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ENG

CANARIAN
ARCHAEOLOGY IN EGYPT
PHOTOGRAPHS BY JOSÉ MIGUEL BARRIOS MUFREGE

APR/OCT26 · MUSEU DE PREHISTÒRIA DE VALÈNCIA

making the process more efficient
and improving the precision of the
resulting documentation.
Since the first season, efforts
have focused on the stabilization,
consolidation and protection of the
tomb, the removal of salts from its
walls, and the restoration of the finds.
The overall goal of this work is to
guarantee the conservation of the
structures and to adapt the site for
public access.

headed an archaeological mission at

ARCHAEOLOGICAL PROJECT
DOS CERO NUEVE:
OBJECTIVES, MEMBERS AND SEASONS

the necropolis of South Asasif near

The initial objectives of the project

different fields with a wide range

the modern-day city of Luxor, the site

were to identify the owner of TT 209,

of methodologies and approaches,

of ancient Waset (later Thebes). The

to verify the period in which he lived,

capable of addressing the various

exhibition showcases the work carried

and to determine the distribution and

challenges and issues involved in the

out over the last few years through

formal characteristics of the tomb.

research and conservation of the site.

the lens of the mission photographer,

Once the identity of this historical

José Miguel Barrios Mufrege.

figure had been ascertained, together

members of the team. They are rarely

with his possible role in the early years

credited in texts on Egyptology – the

to the daily tasks of an excavation in

of Nubian rule over Egypt in the 8th

"hidden hands" concept has been

the land of the Nile, to the technical

century BCE, new questions emerged.

created to highlight this situation –

processes involved and the personal

These maintain the momentum of the

but their experience and field skills are

interactions between members of the

field work and have added complexity

the foundation of the results obtained.

team. In the photographs, objects,

and interest to the study.

Since 2012, a team from the University
of La Laguna (Tenerife, Spain) has

His images bring visitors closer

people and spaces combine to evoke

A multidisciplinary team
was assembled for the project,
bringing together specialists from

Egyptian specialists are essential

Robert Mond was the first

the rhythm of the campaign seasons

archaeologist to document TT

and to convey the experiences of their

209. Between 1903 and 1904, he

THE EXCAVATION IN THE WADI HATASUN
AND THE REDISCOVERY OF TT 209

protagonists, while bearing witness

excavated a trench in search of the

The tombs of the Egyptian elite were

to the author’s profound interest

burial shafts and chambers and

usually divided into two distinct parts:

in archaeological research and the

drew the first plan of its interior.

an outer building, or superstructure,

context in which it takes place.

In 1974, Dieter Eigner conducted

with a courtyard and mortuary chapel

a new exploration of the site and

where the living could make offerings

Project Dos Cero Nueve

made a more complete plan of the

to their dead, and underground

The project was set up with the goal

substructure. After this, the complex

chambers excavated in the subsoil

of excavating, documenting, studying

again became lost from memory.

containing shafts that led to burial

and conserving Theban tomb (TT)

TT 209 was hidden under

209. The complex was built on the

sedimentary deposits carried by

west bank of the Nile, on the northern

the rains that fall periodically on the

was spread along three terraces cut

slope of Wadi Hatasun, as a burial

Theban Mountain. The water and

into the north slope of the wadi.

place for the family of Nisemro, a high-

silt that have penetrated the tomb

Viewed from below it would have

ranking official of Nubian origin who

since ancient times have affected the

been an imposing sight. The lower

lived during the 25th Dynasty. This is

state of conservation of its contents,

level was formed by the pylon

a period that has has received little

particularly the organic materials.

gateway and the courtyard, from

attention from Egyptologists, making

The methodological rigour of

chambers.
The external structure of TT 209

which a stepped ramp led down to

it all the more interesting to study.

stratigraphic excavation has made

the underground chambers. The

Over the course of successive seasons,

it possible to construct a biography

central part housed an offering

the mission objectives have broadened

of the site. Archaeological recording

chamber, while on the upper terrace

to take in new areas of the wadi basin

methods have been transformed over

was a large rectangular space whose

that provide a more complete picture

the fourteen years of the project,

function is unknown.

of life in an Egyptian necropolis.

