Egyptian Archaeology 59

EGYPTIAN ARCHAEOLOGY

Tomb of Khuwy at Djedkare’s Royal Cemetery

Mohamed Megahed

A Colossal Portrait of Amenhotep III

Hourig Sourouzian

Discovery of the Lost Golden City

Zahi Hawass

This two week tour, staying in top hotels throughout, begins in Cairo with in-depth tours of Saqqara,The Giza Plateau and Old Cairo.We fly to the Southern City of Aswan with time to visit Abu Simbel, Philae and Qubbet el Hawa. Driving to Luxor we stop at the vast Temple at Edfu and enter the striking tombs at el Kab.

Abu Simbel

The Great Pyramid at Giza

The Valley of The Kings

DEPARTING 6th DECEMBER 2022

THE GREAT MONUMENTS TOUR

We continue our journey in Luxor with five nights at the elegant and nostalgic Old Winter Palace, Garden Pavilion Wing. Visits include the Valley of The Kings, the Ramesseum, the Temple of Hatshepsut, Deir el Medina, the Colossi, Luxor and Karnak Temples, and much more. We even take time to relax and enjoy a lunch from The Old Winter Palace while sailing the Nile on a traditional Felucca.

This is the perfect tour for those wanting to discover the most spectacular sites in Egypt

Dr Campbell Price is Curator of Egypt and Sudan at Manchester Museum. Campbell is currently the Chair of Trustees at the Egypt Exploration Society. He is an Honorary Research Fellow at the university of Liverpool, and has undertaken fieldwork in Egypt at Zawiyet Umm el-Rakham, Saqqara and the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.

EGYPTIAN ARCHAEOLOGY

No. 59 Autumn 2021

www.ees.ac.uk

Editor Charlotte Jordan

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Egyptian Archaeology 59 marks a change in editorship. Jan Geisbusch expanded and innovated the magazine during his time in post, and I am honoured to build upon this foundation he laid as the next Editor of EA . Over the upcoming issues, you will notice some changes, one being the final page of this magazine—a fun finish to your reading. Members will now find the Society’s annual Impact Report available online (www.ees.ac.uk), where you can read about how we tackled the global health crisis. One of many steps to expand our online service provision. I am pleased to start working on the magazine at such an important stage in its 30-year history, and I hope you enjoy reading a broad range of topics from diverse perspectives. Please contact me at ea@ees.ac.uk if you would like to contribute to future magazines.

This issue begins with a recent discovery in Egypt: the ‘Lost Golden City’. Here, Zahi Hawass provides an in-depth discussion of a newly uncovered city of Amenhotep III. After two articles on settlement archaeology, we move on to three papers exploring burial customs in Egypt, where Elsayed Eltalhawy presents Kôm el-Khilgan from the Predynastic to the Roman era. Timely research by Ahmed Nakshara considers the transportation of museum objects traced from our own archives into the soon-to-be-opened Grand Egyptian Museum. I am particularly excited to feature the first published images of recently discovered colossi at Amenhotep III’s mortuary temple (as seen on the cover) by Hourig Sourouzian, as well as the tomb of Baqet II at Beni Hassan by Naguib Kanawati and co-authors. Finally, Mohamed Megahed’s project at Saqqara, partially funded by the EES, presents the recently excavated scenes of the earliest known Old Kingdom non-royal decorated tomb substructure.

Charlotte Jordan

Above: General view of ‘The Dazzling Aten’ City; see p. 4–7 (photo: Zahi Hawass). Cover: Head of the North Colossus of Amenhotep III at the Third Pylon at Kôm el-Hettan; see p. 30–36 (photo: © The Colossi of Memnon and Amenhotep III Temple Conservation Project. Photo: Antoine Chéné).

As the world starts to recover from the Covid pandemic, so does research and archaeology. This issue is bursting with the latest discoveries in Egypt, EES research projects, as well as the return of our Digging Diary.

The funerary temple and pyramid of Djedkare. © Djedkare Project, see p. 42-45.

4

8

13

16 Resurrection in Panopolis

20 Kôm el-Khilgan: A 4,000 Year History

24 Digging Diary 2021

26 Fr om in situ to the Grand Egyptian Museum

30 A Colossal Portrait of Amenhotep III

37 G overnor Baqet II at Beni Hassan

42 Tomb of Khuwy at Djedkare’s Royal Cemetery

46 B ookshelf

Anna Stevens, Amarna: A Guide to the Ancient City of Akhetaten

Eleanor Dobson, Writing the Sphinx: Literature, Culture and Egyptology

Kathlyn M. Cooney, Coffin Commerce

48 Puzzle Page

Wordsearch and “Egypt’s Dispersed Heritage” Project Comic

Discovery of the Lost Golden City

Dazzling Aten’ of Amenhotep III

Zahi Hawass reveals the latest discoveries from the newly uncovered city, ‘The Dazzling Aten’, and the information it provides about the reign of Amenhotep III (c. 1390–1352 bce). While reported as the largest settlement to have been found in Egypt, it provides significant evidence towards the understanding of daily life, the central administration of Egypt during this period, and further evidence for the pharaoh’s three Sed -festivals.

Excavations began in 2020 to the north of the temple of Medinet Habu, the funerary temple of Ramesses III (c. 1187–1156 bce) on the west bank of the Nile. The goal was to find the funerary temple of Tutankhamun since the temple of Ay and Horemheb had previously been located in this area. However, the city was a totally unexpected find! Two specific dates are preserved from the city, years 26 (c. 1364 bce) and 37 (c. 1353 bce) of Amenhotep III’s reign. The settlement is therefore contemporary with a similar settlement found during French-led excavations 100 m to the west. Upcoming work in September 2021 is

expected to confirm whether this city is connected with these structures. Stratigraphy uncovered at the site so far indicates that the settlement had been untouched since antiquity giving great potential for new information.

During antiquity, the city was called Tehen Aten, meaning ‘The Dazzling Aten’, as evidenced by the discovery of clay seals bearing this name. One of the epithets of Amenhotep III was ‘The Dazzling Aten’, as attested from an inscription written on the king’s quartzite statue found in the Luxor temple statue cache, now in Luxor Museum. The name of the city was also a popular title for many princes and high officials of the 18th Dynasty and can be found in private tombs in Valley A and Valley 300, both located at the western valley of the west bank of Thebes. Amenhotep III also named his palaces ‘The Dazzling Aten’. Inside the city, the team uncovered a wall drawing, in white ink, of the Aten. This drawing, and the name, suggests that focus upon the worship of the Aten started during the reign of Amenhotep III. Despite this promotion of the Aten, there is no indication that the priests of Amun objected as Amenhotep III maintained his connection with Amun and the other gods at this time. In future seasons of work, we expect to locate the boundaries of the whole settlement and reveal more critical information to improve our understanding of people’s lives during this era of Egypt’s history.

‘The

Seal depicting the name of the city: ‘The Dazzling Aten’, no. 47.

City Overview

The current plan of the city contains one large, wide street in the centre, surrounded by serpentine (sinusoidal) walls. After further examination, we concluded that the city was divided into three districts:

1. T he living area

2. T he administrative area

3. T he industrial area

The level of preservation was as if the ancient inhabitants had left the town just days earlier. In the living area, there were remarkably wellpreserved houses reaching a height of 3.5 m divided by several streets. Many items of daily life and industry were found within these houses, including hammers and weaving tools. The date of the city was confirmed through inscriptions found on rings, scarabs, decorated pottery vessels, and mudbricks, all containing the name of Amenhotep III in this area. Domestic finds included spinning and weaving tools. Slag, the waste material from metalworking, was also seen as well as other signs of metalworking activity.

On the southern side of the settlement, we found a bakery and an area for cooking, including ovens and large storage vessels. From the size of this baking and cooking area, it is apparent that it served many workers and officials living in or around the settlement.

Serpentine walls protected the administrative part of the settlement. Only one entrance has been found connecting this area to the others. This entrance controlled access to the administrative quarters leading to a series of interior corridors and large units of wellorganised houses.

Sinusoidal walls are rare in ancient Egyptian architecture and are most often found in Middle Kingdom (c. 2055–1650 bce) contexts. The form seems to have been revitalised during the Amarna Period (c. 1346–1336 bce) and this evidence is some of the earliest from this period.

The third section of the city was the industrial area that perhaps supplied goods for trading beyond the local area. It includes a workshop that produced mudbricks for constructing the

General view of ‘The Dazzling Aten’ City.

King’s palace at Malkata and his funerary temple at Kôm el-Hettan to the north of the city (see p. 30–36). The mudbricks contain stamps with the cartouche of Amenhotep III (Nb-mAat-Ra ). The storage areas and extensive workshops in this area were connected to a small store for grain storage. Leather that preserved goat hair was also found.

Burials have been found during the excavations. To the north of the settlement, a large cemetery was revealed. It consists of a group of differing sized tombs that can be accessed through stairs carved into the rock. Only one tomb was opened, and its first chamber reached, which contained four canopic jars. We will investigate the other tombs during our next season. Another burial, found in one of the rooms within the industrial district, is being investigated further. Here, a skeleton was found in an unusual position, stretched with his hands to his sides and the remains of a rope wrapped around his knees. There were also two cow burials inside the rooms, but we do not yet know the exact purpose of these burials. They may be representations of the goddess Hathor, perhaps relating to several amulets linked to her also discovered at the site.

Notable Finds

On the other side of the industrial section, more than 100 moulds were found. These were used for the production of amulets and decorative components. Many of

these finished components were also found at the site, including the eye of Horus (wedjat) and scarabs. It is not yet clear whether these represent cult activity or are leftovers from a corpus produced in the city for distribution elsewhere. A seal inscription discovered in the western part of the town reads: gm Atn ankh m mAat meaning “The Aten who lives on ma’at (truth) is found”. This find may provide stronger evidence that a temple for the Aten existed in this area, rather than simply acting as an industrial centre.

Sed -festivals were usually celebrated by the pharaoh after 30 years of rule, and then repeated every three years afterwards. The most interesting discovery demonstrating the number of Sed -festivals Amenhotep III celebrated is the hieroglyphic inscription on a jar, which can be read: “Year 37, dressed meat for the third Sed -festival from the slaughtering house of the stockyard of Kha, made by the butcher Iuwy”. The name of Kha was also found on a meat jar, alongside nine further jars for the storage of meat. The tomb of Kha was found intact at Deir el-Medina, objects from which are now in the Museo Egizio in Turin.

Left: Clay seal with the name of King Amenhotep III: Nb-mAat-Ra, no. 1515.

Group of blue-painted pottery vessels with floral decoration.

Right: An amulet mould, no. 239.

He was a royal scribe, overseer of works and supervisor of the palace of Amenhotep III. This meat was used for the third jubilee or Sedfestival (Hb-sd ) of the King, in the 37th year of his reign.

Thousands of pottery sherds covered almost one acre of land, and a large amount of metal and glass was also discovered. Approximately 1,000 artefacts were found in the city, including many complete ceramic vessels displaying some of the best examples of New Kingdom decorated pottery yet found, including decoration using blue paint and gazelles modelled in clay. Several statuettes of Queen Tiye, the chief wife of Amenhotep III, were also discovered at the site.

Next steps

Excavations will continue in September 2021 on the west side of the city where preliminary investigations suggest that the city continues westwards. The further excavation of this site will undoubtedly contribute to our understanding of the most remarkable years of the reign of Amenhotep III. The site is especially interesting due to the scarcity of sites revealing ancient daily life in the years immediately preceding the Amarna Period, a subject which has been largely uncharted until

now. Subsequent works seek to find out more about those that lived in the settlement and why it was eventually abandoned.

• Zahi Hawass is an Egyptian archaeologist and former Secretary General of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA). He initiated the Egyptian Mummy Project, which used forensic techniques to study both royal and non-royal mummified human remains.

Hieratic inscription on a jar with the name of the royal scribe Kha and butcher Iuwy. Zahi Hawass on site.

Photo: Karoline Amaury

The Archaeological Site of Damboya

A Royal City of the Meroitic Empire

The Meroitic Empire (c. 4th Century bce –4th Century ce), one of the oldest political structures in sub-Saharan Africa, was situated in the Middle Nile region of Sudan. Marc Maillot reports on the latest findings at Damboya; a site long recognised for its importance towards ancient urbanism in Sudanese archaeology but not examined further until now.

The archaeological site of Damboya, identified by Friedrich Hinkel and investigated in 2002 by Patrice Lenoble and Vincent Rondot, is located in Sudan, 270 km north of Khartoum, near Shendi, into the concession of El-Hassa (1.7 km) of which it is a component. The Louvre Museum asked the National Corporation for Antiquities and Museums (NCAM), previously known as the Sudan Antiquities Service, to integrate this concession into the department of Egyptian antiquities in 2020. Marc Maillot, current director of the mission, had expressed the wish to open an archaeological excavation in Damboya, as part of his program as director of the French Archaeological Unit in Sudan (SFDAS). Therefore, a scientific cooperation agreement was signed between the Louvre Museum and the SFDAS, so that the Damboya excavation could begin in 2020 under the supervision of the SFDAS. The potential of the archaeological site of Damboya had already been identified for a long time. The results obtained following the magnetometric survey carried out in 2008 on the central part of the site were promising for an in-depth study of urban settlements on the banks of the Nile in central Sudan, in connection with one of the major sites of the Meroitic Period, El-Hassa.

Results of the first season enabled the SFDAS archaeological team to continue excavating the most promising sectors for a long-term study on the settlement of Damboya. Two campaigns have been performed so far, from February until March each year. Two sectors are the focus of archaeological activities, A and E, chosen for their position framing the main hill of the site.

Topographical Map of Damboya and excavated areas.

Sector A

Sector A was mainly occupied by two Meroitic cultic structures, a temple and a chapel. The southern hill of Damboya has a diameter of 40 m, and a preserved elevation of 1.10 m. Covered with red brick fragments, small grindstones, ceramic and some scattered bones, it presents all aspects of a hill created from human settlement in central Sudan. Successive surveys carried out on the site indicated that the ceramic was predominantly dated from the Meroitic Period, which the results obtained confirm (1st-2 nd Century ce). After significant surface clearing, the first courses of the walls began to appear. The strategy was to record a complete plan of the preserved structures.

The best-preserved building in Sector A is a rectangular structure in red brick orientated east-west, measuring 16.30 m long x 7.20 m wide. Four walls (F003, 6, 7, 46), frame an internal space of 5 x 15.7 m. These four walls are 1.10 m wide, with masonry in a header/stretcher pattern. Wall F006 widens towards the south-east, up to 1.30 m wide, because it cuts through a previous mudbrick structure but partially uses it as a foundation (F026). It then forms an angle with wall F28, particularly interesting because it corresponds to an internal wall of the tripartite

temple. Indeed, wall F029 was potentially chained with F28 to form a single foundation wall, even if the connection is now missing. The complete plan of the temple is then enclosed by wall F046 with its facade at right angles, without a Pylon. It confirms the tripartite plan of the temple, composed of, from east to west, a first narrow room (3.80 x 4.01 m), then a second central room (2.76 x 3.97 m), and finally the sanctuary, closed by the wall F003 (4 x 5.02 m).

On the other side of wall F003 towards the west, a defined destruction level comprising many fragments of lime plaster, a concentration of gold leaves, faience and fragments of boxes in glazed

General plan of Sector A.

