Prince Amen Khopshef tomb

June 21, 2022 · by Dano · in Egypt

Still in the Valley of the Queens, we find the tomb of Prince Amen …wait, that’s a boy. This is the Valley of the Queens, what’s a boy doing here?

First born son of Ramesses II and Queen Nefertari, Prince Amen died when he was only in his teens, but that is a point of debate. Many say the Amen lived to be 40-50 yrs old and ruled as a general in his father’s army. If that was true, Amen would not have been buried close to his mother, Queen Nefertari. The way this works is if a child dies at an early age, say under 13 years old, he is not circumcised and as such, he is not yet a man and cannot be buried in the Valley of the Kings. So, here we have a young man of noble blood that died early in life and was buried close to Mom in the Valley of the Queens.

That doesn’t mean he has a shabby little tomb, no way. This was the son of Ramesses II, the most famous and powerful ruler of ancient Egypt. As you will see, Amen has a glorious tomb fit for a king, not just the son of a king. The Prince is depicted as a boy with his head shaved except for one lock of hair on the side. Once he would be circumcised, the lock would be cut off and he could choose to grow his hair or not. Another hint that Amen was a child at death. I’ll apologize now for the glare. Someone, in their infinite wisdom, thought glass would be a good way to preserve the tombs. Well, maybe but once there are a 1,00 fingerprints on the glass and glare for the interior lighting, not such a good idea. Maybe a rope or wire barrier to keep people back???