WVA

Discovery, location, and excavation

The tomb is located 60 m south of the tomb of Amenhotep III, dug into the base of the cliffs. It was discovered by Karl Richard Lepsius in 1845. He notes in his publication that the tomb entrance was buried 10 ft below ground level and contained "some earthenware vases... which contained the name of a king hitherto unknown."

Re-excavation

The tomb was re-excavated in the 1990s by a team from Waseda University led by Sakuji Yoshimura and Jiro Kondo. The doorway preserves most of its original stone blocking, one of the only tombs in the valley to do so. The objects recovered consisted mostly of pottery sherds, consistent with earlier reports of the contents; the sherds most commonly represent wine jars and blue painted pottery. Also found were wine jar stands, jar sealings, and jar dockets dating to years 32 and 37 of Amenhotep III's reign. However, no items were found to indicate that the tomb itself ever contained a burial. The presence of ostraca, some of which were used as paint palettes, and items such as a length of rope, indicate that the tomb was likely used by craftsmen during the cutting and decorating of the nearby royal tomb and then later utilized to store overflow from the tomb itself. However, Kondo cautions that "the precise nature and contents of WVA should be assessed with caution" due to the mixed nature of finds in the area immediately surrounding the tomb.

References

References

1. (1995). "Valley of the Sun Kings: New Explorations in the Valley of the Kings". The University of Arizona Egyptian Expedition.
2. (1853). "Letters from Egypt, Ethiopia, and the peninsula of Sinai". H.G. Bohn.