General view of the Meroitic red brick temple.

Photo: © SFDAS/Musée du Louvre

ceramic tiles is present. This context (US10) is remarkable beyond this particular concentration of material, as it includes a large number of charcoals, fragments of vitrified brick, and evenly burnt sand. There is every reason to believe that a fire partially damaged the temple in this crucial area just west of its outer facing, where most of the preserved decoration has been found. A sample of charcoal was taken in 2020 for C14 analysis, which allowed us to obtain absolute dating of the destruction of the temple to the second half of the 1st Century ce

Wall F017 follows the exact orientation of wall F007, they are separated by a passage 1.90 m wide, forming a corridor around the exterior walls of the temple (13.02 x 12.31 m). Wall F017 extends towards the north-west in a straight line, then creates a right angle with another wall orientated south-north, F051, to frame the western part of the temple and, more particularly, the walls F007 and F003. This U-shaped corridor surrounding the temple is also symmetrical to the south, as demonstrated by the discovery of wall AF050, strictly parallel to wall F006. The 2021 season also located a side entrance staircase to the north-east of the hill, with the discovery of the AF037 wall. It forms a narrow passage with the AF017 wall to then turn inside the corridor

surrounding the temple. The top of the northwest section of F037 is also plastered, which indicates that it did not rise higher in elevation and opened onto an outdoor area.

The temple is prolonged to the west by a complex (22.78 x 21.05 m) accessible by a ramp (F052), unfortunately heavily damaged. This ramp abuts against a long wall (AF053), delimiting a building of 16.52 x 6.53 m. This wall F053 is also flanked by three other walls, AF054–56, which mark a tripartite plan of three rooms. This is enclosed to the south by wall F056, which shows red bricks on the edge at the corner, marking the presence of an external angle. This angle is placed in the immediate vicinity of another set of the complex, orientated east-west, which corresponds to a row of storerooms (14.86 x 4.53 m). This row is organised according to a rectangular plan divided into five parts, including a larger central room having only one course preserved in elevation. This row is then attached to the corridor of the red brick temple through the F065 wall. It is also positioned in the alignment of the F015 wall to form a sort of rectangular enclosure (12.77 x 16.25 m or 208 m²) attached to the corridor of the red brick temple, within which is the US10 destruction layer, which contained the significant concentration of faience material and gold leaves.

Under the temple, previous occupation is confirmed by the presence of four mudbrick walls, F041, 18, 19 and 31, which form a rectangular space (2.94 x 1.51 m) cut to the west by the wall F003. A second rectangular space (2.95 x 1.88 m) is bounded on the east by the same walls and wall F026. The latter, a composite, results from the destruction and partial reuse during the construction of the red brick temple. The angle

Photo: © SFDAS/Musée du Louvre

Set of beads from the mudbrick chapel DAM21-A-008-005.

Faience box DAM20-A-010-003 (Winged Isis).

formed by the wall F026 and F031 corresponds to the north half of a Pylon, and its symmetrical southern counterpart is attached to a section of the wall in mudbricks on the edge, which certainly served as a support for a rectangular ferruginous sandstone threshold (80 x 60 cm). Therefore, we are in the presence of a double-chamber mudbrick chapel (3.88 x 7.02 m) with an entrance Pylon giving access from the east to west, the main axis of the chapel. Unfortunately, the two internal rooms of the chapel provide little information. The first easternmost room had a demolition level in mudbrick comprising ceramic older than that found in the fired brick temple (second half of the 1st Century bce). Below this level, a 60 cm virgin sand filling, devoid of any material except for a few beads, fills this space below the level of circulation of the chapel. The second western room of the chapel has a similar filling, also over 60 cm up to its foundation.

Sector E

Located on the northern slope of the main hill of Damboya, building E was discovered and completely exposed in 2020 in order to obtain a comprehensive plan. On this occasion, a few ancillary structures were uncovered, including a probable second building approximately 3 m southwest of Building E, which appeared to be parallel to it. Up to date, six rooms — i.e. half of the building — have been excavated down to the construction level, while five test trenches have been opened inside and outside the building to observe its foundations, covering a total of 190 m2 Building E is rectangular and orientated along a north-west south-east axis. It is 21.10 m long and 16.20 m wide. The building was organised around a probable square courtyard or light-well in the centre (room E05), with a row of rooms on all sides, except to the north-west, where two rooms flanked the central space. The main entrance (F003) was located at the southern corner of the building, a ramp of almost 4 m long. Finally, the presence of a floor is very likely given the thickness of the foundation walls, which varied between 0.70 and 0.90 m. Only the foundation level of Building E was preserved, while the walls and floor levels have entirely disappeared. The foundations were better preserved in the south-west, where thirteen courses were still standing, and poorly maintained in the north-east, where only eight courses were left. As was observed in Sector A, the occupation of Sector E seems to be relatively limited in time, as the ceramic material is dated exclusively to the second half of the 1st Century ce and the beginning of the 2nd Century ce

No floor was found inside Building E, but the interior floor level was located at least at the height of the highest preserved level or even higher, as no specific fittings intended to support a threshold were observed. The external ground level at the time of the building’s construction is known, with an average altitude of 359.79 m. This significant difference in height between the interior and exterior floor levels and the absence of floor surface inside the edifice means that the material found within does not correspond to a destruction layer, but to a filling intended to serve as a platform to raise the floor level inside the structure. Therefore, the excavated levels are those of foundation spaces (casemates) that were later covered by the various circulation floors of the building, which have now vanished.

Although the excavations of Building E and its surroundings

General plan of Sector E.

have not yet been completed, several remarks can already be made. First of all, the structure was raised by a podium. The casemates were filled with a large number of architectural pieces: column drum fragments, large bricks, torus-shaped bricks, as well as numerous fragments of painted plaster. These pieces and the presence of half column drums reused in the foundation indicate that Building E was built partly with the remains of an earlier building, already dismantled at the time of the construction. Production waste was also used to fill in the casemates since numerous remains of plaster were found mixed with the building materials. At least three walls contiguous to the building converged towards the main hill of the site and confirm the association of Sector E with the cult and economic complex identified in Sector A, of which it was contemporary.

Conclusion

A temple and its associated complex on the south plus a de luxe house founded on casemates on the north, obviously shows that the main hill of Damboya, which remains to be excavated, is of paramount importance for the understanding of the site — a royal city located at the very core of the Meroitic Empire. Considering the homogeneity of the dating, both coming from ceramic studies and C14 analysis, Damboya presents an urban site that fits perfectly with other surrounding sites of the same period: Naga, Wad ben Naga, Muweis, el-Hassa, and Hamadab. Such a promising excavation will undoubtedly help better our understanding of the urban network of the Shendi reach, at the heart of one of the oldest political structures in sub-Saharan Africa.

• Dr Marc Maillot received his PhD from Sorbonne University in 2013, and is now an associate member of the UMR 8167 “Orient et Méditerranée” (French National Research Center-CNRS). He is also Courtesy Assistant Professor at the University of Central Florida since 2015 and the French Archaeological Unit director (SFDAS) in Khartoum since 2019. Dr Maillot would like to thank the SFDAS archaeological team and the NCAM inspector Magdi Mohamed Ahmed, for the tremendous work performed at Damboya. SFDAS also thanks the people from the Damboya village for their help and Hamed Mohamed Bella, the guardian of the site, for his constant support and advice.

Above: General view of the western complex.

Left: General view of Sector E.

Photo: © SFDAS/Musée du Louvre

Photo: © SFDAS/Musée du Louvre

Mastaba Tombs at Tell Tebilla

Recent fieldwork at the ‘Beautiful Mouth’

Tell Tebilla was an important site in antiquity due to its thriving trade network. In 2018, a joint Egyptian mission from Mansoura University and the Daqahlia Inspectorate of Antiquities excavated at east corner of the site, Ayman Wahby tells us more.

Tell Tebilla (Ra-“sh”–Nefer) was a vibrant city in the eastern Delta during the 1st Millennium bce . Its history began in the Old Kingdom (c. 2686–2160 bce) when it functioned as a seaport, connecting with Mendes (Tell El Rub’a) through the Mendesian branch of the Nile for approximately 12 km. Artefacts of the site, such as pottery, amphorae, and black glazed pottery found near the water filtration plant, suggest continuous occupation from the First Intermediate Period to the Graeco-Roman Period (c. 2160 bce –395 ce).

Tell Tebilla is now approximately 25 hectares in size and the mound at its highest rises to 12 m above sea level. Over the years, it has been excavated by several teams. The first attempt to examine and study the site was in 1908 by Mohamed Shabaan, an Inspector of the site. This was after the Site Guardian informed him that the village inhabitants had found a sarcophagus. In 1980, an Egyptian mission excavated the site, and from 1999 to 2003 a

joint Egyptian-Canadian mission led by Gregory Mumford uncovered most of the area, with the Canadian mission returning in 2009. When the Inspectorate of Daqahlia, Ministry of Antiquities, worked at the site from 2012 to 2014, they discovered an intact tomb from the Saite Period (c. 664–525 bce).

The Ancient Egyptian name for Tell Tebilla was Ra-Nefer, meaning ‘Beautiful Mouth’, which refers to its location north of the entrance of Lake Manzala. The geographical location of this city enabled access to the Mediterranean Sea, so its inhabitants could exchange goods and products with neighbouring sea islands and the Levant. This trade network provided vast wealth to the city, making it one of the last prosperous cities of the Delta in the 1st millennium bce. Its modern name, Tell Tebilla, may be derived from Débéleh, meaning ‘ring’ in Arabic — the name given to the site by the French expedition to Egypt led by Napoleon in 1800. Napoleon’s team noticed that finger

The excavated area of Tell Tebilla in the 2018 season.

© Mansoura University

rings were found in some tombs in the area, so they proceeded to name the site after the public name at the time. The city is also known as Balala and Billa, the latter used in the EES’ Delta Survey Project.

The entire Tell is now private property after having been reclaimed by modern houses to the northeast, agricultural activities to the north and south, and a water filtration plant to the west, which is located on top of an ancient temple.

The temple was built for the local god OsirisKhes(a) during the 22 nd Dynasty by King Sheshonq I (945–924 bce). He intended to make this site the main cult centre for Osiris. However, during the Persian invasion, the temple and city were destroyed, and the area then quarried for materials in the GraecoRoman Period (332 bce –395 ce). Remains of granite stones scattered across the site suggest a huge chapel or naos similar to the temple dedicated to Banebdjedet in Tell el-Rub’a (Mendes), which dates to the Saite Period (664–525 bce).

Newly discovered mastaba tombs

The season ran from 11th November to 25th December 2018 at the south-east corner of the Tell in an area of about 2,450 m2 . Initially, a topographical map of the site was produced from a magnetometer survey of 13 squares, each measuring 40 x 40 m. This led to the discovery of two structures, which were separated by a pottery-filled street and adjacent to an open court in the south. Further excavation revealed these structures to be two mastaba tombs, then named Mastaba 1 and 2. These mastabas date from the end of the Late Period to the Early Ptolemaic Period (c. 664–300 bce) according to their architectural form and pottery remains, including amphorae and Greek glazed decorated pottery.

Mastaba 1 is a mudbrick building measuring 13.5 m wide and 14.7 m long and divided into two rooms. The first room housed five burials containing six skeletons, of which four were male and two female. These burials may

represent a middle-class family, since no elaborate objects were found with them and the technique of mummification reflects the lower status of those persons.

Similarly, Mastaba 2 was divided into two parts, but the mudbrick building was shorter at 13.9 m wide by 12.8 m long. The western side consists of an open court, while the eastern side contained two empty rooms. To the south of these rooms, a rectangular cut measuring around 2.80 m by 1.50 m led to a vaulted underground sealed tomb situated 2 m below the surface level of the mastaba tombs. This tomb will be analysed further next season, along with the rest of the eastern section, which remains mostly unexcavated.

To the south of Mastaba 2, an open court slopes to the south in the south-east part of our excavation site. The court could have been used as a reception hall for public use, as there are no buildings in this area, and it is situated between the two mastabas. At the eastern corner of this court, a small pit measuring around 1 m x 50 cm and about 40cm deep, was filled with pottery as well as some amulets.

Overview of finds

Overall, 125 objects were registered in the Mansoura Storage Magazine and 68 objects in the Study Register of the Storage Magazine. These include two well preserved ‘Bes Jars’,

Grades of the Magnetometer survey completed in season 2018 at Tell Tebilla.

Right: The Vaulted Tomb found under Mastaba 2.

Right: A Topographic Map of Tell Tebilla. © Mansoura University

© Mansoura University

which were discovered in the pottery pit near Mastaba 2. Bes was the popular god of childbirth, music, and joy, and he is often depicted upon vessels such as these. Pots of various shapes and functions were catalogued on-site, including elongated, round bases, long necks and handles. One vessel was fascinating, as it had a hole in the base possibly used to pour water for purification. Many small pottery finds may have been used as domestic items, such as bread moulds, jars and perfume bottles. Decorated, black-glazed, Greek-style plates and an amphora handle with a Greek stamp represent the cities’ cultural influences from its trade network with the Mediterranean.

Numerous amulets representing different gods and goddesses, especially those connected with the worship of Osiris, Lord of Tell Tebilla. Amulets included Bastet, Horus, Min, Taweret, Sobek, Ptah, Isis, Thoth, Bes, Hathor, Mai Hesa, the wadj pillar, and the wedjat eyes, all made of faience. A smaller number were made of bronze, such as Harpocrates, Osiris and the head of Hathor.

Complete and partial terracotta statuettes were found during the excavations, including depictions of women and animals, such as horses. Some sculptures of note include a female head wearing a headdress typically seen on Greek goddesses and a male head wearing a cap, painted white, which could portray a soldier. Another male head made of faience represents Ptah-Patek, which dates to the 4th –3rd Century bce. Another figurine represents a bed with a man lying on top of a woman performing marital relations – a traditional pose from the Graeco-Roman era.

Conclusion

This joint mission at Tell Tebilla aims to shed more light on the importance of the site, in particular its religious and economic role during the Late Period in the First Millennium bce The excavations revealed two rectangular mastabas, which preserved many objects such as pottery pots, dishes, plates, imported amphorae, amulets, and six burials.

Future excavations will continue to explore the significant role and importance of Tebilla as a cult centre of Osiris, parallel to Mendes — the cult centre of Re. Additionally, the city’s role as a trade centre for Egypt’s neighbours during the Late Period will be examined further.

• Ayman Wahby is a Professor of Egyptology at Mansoura University. He is Field Director of the Tell Tebilla Project, funded by Mansoura University’s Research Fund. This work was completed in collaboration with Maha el Seguni, Randa Baligh, Mosad Salama, Hosni Gazala, Mohamed Abedel Mawla, Ibrahim Seada, Sara El Emari, Rabab AbdelHakim, Shadi Omar, Ibrahim El Qasaby, Mohamed Gad, Zienab Dwiedar, Minas Abdo, Aya Habashi, Dalia Essam, Hamdi Abdel Azim,

A hole in a pot to pour water for purification.

A Bes Jar found at Tell Tebilla. An amphora handle with a Greek stamp.

Terracotta female with Greek-style headdress.

Terracotta woman and man lying on a bed. Over 3600 titles in print with most available in our Digital Collection for libraries.

Egyptian amulets of the crocodile god Sobek.

