But with all the jars now opened, work on KV63 is far from over and the most exciting discoveries are certainly yet to come.

Dr. Schaden had three major goals for the 2009 season:  finish mapping the KV63 complex, open and examine the sixteen jars that remained sealed, and get as far as possible into the process of removing the resin from the coffins (Source: Schaden, Otto J.  “KV63 Season 2009.”  KMT vol. 20, no. 3, pp. 18-29).  On March 17, 2009, Dr. Schaden announced that the mapping had been completed.  With the opening of the remaining jars, that leaves the coffins.

Of course, treatment and analysis of the coffins is just one part, albeit a major one, of the work ahead.  We still have no idea of what purpose KV63 originally served.  It was probably intended to be a tomb, but for who?  It appears to be constructed in a style consistent with Eighteenth Dynasty tombs.  Was it temporary storage for the mummy of someone we may have heard of? The removal of the resin from the coffins could reveal clues as to who they were made for, which may tell us something about KV63.

The journal entry states that in addition to the work on the coffins, Dr. Schaden’s team will begin more specialized studies of some of the other artifacts in early 2010.  There is also a section on the symposium held to mark the opening of the Carter House back in November, and some additional projections about 2010.    You can read Dr. Schaden’s journal and follow the team’s progress at the official KV-63 website.

There is an article in the works for Em Hotep! which will serve as a reference point for future discoveries, stories, and announcements about KV63.  The reference article will begin with Dr. Schaden’s serendipitous discovery and will bring the reader up to the current season.  If you have been following the story of KV63 as it unfolded, then the coming reference article may not have much news for you, but if you don’t know KV63 from R2D2, then expect a full account here in early January!

Copyright by Keith Payne, 2009.  All rights reserved.

Jenny the Egyptian Scribe from The Egyptian Yell has a Toast to Tutankhamun from the San Francisco Chronicle.  She also brings us a book review on Itamar Singer’s The Hittites and Their Civilization.  Read Book – The Hittites’ Thousand Gods.  And while you are over at the Yell, check out Exhibit:  The Art of Death in Ancient Egypt.

Kate Phizackerley from News from the Valley of the Kings has some great posts on that famous royal necropolis.  Exploring the possibilities of the enigmatic KV63, Kate writes KV63 and Nefertiti?  She also takes a look at a mummy posing with Dr. Hawass, er..  make that Dr. Hawass posing with a mummy:  Dr. Hawass and the KV55 Mummy.

Speaking of the Valley of the Kings, Jane Akshar of Luxor News fame warns No cameras/photos in Valley of Kings.  She also has an informative post on a New Theory on Tutankhamun’s parents but will Zahi back it?  That’s right, someone else is weighing in on the subject of the genetic mapping of the Eighteenth Dynasty.  Em Hotep! readers should check this out!

Page Strong from The Mummy’s Wrap brings us the latest installment in her long-running series on Ancient Egyptian Medicinal Practices (Part 13).  Clearly a lot of work and research is going into this blog series, so check it out.

For our latest Reflections in the Nile, Su Bayfield takes us out for a day at the museum.  Read Luxor Museum Extension. 

Vincent Brown gives us an update on the Giza Caves story over at Talking Pyramids.  Check out Update on the ‘Giza Caves’ from P Manuelian.  Also, if you are not following Vincent’s Friday Photo series, you should be!  Check out this classic (and classy) shot of the Entrance to the Great Pyramid, and this kind of eerie photo of the Serapeum at Saqqara.

Over at Tim’s Egyptians, Tim Reid has a nice piece on the Arts of Ancient Egypt:  Museum of Fine Arts Highlights.  Tim also brings us an interesting article about the prophets of Khemet:  Gods Prophets in Egypt.

My fellow bloggers at Heritage Key have their usual awesome collection of Egyptian offerings.  Prad Patel brings us more of Sandro Vannini’s photography with this exploration of Tomb KV63 – Storage Room?  [Story no longer online] 

Owen Jarus has some odd goblets from Abydos:  Ritual Pottery Find at Terrace of the Great God at Abydos. 

Malcolm Jack has an article on the floods of ancient Egypt.  Check out Tears of the Gods:  Ancient and Modern Floods in the Valley of the Kings.

Copyright by Keith Payne, 2009.  All rights reserved.