Before the new campaign starts, a short summary of the previous season
Art and Archaeology of the Old Kingdom
The newest book on art and archaeology of the Old Kingdom, including numerous papers on Saqqara, has appeared, published by the Department of Egyptology, University of Warsaw:
2018 campaign
We are working. Gods are watching…
On the 1st of September we have started the fieldwork. We are going to unravel another secrets of the Dry Moat.
We are pleased to inform that our exhibition in the State Archaeological Museum won the first prize of the Regional Council of Mazovia for a most interesting museum event.
2017 campaign
The scientific programme of the present campaign was a continuation of the previous research, focused on the western channel of the Dry Moat.
The excavation was conducted at the western bank of the Dry Moat, in front of Chapel 13, situated south of that of Ikhi. In a layer of sand extending ca. 2.00 m below the present ground level, thirteen modest burials of the Upper Necropolis have been found, in a very poor state of preservation and without any funerary equipment, except for a single pottery jar. The dakka layer, underlying the sand layer explored in the present campaign, will be subject of further research.
Continued was also the exploration of the deeper part of an anonymous rock-cut tomb (Chapel 32, situated under that of Ikhi), started in the previous campaign (2015). Because of the condition of the rock, which is extremely soft and brittle, with numerous deep intercrossing tectonic fractures, the roof of the chapel had to be supported before any work inside was possible. The chapel itself has been secured and documented in 2015, but the exploration of a sloping corridor leading to the burial chamber could not have been undertaken in that campaign. The condition of the bedrock required placing a similar supporting construction inside the sloping corridor
The fill blocking the entrance to the burial chamber has been disturbed during the construction of the tomb of Ikhi, when the workmen, apparently unaware of the presence of an earlier tomb below, accidentally broke into the corridor.
The corridor, over 5 m long, leads to a rectangular burial chamber, which has been robbed in ancient times, perhaps as a result of the accidental “discovery” made by the Ikhi’s workmen. The only item of the funerary equipment found in it was a base of a wooden statuette of a striding man, most probably of the owner of Chapel 32, whose name remains unknown.
Approximately in the middle of the burial chamber, there is a rectangular pit hewn in its floor, covered with a roughly cut limestone slab and containing a rectangular wooden coffin. At a first glance, the coffin seemed to be empty, but what appeared to be the coffin’s bottom, on closer inspection turned out to be its caved in lid, covering the undisturbed burial. (Robbers who scoured the burial chamber apparently made a similar mistake, thus leaving the burial intact.) In the coffin, remains of a body of a young man were found, bearing traces of having been wrapped in numerous layer of linen, with a plaster cover on the head and upper body. The burial suffered a significant damage as a result of falling stones and stagnating water; linen decayed completely, and of the plaster cover only small fragments remained that bear, however, traces of painted decoration.
Inside the coffin, next to the body, several objects were found, including a wooden headrest, a bead made of carnelian and a beautiful small calcite vessel.
As usual, specialist studies and conservation activities formed an important part of the scientific programme.
Od lewej: Kamil Kuraszkiewicz (kierownik misji), Tamer Ragab (inspektor) i Karol Myśliwiec (kierownik misji do 2016 roku).
Beata Błaszczuk przygotowuje się do prac dokumentacyjnych; w tle robotnicy oczekują na kosze z piachem do wyniesienia.
Jedne ze ślepych wrót w grobowcu Temiego. Konserwator Iwona Ciszewska dba o ich zachowanie dla przyszłych pokoleń.
Małgorzata Radomska z pomocą egipskiego robotnika przygotowuje sprzęt do pomiarów geodezyjnych.
W grobowcu wezyra Merefnebefa prowadzone są prace dokumentacyjne; na zdjęciu: fotograf Jarosław Dąbrowski.
Pracujemy nie tylko w piasku pustyni i pod palącym słońcem. Agnieszka Kowalska wewnątrz grobowca głęboko pod powierzchnią piasku i skał.
Inspektorzy-praktykanci, Amira Hamdi i Galal Fathi, oraz Agnieszka Kowalska w trakcie omawiania technik dokumentacyjnych.
Czwartek: koniec pracy, pora wypłaty.
Przygotowania zakończone, przystępujemy do pracy. Każde znalezisko otrzymuje fiszkę.
Rozbijamy namioty – biuro i schronienie przed słońcem.
Pierwsze spotkanie z robotnikami. Niektórzy z nich pracują z nami od dwudziestu lat.
Stanowisko po prawie dwóch latach naszej nieobecności. Jak zwykle, musimy zacząć od sprzątania.
Przeprowadzamy się do Saqqary.
(20.04.2017) Ostatnie sprawy do załatwienia w Kairze, jutro ruszamy do Saqqary.
Wizyta Rektora
(3.03.2017) Goszczący z wizytą w Egipcie Rektor UW, prof. Marcin Pałys odwiedził również nasze stanowisko. Mamy nadzieję, że ta wizyta jest zapowiedzią dobrego sezonu.
Jesteśmy też dumni, ponieważ wśród książek podarowanych Bibliotece Aleksandryjskiej przez Rektora UW znalazły się publikacje naszych wykopalisk.