José Manuel Galán TT12 Hery

José Manuel Galán TT12 Hery
Although the majority of their work has been on the tomb of Djehuty TT11 they also have the concession to other tombs as these are interconnected. Tonight Jose told us about TT12
This link from their website shows the tombs and their connections http://www.excavacionegipto.com/campana/images/03campana1.jpg they do have an English version of the website http://www.excavacionegipto.com/campana/campana11_ing.jsp.htm with excavation reports images and lots of background which I encourage you to have a look at.
They have been 10 years at Dra Abu Naga which is right in front of Karnak across the river. The sun rises between the obelisks at Karnak to set behind the hills at Dra Abu Naga. The area is very important in connection with the Beautiful Feast of the Valley as this was the first area they came to after leaving Karnak. It was the site of a lot of burials in both Middle kingdom and early 18th Dynasty
Their tombs are in order from south to north they are
• TT11 is the tomb of Djehuty a high official under Hatshepsut and Tuthmosis II
• TT399 is also early 18th dynasty but it is poor rock so was plastered so less information remains
• TT12 is Hery who was some 50 years earlier under Ahmose and Amenhotep I
• Baki
Above Baki there is another early 18th dynasty tomb. There is a 34 meter courtyard in front and the four tombs run almost parallel with the transverse hall of the T shaped tombs being broken to connect with the next door tomb, which is why their concession includes all the tombs.
Back in 2002 when they started they could only see the entrance to TT11 and to get to the other tombs they had to go through the connecting passage. They were not the first people in the tomb
Champollion 1829 reached the corridor of TT12 and he describes going through a cavern to reach it, which is Baki. Found the door jambs of Baki in the courtyard. TT12 does not have a transverse hall and is built more in the style of the Middle kingdom tombs and could even be the reuse of an earlier tomb. Champollion only saw the corridor. In his notes he notes the hieroglyphics and says they are like El Kab. He travelled with Roselline who also had a note book and copied the inscription.
He is described as scribe, butler, overseer of the double granaries of Ahotep royal wife and king’s mother but these titles don’t reflect his importance as he was born of the lady of the house Kheru of king Ahmes. This is the only example of this title and we don’t know what it means. But the reason he had such a tomb in such a place is because of his relationship through his mother.
Northern Wall
Very damaged but they have found fragments as well. There are fish and fowling scenes, probably two separate scenes and underneath the sailing to Abydos. Moving inwards there are offering bearers and the funerary banquet and hunting in the desert fringes. The relief is high quality reflect his importance and influence.
Southern Wall
The upper inscription is the one Champollion copied; the cracks are filled with mortar. There is the funerary procession and funerary banquet. Of the three registers the middle one is crossing the river, the upper dragging the mummy to the necropolis and the lower shows various gods, the hereafter and Osiris and Anubis.
Hery had an anthropoid coffin and this is the first example, the procession shows 4 mu dancers. In the lower register Anubis is shown much larger than Osiris. Their plan is to restore the fragments in situ.
Sadly there were a number of robberies and scenes taken from the tomb, a lot from the funerary banquet scenes. These robberies took place at the end of 19th beginning of 29th centenary in 1909 the tomb was protected by a wall.
Lepsius also visited the tomb in 1844 and copied the inscriptions but 15 years later the name of Heir and his sisters had gone. An unpublished diary from 1844 in Berlin has the full list.
In 1896 Spielberg did some squeezes which have ended up at the Griffiths, they have made drawings of these squeezes and there is lots more information.
Hery is shown with his mother which fits in with the idea of her importance but it means his wife gets squeezed out, his son Ahmes and his daughter are shown carrying sacks of natron. His father is not shown. There is a circular composition to the participants and the dead are on one side to the living. This is like the Stela of Aamtju MMA 19.3.32 http://www.metmuseum.org/Collections/search-the-collections/100002092?rpp=20&pg=1&ft=19.3.32&pos=1
Two women, his sisters are shown seated on chairs Senet Nefer had a different mother followed by three brothers one has a nickname related to the expulsion of the Hyskos.

Of the missing pieces some have been found in collections one piece was donated to the Met in 1970 from a couple who were on honeymoon in Egypt in 1904 and another found in the Petrie UC14549. He has sent out a request using JEA to all museums to check their collections based on the squeezes.

It was thought that the inner chamber was not decorated originally but they have found a frame line but that is all.
In 2010 they found a shaft and have excavated 4m down so far the rest will have to wait until next. In the connection between this tomb and Baki they have found a lot of Demotic graffiti, this is in the process of being studied, it refers to a door and burial place which link to a place under Baki.