Middle Kingdom tombs of Asasif – archaeological fieldwork in 2017

2018 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 183-194 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patryk Chudzik
Keyword(s):  
Middle Kingdom ◽  
Archaeological Evidence ◽  
Intermediate Period ◽  
The Third ◽  
The North ◽  
Third Intermediate Period ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Late Roman

The recent works in the 2017 season at the North Asasif Necropolis have led to the discovery of Middle Kingdom burial assemblages, as well as funerary equipment dated to the Third Intermediate Period. Besides the cleaning work conducted in the funerary complex of Meru revealed more materials from the Late Roman Era, which proves the existence of the coptic hermitage inside the tomb. This new archaeological evidence provides an important insight into the development of the North Asasif Necropolis during the Pharaonic era and in later periods. The fourth season of the archaeological fieldwork at the site focused on seven Middle Kingdom funerary complexes: tomb of Khety (TT 311), MMA 509, MMA 511, MMA 512, MMA 514, MMA 515 and tomb of Meru (TT 240).

Middle Kingdom tombs from the North Asasif cemetery: field seasons 2018/2019 and 2020

2020 ◽  
pp. 177-202
Author(s):  
Patryk Chudzik
Keyword(s):  
Middle Kingdom ◽  
Underground Structures ◽  
Main Research ◽  
Intermediate Period ◽  
The Third ◽  
Eastern Side ◽  
The North ◽  
Third Intermediate Period

The early Middle Kingdom mortuary complexes of Khety and Meru continued to be the main research target of the Polish Archaeological Mission to North Asasif in the two winter seasons of 2018/2019 and 2020. The rubble dump on the eastern side of Khety’s forecourt, left over from the 1922/1923 season, was now explored, leading to the discovery of hundreds of objects—fragments of wooden statues and models, cartonnages and coffins, shabti figurines and pottery—shedding light on the Middle Kingdom burial assemblages as well as the later usurpation of the tomb, mainly in the Third Intermediate Period. Conservation objectives included treatment of the decorated burial crypt and sarcophagus in the tomb of Meru and stabilization and cleaning of the plaster decoration in the mortuary cult chapel of Khety. The season in 2018/2019 was also devoted to a reconnaissance of the underground structures and protection of tomb MMA 507. Specialists studies of finds from the excavations, both recent and earlier, were continued.

Middle Kingdom tombs of Asasif: archaeological activities in 2015

2017 ◽  
Vol 25 ◽  
pp. 289-302 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patryk Chudzik
Keyword(s):  
Late Period ◽  
Middle Kingdom ◽  
Intermediate Period ◽  
The Third ◽  
The North ◽  
Third Intermediate Period

Investigations in the North Asasif necropolis, conducted by a team of Polish archaeologists in 2015, focused on three Middle Kingdom complexes: MMA 508/TT 311, MMA 511, and MMA 517/TT 240. A surface collection of finds from the courtyards was studied and prepared for storage, and artifacts from inside the tombs were documented. The overall picture of illicit penetration of the complexes in later periods and their reuse, mainly in the Third Intermediate Period and the Late Period, is supported by the finds. Moreover, proof of the presence of Coptic monks was found in tomb MMA 517/TT 240.

The human remains from Tomb MMA 514 in North Asasif

2020 ◽  
pp. 203-218
Author(s):  
Roselyn A. Campbell
Keyword(s):  
Human Remains ◽  
Early 20Th Century ◽  
Middle Kingdom ◽  
Intermediate Period ◽  
Left Behind ◽  
The Third ◽  
The North ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Males And Females ◽  
Third Intermediate Period

The tombs of the North Asasif Necropolis have been the subject of archaeological excavations for more than a century. Mainly dating to the Middle Kingdom, the majority of these tombs were excavated for the Metropolitan Museum by H.E. Winlock in the early 20th century. The Asasif Project, directed by Dr. Patryk Chudzik, has been revisiting these tombs since 2013. In many cases, Winlock left behind a significant amount of archaeological debris, including detritus from the tombs’ original use in the Middle Kingdom and material from the Third Intermediate Period, when many of these tombs were reused. One of these tombs, MMA 514, was reused at least twice, and has yielded a wealth of remaining material, including a significant number of human remains. The human remains have been fragmented, damaged, and scattered by centuries of looting, as well as by Winlock’s excavations, but some information may still be gathered from these remains. Over the course of two field seasons, an inventory of the human remains was conducted, the results of which are presented here. All age ranges are present in the human remains, and both males and females are represented.

