Tomb of Mentuherkhepeshef (KV 19)

Luxor

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The only tomb of a prince that you can visit in the Valley of the Kings (others are closed), this was decorated for Prince Rameses Mentuherkhepeshef (c 1000 BC), a son of Rameses IX. When Giovanni Belzoni discovered it in 1817, he found a number of later mummies buried here. Mentuherkhepeshef's remains have not been found. There are good wall paintings, although they are now behind glass since a 1994 flood damaged the lower parts of the walls.

Mentuherkhepeshef's name translates as ‘The Arm of Mentu is Strong’. The entrance corridor to his tomb is adorned with life-size reliefs of various gods, including Osiris, Ptah, Thoth and Khonsu, receiving offerings from the young prince, who is shown in all his finery, wearing exquisitely pleated fine linen robes and a blue-and-gold ‘sidelock of youth’ attached to his black wig – not to mention his gorgeous make-up (as worn by both men and women in ancient Egypt).

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