KV44 is one of the smaller and less visually dramatic tombs in the Valley of the Kings, yet its contents tell an unusually complicated story.

The tomb was originally cut during the Eighteenth Dynasty for an unidentified member of the royal court or elite. Its architecture is extremely simple: a vertical shaft descends approximately 5.5 meters to a single undecorated chamber. No inscriptions survive identifying the original owner, and the tomb’s first burials were badly disturbed in antiquity.

Centuries later, during the Twenty-second Dynasty, KV44 acquired an entirely new purpose.

When Howard Carter opened the tomb on January 26, 1901, he found three coffins lying side by side inside the chamber. Unlike the shattered remains beneath them, these burials were remarkably well preserved. Floral wreaths still covered the coffins, and the mummies remained wrapped inside.

The three later occupants included a man named Iuf’a, a woman identified as a Chantress of Amun, and a woman named Tentkeresherit. Tentkeresherit’s mummy even retained leather mummy braces stamped with the royal name of Osorkon I, providing an important chronological connection with the Twenty-second Dynasty.

Yet these three people were not KV44’s original occupants.

Below them lay debris containing the fragmented remains of earlier mummies. When archaeologist Donald P. Ryan returned to KV44 in 1991 and carefully excavated the material Carter had largely left behind, he identified the remains of seven additional individuals, including young women and several children.

KV44 therefore preserves at least two very different burial histories separated by centuries. An Eighteenth Dynasty family or elite group was buried there first. Their tomb was disturbed and apparently left open.

Then, during the Twenty-second Dynasty, Egyptians returned to the old chamber, placed three new burials above the ancient debris, sealed the tomb again, and unintentionally preserved a remarkable snapshot of Third Intermediate Period funerary life.

• Structure: KV44
• Location: Valley of the Kings, East Valley, Thebes West Bank, Luxor
• Original Owner: Unknown
• Possible Original Owner: Anen has been proposed, but the identification is unsupported
• Original Date: Eighteenth Dynasty
• Later Use: Twenty-second Dynasty collective burial
• Site Type: Shaft tomb with a single burial chamber
• Decoration: None
• Known Burials: At least ten individuals from two major periods of use
• Public Access: Closed

KV44 lies in a small side wadi extending eastward from the main Valley of the Kings. It’s situated near:

• KV28, an unidentified Eighteenth Dynasty tomb
• KV45, originally belonging to the noble Userhet
• Several other small elite tombs positioned away from the monumental royal burials

The location is significant because this part of the Valley appears to have been used for people closely connected with the royal court rather than for reigning kings themselves. KV44’s original Eighteenth Dynasty occupants remain unidentified, but its position among other elite burials strongly suggests that they belonged to the social world surrounding the pharaoh. The tomb’s entrance is relatively inconspicuous.

Unlike the enormous stairways and corridors leading into royal tombs such as KV17, KV35, or KV43, KV44 begins as a vertical shaft that disappears into the limestone. That modest entrance helped conceal the burial but did not prevent ancient disturbance.

Description

KV44 has an exceptionally simple plan. The tomb consists of only two principal architectural elements:

1. A vertical entrance shaft
2. A single rectangular burial chamber

The shaft descends approximately 5.5 meters, or about 18 feet, before reaching the chamber.

There are no corridors. There are no pillars. There is no well chamber. There are no subsidiary storerooms. There is no separate antechamber. There is no decorated burial suite. The simplicity of the tomb strongly distinguishes it from royal monuments of the same dynasty.

A Shaft Tomb

Shaft tombs were common among elite and royal-family burials during the Eighteenth Dynasty. The basic concept was straightforward. Workers excavated a vertical shaft through the limestone. At the bottom, they cut a doorway into one or more underground chambers. After the funeral, they could seal the chamber and fill the shaft with rubble. The vertical descent made unauthorized entry more difficult than simply walking down a corridor. Other Valley tombs using variations of this arrangement include KV36, KV45, and several unidentified elite burials. KV44 represents one of the simplest versions of the type.

The Burial Chamber

At the bottom of the shaft is a single rectangular chamber. When Carter entered in 1901, the room was partly filled with earth and debris apparently washed into the tomb by water. Approximately one-fifth of the chamber was occupied by this accumulated material. Three intact later coffins rested on top of the debris.

