Editing Tomb of Seti I

{{Short description|Tomb of Pharaoh Seti I in the Valley of the Kings, Egypt}}
{{Infobox Egyptian tomb
| name       = KV17
| owner      = [[Seti I]]
| image      = KV17, the tomb of Pharaoh Seti I of the Nineteenth Dynasty, Valley of the Kings, Egypt (49846343021).jpg
| image_alt  =
| caption    = Interior of the tomb (upper pillared hall)
| coordinates = {{coord|25|44|23.3|N|32|36|06.8|E|type:landmark_region:EG|display=inline,title}}
| map_alt    =
| location   = [[List of burials in the Valley of the Kings#East Valley|East Valley of the Kings]]
| date       = 16 October 1817
| excavated  = [[Giovanni Belzoni]]
| decoration = [[Opening of the mouth ceremony]], [[Book of Gates]], [[Litany of Re]], [[Book of the Dead]], [[Amduat]], [[Book of the Heavenly Cow]]
| layout     =
| prev       = KV16
| next       = KV18
}}
The '''tomb of Seti I''', also known by its [[List of burials in the Valley of the Kings|tomb number]], '''KV17''', is the [[Ancient Egyptian funerary practices|tomb]] of [[Pharaoh]] [[Seti I]] of the [[Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt|Nineteenth Dynasty]]. Located in [[Egypt]]'s [[Valley of the Kings]], It is also known by the names "Belzoni's tomb", "the Tomb of Apis", and "the Tomb of Psammis, son of Nechois". It is one of the most decorated tombs in the valley, and is one of the largest and deepest tombs in the Valley of the Kings.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=KV17 (Tomb of Seti I) – Madain Project (en) |url=https://madainproject.com/kv17_(tomb_of_seti_i)#references |access-date=2023-02-20 |website=madainproject.com}}</ref> It was uncovered by Italian archaeologist and explorer [[Giovanni Belzoni]] on 16 October 1817.

== Design ==
Previously considered the longest tomb in the valley until the discovery of the [[KV5|Tomb of the Sons of Ramesses II]], at 137.19 meters (450.10 feet),<ref>{{cite news |last=Bossone |first=Andrew |title=Pharaoh Seti I's Tomb Bigger Than Thought |date=April 17, 2008 |publisher=National Geographic News |url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/04/080417-seti-tomb.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080420142208/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/04/080417-seti-tomb.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=April 20, 2008 |access-date=2008-04-19}}</ref> it contains well preserved reliefs in all but two of its seventeen chambers and side rooms.
[[File:KV 35 Tomb Valley of the kings (cropped).png|thumb|upright=1.2|Map of Valley of The Kings showing the location of KV17.]]
The design of the tomb follows a "[[Joggle (architecture)|joggled axis]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Tomb of Sety I (KV17) |url=https://egymonuments.gov.eg/monuments/tomb-of-sety-i-kv17/ |access-date=2023-03-12 |website=egymonuments.gov.eg |language=en}}</ref>" style of architecture; the tomb entry's descending line is interrupted by a "wiggle" that changes to a sharper angle of descent when entering the tomb following the first chamber. The entry to the tomb consists of four hallways (A–D), each leading further underground; they have a number of murals depicting traditional religious imagery along with illustrations of Seti I before [[Ra]]. Deeper into the tomb, rooms F, Fa, J, Jb, Jc and Jd have intricately carved support pillars with well preserved decorations. It is also one of the first discovered tombs to have a vaulted burial chamber,<ref name=":0" /> along with remaining examples of construction, such as plastered over postholes where wooden beams would have been.<ref name=":0" />

In common with many early tombs in the valley, chamber E has a well shaft cut into the floor.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Sety I {{!}} Theban Mapping Project |url=https://thebanmappingproject.com/tombs/kv-17-sety-i |access-date=2023-02-21 |website=thebanmappingproject.com |language=en}}</ref>

A tunnel known as corridor K slopes downward from beneath the location where the sarcophagus stood in the burial chamber. In 1960, the first attempt at excavation resulted in the partial clearance of nearly {{convert|136|m|ft}} of the tunnel. Due to the poor quality of the rock through which the tunnel was cut, this excavation was abandoned for safety reasons. From 2007 to 2010, the [[Supreme Council of Antiquities]] undertook a second excavation, installing steel supports and a railway system for removing debris. Two staircases were uncovered, with the tunnel ending abruptly at the bottom of the second. The total length of the tunnel is {{convert|174|m|ft}}.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Williams |first1=Sean |title=No secret Burial at end of Seti I Tunnel |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/history/no-secret-burial-at-end-of-seti-i-tunnel-2014674.html |website=www.independent.co.uk |access-date=17 December 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Hawass |first1=Zahi |title=The secret tunnel of Seti I |url=https://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/50/1207/494141/AlAhram-Weekly/Heritage/The-secret-tunnel-of-Seti-I.aspx |website=english.ahram.org.eg |access-date=17 December 2024}}</ref>

