Today it was the last day of work in the field for Dina, Raúl, and Jónatan. Our plans to complete the excavation of the opened units in TT 313 and TT 315 by the next days also meant that the responsibles for materials and the expert on epigraphy could finish their work by this week and return home a little before than the rest. Tonight they will travel back to Berlin (Dina), Jaén (Raúl), and Valencia (Jónatan). It has been a pleasure to work with them and we hope to see them back in Deir el-Bahari working for the MKTP again! We celebrated our work together in a farewell dinner the previous day.
Regarding the archaeological work performed in TT 313, Kelly and Sergio completed the cleaning of the upper courtyard with interesting results. Among other features, the builders of the courtyard for the complex of Henenu left remarkable traces of the methods in which ancient Egyptians used the geological layers to build up structures, and how the constructors for Henenu decided to include a series of steps (built in the bedrock) to approach the entrance of the tomb. Next week they will complete the documentation of the upper courtyard and will move into the tomb to study some of the inner chambers and shafts. In any case, they already started by checking one of the innermost chambers and its shafts where several fragments of reliefs ans some shabtis have appeared. The fact that reliefs from the corridor appear in shafts of the inner chambers seem to reveal that there has been much movement of materials and perhaps reuse of this tomb during ages… In the main corridor, Hazem has been working on new fragments of reliefs and Dina has completed her study on the modern grafitti in the tomb, which no doubt will help again to understand part of the modifications suffered by the complex in the last 100 years.
In the tomb of Ipi the day work has been intense and productive. Mohamed continued with the excavation and documentation of the northwestern area, which had become really convoluted but seems to start to present revealing features and answers to our questions. A massive structure built against the wall seems to have been built in this area, and now we need to study it more in detail an understand its purpose. In the meantime, Sebastian has continue in the other side of the courtyard with his photogrammetry of the tomb of Meseh. In the haima our conservator Ali and Raúl continued with the tasks of protecting some of the most delicate pieces and sorting the materials of the last excavated units.
Tonight the Marsam Hotel is hosting the End of Season Party, with music, barbacoe and a lot of visitors willing to exchange conservations, stories, and laughs. The event will be a perfect setting to enjoy the last hours with our colleagues and friends, Dina, Raúl, and Jónatan, and to say farewell to the three of them.
