NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2007
SEASON
From 20th
November to 27th December 2007 the Macquarie University Theban Tombs Project
continued its work at Dra abu
el-Naga. The team consisted of the following members:
Dr. Boyo Ockinga
(Field Director)
Dr. Susanne
Binder (Deputy Field Director)
Dr. Judith Brophy
(Senior Research Assistant)
Robyn Luhrs MA (Conservator)
Todd Gillen BA
(Hons) (archaeological drawer and Research Assistant)
Claire Hainey (student assistant)
Robert Persson (student assistant)
Our accompanying
SCA inspector was Mr Mustafa Ali Hashem from the
The work this
season was devoted to epigraphic recording in TT 148 and TT 147.
TT 148 The Tomb of the 3rd Prophet of Amun, Amenemope
In TT 148 the
drawings made in earlier seasons of inscribed loose blocks and fragments from
the tomb complex were collated and additional blocks that had not been drawn
were recorded.
In addition,
collation of the inscriptions and wall scenes in the tomb was continued in
final preparation for the publication of the first volume of the tomb report,
which is due to appear in the course of 2008.
TT 147 The Tomb of Neferrenpet
In TT 147 the work of conservation and epigraphic recording
was continued.
1. Conservation
The major work of
repairing the large areas of wall that had been damaged by flooding was
completed in the season of Nov-Dec 2006. In this season the work of
conservation concentrated on the filling of small areas of wall loss in order
to prevent any further damage. The east wall of the Broad Hall was completed
this season and work has begun on the south wall and on the section of the west
wall of the Broad Hall south of the doorway into the Long Hall.
2. Epigraphic Recording
In this season
the recording of the scenes and inscriptions in the Long Hall was completed.
The drawings made in the Nov-Dec 2006 season were also collated.
In the Broad
Hall, the recording of the northern half of the west wall, the north wall and the
northern half of the east wall was completed, as well as the northern end of
the southern half of the east wall.
New Data on the Identity
of the Tomb Owner and Third Intermediate Period Re-use of Tomb
The major
achievement of this season was the final clarification of the identity of the
tomb owner.
In previous
reports it was stated that the tomb had been decorated for two persons, one a
Scribe and Counter of the Cattle of Amun in the North and the South, whose name
could be identified from funerary cones as being Neferrenpet,
the other a Chief Elder of the Portal of Amun in
The detailed
study of the inscriptions in the course of the epigraphic recording undertaken
this season has now revealed that the two titles in fact appear together and that
they belonged to one and the same person. This became obvious through a
detailed study of a number of inscriptions:
1. the bandeau inscription above the lower register on the
north wall of the Long Hall,
2. the inscription accompanying the scene on the east wall of
the Broad Hall immediately to the right of the door leading into the Long Hall
(Figure 1) and
3. in the inscription on the northern thickness of the main
door where in each case the title "Scribe and Counter of the Cattle of
Amun" is immediately followed by the title "Chief Elder of the
Portal".
In addition,
traces of a name immediately following the title "Chief Elder of the
Portal" on the north wall of the Long Hall could be identified as Neferrenpet (Figure 2). The name Neferrenpet
could also be identified in an area of text that had been erased in the
inscription accompanying the scene of the tomb owner offering to Amun on the
occasion of the Beautiful Festival of the Valley to the north of the door on
the east wall of the Broad Hall.
It has therefore
become very clear that the tomb was decorated for one person and his family, Neferrenpet, who bears the titles "Scribe and Counter
of the Cattle of Amun" and "Chief Elder of the Portal" in the
tomb.
Careful study of
the scene of adoration on the lintel above the door leading into the Long Hall
reveals that it is of a later date, namely the Third Intermediate Period. The
accompanying inscriptions are extremely worn, but traces of a name beginning
with Nes- could be identified, which would suit Nespautytawy (Figure 3), a name found on a number of Third Intermediate
Period shabtis discovered in the tomb (Figure 4) as well as on painted cartonnage
(Figure 5). The type of perfume
cone on the heads of the figures in the scene on the lintel (Figure 3) is typical for the
Third Intermediate Period and matches that of Nespautytawy
on the cartonnage.
We would like to
thank Dr Zahi Hawass and
the Permanent Committee of the SCA for permission to continue our work, Mr Magdy el-Gandour in
Figure 2:
Figure 3.
