The refurbished Bolton Museum is now home to an exact 3D copy of the burial chamber of Thutmose III and its remarkable papyrus-like walls.
In 1898, a team led by French archaeologist Victor Loret excavated
the tomb of the 18th Dynasty pharaoh Thutmose III. It was given the number
KV34, though it had originally been one of the first tombs to be cut into the
bedrock of Egypt’s Valley of the Kings over 3,400 years ago. The tomb is found
in the furthermost wadi, and to enter it one must first ascend 30m up the cliff
face, which thankfully today is done by a purpose-built staircase. Loret found
that the inaccessibility of the tomb had not stopped ancient Egyptian tomb-robbers,
who had pulled it apart and carted off its riches, many of which were stored in
four small rooms adjacent to the burial chamber.
Although much of its glitz had been stolen in antiquity, the
tomb contained something altogether different and equally spectacular. The
walls of the final room, the oval burial chamber, are covered in an unusual
style of decoration, more akin to inscriptions done by a scribe with their pen
and ink. The yellow-tinged walls, with stickman-like imagery, are believed to
imitate a scroll of papyrus. The tomb’s inscriptions are the first complete version
of the amduat, or ‘that which is in the underworld’. Divided into the 12
hours of night-time, it ends in rebirth with the rising of the sun in the
morning. This ‘scroll’ is effectively Thutmose III’s A-Z, his guidebook
for the afterlife, a journey in which he must follow the sun god each night.
Much easier to access is the replica burial chamber housed in
northern England, in Bolton Museum’s newly refurbished Egypt galleries.
Constructed between 2004 and 2010 by international digital production company
Factum Arte, it formed part of a touring exhibition of ancient Egyptian objects
from the collections of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, Luxor Museum, and
latterly Bolton Museum.
It is an exact 3D copy of the original burial chamber in the
Valley of the Kings, made by digitally enhancing photographic scans of the
original, removing distortions, and matching colours and dimensions so that it
is accurate down to the millimetre. The master images were printed onto gesso
plaster panels, some several metres in length, and then each was hand-finished.
Particular attention was paid to recreating damage effects; scans of the tomb allowed
for a faithful etched reconstruction of damage on the plaster replica, giving
the walls their aged character.
The replica is the only copy of this tomb in the world, and is
one of only three copies of Egyptian tombs made by the company: Seti I and
Tutankhamen, both of which are in Egypt, and Thutmose III in Bolton. This makes
it not only a spectacular installation for visitors, but an important resource
for all those wanting to study the tomb’s inscriptions.
Inside the replica, Bolton’s mummy of the ‘Unknown Man’ occupies the same spot that Thutmose did in the original tomb.
Exploring the Bolton Thutmose tomb, you enter through the
same route as the original, from the antechamber doorway, albeit with a less
arduous initial trek. The space is intended to be experiential, a way for
Boltonians and visitors to have the feeling of standing in an ancient Egyptian
tomb. No prior warning is given before entering the space, adding to the effect
of being overwhelmed.
No objects are displayed in the burial chamber, but Bolton’s
mummy of the ‘Unknown Man’ is respectfully placed in the same position in the
chamber as Thutmose III himself was originally placed. He is broadly
contemporary with Thutmose, less than 200 years apart, and believed through
scientific study to be related to Ramesses II. Although his identity is lost to
history, his placement in the tomb allows reverential contemplation of ancient
Egyptian treatment of their dead, away from displays of artefacts.
Following an unenforced cyclical flow of Bolton’s displays, visitors
exit the burial chamber through one of the side storeroom doorways. Through
this doorway shines the bright natural daylight of the entrance gallery, a
celebration of ancient Egyptian daily life, and so the visitor – like Thutmose
– is reborn and set on the journey to explore Bolton’s Egypt all over again.
Ian Trumble, curator, Bolton Museum All images: Bolton Museum
This article appears in issue 98 of Current World Archaeology. Click here for more information about subscribing to the magazine.