An Egyptian-English archaeology team has found the lost tomb of Thutmose II, a lesser-known pharaoh from Egypt’s 18th Dynasty, in the Western Wadis near Luxor. The Supreme Council of Antiquities and the New Kingdom Research Foundation at the University of Cambridge worked together on the excavation, revealing that Tomb C4, which they thought belonged to a royal consort, is the burial site of Thutmose II.

Relief of Thutmose II in Karnak Temple complex. CC0 1.0

In October 2022, the team first found the tomb’s entrance and main corridor in Wadi Gabbanat el-Qurud, about 2.4 kilometers west of the Valley of the Kings. At first, archaeologists thought it might be a queen’s tomb because it was close to the burial places of Thutmose III’s wives and Queen Hatshepsut. But as they kept digging and studying the inscriptions on alabaster vessels in the tomb, they confirmed its true owner.

Dr. Mohamed Ismail Khaled, Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, said the inscriptions named Thutmose II as the “deceased king” and mentioned his wife, Hatshepsut. “This discovery is one of the most significant archaeological finds in recent years,” Dr. Khaled remarked. He pointed out that, before now, no funeral furniture linked to Thutmose II had been found in any museum worldwide, which makes this discovery especially valuable to Egyptologists.

Thutmose II, the son of Thutmose I and his lesser wife, Mutnofret, held power for a short time before his half-sister and wife, Hatshepsut, took control of the throne. Many experts think Hatshepsut wielded much of the real power while he ruled. After he died, she took the тιтle of pharaoh and put her own name on many of his monuments.


Professor Mohamed Abdel-Badi, who heads the Egyptian Antiquities Sector and co-leads the mission, shared that the tomb was in poor condition due to ancient floods. Water had gotten in right after the king died causing damage to the structure. The team has recovered and restored fallen plaster fragments. Some of these pieces have blue inscriptions, yellow stars, and sections from the “Book of the Amduat” on them. This book was a key funerary text used in royal burials. These decorative elements, along with the tomb’s layout, suggest it served as a model for subsequent pharaonic tombs of the 18th Dynasty.

Dr. Piers Litherland, who leads the British side of the project, pointed out that the tomb has a simple architectural design. A pᴀssage leads to a burial chamber that sits 1.4 meters higher than the corridor’s floor. This height difference likely aided in moving the tomb’s original items, including Thutmose II’s remains, after the flood. In antiquity, people moved the pharaoh’s remains to the Royal Cache (TT320) near Deir el-Bahari. There, he was interred alongside other rulers from the 18th and 19th Dynasties. In the 19th century, his mummy was rediscovered.

Egypt’s Tourism and Antiquities Minister, Sherif Fathy, praised the archaeological team for their hard work. He pointed out that this is the first time someone has found a royal tomb since Howard Carter discovered King Tutankhamun’s resting place in 1922.

More information: Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities