Tomb of mysterious missing pharaoh is biggest archaeological find in a century

Independent

19-02-2025

The tomb of Thutmose II, the last undiscovered king of the 18th dynasty, has been located in the Western Valleys of the Theban Necropolis.
It is the first time in over a century, since the unearthing of Tutankhamun's tomb, archaeologists have discovered the final resting place of another Egyptian pharaoh.
The discovery came as a surprise, as archaeologists initially thought the tomb belonged to a royal wife. However, the presence of a wide staircase and an intricately illustrated burial chamber pointed towards a royal burial, confirming it as the long-lost tomb of the pharaoh.
An ancestor of Tutankhamun, whose tomb was found in 1922, Thutmose II died 3,500 years ago and was thought to be buried at the other end of the mountain near the Valley of the Kings.
Archaeologists believed they had found the tomb of a royal wife. However, the wide staircase and illustrated burial chamber indicated it was likely to be the resting place of a king.
Who was Thutmose II?
Thutmose II was the husband as well as the half-brother of Hatshepsut, considered one of Egypt's greatest pharaohs. He is believed to have ruled for around four years, and fathered one child, Thutmose III.
The reign of Thutmose II is thought to date from approximately 1493 to 1479 BCE, but his life has been overshadowed by his more famous father Thutmose I, his wife Hatshepsut (one of the few women who reigned in her own right), and his son, Thutmose III.
The discovery was made by a joint mission formed by the New Kingdom Research Foundation (NKRF), a British independent academic foundation, and the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, Egypt, a project affiliated to the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research at the University of Cambridge.
The leader and field director, Piers Litherland, from Galashiels, is an Honorary Research Associate of the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research at Cambridge University.
Co-head of the mission is Dr Judith Bunbury, Fellow of Wolfson College, and the team includes Egyptian and international experts and local workers. The discovery is the result of 12 years' work in the Western Valleys.
It previously established the identities of more than 30 royal wives and court women of this period and has excavated a total of 54 tombs in the western part of the Theban mountain in Luxor.
Mr Litherland said: 'This discovery solves a great mystery of ancient Egypt: the location of the tombs of the early 18th dynasty kings. The tomb of this ancestor of Tutankhamun had never been found because it was always thought to be at the other end of the mountain near the Valley of the Kings.
'Initially we thought we might have found the tomb of a royal wife, but the wide staircase and the large doorway suggested something more important.
'The discovery that the burial chamber had been decorated with scenes from the Amduat, a religious text which is reserved for kings, was immensely exciting and was the first indication that this was a king's tomb.'
Artefacts discovered in the tomb, including fragments of alabaster jars bearing inscriptions with the names of Thutmose II and his principal wife, Hatshepsut, provided definitive evidence, and are the only artefacts connected with Thutmose II's burial ever found.
Sometime before Year 6 of Thutmose III's reign, archaeological evidence suggests there was a catastrophic flood in this tomb after which the contents were moved to a second tomb.
The discovery by the mission of an intact foundation deposit suggests that this second tomb is hidden in the same valley – casting doubt on the identity of the CG61066 body found in the Royal Cache in 1881 and previously identified as Thutmose II.
The body has been dated consistently as over 30 years of age, but Thutmose II was described as 'the falcon in the nest' when he came to throne and ruled just long enough to father Thutmose III before he died.
Minister of tourism and antiquities Sherif Fathy said: 'This is the first royal tomb to be discovered since the ground-breaking find of King Tutankhamun's burial chamber in 1922.
'It is an extraordinary moment for Egyptology and the broader understanding of our shared human story.'