This positioning immediately showed that the three individuals could not have belonged to the tomb’s original burial phase. The debris beneath them already contained human remains from earlier burials. The chamber had therefore experienced at least three stages:

• Original Eighteenth Dynasty burial
• Disturbance and partial filling
• Twenty-second Dynasty reuse

This layered arrangement became crucial for reconstructing the tomb’s history.

No Decoration

KV44 is completely undecorated. There are no painted wall scenes, hieroglyphic inscriptions, religious texts, star ceilings, or carved figures. This was entirely appropriate for a small elite tomb of the Eighteenth Dynasty. Royal tombs were increasingly decorated with texts such as the Amduat, but many burials belonging to courtiers, royal relatives, and other privileged individuals inside the Valley remained undecorated.

Religious protection could instead be provided through portable funerary equipment such as:

• Coffins
• Amulets
• Canopic equipment
• Shabtis
• Funerary papyri
• Jewelry
• Magical objects

Unfortunately, almost none of the original Eighteenth Dynasty equipment survived in KV44.

Who Originally Owned KV44?

The original owner of KV44 remains unknown. No inscription recovered from the tomb identifies the person for whom it was constructed. No intact original coffin remained. No foundation deposit securely naming an owner was found. No original mummy could be connected with a historical individual. This means KV44 should be classified simply as an unidentified Eighteenth Dynasty elite tomb. One candidate has occasionally been proposed.

Was KV44 the Tomb of Anen?

Egyptologist Elizabeth Thomas suggested that KV44 might have belonged to Anen, an influential official and member of the family of Queen Tiye. Anen was the brother of Tiye, the Great Royal Wife of Amenhotep III. That relationship placed him near the center of one of the most powerful royal families of the Eighteenth Dynasty.

He carried important religious and administrative titles and is known from surviving monuments. However, the KV44 identification is highly speculative. Donald Ryan’s excavation found no archaeological material securely dating the tomb later than the middle Eighteenth Dynasty, and nothing from KV44 names Anen. The proposal appears to have been based primarily on the tomb’s location among other elite burials and the uncertain history of Anen’s known tomb, TT120. The safest conclusion is therefore: There is currently no archaeological evidence proving that Anen was buried in KV44.

Evidence for the Original Eighteenth Dynasty Burials

Although the identities of the first occupants are lost, Ryan’s excavation proved that KV44 originally contained several people. Human remains from seven individuals were recovered from the debris beneath the later Twenty-second Dynasty coffins. The remains were fragmentary and disturbed.

Among the individuals identified were:

• Two young adult women
• Several children
• At least one child approximately two years old
• Additional individuals whose sex or age was more difficult to determine

The presence of women and children raises an intriguing possibility. KV44 may originally have been a family tomb.

A Family Burial?

Small tombs within the Valley of the Kings were sometimes used for several related individuals rather than one occupant. KV44’s original burial group may have represented members of an elite household connected with the royal court. The presence of several children makes this interpretation particularly plausible.

Unlike royal monuments devoted principally to one king, smaller tombs could accommodate:

• Husbands and wives
• Parents and children
• Royal nurses and their relatives
• Members of the king’s household
• Court officials and family members

Unfortunately, the destruction of the original coffins and burial equipment prevents reconstruction of the exact relationships between KV44’s seven earlier individuals.

Children in the Valley of the Kings

The presence of children inside KV44 contributes to a broader picture emerging from smaller tombs throughout the Valley. The Valley of the Kings was never exclusively occupied by kings. Archaeological work has revealed the burials of:

• Queens
• Princes
• Princesses
• Royal nurses
• Court officials
• Elite servants
• Infants
• Children

KV40 provides an especially dramatic example, with numerous royal children and infants associated with the households of Thutmose IV and Amenhotep III. KV44 gives us a smaller but equally personal glimpse into family mortality. Children belonging to privileged households could be buried within the same sacred landscape used for Egypt’s pharaohs.

The Missing Original Coffins

The seven earlier individuals had no surviving intact coffins when Carter entered KV44. This strongly suggests that the first burial phase had been badly robbed or disturbed.

