Past the halfway point of the season, things are getting interesting. Excavation in the Henenu courtyard is about to begin, while the Ipi courtyard is yielding unexpected surprises.

At Henenu’s tomb, David has continued with the cleaning and documentation of different parts of the tomb. Iria and Óscar have been taking reference points with the total station in the courtyard. In addition, Daniel has been checking the plans of the tomb and has drawn some of the main shafts.

The conservation team has also been working in the Henenu tomb. Reed, Ella, Lily and Jaume have been documenting and labelling stone fragments that have been found in various pits.

At Ipi’s tomb, Mohamed excavated the shaft that was found yesterday in the courtyard. Unfortunately, it was fairly shallow and had no associated materials. It is likely that someone started digging a shaft and abandoned it, perhaps because of the quality of the rock in that area.

The good news is that a subsidiary chamber that Winlock had noted has been found in the eastern area. It is likely that the chamber had been plundered earlier but, based on photographs from the 1920s, it seems that the American archaeologist did not completely excavate the chamber.

Bea has been recording a large amount of pottery that has appeared in the southern part of the courtyard, while Hazem has been sketching an offering table that appeared a few years ago.

At E1, work is slowing down due to the amount of sand and rock in the tomb, but is progressing safely.

In the afternoon, the team celebrated Mohamed’s birthday. In addition to the typical celebration at the Marsam (including singing, dancing and cake), the team went to Luxor to enjoy dinner together. These are the moments that really bring us together as a team and make MKTP our second family.

Last night three new members arrived to join our team: Raúl, Inma and Daniel. Despite their journey of over five hours, none of them lost any time and were ready to climb the mountain first thing in the morning.

Raúl and Daniel went to E1 together with Carmen and Antonio. At the site they learned about the progress made this season, and some of the challenges facing the work. Daniel, an architect on the team, has been busy checking the structure of the tomb and will work over the next few days to produce detailed plans of the space.

Inma, an industrial design engineer, has set up in the tomb of Ipi to scan all of the jars from the embalming cachette in order to produce 3D models of each one.

Óscar has joined the team at Henenu´s tomb. He is working alongside David to take points using the total station to geo-reference the shafts. Meanwhile, the cleaning of the tomb is continuing, while Iria is registering and inventorying all of the finds being uncovered.

At the tomb of Ipi, the conservation team is continuing to join fragments of Middle Kingdom pottery uncovered during this season. So far, they have been able to identify at least five different jars. They have also been working on the cleaning and consolidation of cartonnage found in previous seasons.

The excavation of the courtyard of Ipi is almost finished, and in the next few days the majority of the workmen will be transferred to Henenu´s tomb to begin working on the courtyard there. Therefore, Bea has spent the day making sure all of the finds are perfectly organized, registered, and inventoried.

At the end of the day, however, what appeared to be a new shaft appeared in the Northwest section of the courtyard. For now there are not many finds being uncovered, but Mohamed is planning to fully excavate it tomorrow, so we will see if anything significant appears!

After the weekend, the return to work has been harder than usual. But there is nothing better than a good tea from Naggar to cheer us up and give us the energy we need to get down to work.

At Henenu’s tomb, David began with the cleaning of the burial chamber, as well as one of the descending corridors and two of the shafts. In this cleaning, large stone fragments were found, which the conservation team has recorded and labelled. Some significant finds were also incovered, which Iria identified and classified.

The epigraphers, Carlos and Sika, finished their classification of the fragments with reliefs and were able to join some more pieces together.

Today we made the decision not to excavate in E1, but instead wait for Raúl who will join us tomorrow to continue the work there. That is why Carmen stayed at the tomb of Ipi for the day, drawing shabtis found in past seasons together with Hazem.

The excavation of the courtyard at Ipi continues apace. Bea continues to record all the materials bring uncovered in the inventory, while Mohamed leads the excavation in the western area.

The conservation team continues with the treatment of the papyrus, and has begun to unfold some sheets with very good results. Jaume and Lily have also been working to join fragments of pottery from the Middle Kingdom that were recently found.

This was the last day at the site for Carlos and Sika, who are leaving in the evening. In just two weeks the epigraphers have made incredible progress, especially in relation to the Henenu sarcophagus. Their work will continue in Alcalá thanks to all the documentation they have produced these days, which will allow us to get to know better our beloved “Overseer of horn, hoof, feather and scale”.

On Friday those of us who travelled to Aswan woke up early, but a little later than usual, to enjoy a wonderful breakfast at the Nubia House where we spent the night. We didn’t linger long as the day was full of planned activities.

We boarded a sailboat for Qubbet el-Hawa where we visited the most significant Old Kingdom and Middle Kingdom tombs of the site, guided by our colleagues and friends Jose and Luisa from the University of Jaen mission “Proyecto Qubbet el-Hawa”.

After being amazed by the site, we sailed back to the center of Aswan, enjoying the beautiful landscape along the way. Some members of the team even took a swim off the side of the boat!

Once back in Aswan, we met a friend from the French Mission in Luxor who had also decided to visit Aswan for the weekend, and after a quick lunch we all went to see the temple of Philae.

This site, with its awesome Nilometre and where the last recorded use of hieroglyphs is preserved, was moved in its entirety to a different island after the famous Aswan Dam was constructed and submerged its original location. Even though it is close to the center of Aswan, you really feel like you are in another world on the island, which is why it was so surprising when a group of Mohammed’´s students appeared to greet him!

All together we explored the beautiful temple complex while the sun set over the Nile, making it a perfect ending to our trip.

All too soon we had to say goodbye to our friends however, and return to Luxor where dinner and our work were waiting for us.

With the inauguration of the Avenue of the Sphinxes linking the Luxor and Karnak Temples, we have not been able to go to work today. Add to that the fact that Friday is our day off, we have a two-day weekend ahead of us, and what better way to make the most of it than a trip to Aswan?

Most of the team rented a small van and travelled south, touring the villages along the Nile. Our first stop was Esna, where we visited the recently restored temple dedicated to the god Khnum. The whole team was amazed to see the colours of the columns and walls that the conservators have managed to restore.

The second stop was Edfu. There we spent several hours enjoying the temple, which is dedicated to the god Horus. Mohamed explained the decoration of the Mammisi to the team members, where the birth of the god Horus is narrated and commemorated. Then the whole team visited all the chapels and rooms of the temple, inspecting every nook and cranny. That’s the thing about travelling with Egyptologists.

After grabbing a quick bite to eat, the van went straight to Aswan. We arrived around four o’clock and went straight to the Nubian Museum. Just a few hours before, the exhibition “A decade of excavations in Qubbet el-Hawa, the results of the University of Jaén” had been inaugurated, so we were lucky enough to visit it. Congratulations to all our colleagues and friends of the Qubbet el-Hawa Project because the exhibition is amazing and we encourage you all to visit it if you have the opportunity.

We stayed in the museum until closing time and then went for a drink in a restaurant on a boat on the bank of the Nile. However, we did not stay long as our hosts were waiting for us.

That night we stayed in a typical Nubian House. The owners had prepared a hearty dinner for us consisting of chicken, fish, rice and potato stew. We all had a great time, chatted with the couple about their life story and drank a delicious cinnamon tea as night fell.

Tomorrow also promises a lot of activities, we will see if we are able to fulfil all our plans.

Today the day started with a visit to Dra Abu el-Naga. There one of our inspectors, Dr Mohamed Boeabish, showed us a number of tombs included in the Kampp catalogue that he is re-excavating and studying. The conservation of many of the paintings in these tombs, dating from the New Kingdom, was astonishing and the team was delighted to be able to visit.

As the work at the site started a little later, we were at full speed from the very first minute. At Henenu’s tomb, David and Iria continued with the cleaning of the tomb. They focused on the antechamber, the room that connects to the corridor leading to the burial chamber.

Sika and Carlos studied painted fragments from inside the sarcophagus. Jaume and Lily helped with the documentation of these pieces and were able to join together three of these limestone fragments.

At Ipi’s tomb, the day began with Oscar and Bea working with the total station. The excavation of the courtyard is now focusing on the eastern area, south of the tomb of Meseh. It is a very interesting area and at the end of the day we started to uncover Middle Kingdom ceramics, something that gives us very valuable information about the construction of the courtyard. Hazem has rejoined the team and he is focused on drawing and completing the information on the shabtis obtained in past seasons in the tomb of Ipi.

Also at Ipi´s tomb the conservation team finished a series of tests on the papyrus fragments to establish a methodology for their treatment. They also continued the treatment of the cartonnage fragments from the 2016 and 2017 seasons that had been previously cleaned and documented by Fathi and Reed, joining several fragments and stabilizing any fragile areas.

Carmen has been left in charge at E1 after Jose’s departure. With the help of Óscar, they photographed the corridor and the chamber. They documented the previous day’s finds and cleaned a superficial stratum that opens up to the corridor to finally photograph it. Óscar and Carmen joined MKTP in 2018 thanks to two collaboration grants for students at the University of Alcalá and this is already the third campaign in which they are participating.

We currently have three collaboration and archaeological training grants open, two for UAH students and one for members of the Spanish Association of Egyptology. If you are interested, you can check the requirements on the Facebook page Orientalística en la UAH and you could participate in the VII campaign of the team in 2022!

Today was a very happy day at the site, as it was the birthday of our beloved Rais Omar and we celebrated it all together with a delicious chocolate cake. All the workers sang songs to the Rais while we joined in by clapping our hands to celebrate this special day.

Furthermore, Dr. Behaa, Director General of the West Bank office, visited us. Antonio showed him the three tombs we are working on. Dr. Behaa could not have chosen a better day because the atmosphere at the site was exceptional. 

Last night Óscar arrived and today he began working with Bea to order the inventory of Ipi and photograph the ceramics found during this season.  The excavation of the courtyard continues, but Mohamed is also preparing the data for the final documentation, which will include a plan of the different profiles, 3D models, and more.

Reed, Ella and Jaume started to conserve different cartonnage fragment found in past seasons at Ipi’s tomb, while Lily treated some of the ceramics. Of course, the whole conservation team continues to work with the papyrus. The results of the techniques they are using to unfold some of the pieces are excellent and after a few days they hope to be able to make faster progress.

At Henenu’s tomb, David and Iria finished documenting all the shafts and they have begun a superficial cleaning of the entire tomb, from the burial chamber outwards. Jaume and Lily also visited Henenu´s tomb and worked with Carlos and Sika on some carved fragments.

The work on E1 is still focusing on cleaning the chamber connected to the corridor, especially the area where it seems there may be a new descending corridor. Jose and Carmen have documented and photographed the entire area, from which some small finds have appeared, such as a small scarab bead!

The sad part of the day is that it was the last day of work for Jose at the site, as he is leaving for Aswan this afternoon. Luckily, we will see him again very soon, but it will be a pity not to enjoy his daily laughs. We already miss you Jose!

The activity this week has been very intense. We are in the fourth week of excavation, which is when the work starts to pile up.

David and Iria are still working in the shafts of Henenu’s tomb. Today, they finished cleaning and documenting the one they opened yesterday, located in the funerary chamber. In addition to finding fire evidence, they found fragments of sarcophagus, as well as more common materials like wood, textiles, etc.

The epigraphers joined nine fragments of a stele. It is possible that Henenu’s tomb had a total of four stelae located at specific points. This idea was already put forward by Winlock but thanks to the work of Carlos and Sika, we are close to confirming it.

The excavation in the courtyard of Ipi is also progressing. Mohamed has opened new grids and he is studying very interesting strata. He has taken samples of the sand for further analysis and we hope to gain a better understanding of the occupation of this area of the courtyard.

At the E1, the work continues to focus on clearing the chamber that leads to the corridor. Antar, one of our best workers, is in charge of breaking up the large rocks that fill the room. The surprise was to find the beginning of a descending corridor. This gives us valuable information about the architecture of the tomb.

The restoration team now consists of four members, which makes all the work they have to do much easier. Early in the morning they were working with fragments of stelae at Henenu’s tomb. The curious thing is that they identified traces of glue on some of the pieces, probably Winlock’s attempts to join these fragments that would eventually break as the time passes by. After the breakfast break, they stayed at Ipi’s tomb where they continued with the humidification of the papyrus. Then, together with Fathi, they began piecing together fragments of shabtis from past seasons.

In the afternoon, Sika reviews over two thousand photographs of more than five hundred inscribed fragments from Henenu’s tomb. She is currently in the process of identifying each of the fragments, a task she hopes to complete in a day or two. After that, she will have to try to put as many pieces together as possible. She will probably finish this work when she goes back to Spain as unfortunately, she and Carlos will leave us this Sunday.

Last night, Lily arrived to join the restoration team. However, her luggage stayed in Cairo. Lily had to go back to the Luxor airport in the morning to pick it up. Therefore, she will have to wait until tomorrow to visit the site.

Even with Lily’s abscence, the conservation team finished the restoration of all the carved and painted reliefs from Henenu’s tomb. They also continued to work on the papyrus fragments found in the courtyard of Ipi. They are trialing different methods of re-humidification and flattening.

At Henenu’s tomb, David cleaned one of the shafts of the burial chamber and excavated and documented, together with Iria, the deepest shaft of the tomb, which has almost eight meters of deep! Carlos and Sika finished the matching of several reliefs, identifying several areas from the tomb’s wall and from a monumental door.

At Ipi’s courtyard, Mohamed found a mud pavement with a small pit. Bea excavated, documented and drew it. However, no interesting materials were found in its interior.

At the E1 sector, Jose and Carmen continued with the cleaning of the steps of the chamber that leads to the corridor. Taking into account the sand and the stones, it is probably that the work in this camera will take them the whole week.

When we arrived at the Marsam, Lily was happily expecting us with her luggage. Ella showed her the surroundings and tomorrow she will explore the three sectors of Deir el-Bahari

Winter is slowly arriving in Egypt. The nights are getting cold and the contrast with the morning heat is causing the first colds.

At Henenu’s tomb, David opened two new shafts located in the burial chamber. There he found large blocks of sandstone and limestone, possibly from a sarcophagus. In addition, other materials such as textiles, cartonnage and wood were found and recorded by Iria. Carlos and Sika are still working together with Reed and Ella to consolidate, clean and join some relief fragments.

At Ipi’s main courtyard, Mohamed is concentrating on the southwestern part, from where very interesting Middle Kingdom ceramic sherds are being extracted. Ceramics are the best method we have to date the contexts we work with, which is why Bea has been photographing the ceramic fragments from this season, in order to get an idea of the different levels of occupation of the courtyard.

Jaume has also been working with ceramic pieces from Ipi’s courtyard together with Fathi. Together they have managed to piece together some fragments and identify a total of four different jars.

In E1, Jose and Carmen have identified, at the end of the corridor, what appears to be a new chamber. However, it is filled with sand and full of large rocks that require the effort of several workers to drag them out of the tomb. It seems that the cleaning of this chamber will take several days. 

Tonight, we have a new member joining the restoration team, Lily Griffin, also from the University College of London. With her help we hope to make much faster progress on the many conservation tasks we have planned for this campaign.