AmenhotepII, the seventh king of the 18th Dynasty, was a fierce ruler that excelled in both horsemanship and archery. While a prince, he was given the command of the naval base near Memphis. In his first year as king the Asiatics rebelled, but to no avail. He spent his second year in Syria overcoming several uprisings. His victorious return to Egypt was indicated by the captive officers that were hanging upside down on the prow of his ship. The same were beheaded in a ceremony by Amenhotep’s own hand. His son, Thutmose IV assumed the throne when Amenhotep died at the age of 45. His remains show signs of a systemic disease which probably attributed to his death. He built a court in the Temple of Luxor, that was later decorated by Tutankhamun and Horemheb.

THE TOMB

The tomb, located in the west branch of the southwest wadi, is cut into the bottom of the cliff face. The tomb's architectural design establishes the basic elements of a plan that continued into Dynasty 19. The architecture of the tomb also adds some new features to earlier tomb designs: a side chamber was added to the base of the well shaft; the burial chamber J was changed to a rectangular shape and divided into upper and lower pillared sections, the latter sometimes referred to as the "crypt;" a corridor separating the staircase now sloped down to the burial chamber from pillared chamber .

Two stairwells and two sloping corridors lead down to the well chamber E with a side chamber opening off the bottom.

A rectangular pillared chamber with two central pillars is located beyond the well.

Its long axis is perpendicular to that of the preceding passages. A stepped descent in the floor at the southeast corner of this chamber leads to a sloping corridor and the burial chamber J.

This chamber has three pairs of pillars in the forepart that flank the central axis and a sunken portion beyond that is reached by a central stairs and contains the sarcophagus.

There are four side chambers off the western and eastern sides of this chamber. Only the burial chamber of the tomb is decorated, with scenes from the Imydwat and representations of Amenhetep II with various deities.

The king's mummy still lay in its sarcophagus when the tomb was discovered.

Noteworthy features: KV 35 possesses several architectural innovations:

a side chamber at the bottom of the well shaft and a corridor between descent F and the burial chamber J, which was rectangular with a floor on two levels. The form of the burial chamber established in this tomb continued in use until Dynasty 19.

The tomb was also later used as a cache for royal mummies.

Karnak Temples  

Luxor Museum 

The Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut   

The Tomb of Amenhotep II 

The valley of the Queens