Wooden coffins were often broken apart by thieves searching for:

• Gold leaf
• Gilded fittings
• Jewelry
• Metal decoration
• Amulets hidden among mummy wrappings

Even an apparently modest burial could contain valuable materials. Once robbers had finished, bodies could be thrown aside, coffins smashed, and funerary equipment scattered. KV44 appears to have suffered exactly this kind of destruction.

The Child’s Coffin Fragment

Ryan’s excavation recovered the footboard of a child’s coffin. Although fragmentary, the object confirms that at least one of the children originally received formal funerary equipment. The find demonstrates that these were genuine burials rather than bodies deposited casually in the tomb. The child had been prepared for the afterlife according to Egyptian funerary customs.

Canopic Equipment

Excavators also recovered an uninscribed fragment from a canopic vessel. Canopic containers held internal organs removed during mummification. The presence of canopic equipment further confirms that the original occupants received traditional Egyptian embalming and burial treatment. Because the surviving piece is uninscribed, however, it cannot identify an individual.

Pottery

Pottery fragments recovered during the modern investigation helped date the original use of KV44. The material supports an Eighteenth Dynasty date for the tomb. Donald Ryan’s Valley of the Kings Project later published pottery studies covering KV44 along with KV21, KV27, KV28, KV45, and KV60. His research program specifically focused on small undecorated tombs that early explorers had often neglected.  Pottery is particularly valuable in anonymous tombs because changes in vessel shape, manufacture, and decoration can help establish chronology even when inscriptions are absent.

A Blue Cylinder Bead

Among the smaller finds recovered in 1991 was a blue cylinder bead. Such an object might appear insignificant compared with royal gold, but small artifacts can be extremely valuable archaeologically.

Beads can provide evidence regarding:

• Personal adornment
• Funerary jewelry
• Manufacturing techniques
• Chronology
• Trade
• Material culture

In a tomb where almost all original equipment had disappeared, even a single bead becomes part of the surviving story.

The Tomb Was Left Open

One of Carter’s most unusual observations concerned the ceiling. He noticed several ancient bee nests. Bees could have established themselves inside only if the tomb remained accessible for some time. This suggests that KV44 stood open after its original burial was disturbed. The entrance may have remained exposed long enough for insects to enter and create nests within the chamber. Only later was the tomb reused and sealed again. The bee nests therefore provide an unexpected environmental clue to the sequence of events.

The Twenty-Second Dynasty Reuse

Several centuries after KV44’s original Eighteenth Dynasty burials, Egyptians returned to the tomb. By this time, Egypt had entered the Third Intermediate Period. During the Twenty-Second Dynasty, the ancient chamber was reused for three new burials. The people responsible did not remove the earlier debris completely. Instead, they placed the new coffins directly on top of the accumulated material. The old burial place had effectively become a ready-made family or elite tomb.

Why Were Ancient Tombs Reused?

By the Third Intermediate Period, the Valley of the Kings was no longer functioning as the royal cemetery it had been during the New Kingdom. Many tombs had already been robbed. Royal burials had moved elsewhere. The Valley nevertheless contained dozens of underground chambers that could still serve as protected burial spaces.

Reusing an existing tomb had practical advantages. They did not need to excavate an entirely new underground monument. Ancient families could enter a forgotten or abandoned tomb, prepare a new burial, and seal it again. KV44 was one of several Valley tombs reused in this way. KV45, KV40, KV31, and other monuments also contain evidence of later burial activity.

Three Coffins Against the Wall

Carter encountered an extraordinary sight when he entered the chamber. Three coffins sat together against one wall. They were positioned side by side above the debris. More remarkably, the coffins were still covered with floral wreaths. Flowers and plants played an important role in Egyptian funerary rituals.

They symbolized:

• Rebirth
• Regeneration
• Fertility
• New life
• The renewal of vegetation

The survival of the wreaths made the KV44 discovery particularly evocative.

The Floral Wreaths

Botanist Percy Newberry studied the plant remains from the coffins. Species identified included plants belonging to groups such as:

• Mimusops
• Acacia or related Nile vegetation
• Cornflowers
• Blue water lilies

The blue water lily was particularly important in Egyptian symbolism. Because the flower opens in daylight and closes at night, Egyptians associated it with the daily rebirth of the sun. Placing flowers around the deceased therefore carried religious meaning in addition to decoration. The wreaths also preserved traces of the funeral itself. Someone had carefully arranged fresh vegetation around the coffins before KV44 was sealed more than two thousand years ago.

Iuf’a

The coffin nearest the wall belonged to a man named Iuf’a. His wooden coffin was painted black with yellow decoration and red inscriptions.  Inside was a carefully wrapped mummy. The black ground used on coffins during this period could evoke the fertile black soil of the Nile Valley and therefore regeneration. Yellow and gold-colored decoration symbolically connected the deceased with the imperishable flesh of the gods. Iuf’a’s exact social position is not completely clear from surviving summaries, but the quality of his burial indicates that he belonged to a privileged group.

The Chantress of Amun

The second burial belonged to a woman connected with the cult of Amun. Her surviving inscription identified her as a Chantress of Amun. Chantresses were women who participated in temple ritual, often through music, singing, and ceremonial performance. The title was particularly common among elite women at Thebes, where Amun’s temple at Karnak dominated religious life. The woman’s name is not completely secure. Some Egyptological references identify her as Keramama, but the surviving inscription itself is incomplete enough that caution is appropriate. Her burial nevertheless provides another example of the powerful relationship between elite Theban women and the temple of Amun.

Women in the Cult of Amun

The title Chantress of Amun was not simply a musical profession in the modern sense. Women holding the position belonged to the religious establishment.

Their duties could involve:

• Singing hymns
• Shaking ritual instruments
• Participating in processions
• Performing temple ceremonies
• Accompanying divine images
• Supporting festivals

During the Third Intermediate Period, many women holding religious titles came from important families. The presence of a Chantress of Amun in KV44 therefore fits the social environment of elite Thebes.

Tentkeresherit

The third intact burial belonged to a woman named Tentkeresherit, whose name is also rendered in several slightly different modern spellings. Her outer coffin was relatively plain wood, but inside it contained a beautifully decorated cartonnage mummy case. Cartonnage was made by layering linen or papyrus with plaster, creating a rigid surface that could then be painted. The technique allowed artists to cover the mummy with an elaborate religious and decorative program. Tentkeresherit’s burial is particularly valuable because another object connects her closely with the reign of Osorkon I.

The Leather Mummy Braces

Tentkeresherit’s mummy was fitted with red leather braces. The ends were stamped with the cartouche of Osorkon I, one of the major pharaohs of the Twenty-second Dynasty. These braces helped secure the mummy wrappings. Their royal stamp provides valuable chronological evidence. Rather than relying only on coffin style, Egyptologists can connect the burial with the broader period surrounding Osorkon I. The braces also illustrate how royal authority could appear on objects used in private funerary contexts.

Osorkon I

Osorkon I belonged to Egypt’s Twenty-second Dynasty. His reign falls several centuries after KV44 had originally been excavated. By this time, political conditions had changed enormously. The great New Kingdom royal cemetery was no longer being used for newly deceased pharaohs, yet the sacred landscape of western Thebes continued to attract burials. The reuse of KV44 underlines how Egyptians of later periods continued to interact with ancient monuments. A tomb could survive long enough to pass through entirely different social, religious, and political worlds.

Were the Three Later Occupants Related?

The fact that Iuf’a, the Chantress of Amun, and Tentkeresherit were buried together strongly suggests some kind of connection.

They may have belonged to:

• The same family
• The same temple community
• The same elite household
• A related social group

Unfortunately, surviving evidence does not establish their exact relationships. The placement of the three coffins together and their similar date nevertheless make a deliberate association almost certain. KV44 therefore may have functioned as a small family tomb during its Twenty-second Dynasty reuse.

Intact, But Not the Original Burials

It is important to distinguish KV44 from an untouched Eighteenth Dynasty tomb. Carter found three remarkably intact burials, but those coffins were secondary burials placed centuries after the tomb was originally built. The original seven people had already been badly disturbed. KV44 was therefore simultaneously a robbed Eighteenth Dynasty tomb and a largely intact Twenty-second Dynasty burial group.  This combination makes its archaeology particularly interesting.

Ten Known Individuals

The combined evidence reveals remains from at least ten people. Seven belonged to the earlier Eighteenth Dynasty burial phase. Three belonged to the Twenty-second Dynasty reuse. This makes KV44 a collective burial monument despite its tiny size. The contrast is remarkable. KV40 required five chambers to accommodate its enormous number of occupants. KV44 used only one small room. Yet over its long history, at least ten bodies were deposited there.

