The tomb of Ramses II (KV7) is located in the Valley of the Kings and is considered one of the larger tombs. The writing of Ramses’ coronation name in the cartouches of the first corridor of the tomb as Ouser Maat Re and not Ouser Maat Re Setep n Re leaves no doubt that the construction of the tomb was begun before the end of his second year on the throne, as this way of writing the coronation name was only attested during the co-regency with his father Seti I in the second year of his sole rule.
Three sloping corridors running from east to west lead to a well chamber, which is followed by a pillared chamber. Four rectangular pillars divide the chamber into two equal sections with a descending passage in between, where a sloping ramp runs between a stone staircase.
Two side chambers were cut in the northern wall of the pillared chamber. The first side chamber has four pillars, and an entrance in the middle of its northern wall leads to the second side chamber, which is smaller than the first with its ceiling cut on a lower level. A central descent passage of the chamber leads to two corridors that end in an antechamber. In this chamber, a change of the tomb’s axis occurs to the right (northeast), creating the second axis of the tomb and leading to the burial chamber and its six adjacent side chambers.
The design of KV7 adopted the bent axis plan, which was known in the early 18th Dynasty until the reign of Amenhotep III and his son Akhenaten. The reason for the reviving of the traditional plan of the royal tomb is still unknown. Some scholars believe that the antechamber was originally designed as the king’s burial chamber, but due to the bad quality of its stone the architect had to change the axis of the tomb in order to find better stone for cutting the burial chamber.
It is also important to mention that the tomb of the king’s sons, KV5, also adopted the bent axis plan, but on a larger and more complex scale. Some scholars believe that there is a connection between the tomb of Ramses II and that of his sons. Many scholars and adventurers have also raised a theory of the existence of a tunnel connecting the two tombs.
The entrance to KV7 is dug into the Theban limestone. The corridors descend for about 58 m (190 feet) into the bedrock at an angle of 12 to 22 degrees. They then continue approximately level for another 12 m (39 feet) and then turn to the right in order to terminate in the burial chamber. This has a sunken floor resembling that of Seti I’s burial chamber. The floor is carved in a layer of Esna shale.
Based on the size of the tomb and the size of its pictorial programme, it is suggested that the tomb of Ramses II took 10 to 12 years to complete.
PICTORIAL PROGRAMME: The wall decorations and the architecture of Ramses II’s tomb have been badly damaged by the multiple times the tomb was flooded with water and debris.
Add to that the factors of age and time, and the deliberate distortion of the tomb and its scenes by tomb robbers and reckless visitors who did not appreciate the value of the art and effort that adorns the walls of the tomb, and the result is the current appearance.
Its pictorial programme does not suggest that this tomb is one of the few royal tombs in the Valley of the Kings whose architecture and decoration were fully completed. Our excavation of the pillared chamber confirmed that the ancient sculptors and artisans who were in charge of the pictorial programme of the tomb faced a lot of problems with the bad quality of the limestone in many areas inside it.
During the work on the scenes of the walls, the artists had to frequently stop in order to cover the almost finished bas-reliefs with a thick layer of plaster in order to level the whole surface of the wall before they started again doing the same scenes on the plaster.
Our new excavations revealed interesting scenes appearing under the thick layer of plaster, which has been partially destroyed. One of the most important observations we made was that the relatively newly applied scenes on the plaster were exactly over the original carved scenes on the wall. It is still an open question how the ancient Egyptian artists were able to carve the scenes on the plaster in exactly the same spot.
Despite the fact that much of the wall decoration is damaged and sometimes completely lost, most of the polychrome scenes can be easily reconstructed from fragments. It seems that Ramses II’s tomb followed the same pictorial programme as in his father’s tomb. It is most likely that the same artists who worked for Seti I also worked for his son Ramses II.
The executed scenes on the first two descending corridors after the entrance gate of the tomb depict a set of prayers addressed to the sun god Re. On the western wall of the corridor after the gate entrance to the tomb, which is adorned by a depiction of the goddess Maat spreading her protection by her winged arms, is a scene of Ramses II worshipping the sun god Re. The depiction of the king is followed by an introductory scene from the Book of the Litanies of the Sun, with the three columns of inscriptions referring to the title of the funerary book as “Worshipping Re in the West”.
