The Amarna Royal Tombs Project
- Dig diary 1999
by Paul Sussman
The Amarna Royal Tombs Project
There was nothing for the archaeologists to do today but keep a watching brief. There was no work on KV 56 - instead the workmen concentrated on removing rubble from the front of site, extending our trench southwards towards the line of sandbags we have erected halfway across the tourist path. Reis Ahmed really drove the workers on, shouting at them: 'Afya! Afya! Strength! Strength! Allah Yenower! Allah Yenower! Good job! Good job!' They toiled ceaselessly in the heat, a fog of dust rising all around them. Ahmed wielded a long cane, threatening the men. In one case he thought one of them wasn't exerting himself enough and hit him on the back. British labour relations do not apply here in Luxor.
In the absence of anything specific to do on site I went off with Piers, Jenny and Geoffrey to look at some other tombs. We stopped for a brief look at the Tutankhamun embalming cache - just an empty hole in the ground close to the tomb of Ramesses X - and then went down into the tomb of Tuthmosis IV, which was spectacular. Long, deep, beautifully decorated. Interesting features included a doorway near the burial chamber with remains of ancient gypsum around its sides, into which was imprinted the ancient sign of the necropolis - nine bound captives beneath a recumbent jackal. We also took a look through the gateway of the tomb of Hatshepsut - closed to the public because it is, apparently, unstable. It was an eerie sight looking through an iron grill at the steeply sloping, curved corridor, the walls and ceilings of which were covered in guano, or bat droppings. Like something out of a horror film.
Piers is an extremely impressive character. His knowledge of ancient Egypt and the Theban Necropolis is exceptional. It is more than just an amateur passion for him - it is an obsession. He keeps a small notebook in which, in an extraordinarily neat, precise manner he keeps details of tombs, reigns, mummies - a whole mini-encyclopaedia of information about Ancient Egypt. His voice is a bit plummy, but once you get beyond that he's a really fun guy.
Work finished at 12.30 today. Piers, Jenny, Ian and myself walked up to the top of el-Qurn, the pyramid-shaped mountain that stands at the head of the Valley of the Kings, and then across the tops of the Theban Hills to their southern end, taking in the spectacular views as we went. The ground up there is covered in hard flints that clank like metal when you walk over them. We walked for about two hours before taking a rather precarious route down again, scrambling across a series of deep wadis until we eventually joined the path to Deir el-Medina. I was drenched in sweat. Piers on the other hand, in true British-stiff-upper-lip-fashion, remained as well dry and well-groomed as when he'd started, with barely a hair out of place.
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