The tomb of Akhenaten, for one, the heretic pharaoh (and father of Tut) who instigated radical changes in Egyptian religion and society, remains a mystery. Some feel the tomb known as KV 55—KV stands for "Kings Valley"—may be Akhenaten's; others think his tomb awaits discovery. The crypt of Nefertiti, Akhenaten's wife and perhaps the most well-known woman from the New Kingdom, is missing. "My strong feeling is that Nefertiti may well be buried somewhere in the Valley of the Kings," says Nicholas Reeves, an Egyptologist at Eton College who searched for her tomb as director of the Amarna Royal Tombs Project from 1998 to 2002.
Another missing tomb is that of Smenkhkare, a pharaoh who preceded Tut on the throne and may even be Nefertiti herself. (Some scholars believe she adopted the name Smenkhkare when she served as coregent with Akhenaten.)
People who have never been to the Valley of the Kings may not realize that its little-visited western branch is six times larger than the eastern arm yet remains largely unexplored. I didn't, at least not until my teenage dream came true and I walked down those storied steps into Tut's tomb on a visit to the Valley in 1999. It seemed amazing to me then, and still does today, that any part of the Valley of the Kings could still be relatively uncanvassed. Especially considering that the West Valley has several 18th-Dynasty pharaonic tombs.
Posted by Ibis (Member # 23674) on :
I don't think we've been able to find/access the tombs of the 12th dynasty pharaohs and Mentuhotep 2 either.
Posted by Djehuti (Member # 6698) on :
Many of the Amarna mummies were not found in tombs but in small caches. In fact the only Amarna royal or any Egyptian royal for that matter who was found in an intact tomb was Tutankhamun. As such, we aren't even sure if the other mummies are who many scholars think them to be. KV55 is presumed to be Akhenaten and the KV35 Younger Lady was originally presumed to be Nefertiti until Tut's DNA confirmed both of them to be his parents but that they were also full siblings meaning that KV35 YL couldn't be Nefertiti. DNA findings from Tut's miscarried babies even show that though texts indicate his wife Ankhesamun was his paternal half-sister, she was actually not the daughter of KV55 meaning that KV55 is not Akhenaten.
People forget that despite royal tombs being sacred since the royals were considered gods in the Egyptian religion, that hasn't stopped greedy thieves from trying to rob them or even angry citizens from trying to deface or damage the mummies themselves especially during times of turmoil. This is why many mummies were moved from their original tombs and put in small caches.