In the 2019 season, the joint Leiden-Turin Expedition to Saqqara continued work in the area north of thetomb of Maya with the aim of lowering the terrain above the new tomb discovered during the... Show moreIn the 2019 season, the joint Leiden-Turin Expedition to Saqqara continued work in the area north of thetomb of Maya with the aim of lowering the terrain above the new tomb discovered during the 2018 season(V82.1) and to prepare the area for further exploration in 2020. Many layers of deposit situated immediatelyto the north of the new tomb were removed, and – although they mostly originated from previous excavationsin the 1980s and 1990s – systematically investigated. Several dumps of organic material such as linenand wood as well as numerous small finds and relief fragments were identified and recorded. In addition,existing storage facilities on site were renovated and upgraded. In this process, part of the undergroundstructures of the tombs of Horemheb and Meryneith were surveyed by the 3D Survey Group (Politecnico diMilano). Thanks to the cooperation with the same Milanese team, a new documentation method was testedduring the ongoing excavation work. Within a 3D model the different stages of excavation were recorded,allowing the digital reconstruction of the stratigraphy of the whole area and the documentation of all findsin their original contexts. A Digital Surface Model of the entire concession area was also produced, and 3Dmodels of some of the previously excavated monumental tombs were created. Lastly, since heavy rainfallshad damaged many of the earlier excavated monumental tombs open to the public, they were consolidatedand where necessary rebuilt. Show less
This article presents the Saqqara tomb of Ry, an army official who built his funerary monument in the immediate post-Amarna period (temp. Tutankhamun c. 1319–1310 BCE). The Leiden-Turin Expedition... Show moreThis article presents the Saqqara tomb of Ry, an army official who built his funerary monument in the immediate post-Amarna period (temp. Tutankhamun c. 1319–1310 BCE). The Leiden-Turin Expedition to Saqqara excavated this anonymous mud-brick tomb structure in 2013. Recent research revealed that various decorated limestone revetment blocks held in museum collections around the world derive from this tomb. They were removed by early excavators almost 200 years ago and formed part of the antiquities collections of prominent collectors such as Giuseppe Passalacqua and Henry Abbott. The dispersed tomb elements bearing texts and iconography are here contextualised and the funerary monument is analysed in the framework of the development of the Memphite New Kingdom necropolis. Show less
Previous examinations of ancient Egyptian graffiti have focused on textual graffiti and developed interpretations specific to this class of evidence. In contrast, relatively few studies have... Show morePrevious examinations of ancient Egyptian graffiti have focused on textual graffiti and developed interpretations specific to this class of evidence. In contrast, relatively few studies have considered the communicative power and meaning of figural graffiti, presumably because of the inherent challenges that this data set presents to academic research. To counterbalance the current emphasis on textual graffiti, this contribution examines graffiti making in the New Kingdom necropolis at Saqqara using an integrated approach taking in both textual and figural material. In accordance with the imagistic principle of Egyptian magic, the authors propose that certain types of figural graffiti may be regarded as pictorial prayers in their own right, intended to ensure the permanent presence of the graffitist in the tomb, or to protect and beatify the deceased in the afterlife. Since literacy is not a prerequisite for drawing a picture, the important question is raised of whether the production of figural graffiti expanded throughout the social scale or, like textual graffiti, was restricted to the elite and sub-elite. Show less
Del Vesco, P.; Greco, C.; Müller, M.; Staring, N.T.B.; Weiss, L.V.; Gasperini, V.; ... ; Warner, N. 2019
In 2015, the Museo Egizio in Turin joined the Leiden expedition to Saqqara, in the area south of the Unas causeway. This report presents the expedition’s new approach as well as some first results... Show moreIn 2015, the Museo Egizio in Turin joined the Leiden expedition to Saqqara, in the area south of the Unas causeway. This report presents the expedition’s new approach as well as some first results of this new cooperation. In the 2018 season, the Leiden-Turin expedition worked in the northern sector of its concession, covering an area of ca. 250 sqm just north of the tomb of Maya. Here Late Antique layers overlie a windblown deposit containing some simple burials and numerous “embalmers’ caches”, some of which yielded marl clay cups with hieratic labels. An overview of both the pottery and the human remains found during this season is provided in the present report. Below the wind-blown deposit is a level with Ramesside funerary chapels and shafts. One of them has a remarkable decoration including six small-format figures carved in high relief in the middle of its back wall. The shaft of another chapel was also excavated, revealing several plundered chambers which yielded only scanty finds. A large mud-brick wall exposed during the previous season turned out to belong to the outer wall and pylon entrance of a monumental tomb, whose owner’s name has not been found yet.A photogrammetric survey by a team of the Politecnico di Milano yielded a 3D model of the dig (included in the web version of this report), as well as several 3D models of the monumental tombs (completed or in the making). During the season, conservation work was carried out on several tombs and on the newly discovered Ramesside chapel. Show less
