Report of Thebes in First Millennium BC conference part 3

Day 3

This consisted of site visits to TT223 Karakhamun TT391 Karabasken TT33 Petamenophis TT414 Ankh-Hor TT279 Pabasa TT312 Nespakashuty apart from TT312 I have visit reports or lectures of all these sites on the blog from previous posts, please search on the tags on the right hand side. The reports from the visitors were 1000% happy, they thoroughly enjoyed the talks and the onsite lectures. The food at Sheik Ali was also given a huge thumbs up, so well done them.

Day 4

The morning was site visits to Karnak, again this was hugely enjoyed and the onsite descriptions given by members of the team were much appreciated. The afternoon we resumed at the Mummification Museum.

A major development project of the Northern area of the Amun-Ra precinct at Karnak during the reign of Shabaka

A three part presentation by Christophe Theirs, Pierre Zignani and Nadia Licitra. Although casual visitors to Karnak might not realise it there are huge stretches of the site that have not been excavated and gradually these are. The northern area is one of these, around the Ptah temple.

This picture of the model in the visitors centre shows the area and you can see just how much of the area is blank canvas. However these presentations put buildings in the blank places.

 

Christophe described the history of excavations from Legrain (1896-1900) and Chevrier (1932/34 1947/48) until today. He stated that the Ptah temple used to be a way station until the expansion of Karnak. This meant that it was subsequently altered by Shabaka with monumental gates and incorporation in other structures. He described the restoration of the gateway and how complex scenes were originally designed and altered.

Pierre stated the temple of Ptah has its own axis’s, the oldest part is Tuthmosis III, and the Ptolemaic extensions came about from the extension of the enclosure wall in 30th dynasty. Another gate has been found which connects with the Shabaka gate and reused talatat blocks. The also found the door jamb from the 17th dynasty with the name of Sen-Nakht-En-R which has been reported in the Egyptian press http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/9/40/35984/Heritage/Ancient-Egypt/Gate-found-in-Karnak-Temple-adds-new-name-to-ancie.aspx

Nadia went on the describe the Treasury of Shabaka, the know part of this structure was 12 columns but much more has been found including previously dismissed mud brick walls and two new rooms. The treasury itself had sandstone benches much of this remains.

The building activity of the God’s Wives of Amun at Karnak during the XXVI dynasty. New data from recent excavations and unexploited archives.

Presented by Laurent Coulon he gave a lot of detail about Osiris Wennefer Neb Djefau, why it was in that location, and its use as the processional way of the fetish. He also described the buildings in the area known as Naga Malgata (the place where things are picked up) which further north. A 26th dynasty building had been previous published by Pillet. There are so few remains that use has been made of archive photographs from Lyon. He believes one structure to be more of a ritual place than a chapel. The Griffiths institute archives have also contributed to his work. He also talked about the statue of Ibi Je36158 and related the 4 buildings described to his research.

Offering Magazines on the Southern Bank of the Sacred Lake in Karnak: A possible reconstruction of the Architectural Phases of the 25th and 26th Dynasty

Another blank area



Aurelia Masson  described how the construction of the sound and light stage had meant rescue archaeology of the that area which discovered priests house, subsequently more excavation had been done and she looked at the relationship between the East and South of the Sacred Lake. Lepidus had documented a large monument, an Offering Magazine belonging to Psammuthes (can be seen in the model) built of mud brick with sandstone columns and doorways. She went into some detail about other buildings in this area the chapel of Thoth and Amun, a chapel of Shabaka part of which is in the Berlin which they has excavated and found lots more, a chapel of Osorkon which is located but not excavated. She then proposed a layout which incorporated all of this and made another offering magazine, actually she had two proposals. The pottery is from the 25th/26th dynasty and her idea is that this building had the same function as the later building.

Ceramic Production in the Theban Area from 25th and 26th dynasties: about new discoveries in Karnak

Catherine Deferernez talked about how the lack of stratification made dating difficult but typology is different she is beginning a classification of Late Period pottery. Stephanie Boulet went on to show the pieces recovered from three trenches under the chapel of the God’s wife of Amun and showed a series of slides illustrating the various types.

The development of graffiti practices in Karnak in the early first millennium B.C the case study of the temple of Ptah

Elizabeth Frood spoke with great enthusiasm not only about her project but the use of a new technique called Reflective Transform Imaging. She is using this software (open source code) and a snooker ball to look at blocks. It is enabling here to get all sorts of information from what look like undecipherable blocks. She suggests you look at this blog to get more information http://kathrynpiquette.blogspot.com/

She believes that graffiti was an elite activity and defines graffiti as ‘text or images on a temple or tomb wall that were not intended’. There are 100 known images at Ptah from Third Intermediate Period till Roman, not forgetting 19th century and a lost Coptic inscription. The south wall has the most with 18 blocks being inscribed. She intends to publish her work both online and in print because of this new technique.

The Lost Tombs Beneath the Houses of Qurna and el Khokha

Ramadan Ahmed Ali the Chief Inspector gave a talk about the consequences of the removal of the houses. He did not go into the politics of the action but just showed us the tombs that had been revealed amongst these were C14, TT 209, 137 136 385 29 32 183 48 185 and some unnumbered tombs. Although some are being excavated he welcomed more teams coming to work on these.

Closing Speech Mansour Boraik

Mansour joked that the title was ‘Title to follow’. He talked about the embankment that had discovered at Karnak and the rich information this excavation had revealed. He went into some detail about the work of Taharqa and the possibility the big inundation recorded on a stele of Taharqa (21 cubits in front of Waset) might have been the motivation for the building for the ramp at a different angle.

Elena Pischikova then gave a short presentation thanking all her people. I videoed some of it but missed the beginning when Ken Griffin and Trisha Mason were thanked. She showed some lovely photos from the entire season. Some of those volunteers managed to come back to help with the conference and she stressed what a massive help they have been to the smooth running of the conference.



Tony Browder who fund raises for the project in America gave thanks to Elena and the project for the educational work they do. http://www.ikg-info.com/ 

Some other people spoke giving thanks like Julia Budka but the most surprising was a lady from Mehen Studycentre for Ancient Egypt http://www.mehen.nl/ who was with a small group, she announced a donation of 1000 Euros for both Elena and Claude Traunecker TT33. I wish you could have seen Elena’s face as this was announced, most of these missions work on a shoe string budget and the smallest donation is massively appreciated. If you would like to make a donation to help this excavation please go to this page on the website http://southasasif.com/Become-a-Sponsor2.html


So this part 3 of my report just the gala dinner at Luxor Temple to go

Report of Thebes in First Millennium BC conference Part 1

Report of Thebes in First Millennium BC conference

Mei mei as the Egyptians would say (10/10), to hold a quality international conference is a challenging undertaking in Egypt, especially on a tight budget. The conference program may not have been a glossy, laminated colour production but it had the information and stunningly enough, apart from one blip at the very beginning, they have managed to keep to the program and what a program.

The Egyptian authorities have given it their complete support from the governor Dr Ezzat Saad opening to the conference, various speakers giving excellent talks to the Ministry of Tourism hosting the closing dinner.
This report is for the first day until the afternoon break.

The opening remarks by Dr Mohamed El Bialy gave a historical background to the Assasif (also spelt Asasif), the location roughly between the temple of Hatshepsut and the Ramasseum, the origins of the name, the history of excavation at the sight and some rather witty ideas about the name. All nationalities have worked in the area from Belzoni the Italian to Polish/Mexican/American/French/Italian today. It is possible that the site was first popularised with an Old Kingdom temple to Hathor prior to the Middle Kingdom and New Kingdom building boom.

Dr Ezzat Saad, the governor of Luxor opened the conference stressing the work of the various missions, his friendships amongst them and his thanks to them. He noted the differences between Luxor and Cairo and the complete safety of Luxor. Then we had a power cut! This caused considerable amusement as 90% of the audience know this a regular feature of life here and power was quickly restored. The governor then continued his speech noting the character of the people of Luxor who might talk about politics but any demo is limited in numbers and very peaceful.


Then the conference proper started. Dr Elena Pischikova was the first talk. I will not give a full report of the speakers 1) the abstracts are on the conference website http://southasasif.com/Conference/Conference_abstracts.doc  2) some have consented to having iPods being made available 3) the proceedings will be published in the future 4) I only fully report free talks. I will let people know on my blog when I see the publication and I-pods being made available.

The South Asasif Conservation Project
Dr Elena Pischikova firstly thanked all her team, the volunteers, conservators, workmen and Reiss. She talked about her work in Thebes over 7 seasons and before that when they were scouting the area.  She believes that Karabasken is the first of the Kushite tombs. Her sites have been extremely challenging to work in as the stone is poor quality and this has caused huge problems with excavation, safety and conservation. The reconstruction work is going well, and her many slides showed the extent of this tomb and how much they have cleared.

Kushite pottery from the tomb of Karakhamun: Towards a reconstruction of the use of pottery in 25th Dynasty temple tombs
Julia Budka talked with great authority about the pottery found on site. Although a lot was found only a few pieces could be dated to the Kushite period and perhaps to the original tomb, 3 pieces in all. But these pieces were very illuminating, she explained the links with Kurra, Abydos and Thebes that can be deduced and the various types of vessel.

The Book of the Dead from the Second Pillared Hall of the Tomb of Karakhamun
Ken Griffin stated that 90% of the texts in the tomb have been identified, now this sounds quite easy but when he shows you a slide with a dozen glyphs scattered on fragments and how they have managed to put these together and then from these few scraps identified which exact chapter of the book of the dead these are from you realise the enormous task. Some chapters are duplicated and later talks showed this is not uncommon. This is the earliest Late Period Theban tomb to be extensively decorated with the Book of the Dead and gives us new insights into the 25th Dynasty Book of the Dead and how much they must have researched in order to put this material on their tombs.

The Hall of the Two Maats BD 125 in Karakhamun’s funerary chamber
Miguel Molinero Polo
This talk again positioned the tomb in the development of the Book of the Dead in this period and how by careful selection of the appropriate text and vignettes the tomb burial chamber was transformed into the virtual Hall of the Two Maats.

Indentifying Signs of Workshop Production in Theban Funerary Assemblages in the Later Third intermediate Period
John Taylor
Because there are so many variations it is difficult to date things stylistically as can be done in other periods. However using trends and typologies it is possible to link pieces together and thus identifying workmen’s styles. This linking can be done across pieces so the same thing on a shabity box may be found on a coffin, thus they can be linked. This “workshop” could be an ad-hoc or permanent team and they would have created all sorts of objects for all sorts of levels of society.


Lunch was provided for all and it was nice to meet with Egyptian members of the team as well as speakers, volunteers and other attendees. Although basic it was enjoyed by all judging by the clean plates.


Some remarks on the architecture of TT223
Dieter Eigner discussed the possible reasons behind the choice of site. The connection with the lost causeway of Amenemhat I and other significant places in the area. The tombs are that of type 5 which is a big step in tomb design with open courtyards, pillared halls. He also went into some detail about the cavetto cornice which is rarely found.

Brief Remarks on the Faunal Material from the South Assasif Conservation Project
Salima Ikram talked about the bones, some of which had been subjected to intense heat which had coloured them blue to varying degrees. Although there were different periods of time the majority, some 96% were cow. These were from 1st centaury AD and would have demonstrated a significant level on wealth.

New Tombs of the North Asassif
Fathy Yaseen Abd El Karim, head of the West Bank Antiquities, talked about the 4 new tombs that have been opened. These are in front of TT405 in the El Khokha area.

Conservation at the South Asasif Necropolis
A fascinating, highly technical talk by Abdelrazk Ali (Mohammed) about the various methods used in the conservation, this was someone who had a real feel for his work. He explained that he tried to be sympathetic to the stone, to compliment the right stone with the right mortar mix. They try and use natural methods and Egyptian materials where ever possible. He explained that the tomb was carved by inexperienced stone carvers as they selected areas which have lines of poor quality. His talk attracted a lot of questions in the discussion.

I still have lots more to write up and will work on it tonight but thought you would like some details now. I have loads of photos on a Facebook album, you don't need to have a Facebook profile to look at them

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151212141381072.504828.528791071&type=1&l=ba29b086f1

Another update for South Assasif via EEF

A positive update on conditions in Luxor. The joint Egyptian America mission to South Asasif (Tomb T223) started work on Monday. The mission is led by Dr Elena Pishikova, the team includes John Billman, Birgit Schoer, a Spanish epigraphic team and others from the UK and USA. This is the first mission to start this season and a sign that things are returning to normal.

Generally things are a little quieter for the time of year but there are signs that tourists are taking advantage of excellent deals and returning.
Other than fewer tourists things for visitors are much as normal and now is an excellent time to visit to see the uncrowded monuments.

Best regards

Albert Prince

Old Mummification Museum lecture - South Assasif

I am really pleased to find this one after my visit there and the recent lecture. it puts things into context.

Mummification Museum Lecture - Forgotton Tombs of the Southern Assasif - Dr Elena Pischikova
Forgotten Tombs of the Southern Assasif - Dr Elena Pischikova
The idea of excavating the Southern Assasif came because the work the team did at Tomb of Nespakashuty (TT 312). After spending 6 years reconstructing the sandstone entrance which was a 6 m high structure. They felt their next task should be to find his mother. This tomb was known to be in the area known as Southern Assasif. This area is nowhere near the Assasif tombs at Deir el Bahri, but that is the name it is known by. It is actually just across the road from the Ramasseum, in southern Gurna and in the village of Abed Rassoul. There are 3 tombs near each other.

TT390 Irtieru or Irtyru, female scribe and attendant of the god’s priestess Nitiqret, Late Period
TT391 Karabasken or Kerebesken, mayor of Thebes, Dynasty 25
TT223 Karakhamun, first priest with entry, Late Period

There were many problems excavating in this area as the villagers felt these tombs were part of their houses. Indeed TT391 was used as the summer house when the family slept outside due to the extreme heat. It was a very complicated situation. The tombs were being used for the housing of donkeys and dogs. The team felt the removal of the village was good news but wanted to be around when the houses were demolished as they could see fragments being used in the construction of these houses.

TT390
Lexius recorded that there 2 door frames but 150 years later these were hard to see. The last person to see them was Dieter Arnold. There was a decorated ceiling in the burial chamber. Even finding where they were in the village was difficult but eventual in 2001 they were traced to the home of Ahmed Mahmoud Abdul Rassoul. The team were not welcome and they could not excavate as the family were there. Eventually Ahmed did let them in, it should be noted that he died 2 weeks ago.

There was a 4 story house on top of the tomb and the family were using the open courtyard. The tomb was covered in soot but although the ceiling was black they could see colour through it and it was a challenge to remove this soot without damaging the colour and pattern underneath. Lots of fragments had also been cut out. Prelimary cleaning revealed the colour, the whole tomb was painted and the Divine Adoratrice Nitocris (Neitiqert) was present in many scenes.

The old kingdom style papyrus columns were revealed to be painted in yellow. The offering inscription was dedicated to her father. There are 4 sections to the vaulted ceiling which have different patterns. The team found that the soot had actually preserved the colours. There was a prelimary drawing of the kepher frieze. All the tombs were left unfinished and Dr Elena knows that there is a related tomb at Abydos and wants to see if that is unfinished to. There is an offering scene of the owner and father.

The second door frame was covered in mud and had to be recorded before cleaning. In 2nd pillared hall the pillars are not in good condition, it is not finished and just has prelimary lines. There was a niche with lost bits. The carving is so shallow that without the painting you can not see it. It has never been excavated and the burial chamber has not been found by archaeologists. But they don’t expect to find anything as after this time the chamber has probably been cleared but they may find relief

TT391 was the house used during the summer by the family and in the courtyard there were 6 layers of flood debris. It was full of graffiti and the architectural elements had been destroyed. They thought there was nothing there but after digging down 2 meters they found images. The ground is very wet. The images were in the style of the Old Kingdom. There was an undecorated pillared hall and a 6 niched chamber. It is being left for the future.

TT223 there is relief of Karakhamun, known in the Berlin museum. At the 4 meter level they found carving including a figurine. This tomb will take at least 10 years but the pillars might be able to be reconstructed at the end. A 4 by 9 meter area was cleared. There was a good example of Kushite carving including a hunting dog, priest with a sash and an image of the owner. They found lots of fragments. The name of the owner had gone but no new name had replaced it. At least 2 pillars were decorated with offerings. There is a painted procession of the Gods. Dr Elena would love to try and reconstruct the ceiling from the fragments found but that is for the future.

They expect that these three tombs will take a long time to excavate properly; even the rest of their lives but the priority is TT390

In the question and answer session Mansour Boraik talked about the demolition of the houses. Apparently 72 houses were chosen from old photos and were not going to be demolished. They have found that the people are not cop-operative. With regard to Ahmed Rassoul the SCA had got an agreement with him but now he has died they will have to get an agreement with his 2 wives and 10 children which complicates things. They now intend to keep 65 houses.

Posted by Jane: - 9:13 pm - Edit| No Comments »
February 18th, 2007

A visit to Early Kushite Tombs of South Asasif TT223 etc

Firstly I am not going to give a big report on the excavation as lots has to wait for publication but it does mean that when Elena gives her public lecture on Saturday I will be able to expand the things she mentions knowing I am safe doing so. As a bit of background reading do have a look at this link http://www.britishmuseum.org/pdf/Pischikova_a.pdf not only does it fully describe the tomb and general area but it also has some great photographs. Obviously I was not allowed to take any.

After stopping by the inspectors office to be ‘officially cleared’ I made it to the site just after 8. The team are working on three tombs Karakhamun, Karabasken and Irtieru, Karakhamun being the major one and they had been there since 6. When I got there some of them were busy recording and photography a buffalo skull, not quite treasure but it just shows you how archaeology has changed. Belzoni et al would have probably just thrown these things away but everything is recorded, photographed and stored. Digging is a whole different ball game these days.

These tombs are from the period when the Nubians or Black Pharoahs held sway over Egypt, hence the very unusual names. The first tomb we went into was originally underneath the Abu Rassoul house so the team are not expecting to find many artefacts however there was a very lovely ceiling which had been cleaned and a number of SCA conservators working there. That one was across a narrow plank bridge and I hate heights. I kept repeating the mantra don’t think about it. These late period tombs are very large and deep, they obviously had a bob or two. The second tomb was being used as a store room and is much ruined I was completely distracted by the giant jigsaw puzzle being worked on the floor. They have a number of fragments that come from one of the pillars and were using the area to reconstruct these into a coherent inscription. Another member of the team was working using some software to record some decoration. It is personal fascination to me how technology has made it into the archaeology arena and is making a huge difference. The old fashioned ways of pieces of paper on the walls are being ditched in favour of digital pens and pads. Obviously you have to have two skills now, artistic and use of the software.

Lastly we went to the tomb of Karakhamun which is huge, what is it with those late period guys. There is loads of colour, inscriptions and excavation still to be done. A huge task and one that relies on voluntary funding. Have a look at the website if yould like more info ad sponsorship details http://southasasif.com/Map.htmlSome of the stuff I saw was charming, really lovely. He does not appear to have had much family, only a brother has been identified, perhaps further excavation will reveal more. It took two Egyptians to get me back out of the tomb, it really is deep but it was worth it.

I have to give my thanks to Moustafa Waziry for giving me permission, Elena Pischikova for inviting me on the site and Meg Gundlach who actually did the tour and held my hand over narrow plank bridges and up and down hillsides. (Eventually some nice strong Egyptian men came to our rescue and pushed and pulled me up.)