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Ancient Egyptian Tomb KV35 . KV35 - ancient Egyptian tomb in the Valley of the Kings. . KV35
The ancient Egyptian tomb dubbed KV35 was discovered by Victor Loret in March 1898. The tomb was built for Amenhotep II also sometimes known as Amenophis II, This turned out to be a very important tomb as it contained not just one, but an entire cache of royal mummies. There are 63 named tombs in the Valley of the Kings near ancient Thebes. KV62 is the most famous one because King Tutankhamun's nearly intact burial was discovered by Howard Carter in 1922. Prior to that though, KV35 was considered to be one of the most important finds.
The LEGO Model
I had been stockpiling tan bricks for a new skyscraper project that is not yet ready to go so I decided to have some fun and create a few Egyptian themed MOCs. I decided to make a replica of the underground tomb KV35 which what I thought was an interesting layout. I have tried to make it as accurate as possible. I left the top open to make it similar to a LEGO playset that would have been cool to have when I was a kid. The following story of the discovery of KV35 is somewhat dramatized.
In March of 1898, adventurer Johnny Thunder (Sr.), leads Victor Loret and his crew of archeologists into the tomb for the first time.
My model of the entrance is somewhat conjectural since it has been modified and covered for modern tourists in the 20th century.
The well shaft may have an attempt to deter tomb robbers or to prevent the rare floodwaters from entering the burial chamber. It may have also served some symbolic purpose.
Some tombs were completely decorated with images any hieroglyphs while others were mostly undecorated. It probably depended on how long the pharaoh lived.
Meanwhile back at the sun-bathed entrance to the tomb...
Now things get interesting...
KV35 introduced a new style of burial chamber with to parts, an upper pillared hall and a sunken crypt area containing the royal sarcophagus.
KV35 was the first valley tomb discovered in modern history in which the pharaoh was still in his original place. Amenhotep II's bural had been disturbed in ancient times but he had been placed into his sarcophagus by the priests after words.
In two of the side rooms, Loret discovered a major cache of other royal mummies that had been placed their by ancient Egyptian priests after their tombs had been robbed. These mummies included Amenhotep III, Meryerte, Merenptah, Ramasess III, IV, V, and VI, Sethos II, Sethnakhte, Siptah, and Thutmosis IV
If you are wondering why Victor Loret did not include these events in his report about the excavation of KV35, just think about it, who would have believed him anyway!
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