Middle Kingdom tombs from Asasif: work in the 2015/2016 season

2018 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 183-196 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patryk Chudzik
Keyword(s):  
Middle Kingdom ◽  
Intermediate Period ◽  
The Third ◽  
The North ◽  
Surface Survey ◽  
Third Intermediate Period

In the third season of the Polish Asasif Project at the North Asasif Necropolis in West Thebes archaeological fieldwork concentrated on six of the Middle Kingdom rock-cut tombs: MMA 508/TT 311, MMA 509, MMA 512, MMA 514, MMA 515 and MMA 517/TT 240. The corridors and chambers were cleared and the architecture documented and restored. A surface survey was carried out on the slope. Of greatest interest among the finds are Middle Kingdom stonemason’s tools and cartonnages from the Third Intermediate Period.

Banganarti and Selib in 2011/2012 and 2013

2016 ◽  
Vol XXIV (1) ◽  
pp. 369-388
Author(s):  
Bogdan Żurawski
Keyword(s):  
Construction Projects ◽  
Dam Construction ◽  
Intermediate Period ◽  
The Third ◽  
The North ◽  
The Temple ◽  
Third Intermediate Period ◽  
Large Building ◽  
The Church

In the course of two seasons in 2012 and 2013 the team carried out excavations and research on the living quarters alongside the fortifications of Banganarti, including a large building (E.1) and eastern tower. Work on the restoration/conservation of the Upper Church progressed according to plan, combined with limited iconographic studies. The team also worked at the sites of Selib and Soniyat. At Selib explorations continued at three locations. The phasing of the church at Selib 1 was established (separate report by A. Cedro), leading to a reconstruction of the plan of the earliest two buildings. A Meroitic(?) structure was investigated at Selib 3 and the Meroitic settlement at Selib 2 continued to be investigated (separate report by R. Hajduga and K. Solarska). A tachymetric plan and magnetic map of the environs of the Kushite temple at Soniyat was accomplished, recording a huge building (palace?) of apparently Kushite date (Napatan ceramic forms and Egyptian imports dating from the Third Intermediate Period) to the north of the temple. A separate team undertook a reconnaissance in regions scheduled to be flooded due to new dam construction projects in Kajbar and Shereik (Third and Fifth cataracts), staying on to record in detail a number of Makurian fortresses.

The tombs of Asasif: archaeological exploration in the 2013/2014 season

2016 ◽  
Vol XXIV (1) ◽  
pp. 239-246 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patryk Chudzik
Keyword(s):  
Archaeological Survey ◽  
Late Period ◽  
Middle Kingdom ◽  
Intermediate Period ◽  
The Third ◽  
The University ◽  
The Temple ◽  
Third Intermediate Period

In the 2013/2014 season, a Polish team from the University of Wrocław started work in the northern part of the Asasif necropolis, near the Temple of Queen Hatshepsut in Deir el-Bahari. An archaeological survey was carried out on the Asasif slope. Cleaning work and documentation were undertaken of the architecture of four private tombs: MMA 509/TT 312, MMA 512, MMA 513/TT 314 and MMA 514, as well as the archaeological finds thereof. The rock-cut tombs belong to a Middle Kingdom necropolis and were all reused in later times, especially in the Third Intermediate Period and Late Period.

scholarly journals Human remains from the Tomb of Khety (MMA 508/TT 311) in North Asasif

