Natural Ventilation for Life and Death Sites Merenptah Tomb Architecture

Document Type

Conference Proceeding

Publication Date

Summer 5-1-2025

Abstract

For the Kings Valley tombs there was a decisive factor to control their design. They were usually inclined corridors to the depth of the mountains where they ended with the sarcophagus hall. Corridors were of multiple shapes, directions, lengths, slopes, and dimensions, consequently reaching different depths. From ancient texts it was clear that quite a number of workers that could reach one hundred twenty were used as hard workers from stone cutting to drafting walls of the tombs in the proper sites. In most of the tombs there were adjacent rooms to the sarcophagus for the deceased relatives to receive condolences from delegations. For what is said up, there must have been a system for ventilation efficient enough to sustain those human activities. The authors were convinced by the idea of natural ventilation within the tomb as to be the sole solution for human perspiration. That was the aim of the present research to prove the idea. The research took the Merenptah tomb (KV8) as a case study. The research reached a conclusion that the natural amount of air change is of reasonable rate to sustain the human needs for different activities throughout the different stages of the tomb building- for life and death circumstances.

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