Resurrection in Panopolis

Graeco-Roman Period at the El-Salamuni Necropolis

Wahid Omran, Ashraf Okasha and Abdallah Abu-Gebel examine the blended cultural elements seen at the necropolis of Akhmim, which provide broader insights into Graeco-Roman Period funerary customs.

By the Graeco-Roman Period (c. 332 bce–395 ce), the ancient city of Akhmim was named Panopolis, meaning “city of the god Pan”. The Greeks assimilated Pan with the fertility god Min, the main deity of the city. The city played

a distinct historical and cultural role in Egypt during the Graeco-Roman era. It was the capital of the Panopolite Nome, the 9 th Nome of Upper Egypt, and continued as a thriving Hellenized metropolis. Greeks and Romans lived alongside the indigenous Egyptian population, and thus, it became a centre of both traditional Egyptian and classical Greek culture. By the 3 rd Century bce , Panopolis possessed several Greek civic buildings. Therefore, it was already heavily Hellenized when Septimius Severus finally granted the metropolis a city council (boul ē) in 201 ce , through which Panopolis became a Greek polis with its inhabitants converting to elite Greek citizens. Furthermore, the Panhellenic festivals were an essential part of civic life from the 3rd Century bce onwards. Since the Roman Period, its famous linen textiles put Panopolis on the map.

El-Salamuni Mountain was the main necropolis of the Graeco-Roman Panopolis. It is located 6 km north-east of Akhmim and around 2 km north of the famous El-Hawawish Mountain. The archaeological mountain is named according to the nearby modern village

General view of the El-Salamuni Mountain.

Kuhlmann, ‘Akhmim Cemeteries’, SDAIK 11, p. 53.

‘El-Salamuni’, which lies south of the site, and Nagc el-Sawâma-Sharq village lies to the north. The large cemetery contains tombs dating from the Old Kingdom through the Roman Period (c. 2686 bce –395 ce), many of which have been systematically recorded as GraecoRoman. In addition, the El-Isawieh, or ancient El-Faruqiyya, canal lies at the foot of the mountain to service the cultivated lands of the villagers.

El-Salamuni Mountain extends about 2,200 m in length and 400 m in height. The Akhmim Inspectorate Office divided the mountain into eight terraces from the bottom to the top, named A through H. In the centre of the cemetery, the uppermost part of the mountain, is located the rock-cut temple ‘Grotto of Pan’ dedicated to the god Min-Pan, Repit/Triphis/ Aperet-Isis and the child-god Kolanthes/ Harendotes, the divine triad of Akhmim. Construction at the temple by Nakht-Min, the high priest of Min, occurred during the reign of King Ay (c. 1332 bce). It was then substantially refurbished and enlarged by Hormaacheru, the archiereus, the high priest of Min, during the reign of Ptolemy II Philadelphus (285 –246 bce). First, the sanctuary served as a cult space for the quarry workers, who venerated Min, asking him for help and protection. Later, it was utilised as a necropolis sanctuary throughout the Graeco-Roman Period (c. 332 bce

30 ce), then these small caves were used by the Christian Anachorites during the early Christian Period (c. 30 –325 ce).

Since the first half of the 18 th Century ce , the cemetery of El-Salamuni was well-known as a regular stopping point for European travellers and archaeologists, including Friedrich Von Bissing, Jean Clédat, Otto Neugebauer,

Richard Parker and Klaus Kuhlmann. Later, through two field excavations in 1996 and 1997, the Akhmim Inspectorate Office rediscovered some of the tombs previously recorded by those scholars. However, unfortunately, these tombs remained covered and hidden for an extended period after the 1990s excavations to avoid illicit looting in the mountain. Furthermore, the Inspectorate Office excavated new Roman tombs in the cemetery, preserving four astronomical zodiacs on their ceilings.

Architectural Layout

Pharaonic tombs of the Old Kingdom, New Kingdom and the Late Period occupy the upper rows of the mountain. There are hardly any tombs known from the mid-level of the mountain slope, so terraces D and E remain unrecorded. Similarly, no tombs have yet been excavated in the lowest terrace (A), nearest the villagers’ land. Furthermore, many landslide openings of tombs are recognisable throughout the mountain, especially in the lower terraces of A, B, and C. The Roman façade-tombs situated on the lowest terraces of the mountain are mainly concentrated within rows B, C and F. These Roman tombs are more elaborate in shape and seem to be of finer quality. The Akhmim Inspectorate Office recorded the majority of tombs on the north and south

Photo: Wahid Omran

Model: M. Gamal Thabet, Akhmim Inspectorate

The rock-cut Temple of El-Salamuni Mountain.

3D Model of El-Salamuni Tomb C1.

sides of the mountain, and most are now closed by steel doors, except for Tombs B2, B6 and C6. These tombs are cut horizontally into the mountain rock with a west-east orientation and a low entrance façade. They consist of two rooms, one extending behind the other. Only Tomb C1 has two rooms off-axis with a south-west facade. Tomb B7 is unique as it features three rooms. Its antechamber and burial room are on the traditional west-east axis, while an unfinished side-room was later cut south of the first room. El-Salamuni Tomb F4 is also noteworthy as a one chamber-tomb. Ordinarily, the burial room is larger than the first room. These rooms often house two burial niches cut into the walls, except for Tomb F4 with just one and three in Tombs C1 and B7. The façade-tombs were divided into four chronological groups using their architectural features by Klaus Kuhlmann, dating from the 1st to the 3rd Century ce

Funerary Art

The walls of the El-Salamuni Roman tombs are frequently divided into two friezes. The

uppermost shows Pharaonic funerary themes, while the lower ones always feature distinctive orthostates or opus sectile decorations– squared stone blocks or inlaid materials to create patterns. The latter, imitating Egyptian precious stones and signifies Roman influence, can also be found in Athribis. Bi-scriptural texts in hieroglyphs and demotic are widely recorded in the tombs, but no Greek texts have been recorded yet. This confirms the survival of indigenous Egyptian scripts among the local community of Akhmim until the Late Roman Period (c. 395 ce). Other features found in the tombs include horizontal or vertical pseudocolumns in black cursive hieroglyphs showing names of deities and black silhouette figures in the judgment scene.

In these tombs, deities appear in unique iconographic contexts, such as Tithoes, Bes, Ptah, and the local god Horudja/Haryotes. Osiris-Sokar is prominent in the tombs, as well as many other deities who are typically associated with mortuary contexts (Horus, Thoth, Anubis, Khepri, Isis, Hathor, Sekhmet, Neith, Maat, Geb, and Onuris), while others are typical for the region of Akhmim (Min-Re and Repit).

The El-Salamuni tombs are decorated with colourful Egyptian funerary iconography, showing a trend towards conservatism in mortuary practices. As a result, they record the survival of ancient Egyptian imagery of the afterlife until the late Roman Period, as late as the 4th Century ce. Despite the conservative character of funerary display in the El-Salamuni cemetery, the influence of Hellenistic art is also apparent in the tombs. The funerary art can be exclusively Egyptian or combine features of Egyptian, Greek and Roman repertoires. Moreover, the El-Salamuni tombs are recognised for the largest number of zodiac depictions in any Egyptian tombs, one of the

The black silhouette figures and the Ammit in the judgment scene, El-Salamuni Tomb C.

The Orthostates in El-Salamuni Tomb C3.

Photo: Wahid Omran

Photo: Wahid Omran

most prominent funerary characteristics of El-Salamuni. Both Egyptian and Greek syntax are depicted on the ceilings of the antechambers and the burial rooms. Perhaps immortality in Panopolis was thought to have been accessed through both Osiris as king of the underworld and through a cosmic approach to the celestial afterlife of Re. Moreover, it leads to the assumption that the Panopolitan Nome could have been a centre of the study of astral phenomena as zodiacs are also attested elsewhere in the region of Akhmim.

members throughout time, as the inhumation pits were added at a later date.

The El-Salamuni Mountain was the cemetery of the Hellenized population from Panopolis and its adjacent villages. The refined architectural layout and tomb paintings suggest that the cemetery was reserved for local elites and the urban Hellenized upper class. For example, high priests, landowners, high ranking local officials and veterans of the Roman army were buried there. The owners of the ElSalamuni tombs were likely wealthy and cultured; the deceased were often represented on a large, realistic, classical portrait, holding the rotulus (papyrus scroll), twig, or a laurel branch in his raised left hand, and a situla of Isis in his lowered right hand.

Burial Practices

In El-Salamuni, mummification remained standard practice. The mummified individuals were positioned in shallow, long niches within the burial chambers. These niches were painted with Egyptian scenes on their ceilings and walls, such as the winged vulture, hieroglyphic inscriptions, and the traditional Kheker decorations alongside crouching jackals. In a few cases, the niches show Hellenistic influences, such as a shelf for the deposition of the dead and imitate the Greek kline décor of the legs and mattress. Moreover, classical festoons, garlands, and the white-black geometrical veins are also attested. The niches were covered by a shell or baldachin. Furthermore, the El-Salamuni tombs often present a Greek burial style, shallow mummiform trenches in the antechamber floors. This likely suggests that the tombs were used for communal burials, possibly of family

El-Salamuni is still relatively intact and largely archaeologically unexplored. Very little data concerning the tombs has been scientifically and systematically published. An upcoming scientific publication will document the contextual information for the first time, and feature illustrations of the astronomical ceilings, from Akhmim’s GraecoRoman tombs. This will enrich knowledge about the funerary art and burial customs in Akhmim during the Ptolemaic and Roman Periods.

• Wahid Omran is a Postdoctorate Researcher at Lehrstuhl für Ägyptologie, Universität Würzburg, and Assistant Professor at Faculty of Tourism and Hotels- Fayoum University. Omran has worked at the site, with permission from the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities and Tourism, in 2015, 2017 and 2018 to document some of the Roman Tombs. His latest work in 2020 has focused upon the restoration of Tomb C1, which has been exposed since 1980. Ashraf Okasha is Chairman of the Sohag Inspectorate Office. Abdullah Abu-Gebel is the Director of the eastern Sohag Inspectorate Sector.

Right: The classical portrait of the deceased holding the situla in El-Salamuni Tomb C1.

The burial niche in ElSalamuni Tomb F2.

Photo: Wahid Omran

Left: The south niche in the burial chamber, with painted winged vulture and lower Orthostates in El-Salamuni Tomb C3.

Photo: Wahid Omran

Photo: Wahid Omran

Kôm el-Khilgan: A 4,000 Year History

Kôm el-Khilgan was a significant cemetery site throughout history, with over 340 burials excavated to date. An overview of activity at the site, extending from the Predynastic Era to the Roman Period (early 4th Millennium bce to mid-3rd Century ce), is presented by Elsayed F.

Kôm el-Khilgan in the north-eastern Nile Delta is around 0.75 km south-east of elSamara village, 40 km from Mansoura (Daqahia governorate), and 20 km to the south of Mendes (Tell el-Rube) — the 16th Nome of Lower Egypt and capital of the 29 th Dynasty. The site is longer than it is wide, approximately 130 m north to south by 70 m east to west, with an area of roughly 8,600 m2 . For the most part, the site has a semi-level surface slightly higher than the surrounding landscape, except for a small mound of 290 m2 . This mound is located about 35 m to the west of the site, and its summit reaches a total altitude of 5.46 m, which is 2.28 m above the cultivated fields. The locals called the mound

tabet el-Sheikh

The site was identified in 1995 and registered in 2001 as one of the sites under the Antiquities Protection Act. The first excavation at the site

Eltalhawy.

was led by the Institut Français d’Archéologie Orientale (IFAO) from 2002 to 2005, plus a season in 2006 dedicated to studying the results found during the excavation seasons at the site. To protect this small site surrounded by agriculture, because of its archaeological and historical importance, the supreme council of Antiquities decided to carry out excavation work at the site between 2018-2021. During these three years, the Egyptian mission has revealed important discoveries, representing various cultural phases.

The Roman Period (c. 30 bce –640 ce)

The latest ancient phase of occupation dates to the mid-3rd Century ce , when the site was used as a necropolis in the Roman Period. During the three Egyptian-led seasons, 36 graves dating to the Roman era have been found. 32 of these burials consist of rectangular pits running from west to east that cut through all the archaeological strata and part of the gezira or the natural layer untouched by human activity.

Inhumations were laid inside these pits on their back, with their heads oriented towards the west. Few burial goods have been discovered around these burials, only a gold earring and bronze coin dated to the mid-3rd Century ce were

Overview of the Second Intermediate Period occupations and Roman Period burials, (Squares O2, 3, 4 and P2, 3, 4).

found.

Several adolescent burials have been found on site; one individual was found inside an Egyptian-style amphora, dating to the mid-3rd Century ce. Other remains of an adolescent were situated in a pottery coffin. They were found with low sloped pottery edges, running from west to east. The subject was buried on the back with head to the west and the arms extended beside the body. The coffin lid was subsequently destroyed after the burial because it was too close to the surface of the site, which was previously exploited for farming.

Second Intermediate Period (c. 1650–1550 bce)

The next phase of the site dates to the Second Intermediate Period, more specifically during the 15th Dynasty under Hyksos rule (c. 1674–1535 bce). At this point, circular-shaped ovens constructed with mud bricks up to 80 cm in diameter, some kilns, several fire pits, silos and remains of mudbrick walls were discovered. Sinusoidal walls of mudbrick were also uncovered, possibly intended to protect the ovens and kilns from the wind. Many post holes have been found with vertical sides and a compact alluvial filling containing pot sherds, millstones, and remains of bauna, perhaps for religious purposes.

In total, 20 graves were excavated, orientated

were found northeast of the head, alongside an inscribed scarab.

A semi-rectangular pit, 2.75 m long and 1.40 m wide, with steep sides and a flat bottom, cut through all archaeological strata of the site to the gezira level. Two alabaster pots were laid beside a tomb constructed within this pit, which extended from east to west by 2.30 m and from north to south by 1.20 m and was built of mudbricks in a single course 0.20 m wide. Two skeletons were found in a poor condition on the natural surface. The first skeleton occupied the south side of the tomb and was possibly a woman buried on their left side, the head to the east, facing south. The upper limbs are flexed on the abdomen, while the lower limbs are flexed with feet joined. Three scarabs were found beside the skull, one of amethyst with a gold frame and an agate stone band. The second skeleton is the later of the two, buried on the left side with the head to the east and the face to the south. The upper limbs are flexed in front of the face and the lower limbs are flexed. To the north of the skull, fragments of human bones were found that may represent the remains of a young child’s burial.

east to west with the head to the east. They were laid either on the left or right side or on the back in a stretched or flexed position. Some of these graves held numerous funerary objects, including Tell el-Yahudia Ware, a distinctive black ceramic vessel type of the period, as well as scarabs, some of which are inlaid with gold.

One of the tombs of this era was a mudbrick grave about 1.8 m long and 1.15 m wide set in the standard alignment. It housed a child aged 4-7 years, who was buried in a flexed position on the left side with the head to the east, facing south. A palette and pottery bowl

Another tomb was excavated, 3.65 m long by 2.10 m wide, with mudbrick walls 60 cm wide. Its floor was covered with a layer of matting, as some fibres were found decomposing on the east wall of the tomb. The remains of six badly preserved skeletons were found inside. There is little evidence of burial goods other than pottery, stone vessels and amulets, including

Overview of the Second Intermediate Period occupations and Buto Culture burials, (Squares G1 and G2).

