By Adam Kovac Published February 25, 2025 | Comments (0) | The tomb of Thutmose II. Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities The stunning discovery of a pharaohs burial spot last week was a bombshell in the archaeology world. Not since Howard Carter located the tomb of the boy king Tutankhamun in 1922 had such a site been found. There was only one problem: the pharaohs body wasnt in the tomb. Now, the archaeologist who made the find believes he may have solved the case of the missing desiccated corpse. On February 18, the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities announced a joint Egyptian and British archaeological project had uncovered the first tomb of Thutmose II. Located near Luxor, just a few kilometers away from the Valley of the Kings, the tomb was found in a highly damaged state, likely due to flooding that occurred within six years of the pharaohs death. Despite the poor preservation, the team, led by British archaeologist Piers Litherland, was able to identify the tomb due to relics such as alabaster jars with the pharaohs name on them, as well as funerary furniture. Details of Thutmose IIs reign are scarce, due to a dearth of archaeological finds detailing his rule. He likely was in power between 1493 and 1479 BCE, though his actual time on the throne may have been as short as three years. The National Museum of Egyptian Civilization pegs his time on top at under five years. What is known is that he was the son of Thutmose I and one of his minor wives. He assumed power by marrying his half-sister Hatshepsut, who was the daughter of his dads principal wife. Families are complicated, amiright? Despite his likely short reign, he was known for several successful military campaigns, including ending several uprisings in Nubia and destroying a tribe in the Sinai. He was succeeded on the throne by his son, Thutmose III.As the first Egyptian royal burial spot uncovered in over 100 years, the tomb was a historic find, but an incomplete one, as Thutmose IIs mummified corpse was nowhere to be found. Less than a week after one career-defining discovery, Litherland now says he has made anotherand he has reason to believe the mummy is inside. You dream about such things, he told The Guardian. But like winning the lottery, you never believe it will happen to you.Inside a pit located in the first tomb, Litherland found an inscription stating that the pharaohs half-sister/wife had the contents moved. Litherland said he had reason to believe the king was interred in another tomb he had actually first discovered in 2022. Since then, he and his colleagues have been looking for a way inside, no easy feat given its buried beneath layers of rock and plaster. There are 23 meters of a pile of man-made layers sitting above a point in the landscape where we believeand we have other confirmatory evidencethere is a monument concealed beneath, Litherland said. The best candidate for what is hidden underneath this enormously expensive, in terms of effort, pile is the second tomb of Thutmose II. The workmen who constructed the tomb safeguarded it by not only paving a layer of mud plaster with ash on top, but by knocking huge boulders onto it, which were then plastered in place. Getting through all this safely has been a time-consuming effort, and Litherland estimated the job is halfway done and could be completed in a months time.There is some controversy over what Litherland might find once he gets inside. In 1881, the mummified body of a 30-year-old man was initially identified as Thutmose II, but Litherland believes its a case of mistaken identity. He said historical records indicate the pharaoh came to power as a young boy. Given that his reign was likely short, he probably died well before reaching 30. Here at Gizmodo, were people of science, so were not going to say this is a bad idea. That Curse of the Pharaohs stuff is almost definitely hokum, even if there were some odd deaths tied to the Tutankhamun discovery. Still, just as a precaution in case Thutmose II is in this tomb, does anyone know what Brendan Fraser has on his itinerary next month?Daily NewsletterYou May Also Like By Adam Kovac Published February 24, 2025 By Isaac Schultz Published February 20, 2025 By Margherita Bassi Published February 20, 2025 By Margherita Bassi Published February 16, 2025 By Margherita Bassi Published February 13, 2025 By Isaac Schultz Published February 6, 2025