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Bones in a Basket: Seeking the Identity of an Ancient Egyptian King
One of the great conundrums of Egyptology is the identity of the pharaoh whose skeletal remains were found in Valley of the Kings Tomb 55 in 1907. The two candidates are heretic king Waenre Akhenaten & his brother, coregent & successor, Ankhkheperure Smenkhkare. In order to unravel this mystery, this volume re-examines the discovery & clearance of KV55, popularly known as the “Amarna Cache,” one of the most-botched excavations in all of Egyptian archaeology.
136 pages, Paperback
Published October 2, 2020
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September 10, 2021
Bones in a Basket
By Dennis C. Forbes
Reviewed September 9, 2021
Bones in a Basket is the story of the discovery of Tomb KV (King’s Valley) 55 in the Valley of the Kings, and how the mishandling of the excavation and the relics found have made it difficult (if not impossible) to positively identify the Amarna-era king who was re-buried there.
I have been interested in Ancient Egypt, Akhenaten, and the whole Amarna era since I was in grade school. And I can tell you the trigger. It was the fall of 1963 and an exhibition of 34 small treasures from the tomb of Tutankhamun came to the Toledo Museum of Art. This was years before the better known exhibition that came to the US and included the boy king’s gold funeral mask, but it got me fascinated by Egypt’s 18th Dynasty. Thanks to that exhibit, I ended up (with the help of my mother) reading books from the adult side of the local library—as I hadn’t even reached my teens yet!
So I’ve known about KV 55—the tomb found in 1907, a tomb that had been ransacked and desecrated in ancient times, damaged by rain water leaking in over the centuries, and that contained the remains of an Amarna-era king—for a long time.
Whose remains these are – Akhenaten, his co-regent and successor Smenkhkare, or someone else? – remains unknown, as all references to his name were excised during the Ramesside period of the 20th Dynasty because even then, the memory of the pharaoh known as the Heretic of Akhet-Aten was still despised and by erasing his name, those desecrating the tomb were trying to deny him an afterlife.
Over the years, I’ve read a number of different theories about whose tomb this was, and the identity of the skeletal remains that were reburied in it, but this is the first time I’ve been able to read not just about the research into who it is, but the totally botched job done by those excavating the tomb, destroying evidence that with today’s technology and advances in conservation, might have given us further clues to follow.
The tomb was discovered during a time when mostly rich old men bankrolled digs in Egypt, nearly always with a kind of gentleman’s agreement that usually went, “I pay for your archaeologists to dig up tombs, and if they find something really good, I get to have some of the items for my personal collection or to donate to museums back in my country.”
Egyptology was still in its infancy, and while there were a number of archaeologists who were truly making breakthroughs in learning and understanding the history of this ancient country, there were still those who looked upon archaeology as a kind of treasure hunt. And that’s a lot of what we have here with KV 55.
The dig was being funded by American millionaire Theodore Davis, who had the concession (permit) that allowed him to be the only person to dig in the Valley of the Kings during those years. Davis was hard to work for, because the driving force for him was to make spectacular finds, and he drove away more than one competent archaeologist, including Howard Carter who would later discover KV 62 – the tomb of Tutankhamun.
Bones in a Basket covers the details of that dig. We have the events leading to the discovery of the tomb, and its clearing out, detailing the slip-shod handling of the delicate artifacts that led to some of them being totally destroyed, as well as the disappearance (theft) of items once they were back in the lab at Cairo. And through it all, there is Davis’s insistence, even when cautioned not to do so by the trained professionals, that he’d found the tomb of Amenhotep III’s Great Wife Tiye.
Yep, Davis wanted himself a really big find, which is what Queen Tiye’s tomb would have been, but although there were funerary goods once belonging to her in the tomb, this wasn’t her tomb, and the skeleton in the mummy’s coffin was definitely that of a male. The book also covers the lack of record keeping, and the disappearance of such important things as sketches and photographs taken at the time the tomb was found, information that would be so very beneficial to researchers today.
This book is an excellent lesson in how not to conduct an archaeological dig, and is filled with photographs both then and now, diagrams and maps. More than once I found myself gritting my teeth, mentally shouting, "You fools!" It is an excellent book, and I highly recommend it to anyone interested in Akhenaten and the Amarna era.
By Dennis C. Forbes
Reviewed September 9, 2021
Bones in a Basket is the story of the discovery of Tomb KV (King’s Valley) 55 in the Valley of the Kings, and how the mishandling of the excavation and the relics found have made it difficult (if not impossible) to positively identify the Amarna-era king who was re-buried there.
I have been interested in Ancient Egypt, Akhenaten, and the whole Amarna era since I was in grade school. And I can tell you the trigger. It was the fall of 1963 and an exhibition of 34 small treasures from the tomb of Tutankhamun came to the Toledo Museum of Art. This was years before the better known exhibition that came to the US and included the boy king’s gold funeral mask, but it got me fascinated by Egypt’s 18th Dynasty. Thanks to that exhibit, I ended up (with the help of my mother) reading books from the adult side of the local library—as I hadn’t even reached my teens yet!
