Tomb WV22, also known as KV22, was the burial place of Amenhotep III, a pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty, in the western arm of the Valley of the Kings.

It was officially discovered in August 1799 by Prosper Jollois and Édouard de Villiers du Terrage, engineers with Napoleon's expedition to Egypt but had probably been open for some time.

[3] 60 metres (200 ft) south of the tomb is WVA which, based on jar sealings and the types of pottery found there, likely functioned as a storeroom for overflow from WV22.

[4] The tomb was first noted in August 1799 by Édouard de Villiers du Terrage and Prosper Jollois, engineers in Napoleon's expedition; it is possible it was known to the traveler William George Browne several years earlier.

[4] Carter's interest in the tomb stemmed from his purchase of three bracelet plaques bearing the names of Amenhotep III and Tiye on the antiquities market in 1912, possible strays from Davis' excavation.

These contained calf heads (skulls remaining) placed on top of groups of miniature vessels of pottery and alabaster containing food remains, model tools such as chisels and adzes, and blue faience plaques bearing the names of Amenhotep III's father Thutmose IV, indicating that construction was initiated for this king.

[5] Inside the tomb, work focused on areas Davis had not investigated, namely the fill in the deep protective well shaft and the well chamber at its base.

Carter's finds from the well shaft included the hub of a wooden chariot wheel, a faience bracelet plaque, and fragments of Third Intermediate Period coffins.

[3] In September 1989 the Waseda University Egypt Archaeological Mission began a re-clearance to create a precise plan and elevation of the tomb.

Carter's spoil heap was located and re-investigation uncovered many small items including pieces of a lotus-shaped collar terminal from the same artefact as fragments in Highclere Castle recovered by Carter from the well shaft, fragmentary jar labels, wooden labels, and a wooden uraeus body from a statue.

The enlarged side chamber for Sitamun contained another large spoil heap hemmed in by a stone wall, likely from Davis' excavation.

Careful sieving yielded pieces of painted plaster from the walls and ceiling, fragmentary pottery and stone vessels, and wooden objects.

[5] Following his death in Year 38 or 39 of his reign, Amenhotep III was interred with a range of burial goods similar to those of Tutankhamun.

[3] The coffins and mummy were buried within a large cartouche-shaped sarcophagus made of granite instead of the usual quartzite, the first use of this stone for a royal burial in the Eighteenth Dynasty.

Fragments of the calcite canopic chest reveal winged goddesses stood astride each corner, and the stoppers took the shape of the king's head wearing a nemes-headdress.

Both apparently outlived Amenhotep and were buried elsewhere, as placing them within the tomb would have involved dismantling the blocked and painted doorways at the well chamber and antechamber.

Nothing is known of Sitamun's burial but Tiye survived well into the reign of her son Akhenaten, and was seemingly buried in the Royal Tomb at Amarna.

The gold fittings from the coffins had been stripped and emptied of their inlays, a few of which were found in the tomb, such as a lapis lazuli vulture headdress worn by a queen or goddess.

A mass of inlays and gold foil were carried to the main valley and found cached near KV36, the tomb of Maiherpri, by Carter in 1902.

[3] Lepsius, who visited and copied sections of the Amduat from the walls of the burial chamber, described the tomb as "...covered with beautiful sculptures, though, alas!