Archeologists in Egypt Discover Tomb of 18th Dynasty Pharaoh

Archeologists in Egypt Discover Tomb of 18th Dynasty Pharaoh

Apparently, the “roaring 20s ” would not have been complete without the discovery of an ancient Egyptian royal tomb.

In November 1922, the discovery was the final resting place of the boy king Tutankhamun of the 18th Dynasty.

In February 2025, it is the tomb of one of his distant ancestors from the same dynasty: Pharaoh Thutmose II.

The newly identified tomb belonged to Thutmose II, who is believed to have reigned around 1480 B.C. It was “the last missing royal tomb of the 18th Dynasty,” the Egyptian ministry said in a statement.

The excavation was a joint project by Egyptian and British researchers that began in 2022, when the entrance and main corridor of the tomb were found.

The archaeologists at first thought the tomb belonged to a royal consort, because of its location near the burial places of royal wives and that of Thutmose II’s wife, Hatshepsut, who took the throne herself after his death.

Despite the ministry’s assertion that this was the first such discovery since 1922, archaeologists have reported finding pharaohs’ tombs in other parts of Egypt in the decades since, including in 1940 in Tanis and 2014 in Abydos.

Unlike the 1922 discovery, this tomb will yield little in gold or other treasures. It was flooded from the periodic rainstorms that hit the area.

The discovery of Pharaoh Thutmose II's tomb (18th Dynasty) is being hailed as most significant find since King Tutankhamun’s tomb was uncovered in 1922…

After 3,500 years, the lost tomb was finally found, making it the first royal tomb discovery in over a century. Initially… pic.twitter.com/WHrvrq4zt8

— Dr. M.F. Khan (@Dr_TheHistories) February 21, 2025

The tomb was in such poor condition, its contents were moved in antiquity and Thutmose’s mummy was moved to a cache that was found in 1881.

The tomb was found in “poor condition” due to flooding shortly after the king’s death, according to Mohamed Abdel-Badii, the head of the Egyptian Antiquities Sector at the Supreme Council of Antiquities. Abdel-Badii said water had inundated the tomb, “damaging its interior and necessitating extensive restoration work by the archaeological team to recover fallen plaster fragments.”

“Preliminary studies suggest that the tomb’s original contents were relocated to another site during ancient times after the flooding,” Abdel-Badii said in a statement.

Accompanying the tomb were fragments of “alabaster jars” inscribed with the name of the king and his chief royal consort, funerary furniture belonging to the king, remnants of plaster, yellow star motifs, and portions of the Book of Amduat, a “key religious text associated with royal tombs of ancient Egypt,” the tourism ministry said.

Thutmose II’s mummy was discovered in 1881 in Al-Deir El-Bahari Cache. It is believed to have been moved there by grave robbers seeking treasure.

Little is clearly known about Thutmose II, as his reign began in 1518 BCE and was relatively brief. As noted above, he was the husband of Queen Hatshepsut, who eventually took on the duties and titles of pharaoh and is one of the best known of Egypt’s rulers thanks to her uniqueness and the fabulous temple she built at Dier el-Bahari. These two ruled Egypt for about 14 years, until Thutmose II died in his early 30’s.

Archaeologists Dr Piers Litherland has discovered first pharaoh’s tomb in Egypt in more than a century….

Uncovering tomb of Thutmose II hailed as most significant discovery since Tutankhamun in 1922

It was when British archaeologist Dr Piers Litherland saw that the ceiling of… pic.twitter.com/gGgWjnepJb

— Samuel J. Rosenfeld 🇺🇸 תביא אותם הביתה… (@SamjLondon) February 20, 2025

Thutmose II is known for suppressing a revolt in Nubia, sending a punitive expedition to the Sinai, and a few temple projects.

The historical record credits Thutmose II with putting down several uprisings in Nubia and vanquishing a tribe called the Shasu in Sinai, and he may have carried out a military campaign in Syria. He left behind remains of modest building programs in Elephantine, as well as in Nubia, at Semna and Kumma. In Karnak, he built a festival court in front of the Fourth Pylon and side entrances into it one of which was a small pylon.

I will look forward to what Egyptologists uncover in their investigation of the tomb of King Tutankhamun’s great-great-great-grandfather!

Donations tax deductible
to the full extent allowed by law.