KV63

KV63
Burial site of person(s) unknown
The area immediately above the chamber in March 2005, one to two months after KV63's initial discovery.
KV63
Coordinates	25°44′24″N 32°36′05″E / 25.74000°N 32.60139°E / 25.74000; 32.60139Coordinates: 25°44′24″N 32°36′05″E / 25.74000°N 32.60139°E / 25.74000; 32.60139
Location	East Valley of the Kings
Discovered	10 March 2005 (shaft) 8 February 2006 (announced)
Excavated by	Otto Schaden
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KV63 is the most recently opened chamber in Egypt's Valley of the Kings pharaonic necropolis. Initially believed to be a royal tomb, it is now believed to have been a storage chamber for the mummification process. It was found in 2005 by a team of archaeologists led by Dr. Otto Schaden.

The chamber contained seven wooden coffins and many large storage jars. All coffins have now been opened, and were found to contain only mummification materials, with the jars also containing mummification supplies including salts, linens, and deliberately broken pottery.

Some clay seal impressions contain text, such as the partial word 'pa-aten,' part of the name used by Tutankhamun's wife, Ankhesenamun. This inscription, the architectural style of the chamber, and the form of the coffins and jars all point to an Eighteenth Dynasty date, roughly contemporary with Tutankhamun, whose tomb is nearby.

KV63 was revisited by Schaden's team again in 2010, along with a TV team. Another 16 storage jars were explored, and a wooden bed with lions' heads, along with pieces of wine jars, were discovered. The team arrived at the theory that the chamber was probably used by Tutankhamun's family embalmers, some time about 1337–1334 BC.

The vertical shaft of KV63 was re-discovered on 10 March 2005. The discovery that the shaft led to a chamber was announced on 8 February 2006, by the Supreme Council of Antiquities, which credited the find to a team of U.S. archaeologists from the University of Memphis, under the leadership of Dr. Otto Schaden. The chamber — given the name "KV63" in accordance with the sequential numbering convention used in the Valley — was initially thought to be a tomb, the first new one to be revealed there since the discovery of KV62, the tomb of Tutankhamun, by Howard Carter in 1922.