Left: Amethyst scarab with a gold frame found in a Second Intermediate Period burial.

Second Intermediate Period burial KEK2018 GR.1.

KÔM EL-KHILGAN: A 4,000 YEAR HISTORY

Naqada IIIC Period (c. 3200–3000 bce)

The site was also an active cemetery during Naqada IIIC, indicated by the 15 tombs uncovered from this period. These burials included funerary goods, such as cylindrical jars and five slate palettes for grinding kohl (ancient eye cosmetic), one in the form of a tilapia fish. Some burials contained rectangular pottery coffins with tall sides, and clay blocks often supported the grave pits.

One burial consists of a semi-oval pit cutting in the gezira, the cut runs 1.58 m long and 1 m wide and its inner sides were covered with clay. Inside the cavity was found a rectangular pottery coffin, its dimensions 1.05 m × 0.57 m × 0.36 m and 0.04 m thick. A male skeleton, approximately 35 years old, was positioned in a foetal position on his left side, with the head to the south and face to the west. Three pots were laid on the north side of the coffin.

Another notable burial was found in a semioval pit cutting into the gezira, the pit running 1.70 m long and 1.15 m wide, the inner sides once again covered with clay. It was likely that this pit had been covered with mud and matting that had collapsed, leaving traces on the pit and coffin edges. The pit held a pottery coffin with the bottom of the coffin edges pierced with numerous small holes, possibly to dispose of liquids after burial. Its dimensions are 1 m × 0.57 m × 0.36 m and 0.03 m thick. The corners had larger holes located part way up the coffin walls, perhaps used for carrying and transporting the coffin from the place of manufacture. Inside the coffin was a female skeleton, approximately 25-35 years old, in a foetal position on her left side with the head to the south and face to the west. The upper

limbs are flexed and the left hand placed under the head with the right hand in front of the face. Two palettes had been placed in front of the face; one is rectangular and one spherical, the latter was found on top of a piece of flint. Six cylindrical pottery cups were also found: three in the north side of the coffin; two in the north-east and north-west, and the last cup on the middle north side. The three other cups were laid on the southern side; one is in the south-east corner, the second in the southwest corner, and the third to the east of the previous pot. On the outside the coffin, a pear-shaped vessel with a pottery lid was discovered to the south, as well as a smaller pear-shaped vessel to the west of this, with a further little pear-shaped vessel with a plate to the east, and to the east of the plate lay another little pear-shaped vessel.

Buto Culture (c. 4000–3500 bce)

The oldest phase of the site’s history dates to the first half of the 4th Millennium bce in Prehistoric Egypt. Overall, 270 graves have been excavated from this era known as the Lower Egyptian, Maadi or Buto culture. All graves were oval pits cutting the gezira. They were refilled after burial with sand, making it challenging to recognise the burial cut boundaries when they were excavated. This may also be the reason for discovering several later grave pits intersecting earlier examples of the same period. The skeletons were laid inside the pits in a foetal position, most on their left side orientated west to east with the face to the north, except for a few cases where some were laid on the right side and a few cases were positioned north to south facing west.

The graves of this phase were characterised

Left: Naqada IIIC Period Grave KEK2020 GR.P.S.1.

Right: Naqada IIIC Period Grave KEK2020 GR.P.S.2.

Predynastic Palette in the form of a tilapia fish found in a Naqada IIIC Period burial at Kôm el-Khilgan.

by little or no funerary goods. Only one or two small handmade lemon-shaped ceramic pots were found, often laid near the body, generally at the head, feet or when the grave was closed at a higher level. One or two shells were also discovered, probably used for grinding kohl, which suggests the importance of eye makeup even in this early age of ancient Egyptian civilisation. A thorough study of all skeletons of this period reveals 33 females, 53 males, and 23 unidentified genders. The average age of these burials is between 22–35 years old, a relatively young age with 17 children under the age of six, and 18 burials between 12–17 years. Dental diseases are apparent in many cases, mainly caused by malnutrition, as well as two people with broken leg bones.

In conclusion, the archaeological stratigraphy and phases of human occupation indicate that the site has been extensively exploited as a cemetery during the first half of the 4th Millennium bce and no items of daily life have been found dating to this period. The site was also used during the Naqada III Period as a cemetery, but it is significantly smaller and no evidence for daily life was found for that period either. The site seems to have been abandoned from the Old to Middle Kingdom (c. 2686–1650 bce). Yet, the area was again exploited during the Second Intermediate Period (c. 1650–1550 bce), either as a

settlement or a cemetery. A further phase of desertion can be identified before returning to intense use during the Roman Period (3rd Century ce).

• Elsayed F. Eltalhawy is the Director General of Antiquities in Dakahlia and Supervisor of Antiquities in Damietta Governorate for the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities. He extends his sincere thanks and appreciation to the team of the Kôm Al Khalij Excavations Mission: Mohammed A. Ebd Elaziem, Maali M. Hashesh, Maher A. Abu Alesaad and Asmaa E. Elsayed.

Buto Culture burial KEK20–21 SQ.15 F.1929.

Buto Culture burial KEK20–21 SQ.15 F.1923–22.

Digging Diary 2021

Summaries of archaeological work undertaken in Egypt and Sudan since spring 2021. Sites are arranged geographically from north to south. Field directors who would like reports of their work to appear in EA are asked to email the editor at ea@ees.ac.uk.

LOWER EGYPT

Plinthine: At Plinthine/Kôm El Nugus, excavation of sector 6, a Saite Period wine factory, and sector 10, a Ptolemaic Period villa dedicated to the production of wine were completed in 2021, and their entire layout is now documented. They illustrate the dynamism of the wine production at Plinthine during Antiquity. Several major finds were made in sector 7, at the center of the kôm, including the south-western corner of a building identified with a temple was discovered (building 1), most probably dated to the Ptolemaic Period. It was constructed with reused Pharaonic blocks, including several bearing the name of Ramesses II. Furthermore, two mud-brick buildings were found, dated to the Third Intermediate Period, lining a street, made up of levels of silt, ashes and small limestone rubble. Nearby, the southeast corner of a second massive building made of local limestone which seems, like building 1, to be Hellenistic. Finally, a new sector (#11) was opened atop of the western levee of the kôm. It yielded several phases of construction, the most ancient one being a multi-room building topped with vaults, probably dated to the Saite Period, the period during which the settlement’s vitality seems to be at its peak.

Taposiris: At Taposiris, the operations were entirely devoted to the study of the lake harbour. Three sectors were investigated: two warehouses on the south artificial levee (sector 2); the so-called “platform building” and its surroundings

(sector 20) in the area of the bridge; on the north quay, a building located on a high mound (sector 21). The “platform building” was built after the mid-7th Century ce and might have been a sort of harbour master’s office, as previously suggested by Thiersch in 1902. The two warehouses were essentially oriented towards the redistribution of wine production from the southern shore of the lake considering the number of wine amphorae (LRA 5/6 and AE 8 types) found there. Already well attested in the northern contexts of the city, these new discoveries confirm the still vivid role played by Taposiris in the Mareotis economy after the Arab and Muslim conquest, from the 7th Century until the early 8 th Century ce

A conservation mission was also conducted in the Ptolemaic baths of Taposiris, excavated by the mission between 2003 and 2011.

The above digs were led by Bérangère Redon (CNRS, HiSoMA) and brought together 15 researchers, 40 workers, and with the collaboration of five MoTA inspectors. Follow both of these sites on Twitter using @TapoPlinthine or https:// taposiris.hypotheses.org/

Wadi el-Jarf : The 11th campaign of the Wadi el-Jarf archaeological mission took place this spring from March to April, comprising a small international team led by Pierre Tallet (Sorbonne University/IFAO) and Egyptian team of 37 workers from Luxor (Gurna) led by Reïs Gamal Nasr al-Din. The work was two-fold: excavation of the 2nd group of storage galleries continued and

study of the camps situated on the Red Sea Shore was completed.

A group of 12 storage galleries, were cut on the edge of a wadi. Galleries nos 28, 26 and 24 were completely excavated this year, while excavation of galleries 25 and 27 just began. They were mostly used to store big storage jars, most of them inscribed with the names of the royal teams that were producing and using them on the site.

At the same time, the study of a huge deposit of anchors left between two stone buildings near the sea-shore at the end of Khufu’s reign was completed this season. They weighed a total of 21 tons with an average weight of 200 kg. Inscriptions on the anchors name the four boats that were used at that time. Dozens of fragments of sealings were also found, some of them still bearing imprints of cylinder seals showing sometimes the Horus name or cartouche of Khufu, as well a small accounting inscription.

https://amers.hypotheses.org

UPPER EGYPT

Tell el-Amarna : The 2020 autumn season was devoted to recording finds from the Great Aten Temple stored in the site magazines, work at which resumed in the spring of 2021. The cleaning and recording of the remainder of the foundation trench of the north wall of the temple was finished, as was the laying of the final length of a stone foundation which will support a course of fine Tura blocks at ground level. Additional areas of the original gypsum-concrete foundation layer alongside the wall were also exposed,

Plinthine: Two Ptolemaic(?) buildings and a Third Intermediate Period street. Photo: MFTMP.

Taposiris: The façade of the Ptolemaic baths of Taposiris after the conservation mission. Photo: MFTMP.

Amarna: Reconstructed stonework at the Great Aten Temple’s north-east corner. Photo: Amarna Project.

revealing that much of it has survived in a fairly good condition. Many more fragments of carved stone were recovered from earlier excavation dumps, amongst them architectural pieces in granite. For much of the time photography of the stone pieces from the temple was continued.

From December to March, a 962 m long stone wall was built at the north end of Amarna, to help protect the Desert Altars and the North City from the illegal encroachment of agricultural land. The Amarna Project is led by Barry Kemp and Anna Stevens.

www.amarnaproject.com

Coptos: In spring 2021, the reconstruction of the statue pedestal dedicated by the Adenite Hermeros in 70 ce was completed by repositioning the corniche. The bases of the two adjacent pillars were also re-erected and a modern brick back wall was built to restore visually the ancient setting of the statue in the Roman colonnade surrounding the temple of Min and Isis.

In the mammisi area, the new excavations to the east and west of the naos floor uncovered more foundation stones flanking the sanctuary, confirming the hypothesis of a tripartite plan.

To the south, remains of a Late Roman workshop were exposed, probably connected with the unidentified features found further north in 2012

2013. The craftsmanship activity carried out there used much water, as shown by a sloping mudbrick structure connected with a sloping channel flowing from it into a rectangular basin. On the eastern edge of the excavation, the finely plastered wall of the 2nd Pylon (Roman) was found and cleaned to its foundation level.

In the course of the work, about 275 new fragments from the mammisi scenes, mainly Roman, were collected.

https://www.ifao.egnet.net/ recherche/archeologie/coptos/

Medamoud : Medamoud was surrounded by a city that had never been explored

until recently. Since 2015, the IFAO mission has aimed to study these urban sectors and understand the craft productions that they housed. Recent excavations have confirmed that Medamoud was one of the great ceramic manufacturing centres in operation between the New Kingdom and the Ptolemaic Period. So far, five workshop areas have been uncovered with several well-preserved ceramic kilns.

Between 2019 and 2021, the excavation focused on a 32 × 10 m trench, uncovering two workshops dating to the 9 th and 8 th Centuries bce . The first preserved two kilns with several stone lined pits and three chambers; the second, to the south, housed three more kilns. One of them, has imposing dimensions: 3.35 m external diameter and 2.30 m internal diameter, with a minimum depth of 2.70 m. Further west, a new area of kilns dating to the mid-18 th Dynasty was also excavated in 2021. Its upper level (laboratory) measures 1.60 m of elevation, one of the largest examples discovered in Egypt.

https://www.ifao.egnet.net/archeologie/ medamoud/

Karnak : The chapel of Osiris-Ptah Nebankh (Lord of Life) lies south of the 10 th Pylon of the Amun-Re precinct, and east of the ram-headed avenue of sphinxes that runs from the 10 th Pylon to the Mut precinct. It is one of a series of Osirian chapels built by the 25th Dynasty Kushite kings Taharqo and Tantamani, who are represented in the chapel scenes alongside various gods and goddesses.

During the 2021 season led by Essam Nagy, the project’s main target was to conserve and restore the chapel — 100 years after its first restoration. The chapel was in a poor condition, its wooden ceiling badly damaged.

The chapel is in a rather unexpected place, just outside of the 10 th Pylon and slightly off that same axis to the east. Consequently, the team focused on the relationship of the chapel to the other surrounding architectural

elements, producing maps for the area.

Previous seasons revealed two structures to the east of the chapel, so this season aimed to fully excavated them to establish whether they are houses, administrative, cultic, or domestic buildings. The work also focused on pottery analysis to ascertain the date and the function of the site.

https://osirisptahnebankh.org/

SUDAN

Old Dongola : The Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology, University of Warsaw (PCMA UW) team led by Artur Obłuski and Dorota Dzierzbicka continued to excavate the Funj Period urban settlement (16th –18 th Century ce) on the citadel hill. In the central part of the citadel, domestic compounds were found to stand on top of earlier buildings, including a very large medieval structure. A huge apse (6 m in diameter) with remains of painted plaster helped identify this building as a church of unprecedented size. A test trench was excavated in the apse to investigate the depth of the Funj Period strata. The floor of the church was reached through a borehole drilled in the trench. Plaster fragmentarily preserved on the apse wall bears paintings with figures of saints. Directly to the southeast, a large dome of fired brick was discovered. Given its location inside the settlement, it may be a tomb of someone from the highest elites of the kingdom.

In the “House of the Mekk (Funj Period king)”, excavation of a partly covered courtyard revealed wall graffiti depicting animals (most likely horses) and domed buildings. Collaborative archaeology activities were also continued. The main tangible output of the project is heritage and sustainable development strategy as well as commitment to implement it made by stakeholders from the Sudanese government, international bodies (UNESCO, EU), and Polish expedition to local communities.

https://pcma.uw.edu.pl/ en/2019/04/02/dongola-2/

Coptos: The statue base and pillars, with restoration team. Photo: IFAO-Museo Egizio, Torino Mission.

Karnak: Egyptian team working at the chapel of OsirisPtah Neb-ankh (Lord of Life) Photo: OPNARP.

Old Dongola: Drone photography over the site of Old Dongola in Sudan. Photo: PCMA UW.

From in situ to the Grand Egyptian Museum

Tracing the archive of William Matthew Flinders Petrie

Tanis was an important Egyptian city located in the north-eastern Nile Delta. Many objects originally discovered there have since been transported to museums, including the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM), which will be opening soon. Ahmed Nakshara highlights the significance of archival photographs for tracing the provenance of these museum objects.

In his 1904 book Methods and Aims in Archaeology, Petrie wrote, “Photographs are essential for all objects of artistic interest, and for expressing rounded forms for which elaborate shading would otherwise be needed” (p. 73). However, Petrie’s perspective on the use of photography in archaeology had been formed much earlier, possibly influenced by Pitt Rivers. It was during his second season (1881–1882) of surveying the Pyramids of Giza when Petrie took his first archaeological photographs. Since then, photography continued to be an integral tool in his excavations. To such an extent that he worthily deserves the title The Father of Egyptian Archaeological Photography, as Patricia Spencer explored in the Summer 2012 EES Newsletter (p. 4–5).

