Thutmose II's tomb is biggest archaeological find in Egypt in a century

Discovery is the most significant since Tutankhamun in 1922, completing 18th Dynasty burial site mapping

Alabaster fragments were among the few artefacts that the team was able to recover from the tomb. Photo: Ministry of Tourism & Antiquities

A joint Egyptian-British archaeological mission has discovered the tomb of Pharaoh Thutmose II, the last missing royal tomb of the 18th Dynasty, the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities announced on Tuesday. The find marks the first royal tomb uncovered in Egypt since King Tutankhamun's in 1922.

The 3,500-year-old tomb, designated as "Tomb C4," was initially discovered in 2022 during excavation and research work in the C Valley, located approximately 2.4 kilometres west of the renowned Valley of the Kings in Luxor's western mountain region.

The tomb's entrance and main corridor were found at that time, but it was not until this year that archaeologists could confirm its ownership.

Inscriptions on alabaster jar fragments bearing the names of Thutmose II, on which he is identified as the “deceased king”, and his wife, Queen Hatshepsut, definitively identified the tomb as belonging to the 18th Dynasty ruler.

The discovery of Thutmose II's tomb is significant, as it is the first time funerary furniture belonging to this pharaoh has been found, with no such items existing in museums worldwide, said Dr Mohamed Ismail Khaled, secretary-general of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities. It also completes the mapping of royal burial sites from this period, making it a significant milestone in the field of Egyptology.

The tomb's interior features remnants of blue-pigmented inscriptions and yellow star motifs adorning the plaster walls, as well as fragments of the Book of Amduat, a crucial religious text associated with royal tombs in ancient Egypt.

The interior of the tomb of Thutmose II, discovered in 2022 by a joint British-Egyptian archaeological mission working near the Valley of the Kings. Photo: Ministry of Tourism & Antiquities.

The artefacts found within the tomb provided "critical insights" into the history of the region and the reign of Thutmose II, according to the statements from Dr Khaled cited in the ministry's announcement. However, the tomb was found in poor condition due to flooding that occurred shortly after the pharaoh's burial, necessitating extensive restoration work by the archaeological team that took more than two years to complete.

"Water inundated the tomb, damaging its interior and necessitating extensive restoration work by the archaeological team to recover fallen plaster fragments," the ministry said in its statement. Preliminary studies suggest that the tomb's original contents were relocated to another site during ancient times following the flood.

The joint mission between the Supreme Council of Antiquities and the New Kingdom Research Foundation will continue its surveys in the area to uncover more of the region's history and locate the final resting place of the tomb's original contents.

Restoration will continue on the tomb, according to Dr Sahar Saleem, a radiology professor at Cairo University and mummy expert who conducted CAT scans on the remains of Thutmose II, which were discovered alongside a cache of other royal mummies at Luxor's Deir El Bahri site, another of the city's many ancient relics.

The tomb was discovered in a very poor condition after what archaeologists believe was a flood in ancient times that necessitated the transfer of the pharaoh's remains to another tomb. Photo: Ministry of Tourism & Antiquities

Scans on the mummy showed that it had been subjected to “violence at the hands of graverobbers in ancient times”, whereby the pharaoh was found with his neck broken, his hands had been broken and removed from their sockets. The king’s pelvis was also broken.

"The discovery of Thutmose II tomb has now completed another part of the mystery of how the pharaoh's remains ended up in Deir El Bahri in the first place," Dr Saleem told The National.

The scans also showed that the royal mummy’s injuries had been treated. His dislocated bones were returned to their sockets (albeit loosely), his arms were folded across his chest in its original royal posture and he was re-dressed before being reburied. The process is believed to have been performed by priests from 21st dynasty (1075-945 BCE) who were “horrified by the transgression on such a holy figure and took great care and time to restore him to his exalted state before his reburial,” Dr Saleem said.

The priests reburied him at Deir El Bahri alongside other royal pharaohs whose tombs had been similarly ravaged by robbers.

The cache remained hidden until its accidental discovery in 1881 by a member of the now famous Abdel Rasoul family, Ahmed, who reportedly stumbled upon the cache after his goat fell down a shaft in the rocks at Deir El Bahri.

Another member of the same family was Hussein Abdel Rasoul, the child who in 1922 stumbled upon the entrance to the nearby tomb of Tutankhamun in the Valley of the Kings while carrying water to the members of the archaeological mission led by Howard Carter, which at the time had been digging in the area. The family, native to Luxor, are well known for their discoveries.

Thutmose II was also one of the 22 royal mummies who in 2021 were paraded through Cairo's streets in a spectacular ceremony that transferred them from the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square to the recently built National Museum of Egyptian Civilisation in Islamic Cairo.