Escaping from the Tomb: A Spatial Analysis of Possible Escape Routes in the Valley of the Kings, Egypt

Summary

Howard Carter discovered the relatively intact tomb of Tutankhamun (KV 62), one of the last kings of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt, in the Valley of the Kings in 1922. Prior to the discovery, Carter discovered several small artifacts in the cliffs above the valley’s floor, which he proclaimed were indicators of a possible escape route of the ancient tomb raiders from the Valley of the Kings. During the excavation of the tomb, Carter also claimed to have identified two distinct robberies that most likely occurred with a few years of the initial interment. Other scholars have debated this assertion. A spatial analysis of the Valley the Kings will provide insight into this debate. This paper will investigate the possible routes ancient robbers may have taken while escaping from the tomb of Tutankhamun through the utilization of Geographical Information System (GIS) analyses including viewshed and least cost pathways. The most efficient route out of the valley will determine if Carter’s initial claim of finding dropped artifacts from the tomb was in correct or not.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 20398