2019 ◽  
pp. 157-173 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roselyn A. Campbell
Keyword(s):  
20Th Century ◽  
Physiological Stress ◽  
Human Remains ◽  
Early 20Th Century ◽  
Past Century ◽  
Middle Kingdom ◽  
Intermediate Period ◽  
Archaeological Material ◽  
The North ◽  
Third Intermediate Period

The North Asasif Necropolis, adjacent to the New Kingdom temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el Bahari, has been the subject of several excavations over the past century, first by H.E. Winlock in the early 20th century, and since 2013 by the Asasif Project. Most of the tombs in the necropolis are rock-cut tombs of honored officials dating to the Middle Kingdom. One of these officials, named Khety, was buried in a tomb designated by Winlock as MMA 508 (also known as Theban Tomb 311), though the tomb was subsequently reused for another burial (or burials) during the Third Intermediate Period. Though Winlock excavated this tomb in the early 20th century, he left much archaeological material behind, and systematic documentation of this excavation debris by the Asasif Project has yielded a wealth of information. This study focuses specifically on the human remains recovered from MMA 508 during the 2019 season. Despite the commingled nature of the MMA 508 assemblage, much information has been gleaned from the human remains. The remains of at least twenty individuals, including infants and children as well as adults, were recovered from the tomb debris. Evidence for systemic physiological stress and infection was observed in some of the remains, and both male and female individuals were identified. Various aspects of body treatment testify to the elite status of the individuals interred in this tomb. The relatively high percentage of sub-adult remains may support theories that the tombs in this part of the necropolis were sometimes used as multi-generational family tombs. Further study of the human remains from MMA 508 may shed light on burial practices from the Middle Kingdom and Third Intermediate Period.

Remarks on royal statues in the form of the god Osiris from Deir el-Bahari

2018 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 375-389
Author(s):  
Zbigniew Szafrański
Keyword(s):  
Burial Ground ◽  
Intermediate Period ◽  
The Third ◽  
The North ◽  
Reconstruction Project ◽  
The Temple ◽  
Third Intermediate Period ◽  
North And South

This article recapitulates information available, and mostly not published yet, on the statues in the form of the god Osiris from the Upper (Coronation) and Lower Porticoes of the Temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahari. This includes the North and South Colossi, both of which were recently restored in a pilot reconstruction project undertaken by the Polish team, revising a missed restoration attempt by earlier excavators. Other examples include a sandstone painted statue of Amenhotep I, from Asasif, in the form of the mummiform figure of the god Osiris, which was also reconstructed, a fragmentary sandstone statue of Amenhotep III in the form of Osiris, as well as two fragments of statues of Osiris from the Third Intermediate Period burial ground discovered in the area of the temple of Hatshepsut.

Don’t Do What I Did!

2015 ◽  
Vol 142 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Biri Fay ◽  
Karl Jansen-Winkeln ◽  
Richard B. Parkinson
Keyword(s):  
Middle Kingdom ◽  
Intermediate Period ◽  
The Third ◽  
Ancient Times ◽  
Third Intermediate Period

SummaryThis small Middle Kingdom sculpture is approximately datable to the reign of King Amenemhat II and is one of the earliest preserved block statues. The inscription added hundreds of years after the statue’s creation, sometime between the Ramesside Period and the Third Intermediate Period reflects the regard in which the object was held, even in ancient times.

The Third Intermediate Period

2020 ◽  
pp. 683-719
Author(s):  
David A. Aston
Keyword(s):  
Religious Beliefs ◽  
Intermediate Period ◽  
Narrative History ◽  
The Third ◽  
The North ◽  
History Of ◽  
Third Intermediate Period

This chapter gives a brief overview of the character of the Third Intermediate Period reflecting on the north–south divide, the changes in religious beliefs and the growth of archaism, before concentrating on the history of the period. Scholarship on the history of the Third Intermediate Period is in a state of flux owing to the recent discoveries of new kings, and a number of new theories discussing the moving of kings from one dynasty to another, as well as changing the order of some of them. The chapter does not summarise the narrative history of the Third Intermediate Period but highlights specific historical problems and issues.

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