DB320


Tomb TT320, otherwise known as the Royal Cache, is an Ancient Egyptian tomb located next to Deir el-Bahri, in the Theban Necropolis, opposite the modern city of Luxor. It contains the last resting place of High Priest of Amun Pinedjem II, his wife Nesikhons, and other close family members, in addition to an extraordinary collection of mummified remains and funeral equipment of more than 50 kings, queens, and other New Kingdom members of the royalty, as it was later used as a cache for royal mummies during the Twenty-first Dynasty.

Usage

The tomb is thought to have initially been the last resting place of High Priest of Amun Pinedjem II, his wife Nesikhons, and other close family members. Pinudjem II died around 969 BCE, in a time of decline of the Egyptian kingdom, during which mummies from former dynasties were vulnerable to grave robbery. During Ramesses IX's reign, he had teams that went out and inspected the tombs of pharaohs. If it were discovered that repairs to the tomb or the mummy were needed, arrangements would be made to make the necessary repairs. The tombs that were inspected were found untouched at that time.
During Herihor's reign, however, some tombs and mummies were found to be in need of what they called "renewing the burial places". The tombs of Ramesses I, Seti I, and Ramesses II required "renewing" after pillaging, and this led to the royal mummies being moved to this tomb to protect them, with each coffin given dockets stating when they were moved and where they were reburied; some of the mummies had been moved multiple times before they were placed here.
It was initially believed that this tomb originally belonged to an Eighteenth Dynasty queen who was found buried here. However, mummies were cached here in the Twenty-first Dynasty and the Eighteenth Dynasty queen was found at or near the entrance of the tomb, suggesting that she was placed in it last, which would indicate that this was not her tomb. If this was her tomb she would have been placed at the far, or back, side of the tomb. When the last of the mummies were placed in TT320, it seemed that the opening was naturally covered with sand and possibly other debris such as rocks, rendering it difficult to find. The first documented case of someone finding this tomb was in 1881. It is possible that this tomb was discovered prior to 1881 but there is no documentation indicating that it was found prior to this.

List of mummies

DynastyNameTitleComments
17thTetisheri Great Royal WifeNow disputed.
17thSeqenenre TaoPharaoh
17thAhmose-InhapiQueen
17thAhmose-HenutemipetPrincess
17thAhmose-HenuttamehuGreat Royal Wife
17thAhmose-MeritamonGreat Royal Wife
17thAhmose-SipairPrinceNow disputed.
17thAhmose-SitkamoseGreat Royal Wife
18thAhmose IPharaoh
18thAhmose-NefertariGreat Royal WifeNow disputed.
18thRaiRoyal nurseNurse of Ahmose-Nefertari
18thSiamunPrince
18thAhmose-SitamunPrincess
18thAmenhotep IPharaoh
18thThutmose IPharaoh
18thBaket Princesspossibly Baketamun
18thThutmose IIPharaoh
18thIsetGreat Royal WifeWife of Thutmose II, mother of Thutmose III
18thThutmose IIIPharaoh
18thUnknown man CPossibly Senenmut
19thRamesses IPharaoh
19thSeti IPharaoh
19thRamesses IIPharaoh
20thRamesses IIIPharaoh
20thRamesses IXPharaoh
21stNodjmetQueenWife of Herihor
21stPinedjem IHigh Priest of Amun
21stDuathathor-HenuttawyWife of Pinedjem I
21stMaatkareGod's Wife of AmunDaughter of Pinedjem I
21stMasahartaHigh Priest of AmunSon of Pinedjem I
21stTayuheretSinger of AmunPossible wife of Masaharta
21stPinedjem IIHigh Priest of Amun
21stIsetemkheb DChief of the Harem of Amun-ReWife of Pinedjem II
21stNeskhonsFirst Chantress of Amun; King's Son of KushWife of Pinedjem II
21stDjedptahiufankhFourth Prophet of Amun
21stNesitanebetashruWife of Djedptahiufankh
?Unknown man Ehas been studied by Bob Brier, who thinks the mummy in question, might be Pentawer, one of the progeny of Ramses III
?8 other unidentified mummies; funerary remains of Hatshepsut

