KV20

KV20
Name	KV20
Location	Valley of the Kings, Thebes, Egypt
Period	Eighteenth Dynasty, New Kingdom of Egypt
Discovered	1817 (Giovanni Battista Belzoni documented), earlier knowledge by local Egyptian, Mamelukes
Excavated	Giovanni Battista Belzoni, James Burton, Howard Carter, Theban Mapping Project
Owner	Hatshepsut, Thutmose I
Coordinates	25°44′N 32°36′E

KV20 is an ancient Egyptian tomb in the Valley of the Kings on the west bank of the Nile opposite Luxor. Originally constructed during the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt for the pharaoh Thutmose I, KV20 was later modified for the female pharaoh Hatshepsut and is notable for changes reflecting royal funerary practice and mortuary cults. The tomb's architecture, re-use, and artefacts illuminate relations between Ahmose I, Amenhotep I, Thutmose II, and other members of the early New Kingdom of Egypt.

Location and Discovery

KV20 is located in the eastern arm of the Valley of the Kings near tombs such as KV19, KV62, and KV17. The tomb was visited by European travelers during the Early Modern period and was first formally recorded in the early 19th century by Giovanni Battista Belzoni and surveyed by James Burton. Later documentation was undertaken by Karl Richard Lepsius, Victor Loret, and the Anglo-Egyptian Antiquities Service. The tomb's position close to the mortuary temple of Deir el-Bahari links it spatially and ritually to Hatshepsut and to mortuary complexes like that of Mentuhotep II.

Architecture and Layout

KV20 comprises an entrance corridor, a long sloping passage, several chambers, and a deep burial chamber, reflecting Eighteenth Dynasty royal tomb plans similar to early versions in the Valley such as KV34 and KV35. The layout shows an initial plan for Thutmose I later extended or altered for Hatshepsut by architects and officials associated with the Amarna period antecedents and court artisans under viziers like Ineni and overseers recorded during the reign of Thutmose III. The tomb's architecture exhibits rock-cut techniques akin to those in Deir el-Bahari and decorative programs paralleled at the mortuary temple of Hatshepsut and chapels near Medinet Habu.

Occupants and Burials

KV20 originally housed the burial of Thutmose I and was adapted to receive Hatshepsut, whose reburial practices and royal mortuary ideology involved figures such as Senenmut, Useramen, and members of the royal family including Ahmose Nefertari in broader cultic context. The tomb's evidence intersects with burials in KV60, KV62, and community necropoleis like Saqqara and Abydos where royal and priestly interments were coordinated. Royal funerary equipment attributable to inhabitants connects KV20 to burial networks that include the tombs of Amenhotep I and Thutmose III.

Artefacts and Finds

Finds associated with KV20 include fragments of sarcophagi, coffin equipment, funerary masks, and inscriptions naming Hatshepsut and Thutmose I, which parallel objects recovered from KV62 and private tombs in Thebes. Artefacts bearing royal titulary relate to the workshops managed by officials like Djehuty (scribe) and reflect iconography comparable to objects in the collections of the British Museum, Musée du Louvre, and the Egyptian Museum (Cairo). Decorative fragments show scenes resonant with the Book of Caverns and early versions of the Amduat, linking KV20 to the evolving corpus of royal funerary literature found across New Kingdom of Egypt tombs.

Excavation History and Research

KV20 has been explored by a succession of explorers and Egyptologists: early 19th-century work by Giovanni Battista Belzoni and surveys by James Burton; recording by Karl Richard Lepsius in the 1840s; investigations by Victor Loret in the 1890s; clearance and study by Howard Carter in the 1920s and 1930s; and modern documentation by the Theban Mapping Project and teams from institutions such as University of Pennsylvania Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Museo Egizio (Turin). Scholarly debate has focused on chronology, original plan, and re-use, engaging historians like James Henry Breasted, Flinders Petrie, T. Eric Peet, and recent researchers publishing in journals such as Journal of Egyptian Archaeology and proceedings of ICAANE.

Conservation and Access

Conservation efforts in KV20 have involved the Egyptian Antiquities Organization and international conservation teams from institutions like ICOMOS and university laboratories, addressing issues of salt crystallization, stabilisation of rock-cut chambers, and preservation of painted plaster fragments comparable to treatments in Tutankhamun's burial sites. Access is restricted under policies set by the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities (Egypt), with controlled visits and research permits granted to teams from museums and universities, echoing visitor management practices used at sites like KV62 and Deir el-Bahari.

Category:Valley of the Kings