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The discovery of any tomb whose contents are completely undisturbed is always a significant event in Egyptology, and the 3,400-year-old tomb of the New Kingdom official Kha and his wife Merit is arguably one of the best. The above-ground tomb chapel, built from plastered mud-brick in the form of a pyramid, had been known in the necropolis of Set Ma’at (‘Place of Truth’) at Deir el-Medina since at least the early 19th century, when scenes of Kha and Merit and their children were copied by Sir John Gardner Wilkinson and Karl Richard Lepsius.
On 15 February 1906, an Italian archaeological mission working under the direction of Ernesto Schiaparelli discovered and excavated the burial chamber located some 25 metres away at the base of a cliff. It had been obscured by layers of limestone debris that had kept the tomb contents – almost 450 items in total – safe from robbery across the millennia. Among these items were the mummies and nesting coffins of Kha and Merit, with furniture (beds, stools, tables, chests) and neatly folded linen clothing worn by the tomb’s owners during their lifetime. Schiaparelli’s team also uncovered cosmetic items belonging to both, a selection of Kha’s work tools, a fine early example of the Book of the Dead, and numerous well-preserved food offerings. Schiaparelli had previously discovered the royal tomb of Nefertari in the nearby Valley of the Queens in 1904, and had an illustrious museum career alongside his work as an archaeologist. At the time of the discovery, he was Director of the Museo Egizio in Turin, to which the contents of the tomb were transferred and where they are now displayed.
The discovery tells us much about the personal life of a hard-working high-ranking official, responsible for royal tomb construction under three successive Eighteenth Dynasty kings. It provides important evidence, too, about upper-middle-class lifestyles of the time. Kha held various titles including Chief of the Great Place (Valley of the Kings) under Thutmosis IV, and Overseer of the Works of the Great Place under Amenhotep III. According to various inscriptions on certain items in his tomb, Kha also probably worked under Amenhotep II’s Chief of Works Neferhebef on the construction of that pharaoh’s tomb. A gilded cubit rod (a type of ruler) inscribed with the king’s name was found in the tomb, although it is unknown whether it was originally gifted to Kha or Neferhebef. A wig of plaited locks of human hair found among the belongings of Merit is one of the best surviving examples of a wig from ancient Egypt. Neither mummy has ever been unwrapped, but both have been subject to numerous X-ray and CT scan investigations.
The tomb was given the Theban Tomb reference number TT8 by Arthur Weigall, and is located on a terrace at the northern end of the Place of Truth necropolis, in an area that is currently off limits to the general public.
Karl Harris, Freelance Heritage Education Consultant
