burial of Prince Mentuherkhepshef instead, the son of Ramesses IX, who predeceased his father. Though incomplete and used “as is,” the decoration is considered the highest quality.
Location and layout of Tomb KV19
Tomb KV19 is located under the cliffs on the eastern side of the Valley of the Kings, between the tombs of Thutmose IV (KV43) and Hatshepsut (KV20).
The layout of Tomb KV19 is simple and consists of a single corridor; quarrying had barely progressed into the second corridor when work stopped. The tomb’s location and size of the passage suggest it was initiated for a king. However, traces of an original inscription on the door jambs reveal that the tomb was intended for Ramesses VIII when he was a prince. At the end of the hall, an oblong pit covered with limestone slabs was sunk into the floor to receive the burial: the quarrying style and projected layout date to the Twentieth Dynasty.
Discovery and excavation of Tomb KV19
The tomb was rediscovered on 9 October 1817 by Giovanni Battista Belzoni, who briefly described it, making special mention of the decoration:
The painted figures on the walls are so perfect that they are the best adapted I have ever seen, giving a correct and clear idea of the Egyptian taste.
The tomb was later visited by explorers and researchers, including Jean-François Champollion, Karl Richard Lepsius, and Eugène Lefébure as part of their respective archaeological and epigraphical missions.
1903, Howard Carter excavated the area before this tomb, discovering KV60.
Excavations by Edward R. Ayrton
Edward R. Ayrton excavated KV19 in 1906. He notes in his report that the tomb had never been fully cleared and resolved to end his 1905-1906 fieldwork season with its excavation. Only the porch was visible by this time, as the rest was covered by debris. The tomb was found to be half-filled with large blocks. Ayrton concluded they could not have been washed in by accident as a high drystone wall was only 3 feet (0.91 m) from the door. Few portable artefacts were recovered. The finds consisted of ostraca named Ramesses IV and Ramesses X, faience items inscribed with Ramesses IV from a foundation deposit, and parts of a large stela dedicated by a necropolis workman named Hay.
Ayrton theorised, based on the presence of a part of the stela being recovered from a Coptic midden in front of the tomb of Ramesses IV (KV2), that the items from that king’s foundation deposit had been moved to KV19 as a result of robber activity. He noted that only wooden items were found during his excavation of Ramesses IV’s foundation deposit and that it was much more significant. The burial pit contained broken pottery vessels and the upper part of a mummy. Earlier visitors had found the tomb to contain intrusive burials of a later Twenty-second Dynasty date.
Decoration
The exterior surfaces of the tomb are plastered and undecorated. The outside of the door jambs is plain for most of their height except for roughly cut hieroglyphs outlined in red at the base. On the inside, the jambs are covered by three columns of black hieroglyphs; below each side are a pair of rearing cobras spitting fire. Those on the right side are called Isis and Nephthys; those on the left are named Serket and Neith.
The interior decoration is executed on a fine white plaster background. The two halves of the door are painted immediately on either side of the entrance; the left leaf is covered in the hieratic text of Chapter 139 of the Book of the Dead, while the right has Chapter 123 with two extra lines. The corridor is painted with seven scenes on each side; the ceiling is plain white. The paintings are of the most acceptable Ramesside style. Overall, the decorative scheme is similar to that seen in the tombs of princes in the Valley of the Queens.
Mentuherkhepeshef, with the sidelock of youth on his wig and wearing a fine translucent robe, is depicted making offerings to Osiris, Ptah-Tatenen, Khonsemweset-Neferhotep, Bastet, Imseti, Qebehsenuef, and Amun-Ra on the left wall; on the right, he makes offerings to Ptah, Thoth (whose belt buckle bears the prenomen of Ramesses IX), Banebdjedet, Hapi, Duamutef, Meretseger, and Sekhmet. As an adult son, Mentuherkhepeshef appears alone before the gods instead of being escorted by his father.
Graffiti
Ayrton noted numerous graffiti scratched into the walls. On the left wall are two pieces of graffiti: the tomb’s owner and the Overseer of the Workshop of the Mansion of Gold Ser-[Dje]huty. On the right side is a graffito that records the name of a hitherto unknown Scribe in place of Truth Ptahemwia.
