Discovery of Thutmose II’s tomb reignites Egyptological fervor
This discovery rivals that of Tutankhamun. Archaeologists have found the tomb of Pharaoh Thutmose II along with burial pottery. The discovery was made west of the Valley of the Kings by a joint Egyptian-British team of archaeologists.
A true sensation in Egypt - the tomb of Pharaoh Thutmose II, who ruled Egypt around 3,500 years ago, has been found. It was hidden in the rock. This is the first discovery of a pharaoh's tomb since the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb in 1922, reported the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities in a statement. The name Thutmose II appears on the pottery found at the burial site — this finding allowed archaeologists to identify the tomb.
Thutmose II is perhaps best known for being married to his half-sister Hatshepsut. After his death, Hatshepsut ascended to the throne as pharaoh. However, unlike Tutankhamun's burial, the newly discovered tomb is almost empty and contains no body. Archaeologists determined that the tomb was flooded soon after Thutmose II's burial, so the funerary items were moved elsewhere. His mummy was found in the 19th century in an underground cache near Hatshepsut's temple, along with many other royal mummies. It is currently housed in the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization in Cairo.
The tomb was discovered earlier
The discoverers report that the tomb is about 29 metres long and contains a burial chamber measuring approximately 5 by 5 by 3 metres. "The entire contents of the tomb had been removed. The tomb was not robbed," said Piers Litherland, an Egyptologist from the University of Cambridge and one of the team leaders who discovered the tomb, to the Live Science portal.
Archaeologists first came across the tomb in October 2022, but only at the end of the 2024 excavation season and the beginning of 2025, after analysing pottery with Thutmose II's name, were researchers able to identify the burial site as the tomb of the pharaoh. One piece of pottery "bore a label indicating it contained natron which was used for embalming," said Litherland. "This confirms that a burial did initially take place in the tomb."
There may be yet another undiscovered tomb where items were moved after the flooding, noted Litherland. The mummy reburied in the cache at Deir el-Bahari, a nearby location, has been identified by some Egyptologists as Thutmose II. However, this mummy may be too old (possibly about 40 years at the time of death) to be Thutmose II's mummy, and his mummy and another tomb may lie undisturbed elsewhere, he added.
Who was Thutmose II?
Little is known about the reign of Thutmose II. There is a debate over how long he ruled, but it may have been less than five years, according to the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization. However, some researchers believe that his reign lasted much longer, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York estimates he ruled from about 1492 to 1479 BCE.
Thutmose II was a pharaoh of Egypt's 18th dynasty, ruling from about 1492 to 1479 BCE. He was married to Queen Hatshepsut, who later ascended to the throne herself. Although his reign is poorly documented, he is known for suppressing a rebellion in Nubia, a region that today lies in southern Egypt and northern Sudan, and which was then controlled by Egypt. Historical records also indicate that he conducted military campaigns in the eastern Mediterranean, reaching as far as modern Syria. After his death, Hatshepsut became one of the most renowned pharaohs in Egyptian history.
