Prof. Betro gave the lecture this title because the tombs have been affected by many factors both human and natural over the years and this has altered their condition. There are 2 tombs, TT14 and a newly discovered one called MIDAN 05. Every day they discover something new. Using a map provided by Google Earth she showed the view from space of the area under investigation. They have used modern technology to map the tomb properly and she showed a slide of maps showing the tombs at ‘offering’ and ‘funeral’ levels. Currently access to TT14, the tomb of Huy, is by a flight of modern stairs going down. But when the tomb was first built it was at ground level. It is possible the hill side at Dra Abu Naga was a terrace of many levels. The tomb is Rameside one, a single room with one chapel in a cartouche shape. They are not exactly sure exactly which Rameses although she thinks it is Rameses II. Huy was a medium-level priest working in the cult of Amenhotep I, which had great importance on the West Bank. The cult differs at Dra Abu Naga from that at Deir el Medina with the family taking greater importance than the king alone. Amenhotep as the Image of Amun probably had Ahmose Nefertari standing behind him but this is lost. However a fragment has been found that had the black skin very commonly associated with her. Also Ahotep, the grandmother, who is shown with yellow skin may have been there.
The eastern end has a missing part which has been replaced with cement restoration repairing the breach. The decoration is of funerary and cult scenes and is a big contribution to our knowledge of these activities. There is a procession of statues and what looks like 2 queens but they are not sure if they are 2 different queens or not. The lower register, unfinished shows what looks like a funerary representation but this is not the funeral of Huy but someother rite connected to the cult of Amenhotep I. These are freely drawn without using a grid.
There is a procession of Gods going towards a building (again not the tomb of Huy). You can see the end of a boat approaching the building and palm trees around. They think it is a temple but it needs more study.
History
Charles Gordon Jeff wrote about the tomb in his notebook of 1909. He
mentions he put in an iron door and built retaining walls.
Norman De Garis Davies, whose notes on the tombwere also in the Griffith Institute in Oxfordin 1925. It is interesting to compare the two, they are not very different.
It also appears in the Porter and Moss plan and Fredrich Kamp plan of 1996
In 2003 the University of Pisa took over and discovered another passage leading to another tomb (given the designation MIDAN 05. It is a big tomb with a big courtyard and quite important. Currently access is only through TT14. They want to excavate it from the outside eventually. They don’t know the owner and although it was totally painted, all they have found is fragments.
It has pink gypsum mortar which indicates it is dated prior to Hatshepsut, so it appears to be from the early 18th dynasty with a T shape design. The fragments that have been found are tiny, they found a white gypsum layer that had fallen from the walls, one piece with a black skin so probably Ahmose Nefertari. They do not know if the tomb was used in the 18th dynasty but it was certainly reused later on in the third intermediate period and later. It was an 18th dynasty enlargement of 17th dynasty tomb, which was again enlarged later in its life. Its usage continued until Ptolemaic times
Similarly to TT14 it seems to have been occupied in the Ramesside, 20th and 21st dynasties but its use finished in the 26th dynasty.
The factors that have caused disturbance
• Natural (flash floods)
• Human (reuse, robbers
The levels in the tombs are quite clear and they can easily identify the various flash floods over the years. Some of these floods have been quite violent and broke open coffins and almost destroyed the mummy. There was cartonnage and a coffin all mingled together by the flood.
Ancient tomb robbers burnt the mummies in the tomb to recover the gold and jewels. They have also found a lot of pottery - pottery is rarely stolen!! But often it is a challenge to identify whether the pottery belongs where it was found or has travelled. Lots of scarabs and amulets were but again difficult to put in context. A small (353) terracotta army of ushabtis were found; the original wooden box was probably burnt by robbers.
They also found a mummy with a faïence beads and amulets of the 4 sons of Horus, the third one of which had only been found on the day of the lecture, probably from the 25th dynasty
A 21/22 dynasty mummy board was reconstructed from fragments that were found. Laser scanning has been done enabling them to make a 3D model of the tomb, and they are also using is a GIS database of paintings.
The University of Pisa's website is http://www.egittologia.unipi.it/
These edited lecture notes are courtesy of our founder member, Jane Akshar