July 9, 2006 — The last coffin found inside KV 63 was opened on Wednesday. It was an amazing event for me personally, as well as for the history of archaeology in Egypt.
It was the first coffin opened in the Valley of the Kings since Howard Carter opened the coffin of Tutankhamen in the 1920s. It is also the first coffin opening ever to be documented on film.
The affair turned into a small media event, and a bunch of news organizations showed up. There were about 20 people crammed inside the tomb for the historic moment and I feel lucky to have been one of them. Never in my wildest dreams did I expect to be in the Valley of the Kings to witness the opening of a 3,000-year-old sealed coffin.
Obviously, Dr. Otto and Nadia were on hand for the opening. Nadia had stopped conservation work on the lid the day before so that the chemicals would be completely dry. She was still a bit worried about the move because even though the foot-end of the coffin was relatively intact and heavy, the wood at the head-end was paper thin and needed a lot of stabilization. Luckily, when the moment arrived, the lid came off without a single problem.
Dr. Zahi Hawass was also on hand for the opening. Dr. Hawass is the chief of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities and he thinks that KV 63 was the tomb of Tutankhamen's mother, Kiya.
At first it was difficult to see anything because everyone was straining for a view. I hung back because honestly, I didn't want to get in the way. I figured whatever was inside had been there for 3,000 years — I can wait a bit longer to get a good look. I did know right away that there wasn’t a mummy inside by the reaction of the crowd.
But while there wasn't a mummy (and honestly, I had a very brief moment of disappointment … after all, I do study mummies for a living!) the coffin was full of equally amazing stuff.
Near the head-end there were these incredible floral necklaces, though the word "necklace" doesn't really accurately describe them. These were large, complicated pieces that would have covered a significant portion of the upper part of the chest and shoulders. And woven in between the flower stems were flashes of gold. Though they looked incredibly delicate, I never would have imagined they would look this good after 3,000 years.
Near the foot-end of the coffin there was more natron and a couple pieces of broken ceramic, similar to what was found in the other coffins.
The big job now for Dr. Otto and the team is to remove all of this material. Essentially, they will have to perform a small-scale archaeological excavation. Each and every piece of flower, linen, ceramic and whatever else may be in there has to be recorded, conserved and then removed.
There is an incredible amount of work left to be done. It must be a thrill for the team to realize that anything could still be in the coffin and that as they work, all kinds of surprises could turn up.
