Egypt

KV63 - a mummy workshop?

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/11810055/

Also covered by Yahoo! News at http://tinyurl.com/rkpnp

A short statement from Zahi Hawass on the above site suggests that KV63 may not have been a tomb or a cachette as previously proposed, but was in fact a manufacturing area: " 'This ... is not a tomb for nobles or relatives of a king, as had been thought upon its discovery, but rather it is a room for mummification,' Hawass said in a statement." Five of the coffins seem to have been used as storage containers for mummification equipment, and the contents of the vessels are also consistent with that interpretation. Otto Schaden on his website has detailed the contents of six of the vessels as including: "natron, wood, seeds, carbon, assorted pottery and small animal bones." (www.kv-63.com).

This would not be without precedent, as KV54 was used as an embalming cachette - see the Theban Mapping Project website for details about KV54:

http://www.thebanmappingproject.com/sites/browse_tomb_868.html

Dr Schaden also goes on to explain that items are being stabilized and transferred to KV-10 prior to their removal.

Thanks very much to Carolin Johansson, Chris Towsend, Jen Mason and Aayko Eyma for forwarding me the articles. Much appreciated!

- Kv63 Website Updated
http://www.kv-63.com/index.htmlOtto Schaden has updated the KV63 website with the following short report: "Since the closing of KV10 and KV63 on July I6th I have been busy with reports to the SCA and a proposal for the 2007 season which will commence...

- Update Re Projects In Egypt - Kv63 & Bahariya
http://travelvideo.tv/news/more.php?id=9731_0_1_0_M"In an interview yesterday with the eTurbo News, Dr. Hawass gave an update on the KV-63’s very latest. He said, 'Still there are 16 sealed pottery vessels, which have not yet been analyzed. The...

- More Re Speculation On Kv63's Owner
http://tinyurl.com/rm5zh (AOL News)Thanks very much to Kat Newkirk for the following item, which looks at Hawass's view that KV63 was originally a tomb and was later used as a storage area for embalming materials. Schaden and Hawass have differing...

- The Latest On Kv 63
Lecture Report by Roy W. HopperFirst posted to EEF, and copied here with the very kind permission of author Roy W. Hopper, this psoting summarizes some of the key points in an account given by KV63 team member Dr Lorelei: "Dr. Lorelei Corcoran, director...

- Kv63 Update
http://www.kv-63.com/pages/1/index.htm Joint thanks to Jen Mason and Carolin Johansson for updating me with the news that Otto Schaden's KV63 page has been updated with an entry for 1st March, with some additional photos too. Scroll down to the bottom...

Egypt