Hidden beneath the most popular tourist destination in Egypt, the Valley of the Kings, lies a maze of corridors and chambers that have remained hidden for a thousand years. This is Tomb 33, hailed by archaeologists as the greatest mystery of this sacred land. The last attempted excavation occurred over a hundred years ago, when a number of archaeologists went down and never returned. So what secrets lurk in Tomb 33?
Tomb 33 is on the West bank of the Nile, 500 km south of Cairo, near Ancient Thebes. The tomb’s size is awe-inspiring. Twenty-two chambers connected by long corridors, it spreads over three levels reaching down twenty meters, and is more imposing than most Pharaohs’ tombs. Yet Tomb 33 was not built not for a Pharaoh, or even a Royal family member. This was the tomb of Petamenophis, a scholar and priest. “There is a sort of Myth to Tomb 33”, excavator Claude Traunecker explains. “It is quite amazing because it does not look like any other tomb. We do not understand it.”
Johannes Dueminchen, the first researcher of this tomb, established through script on the tomb walls that Petamenophis was a high-ranking priest and Master of Rituals, “He who has been initiated in the mysteries of the sacred text”. Since then the tomb has been regarded as an archaeological mystery. To the frustration of the archaeological community the Egyptian government sealed off the tomb a century ago and has refused to allow further excavations. Only recently did the government finally invite a team of Egyptologists to re-open and excavate Tomb 33.
Leading the excavation is Professor Claude Traunecker. Excavating Tomb 33 is the realisation of his childhood ambitions. As the walls sealing the Tomb are broken for the first time, the archaeologists are awe-struck. The team enters a maze-like underground network of spectacular corridors and chambers entirely covered in frescoes and hieroglyphs. “It was worth getting the willies for this”, Annie Schweizer laughs. However, the mysterious grandeur of the priest’s tomb perplexes the archaeologists. “I have mixed feelings”, Traunecker explains, “All in all Tomb 33 could be regarded as a vain or even foolish project. I’m very shocked by our visit”.
As the excavation continues the great Priest’s intentions come to fascinate the team. The walls contain an encyclopaedic depiction of the times and funeral rites of the later era of ancient Egypt, preserving a snapshot of a dwindling culture. Through hieroglyphic texts Petamenophis himself speaks to the archeologists. “Those who will yet be born”, reads one message, “may they enter the tomb and see what is inside. You who enter this tomb, look and try to understand. Read and restore these inscriptions”.
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