Seventy-seven vertical columns of well-executed hieroglyphs occupy the rest of the wall, while the opposite eastern wall is only occupied with 123 columns of text. The prayers for the sun god Re continue in the badly damaged other corridor. On the eastern wall, a scene shows Anubis as a jackal kneeling on the top of his shrine; under Anubis, the goddess Nephtis is depicted sitting on the gold sign nwb. On the western wall, a parallel scene is depicted but with the goddess Isis replacing Nephtis.
On the walls of the next corridor, two sections of the Book of the Imy Duat are depicted; the fourth section is on the western wall of the corridor, and the fifth section, showing the sun god’s boat moving towards a designated area called the flesh of Isis above the land of Sokr, is depicted on the eastern wall.
The well chamber is also decorated with fine reliefs. Unfortunately, the upper part of the eastern and western walls is badly damaged with only the remains of depictions showing Ramses II being received by the gods and goddesses of the netherworld. The lower part of the shaft under the surface of the tomb floor has unique depictions of the Book of the Imy Duat showing human figures worshipping the sun god Re, most likely a representation from the 12th section.
It is important to highlight that this is so far the only example of a tomb shaft in the Valley of the Kings that has been found fully decorated with polychrome scenes. The decoration of the shaft refers to a religious function of the shaft rather than a practical one, even though some scholars have suggested that the shafts of the royal tombs in the Valley of the Kings were to protect the tombs from floods.
Chapter five of the Book of the Gates occupied the southern, the western, and the northern walls of the west side of the pillared chamber. Three registers can still be seen; the upper two registers are badly damaged, while the lower register is in a partially good state of preservation.
The scene starts on the south wall, where the entrance gate to chapter five is depicted and the god Horus is standing leaning on a walking stick. In front of Horus, 12 figures are depicted on the south and the west walls as follows: four Egyptians, four Asians, four Nubians, and four Libyans. They are all depicted with their distinguishing features and customs and are addressed as the races of the Sun god Re. The remains of the god’s boat in the middle register can still be seen.
CLEANING UNDERWAY: On the opposite side of the chamber, the sixth hour of the Book of the Gates is depicted. The Egyptian mission is currently working on clearing this part of the chamber from debris; however, the revealed scenes leave no doubt that it belongs to chapter six of the Book of the Gates.
The lower register is relatively well preserved and depicts 12 mummies lying on funerary beds connected together by the body of a snake. We know that these mummies are called “those who are waiting for resurrection” when Re reunites with his Ba.
The four pillars of the chamber have been badly damaged by the pressure of the swollen Esna shale as a result of floodwater. The remains of the pillars confirm that their entire faces were decorated with scenes showing the king in relation with the gods and the goddesses of the netherworld.
The east and the west walls of the next corridor were saved for the depiction of the “Opening of the Mouth” ritual. The aim of this ancient ritual is to bring back all necessary senses to the deceased so that he/she is prepared for resurrection in the afterlife. The scenes and the accompanying texts continue on the walls in the same arrangements as they can be seen in the tomb of Seti I.
The cartouche of queen Nefertari, wife of Ramses II, is partially preserved on the east side of the doorway. The name of the queen is preceded by her title hmt nswt wrt, or “the great wife of the king.” This is so far the only attestation of the depiction of a queen’s name in a royal tomb.
The scenes depicted on the walls of the first antechamber are in a fragmentary state of preservation. Due to the bad quality of the stone in this room, most of the scenes were made on a thick layer of plaster applied to the walls in order to create a level surface for their execution. From the remains of the scenes, we can state that chapters of the Book of Going Forth by Day, well known as the Book of the Dead, were depicted on the walls. The most important scene is that from chapter 125, corresponding to the god Osiris’ judgement of the dead king, in order to move him to eternal life.
The walls of the burial chamber and its complex of side chambers are not in a much better state of preservation and are similar to those of the antechamber. In fact, the damaged walls and the fragmentary scenes make it hard to believe that these walls were completely decorated with cheerful scenes representing chapters of the Book of the Imy Duat.
Perhaps the most interesting scene depicted in this part of the tomb is that of the Book of the Celestial Cow, which is depicted on the walls of the side chamber. Here, we also see the similarity between the tomb of Ramses II and that of his father Seti I, in which a side chamber of his burial chamber was also saved for the depiction of a scene from this book.
The main aim of including this book in the funerary pictorial programme of the royal tomb is to ensure the celestial cow goddess’ protection of the deceased king in the netherworld.
* A version of this article appears in print in the 1 June, 2023 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
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