Tomb of Queen Meryetamun - Number TT358, discovered February 23rd 1929

The tomb entrance is sited almost straight under the Northern colonnade of the first terrace of Queen Hatshepsut's funerary temple at Deir el-Bahri (evidence suggests that the tomb was built after the temple). The tomb had been robbed in antiquity, High Priests of the 21st Dynasty restored the coffin (robbers had stripped all gold from the coffin - the wooden coffin was painted by the restorers, down the front of the first coffin, see below, an inscription gives the names and titles of Meryetamun - again added by the 21st Dynasty restorers). Both the first and second coffins were made from fine cedar wood, a third coffin did originally exist but was damaged so badly by tomb robbers that only fragments survive.

The first, inner coffin:

Length - 1.85metres

 Who was Queen Meryetamun?

Unfortunately, very little is known about her - it is thought that she was the eldest daughter of Thuthmose III and also the wife of Amenhotep II. She probably died soon after becoming queen, it was Queen Tio who was the principal wife of Amenhotep II (and mother of Tuthmosis IV).

The robbers had stripped the orginally of the wrappings from the body to remove any valuable items, - the mummy was re-wrapped by the High Priest restorers.

The mummy:

Height of the body - 1.545 metres.

Meryetamun died aged approximately 50 years old, the resemblance can be seen between her and her father Tuthmosis III.

 The second coffin: length - 3.135 metres 

Other burials in TT358

The tomb was also used by the restorers of the burial to house a number of other mummies - perhaps most notable being that of Princess Entiu-ny daughter of Pinudjem I - although the well in the tomb stopped the priests from placing these extra coffins in the burial crypt of Meryetamun and so were left the other side of the well (these burials were robbed - the gold from the coffin of Entiu-ny was removed - these mummies were dragged from the coffins and left scattered around the first two rooms of the tomb).