Hiero Lens

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Tomb of Seti I (KV17)

Monument at Valley of the Kings · also called KV17, Belzoni's Tomb, Seti I tomb

KV17, the tomb of Seti I (c. 1290–1279 BC), shows royal hieroglyphs at their best: almost every wall is carved in fine raised relief and painted, from the entrance down to the burial chamber.

Giovanni Belzoni found it in 1817, and some still call it Belzoni's Tomb. It is the longest tomb in the valley. Its walls carry the Litany of Ra, the Amduat, the Book of Gates and the Opening of the Mouth ritual. The tomb opens only at times, with its own ticket.

Its contents are scattered. Seti's alabaster sarcophagus is in Sir John Soane's Museum in London, and his mummy is at the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization in Cairo. What stays is the decoration itself, and in places the colour is as strong as the day it was painted.

What to see and read

Litany of Ra

In the first corridors, the many forms of the sun god are drawn and named.

Book of Gates

Gods, gates and guardian serpents line the route of the sun's boat through the night.

Unfinished drawings

One side room keeps the artists' drafts in red and black ink, never carved. It shows how a wall was laid out before the sculptors began.

Astronomical ceiling

The vaulted ceiling of the burial chamber shows the northern stars as gods and animals.

Names you can find here

Signs to look for

  1. Sun N5rꜥ The sun disc, Ra, opens Seti's throne name Menmaatre and fills the Litany of Ra.
  2. Game board Y5mn The game board spells men in Menmaatre.
  3. Goddess Maat C10mꜣꜥt The goddess Maat sits in Menmaatre and also greets the king as a figure.
  4. Ankh S34ꜥnḫ The ankh is held out to Seti by the gods.

Reading the hieroglyphs here

  • Compare the ink drafts with the finished painted relief; trace both in Hiero Lens to see how a sign was built.
  • The tomb is deep and steep. Take photos on the way down and read them on the way up.

Point your camera at a wall Hiero Lens boxes the signs and names them, on your phone; nothing is uploaded. On worn stone, trace a sign over the photo.

Questions

Why is Seti I's tomb special?

It is the first royal tomb decorated from top to bottom in painted raised relief. Many scholars rate it the finest in the valley.

Where is Seti I's sarcophagus?

Belzoni shipped it to England. It is in Sir John Soane's Museum in London.

Also at Valley of the Kings

Monument

Tomb of Tutankhamun (KV62)

KV62 has one painted room, the burial chamber, where you can read the cartouches of Tutankhamun and of Ay, the king who buried him. The young king's mummy still lies in the tomb.

Monument

Tomb of Ramesses VI (KV9)

KV9 is known for its burial chamber ceiling, where the sky goddess Nut swallows and gives birth to the sun among the texts of the Books of the Day and Night. Begun for Ramesses V, it was taken over by Ramesses VI (c. 1140 BC).

Monument

Tomb of Thutmose III (KV34)

KV34 holds the whole Amduat written in simple cursive hieroglyphs, as if a papyrus had been unrolled on the walls. It is the tomb of Thutmose III (c. 1479–1425 BC), hidden high in a cleft in the cliffs.

Where it is

Open in OpenStreetMap · Written from published sources and not yet checked on site by our team: displays and open tombs change.