In Djari’s funeral, his mummified body was left in a ritual hut (wabet?), two assistants protected the corpse and a sem officiant performen the rites for his transformation and journey to the netherworld. His tomb was orientated to the Eastern Bank where the imminent cult of Amun had just emerged with the absolute support of the Theban echelons. Meantime, the builders and artists of his complex considered the most effective compositions to reflect –as a theological and social matter– the splendour of the Egyptian world and the significant impact of the cult to Hathor, patron goddess of the Theban mountain in the West Bank. These are some of the themes that governed the decorative programs that we expect to document and publish in this season and the next ones.
Today we have continued with the excavation of the section between pillars 2 and 3 in the saff façade of Dagi. This has brought about a series of nice surprises, such as the appearance of a Coptic level with a modification of the gebel, which might have been used for some kind of textile installation or the use of mudbricks in the external side of the entrance between pillars 2 and 3 to level the severe drop of the bedrock in the area.
In the case of Djari, the cleaning of the transversal corridor has also provided us with interesting information such as the order of collapse of the ceiling in various sections of the corridor; in addition, the cleaning of the southern corner of the complex has revealed a sealed gate produced by the Supreme Council of Antiquities on 23 December 1995. The GIS team has reached the second phase of the DEM and GCPs collection with the visit to Dra Abu el-Naga. Together with El-Tarif, Deir el-Bahaari and Asasif, this incorpoation allows us to expand our network of points to the north with a series of significant (geolocalized) topographical points that will be very useful not only for the project but also for other missions in the area.
As for our conservation team, this morning in the tomb of Dagi its members finished documentation of the special finds that had been sorted into boxes last season. Of course, now that cleaning has stated there will be much more work for them in the coming days!
In the case of Djari’s complex, in the afternoon the conservation team was able to beging testing different recipes for repair mortars. They have based their recipes on analysis of the original materials used in the wall paintings, which include mud from the Nile and hib, a local clay-containing soil from the Theban mountains. After many tests and conversations with rais Ali and the workmen, who have extensive knowledge of these materials, the team has selected a suitable recipe to continue developing for their treatments.