Howard Carter Before Tutankhamun

KV44 was discovered more than twenty years before Howard Carter became internationally famous for finding Tutankhamun’s tomb. Carter was already an experienced archaeologist and inspector in Egypt. In January 1901, he supervised excavation in this part of the Valley. The tomb was opened on January 26, 1901, following approximately two days of work clearing the entrance.  His report was published with Gaston Maspero under the title “Report on Tomb-Pit Opened on the 26th January 1901, in the Valley of the Tombs of the Kings between 4 and 28.” The report appeared in the Annales du Service des Antiquités de l’Égypte. KV44 therefore belongs to Carter’s archaeological career long before KV62 transformed him into a global celebrity.

Carter’s Excavation

Carter concentrated mainly on documenting and removing the three intact later burials. The coffins were transported to Cairo. However, much of the debris covering the floor remained relatively unexplored. This was common during early twentieth-century archaeology.

Excavators frequently prioritized:

• Intact coffins
• Inscriptions
• Statues
• Gold
• Mummies
• Museum-quality objects

Less spectacular material such as broken pottery, fragments of human bone, linen, and small pieces of burial equipment could receive much less attention. Decades later, Donald Ryan recognized that this overlooked material still contained valuable archaeological information.

Donald P. Ryan Returns to KV44

In 1991, archaeologist Donald P. Ryan and the Pacific Lutheran University Valley of the Kings Project reexamined KV44. Ryan’s project specialized in precisely the kinds of tombs earlier archaeologists tended to neglect.

Instead of concentrating exclusively on kings, his team investigated small undecorated monuments including:

• KV21
• KV27
• KV28
• KV44
• KV45
• KV48
• KV49
• KV50
• KV51
• KV52
• KV60

These tombs provide crucial evidence about the other people buried within the royal cemetery.

Excavating Carter’s Debris

Ryan carefully excavated the debris left within KV44. That work completely changed the interpretation of the tomb. What had previously appeared mainly as a Twenty-second Dynasty burial chamber was revealed to contain a much older group of people. The remains of seven original occupants emerged from the fill. This demonstrates an important principle of modern archaeology. Material that appears to be “rubbish” may preserve more historical information than the spectacular objects removed from a site.

The Seven Earlier Mummies

The human remains had been heavily disturbed. Rather than intact bodies, Ryan’s team encountered disarticulated and mixed mummy remains. Anthropological analysis allowed the researchers to distinguish at least seven individuals. Among them were several young people. Two were identified as young women. Three were children. One child was only about two years old. These findings transformed KV44 from an anonymous small tomb into evidence for an Eighteenth Dynasty burial group that included women and very young children.

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What Happened to the Original Seven?

The exact sequence is uncertain, but the archaeological evidence permits a reasonable reconstruction. The seven people were probably buried in KV44 during the Eighteenth Dynasty. At some later point, robbers entered. The coffins were broken apart. Valuable burial equipment was removed. Mummies were disturbed. The tomb may then have remained open for a substantial period, allowing bees to build nests inside. Dust, earth, and water-borne sediment gradually accumulated. Centuries later, Twenty-second Dynasty embalmers or burial workers entered the chamber. They placed three new coffins above the older debris. The entrance was sealed again. This later sealing protected the three burials until Carter entered in 1901.

Water Inside KV44

KV44 has experienced water penetration. Carter already encountered earth that appeared to have been washed into the tomb. Ryan’s project later documented additional concern following major flood events in the Valley. The 1994 flash floods caused water to penetrate several tombs being studied by the project. Underground shaft tombs are especially vulnerable because their entrances can function like funnels. Rainwater flows across the valley floor and descends directly through open or inadequately protected shafts.

The 1994 Valley Flood

The Valley of the Kings appears dry almost all the time. However, rare heavy rainstorms can produce catastrophic flash floods. Water gathers rapidly in surrounding wadis and carries:

• Mud
• Gravel
• Large rocks
• Salt
• Organic debris
• Modern rubbish

into the tombs.

Once inside, the water can damage:

• Human remains
• Coffins
• Linen
• Pottery
• Wall plaster
• Archaeological deposits

The 1994 flooding demonstrated how vulnerable small tombs like KV44 remain even after excavation.

