Archaeology

The Royal Cache TT 320 (Luxor)

Fourth season, 2005

From March 3rd to April 6th, 2005 the German-Russian Mission conducted the fourth season at TT 320 in Luxor (Royal Cache)

Team members:

• Prof. Dr. Erhart Graefe, Field Director;
• Dr. Galina Belova, Co-director of the Mission;
• Mrs Anke Blöbaum, Egyptologist;
• Mr. Alexej Krol, Egyptologist;
• Mr. George Johnson, Photographer;
• Ms Sonia Guss, Egyptologist;
• Mrs Nadejda Reshetnikova, Architect;
• Mr. Sergej Ivanov, Egyptologist;
• Mr. Ahmed Abdel Hakim el-Soghair, Inspector of the SCA;
• Mr. Ahmed Hassan, Inspector of the SCA.

Cleaning of the Burial Chamber

This year's aim was to clean the last 8m of debris in the lower corridor F of TT 320 and then to empty the burial chamber G, which still was full of debris which fell down in the period after 1881 when the entrance had been left open and the tomb had been flooded with an avalanche of sand and water. The work proved to be easier than we had expected, because the huge blocks (about 40) could be destroyed easily with a hammer and the fragments carried outside. Our study of the structure of the filling showed that the recent collapse of the ceiling in the burial chamber occurred in several stages: At first even in antiquity some blocks have been fallen down, e.g. when the tomb was cut into the rock having poor quality. It was accordingly left unfinished in antiquity. Later, during the 21st dynasty, it was decided to use it nevertheless for the family of the high priests. In the time when the brothers Abder Rassul found the tomb (ca 1874), some more damage may have had occurred, but on the whole the tomb must have been still intact because the about 40 coffins (now in Cairo or Luxor Mummification Museum) were more or less intact.

Ushebti of Taiuherit

After the removal of the 5000 objects to Cairo, the entrance was left open. After some time, parts of the ceiling fell down. Then at an uncertain time the above-mentioned inundation swept in. In the burial chamber it is still visible that the height of the water reached 50cm at its end. Still some time later, before 1894, greater parts of the ceiling and the lateral walls collapsed.

All the objects left in the burial chamber by the team of Emil Brugsch, who emptied the cache in 1881, were heavily destroyed by the effects of the water. With one exception not a single wooden object still bearing its original decoration was found, the number of smashed pieces of wood was very high, though. The number of vessels left behind in 1881, was high, too. But all of them were smashed into bigger or smaller pieces, probably by the stones fallen down from the ceiling. It is a time consuming task to try to reconstruct these vessels. Therefore probably a short season of only work in the study room seems to be necessary in 2006. All the objects found are objects of study. Nevertheless I mention two pieces of somewhat greater interest: There is one complete ushebti (broken, but glued together) from Taiuherit, one of the persons once buried in the burial chamber.

A Marker left by ancient workers on the walls of the Tomb

The other one is an inlay piece made of bone in form of a standing lion (height about 14cm). It may derive from a chair which either was completely destroyed or whose main fragments are now in Cairo (but unpublished like most of the objects taken from the Cache in 1881 (exception: coffins and mummies)).

Next our architect made a complete new plan and section of the tomb after its complete cleaning. This lead to the discovery of two more markers left by the ancient workmen rising their number to 5. These markers made with charcoal on the rock surface are of different shapes and their meaning is until now unknown.

Prof. Dr. Erhart Graefe

Previous seasons:

• The Fifth Season, 2006
• The Fourth season, 2005
• The Third season, 2004
• The Second season, 2003
• The First season, 1998

© Prof. Dr. Erhart Graefe, 2005
© Institute of Egyptology and Coptology
of Münster University, 2005
© Centre for Egyptological Studies of RAS, 2005