Asyut: Fieldwork Season 2006*

Mahmoud El-Khadragy – Jochem Kahl – Ursula Verhoeven

 

From 28th August to 28th September the Egyptian-German joint mission of Sohag University and the Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz conducted its fourth season of fieldwork in the ancient necropolis of Asyut situated in the western mountains (Gebel Asyut al-gharbi).[1] From 30th September to 11th October, the mission studied objects in the magazine at Shutb.[2]

            Fieldwork concentrated on Tombs III, IV and N13.1 of the First Intermediate Period, Tomb I of the Twelfth Dynasty and the mapping of the necropolis (fig. 1).

Tomb III:

The documentation of the architecture and the epigraphic work were finished in Tomb III (N12.1; Tomb of Iti-ibi). By cleaning its northern wall, the restorers[3] uncovered some hitherto hidden remains of painted decoration. The fragments show ships on water and a battle scene presumably depicting the fight between the Siutian and Theban troops during the First Intermediate Period. In addition small fragments of the southern wall were cleaned.        

 

Tomb IV:

Facsimiles of the autobiographical inscription and the relief decoration depicting soldiers were drawn in the inner hall of Tomb IV (N12.2; Khety II). The study of the tomb’s architecture made progress; the work on the ground plan was continued.

By cleaning the southern party of the forecourt, remains of a white plaster floor made of lime could be detected. It is similar to three late layers of lime plaster which covered the inner part of the tomb. The layout of the original forecourt of Tomb IV corresponds to that of Tomb III: Two small side chambers were cut into the rock in front of the inner hall.

As in front of Tomb III, the central entrance passage turned out to be completely destroyed. A possible explanation for this same form of destruction is the use of dynamite, when the front walls were blown away about 1820 AD.

                                                                                                           

Corridor connecting Tombs III and IV:

Tombs II, III and IV were connected by corridors during late antiquity. The examination of the corridor between Tomb III and IV brought to light two later tomb entrances and shafts hewn into the rock, which was originally separating both tombs (fig. 2). The finds give no hint for their exact date: objects ranging from the New Kingdom to the Islamic Period show that the tomb shafts were disturbed and plundered.

Only after these two later tombs had been constructed, the corridor connecting Tombs III and IV was cut. It consists of two stairs at the beginning and at the end of the passage, respectively. The connecting passage is cut deeper into the rock, so that a person of up to 2,00m height could walk there upright.

 

Tomb I:

In the Tomb of Djefaihapi I (Tomb I; P10.1), a facsimile of the “Ten Contracts” on the northern part of the eastern wall of the great transverse hall was made. The restorers cleaned the southern part of the eastern wall of the great transverse hall. Remains of a hitherto unknown scene were discovered. It represents a man standing among others in front of an unguent vessel. The label identifying this scene reads: “Filling the myrrh, sealing the myrrh”.

On different parts of the tomb walls incised graffiti were detected. Two graffiti represent a kneeling king, another mentions the name of a member of the French Expedition.                                                                                                  

Tomb N13.1:

Tomb N13.1 is situated circa 30 m above Tomb III. It dates to the end of the First Intermediate Period. Discovered during surveying Asyut necropolis at the end of the 2005 season, the surface of the rock cut tomb was cleaned this season and its decoration recorded.

Having a plain façade facing east (fig. 3), the tomb is approached through a forecourt leading to a short causeway. Centralized within its façade, the tomb’s undecorated entrance leads to an inner hall with two pillars supporting the roof (figs. 4-5) and dividing the hall into two unsymmetrical sections. The relatively larger section at the back is provided with a niche cut in its western wall. Not cleaned yet, two shafts were cut into the floor, the first runs diagonally from the south-eastern corner, while the second runs vertically from the centre of the innermost section.

The tomb owner was a man called Iti-ibi(-iqer). He was “hereditary prince”, “count”, “overseer of the priests of Wepwawet, Lord of Asyut”, “overseer of the priests of Anubis, Lord of Ra-qereret”, “overseer of the army of the whole 13th Upper Egyptian nome” (fig. 6). The tomb was prepared for Iti-ibi(-iqer) by his son, the “hereditary prince”, “count”, “overseer of the priests of Wepwawet, Lord of Asyut”, “overseer of the priests of Anubis, Lord of Ra-qereret” Mesehti(-iqer). Furthermore hieroglyphic inscriptions mention a “Priestess of Hathor” Senbet.

