Valley of the Kings

Harry Burton: The alchemist of light

Carmen Ruiz recounts the life and legacy of the visual storyteller who sculpted the history of ancient Egypt with light.

The tombs of Thutmose II

The discovery of a new Egyptian royal tomb in Western Valley C (adjacent to the Valley of the Kings) has been confirmed by a joint mission between the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities and the New Kingdom Research Foundation led…

The development and construction of watercraft

Gordon Longworth traces the evolution of ancient Egyptian watercraft over the millennia and uses his skills as a model-maker to illustrate how they were built.

Women in the Valley of the Kings: The untold story of women Egyptologists in the Gilded Age

REVIEW BY CAROLINE ARBUCKLE MACLEOD As a professional female Egyptologist and archaeologist, I have learned more than perhaps necessary about the so-called ‘Fathers of Egyptology’, including their discoveries, biases, and eating habits. Their stories are of great adventurers, braving the…

Ancient Egypt Letters 145

Your thoughts on issues raised by the magazine.

Wonderful Things: Essays in Honor of Nicholas Reeves

REVIEW BY CAMPBELL PRICE This is perhaps the most closely related set of papers to be included in a single Festschrift that I’ve ever encountered. Given Nicholas Reeves’ well-known work in the Valley of the Kings, and on Tutankhamun in…

Ay performs the ‘Opening of the Mouth’ ritual before the deceased Tutankhamun depicted as Osiris, on the wall of his tomb in the Valley of the Kings.

The lost mansion of the Golden Pharaoh

Dylan Bickerstaffe investigates the evidence for Tutankhamun’s long-lost mortuary temple.

A History of Ancient Egypt – Volume 3 : From the Shepherd Kings to the End of the Theban Monarchy

REVIEW BY CAMPBELL PRICE Many readers may remember the documentaries made for British television on Egyptian subjects by John Romer in the 1980s and 1990s. I vividly recall his impassioned delivery, which struck my schoolboy imagination as something different from…

The Book of the Heavenly Cow

Andrew Fulton investigates the ancient Egyptian myth that tells how humanity
was saved by red-coloured beer.

The Tomb of Tutankhamun: The Other Side of the Story

Review by Hilary Forrest Oh no – not another book about Tutankhamun! This one, however, is rather different. The first sections of the book cover the history of the Valley of the Kings, the early desecrations of the tombs, and…

Right Steps leading down to the newly discovered Eighteenth Dynasty tomb in the Western Valley at Luxor.

Royal tomb discovered near Valley of the Kings

The tomb is thought to date to the Eighteenth Dynasty

Above The north wall of KV62 showing Ay performing the ‘opening of the mouth’ ritual on the mummy of Tutankhamun. Nicholas Reeves claims there are traces of Tutankhamun’s cartouches beneath those of Ay, suggesting the original scene was overpainted.

Does a hidden door in Tutankhamun’s tomb lead to Nefertiti?

Nicholas Reeves claims the north wall of KV62 originally depicted Tutankhamun burying Nefertiti and was later overpainted to show Ay burying Tutankhamun.

The Past

Tutankhamun Quiz

In which year is Tutankhamun thought to have been born?

Milestones in Egyptology: the discovery and clearance of KV62, the tomb of Tutankhamun

Howard Carter’s long search in the Valley of the Kings is rewarded.

Left A famous face: Tutankhamun’s gold mask. From The Story of Tutankhamun.

A century of Tutankhamun

What Carter and his Egyptian team found at the bottom of the stairs and along a short corridor stunned the world, of course – especially those countries barely beginning to recover from the dreadful losses of the First World War.

Tutankhamun before Tutankhamun

Barbara Gai recounts the discovery of the Embalming Cache KV54 and its astonishing contents.

The Past

The tomb of Maiherpri

Dylan Bickerstaffe investigates the discovery and documentation of Tomb KV36 and assesses what we now know about “The Lion of the Battlefield”.

Left One of the most moving pieces in the exhibition is a set of photographs showing a young Egyptian boy wearing a large necklace found in the tomb. The photos were supposedly intended simply to show the ‘method of suspension’, but the boy’s expression reflects the weight of the history on his shoulders a reminder of the significance of Tutankhamun’s legacy in a newly independent Egypt.

Tutankhamun: excavating the archive

A century after Tutankhamun’s tomb first captured the world’s attention, a new exhibition at the Bodleian Library offers fresh insights into the famous discovery through archival material. Amy Brunskill visited to find out more.

Tutankhamun: a teenager’s journey to the afterlife

As the centenary of Howard Carter’s discovery looms, the largest collection of Tutankhamun’s grave goods ever to leave Egypt has embarked on a world tour. The objects, ranging from glittering treasures to everyday essentials, were assembled to ease the youthful pharaoh’s passage into the next world. For all their beauty, these artefacts also tell tales of belief, the burden of royal duties, and young love, as Tarek El Awady revealed to CWA's Matthew Symonds.

The Past

Chamber of Secrets: what lies behind the walls of Tutankhamun’s tomb?

Telltale signs of a hidden doorway hint at more rooms beyond the boy king's burial chamber. If so, what lies within? Could it be the tomb of his stepmother Queen Nefertiti that has for so long eluded discovery?