The archaeologists, a team of both English and Egyptians, discovered the tomb in late 2022, in the Wadi Gabbanat el-Qurued in the Western Wadis, west of Luxor; they labeled the tomb C4. Because the tomb was found near the tombs of Hatshepsut and of wives o Thutmose III, the team thought that the tomb was of a royal consort. They were right, just not in the way they thought.

Among the discoveries in the tomb were alabaster fragments with inscriptions referring to Thutmose II, as a "deceased king"; significantly, also on those inscriptions was Hatshepsut's name. Also found was funerary furniture.

The granddaughter of the famous Amenhotep I, Hatshepsut wasn't really in line to be the king of Egypt, especially since she was a she. Males were the rulers in those days, and females were shut out of the line of succession. But when her father, Thutmose I, died, his son, Thutmose II, became king. And one of his wives was Hatshepsut. Thutmose II oversaw military success in Nubia and the Levant but ruled for only three or four years, dying of a skin disease. He had a son, who was Hatshepsut's nephew. This son, Thutmose III, was very young when his father died. They ruled together for awhile, then Hatshepsut declared herself ruler. She ruled for 15 years while her nephew came of age.

A much earlier team discovered the mummy of Thutmose II, at another nearby site, the Deir el-Bahari Cachette. The mummy is on display at the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization.