The Amarna Royal Tombs Project - Dig diary 1999
by Paul Sussman


The Amarna Royal Tombs Project

Day 26, Wednesday 17 November 1999

You may be wondering what's been going on in the area of the site where the 1970s sonar survey suggested there might be a shaft or chamber of some sort. Since my diary entry for November 9th I have said virtually nothing about it. The reason for this is simply that as we dug down we encountered the remains of more workmen's huts, and these had to be carefully mapped and excavated before we could continue down to bedrock (remember, the possibility of finding a new tomb is simply one aspect of this dig, and not even the main one).

Anyway, yesterday the mapping and excavating of these huts was finally completed, and today we were able to begin removing the stones and exploring beneath them. We are now almost at the level, I think, at which Carter found Tutankhamun and there is a general sense of expectancy and anticipation in the air. The earth beneath the huts is virgin - untouched for over three millennia. Is there something down there? And if so what? What does the sonar survey mean? Unfortunately it's going to be a few more days before we know for sure because before we can dig down we need to shave back the south wall of the site a little further, giving us more digging space. 

Despite that today was, nonetheless, an interesting one. (Is it possible to have an uninteresting day in the Valley of the Kings?) I was entrusted with drawing and removing feature F14, an ancient wall between two huts, in the process finding two ancient storage jars which I carefully brushed and articulated before removing them. Mohsen came up to watch me working and said I had become a real archaeologist, a compliment that made me swell with pride. Yumiko, meanwhile, was working in another hut where yesterday we had uncovered the remains of an ancient hearth. She spent most of the day brushing and cleaning it, discovering a beautiful, three-thousand year-old bowl in the middle of it.

Two more interesting developments. Up at the hut Geoffrey was working with his magnifying glass trying to decipher the various seal impressions on the 9 vessel stoppers we have found. Some of these were extremely faint, but he was able to make out two clearly - the seals of Sethos I and Ramesses II. In the trench, meanwhile, Azab, one of the workmen, was trowelling down and brought out a whole series of pieces of gold foil, some of them quite large. 

'What do they indicate?' I asked Nick.

'That someone was handling funerary furniture in this area,' he replied. 

Could it be that tomb robbers had removed the contents of a tomb in the immediate vicinity and stripped off the gold there and then before making their escape? If so, the question is, which tomb? One we already know of? Or one that has yet to be discovered?

Today I had breakfast with the men. I do this about once a week - we eat bread, cheese, eggs, peppers, tomatoes, chillies, and stuff called 'meshi', a pungent, foul tasting dip that is, apparently, particularly good for bad stomachs. The men sit in groups in the shade of the tomb of Amenmesse. Afterwards they relax for fifteen minutes smoking cigarettes and drinking tea.

I have a joke going with Ezz our inspector. I pretend that I fancy Chiharu, Yumiko's friend - actually, I don't have to pretend - and that I am insane with jealousy about him talking to her. Whenever I see them together I rush up, shake my fist at Ezz and hiss; 'Keep your hands off her!' He roars with laughter, and claps me on the back.

'I am sorry my dear,' he says.

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