Removal of Objects for Protection

In later fieldwork, Ryan’s team reassessed the storage of material from KV44 and nearby KV45. Because of concerns about water infiltration, artifacts other than pottery and human remains were transferred to KV21 for greater protection. This kind of archaeological relocation is sometimes necessary when the original find location cannot provide safe long-term storage. The goal is to preserve the material while keeping its archaeological documentation intact.

The Difference Between Ancient and Modern Disturbance

KV44 illustrates how complicated archaeological context can become. Objects and bodies were moved in several different periods: Ancient burial workers placed the original Eighteenth Dynasty burials. Ancient robbers disturbed those bodies and coffins. Twenty-second Dynasty Egyptians added three new burials. Floodwater moved sediment and objects. Howard Carter’s team removed the intact coffins. Modern archaeologists later moved vulnerable artifacts for conservation. Understanding KV44 requires separating these events rather than treating everything inside as one burial assemblage.

Why the Original Owner Is So Difficult to Identify

Several factors prevent identification. The original coffins were destroyed. Valuable objects were removed. The bodies were mixed. No intact inscriptions naming the first occupants survived. The tomb contains no painted decoration. The later burials physically covered much of the earlier material. Flooding further disturbed deposits. This combination erased most of the evidence that could once have identified the Eighteenth Dynasty family. KV44 therefore remains anonymous even after more than a century of archaeological study.

Could DNA Identify the Original Family?

In theory, modern genetic analysis could help determine whether the seven original individuals were biologically related. If sufficient ancient DNA survives, researchers might potentially identify:

• Parent-child relationships
• Siblings
• Maternal relationships
• Sex
• Broader genetic affinities

However, successful DNA recovery from Egyptian mummies depends heavily on preservation and contamination. No published result currently establishes the relationships among KV44’s original occupants. For now, the family interpretation remains plausible rather than proven.

KV44 and KV45

KV44 sits beside KV45, making comparison especially useful. Both are small shaft tombs originally created during the Eighteenth Dynasty. KV45 is securely connected with the official Userhet, who carried the title Overseer of the Fields of Amun. Like KV44, KV45 was later reused during the Twenty-second Dynasty. The parallel is striking. Two neighboring Eighteenth Dynasty elite tombs were both reopened centuries later and used for new burials. This suggests that the area may have become a convenient cemetery zone during the Third Intermediate Period.

KV44 and KV46

Another useful comparison is KV46, the famous tomb of Yuya and Thuya. KV46 is also an Eighteenth Dynasty elite tomb reached through a shaft. Its architecture is relatively simple compared with royal tombs. Unlike KV44, however, KV46 was discovered with a substantial portion of its original funerary equipment still present. The contrast shows what KV44 may once have contained. Even relatively simple shaft tombs belonging to privileged individuals could hold elaborate coffins, chariots, furniture, jewelry, food, clothing, vessels, and religious equipment. Almost all of that vanished from KV44’s original burial.

KV44 and KV40

KV40 and KV44 both demonstrate that small or undecorated tombs can contain remarkable information. KV40 revealed a huge collective burial connected with royal children and the households of Thutmose IV and Amenhotep III. KV44 preserved a much smaller group. Both tombs also experienced later reuse. Both show that the Valley of the Kings cannot be understood simply by studying pharaohs. The smaller monuments preserve evidence about families, children, priests, court officials, and people whose names rarely appeared on temple walls.

Burial Reuse in the Valley of the Kings

KV44 belongs to a broader pattern of tomb reuse. By the Twenty-first and Twenty-second Dynasties, Egyptians were returning to many New Kingdom tombs. Some became royal mummy caches. Others received new private burials. Still others were used temporarily for storage, ritual activity, or habitation. Reuse changed the archaeological identity of these monuments. A tomb built for one family could eventually contain people who lived hundreds of years later and had no relationship to the original owner. KV44 is an especially clear example.

The Valley Was Never Truly Abandoned

The history of KV44 reminds us that the Valley of the Kings did not suddenly become forgotten when New Kingdom royal burials ended. People continued to know the Valley. Priests entered tombs. Robbers searched them. Officials restored burials. Families reused chambers. Later communities visited the landscape. The Valley remained part of the living cultural geography of Thebes for centuries. The Twenty-second Dynasty burials in KV44 demonstrate that old royal-era tombs could still possess funerary value long after their original owners had vanished from memory.

