Digging Deeper into Ancient Egypt

The gold rush is over, but Egypt’s tombs still offer up nuggets that deepen our understanding of this complex culture

Excavation in Egypt invariably conjures up visions of treasures pouring out of the ground to be housed in great museums or shown in blockbuster exhibitions around the world. This idea was more or less born with the astonishing discovery of King Tut’s tomb in 1922. Well, that was then and this is now. Although occasionally some new discovery reverberates in the headlines, most Egyptologists simply work away at their projects, seeking not the glitter and gold of buried treasure, but rather new information to add to the body of knowledge of the discipline—knowledge for the sake of knowledge. (Well, we still thrill to the discovery of artifacts should we be lucky.)

My particular project is a rather modest one. My co-director, Lyla Pinch-Brock, and I are examining the wall paintings in a tomb chapel in the area of Luxor. This is where the dynamic 18th dynasty ruled from 1550 to 1295 BC. During this period, Egypt rose from a regional backwater partially ruled by foreigners to become the region’s major player, extending its hegemony as far east as the Euphrates River (modern Iraq) and south to the Nile’s fourth cataract (modern Sudan). Today, the sprawling Great Temple of Karnak, on the east side of the Nile, shouts this power and glory.

On the west bank, the Land of the Dead—the great tombs in the Valley of the Kings—whispers its demise. Aside those royal burials are the graves of those who faithfully served in the administration of state. One of these, Theban Tomb 89 (TT89) dates from the reign of King Amenhotep III (King Tut’s grandfather), and belongs to a man named Amenmose, which translates as “Born of Amun,” the chief god of the area, also known as “King of the Gods.”

Lyla and I chose this tomb because it hadn’t been studied since the 1930s, and even then, only partially. There was so much to record in those days that many scholars simply copied the most unusual or important scenes. Times have changed. Today’s missions to the 400 (and counting) tombs in the area are to examine each tomb thoroughly, and compile a complete and enduring record (in case of deterioration due to climate change or earthquake) for dissemination throughout the academic, and often popular, press.

Photos: Roberta Shaw, with permission of the Royal Ontario Museum.

This entry was posted on Monday, October 25th, 2010 at 4:50 pm and is filed under Field Notes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site. Add to del.icio.us.