Wadi D-1

Menhet, Menwi & Merti

Wadi D-1 is located in a water-worn cleft of a cliff at the head of Carter’s Wadi D. The tomb is situated deep at the back of the cleft and was excavated down into the platform that forms the cleft floor (some 10 m above the valley floor). It is therefore well hidden and not visible from the valley. The entryway (A) consists of poorly cut Steps leading down into a long, unevenly cut descending corridor (B). This corridor opens into the northern corner of a vaulted burial chamber (C) that lies perpendicular to the tomb’s original axis. According to Christine Lilyquist, the tomb’s plan is consistent with the chronologically close tombs of Wadi C-1, believed to belong to Neferure, and Wadi A-1, belonging to Hatshepsut as Great Royal Wife. All three tombs turn to the right from the descending corridor. Elizabeth Thomas also noted that the lack of decoration is a typical feature for tombs assigned to queens of the 18th Dynasty.

Wadi D-1 was discovered by locals from the West Bank in 1916. Word quickly spread through Luxor that the tomb was filled with gold objects and jewelry that were indicative of royalty. Approximately 1 month later, the Antiquities service excavated the tomb. While they did uncover further objects (now in Cairo Museum), a large portion of the tomb’s contents had already been removed by tomb robbers in the month prior and sold to antiquities dealers. Howard Carter, who excavated and studied the tomb shortly after the antiquities service’s excavation had concluded, spent several years thereafter attempting to locate the stolen objects on the antiquities market. A large portion thereof is now part of the Egyptian collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

The contents of the tomb, including Canopic jars, a large assortment of gold jewelry, and a gold diadem inlayed with semi-precious stones, indicate that the tomb belonged to three wives of Thutmes III. Both his Cartouche, as well as Hatshepsut’s name and titles as queen are present on a number of stone vessels, broad collars, and a mirror. Hieroglyphic inscriptions on the canopic jars name the three women - Menhet, Menwi, and Merti - and state that they held the title Hmt-nswt “King’s wife”. Most scholars agree that the names are not of Egyptian origin and that the three wives were foreign, although the exact area of origin is still debated. 

While Menhet, Menwi, and Merti do not appear anywhere else in the archaeological record and are not mentioned alongside the other wives of Thutmes III, the fact that they carried the title “King’s wife”, were buried with lavish gifts, and were given a tomb typical of 18th Dynasty queens is indicative of their royal status.