=== Decoration ===
The entry corridors (Corridors B–D) are heavily decorated with symbols of the Pharaoh, like those of [[Maat|Ma'at]] and a list of Set's royal names and epithets.<ref name=":1"/> One of the back chambers is decorated with the [[Opening of the mouth ceremony]], which shows the Egyptian belief that a magic religious ceremony would open the lungs and throat of the mummy, allowing them to breathe in the afterlife. Considered a very important religious ceremony, a semi-complete depiction of this ritual provides an in-depth view of the pantheon of practices undertaken to ensure safe passage into the afterlife.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Opening of the Mouth |url=https://www.ucl.ac.uk/museums-static/digitalegypt/religion/wpr.html |access-date=2023-02-21 |website=www.ucl.ac.uk}}</ref> Further into the tomb are numerous depictions of King Seti with numerous Gods. Chamber F depicts images of Seti with [[Hathor]], [[Horus]] and [[Neith]],<ref name=":1"/> along with intact mural examples of the [[Book of Gates]].[[File:Belzoni's Valley of the Kings.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Map of Belzoni's discoveries in the Valley of the Kings. KV17 is marked as "6. Great Tomb of Samathis".]]The tomb is covered floor to ceiling by detailed murals and reliefs. The ceiling of the vaulted burial chamber depicts a series of astronomical motifs, with golden stars on a deep blue background. Other decorations are religious in nature, including depictions of the [[Litany of Re|Litany of Ra]], the [[Book of the Dead|Book of The Dead]], [[Amduat|the Imydwat]], the [[Book of the Heavenly Cow|Book of The Heavenly Cow]] and depictions of Seti with various deities. There are also depictions of the King alone, standing in the pillars of the room.<ref name=":1" /> Each room is heavily decorated, both wall and ceiling, along with numerous columns and floor skirting. Much of the floor skirting is damaged, due to both the ravages of time and the damage due to excavation.

Parts of the tomb ceilings have been painted with gold stars on a deep blue sky, a common motif in temples and tombs in Egypt. Numerous rooms in Seti's tomb use the motif, including rooms such as side chamber Jb with the [[Amduat|Imydwat]]. There are many richly decorated rooms, with their own general themes.

== Archaeology and conservation ==
The tomb was uncovered by Italian explorer and early [[Egyptology|Egyptologist]] [[Giovanni Belzoni]]<ref>{{cite web |last=Dunn |first=Jimmy<!--source says "by Jimmy Dunn writing as Mark Andrews", whatever that means--> |title=The Tomb of Seti I |date=<!--none given--> |url=http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/seti1t.htm |access-date=March 7, 2014}}</ref> on 16 October 1817. Upon entering the tomb, Belzoni found the wall paintings in excellent condition with the paint on the walls still looking fresh, and some of the artists' paints and brushes still on the floor.<ref name="Romer107">{{cite book |title=The Rape of Tutankhamun |last1=Romer |first1=John |author-link1=John Romer (Egyptologist) |last2=Romer |first2=Elizabeth |year=1993 |publisher=Michael O'Mara Books Limited |isbn=1854791699 |page=107}}</ref> The tomb became known as the "Apis tomb" upon the discovery of a mummified [[Apis (deity)|Apis Bull]] found in a side room off the burial hall<ref>{{Cite web |title=KV17 (Tomb of Seti I) – Madain Project (en) |url=https://madainproject.com/kv17_(tomb_of_seti_i) |access-date=2023-02-21 |website=madainproject.com}}</ref> when Belzoni uncovered the tomb.
[[File:La tombe de Sethi 1er (KV.17) (Vallée des Rois, Thèbes ouest) -7.jpg|thumb|262x262px|Depiction of Osiris in the Tomb of Seti I. Jean-Pierre Dalbéra]]

