Post by Jaunty AkhenatenIt seems obvious, due to the fact that Tut's tomb has a floor plan
straight out of the Valley of the Queens, this burial place was
recycled from somebody else?
KV 62 is a noble's tomb, which was adapted for the king's burial.
This is explained at the Theban Mapping Project site: <http://
thebanmappingproject.com/sites/browse_tomb_876.html> Similarly
designed nobles' tombs in the King's Valley include KV 45 (Userhet),
KV 46 (Yuya and Thuya), KV 21 (burial of two unknown noblewomen); KV
27 (burial of unknown nobleman), KV 39 (same), and KV 42 (Sennefer,
Mayor of Thebes during reign of Amenhotep II).
Post by Jaunty AkhenatenWas Nefertiti moved out, to create space for young Tut?
KV 62 was an unused tomb before the interment of Tutankhamun, as it
was not finished. When it was decide to use it for the young king's
burial, a burial chamber with side chamber was cut into the right
(north) end of the first chamber.
KV 62 is also a cache tomb: that is, items included in the burial
belonged to the Amarna royal family and were not specifically objects
owned by Tutankhamun. the same could be said of KV 55, which at one
time included the bodies of Queen Tiye, a young man (probably
Smenkhkare), and possibly Akhenaten (as magic bricks bearing his name
are also found in the tomb). This tomb was likely stripped of most of
its grave good during the Ramesside period, when Tiye's body was
removed (though her burial shrine was left behind, mainly because it
had Atenist imagery) and reinterred in the tomb of Amenhotep III (KV
22 in the western side of the Valley).
For more information on Valley of the King tomb sites and plans, see:
Theban Mapping Project <http://thebanmappingproject.com/>
On the various tombs in the Valley of the Kings and their owners, see:
Reeves, C. N. 1990. _The Valley of the Kings: The Decline of a Royal
Necropolis_. London: Kegan Paul International.
Reeves, N. and R. H. Wilkinson 1996. _The Complete Valley of the
Kings: Tombs and Treasures of Egypt's Greatest Pharaohs_. London:
Thames and Hudson.
Regards --
Katherine Griffis-Greenberg, MA (Lon)
Member, International Association of Egyptologists
American Research Center in Egypt, ASOR, EES, SSEA
Oriental Institute
Oriental Studies Doctoral Program [Egyptology]
Oxford University
Oxford, United Kingdom
http://www.griffis-consulting.com