As the second delegate of the newly formed Egypt Exploration Fund (later Society) to explore the Nile Delta, Petrie arrived at Tanis on 4th February 1884. His intended plan was “to see every side of every block here, copy every piece of inscription, photograph everything worth having, & make a plan shewing the place of every inscribed block”, as he wrote in his journal (Petrie MSS 1.3, p. 107 on 14th March 1884). However, there had

been a delay with the transport of sheets of iron for the roof of his house, holding up his plan. He wrote a few weeks earlier: “I cannot begin photographing properly here until I have a room to get chemicals & things out, for I am crammed here in one room; and I must have a dust tight roof before gelatine plates can be left about.” (Petrie MSS 1.3, p. 91 on 22 nd February 1884).

Once set up appropriately, Petrie developed his photographs in his house and regularly sent them to England, where Amelia Edwards would use them in publications. “…I enclose 31 photographs, & hope soon to send more; these I have just done yesterday & today in time for the mail. Miss Edwards had better have them, after being fixed…” (EES.COR.016.f.24, on 22 nd March 1884). Moreover, he sent photographs of objects to Gaston Maspero in Cairo, who would then choose which artefacts he wanted to keep for the Bulak Museum. Although the glass plates were relatively heavy, Petrie carried his camera and equipment wherever he went outside Tanis to explore the nearby Tells. He also used some of these heavy plates to capture some of his workmen’s faces and to record some of the daily life of the villagers. “This afternoon I took the camera over to Sueilin, & I hope that I have got some groups on the way, camels, &c.” (Petrie MSS 1.3, p. 167 on 9 th May 1884).

Through Petrie’s homemade pin-hole camera lens, Tanis’ earliest and most complete

A section of a letter to Reginald Stuart Poole, which notes that “I enclose 31 photographs” for Amelia Edwards, signed by William Matthew Flinders Petrie (EES. COR.016.f.24 on 22nd March 1884). Courtesy of The Egypt Exploration Society.

photographic archive was captured during his long season at the site, lasting until 23rd June 1884. Petrie’s Tanis photographs are now kept at the Lucy Gura Archive at the EES office in London under the title “Tanis Series” (available online via Flickr under the heading Delta Series Negatives). It is worth mentioning that, although this series is named after Petrie’s first large-scale excavation site at Tanis, it contains all photographs of Petrie’s excavations in the Delta during the years 1883–1886. Through this photographic archive, the journey of some Tanitic objects that were rehoused recently at the GEM could be traced.

Development of the Grand Egyptian Museum

The Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) is the world’s largest museum dedicated to one civilisation, holding the largest collection of Egyptian antiquities globally. It introduces its visitors to an enjoyable, entertaining, educational and cultural experience through a series of museum exhibitions, a children’s museum, a crafts centre, a conservation centre, theatres, cinemas, gardens, restaurants, shops, and more. In order to alleviate the overcrowded conditions of the Cairo Egyptian Museum (CEM), the Egyptian government announced in 1992 its intention to build a state-of-the-art complex of museums and associated facilities fit for the 3rd Millennium ce . On 7th January 2002, a global architectural competition to design the new museum was held under the auspices of UNESCO and the International Federation of Architects. The first prize was awarded to the architectural design by Róisín Heneghan and Shi-Fu Peng in July 2003. Meanwhile, on 4 th February 2002, the foundation stone of the museum was laid at

the current construction site overlooking the legendary plateau of the pyramids of Giza. The GEM has a total area of 490,000 m2 , with 20,000 m2 of permanent exhibition area and 2,000 m2 for temporary displays and exhibitions. The museum will provide a unique journey throughout the whole Pharaonic civilisation for its visitors, as well as displaying the complete collection of King Tutankhamun under one roof for the first time (more than 5,000 objects). It will utilize modern technology and new display methods, such as Augmented Reality-Hololens. A grand global opening ceremony where the Opera of Tutankhamun, written by Zahi Hawass, will be performed for the first time is now under preparation.

Tanitic objects at the GEM

Tanitic objects at the GEM can be divided into two main categories: A) objects directly transferred from the site to the GEM, and B) objects assigned first to a different museum and then relocated to the GEM. Two significant objects from the first group are the Obelisk and the Colossus of Ramesses II. The Obelisk was transported to the GEM on 12th September 2018 now holding the GEM No. 21331. Distinctive features of this Obelisk are the cartouches of the king depicted on its base. This unusual inscription’s positioning inspired the general supervisor of the GEM Major General Atef Moftah to display the Obelisk at the entrance of the museum as the world’s first hanging obelisk. The idea is to slot the Obelisk into a platform raised on four concrete columns, with the Obelisk’s bottom surface

Scan the QR Code below to explore Petrie’s Delta Series Negatives on the EES Flickr page.

The Obelisk of Ramesses II photographed in situ by Petrie in 1884 (EES.DE.NEG.0113). Courtesy of The Egypt Exploration Society.

The GEM overlooking the legendary plateau of the pyramids of Giza. Courtesy of the GEM.

covered with toughened glass and exposed so that visitors will be able to walk underneath the Obelisk’s base and view the cartouches overhead. The Colossus of Ramesses II had been lying on the ground in situ for many centuries, seen in Petrie’s initial photograph in 1884. Before transportation to the GEM, within the latest site management project at Tanis, the statue was lifted onto a concrete mastaba to be protected. At the GEM, it was re-erected in front of the glass facade on the northern side of the museum.

On the other hand, other important Tanitic objects were first transported and displayed at the CEM, from where they were moved to the GEM to be displayed on the Grand Staircase. This staircase stretches for 64 m with over 100 steps and rises 24 m. It was designed to house the heaviest artefacts. One of those artefacts is the pink granite colossal statue of King Merenptah, which represents the standing king wearing a wig decorated with a uraeus and the shendyt kilt, which is decorated with a frieze of uraei on the lower part. In a photograph taken by Petrie in 1884, this statue appears broken into two parts in situ. Another object is the granite Sphinx of Amenemhat III, which was usurped by later kings, including Nehesy, Ramesses II, Merenptah, and Psusennes I. Petrie wrongly thought that this and other sphinxes around it were those of Hyksos rulers. In notebook 23, recording Petrie’s 1883–1886 photographs, photograph 0109 is listed with the caption “Hyksos sphinxes”. He also

writes, “half a dozen Hyksos sphinxes in various stages of smash.” (Petrie MSS 1.3, p. 83 on 12th February 1884).

In Methods and Aims, Petrie states, “By shifting the camera to one side, and taking a second plate, a perfect stereograph is obtained; and wherever the chance is not to be repeated, and two plates are taken to ensure success, a shift should be made so that both may be used together” (p. 81–82). This paragraph perhaps explains why he took so many photographs of the Naos of Ramesses II (nos. 127a, 127b, 212, 223, 224, and 225), which was recently redisplayed on the Grand Staircase at the GEM, moved from the CEM. Photographs nos. 127a, 127b, 212, and 223 capture the same side of the Naos twice without shifting the camera maybe “to ensure success”. Moreover, the camera was moved, and photographs from different angles were taken to obtain “a perfect stereograph” when “used together”. This approach to photographing the Naos at Tanis

Left: Colossus of Ramesses II in situ in 1884 (EES. DE.NEG.0228).

Courtesy of The Egypt Exploration Society. Middle: The same colossus on a new mastaba at Tanis in 2019.

Right: The colossus after re-erection in front of the glass facade on the northern side of the GEM (No. 21334). Courtesy of the GEM.

Left: Pink granite colossal statue of Merenptah in situ in 1884 (EES. DE.NEG.0248).

Courtesy of The Egypt Exploration Society.

Right: The same statue now on the Grand Staircase (No. 2234). Courtesy of the GEM.

Photo: Ahmed Nakshara

Photo: Ahmed Nakshara

Photo: Ahmed Nakshara

demonstrates that some of Petrie’s archaeological methods, which reached the peak of maturity in his latter 1904 book, were formulated during his first digging season at Tanis in 1884.

Significance of Archival Photographs

Apart from their aesthetic value, archival photographs are an excellent resource for the historical interpretation of objects and sites. They document objects that could be lost forever, as Petrie himself states in his letter to Reginald Stuart Poole. He wrote about his regret not having photographed an object later destroyed, “…the tablet of Petukha… it was carried off & destroyed by the Arabs during the war. I wish that I had photographed it, but the reis made such a row about my copying the cartouche even, that I dropped it. Now it is gone forever” (EES.COR.016.f.10 on 1st December 1883). Furthermore, archival photographs document the status of objects in an earlier stage of their natural degradation due to erosion factors. An examples of this are the cartouches on the bottom of the Obelisk of Ramesses II, where the inscription in Petrie’s photograph of 1884 is clearer and less deteriorated than its current state. Finally, these records help to trace the history of the restoration of objects. For instance, the Sphinx

of Amenemhat III’s ears do not appear in Petrie’s photograph. Thus, by tracing the history of its restoration, the author found that the ears were reconstructed by conservators of the CEM long before its transportation to the GEM.

Archives are indispensable sources for the study, preservation and interpretation of our heritage. Therefore, Ahmed proposes further investigation into the archives to better understand the provenance of GEM objects, tracing their journey from original site to current home. Such research could be published in the GEM’s upcoming magazine, journal or on the website: www.gem.eg (launching soon).

• Ahmed Nakshara is a Museum curator at the GEM, former inspector at Tanis. He has a Master’s degree in Heritage Conservation and Site Management. He would like to thank the Major General Atef Moftah, the General Supervisor of the GEM and Prof Eltayeb Abbas, Assistant Minister for Archaeological Affairs at the GEM for their continued encouragement and support.

Sphinx of Amenemhat III in situ in 1884 (EES.DE.NEG.0109).

Courtesy of The Egypt Exploration Society (Top Left). The sphinx with reconstructed ears (Top Middle), currently on the Grand Staircase.

Courtesy of the GEM (Top Right).

Bottom: The Naos of Ramesses II from different angles in situ in 1884 (EES. DE.NEG.0225, 0224, 0223). Courtesy of The Egypt Exploration Society.

Above: Cartouches on the bottom of the Obelisk of Ramesses II in situ before its recent transportation to the GEM.

Photo: Hossam Rashed

Photo: Ahmed Nakshara

Photo: Ahmed Nakshara

A Colossal Portrait of Amenhotep III

A range of well-preserved royal images in the Temple of Millions of Years of Amenhotep III illustrate different phases of the royal portraiture throughout his magnificent reign (c. 1388–1350 bce ). Hourig Sourouzian elaborates on the development of Amenhotep III’s portraits uncovered by the Colossi of Memnon and Amenhotep III Temple Conservation Project.

Today known as the Colossi of Memnon, these statues were, in fact, the last to have been placed at the entrance of this splendid temple, built within the 39 th year of Amenhotep III’s reign (c. 1349 bce). If time and nature had not defaced the pair of colossi placed at the First Pylon of the temple, they would represent the portrait of the aged king at the threshold of his vast temple. Yet, the face of the king is damaged, and numerous pieces might be found scattered all over the fields. However, recent discoveries display an array of portraits that illustrate the evolution of official representation of the monarch in this temple.

Colossi of Memnon standing at the First Pylon at Kôm elHettan.

Monumental travertine head of the North Colossus of Amenhotep III at the Third Pylon.

Amenhotep III in the Early Years

The moment of accession to the throne of Egypt by this young monarch is perpetuated in the temple with a granodiorite statue representing him in the seated classical position, with hands resting flat on his knees, wearing the nemes headdress and the pleated kilt (no. 15510). The statue is 2.59 m high. On the youthful face, the juvenile features establish the roots for official portraiture of the coming decades, with modifications at certain stages of the reign or adjustments necessary due to materials or specific types of representation. The statue was found in spring 2009. It had fallen near the ramp leading to the façade of the Peristyle Court. We can assume that it was placed right at the beginning of the reign (c. 1388 bce) at the gate of the early temple precinct. At that stage, a simple gate may have given access to a processional way leading to the sanctuaries, before the Hypostyle Hall and Peristyle Court were built. The hieroglyphic treatment of the face shows simplified modelling and almost stylised features: an ovalshaped face with shallow cheekbones, full cheeks and a broad chin. On the wide and flat brow, the eyebrows rendered in relief are almost horizontal and curve slightly before being prolonged horizontally on the temples of the head. The slanted oblique eyes are set frontally, the upper lid is emphasised with a broad cosmetic band in shallow relief, which is prolonged on the temples parallel to the end of the eyebrows. A short nose is conserved, which, despite the damage, shows fleshy sides. The protruding mouth with wellmodelled lips is framed with a clear ridge; the upper lip is slightly wider and indented by the shallow groove of the philtrum. The ears are rendered plastically in great detail; the ear lobes are thick, wide and not pierced. They occupy the upper half of the height of the face and can be seen frontally.

A similar statue produced shortly after, slightly smaller, measuring 2.46 m high, was discovered in spring 2017 (no. 32183). It was found lying among Sekhmet statues at the south-west corner of the Peristyle Court. The statue was likely placed in front of the façade of the Hypostyle Hall (see EA 51, p. 19). After first cleaning and documentation, it was transferred to the Luxor Museum, where it was put on display near its companion and unveiled by the Minister of Antiquities on 18 th

Portrait of Amenhotep III on granodiorite statue from Kôm el-Hettan, no. 15510.

Portrait of Amenhotep III on granodiorite statue from Kôm el-Hettan, no. 32183.

April 2017.

The features are sensibly matured, the face is longer, the eyebrows slightly arched, the eyes set still obliquely, but with a rim framing the upper lid instead of a band. The royal titulary inscribed on the back qualifies the king as “son of Amun” and “ruler with numerous SedFestivals”. Further research will show if the statue preceded the jubilee celebrations and if the text was anticipating that period or was added afterwards. Nonetheless, nothing in this classical iconography foreshadows the forthcoming decade of change and the solarisation of the king.

Two similar statues were taken by Belzoni from this temple and are now on display in the British Museum (museum nos. EA4 and EA5). Petrie found two others reinscribed by Ramesses II in front of the Ramesside temple attributed to Nebwenenef. They were recently brought into the temple of Seti I in Gurna by Rainer Stadelmann due to the village encroaching onto the site. A bust now kept in the Ohtake Museum Tokyo completes one of these statues (see my first photomontage in EA 22, p. 10–11).

Amenhotep III in the attitude of Osiris

The large Peristyle Court, constructed in front of the Hypostyle Hall, featured an extraordinary programme of royal statues surrounding the court. The king is represented like Osiris – standing with feet joined and hands crossed on the chest to hold the royal insignia. However, for the first time in this statue type, the king was neither wrapped in a mummy shroud nor clad in a jubilee mantle, but he was shown wearing the shendjyt kilt. In the northern half of the court, the statues are hewn in quartzite from the northern quarries of Gebel El-Ahmar near Heliopolis. They represent the king of the North with the Lower Egyptian red crown. In the southern half, the red granite statues derive from the southern quarries of Aswan and embody the king of the South with the white crown of Upper Egypt.

A red granite head and pair of feet on a decorated base from

Right:

The head (no. 8000) now placed on the colossus PS IV, in the south-east corner of the Peristyle Court.

