Recarved Kushite Head from the Tomb of Karakhamun? (Further Remarks on the Dating of the South Asasif Necropolis)1

This chapter examines the remains of a modern sculptural workshop in the tomb of Karabasken in an attempt to identify a fragment of genuine Kushite sculpture. In May 2014, a small limestone head wearing a nemes was found in the court of the tomb of Karabasken. Referred to as a Kushite head, the object is made of pink-colored limestone. It is not its original color, but the result of extensive burning on the floor of the First and Second Pillared Halls in the tomb of Karakhamun. In contrast, almost all of the heads from Karabasken's workshop are carved out of the dense white limestone from Karakhamun's quarry area. The chapter considers a few facts and preliminary conclusions about the Kushite head as well as some of the questions it raises; for example, whether a royal statue could be part of the original decoration of the tomb of Karakhamun.

Faunal Remains in the Tomb Karabasken (TT 391)

This chapter examines the faunal remains unearthed in the tomb of Karabasken. The Pillared Hall of the tomb chapel of Karabasken yielded a dense deposit of 875 bones that showed signs of some degree of weathering and erosion, possibly because of flood and wind activities, combined with sand and soil abrasion. In addition to bones, date pits, cow and ovicaprid dung, and vegetal material were found. The entire deposit of animal bones in the Pillared Hall of Karabasken's tomb can be estimated to consist of at least 2,900 cattle and 580 ovicaprids. None of the bones bore butchery marks. The bones might be the result of years of religious feasts and celebrations that involved the slaughter of cattle, such as the two annual Eids, the birth of children, and funerals. Nevertheless, the absence of butchery marks, together with the presence of all the bones, is puzzling.

A New High Steward of the God's Wife Nitocris: Padibastet, Grandson of Pabasa and Successor of Padihorresne1

This chapter focuses on the discovery of a previously unknown high steward of the Divine Wife, Padibastet, who was probably buried in the tomb of Karabasken. In 2013, the Mission of the South Asasif Conservation Project, under the direction of Elena Pischikova, discovered on the left side in front of the entrance niche to the Pillared Hall of Karabasken's tomb, a stela hewn into the rock. In 2014, it was confirmed that Padibastet used the unfinished tomb of Karabasken for his own burial. He possesses the “classical” titles of a High Steward of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty. His father is Pabasa, who is known by the same name and title as one of the sons of the high steward Pabasa. Padibastet must also have been in office under the God's Wife Nitocris. The chapter first traces the genealogy of Padibastet before analyzing the vignette and text of the stela.

The Vignette of BD 32 in the Tomb of Karakhamun

This chapter discusses the iconography of the vignette of BD 32 in the tomb of Karakhamun. One of the key objectives of the South Asasif Conservation Project team is to rebuild the walls of Karakhamun's tomb. This will allow secure analysis of the place of Karakhamun's Book of the Dead (BD) versions in the history of this composition. Devoting a closer look at the vignettes seems an appropriate way to further deepen knowledge about BD in the first part of the Twenty-fifth Dynasty. BD 32 occupies columns 48 to 403 of the north wall in the First Pillared Hall of Karakhamun's tomb. The chapter describes the spell and vignette of BD 32 in the tomb, along with the models of BD V31 and BD V32. It shows that models V31.6 and V32.6 became the illustration of their respective spells in the Saite recension.

Toward a Better Understanding of the Ritual of the Hours of the Night (Stundenritual)

This chapter focuses on the Ritual of the Hours of the Night in the First Pillared Hall of the tomb of Karakhamun. The Ritual of the Hours of the Day and Night is one of a series of religious texts relating to the cycle of the sun god. The Hours of the Night have been interpreted as consisting of extracts from the Book of the Dead. In the earliest versions of the ritual, attested within the memorial temples of Hatshepsut and Thutmose III of the Eighteenth Dynasty, it is the pharaoh who is the beneficiary. The ongoing reconstruction of the tomb of Karakhamun offers the potential to better understand the Hours of the Night. The chapter first considers the sources for the texts of the Hours of the Night before analyzing its complete text.

