Dagi was a high official of Mentuhotep II who lived in the late 11th and early 12th Dynasties. He is believed to have accumulated numerous administrative posts during his lifetime, including that of vizier. His tomb at Asasif is one of the few tombs in the Middle Kingdom to retain decorations in the corridor passages. Today, we have opened his tomb.
During this season we will not be excavating in Dagi’s tomb, but instead the conservation team will focus on planning for the restoration of the wall paintings. To this end, the entire team has visited the tomb to initiate documentation and to discuss any necessary tests.
Just opposite Dagi at Henenu’s tomb, David finished cleaning the annexes and Iria continued recording some small finds. In two days, we hope to be able to start excavating the courtyard.
At Ipi’s tomb, the morning started with Antonio, Carmen and Bea finishing the sieving of all the organic remains that appeared at the entrance of the subsidiary chamber. Mohamed has begun to excavate the interior of the chamber. Although it is too early to say for sure, it seems that two distinct spaces can be observed.
Elsa continues to work with the textiles from the mummification deposit. She has been able to distinguish different manufactures in several textiles and identify some fragments that seem to all belong to the same piece.
At the E1 sector, Nisha, Sergio and Raúl continue with the excavation of the inner chamber of the tomb. The excavation is very complex due to the amount of sand and rock fragments, so it is progressing slowly, maintaining all safety measures.
At the end of the day several team members chose to walk to the Temple of Hatshepsut from the site in order to spend some time in this amazing space. Working so close by means that we get to see it every day, but no one had visited the temple yet this season. The team members were astonished by the famous depictions of the Punt expedition and were able to explore the 2nd terrace of the temple, which they hadn’t seen before. Although there is always a lot of work to do, it is important to remember how lucky we are to be here and take time to appreciate the cultural heritage that is all around us!