Red granite heads of Amenhotep III at Kôm el-Hettan, no. 1600 (above) and no. 8000 (below).

this ensemble are now in the Louvre Museum (museum nos. A18 and A19). Later, a similar head discovered by the Inspectorate of Antiquities joined the Luxor Museum, where we completed it with the royal beard (see EA 39, p. 32). We revealed four more heads and several body parts, many of which have already been placed in the court, such as the colossus PS IV, which is now standing with a partly damaged head. An extraordinarily well-preserved head was found buried in the south-western corner of the Peristyle Court. It was chosen by the authorities to be displayed in one of the newly constructed museums in Egypt.

From the quartzite statues, besides two well-known heads in the British Museum (museum nos. EA6 and EA7), our project progressively lifted many sculptures in the western and northern porticoes. One body was completed with the replica of the head of EA6, (see EA 39, p. 29–32). We revealed three more heads, one found fragmented in a well, which is presently mounted on a plinth near its body, and reconstructed the fourth one from dispersed pieces of a vandalised head that had been viewed on the site in the last century. Due to its fragile condition, it could not be placed on-site, so it is now on display in the Luxor Museum, exposed vis-àvis the red granite head mentioned above.

Facing each other as they were in the past, these two heads serve as an introduction to the temple statuary and reveal the story of the efforts made for their preservation.

The portrait of the king in this colossal statuary shows an oval face with now elongated, almond-shaped eyes set horizontally and looking downwards. A sizeable cosmetic band frames the upper eyelid on the quartzite heads, while two large bands surround the eye entirely on both upper and lower lids and join to be prolonged on the temples. The upper eyelid is more elaborate on the red granite heads and shows a faint ridge as if to mark a fold, while the quartzite statues do not display this feature. The nose remains short and turned up, with a broad base and fleshy sides of nostrils, which are hollowed in a perfectly stylised manner. The mouth is wider, it is still framed with a sharp rim, but the lips are now more bulging. The upper lip with its swollen pouch under the philtrum is thicker than the lower, and the two hollows having marked the mouth corners are now more elaborate, enhanced by fleshy contours on their side. All these features are already well-known, having been studied and presented during exhibitions, symposia, and publications on the king’s reign. Additional finds from this site, as previously reported, largely corroborate the general state of observation.

Red granite head of Amenhotep III from Kôm el Hettan, no. 17500.

Left: Quartzite head of Amenhotep III from Kôm el-Hettan, no. 6000.

Right: Quartzite head of Amenhotep III reconstituted at Kôm el-Hettan and now kept in the Luxor Museum for Ancient Egyptian Art.

Amenhotep III as a Sphinx

What is new is the royal portraiture on two quartzite sphinxes found at the entrance of the Peristyle Court. Together with two, now headless, sphinxes of the queen, they most probably flanked the ramp leading to the entrance gate of the Peristyle Court. On these sphinxes, the general features are reminiscent of the quartzite statues of Amenhotep III just seen in the court. The first difference can be seen in the headdress, as well as in the overall style. The head of the smaller sphinx parallels the quartzite statue head now in the Luxor Museum; whereas, the larger one shows a broader face, slightly slanted eyes looking straight, less exaggerated sinuosity of the mouth, and softer pronounced philtrum. Is this a sign of maturity or harking back to convention?

Much larger red granite sphinxes, now in St Petersburg on the University Embankment in front of the Academy of Fine Arts, were placed in the entrance to the Hypostyle Hall (EA 51, p. 20-21). They truly display the same admirable facial features of the red granite statues seen above, and they present the difference of scale and headdress and a new element on the upper lid. A clear furrow enhances the fold above the upper cosmetic band, precisely where the red granite statue heads showed a more subtle dim ridge.

This furrow is also observed on colossal

statuary in limestone where an incised line marks the fold, including the colossal family group now in the Egyptian Museum Cairo (JE 33906). Also, on the splendid royal bust in the British Museum (EA3), where the mouth returns to standard size with lips of equal thickness and length. This feature seems to appear on group statues where three daughters start to be represented, which is during the Sed-festival celebrations. Therefore, further study is needed to fix the feature within the chronology of royal portraiture. Notably, the incised line also occurs on smallscale effigies, like the travertine dyad representing Amenhotep III with Sobek of Sumenu, later reinscribed by Ramesses II (Luxor Museum J 155).

Amenhotep III at the Third Pylon

Until more light can enrich this topic, we shall now consider the portraiture on the travertine royal colossi found toppled at the gate of the Third Pylon. The spectacular head of the Northern Colossus on which we have reported earlier (see EA 39, p. 29) has been recently temporarily freed from its protective structures for photogrammetry and further study. It is by far the best-preserved of all colossal heads of Amenhotep III in this temple. With the double crown surmounting the nemes headdress plus the beard, this head

Left: Face of the smaller quartzite sphinx of Amenhotep III, no. 14400.

Right: Face of the larger quartzite sphinx of Amenhotep III, no. 15500 and 15505.

Portrait of Queen Tiye at the right side of the travertine North Colossus.

would probably reach a height of 5 m; the face alone is 1.21 m high, the beard 1.07 m, and the head of the uraeus at its front measured one cubit.

On this remarkable face, traces of polychromy are discernible as well as the extraordinary skill of the sculptors who have rendered this colossal portrait with extreme dexterity and talent. The stone’s flaws have been concealed, the enormous face has been sculpted with adequate proportions, the skin surfaces have been polished, leaving the large cosmetic bands surrounding the eyes roughened, and the eyeballs were painted.

Here again, the characteristic features of Amenhotep III can be well observed: the ovalshaped face, the arched eyebrows in shallow relief, the elongated eyes framed and prolonged by large cosmetic bands with a shallow fold above the upper cosmetic band. He has full cheeks, a short nose with fleshy wings, a pronounced philtrum and the admirably sculpted smile of the sinuous mouth, with delicately hollowed corners. His upper lip is thicker and dented, which bulged in the middle, the perfectly curved lower lip pursing over the faint furrow separating it from the slightly modelled chin, which is harmoniously bordered by the curve of the beard.

This colossus is subject to thorough conservation and reassembly. It will hopefully

be lifted to its original place in a future season once the groundwater problems of the site have been solved. It will be then reunited with the statue of Queen Tiye near the king’s right leg, which has been temporarily moved and sheltered, leading to a future study of the queens depicted in colossal royal statuary.

Amenhotep III in the Late Years

Back to the representation of the king in the temple, beyond the examples just considered, which are unmistakably recognised as likenesses of Amenhotep III. The majestic serenity conveyed by those portraits gives way to a realistic portrayal of the ageing monarch, as witnessed on the face of the eastern royal colossus at the North Gate (see EA 46, p. 20-22). Here, the detail of his face shows how the king’s features have come to a severe

Monumental travertine head of the North Colossus of Amenhotep III at the Third Pylon.

Detailed view of the monumental travertine head of the North Colossus of Amenhotep III at the Third Pylon.

maturity towards the end of his reign.

The classical iconography of these two effigies — striding posture, white crown, shendjyt kilt — corresponds with the period preceding the jubilees, celebrated in the last decade of his reign (c. 1340–1350 bce ). Could this be the precise moment before rejuvenation witnessed on the famous statue of Amenhotep III standing on a sledge from the “Luxor cachette” now in the Luxor Museum (J 838). Does this statue deliberately exhibit rejuvenated features and solar symbolism? If so, the next phase of this study should consider the portrait of Amenhotep III in this temple after the first jubilee.

Amenhotep III after the First Jubilee

The colossi of the Second Pylon were placed at the site after the first jubilee celebrations evidenced by manifestations of solarisation in the royal costume. Therefore, it will be rewarding to discover the missing royal face of the Northern Colossus and see the very fragmented face of the Southern Colossus completed. In this partial reconstruction, the treatment of the sinuous mouth with its rimmed frame and the swollen upper lip has undoubtedly remained unchanged since the quartzite statues of the Peristyle Court.

Until more fragments can hopefully enrich that reassembly, a question still remains to know how Amenhotep III’s portrait was styled at the very end of his reign. An attempt to answer this question is brought by a smaller head of a group statue, maybe a dyad, discovered in 2006 in

the northern part of the Hypostyle Hall. This could indeed represent the ageing king, with smaller eyes, furrows on the cheeks and a mouth with downturned corners. This image was originally interpreted as the king with Nubian features (see EA 29, 2006, p. 24). However, other comparable statues in the same material and similar style have since been found by the Ministry of Antiquities with a team headed by Zahi Hawass, who were working in private land situated to the north of the temple of Amenhotep III during a national dewatering project. The face of the king on one of the dyads is perfectly well preserved and the features show Amenhotep III ostensibly as an old monarch in the last days of his reign, as stated by Zahi Hawass.

These discoveries open a new phase of research and enrich the repertoire of the temple with new statue types. Rainer Stadelmann, co-initiator and co-director of our project, suggested that this area of dyad statues situated north-west of the site could be part of the Sun Court of the Temple of Millions of Years. Future investigations may confirm this assumption and reveal more precise dating in this vibrant repertoire of statuary produced by the magnificent artists throughout the reign of his Majesty.

• Prof Hourig Sourouzian has directed The Colossi of Memnon and Amenhotep III Temple Conservation Project since 1998. She wishes to thank the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities for their kind permission to work in this temple, as well as the German Archaeological Institute, the Gurna Inspectorate and dedicated team members who reveal and conserve this extraordinary heritage. On behalf of the team, warm thanks also go to our generous donors: Fonds Khéops pour l’archéologie, with Farida Khelfa, Christian Louboutin and Henri Seydoux, World Monuments Fund, Memnon Verein, Stephanie and Bernhard Buchner, Marjorie Fisher, Sidney Kitchel Horus Egyptology Society, Chesterfield Association for the Study of Ancient Egypt, Mary McKercher and Richard Fazzini, and all friends of the site. All images © The Colossi of Memnon and Amenhotep III Temple Conservation Project, and photos taken by Antoine Chéné unless otherwise stated.

Portrait of the ageing Amenhotep III on the East Colossus at the North Gate.

Right: Red granite head of the aging king from a group statue at Kôm el-Hettan, no. 7000.

Head of quartzite South Colossus of Amenhotep III at the Second Pylon, during documentation.

Photo: Abdelrhman Nusair

Governor Baqet II at Beni Hassan Security in Death

Naguib Kanawati, Eman Khalifa and Martin Bommas determine what the tomb scenes, ceramic assemblage and mortuary texts discovered in a burial chamber tell us about the regional governor Baqet II (BH 33). Presented here for the first time, this evidence sheds new light on funerary practices during the turbulent early Middle Kingdom (c. 2055–1650 bce).

Located in the most fertile region of Egypt according to the Egyptian Ministry of Agriculture, the 16th Upper Egyptian province (known as the Oryx Nome) had special importance throughout Egyptian history. Beni Hassan, near the present city of El-Minya, was the main cemetery of the province during the Middle Kingdom and fortunately, it is one of the best-preserved sites of the Nome. Parts of it have been excavated and recorded previously by Jean-François Champollion, Karl Richar Lepsius, John Garstang and John Gardner Wilkinson. Nonetheless, it was Percy Edward Newberry who first undertook a nearsystematic excavation, recording and publication of the decorated tombs on the

upper terrace of the cliff. Newberry’s work was on behalf of the Archaeological Survey of Egypt for the Egypt Exploration Fund from 1890 to 1894. Despite its incompleteness, his record has served scholars well until recently and was the primary source of information on this important site.

The current project by the Australian Centre for Egyptology has two aims: a) produce a complete and accurate modern record of all scenes and inscriptions, following recent conservation work undertaken by the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities and, b) prepare detailed architectural drawings of each chapel and associated burials. Newberry focused his attention on architectural details

Open forecourt and entrance of the tomb of Baqet II (BH 33) in May 2009, looking north.

Photo: Martin Bommas

in the better-preserved tombs, mainly in the northern part of the cemetery, namely the tombs of Amenemhat (No 2) and Khnumhotep II (No 3). The same rigour was not applied to the southern group of tombs, namely those of Baqet I and Baqet II. Thus, all that was known was the number of tomb burials: six and three pits, respectively.

Dating and History of Beni Hassan

Beni Hassan contains the tombs of a succession of seven governors of the Oryx Nome as well as other important decorated and undecorated tombs. The dating of these tombs is of particular importance as they provide information about the development of art, architecture, daily life, religious beliefs and ceramics during the Middle Kingdom. Unfortunately, the dates are not agreed upon; still, it is generally accepted that the southern group of tombs, belonging to Baqet I, Baqet II, Remushenti, Baqet III and Khety, is the earliest. None of the owners left a biographical inscription or mentioned the name of any king, which may have helped with dating their tombs. In contrast, the northern group, Khnumhotep I and Amenemhat, as well as the famous Khnumhotep II, who was not a governor but Overseer of the Eastern Desert, is more precisely dated. Khnumhotep I mentions his appointment by Amenemhat I, founder of the 12 th Dynasty (c. 1991–1962 bce). Scholars disagree about the likely dates of the earlier governors and whether all five, Baqet I to Khety, could have ruled in the relatively short period in the latter part of the 11th Dynasty, after the unification of the country by

Mentuhotep II (c. 2055–1991 bce). Accordingly, some scholars have placed Baqet I and Baqet II in the First Intermediate Period (c. 2160–2055 bce).

An examination of the scenes and inscriptions at Beni Hassan and its neighbouring provinces clearly shows that this was a combative period, with internal and external conflicts. As a result, most of the tombs in the southern group were left unfinished, and the human remains show injuries and suggest death at a young age. Certain individuals are repeatedly depicted in the tombs from Baqet I to Khnumhotep I. For example, three men with physical peculiarities, one exhibiting signs of dwarfism, another with a possible kyphosis (humpback), and a third with severe intoeing (inward pointed feet), were depicted and named in the tomb of Baqet I. These three men are missing in the tomb of Baqet II, but the wall scenes are far from complete. The individual suffering from kyphosis was not shown again and perhaps died during the lifetime of Baqet II. Yet, the other two men are illustrated in the tombs of Remushenti, Khety and finally Khnumhotep I. It is unlikely that such representations were stereotyped and that one governor copied them from his predecessor. Instead, it seems more likely that they portray loyal and valued dependants of this governing family. People with physical abnormalities appear to have been selected for light tasks and were particularly close to the tomb owners. If we accept that these were real people, then the period from Baqet I to Khnumhotep I could not have been more than the life span of a single man. Since Khnumhotep I is securely

View of the burial apartment of Baqet II, including the burial pit.

Photo: Ahmed Soleiman

dated to the reign of Amenemhat I, Baqet I and Baqet II could not be dated earlier than the unification of Egypt by Mentuhotep II (c. 2055 bce). The results obtained from detailed ceramic analysis support this conclusion based on the chapel decoration.

Baqet II’s Burial Chamber

The burial chamber of Baqet II is accessed through a deep shaft and several rooms. At a depth of 24.1 m, the shaft opens into a room with a secondary rectangular shaft that is 2.85 m deep. The base of this second shaft leads into a second chamber, which then opens into the burial chamber. This final chamber has four walls adorned with scenes showing animated figures, including the tomb owner, herdsmen and live animals. Ritual texts are also inscribed on the walls. A burial pit for the wooden coffin and a smaller pit for the canopic jars or the equipment for the opening of the mouth ceremony are cut into the floor. The coffin and any burial equipment were removed by earlier excavators or by tomb robbers, who emptied the entire skeletal remains into the smaller pit. The examination of these remains suggests that Baqet II was around 25–35 years old at death. Two magazines were cut at a higher level into the east and west walls of the burial chamber. Numerous pottery vessels were found, some still preserving food remains.