So I’ve known about KV 55—the tomb found in 1907, a tomb that had been ransacked and desecrated in ancient times, damaged by rain water leaking in over the centuries, and that contained the remains of an Amarna-era king—for a long time.
Whose remains these are – Akhenaten, his co-regent and successor Smenkhkare, or someone else? – remains unknown, as all references to his name were excised during the Ramesside period of the 20th Dynasty because even then, the memory of the pharaoh known as the Heretic of Akhet-Aten was still despised and by erasing his name, those desecrating the tomb were trying to deny him an afterlife.
Over the years, I’ve read a number of different theories about whose tomb this was, and the identity of the skeletal remains that were reburied in it, but this is the first time I’ve been able to read not just about the research into who it is, but the totally botched job done by those excavating the tomb, destroying evidence that with today’s technology and advances in conservation, might have given us further clues to follow.
The tomb was discovered during a time when mostly rich old men bankrolled digs in Egypt, nearly always with a kind of gentleman’s agreement that usually went, “I pay for your archaeologists to dig up tombs, and if they find something really good, I get to have some of the items for my personal collection or to donate to museums back in my country.”
Egyptology was still in its infancy, and while there were a number of archaeologists who were truly making breakthroughs in learning and understanding the history of this ancient country, there were still those who looked upon archaeology as a kind of treasure hunt. And that’s a lot of what we have here with KV 55.
The dig was being funded by American millionaire Theodore Davis, who had the concession (permit) that allowed him to be the only person to dig in the Valley of the Kings during those years. Davis was hard to work for, because the driving force for him was to make spectacular finds, and he drove away more than one competent archaeologist, including Howard Carter who would later discover KV 62 – the tomb of Tutankhamun.
Bones in a Basket covers the details of that dig. We have the events leading to the discovery of the tomb, and its clearing out, detailing the slip-shod handling of the delicate artifacts that led to some of them being totally destroyed, as well as the disappearance (theft) of items once they were back in the lab at Cairo. And through it all, there is Davis’s insistence, even when cautioned not to do so by the trained professionals, that he’d found the tomb of Amenhotep III’s Great Wife Tiye.
Yep, Davis wanted himself a really big find, which is what Queen Tiye’s tomb would have been, but although there were funerary goods once belonging to her in the tomb, this wasn’t her tomb, and the skeleton in the mummy’s coffin was definitely that of a male. The book also covers the lack of record keeping, and the disappearance of such important things as sketches and photographs taken at the time the tomb was found, information that would be so very beneficial to researchers today.
This book is an excellent lesson in how not to conduct an archaeological dig, and is filled with photographs both then and now, diagrams and maps. More than once I found myself gritting my teeth, mentally shouting, "You fools!" It is an excellent book, and I highly recommend it to anyone interested in Akhenaten and the Amarna era.
April 3, 2021
Dennis Forbes is the founder and editorial director of Kmt: A Modern Journal of Ancient Egypt and a prolific author on Amarna and other subjects of ancient Egypt. If I haven't read all of his books, then they are either in my reading pile or to be bought list, so he's well worth following in my opinion.
I was very excited when I saw this book was being published, and bought it with some of the Amazon gift money I was given for Christmas. I put off reading it until I couldn't stand it any longer - about 3 months. It was well worth the wait.
The pros:
Who could hate a book on KV55 and the identity of the occupant?
Great photos, even some I hadn't seen before. Even "blown" up standard ones that I'm always scrutinizing to try and figure out what I'm actually seeing.
Speaking of photos, Forbes has consistently taken a known piece of Amarna artwork, shown half and paired it with another artifact, such as the denuded mummy face paired with a speculated "study" found in the artist, Thutmose's studio in an effort to make identifications. This works to good effect when comparing what is clearly a sculpture of Akhenaten and and speculated sculpture of Smenkhkare (though I've seen that piece identified as Amenhotep III). He also did a similar thing in the Sumer 2018, volume 29 of KMT with the facial reconstruction of the Younger Lady, KV35-YL. (So hard not to go off on a tangent here..., but I must say that I'm constantly doing a compare process myself, just not quite like he did).
He showed the coffin and gave a good explanation of the coffin trough and the missing gold pieces, with some photos of what has been recovered and the history. I remember back in the day reading about this and being fascinated with it.
Though the excavation of KV55 is summarized it was enough, since there are other books that have gone into that botched excavation. Every time I read about it I fantasize about time travel and finding away to remove Davis and getting Howard Cater involved. I'm sure if Davis hadn't been the one to "discover" the tomb many of the questions we have wouldn't exist. I also like that the last few pages he actually laid out who was responsible for what parts of the excavation and where they failed. And in the case of Ayrton he offered a defense for the poor man. I always get angry and melancholy when reading about this.
