Tomb KV58, widely referred to as the Chariot Tomb, is a modest subterranean site situated in Egypt’s famous Valley of the Kings. The precise history of its discovery remains somewhat tangled. It was officially uncovered in January 1909 by Harold Jones. At the time, Jones was excavating under the auspices of the wealthy American sponsor Theodore M. Davis.
However, the exact circumstances and technical details of the excavation received only a brief, passing mention in Davis’s published records. These records confusingly attributed the original discovery to archaeologist Edward Ayrton in 1907 instead.
Architecturally simple, the tomb consists merely of a short vertical shaft leading directly into a single, unadorned chamber. Despite its evocative moniker, no actual chariot was discovered inside. Rather, the site contained only a sparse collection of artifacts. These included pieces of embossed gold foil (likely from chariot harnesses), decorative furniture knobs, and a lone ushabti figurine.
Modern scholars agree that these items were likely intrusive debris or secondary deposits originating from the nearby Eighteenth Dynasty tomb of Ay in WV23. At the time, however, Davis prematurely concluded that this small cache represented the actual, official burial place of the then-little-known pharaoh Tutankhamun.
Discovery, excavation, and contents
Tomb KV58 was discovered on 10 January 1909 and is located between the tomb of Horemheb (KV57) and the “Gold Tomb” (KV56). Harold Jones encountered the top of the shaft over 20 feet (6.1 m) below ground level. Excavation of the shaft yielded box handles and knobs, pieces of gold foil, small uraei, and fragments of faience inlay. These items were concentrated at 6 feet (1.8 m). The shaft opened to the west onto a single chamber. The room was filled with 2–3 feet (0.61–0.91 m) of water-deposited fill; this contained more gold foil and an alabaster ushabti. In his publication, Davis states that the gold foil was found within a broken box and that the ushabti was “lying on the floor in one corner.” However, comparison with Jones’ journal reveals that this “neat picture…is almost certainly incorrect” with the gold found in the shaft and chamber fill.
Given KV58’s proximity to the tomb of Horemheb, it was likely cut as a satellite tomb. The single uninscribed ushabti is possible evidence of earlier use of the tomb. Davis saw this tomb as the burial place of the then-little-known pharaoh Tutankhamun.
The box handles, knobs, and gold foil bear the names of Tutankhamun, Ankhesenamun, and Ay’s royal and non-royal names. The gold foil is embossed with designs of the king (Tutankhamun or Ay) defeating enemies with a mace and chariot, trampling enemies as a sphinx, and practising archery; floral designs are also present. These fragments likely represent the remains of the fittings of at least one chariot. Their ultimate origin is probably the tomb of Ay, WV23. They were deposited by robbers into the half-filled shaft during the official dismantling of the royal burials at the end of the New Kingdom. If this is the case, its proximity to KV57 may indicate the transfer of Ay’s mummy from that tomb. Furthermore, Reeves suggests that KV57 was employed as a cache of royal mummies.