The body identified as Seti's [[mummy]] was not found in his coffin upon Belzoni's discovery of the tomb, but rather in the royal cache [[Royal Cache|DB320]] amongst 36 other mummies.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bart |first=Anneke |date=2004 |title=The Mummy Cache Found In DB320 |url=https://mathstat.slu.edu/~bart/egyptianhtml/mummycaches/DB320%20Cache.htm }}</ref> His coffin (perhaps the inner or secondary coffin) was heavily damaged, as was his mummy. It has been postulated that priests of numerous dynasties attempted restorations of both his tomb and his coffin, but his mummy was finally moved in the Year 11 of [[Shoshenq I]] to cache DB320.<ref>{{Cite web |title=View 19'th Dynasty Royal Mummies from DB320 & KV35 |url=https://members.tripod.com/anubis4_2000/mummypages2/19A.htm#Seti%20I |access-date=2023-02-21 |website=members.tripod.com}}</ref> The [[Sarcophagus of Seti I|outer coffin]] was going to be sold by Belzoni to the British Museum in 1817, but it was sold for US$2000 to architect [[John Soane|Sir John Soane]] later that year, and now rests in the [[Sir John Soane's Museum]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-05-16 |title=Sarcophagus of Seti I |url=https://www.soane.org/sarcophagus-seti-i |access-date=2023-03-13 |website=www.soane.org |language=en}}</ref>

Much of the structural damage to the tomb before the 1950s and 1960s was caused by Belzoni. Belzoni, in an effort to bring back pieces of Egyptian art, damaged much of the work within the tomb. He made "squeezes", a form of copying artwork by pressing wet wax, plaster and sometimes paper against the reliefs; when they dried, the color was pulled away, and a negative impression was made of the carvings, but it also damaged many of the reliefs and carvings.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Foundation |first=Factum |title=Factum Foundation :: Squeezes, an invasive conservation technique |url=https://www.factumfoundation.org/pag/1506/ |access-date=2023-03-13 |website=www.factumfoundation.org |language=en}}</ref> Beyond the use of "squeezes", Belzoni also hacked off large pieces of relief to send back to Europe, along with clearing rubble that held back flash floodwaters; the tomb subsequently flooded, damaging large portions of the structure and damaged the reliefs in the entryway.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wüst, Raphael & McLane, James |date=2000 |title=Rock deterioration in the Royal Tomb of Seti I, Valley of the Kings, Luxor, Egypt |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/222896047 |publisher=Engineering Geology}}</ref>

The outer layer of the [[sarcophagus of Seti I]], removed on behalf of the British consul [[Henry Salt (Egyptologist)|Henry Salt]], is located in the [[John Soane|Sir John Soane]]'s [[Sir John Soane's Museum|Museum]] in [[London]] since 1824. [[Jean-François Champollion]], translator of the [[Rosetta Stone]], removed a wall panel of 2.26 x 1.05 m (7.41 x 3.44&nbsp;ft)<!-- These exact measurements are not mentioned in the cited sources (Coppola et al 2017, Hornung 2001) and they were included here before these citations were added, but these particular details seem likely to be verifiable somewhere else.  --> in a corridor with mirror-image scenes during his 1828–29 expedition. Other elements were removed by his companion [[Ippolito Rosellini|Rossellini]] or by [[Karl Richard Lepsius]] in the German expedition of 1845. The scenes are now in the collections of the [[Louvre]] in [[Paris]], the [[National Archaeological Museum, Florence|Egyptian Museum]] in [[Florence]], and the [[Neues Museum]] in [[Berlin]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Coppola |first1=M. |last2=Bracci |first2=S. |last3=Cantisani |first3=E. |last4=Magrini |first4=D. |date=2017 |title=The Tomb of Seti I (KV17) in the Florence Egyptian Museum. Integrated Non-Invasive Methods for Documentation, Material History and Diagnostics |journal=International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences |volume=XLII-5/W1 |pages=127–135|doi=10.5194/isprs-archives-XLII-5-W1-127-2017 |bibcode=2017ISPAr42W4..127C |doi-access=free |hdl=2158/1120382 |hdl-access=free }}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite book |last=Hornung |first=Erik |title=Valley of the Kings: The Tombs and Funerary Temples of Thebes West |publisher=VMB Publishers |year=2001 |isbn=978-8854009769 |editor-last=Weeks |editor-first=Kent R. |pages=195–211 |chapter=The Tomb of Seti I}}</ref>