Tombs of Karakhamun and Karabasken, 2012–14: Fieldwork1

This chapter focuses on the excavation of the entrance areas and open courts in the tombs of Karabasken and Karakhamun during the 2012–2014 field work. Karabasken and Karakhamun are the personalities behind the revival of large decorated tombs in the Theban area. The decisions and choices they made influenced tomb development in the late Kushite and Saite periods. By combining and reinterpreting elements of temple complexes and royal and elite tombs of earlier periods, they created a new theological space, a Kushite version of the temple-tomb. The chapter describes the architectural decoration of the entrance areas and open courts in the tombs of Karabasken and Karakhamun, along with some of the archaeological finds at the site ranging from fragments of a statue of Osiris to remains of burial equipment such as tubular faience beads and amulets from mummy nets.

Pottery from the Tombs of Karakhamun and Karabasken

This chapter examines the pottery found in the tombs of the South Asasif necropolis and its ritual function. A second season of the recording of the pottery from the tomb of Karakhamun was undertaken in late 2012. The main aims of the 2012 season were to sample the newly excavated material from the front areas of the tomb and to establish a dating of these ceramics. Another goal was to enlarge the corpus of recorded and drawn pottery. The focus of work on the ceramic material from Karakhamun's tomb was on Ptolemaic pottery unearthed during the excavation of the courtyard in 2012. The chapter also analyzes the pottery in the tomb of Karakhamun and the tomb of Karabasken during the 2014 season.

Material from a Possible Industrial Area in the Tomb of Karakhamun (TT 223)1

This chapter considers the possibility of faience production in the tomb of Karakhamun. The tomb of Karakhamun is comprised of a dromos, vestibule, solar court, two pillared halls, and an antechamber leading to the burial chamber itself. In the first of these pillared halls, excavations in 2009 revealed extensive areas of burning all around the courtyard and a concentration of concreted bones along the southern side of the courtyard. Analysis of the bones showed that they belong almost exclusively to cattle. Some of the animal bones are blue, often in quite intense shades. This is probably due to the natural effect of burning bones. The chapter asks whether the presence of calcined bones, slag, and occasional faience beads implies that some form of industrial activity had taken place at the site. It also describes the workshop of “Abud” Mohammed Hasan at Qurna.

Texts of the Torniscile and the Adjacent Walls in the Tomb of Karabasken[i]

This chapter discusses the texts of the Tornische and the adjacent walls in the tomb of Karabasken. Until the recent archaeological excavations by the South Asasif Conservation Project, the only known texts of the walls in the tomb of Karabasken were those published by the great expeditions and travelers of the first half of the nineteenth century. Between 1824 and 1838, Robert Hay and a group of artists made several trips to Egypt. One of his companions made the oldest identified drawing of the plan of the tomb. The courtyard, Tornische, passage, pillared hall, and inner chamber can be distinguished. The monumental entrance upon which the religious texts were inscribed is clearly visible. The chapter analyzes the preserved inscriptions and offers an interpretation of the name of Karabasken.

Palaeography of the Texts of the Burial Chamber of the Tomb of Karakhamun

This chapter discusses the palaeography of the religious texts of the burial chamber of the tomb of Karakhamun. About 1,100 hieroglyphs on the walls and 300 hieroglyphs on the astronomical ceiling of Karakhamun's tomb have been identified. The ensemble of texts in the chamber is small and it has a quite restricted scope: the name of the deceased and only one of his titles, the identification of the asterisms and their related deities on the astronomical ceiling, and two parts of a spell of the Book of the Dead, BD 125B and BD 125C, beside the legends of the justification scene represented on the east wall. The chapter describes the current state of the reconstruction of the texts on the walls of Karakhamun's tomb and offers a palaeographic commentary of the preserved hieroglyphic signs of the chamber.