Ceramic Assemblage with Preserved Contents

Baqet II’s rich pottery assemblage was discovered mostly in situ. It was lifted with extreme care and subsequently studied in an undecorated tomb kindly provided by the local Inspectorate. Pottery forms and styles soon proved to belong to the phase between the mid-11th and 12th Dynasties (c. 2020–1802 bce). The final count added up to almost 200 complete vessels and sherds. All pots, but one, were made of Nile clay. The exception was a large jar made of Upper Egyptian marl clay, which originates only in southern Egypt. The presence of only one jar of this material within the assemblage reflects the interregional connection between Beni Hassan and its area of origin. The vessels were made on a potter’s wheel, and in many cases, the potters used a sharp tool — possibly a knife — to trim the bases. The bases of some jars were finished by hand, as the potter’s fingerprints can still

be seen.

A considerable number of ceramic vessels were discovered with their contents preserved, so it was necessary to take samples for further off-site laboratory testing. This kind of interdisciplinary analysis can reveal more about ancient Egyptian society and, in this case, the dynamics behind a burial. At the laboratory in Cairo, Thermogravimetric-Differential Thermal Analysis (TG-DTA), used to determine firing temperature ranges, revealed that some vessels were fired up to 850°C or higher. However, not all were wholly fired; in other words, the potters did not leave them in the kiln long enough.

Almost three-quarters of the ceramics (71%) were closed vessels or jars, 20% were open vessels, and 9% were miniatures. According to the perception of the ancient Egyptians, a vessel’s form regardless of its size performed the function. Miniature ceramics were usually less than 10 cm high and served as small models of larger pots that could be useful to the deceased in the afterlife. All miniatures provided for Baqet II were jars used for libation. Their full-scale counterparts were also included, which retained salt crystals on the surface. In the laboratory, X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) analysis, which can determine a material’s crystallographic structure, showed that those deposits resulted from humidity rather than actual use. This means that Baqet II or his family purposefully provided this unused set for his burial. Open vessels were provided for Baqet II to consume or prepare his own meal in the afterlife. In addition to bowls, his assemblage included two cups for drinking. One large broken bowl, however, showed the remains of a yellow powder with the same colour as the pigment used in painting the walls of the burial chamber. Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) analysis, used to obtain an infrared spectrum, showed that the chrome

Above: Spouted jars including miniature vessels used for libation and the marl jar, from the burial apartment of Baqet II.

Photo: Eman Khalifa

Below: Jar discovered with provisions in Baqet II’s burial chamber with mud cap sealings.

Photo: Ahmed Soleiman

yellow colour was mixed with animal glue, usually used as a binder for pigment in ancient Egypt. This demonstrates that the tomb decorator left this piece behind. Some of the closed vessels, like jars discovered in the magazines, proved to have been filled with provisions for Baqet II and sealed with mud. A total of 12 intact mud caps were identified with seal impressions. The provisions included pastries, which the project analysed for residues to identify the recipe’s ingredients in the laboratory. More residue samples were extracted from the walls of the pots to identify their contents and reconstruct their function in the burial, which evidenced the inclusion of cereal grains and fruits. Archaeobotanical studies of the remains identified the fruits, including figs. The assemblage from Baqet II’s burial chamber included eight hieratic inscriptions on jars in faint black ink, further identifying the contents.

Pyramid and Coffin Text Inscriptions

In addition to the vessel inscriptions and captions accompanying the tomb scenes discussed above, the lower sections of all four walls were covered with hieratic and cursivehieroglyphic texts. The black pigment was often compromised as they were written while the walls were still partially wet, so these inscriptions are very difficult to read. One section in the middle of the south wall has yet to be deciphered. Nonetheless, with the help of digital photography by Ahmed Suleiman and conservator Mostafa Ibrahim, the other inscriptions have been documented as a ritual handbook.

In an anticlockwise direction, this book starts on the west wall of the burial chamber with an abbreviated version of the oldest mortuary liturgy, first attested in Pyramid Texts (PT) within the 5th Dynasty pyramid of Unas in c. 2350 bce . In Baqet II’s version, mortuary liturgy PT AI includes spells PT 215–219 laid out on the west wall underneath the depictions of objects linked with the funerary procession. This

selection refers to the deceased’s arrival in the cemetery, including his Travel to Sais. The particular circumstances of his burial are discussed in a highly personalised manner within this well-established corpus of texts. Spells PT 221 and PT 222 start on the south wall of the burial chamber underneath images of men leading two oxen and one calf, followed by two antelopes. PT 222 continues on the right part of the east wall, embedded in the cult ritual after Baqet II has been reunited with the glorified spirits (akhu) and gods. While these spells discuss the cyclic movement of the dead not only in anticlockwise motion along these walls, they also refer to a higher, mythical level, including the travels with the sun god Ra.

Coffin Text (CT) 225 recorded on the north wall, the concluding inscription, allows the deceased to leave his burial chamber and enter the underworld. The tomb owner is uniquely addressed as:

“He, Baqet! Stand up!

May you have your sekhem -power over your enemies.

May you give yourself on <your> left side.”

After CT 225 concludes, Baqet II is depicted approaching the door of the burial chamber, which is evocative of the vignettes accompanying Book of the Dead spell 68, which replaced CT 225 in the New Kingdom (c. 1550–1069 bce).

Different from the neighbouring cemetery of El-Bersha, a striking peculiarity regarding the Middle Kingdom funerary texts is the almost complete absence of mortuary liturgies at Beni Hassan. Why the interest in documenting recitation texts waned in later years is not entirely clear. However, Baqet II’s

Ovoid vessel with a hieratic label mentioning figs. The jar was discovered with actual figs inside.

Photo: Eman Khalifa

Work inside Baqet II’s burial chamber, looking north. The north wall includes a copy of Middle Kingdom coffin text spell CT 225.

Photo: Eman Khalifa

ritual handbook shows that religious knowledge was highly regarded in its early stages of development during the 11th Dynasty (c. 2150–1991 bce). By creating meaningful and innovative versions of the well-established liturgies PT AI [PT 213-219] and PT AII [PT 220-222] from the Old Kingdom, these recitation texts served as a means of future reference for a deceased who wanted to rely on travelling with the sun god and hoped for free movement in the beyond, a wish that is well-attested within the corpus of Middle Kingdom Mortuary Liturgies from all over Egypt.

Whether or not these spells were ever recited in this location is, however, doubtful. Cut into the bedrock at a depth of 24.1 m and with no ventilation in place, access to oxygen may have become the biggest obstacle in cutting the burial chamber, decorating its walls, and performing lengthy rituals. The funerary texts in the tomb of Baqet II are very irregular, presenting the confusion suffered by the scribes in such challenging conditions. Columns are written in serpentine or circular patterns, starting mid-column before being continued at the top of the very same column, plus the inclusion of repetitions, omissions and later additions. These are only some of the unusual features suggesting that even the most professional scribes faced adverse working conditions in this burial chamber. As can be observed from the changes in individual handwriting, scribes chose to work in shifts of between around 15 and 25 minutes before a

successor was presumably lowered into the burial chamber to continue inscribing the ritual handbook of Baqet II.

Conclusion

The evidence from the burial of Baqet II is consistent with a period of insecurity. The deceased was heavily protected by the depth of the shaft and huge monolithic stones blocking each of the three rooms. Animated figures were formerly regarded as a possible threat to the deceased, so they were eliminated from burial chambers shortly following their introduction late in the Old Kingdom (c. 2686–2160 bce). Their reappearance at Beni Hassan, together with the large storage of food and drink in numerous jars, may hint at the tomb owner’s fear of starvation. Similarly, the inscription of ritual texts on the burial chamber walls may reflect his lack of confidence in maintaining funerary customs after death. The burial of Baqet II throws light on funerary beliefs as well as the unstable conditions of the country, probably not during the First Intermediate Period, but early in the Middle Kingdom after the reunification of Egypt.

• Prof Naguib Kanawati (Macquarie University, Sydney) is the founder and former Director of the Australian Centre for Egyptology, and Director of the Beni Hassan Research Project since 2010. Since then he and his team have published six site monographs on Beni Hassan. A/Prof Eman Khalifa (Cairo University, Egypt) has been teaching prehistory and pottery analysis for postgraduate students in the Egyptology Department at Cairo University since 2013. In 2015, she designed and started teaching pottery science courses for undergraduate students in both Arabic and English. She is an expert in prehistory, pottery, and residue analysis of ancient Egyptian pottery. She has worked in museums and laboratories in the US, UK and Egypt, and excavated at Nabta Playa, Elephantine, Qubbet el-Hawa, Beni Hassan, and Peru. Prof Martin Bommas (Macquarie University, Sydney) is the Director of the Macquarie University History Museum, and Director of the joint EES Qubbet el-Hawa Research Project. He has published on mortuary liturgies since 2001. The authors would like to acknowledge with gratitude the permission given by the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities to excavate and record the site of Beni Hassan, as well as the permission to take samples, and the grant received from the Australian Research Council in support of the fieldwork.

Above: West wall of the burial chamber of Baqet II showing ritual texts in the hieratic script on the lowest register of the wall.

Photo: Ahmed Soleiman

Tomb of Khuwy at Djedkare’s Royal Cemetery

The Tomb of Khuwy was discovered during the search for King Djedkare’s royal court in his royal cemetery at Saqqara, partly funded by the EES. Mohamed Megahed notes that this is one of the earliest known examples of decorated substructures in non-royal tombs during the Old Kingdom.

Djedkare’s royal cemetery is one of the least explored parts of the Saqqara antiquities area. In the late Fifth Dynasty, King Djedkare-Isesi (c. 2414–2375 bce) decided not to construct his pyramid complex in Abusir, the royal cemetery of most Fifth Dynasty kings, or central Saqqara, where his immediate predecessor was buried. Instead, he chose a new site for his pyramid situated further south in Saqqara, and he called his monument “Beautiful-is-Djedkare”.

For decades, Djedkare’s pyramid complex was overlooked by scholars examining the Old Kingdom pyramids, possibly due to its poor state of preservation and the lack of Pyramid Texts in its substructure. Since 2010, an Egyptian and International team led by Mohamed Megahed and Hana Vymazalová

have carried out documentation and excavation work in Djedkare’s pyramid complex. The research has mainly focused on the king’s pyramid and his funerary temple, which was briefly explored in the late 1940s and the early 1950s. After years of detailed documentation, the pyramid complex of Djedkare is now one of the best-preserved complexes in Saqqara. This mission has also started to investigate the surrounding cemetery. Unlike the king’s monument itself, Djedkare’s royal cemetery remained unexplored until 2019. The topographical surface of the site shows many visible structures under the sand surrounding the king’s pyramid, especially on its western and eastern sides. As with many other pyramid complexes of the Old Kingdom rulers, some members of the king’s family could be expected

The tomb of Khuwy, found in March 2019, is seen north-east of Djedkare’s pyramid.

© Djedkare Project

to be buried near his pyramid. Therefore, one of the goals of the mission was to start the exploration of Djedkare’s royal cemetery to uncover new evidence of his royal court, which was first made possible in the spring of 2019. During this short season, the activities focused on the north-eastern part of the cemetery, where modern looters uncovered limestone blocks of a large tomb in 2017. The existence of this tomb had been revealed earlier by the outline of its walls visible under the sand, and in 2019, we began to uncover it.

Overview of the Tomb

The tomb of Khuwy, which we labelled MSEast-1 before the name of its owner was found, is situated on the edge of the cemetery hill overlooking the modern village of Saqqara. It is located north-east of the pyramid complex of Djedkare’s queen, Setibhor. The exploration of the tomb has revealed a large mastaba with the inner walls built of irregular pieces of local limestone and mud mortar. In contrast, the casing of the outside walls and internal spaces were constructed of large blocks of fine white Turah limestone. The tomb is approximately 26.3 m long from north to south, 19.0 m wide from east to west, and the highest remaining part at the south-western corner reaches 4.3 m above the level of its preserved floor.

The Superstructure

The superstructure contains a chapel consisting of several rooms, which can be entered from the east near the south-eastern corner of the tomb. On the remaining pavement of the entrance, we have found grooves in the floor, indicating the frequent opening and closing of the wooden door leaf that once sealed the entrance to the chapel. The entrance room was originally decorated with low reliefs, partly surviving on its western wall. These reliefs show the tomb owner, Khuwy, fishing on a boat on the southern part and fowling on the northern part of the wall. This fishing and fowling scene is often found in Egyptian private tombs. Khuwy is accompanied by several men, including his son Neferhetep, who is shown with him on the boat.

The second rectangular room oriented north-south can be entered from the centre of the first room’s western wall. This room was also decorated with reliefs, but only the

bottom register is preserved in situ. These reliefs depict a grain-processing scene, including a threshing floor with young cattle, winnowing, and heaps of grain. In addition, a fragmented scene of personified funerary estates has also been found in the north part of this room.

The third room, constituting the most important part of the tomb’s superstructure, was the offering chapel, accessed through an entrance in the northern wall of the previous room. A false door was formerly located on its western wall, but is now completely missing, except for the mortar on the floor indicating its original position and size. In front of this area, where the false door once stood, a large offering table made from a single piece of limestone was found. It is decorated with a large hetep -sign on the top and two shensymbols on the sides: unusual features with strong royal connotations. This, together with the high quality of the preserved reliefs, the tomb’s position, and its size, indicates the tomb owner’s strong connection to the royal family.

A serdab chamber has also been identified in the superstructure of the tomb. The serdab usually contains statues of the tomb owner, which are sometimes — but not always — visible from the chapel through a small opening. Khuwy’s serdab accommodated wooden figures with inlaid eyes consisting of copper-alloy eyelids, ivory sclera, and obsidian pupils. Only small wooden fragments, six pairs of eyes, and two nonmatching eyes have survived. The

Inlaid eyes found inside the serdab in the upper part of the tomb.

A section of preserved decoration seen on the superstructure of Khuwy’s tomb.

© Djedkare Project

© Djedkare Project

number of the discovered eyes indicates that at least eight statues of various sizes were initially placed in this part of the tomb.

The Substructure

The tomb preserves many indications of Khuwy’s high status and his relationship to the royal court during Djedkare’s reign. Besides the extensive use of the white Turah limestone, and the skilfully decorated chapel with the distinctive offering table mentioned above, the substructure of the tomb provides further proof as the layout is a simplified duplication of King Djedkare’s royal pyramid design. The entrance to the underground part of the tomb is located in the northern wall of the tomb and a descending corridor leads to a small vestibule, from which a short entrance passage gives access to an antechamber. There is a burial chamber to the west, accessible through two entrances at the northern and southern ends of the antechamber. Unfortunately, the limestone sarcophagus placed in the middle of the burial chamber was found completely destroyed. Another small passage leads from the southern wall of the antechamber to a storeroom situated further south.

The rooms of this substructure are spacious in comparison with the customarily small Old Kingdom burial chambers. Again, Khuwy’s high social rank is reflected in the decoration of the four walls of the antechamber. This decoration, executed in low relief with its colourful painting preserved, is one of the earliest known examples of decorated substructures in nonroyal tombs in the Old Kingdom. Moreover, it is a rare delicate example of Old Kingdom art.