Discovery and clearance

In 1881, a tomb-robber named Abd el-Rassul discovered TT320. Later research, conducted by Gaston Maspero, stated that Abd el-Rassul's family discovered TT320 as early as 1871, because items such as canopic vases and funeral papyri from this tomb showed up on the antiquities market in Luxor as early as 1874. For example, the Book of the Dead of Pinudjem II was purchased in 1876 for £400. The story that Abd el-Rassul Ahmed told was that one of his goats fell down a shaft and when he went down the shaft to retrieve the goat, he stumbled across this tomb. As he looked around, he discovered that this was no ordinary tomb. He saw that the mummies entombed in TT 320 were royal. This was indicated by the royal cobra head dress on some of the coffins. Abd and his brother plundered this tomb and lived off of the profits for many years until they were caught. Local authorities were expecting to find several tombs belonging to the family of Herihor. When items started appearing on the antiquities market with their names on them began, local authorities started to investigate the items and were able to trace them back to the Abd el-Rassul family. Authorities interrogated and tortured the two brothers until one of the brothers eventually gave up the location of the tomb where the items were plundered from. Authorities were sent out to TT320 immediately to secure it.
Authorities arrived at TT320 without the head of the Egyptian Service of Antiquities, because he was on vacation. Instead, the only other European member of the team, Emil Brugsch, was sent with one of the first Egyptian Egyptologists, Ahmed Kamal, to explore and examine TT320. Rather than just exploring, Brugsch had all of the contents, including the mummies, of this tomb removed within 48 hours of them entering this tomb. Neither Brugsch nor Kamal documented the tomb before having the contents removed, which made future study of this tomb difficult. Locations of the coffins were not documented and items were not catalogued. Brugsch went back later to document the tomb but the problem with this is that when he went back, he was not able to remember every detail of the tomb. His recollection of the tomb is questionable since he did not document the details immediately upon entering the tomb. The removal of the items from TT320 so quickly presented problems that the removal team at the time did not take into account.
The hasty removal of the items in TT320 was not done carefully. When the items were received in Cairo, it was discovered that some coffins had damage that would have happened if they were banged around during removal or transport. Evidence suggests that the damage to the coffins happened during removal from TT320. Brugsch documented the height of the different parts of the tomb and the measurement of the opening was just big enough to drag out the coffins. In addition to this, there were fragments of royal coffins and other items found in the bottom meter of debris in TT320. However, there were approximately ten coffins that were found with their foot ends missing. It is believed that this happened before they were placed in TT320 because there was no mention, by Brugsch, of foot ends whether they were whole, in pieces or fragments being found. A research team entered TT320 in 1998 for research and that team did not find any evidence of foot ends either. In addition to plundering of TT 320 and the royal tombs of the mummies found here, the mummies themselves were plundered also.
Once the coffins/mummies and items made it back to Cairo they were examined. It was found that not only were the tombs plundered but so were the mummies, and that some of the mummies were found in the wrong coffins. Some of the mummy's heads and limbs had been removed by tomb robbers to be able to get to amulets found under the wrappings of the mummies in addition to other precious ornaments found on the mummies.
Considering the inconsistencies of some of the mummies mentioned previously, one mummy in particular raises many questions due to inconsistencies in two of his papyri. The first papyrus, Book of the Dead of Djed Ptah Uefankh A was read incorrectly. The person who read it thought that one of Djed Ptah Uefankh A's titles was part of his name. On the second papyrus, The Amduat papyrus, Djed Ptah Uefa Ankh A's first title was "the third prophet of Amun". However, he is called "the second prophet of Amun" on his coffin. This is thought to be because the items that had "the third prophet of Amun" were prepared prior to him reaching the position of "the second prophet of Amun". Djed Ptah Uefa Ankh was believed to be royal because on the Amduat papyrus his "priestly title" is immediately followed by "the king's son" and that is followed by "of Ramesses". Similar text is found on the Book of the Dead papyrus with one exception, "the king's son" is followed by "of the lord of the two lands". This title is what gave the impression that he was royal but that title does not mean that he was royal. In fact it is believed that he was not royal at all. Cynthia Sheikholeslami says that "It is clear that the actual title should be understood as 'king's son of Ramesses' rather than as an indication of membership in the royal family". There are eight other individuals known to hold this same title. It is argued that this title was given to someone from a certain region, more specifically a town in the Delta called Ramesses.
The chamber is reached by a nearly vertical chimney, which was left open in 1881, and has since filled with rocks and other debris. It was reinvestigated in 1938. Since 1998 a Russian-German team led by Erhart Graefe has been working on reinvestigating and preserving the tomb.
Research teams have entered TT320 a number of times since its discovery, but the most successful research team entered TT320 in 1998. They cleared the passageways of fallen debris such as stones and fallen walls. They were able to find fragments of coffins and other small items. They were able to see some paintings after clearing debris away from the walls. These paintings, coupled with the archaeological fragments and the coffins, led this research team to conclude that this tomb was originally owned by a family from the Twenty-first Dynasty as a family tomb.