LUXOR, EGYPT––The Art Newspaper reports that Egyptian authorities announced the discovery of the long-lost final resting place of the Egyptian pharaoh Thutmose II (reigned ca. 1492–1479 b.c.). His was the last missing tomb of the kings of the renowned 18th Dynasty, which ruled Egypt between 1550 and 1292 b.c., and the first royal Egyptian burial unearthed since the discovery of King Tutankhamun’s in 1922. Archaeologists confirmed that the previously unearthed grave chamber was where Thutmose II was originally interred. Because it is located around 1.5 miles west of the Valley of the Kings and closer to the Valley of the Queens, they speculated that the tomb might actually belong to one of Thutmose II’s wives. However, recent excavations within the tomb found alabaster jars bearing inscriptions with the name Thutmose II, which refer to him as the “deceased king,” and convinced archaeologists that the king had once been buried there. The pharaoh himself was not in the tomb, as his mummified body had been previously removed from the site and relocated for unknown reasons. It was found in another location in the nineteenth century and his remains are today on display at the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization. To read more about the search for the pharaoh's tomb, go to "Closing in on a Pharaoh's Tomb."
