The team of the University of Alcalá de Henares (UAH) has recently started a new and exciting archaeological season despite the exceptional situation that is currently taking place in Spain, and the whole world, causing such a critical scenario. The coronavirus pandemic has had a high impact in our lives and it is also the main reason why many of our members cannot participate in this archaeological campaign. The affected people are in our minds.

This situation is difficult for everyone, and has implied a drastic decrease in the number of members that are participating during this year, but we understand that some other issues have priority at this point.

Today, on Saturday, we started our work with thirteen members distributed in the tombs of Ipi (TT315), Henenu (TT313) and the Eastern sector (E1). We are very excited about the forthcoming discoveries.

In Henenu’s tomb, Hazem Shared has started with the cleaning and archaeological excavation of a shaft placed in the western side of the façade at the tomb. Some wooden remains belonging to a coffin, some of which still preserve the joints used for putting all these pieces together have been discovered. One of our restorers, Ana Herranz, has examined the preservation state of these wooden pieces. Inside the tomb, Carlos Cepeda, Carmen Díaz and Sika Pedersen have reorganized the magazine in order to separate all the materials from previous campaigns by type and material.

In the Eastern sector, Raúl Sánchez and Marta Arranz have begun with the cleaning of the façade and the excavation of the corridor in tomb E1. Andrés Martín has registered some finds from the previous season. We hope that the archaeological work of this season allows us to finally identify the owner of this tomb.

In Ipi’s tomb, Beatriz Noria and Óscar Martínez have looked at the inventory from the previous years and reorganized materials. Sixty-five Egyptian workers have been removing the debris pile in the tomb’s courtyard. Thanks to their efforts we expect a large part of the debris in the courtyard to be cleaned in the following days.

In the meanwhile, our photographer Patricia Mora has visited the tombs in order to capture every single new find and the archaeological activity within the site. 

At the same time, in the Marsam Hotel, Iria Souto has been preparing some materials for epigraphic purposes.

This first day has been full of energy, new perspectives and objectives. Besides, we have been happy to welcome some new members of the team. We hope that in spite of the circumstances everybody can enjoy a successful and enriching season in Egypt.