Yay, Basel University! (Where my daughter is studying)

Great school.

It don't run in their blood.

Thanks for posting -

I don't suppose the tombs have the wealth of cultural artifacts that were found along with Tutankhamun's mummy, as the article unfortunately says they were looted several times in the past.

that they know about (and are waiting to "officially" mention) or that they haven't found yet. It's a pretty large area.

It is still being excavated and could be 10 times larger than any other tomb in the Valley of Kings.

Wikipedia: Tomb KV5 is a subterranean, rock-cut tomb in the Valley of the Kings. It belonged to the sons of Ramesses II. Though KV5 was partially excavated as early as 1825, its true extent was discovered by Kent R. Weeks and his exploration team. The tomb is now known to be the largest in the Valley of the Kings. Weeks' discovery in 1995 is widely considered the most dramatic in the valley since the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun in 1922.



Around 1989, Kent Weeks rediscovered the tomb using sonar and ground penetrating radar. The following season, he began excavation of the tomb in earnest, though he appears at that time not to have know the significance of his find. Nine years later he had cleared ten of the 150 (100 of which are known to be decorated) or more chambers within the tomb. No other tombs in the valley have over 30 chambers, and most only have six to eight.

Kent Weeks claims he has no intention excavating the entire tomb, leaving some work for future excavators. In reality, he will have little choice in the matter because at the current pace, the tomb will probably not be fully excavated for at least another 90 years. Ok, that isn't exactly fair. The flood debris in the front portion of this tomb is far worse than further in, so perhaps they may be excavated faster. So far, at least several tons of potsherds have been carted out of the tomb. And yet, only fairly recently did this dig reveal its builder. On May 18th, 1995, Kent Weeks made the following announcement:

Last February, excavating through the flood-borne debris that fill the tomb, my staff and I found a passageway leading past twenty chambers to a statue of the god Osiris. Two transverse corridors, each with another twenty chambers, extend beyond that. At the end of the corridors there are stairs and sloping corridors apparently leading to even more rooms on a lower level. The tomb could be the largest ever found in Egypt...

So far, that statement has not completely worked out. Currently, it appears that the corridor with a stairway that was thought to lead to lower levels ended abruptly. However, other corridors do lead to lower levels, and the excavators apparently have still not found the end of these passages.



Read more: http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/kv51.htm#ixzz30CpjwKHL

is a riveting read, and explains the history of the Valley of the Kings, and how relics would sometimes be shuffled around by locals. Cheers.

every few years there is a discovery and then everybody opines that it's the last thing the Valley has to give up and that, in the words of Theodore Davis in 1912 "I fear the Valley of the Kings is exhausted." Davis gave up his license to excavate and it was given to Howard Carter - who then went on to discover the tomb of Nebkheprure-Tutankhamon. I'm guessing there are still a few more tombs that will eventually get a KV number.