As far as the evidence shows, the tomb was fully decorated with painted inscriptions and scenes executed on a thin layer of gypsum plaster. Densely covered with Hieratic and Arabic graffiti of later reuses, much of the tomb’s original wall decoration is still visible. Having a painted false door flanked on each side by offering scenes on the niche’s western wall, the other two walls are devoted to offering lists associated with priests performing funerary rites and both slaughtering and offering scenes. The inner hall’s northern, southern and eastern walls are decorated with a variety of themes showing a fine workmanship: hunting in the desert, spearing fish, netting birds, herdsmen and cattle crossing water, feeding cranes, tending cattle, fighting bulls (fig. 7), agriculture pursuits including plaughing, hacking ground, harvesting, transporting sheaves and filling a granary with the produce, preparing bread and beer, clapping and dancing, sailing boats, forming sacred symbols of wood, marching soldiers (fig. 8) and fighting men, … etc.

Paleography, orthography, phraseology and iconography suggest a late First Intermediate Period date for the tomb, and that Iti-ibi(-iqer) and his son Mesehti(-iqer) were successors of the three well known First Intermediate Period nomarchs Khety I, Iti-ibi and Khety II.

 

During the early New Kingdom the tomb seems to have been visited by teachers and their pupils on the occasion of school excursions. More than 140 graffiti written and drawn on the tomb’s walls point this out. A huge amount of “visitors’ graffiti” is among these graffiti. A lot of them start with the introductory formula “iw.t pw iri.n sX3.w NN”. The graffiti mention several Siutian temples, thus helping to reconstruct Asyut’s history: The temples of Wepwawet, Anubis, Hathor, Osiris and Djefaihapi. Some of the graffiti show year dates: The names of Amenhotep III (fig. 9) and Ramesses II are written. In addition, the paleography points to a date within the Eighteenth Dynasty for the major part of the graffiti. Eventually some graffiti were already written at the end of the Second Intermediate Period or at the beginning of the New Kingdom (paleographical features correspond to Mathematical Papyrus and Papyrus Ebers). 

Some of these graffiti are excerpts of “teachings” (e.g. The Loyalist Teaching or the Teaching for Khety) and therefore typical school texts; others are drawings (fig. 10).

During the Islamic Period the tomb was used for praying as a painted altar (Mihrab) shows.

Tomb N13.1 demonstrates clearly the change in the function of the landscape: From a tomb (First Intermediate Period) to a visitors’ point (New Kingdom) and a place for praying (Islamic Period).

           

N13.1 forecourt:

Fourteen small rock cut shafts - some of them are left unfinished – are situated in front of Tomb N13.1 (fig. 11). The completely executed ones show an average depth of 1 m to 1.20 m. and an average base of 70 x 70 cm. and functioned as tombs. To the west, there is often a small extension under the rock surface used as a burial chamber. These chambers were originally sealed with mud and irregular stone blocks as two undisturbed shaft tombs show. Each finished shaft housed one poor burial: The bodies were placed in a contracted position, on the left side with the line of sight to the town or the Nile. Impressions of textile on the back of mud lumps show that the people were buried dressed or wrapped in cloth. Some shaft tombs contained men, others women or children. The bodies were sometimes laid on a wooden frame as some wooden remains suggest. Also a reed box (length: c. 80 cm; inner height: c. 16 cm.) was used as a coffin. The reed stalks were bound by nine cords on the long side and by five cords on the narrow side. A round pillow for the head was made of short sticks.

Only three burials contained grave goods: a vessel (S06/21) and two head-rests (S06/24-25). These objects point to a contemporary date of the shafts with Tomb N13.1 (end of the First Intermediate Period). This thesis is supported by the fact that the layout of the shaft tombs is quite regular, oriented along the façade, and thus contradicts a later cleaning of the surface. It seems to be highly probable that the clientele of Iti-ibi(-iqer), owner of Tomb N13.1, used the area in front of the nomarch’s tomb as their burial ground. 

