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Tomb of Tutankhamun (KV62)

Monument at Valley of the Kings · also called KV62, Tutankhamun's tomb, King Tut's tomb

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.

Howard Carter found the burial in 1922. The tomb is small for a king, perhaps because Tutankhamun died young (c. 1323 BC) and a smaller tomb was finished in a hurry. The paintings sit on a yellow background, with short texts beside each figure.

The treasures have left: mask, coffins and shrines are at the Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza. The stone sarcophagus stays in the burial chamber, and the mummy rests in a glass case in the antechamber. Entry needs a separate ticket.

What to see and read

Opening of the Mouth

On the north wall Ay, in a leopard skin, performs the ritual on Tutankhamun shown as Osiris. Both names are in cartouches above them.

Funeral procession

On the east wall men in white drag the coffin on a sledge, with their words written above.

Amduat baboons

On the west wall, twelve baboons stand for the twelve hours of the night.

Tutankhamun with the gods

The king meets the sky goddess Nut and Osiris, and stands with Anubis and Hathor.

Names you can find here

Signs to look for

  1. Basket V30nb The basket, neb, starts the reading of Nebkheperure, Tutankhamun's throne name.
  2. Scarab beetle L1ḫpr The scarab, kheper, is in Nebkheperure and also in Ay's throne name Kheperkheperure.
  3. Game board Y5mn The game board spells Amun, written first in the birth name for respect.
  4. Ankh S34ꜥnḫ The ankh gives Tut-ankh-Amun, 'living image of Amun'.

Reading the hieroglyphs here

  • Read the two cartouches together: Nebkheperure is sun, scarab and basket; Tutankhamun is game board, loaf, quail chick and ankh.
  • Photograph each wall straight on, then trace a sign over the photo in Hiero Lens later.

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

Is Tutankhamun's mummy still in his tomb?

Yes. It is kept in a climate-controlled glass case in KV62.

Is Tutankhamun's tomb worth the extra ticket?

It is small, but you stand beside the mummy. For a reader of hieroglyphs, the cartouches of two kings side by side are the prize.

Also at Valley of the Kings

Monument

Tomb of Seti I (KV17)

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.

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.