The Amarna Royal Tombs Project - 2000 Season


The Amarna Royal Tombs Project

The area chosen for investigation by The Amarna Royal Tombs Project during its first, second and third seasons (November-December 1998, October-December 1999 and September-December 2000) lies close to the Amarna period tombs KV 55 and KV 62 (Tutankhamun), bounded by the 'Gold Tomb' (KV 56) on the west and the tomb of Ramesses VI (KV 9) on the east.

Records suggested that previous work in this area had been sporadic and less than thorough, and that excavation might offer:

(i) the prospect of a continuation of the poorly documented workmen's 'settlement' noted by Howard Carter overlying the tomb of Tutankhamun at the entrance to the tomb of Ramesses VI;

(ii) the possibility of further, undiscovered burials at bedrock level. (Two unexplained 'anomalies' were revealed in the area by a sonar survey undertaken in 1976, while the irregular ground plan of tomb KV 56 and peculiar change in direction of the neighbouring tomb of Tutankhamun, KV 62, likewise hints at the possible existence of an undocumented subterranean feature in the vicinity.)

Results

Excavations at the site resumed on 23 September 2000 and continued until 3 December 2000, concurrent with the ongoing study of the previous seasons' finds. 


1. Excavations between the tombs of Amenmesse and Ramesses III

The plan agreed with the Supreme Council of Antiquities was to shift the existing path a little way to the south, to run between the tombs of Amenmesse (KV 10) and Ramesses III (KV 11); the intention is for a temporary rerouting, in due course, to allow access to the crucial area beneath the present tourist route. Before any new path was installed, however, it was decided to investigate thoroughly its intended route, with a view to further clarifying the section of the wadi at this point and the extent of the Ramessid workmen's settlement already encountered on the north side of the existing path.

During the course of the work, in the uppermost levels, a miscellaneous collection of broken funerary material was discovered to the east of the entrance to the tomb of Ramesses III. To judge from accompanying newspaper fragments, this material had been deposited at the end of the nineteenth century, when it seems the tomb had been cleared out to facilitate tourist access. 

Among the finds were fragments of shabti figures of Ramesses III and perhaps other kings in alabaster, faience and wood and pieces of Ramesses III's previously unknown inner alabaster sarcophagus. 

Fragments of this same king's outer red-granite sarcophagus (the lid of which is now in the Fitzwilliam, the box in the Louvre, both removed by Giovanni Battista Belzoni in 1817) were also found, as well as two fragments from the basalt sarcophagus of Ramesses VI and fragment(s) from the previously unknown alabaster canopic chest of Ramesses IV. 

In addition, the area yielded an interesting and highly important series of New Kingdom glass and faience vessel fragments. The material recovered from outside the entrance to KV 11 promises, with further study, to add considerably to our knowledge of the burial equipment of Ramesses III and his successors.

Towards the centre of the site, not far beneath the surface in a depression in the hillside, a deposit of 14 complete and fragmentary shabti figures of Sethos I was discovered. [pic4] It appears likely that the cache was deposited not in antiquity, but early in the nineteenth century, perhaps by Belzoni-a grouping of objects removed from Sethos I's newly discovered tomb (KV 17) to the explorer's likely camp.

By the end of the 2000 season, the area between KV 10 and KV 11 had been completely excavated, with the exception of a 2-metre area around the entrance to the tomb of Amenmesse. This will be examined by Otto Schaden of the University of Memphis expedition, in the hope of discovering the foundation deposits of KV 10.


2. Continued excavation of the area between the 'Gold Tomb' and the tomb of Ramesses VI

After final documentation at the start of the 2000 season, the central area excavated in 1998 and 1999 was refilled, and attention concentrated on the western and eastern ends of the site.

To the west, further 20th Dynasty huts were revealed, including a well-preserved kitchen-complex with pot-stand and hearth in situ. This is still in course of excavation. 

Work at the eastern end of the site, towards the tomb of Ramesses VI (KV 9), uncovered further workmen's structures, including the last of the Ramessid structures recorded by Howard Carter on his survey of the area. 

This complex was (re-)excavated, and fully planned and recorded by means of photogrammetry to expand upon and complete Carter's documentation. 

Finds, both at the western and eastern ends of this site, were fewer than in previous seasons, but included two fine ostraca: one Ramessid piece showing a man walking with a staff and with a bundle tied to a stick carried over his shoulder 

and a large charcoal sketch of an official, arms raised in adoration, in characteristic Amarna style. [pic8] The dating of this find was confirmed by fragments from an extremely large storage jar of late 18th Dynasty blue-painted ware in this same stratum. The ostracon and pottery represent the first objects of Amarna period date to have been encountered in the Valley since the tomb of Tutankhamun, and bode well for the future.

3. Re-excavation of 'The Gold Tomb'

The undecorated, single-chambered shaft tomb KV 56 was first discovered and cleared by Theodore Davis in 1908. The ARTP's aim in reclearing this tomb is (i) to establish an accurate plan, and (ii) to clarify when and for/by whom the tomb had been intended and/or employed.

Work began in 1999 with the removal of superficial layers of washed in modern debris and a preliminary investigation of the more closely packed lower fill. This season, the floor of the tomb was gridded, and a square by square excavation begun. Careful sieving yielded several strays from Davis's work, including quantities of gold leaf and a small gold necklace ornament of gold with repoussé cartouches of Sethos II-similar to 16 identical elements recovered in 1908 and now in the Cairo Museum. The work will be completed in 2001.

A new survey of the tomb was undertaken, and a computerised 3-dimensional wire-frame plan and section of the tomb and surrounding area produced. Geophysical examination indicated that the tomb's adapted, i.e. unfinished plan was not the result of structural considerations-i.e. poor quality rock or severe faulting-but of some other, as yet undetermined factor. 

4. Mapping and documentation of settlement located between tomb KV37 and the tomb of Siptah

A detailed survey of the standing remains in the area between KV 37 and the tomb of Siptah (KV 47) was undertaken by the ARTP's survey team, with the aim of producing a full and detailed record.


5. Geophysical survey 

A longer-term aim of the ARTP's geophysical survey of the Valley is to produce a subsurface map of the site, to be used in conjunction with selective clearance/excavation to identify the location of existing underground features, geological as well as archaeological. The terrain is notoriously difficult, and this first season of geophysical survey focused on testing and calibration of the equipment-ground-penetrating radar. Further study and analysis will be needed before the full results of the season's work are known. 

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© Amarna Royal Tombs Project, 1998-2002