Tomb KV64 is the burial of an unknown Eighteenth Dynasty individual in the Valley of the Kings, near Luxor, Egypt, that was re-used in the Twenty-second Dynasty for the burial of the priestess Nehmes Bastet, who held the office of “chantress” at the temple of Karnak. The tomb is located on the pathway to KV34 (tomb of Thutmose III) in the Central Valley of the Kings. KV64 was discovered in 2011 and excavated in 2012 by Dr Susanne Bickel and Dr Elina Paulin-Grothe of the University of Basel.
Discovery and layout of Tomb KV64
On 25 January 2011, during the University of Basel Kings’ Valley Project’s 2011 excavation season, work to install a protective iron cover over the shaft of KV40 uncovered the edges of a shaft cut into the rock 1.8 metres (5.9 ft) north of KV40. Given the small cutting size, approximately one by 2 metres (3.3 ft × 6.6 ft), and its proximity to the neighbouring tomb, it was initially suggested to be a possible embalming cache or an unfinished shaft. The feature was given the initial designation of ‘KV40b.’ Due to its discovery coinciding with the beginning of the 2011 Egyptian revolution, it was fitted with a metal cover to await clearance the following season. Excavation resumed in early January 2012, and it soon became apparent that the feature was a tomb; the find was officially announced on 15 January 2012 and given the designation KV64.
The tomb consists of a short, relatively narrow shaft 3.5 metres (11 ft) deep, which opens onto a single room measuring 4.1 by 2.35 metres (13.5 by 7.7 ft) long and wide; the chamber has a height of approximately 2 metres (6.6 ft). The doorway was blocked with stacked stone but was not sealed. This blocking was not original, as it sat on top of an earlier plastered blocking; a bowl of Eighteenth Dynasty-date containing Nile mud used for plastering the actual blocking was encountered at the base of the door.
Contents of Tomb KV64
The chamber was approximately 1 metre (3.3 ft) deep. The room contained the intact burial of the Twenty-second Dynasty chantress Nehmes Bastet, sitting on top of the fill at the far end of the chamber. Her painted wooden funerary stele sat propped against the wall at the foot of the coffin. The tomb had stood open for some time before the burial of Nehmes-Bastet, as indicated by the presence of several wasp nests and water-washed debris that partially filled the burial.
The debris contained the remnants of the robbed Eighteenth Dynasty interment, represented by fragmentary canopic jars and two stoppers, fragments of coffins and cartonnage, glass, faience, leather, furniture parts, and the broken, unwrapped mummy who was likely the original owner. A partial wooden label bearing the name of Princess Satiah was also found. It is unknown whether the title belongs to the woman for whom the tomb was created. Of dubious relevance to the tomb are finds of a Ramesside ostracon and fragments of furniture named Amenhotep III. Similar contents have been found elsewhere and are suggested to be the product of ancient robbery.
Occupants
Eighteenth Dynasty mummy
Little is known of the dismembered Eighteenth Dynasty mummy found in the tomb, although x-ray analysis revealed the body belonged to a middle-aged woman. Suppose the fragmentary furniture naming Amenhotep III and the tag naming a princess are original to this burial and not washed in during later flood action. In that case, the original owner can be identified as a princess of the reign of Amenhotep III. The style of the two canopic jar heads also conforms to this dating.
Nehmes Bastet
Upon entering the tomb in 2011, the excavators discovered a wooden coffin and a stela placed near the wall facing the head of the coffin. The mummy in the sarcophagus belongs to a priestess, the “Chantress of Amun”, Nehmes-Bastet. She was the daughter of Nakhtef-Mut, a priest of Amun who held the office of the “Opener of the Doors of Heaven” at Karnak, an essential Ancient Egyptian temple during that dynasty. The wooden stela shows Nehmes Bastet worshipping before a composite deity with attributes of both a sun god and Osiris.
Previous use of KV64 designation
“KV64” (with quotation marks) had been employed as a tentative designation about an anomaly detected by the use of ground-penetrating radar by the Amarna Royal Tombs Project (ARTP), led by Nicholas Reeves, during the autumn of 2000. This anomaly was detected 50 feet (15 m) north of KV63, near the tomb of Tutankhamun, KV62.