The Royal Cache, technically known as TT320 (previously referred to as DB320), is an Ancient Egyptian tomb located next to Deir el-Bahari, in the Theban Necropolis, opposite the modern city of Luxor.
It contains an extraordinary collection of mummified remains and funeral equipment of more than 50 kings, queens, and other royal family members of the New Kingdom, as it was used as a cache for royal mummies during the Twenty-first Dynasty. The eleven pharaohs found there include one of the nine pharaohs from the 17th dynasty, five of the fifteen pharaohs from the 18th dynasty, three of the eight pharaohs from the 19th dynasty, and two of the ten pharaohs from the 20th dynasty. It is thought to be one of the first caches 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. The mummies in need of "renewing" would be re-wrapped in linen and a linen docket would be added in order to keep accurate records of the mummies who were kept in the cache.
thumb|Entrance shaft of the royal cache
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, end 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. This aided in the purpose of moving the mummies into the TT320, the hidden aspect of the tomb was the reasoning behind choosing it as the resting place for many mummies in hopes to avoid additional grave robberies.
Discovery in 1881
thumb|220px|The location of the tomb above the [[Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahari]]
thumb|[[Gaston Maspero (sitting), Émile Brugsch (middle), and Mohammed Abd-er-Rasoul (holding the rope) photographed at the entrance to the tomb by Edward Livingston Wilson]]
In 1881, the location of TT320 became publicly known. Later research, conducted by Gaston Maspero, stated that members of the local Abd el-Rassul family discovered TT320 as early as 1871, because items such as canopic jars and funeral papyri from this tomb showed up on the antiquities market in Luxor as early as 1874 (the reidentification and repatriation of the mummy of Ramesses I in 2003 shows that the Abd el-Rassul family may have actually discovered TT320 as early as 1860). For example, the Book of the Dead of Pinedjem II was purchased in 1876 for £400. The story that Ahmed Abd el-Rassul 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. 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, 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 but they denied everything. Finally, in 1881 after a family quarrel, 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.]]
The chamber is reached by a nearly vertical chimney, which was left open in 1881, and has since filled with rocks and other debris (in fact every object that was left in the tomb has now been damaged in some way). It was reinvestigated in 1938. Since 1998 a Russian-German team led by Erhart Graefe has been working on reinvestigating and preserving the tomb.
Recent work
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.
In 2017 there was a campaign by the Complutense University of Madrid and the Center for the Study and Documentation of Ancient Egypt of the Ministry for Tourism and Antiquities, done for a project titled the "Royal Cache Wadi C2 Project". There have been in total six campaigns in the field in Egypt. The team with the project are looking into understanding Wadi as a place instead of working to understand the contents it once held. The team working on the project believes that instead of the tomb being used as place to hide mummies and artifacts from grave robbers it was potentially a religious site. Many anomalies based upon the high amount of ancient graffiti in the area aroused suspicion about the purpose of the tomb.
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| 17th
| 100px
| Ahmose-Sitkamose
| Great Royal Wife
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| 18th
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| Ahmose I
| Pharaoh
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| 18th
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| Ahmose-Nefertari
| Great Royal Wife
| Now disputed.
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| 18th
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| Rai
| Royal nurse
| Nurse of Ahmose-Nefertari
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| 18th
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| Siamun
| Prince
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| 18th
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| Ahmose-Sitamun
| Princess
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| 18th
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| Amenhotep I
| Pharaoh
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| 18th
| 100px
| Thutmose I
| Pharaoh
| Now disputed
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| 18th
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| Baket (?)
| Princess
| Possibly Baketamun (?)
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| 18th
| 100px
| Thutmose II
| Pharaoh
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| 18th
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| Thutmose III
| Pharaoh
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| 18th
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| Unknown man C
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| Possibly Senenmut
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| 19th
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| Ramesses I
| Pharaoh
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| 19th
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| Seti I
| Pharaoh
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| 19th
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| Ramesses II
| Pharaoh
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| 20th
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| Ramesses III
| Pharaoh
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| 20th
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| Ramesses IX
| Pharaoh
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| 21st
| 100px
| Nodjmet
| Queen
| Wife of Herihor
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| 21st
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| Pinedjem I
| High Priest of Amun
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| 21st
| 100px
| Duathathor-Henuttawy
| Wife of Pinedjem I
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| 21st
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| Maatkare
| God's Wife of Amun
| Daughter of Pinedjem I
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| 21st
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| Masaharta
| High Priest of Amun
| Son of Pinedjem I
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| 21st
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| Tayuheret
| Singer of Amun
| Possible wife of Masaharta
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| 21st
| 100px
| Pinedjem II
| High Priest of Amun
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| 21st
| 100px
| Isetemkheb D
| Chief of the Harem of Amun-Re
| Wife of Pinedjem II
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| 21st
| 100px
| Neskhons
| First Chantress of Amun; King's Son of Kush
| Wife of Pinedjem II
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| 21st
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| Djedptahiufankh
| Fourth Prophet of Amun
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| 21st
| 100px
| Nesitanebetashru
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| Wife of Djedptahiufankh
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| ?
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| Unknown man E
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| Bob Brier suggested the mummy in question is Pentawer, one of the progeny of Ramses III. In 2012 DNA analysis confirmed a father-son relationship with Pentawer's known father, Ramesses III.
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| ?
| Eight other unidentified mummies; funerary remains of Hatshepsut
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See also
- List of Theban tombs
- KV35 – Mummy cache in tomb of Amenhotep II
- The Night of Counting the Years – A 1969 Egyptian film based on the story of the Abd el-Rasuls
References
Further reading
Early publications
- Also available at [https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k511070x/f9.item%7C].
Recent publications
- (in Russian and English).
External links
- William Max Miller's Theban Royal Mummy Project