KV20 is a tomb in the Valley of the Kings (Egypt). It was probably the first royal tomb to be constructed in the valley. KV20 was the original burial place of Thutmose I (who was later re-interred in KV38) and later was adapted by his daughter Hatshepsut to accommodate her and her father. The tomb was known to Napoleon Bonaparte's expedition in 1799 and had been visited by several explorers between 1799 and 1903. A full clearance of the tomb was undertaken by Howard Carter in 1903–1904. KV20 is distinguishable from other tombs in the valley, both in its general layout and because of the atypical clockwise curvature of its corridors.
Location and exploration
KV20 is located in the easternmost branch of the valley near the later tombs KV19, KV43, and KV60. It was known to the French expedition of 1799 and to Belzoni, who worked in the area in 1817. A first attempt to excavate the tomb was undertaken by James Burton in 1824, who cleared it as far as the tomb's first chamber. Although Lepsius explored it in 1844 and 1845, no further attempts to excavate the tomb were undertaken until Howard Carter started his clearance of the rock-hard fill in the corridor in the spring of 1903. This excavation was conducted by Carter as Inspector of the Antiquities Service, but the work was sponsored by Theodore M. Davis, who published a full report of the work in 1906.
After Carter's work in the tomb ended, no further activities have been carried out. The ceiling of the burial chamber had suffered a further collapse when John Romer visited the tomb in the late 1960s. Since 1994 the burial chamber has been inaccessible due to debris deposited by flooding.
Layout
The tomb has an unusual layout, consisting of a series of five curving, descending corridors, interspersed with sections of steep stairs and passing through two chambers and an antechamber before ending in a pillared burial chamber with three small satellite storerooms. The corridors bend east-south-west in a clockwise fashion, which is a unique feature amongst the tombs in the valley. Beginning halfway down the first corridor are sockets, likely to take the timber supports used to lower the sarcophagus. Additionally, the corridors have steps cut along one side, with the remaining portion forming a ramp. Another unusual feature of the tomb is its extreme length of .
Excavation and contents
Carter found two items bearing Hatshepsut's cartouches during his excavation of the tomb of Thutmose IV (KV43), leading him to suspect her tomb must be nearby. A single foundation deposit was found on 2 February 1903 immediately in front of KV20. The foundation deposit was carefully placed between layers of sand and covered over with limestone chips. It contained small alabaster vases, and model items and tools including brick moulds, adzes, axes, chisels, and a flail; other contents included linen samples, bread, and vase rests. Some elements of the foundation deposit had washed into the first corridor and were recovered there.
Carter's excavation and clearance began in early Feb 1903 and proved to be difficult, only concluding in March the following year. He found the tomb to be filled with hard, cemented debris. The first passageway was cleared by the end of February; this corridor curves to the right (clockwise) and is long by wide and tall. The first rectangular chamber was full of cemented debris and was cleared by 15 April. A steep flight of steps cut into the centre of the floor leads to the second corridor. Midway down the second passage, the limestone layer ends and the unstable tafle (marl) stratum below it begins; Carter characterised the latter as a "...stratum of rock so bad that there was fear of it falling at any moment." The second corridor was identical to previous sections, ending in a chamber with another set of stairs cut into the floor leading to a further hallway. At this point work stopped "on account of the heat and the exhaustion of the air, owing to the great numbers of workmen required to carry out the excavation."