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Statistical analysis of another
group of ushabtis from a single box
shows that, although they were made
using two identical moulds — differing
only in the form of the wig — the
observed variability could suggest the
work of three craftsmen or women in
their production.
Wadi Hatasun begins at the foot of the imposing Theban Mountain and runs along one side of the hill of
Sheikh 'Abd el-Qurna, crossing a little-known sector of the necropolis, South Asasif. It is currently the site of
excavations of some of the largest tombs in Egyptian civilization, built during the Nubian dynasty, which have
shed new light on the importance of this period.

RETURN TO THE WADI
Before it became a burial site for
the inhabitants of Thebes, this area
of the western desert was home

THE OWNER OF TT 209

confirm the ethnic origin of the owner

to prehistoric populations who left

The tomb's owner was called

and the date of construction of the

evidence of their activities. Survey

Nisemro, a name of Nubian origin.

tomb.

work in the wadi basin and the study

He would have lived at the beginning

The oldest levels of the chambers

of the lithic industries identified there

of the 25th Dynasty, towards the end

in the transverse axis were found

have revealed tool-production areas

of the 8th century BCE. His title was

to contain objects typical of late-

dating to the Middle and Upper

Overseer of the Seal, which carried

25th Dynasty funerary equipment: a

Paleolithic (MSA and USA).

responsibility for the finances and

large rectangular outer coffin in the

resources of the state.

form of a shrine, of the qeresu type,

209, a broad levelled terrace runs

containing a smaller anthropoid coffin;

along the slope of Sheikh 'Abd el-

bead nets; canopic jars to house

Qurna. Since the early 20th century, it

BURIALS, FUNERARY EQUIPMENT AND
PERIODIC RITUALS

Immediately to the north of TT

the organs of the deceased; boxes

has been interpreted as an unfinished

The underground part of the tomb is

containing hundreds of funerary

road leading to a royal tomb from

formed by a series of halls distributed

figurines; jars to store the remains

the Middle Kingdom. Work carried

along two axes. In the main axis,

of the mummification process, and

out during the project has identified

which runs south to north, two large

numerous offering vessels. In one of

evidence of how it was constructed.

ritual spaces – the transverse hall and

the chambers, the tomb equipment

the pillared hall – lead to two shafts

included a dozen amphorae of

demonstrates that the necropolis was

with burial chambers. One of them

Phoenician origin.

not only a place of ritual but also the

was likely for the owner of the tomb.
In the west wall of the transverse

ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE INVISIBLE

Research carried out in this area

site of other production activities.
It is particularly interesting to note

hall is a door leading to the secondary

Most of the strata in TT 209 are

the presence of flint workshops, for

axis. The inscription above the door

formed by river deposits of the

the production of cutting tools, and

mentions a woman identified as "his

Wadi Hatasun. Recording and

limestone workshops, possibly used to

mother". Two further shafts with burial

documentation of the deposits open

obtain ostraca.

chambers have been found in this

a line of research into the rainfall

area. The ushabtis found in the largest

patterns of the Theban desert and

found on the south slope of the

chamber give the name of a male,

their impact on this part of the

wadi. Its excavation uncovered the

perhaps a brother of Nisemro.

necropolis.

disordered remains of hundreds

A NUBIAN BURIAL RITUAL

ushabtis provide information about

disarticulated and fragmented and

Found carved into the floor of the

the social and technical conditions in

showed no clear signs of burial rituals.

The virtually unstudied small clay

A small mudbrick structure was

of human bodies. These were

ABR/OCT26
MUSEU DE PREHISTÒRIA DE VALÈNCIA

main chamber were two grooves to

which they were produced. Forensic

Why they were accumulated there in

hold the legs and crosspiece of a

analysis of fingerprints from one of the

such a disorderly manner, and what

funerary bed. This form of burial was

groups has revealed that the figures

function the structure they were found

characteristic of royal Nubian rituals

were made by female adolescents,

in was intended to serve, has not yet

of the early 25th Dynasty, helping to

possibly apprentice potters.

been established.

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