King of the Amateurs

By Jack Herron

Any amateur with a love of archaeology and history, and a desire to participate in the exploration of the past owes a debt of gratitude to a man they most likely have never heard of. This man is Don Kunz, an attorney in Phoenix, Arizona, and an avid history buff who has succeeded in participating in the most exciting discovery in Egyptology in many decades, and, in the process, opened the doors for other amateurs with similar passions. In 1987, while he was assisting Kent Weeks in the mapping of the Theban necropolis more commonly known as the Valley of the Kings, the team re-opened KV5, (King's Valley, tomb #5) a small and neglected entryway early abandoned as not that of a Pharoah and hence uninteresting. They found a huge tomb, now with over 181 rooms and the expectation of more to be found as exploration continues. It was apparently the burial place of the sons of Ramesses II. Don became one of the first three people to set foot inside this enormous underground tomb in many years. He also became the envy of thousands of armchair archaeologists who dreamt of following Carter's footsteps in this sere and dusty hall of history.

Don Kunz earned his BA in English Literature at the University of Iowa, and his JD at the University of Arizona. His lifelong career as a litigator has involved him in many cases involving mining law, and as these involve "geology in spades!" they forced him to acquire a sort of field education in geology. But this affable 68 year old attorney has never taken a single course in Egyptology or archaeology! How then, did he come to leave his footprint in history?

I will tell you how, and how you can follow where he has gone. But first, Don has been kind enough to permit me to excerpt his story from a letter to his sister. Here's the tale in his own words:

Donald Kunz and photographer Richard Harwood make an epigraphic recording of the walls of the tomb of Merenptah.

"I first worked with Kent Weeks in Luxor in 1978. I worked with him again in 1979. In 1979 our team surveyed the Tomb of Ramesses II, KV7. Kent believed at that time that it was so filled with debris and was so badly ruined that it might never be excavated. As it turns out, however, he was wrong, as a team is now attempting to excavate it (just as Kent is now trying to excavate KVS).

Years ago, the entrance to Tomb 5 could readily be seen. (In fact, that is why Tomb 5 has such a low number. Tut, found much later, is No. 62). A guy by the name of Wilkinson (not the Dr. Wilkinson I dig with now, but a shirt-tail relative of his) numbered the tombs way back when, starting at the entrance, and Tomb 5 was visible then and got its number at that time. Over the years, however, its exact location became lost. The reason it kind of slipped away is that, like the Tomb of Ramesses II, it was simply chock full of water-borne debris, but unlike the Tomb of Ramesses II it did not appear to be a decorated tomb, and accordingly was thought to be in all likelihood a small tomb of no particular significance, and perhaps not the tomb of a pharaoh at all (which, in fact, it was not). It also appears that the street level of the pathways of the Valley of the Kings is considerably higher today than it was in those days (a lot of which resulted from digging done in tombs, the debris of which was simply tossed out in the pathway and then spread around), so by the time Kent Weeks went looking for Tomb 5 in 1987 he knew, generally, from the old writings, that it was somewhere near the entrance to the Valley on the left hand side. He also had some sonic soundings made which indicated a couple of places where there might be an anomaly in the rock.

In any event, when Kent went looking for KV5 in 1987 he asked if I wanted to join him I am glad that I said 'Yes'! Based upon all of the above indications, we did some trenching (with a very narrow spade) near the place where the rising bluffs meet the Valley floor and, sure enough, after some false starts, but only after a few days of trenching, we discovered the steps going down to KV5. It took our workmen probably a day and a half or two days simply to clear away all the debris necessary to safely clear the doorway. The steps, as I recall, probably started something like 3 feet below ground level (we had to take up some black top to clear them fully), and the top of the tomb entrance was, perhaps, five feet below that level.

After we got the doorway cleared, it was a little like this: Picture coming home some night, opening your front door and your house is filled up with pD sand, rock and stone to within maybe a foot of the ceiling! Not all of this is level, of course. Besides that, the ceiling (in this case stone) has started to fall down and the points of stone which have fallen are resting on the debris. Kent first believed the tomb was so unsafe no one could enter it. However, we had a geologist look at it and he said we could send a small team in to make initial measurements provided that we did not touch anything and, 'for God's sake don't move any dirt, since that is what is holding the roof up!' .

Kent is not overweight, but he is a big man. Going into KV5 under those circumstances was, as described in Time magazine, something like 'crawling under a bed' (I thought that was an excellent analogy). Kent asked for volunteers to go in to make the initial measurements. I knew I would never have the opportunity to do anything like that again, so I, of course, said I would go. The other two people who went were Catharine Roehrig, then a student of Kent's and now Assistant Director of the Egyptian Section at the Metropolitan Museum in New York City, and an Egyptian worker, who has been a good friend of mine since 1978, named Nubie. We made the initial measurements. The tomb was so blocked with debris we could not get very far. As I recall, there were only portions of two rooms we could get into. We had a lantern to light our way and the smell was unpleasant (a sewer pipe from the Tourist Rest House which was near where we had trenched had ruptured maybe 20 or 30 years ago and had been slowly leaking in Tomb 5 for who knows how long!). Other than that, it was dry and I encountered neither snakes nor scorpions nor other little creatures like that.