Coffin Styles of the Twenty-Second Dynasty

The later KV44 coffins reflect burial traditions very different from those of the Eighteenth Dynasty. During the Third Intermediate Period, decorated coffins became increasingly important as wall decoration in tombs declined. Religious imagery that might once have covered a tomb chamber could instead appear directly on the coffin and cartonnage surrounding the mummy.

This included:

• Protective gods
• Solar imagery
• Nut
• Osiris
• Winged deities
• Hieroglyphic spells
• Divine symbols
• Decorative collars

The coffin effectively became a portable sacred environment surrounding the deceased. Tentkeresherit’s decorated cartonnage reflects this tradition.

Why Cartonnage Was Important

Cartonnage combined practicality with religious symbolism. Layers of linen or papyrus were glued together, shaped around the body, coated with plaster, and painted. The finished surface could imitate expensive materials while allowing extraordinarily detailed decoration. It also physically enclosed and protected the mummy. During the Third Intermediate Period, elaborate cartonnage became an important feature of elite burial. The KV44 example therefore provides valuable evidence for changes in funerary practice across the centuries separating its two burial phases.

Black Coffins

Two of the later wooden coffins were painted black with contrasting yellow decoration. Black carried strong symbolic meaning in Egyptian religion. It was the color of the fertile Nile silt deposited during the annual inundation. Because crops emerged from this dark soil, black became associated with fertility and regeneration. Osiris, the god who died and returned to renewed existence, could also be shown with black or green skin. A black funerary coffin therefore did not primarily symbolize mourning. It could represent rebirth.

Flowers and Rebirth

The floral wreaths on the KV44 coffins reinforce exactly the same message. Egyptians observed the continuous cycles of the natural world. Plants died and returned. The Nile receded and flooded again. The sun disappeared each evening and returned each morning. Flowers bloomed repeatedly. These natural cycles became powerful metaphors for human resurrection. The people buried in KV44 were surrounded by symbols promising that death was temporary and renewal would follow.

Objects Recovered From KV44

Material associated with KV44 includes:

• Three intact Twenty-second Dynasty coffins
• Three wrapped mummies from the later burial phase
• Decorated cartonnage
• Floral funerary wreaths
• Leather mummy braces bearing the cartouche of Osorkon I
• Fragmented remains of seven earlier individuals
• Child coffin fragments
• Canopic vessel fragments
• Pottery
• A blue cylinder bead
• Linen and funerary debris
• Evidence of insects and ancient exposure

The relatively small object list does not reflect the richness of the tomb’s original burials.

Most Eighteenth Dynasty equipment had already been removed before modern discovery.

Noteworthy Features

KV44 is notable for several reasons. It was originally excavated during the Eighteenth Dynasty but later reused during the Twenty-second Dynasty. Its architecture consists only of a 5.5-meter shaft leading to one chamber. The original owner is completely unknown. At least seven individuals belonged to the earliest burial phase.

Several of them were children. Three later burials were discovered largely intact. Those coffins still carried floral wreaths when Howard Carter entered the tomb. One later occupant was Iuf’a. Another was a Chantress of Amun. The third was Tentkeresherit. Tentkeresherit’s mummy braces carried the cartouche of Osorkon I.

Howard Carter opened KV44 in 1901, more than twenty years before discovering Tutankhamun. Donald Ryan reexamined the tomb in 1991. Ryan’s work revealed the remains of the seven earlier occupants that Carter’s excavation had not fully studied. Ancient bee nests indicate that the tomb once stood open for an extended period. Flooding has repeatedly threatened the monument.

Dating

KV44 experienced several important chronological phases.

Eighteenth Dynasty:
The tomb was excavated and received its original burials.

Later New Kingdom:
The original burials were probably robbed or otherwise disturbed.

Period of abandonment:
The tomb apparently stood open long enough for bees to establish nests.

Twenty-second Dynasty:
The tomb was reused for Iuf’a, the Chantress of Amun, and Tentkeresherit.

1901:
Howard Carter opened and excavated KV44.