On page 99 there is hard (for me) to find photo of a facial reconstruction of the KV55 individual. So nice to have that in a good copy. (Yes, I still think someone pulled on the poor man's nose. How could the artist have done that?) I hope someday we get a Tut/KV35-YL level reconstruction.
Starting on page 111 Forbes lays out a very good timeline of his reconstruction of events as he sees them. Very helpful
Here is where there are spoilers, fair warning:
Forbes identifies the mummy as Smenkhkare, rather than Akhenaten. While I've always leaned in that direction, I don't think this an ironclad identification. There are too many anomalous things in KV55 to tie it up. The many things with Akhenaten's name, and the lack of Smenkhkare's name are disturbing. I do agree with his analysis of the age, but what do I know? I'm neither an Egyptologist, and an anatomist, a doctor, radiologist or anything of that sort. I'm just well read, plus I want it to be Smenkhkare so I know that my opinion is VERY, biased.
That brings me to the cons:
His identification of KV35-YL, the mother of Tutankhamen, as Meritaten is rather abruptly assumed. Having read his journal articles it didn't surprise me to much, but I kept waiting for... more. The DNA evidence identifies her as a daughter of Amenhotep III and Tiye, so I expected that to be addressed better.
I don't know if it was just my copy or all from the print run, during the discussion of the shrine, on page 64 it just abruptly ends in the middle of a thought and sentence. Made me so sad. I was so into what he was saying.
Now for my wishes:
Oh how I wish he had expanded on his thoughts of who was who and included and enhanced his article from KMT mentioned above. I would gladly have paid more for an expanded book. I feel like I was given a tease and want more!
I look forward to more from this author. And I mean toot-sweet, please.
I was very excited when I saw this book was being published, and bought it with some of the Amazon gift money I was given for Christmas. I put off reading it until I couldn't stand it any longer - about 3 months. It was well worth the wait.
The pros:
Who could hate a book on KV55 and the identity of the occupant?
Great photos, even some I hadn't seen before. Even "blown" up standard ones that I'm always scrutinizing to try and figure out what I'm actually seeing.
Speaking of photos, Forbes has consistently taken a known piece of Amarna artwork, shown half and paired it with another artifact, such as the denuded mummy face paired with a speculated "study" found in the artist, Thutmose's studio in an effort to make identifications. This works to good effect when comparing what is clearly a sculpture of Akhenaten and and speculated sculpture of Smenkhkare (though I've seen that piece identified as Amenhotep III). He also did a similar thing in the Sumer 2018, volume 29 of KMT with the facial reconstruction of the Younger Lady, KV35-YL. (So hard not to go off on a tangent here..., but I must say that I'm constantly doing a compare process myself, just not quite like he did).
He showed the coffin and gave a good explanation of the coffin trough and the missing gold pieces, with some photos of what has been recovered and the history. I remember back in the day reading about this and being fascinated with it.
Though the excavation of KV55 is summarized it was enough, since there are other books that have gone into that botched excavation. Every time I read about it I fantasize about time travel and finding away to remove Davis and getting Howard Cater involved. I'm sure if Davis hadn't been the one to "discover" the tomb many of the questions we have wouldn't exist. I also like that the last few pages he actually laid out who was responsible for what parts of the excavation and where they failed. And in the case of Ayrton he offered a defense for the poor man. I always get angry and melancholy when reading about this.
On page 99 there is hard (for me) to find photo of a facial reconstruction of the KV55 individual. So nice to have that in a good copy. (Yes, I still think someone pulled on the poor man's nose. How could the artist have done that?) I hope someday we get a Tut/KV35-YL level reconstruction.
Starting on page 111 Forbes lays out a very good timeline of his reconstruction of events as he sees them. Very helpful
Here is where there are spoilers, fair warning:
Forbes identifies the mummy as Smenkhkare, rather than Akhenaten. While I've always leaned in that direction, I don't think this an ironclad identification. There are too many anomalous things in KV55 to tie it up. The many things with Akhenaten's name, and the lack of Smenkhkare's name are disturbing. I do agree with his analysis of the age, but what do I know? I'm neither an Egyptologist, and an anatomist, a doctor, radiologist or anything of that sort. I'm just well read, plus I want it to be Smenkhkare so I know that my opinion is VERY, biased.
That brings me to the cons:
His identification of KV35-YL, the mother of Tutankhamen, as Meritaten is rather abruptly assumed. Having read his journal articles it didn't surprise me to much, but I kept waiting for... more. The DNA evidence identifies her as a daughter of Amenhotep III and Tiye, so I expected that to be addressed better.
I don't know if it was just my copy or all from the print run, during the discussion of the shrine, on page 64 it just abruptly ends in the middle of a thought and sentence. Made me so sad. I was so into what he was saying.
Now for my wishes:
Oh how I wish he had expanded on his thoughts of who was who and included and enhanced his article from KMT mentioned above. I would gladly have paid more for an expanded book. I feel like I was given a tease and want more!
I look forward to more from this author. And I mean toot-sweet, please.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews