In the initial days of the Seventh Season the project progresses slowly and carefully. The archaeological teams continue with the documentation of the funerary complexes of Djari and Dagi, aiming at understanding their architecture, rooms, and materials.

In the complex of Djari (TT 366), Sergio has prepared two 3D models by means of photogrammetry. These models correspond to two crucial areas of the season, the southern sector and the tomb façade. The cleaning of the transversal corridor of the tomb by Sergio, Jóse and Laura will allow us to recover wall painted fragments that might have collapsed. These fragments constitute a very important part of the history of the monument, its texts and images that aimed at providing the deceased Djari with life.

In terms of conservation, while José and Laura continued their documentation of Djari, conservators Reed and Olivia began making plans for how to carefully remove the wooden boards that are covering many of the wall paintings. Because we do not yet know the condition of the paintings, they will have to remove the boards one at a time, making sure to document the entire process. They will also have to be ready to stabilize the wall paintings if it is needed, and will begin testing materials for this in the coming days.

In the case of Dagi’s tomb (TT 103), the primary task has been the recollection of the information regarding the tomb façade: structure and materials of the pillars, types of wall scenes, Coptic architectural modifications, inscriptions from the IX Dynasty, graffiti from St. Epiphanius’s monastery (i.e., the monastery created in Dagi’s tomb between the sixth and seventh century AD), etc. All this information will be increased with the production of a 3D model tomorrow. In addition, our photographers have just used for the first time the multi-spectral camera. This devise has the capacity to recollect images with a very wide range of metadata, which makes it very efficient for epigraphy and conservation. As its name indicates, a multi-spectral camera can detect various types of light wavelength across the electromagnetic spectrum, visible and invisible. Multi-spectral imaging can be employed for the investigation of painted walls and inscriptions, and contributes to understanding the nature of the pigments, the agglutinating agent of the compositions, the types of morter and gypsum for the wall base, and even details regarding the artistic skilfulness with a precision that the human eye cannot perceive. Our photographers Patricia and Ana, with much patience and a relevant knowledge of the device, have already tested its capacities and collected the first results. From the flowing brushstrokes used by the artist in the tomb of Djari to represent the tails of oxen and donkeys to the compact appearance of the red pigment as employed in the monument of Dagi… there are many details escaping the human eye that we will soon know with the multi-spectral camera. 

As for the conservation work in Dagi’s monument, today our conservators Reed and Olivia started the morning discussing the unique mudbrick features that remain from the Coptic monastery in the tomb of the visier Dagi with Raúl. Preserving these traces of the continued use of the structure will be an important part of their work in the tomb, even if our main focus is on the Middle Kingdom! Afterwards they visited the eastern corridor with Raúl, where they planned how to protect the wall paintings when the workers start the cleaning in the next few days. There was one area of plaster detaching from the wall, which Reed and Olivia secured with a removable tissue support, to allow the workers to move around the area without causing any damage. This has also allowed them to practice documenting their work with the same system used by the archaeologists, to ensure that all of their work can be coordinated with the rest of the team.