1991:
Donald Ryan and the Pacific Lutheran University Valley of the Kings Project reexamined the tomb.

1994:
Major floods affected the Valley and raised conservation concerns for KV44 and other small tombs.

Twenty-first century:
Material from the site has continued to be studied as part of broader research into the Valley’s undecorated tombs.

History of Exploration

Howard Carter, 1901

Howard Carter opened KV44 on January 26, 1901. His excavation revealed the three intact later coffins and documented the chamber’s general condition. His report on the discovery was published in the Annales du Service des Antiquités de l’Égypte.  The discovery was significant but received nothing like the attention Carter’s later excavation of Tutankhamun would generate.

Donald P. Ryan, 1991

Ninety years later, Donald Ryan returned to KV44. His team systematically excavated the remaining debris. The work identified at least seven earlier individuals and recovered pottery, coffin fragments, canopic material, and other small finds. The re-excavation fundamentally changed our understanding of the tomb.

Later Conservation Work

The project’s later work documented water infiltration and the danger posed by Valley flooding. Portable artifacts from KV44 and KV45 were eventually relocated to safer archaeological storage within KV21, with pottery and human remains treated separately.

Site Condition

KV44 is closed to ordinary visitors. There is little decorative architecture to see, and access requires descending a vertical shaft. The tomb’s archaeological value lies primarily in its burial history rather than visual decoration. Floodwater remains a major conservation concern. Small shaft tombs can easily collect water, sand, and debris during rare storms. Protecting the entrance and preserving the surviving human and funerary material are therefore more important than preparing KV44 for tourism.

Why KV44 Matters

KV44 matters because it reveals how a tomb could acquire completely different identities over time. During the Eighteenth Dynasty, an unknown elite family or group received the privilege of burial within the Valley of the Kings. At least seven people, including children, were placed inside the chamber. Their names disappeared. Their coffins were destroyed. Their bodies were disturbed. Eventually, even the entrance appears to have remained open. Centuries passed. Then Egyptians returned.

Rather than seeing KV44 as the sacred burial place of a known Eighteenth Dynasty family, they saw an available underground chamber. Three new people were brought into the tomb. They placed their coffins side by side. Flowers were arranged around them. The chamber was closed once more. Ironically, those later burials survived far better than the tomb’s original occupants.

When Howard Carter entered in 1901, the people for whom KV44 had been built had become anonymous fragments beneath the floor debris, while the three people buried there centuries later still had names, coffins, wrappings, and flowers.

Modern archaeology reversed that imbalance slightly. Donald Ryan’s return to KV44 showed that the debris itself preserved another forgotten population. Two young women. Several children. A child only around two years old. They remain nameless, but they are no longer invisible. KV44 therefore demonstrates one of the greatest strengths of modern archaeology. The spectacular coffin may tell us who someone was, but careful excavation of broken pottery, bones, linen, and debris can reveal the lives that history almost erased.

Interesting Facts About KV44

• KV44 was originally excavated during the Eighteenth Dynasty.
• Its original owner remains unknown.
• Elizabeth Thomas proposed Anen as a possible owner, but no evidence confirms the theory.
• The tomb consists of a single shaft and one chamber.
• The shaft is approximately 5.5 meters deep.
• The tomb is completely undecorated.
• Howard Carter opened KV44 on January 26, 1901.
• He discovered three largely intact Twenty-second Dynasty burials.
• Floral wreaths still covered the coffins.
• One occupant was named Iuf’a.
• Another woman was a Chantress of Amun.
• The third was Tentkeresherit.
• Tentkeresherit had red leather mummy braces bearing the cartouche of Osorkon I.
• The three later burials rested on top of much older debris.
• Donald Ryan re-excavated KV44 in 1991.
• His team identified remains from seven earlier individuals.
• Two of the earlier occupants were young women.
• Three were children.
• One child was only about two years old.
• A fragment of a child’s coffin survived.
• Part of a canopic vessel was recovered.
• A blue cylinder bead was discovered.
• Ancient bee nests on the ceiling suggest that KV44 stood open for some time.
• The tomb was reused hundreds of years after its original construction.
• At least ten individuals were buried in KV44 across its history.
• Floodwater has threatened the tomb in modern times.
• KV44 demonstrates that the Valley of the Kings was used by far more than pharaohs.