A number of walls in the tomb have collapsed or cracked due to excavations in the late 1950s and early 1960s causing significant changes in the moisture levels in the surrounding rocks.<ref name=Romer25>{{cite book |title=The Rape of Tutankhamun |last1=Romer |first1=John |author-link1=John Romer (Egyptologist) |last2=Romer |first2=Elizabeth |year=1993 |publisher=Michael O'Mara Books Limited |isbn=1854791699 |pages=25–30}}</ref>

There have been a number of recent 21st century attempts at preservation, both through image-mapping projects like the Theban Mapping Project and the Maidan Project, and through intense laser scanning of the reliefs on the walls of the tomb by the Factum Foundation leading to much of the images within the tomb available to the public. A 3-D scan of the temple was made available in 2002, allowing viewers to 'walk' through the tomb through a series of 3D photos. Restoration has been a nearly constant effort, as the tomb remains closed due to damage.

Facsimiles of two rooms from the tomb, the Hall of Beauties and Pillared Hall J, were made by the Factum Foundation for Digital Technology in Conservation in 2017.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.factumfoundation.org/pag/1502/|title=Factum Foundation :: The Tomb of Seti: recording and facsimile|last=Foundation|first=Factum|website=www.factumfoundation.org|language=en|access-date=2020-04-08}}</ref>

== Tourism ==
Due to excavation and the damages of improperly regulated tourism, visitations may or may not be possible, as archaeology efforts in the 1950s and 1960s have made parts of the tomb unstable. However, as of 2023, the Tomb is open for visitations.<ref name="auto">{{Cite web |title=Tomb of Sety I (KV17) |url=https://egymonuments.gov.eg/monuments/tomb-of-sety-i-kv17/ |access-date=2023-03-13 |website=egymonuments.gov.eg |language=en}}</ref> The price of entry into the tomb, as stated by the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, is EGP 2000 for adult foreigners and students, but for Egyptians the ticket price is  EGP 500 for adults and EGP 250 for students.<ref name="auto"/>

==Gallery==
<gallery widths="200" heights="200">
File:Pharaoh Seti I before Osiris, wall painting from the Tomb of Seti I at the Valley of the Kings, Western Thebes, Egypt. Neues Museum.jpg|Pharaoh Seti I before Osiris, wall painting from KV17, Hall J, Pillar B, side a. Neues Museum
File:Pharaoh Seti I, detail of a wall painting from the Tomb of Seti I at the Valley of the Kings, Western Thebes, Egypt. Neues Museum.jpg|Pharaoh Seti I, detail of a wall painting from the Tomb of Seti I at the Valley of the Kings. Neues Museum
File:Birth and Throne cartouches of pharaoh Seti I, from KV17 at the Valley of the Kings, Egypt. Neues Museum.jpg|Birth and throne cartouches of pharaoh Seti I, from KV17. Neues Museum
File:Ceiling of Chamber I in the Tomb Of Seti I.jpg|Image depicting the ceiling of Chamber I in the Tomb Of Seti I, Theban Mapping Project.
File:StarsSeti1.jpg|Depiction of circumpolar stars and constellations on the roof of the tomb in room J. Theban Mapping Project.
File:Tomb With Graffiti.jpg|Section of tomb showing wear and tear of graffiti, along with depiction of Seti I with Hathor, Horus, Isis, and Anubis. Theban Mapping Project.
File:AhmudatSeti.jpg|Depiction of abbreviated book of hours, along with a winged Isis. Theban Mapping Project.
</gallery>

==References==
{{div col|colwidth=26em}}
{{Reflist}}
* Reeves, N. & Wilkinson, R. H. <cite>The Complete Valley of the Kings,</cite> 1996, Thames and Hudson, London.
* Siliotti, A., <cite>Guide to the Valley of the Kings and to the Theban Necropolises and Temples</cite> 1996, A.A. Gaddis, Cairo.
* Belzoni, Giovanni,<cite> Narratives of the operations and recent discoveries in Egypt and Nubia:...</cite> 1820
{{div col end}}

==External links==
{{commons category}}
* [https://thebanmappingproject.com/tombs/kv-17-sety-i Theban Mapping Project: KV17] includes description, images, and plans of the tomb.
* [http://cuicui.be/egypt-kings-valley-seti-i-tomb/ 360° Photosphere virtual visit of Seti I Tomb in the Kings' Valley]

{{Valley of the Kings}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kv17}}
[[Category:1817 archaeological discoveries]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures completed in the 13th century BC]]
[[Category:Valley of the Kings]]
[[Category:Seti I]]