KV8

KV8
Burial site of Merenptah
Merenptah's stone sarcophagus in KV8
KV8
Coordinates	25°44′26″N 32°36′3″E
Location	East Valley of the Kings
Discovered	Open in antiquity
Excavated by	Howard Carter
← Previous KV7 Next → KV9

Tomb KV8, located in the Valley of the Kings, was used for the burial of Pharaoh Merenptah of Ancient Egypt's Nineteenth Dynasty.

KV8 schematic

The burial chamber, located at the end of 160 metres of corridor, originally held a set of four nested sarcophagi. The outer one of these was so voluminous that parts of the corridor had to have their doorjambs demolished and rebuilt to allow it to be brought in. These jambs were then rebuilt with the help of inscribed sandstone blocks which were then fixed into place with dovetail cramps.

Merenptah's tomb in 2023

The pillars in Chamber F were removed to allow passage of the sarcophagus, only two were replaced. The other two pillars may have been stolen by Paneb, a worker in the craftsman's village (Deir el-Medina), for use in his own tomb.

References

• Reeves, N & Wilkinson, R.H. The Complete Valley of the Kings, 1996, Thames and Hudson, London
• Siliotti, A. Guide to the Valley of the Kings and to the Theban Necropolises and Temples, 1996, A.A. Gaddis, Cairo

External links

• Theban Mapping Project: KV8: Includes description, images and plans of the tomb.
• KV8 (Tomb of Merenptah) – Tomb Plan, tomb photographs with detailed descriptions and elements that can be inspected. Web Archive Saved on 10 September 2020