The earliest attestations of decorated burial chambers appeared during the reign of King Djedkare, and their decoration was probably standardised after the reign of King Pepy I (2321–2287 bce) in the Sixth Dynasty. The tomb of Khuwy makes it possible to study the earliest stage of this development. The decoration of the antechamber in the tomb’s substructure can be divided into three sections according to the themes depicted on the four walls. The northern and southern walls show the tomb owner as the central focus, sitting in front of the offering table with bread on it. Above the seated figure of Khuwy, the hieroglyphic inscription records his titles and name: “sole companion, overseer of the tenants of the Great House, judicial administrator of the Great House, the Great one of ten of Upper Egypt, noble of the king, revered, companion of the (royal) house, Khuwy”. Behind and above the offering table are heaps of food offerings. The bottom part of the walls preserves two additional registers of boats; larger boats are sailed by the tomb owner westward, symbolising the journey to the afterlife, with two smaller boats filled by his attendants beneath also sailing westward.

The eastern wall is the longest decorated wall in the underground structure. It lists an extended offering formula in the upper two registers, consisting of 94 items. Each offering in this list is written in a separated rectangular compartment. Each word is ended by a determinative sign, which illustrates the offering bearer holding the corresponding offering in his hands. Below the boxes of text are numbers representing the offering pieces. The third register on this wall depicts detailed scenes of the slaughtering of sacrificial bulls, and offering bearers carrying cuts of the slaughtered bulls. The western wall, dividing the antechamber

Right: A sample of the offering list depicted on the eastern wall of the antechamber, showing the offerings in rectangular boxes.

The primary result of the 3D scanning of the tomb.

© Djedkare Project

© Djedkare Project

and the burial chamber, is decorated with two large depictions of a palace façade in the centre, encompassing beautifully elaborate geometric patterns. The two palace façades are separated by a vertical column of a hieroglyphic inscription, once again presenting the epithets and name of Khuwy. This wall’s northern and southern ends contain two entrances leading to the burial chamber: the decoration above them symbolising two registers of offerings. The lengthy hieroglyphic inscription spanning the entire width of this antechamber wall in the uppermost register incorporates an offering formula, with the titles of Khuwy.

Although ancient tomb robbers had already looted Khuwy’s burial chamber in antiquity, its decoration remains beautifully preserved. We have found some remnants of the tomb equipment, which may have belonged to

Khuwy, including shards of pottery vessels, remains of food offerings, and limestone canopic jars with traces of resin inside. Several fragments of a mummified human body have also been collected in the chamber, covered with dark resin and wrapped in layers of linen bandages. This may be Khuwy himself, but a detailed analysis is needed to confirm this hypothesis.

• Dr Mohamed Megahed works in the Czech Institute of Egyptology at Charles University. The Djedkare Project is supported by the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities of Egypt (MoTA) and Charles University, Czech Republic (CU). Parts of the fieldwork were carried out with the support of the Czech Science Foundation, the Neuron Endowment Fund, the Antiquities Endowment Fund of the American Research Center in Egypt, and the Centenary Awards of the Egypt Exploration Society. The international team led by Mohamed Megahed includes the following members: Hana Vymazalová , Peter Jánosi, Salima Ikram, Sandro Vannini, Vladimír Brůna, Aiman Damarany, Petr Košárek, Zeinab Hashesh, Ahmed Gabr, Mouniera Hussein, Ashraf Senussi, Nermeen Aba Yazeed, Elisabeth Majerus, Alexandra Kosinová, and Gabriele Pieke.

The decorated antechamber of Khuwy, located in the underground part of his tomb.

© Djedkare Project

Anna Stevens, Amarna: A Guide to the Ancient City of Akhetaten. AUC Press, 2020. ISBN: 978 9 77416 982 3. Price £29.95 (hardcover)

Anna Stevens’ Amarna: A Guide to the Ancient City of Akhetaten is an enjoyable and accessible volume that will be of interest to Egyptologists and nonspecialists alike, containing both introductions to key concepts of ancient Egypt nestled seamlessly alongside multipage overviews of the archaeology of the site. Stevens’ volume greatly expands upon a 1990s guide to the rock-cut tombs and Central City of Amarna written by the Amarna Project Director Barry Kemp. It is richly illustrated with maps, plans, line drawings, site photos, museum objects, and, of course, archival images from the EES excavations on site in the 1920s and 30s.

The book begins with a concise introduction to the chronology and key, but enigmatic, figures of the Amarna Period (c. 1353–1336 bce), particularly the rulers and their families. This is followed by ‘Setting the Scene’ — the book’s longest chapter, which presents a largely chronological overview of Amarna from its conception to collapse, unpacking the political and religious atmosphere in the late Eighteenth Dynasty and discussing the art, architecture, and archaeology of the Amarna Period. Far from focusing on just the famous royal family, the volume also highlights life for the general populace at Amarna, a city that was “for many people, a difficult place to live” (p. 35).

Nestled in the middle of the volume is a practical guide for tourists visiting the ancient site. Stevens includes one- and two-day itineraries, directions to the site by car, information about amenities, ticketing, and accessibility. She also

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provides helpful ‘tips for visiting’ — which includes bringing a flashlight to view tomb details and to “meet [the site] halfway”, as not much of the ruined ancient city “survives vertically” (p. 71).

The final four chapters are dedicated to the main features of Amarna from north to south as tourists would view them, which helpfully points out noticeable landmarks and discusses their importance. Over 30 pages are dedicated to detailed overviews of the North and South Tombs of the highest officials. Stevens discusses the architecture and iconography room by room, aided by tomb plans and line drawings and even includes a section on the later Christian monastic reuse of some of these rock-cut tombs.

Throughout the book, over 30 ‘In Focus’ case studies are presented by Stevens and a host of contributors, including Barry Kemp, Amarna Project team members, Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities personnel, and more. Although they occasionally repeat information that Stevens has already introduced in the main text, they provide an interesting look at ongoing research at the site. For example, sobering case studies outline the work at the North Tombs and South Tombs cemeteries, where the skeletal remains paint a bleak picture of life for the lower classes, including hard, physical labour at a very young age for some and near-death experiences for many others (p. 108–9, 152–153). A particular highlight was the ‘In Focus’ on life in the modern, local villages al-Hagg Qandil and al-Till written by the Amarna Project excavation team from those villages (p. 51–52). The book closes with a helpful index and a ‘further information’ section, which allows readers to delve more deeply into any aspects of what they’ve read.

Stevens and her collaborators manage to truly show how “Akhetaten was undoubtedly many things at once to many different people” (p. 67) by intertwining ancient history, archaeological remains, the history of excavation, and the site’s modern legacy throughout this book. Stevens’ Guide to the Ancient City of Akhetaten is a must-read for anyone, whether archaeologist or enthusiast, interested in the Amarna Period.

STEPHANIE BOONSTRA

Eleanor Dobson, Writing the Sphinx: Literature, Culture and Egyptology

Edinburgh University Press, 2020. ISBN: 978 1 4744 76249. Price £80 (hardcover)

This volume forms part of the ‘Edinburgh Critical Studies in Victorian Culture’ series. However, it does far more than provide a literary dissection and discussion of Egyptological fictions; instead, addressing cultural influences in the development of British Egyptology, as a discipline, during the late 19 th and early 20 th Centuries.

Across five chapters, each considering, in considerable detail, disparate but entirely pertinent topics. Eleanor Dobson charts the curious and distinctly symbiotic relationship between Egyptology and popular fiction. As writers of the period drew upon published reports of contemporary archaeological work — to decidedly varying degrees — their own novels and short stories; so archaeologists drew upon public fascination as an effective means of popularising their own vital but considerably less exotic work in the archaeological field. Dobson skilfully outlines the creative milieu of the period, inhabited by characters such as Ernest Alfred Thompson Wallis Budge, Howard Carter, Henry Rider Haggard, and Bram Stoker. In so doing, she highlights the activities of less well-remembered figures, such as William John Loftie and Maria Corelli, who still played essential roles in the spread of interest in ancient Egypt both within the academic sphere and beyond.

Dobson is at pains to remind her readers that Egyptology, both actual and fictional, was heavily enmeshed with the flourishing fields of spiritualism and occultism during this period. Helena Blavatsky, Aleister Crowley, and their related organisations drew heavily upon

Bookshelf

Egyptological research to inform their religious theories. This, in turn, appealed widely to authors, artists, and, indeed, academics such as Oxford’s Professor of Egyptology and Journal of Egyptian Archaeology editor Battiscombe Gunn.

Through her wide-ranging research, Dobson unearths a cornucopia of fascinating and largely forgotten literary delights. Notably, a contemporary parody of Haggard’s She, entitled He, penned by Walter Herries Pollock and Andrew Lang, starts with the unexpected delivery of a mummy case. A poem by the war poet Rupert Brooke, Mummia (1911) expresses his apparent erotic fascination with female mummies! Dobson makes it increasingly clear that Egyptologists of the period were aware of the exotic appeal stimulated by their field. She transcribes a previously unpublished — and undated — poem by Amelia Edwards. Now in the Griffith Institute’s archives, entitled, To his mummy (who is older than he). Apparently intended as private amusement for Petrie, it tells of the passion of a male archaeologist for a female mummy.

The lines between reality and fiction were further blurred in S. S. Van Dines’ 1929 Philo Vance mystery, The Scarab Murder Case, including a passage dismissing Budge’s philological work, describing Sir Alan Gardiner as ‘the true modern scholar’. In fact, Van Dines was the pseudonym of the noted art critic Willard Huntington Wright.

Authors’ literary uses of hieroglyphs within published volumes and upon personal bookplates come under scrutiny. Dobson analyses some of the more amusing, metaphysical, and frankly ludicrous interpretations of the script across various sources. For example, the bizarre hieroglyphic devices of engraver Edward Whymper, who rendered capital letters as though appearing in an illuminated manuscript, for Haggard’s 1889 novel, Cleopatra

Alongside the works of Jasmine Day and Roger Luckhurst, Dobson’s book is an important publication, which not only expands our understanding of Egyptological reception but also provides a nuanced survey of a significant period in the history of British Egyptology.

JOHN J JOHNSTON

This slim volume is part of new series by the publisher known as ‘Cambridge Elements: Ancient Egypt in Context’. This one presents some key ‘take-aways’ from Dr Cooney’s ongoing work on the coffins of the later New Kingdom and early Third Intermediate Period (c. 1336–664 bce), dealing with the items primarily as commodities, rather than as artistic, archaeological or ritual artefacts.

She begins with considering various general issues involved in the study of Egyptian coffins, which range from a brief overview of their development and their religious significance through to the fundamental question of who actually made them – and through what social and economic mechanisms. This includes the question of who acquired coffins, incorporating issues emerging from Dr Cooney’s work on the reuse of older coffins, especially during the 21st Dynasty (c. 1069–945 bce), and its implications for the archaeological problem of why so few coffins seem survive from New Kingdom contexts.

The author deals solely on wooden coffins, with no reference to the stone examples that are found during the late Eighteenth and earlier Nineteenth Dynasties (c. 1336–1189 bce), which are identical to wooden pieces in design, decoration and ritual significance. Of course, the production-side of such pieces is very different from the ‘core’ wooden examples that are the topic of the book — but they should have merited at least some notice, especially as to the kinds of people who possessed them.

Topics dealt with in detail include the

economic and social choices inherent in commissioning a coffin and the system that created, and what is dubbed the ‘Coffin Craft System’. This makes up in many ways the ‘meat’ of the book, drawing heavily on documents from the Deir elMedina community. It is now clear that, in addition to their ‘day jobs’ building royal tombs, its skilled artisans undertook a wide range of private commissions, including the making of coffins, as evidenced by a range of receipts, personal records, legal texts and records. The book argues that, rather than, as was long felt, being potentially-illicit ‘moonlighting’ by state employees, this work may even have been encouraged by the authorities.

Dr Cooney provides a range of examples of the documentation that survives. This throws much light on the topic, including the fact that coffinproduction could be a lucrative business. Indeed, a Deir el-Medina worker could double his monthly state-stipend by decorating a single coffin, while the complete provision of a high-status coffin could multiply it tenfold. In looking at what an item might yield for a single craftsman — or consortium of artisans — the author highlights the sophistication that existed within what was nominally a bartereconomy, with a constellation of consumer-items reckoned together to make up a payment nominally denominated in deben of copper or silver.

The text is accompanied by a range of relevant images, including key coffin-sets of the Ramesside Period (c. 1299–1069 bce). Some of these are rather too small — especially those of the coffin, coffinboard and mask of Iyneferti wife of the famous Sennedjem, from TT1 in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In addition, Figure 10 is not of the Ashmolean ostracon it is implied to be of on page 67: the caption indicates it is a wholly-unrelated one in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

Coffin Commerce gives an excellent summary what for many will be new aspects of the study of a category of object that is ubiquitous in Egyptian collections and popular perceptions of ancient Egypt. It is to be thoroughly recommended.

AIDAN DODSON

Kathlyn M. Cooney, Coffin Commerce Cambridge University Press, 2021. ISBN 978 1 108 82333 3. Price: £15.00 (paperback)

Puzzle Page

Do you remember where these words appeared and why they are significant?

AMARNA AMENHOTEP III ARCHIVE COFFIN DAMBOYA DAZZLING ATEN

Nasser Junior

Tell them you discovered a mummy who wants to travel

HELLENISTIC HYPOSTYLE COURT KHUWY MASTABA MEROITIC MUSEUM

OBELISK OFFERING FORMULA PERISTYLE COURT PHARAONIC PREDYNASTIC PYRAMID TEXTS

Heba

What are you doing!?

Heba

Did you know that British-led excavations have discovered thousands of artefacts in Egypt and exported some of them to 27 countries

From the comic series ‘Nasser, Heba and Our Dispersed Heritage’ by Nasser Junior and Heba Abd el-Gawad for UCL’s Institute of archaeology AHRC funded “Egypt’s Dispersed Heritage” project.

We appreciate that some of you may wish to support Egyptian cultural heritage beyond the regular membership level. Becoming part of our Giving Circles is the perfect way to show your generous support.

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This autumn (until 31st December 2021) we need to raise at least £10,000 toward the cost of producing and printing the first-ever colour version of A Thousand Miles Up the Nile

If you donate £500, we will print your name in the book and send you a copy when it is printed in 2022. Those generously contributing £2,000 will receive the above, as well as becoming part of our Amelia Edwards’ Circle.

Find out more and donate now at www.ees.ac.uk!

Celebrating Egyptology in 2022

The EES will be commemorating several important anniversaries throughout 2022 with an extensive events programme centred around three themes.

Egypt on the Eve of ‘Independence’ January – May

In February 1922, Britain granted ‘independence’ to Egypt establishing an independent Kingdom of Egypt. 2022 also marks the 140th anniversary of the foundation of the Egypt Exploration Society, as well as 130 years since the passing of its co-founder, Amelia Edwards.

The Walls Speak June – September

October 2022 marks 200 years since Jean-François Champollion announced his breakthrough decipherment of the Rosetta Stone and what is often considered the start of modern Egyptology.

Tut-mania

October – December

2022 marks one hundred years since the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun in November 1922, a landmark moment in Egypt’s long and celebrated history. What is the legacy of this major event, and how has it impacted Egypt and Egyptology today?

Scan the QR code below for further details and booking on our website (www.ees.ac.uk).

Members of the Egypt Exploration Society enjoy tickets for paid events at a heavily discounted rate.