 

Tomb N13.1: Finds

Finds from different periods were detected on the surface of the inner hall and the court. It remains open whether these finds belong originally to this building. Some of the objects might have fallen down from the higher cliffs during landslides. A figure of a hippopotamus made of pottery and presumably of Middle Kingdom date (fig. 12; S06/22) is especially worth mentioning such as an arm of a statuette made of wood (fig. 13; S06/14; First Intermediate Period/Middle Kingdom), wooden models (fig. 14; S06/8; First Intermediate Period), an Udjat eye made of turquoise faience (fig. 15; S06/15; Third Intermediate Period) and a Byzantine coin (fig. 16; S06/23).

 

* The expedition received full cooperation and support from the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities and the Inspectorate of Antiquities at Asyut. In this respect, we would like to express our sincere thanks to Professor Dr. Zahi Hawass, Chairman of the SCA; Mr. Sabry Abdel-Aziz, Head of the Archaeology Sector; Mr. Samir Anis, Director General of Antiquities for Middle Egypt; Mr. Ahmed El-Khatib, Director General of Asyut; Mr. Magdy El-Ghandour, Head of the Foreign and Egyptian Missions Affairs and Permanent Committee; Mr. Hassan Fathy, Director of Antiquities at Asyut and to our Accompanying Inspectors, Mrs. Mona Yusri Ayoub and Mr. Mohamed Mustafa Al-Shafey.

[1] For the previous work cf. M. El-Khadragy/ J. Kahl, The First Intermediate Period Tombs at Asyut Revisited, in: SAK 32, 2004, 233-243; U. Verhoeven-van Elsbergen, Zwischen Memphis und Theben: Die Gräber politischer Drahtzieher in Assiut/ Mittelägypten, in: Natur und Geist. Das Forschungsmagazin der Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz 2004, 14-17; J. Kahl/ M. El-Khadragy/ U. Verhoeven, The Asyut Project: fieldwork season 2004, in: SAK 33, 2005, 159-167; J. Kahl/ M. El-Khadragy/ U. Verhoeven, „Dornröschen“ Assiut: erste Ergebnisse einer Deutsch-Ägyptischen Grabungskooperation, in: Sokar 11, 2005, 43-47; J. Kahl/ M. El-Khadragy/ U. Verhoeven, The Asyut Project: fieldwork season 2005, in: SAK 34, 2006, 241-249; J. Kahl/ U. Verhoeven, Die „Wächter-Stadt“. Assiut – eine Stadt und ihre Nekropole in Mittelägypten gewähren wieder Einblicke, in: Antike Welt 4, 2006, 65-72; M. Becker, Djefaihapi – ein Name mit langer Tradition, in: GM 210, 2006, 7-11; J. Kahl, Ein Zeugnis altägyptischer Schulausflüge, in: GM 211, 2006, 25-29; M. El-Khadragy, The Northern Soldiers-Tomb at Asyut, in: SAK 35, 2006, 147-164; M. El-Khadragy, The Shrine of the Rock-cut Chapel of Djefaihapi I at Asyut, in: GM 212, 2007 (in print); M. El-Khadragy, New Discoveries in the Tomb of Khety II at Asyut, in: BACE  17, 2006, 79-95; E.-M. Engel/ J. Kahl, Die Grabanlage Djefaihapis I. in Assiut: ein Rekonstruktionsversuch, in: J. Popielska-Grzybowska/O. Bialostocka, Proceedings of the Third Central European Conference of Young Egyptologists. Egypt 2004: Perspectives of Research. Warsaw 12-14 May 2004 (in print).

[2] Members of the mission were ass. Prof. Dr. Mahmoud El-Khadragy, Sohag University, Field director; Prof. Dr. Jochem Kahl, University of Mainz, Field director; Prof. Dr. Ursula Verhoeven, University of Mainz, Project director; Dr. Ulrike Fauerbach, Surveyor; Dr. Sameh Shafik, Epigrapher; Lic. Phil. Ilona Regulski, epigrapher; Meike Becker, M.A., Egyptologist; Monika Zöller, student of Egyptology; Yasser Mahmoud, Egyptologist; Hazim Salah Abdallah, Egyptologist; Mohamed Naguib Reda, Egyptologist; Eva Gervers, student of Anthropology; Laura Sanhueza-Pino, student of Egyptology; Andrea Kilian, student of Egyptology; Fritz Barthel, photographer; and Amar Abu Bakr, draughtsman.

[3] Ahmed Abd El Dayem Mohamed, Gamal Abd El Malek Abd El Moneam and Mahmoud Hasan Mohamed Salam.