It was not until 1995 that Kent was able to clear what is known as the pillared hall (a large hall with, as I recall, 16 huge pillars). There, at the back, he discovered a doorway leading to a huge corridor, thereafter branching left and right (in the shape of a huge T), with descending stairways not only left and right but also, as he ultimately learned, descending stairways going the other way (they appear, at the present time, to be headed for the tomb of Ramesses II!)

I was next in the Valley (after 1987) in 1991, during the Gulf War, but KV5 was then locked up tight and I was not able to get in it. When I was working in the Valley with Dr. Wilkinson (University of Arizona) this past May and June, Kent showed up just as I was leaving Luxor and I had the good fortune of having Kent take me on a private tour of KV5.

I had a fax from Kent at Christmas saying that to that point in time they had uncovered 108 separate chambers, and that he is positive that they will have 150 chambers before they are through. The artifacts in the tomb give every evidence that there were several l9th dynasty (era of Ramesses II) burials which actually took place in KV5, but to date, Kent has located no burial chamber. It is one of the mysteries about KV5 which, as you probably already know, is the very largest ever discovered in the Valley of the Kings, and, perhaps, in all of Egypt.

Obviously, all of this is great fun for me. Why that is true, I don't really know, but I know that it is.

I would send you some pictures, but I am sorry to say I don't have any. For whatever reason I am simply not camera oriented (I think I took so many photographs the first two years I was there that I decided not to be troubled and now I just carry my images in my head). Nor, indeed, when the history of KV5 is written will it, I think, record the fact that I was one of the first three people in it when it was rediscovered in 1987. I truly don't care about that. It is quite enough for me to have had the extreme good fortune to be there when that occurred and thus to have what was clearly one of the most exciting moments in my life.

If you really want to know about KV5, and all of the rest of the Valley, Dr. Richard Wilkinson (again the fellow I worked with at the U of A) has recently published a book, with an Englishman by the name of Nicholas Reeves, called The Complete Valley of the Kings. It is a marvelous book. You might check a public library. If you would like to know more about this, that book is, indeed, the complete story."

Kent Weeks is now, of course, one of the more famous Egyptologists in history, but how did Don Kunz finesse his way into accompanying him on these expeditions? Like many things, it is simple, and it isn't. To begin with, he just asked! But there is more to it, of course.

In 1978, Don, a passionate lover of the history of Western Civilization, had read about 50 books about ancient Egypt. Always intending to travel to Egypt, he had been sidetracked by marriage, a career, a family and financing four college educations. In short, the things of life, however valuable, that sometimes come between us and our dreams. He read that the University of California at Berkeley would be mounting a ten year expedition to create a detailed map of the Valley of the Kings. He thought about it, perhaps daydreamed a bit, and reached for the phone.

Threading his way through the Berkeley campus on long distance, he eventually came up with the name of Kent Weeks, then a professor at the University of California at Berkeley, and later of the American University in Cairo. He wrote Dr. Weeks asking him for permission to accompany the expedition at his own expense. Dr. Weeks wrote back, most politely rejecting him, on the grounds that, while they were in need of skilled people, surveyors and the like, Don's lack of qualifications would seem to preclude his presence.

Not one to be dissuaded easily, Don wrote back that he had failed to mention one of his qualifications, that of certified deep sea diver, that, he felt, would be of inestimable value on the Theban desert!

This turned the trick! Intrigued, Dr. Weeks conceded that, "If you can find us, you can join us!" Not exactly a hearty endorsement, but no longer rejection, and Don made travel reservations. He had managed to get his foot in the door, but this would have been futile had he not convinced the group of his value in the field. At this time, almost 20 years ago, the professional attitude towards amateurs was mostly negative. Archaeologists were fearful that they would balk at the frequently arduous and unpleasant tasks field work entails, complain about the frequently less than luxurious accommodations, and become liabilities rather that assistants. Don proved them wrong. He uncomplainingly went about the required tasks. He thrived in the foreign and strange social and economic environment in this most ancient of countries. He was a contributor and facilitator to the effort, and never a hindrance. In doing so, he got himself invited back, but far more than that, he altered professional attitudes toward amateur enthusiasts in a positive manner that has continued to grow to this day, opening opportunities and doors formerly closed to those without professional credentials. Don is most modest about this contribution, but it cannot be denied that his performance in 1978-1979 was the pivot point in an attitude adjustment that has blossomed ever since. We are now almost in a golden age of amateur contribution to the archaeological sciences, and this flood of opportunity is due in no small part to Don's hard work and love of archaeology.

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