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Al-Ahram Weekly 27 Jan. - 2 Feb. 2000 Issue No. 466 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 27 Jan. - 2 Feb. 2000 Issue No. 466
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Features Profile Travel Living Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Inside a dazzling discovery
By Zahi Hawass
The story goes back several years, to the time I was excavating the tombs of the pyramid builders at Giza. My assistant, Mansour Buraik, came to me in an obvious state of excitement. "Something very important has been found in Bahariya," he said breathlessly. Ashry Shaker, chief inspector of Bahariya, had arrived and wanted to tell me about the discovery of "lots of beautiful mummies". Intent on the task at hand, I told Ashry to begin excavating the tomb and assured him that I would visit the site the following week.
I went there in May 1996 and I confess that nothing Ashry had said prepared me for what I saw. The sight of these mummies was beyond my wildest imaginings. Eyes looking at me from painted coffins were so alive; mummies wrapped in linen reminded me of old Hollywood horror movies featuring Boris Karloff -- here was a stunning cache.
I decided to keep the find a secret for the time being. I feared that thieves would catch the scent of the embalming resin exuded by the mummies and hasten to pillage the site; there was not much control in those days. I was anxious, too, to determine the size of the cemetery and the extent of its contents.
In the Valley of the Mummies: Beneath the desert sands of Bahariya lies the well-preserved cemetery of the Graeco-Roman era that house these stunning mummies. An estimated ten thousand are buried in the area
photo: Khaled El-Fiqi
It was not, therefore, until March 1999 that I led a team of 14 archaeologists, architects, restoration specialists, conservators, electricians and draftsmen to the oasis. Sometimes we camped in the desert or stayed in the lovely new motel, the Al-Beshmo Lodge, in Bawiti. It was refreshing to leave the pyramids of Giza behind for a few weeks and explore the treasures beneath the sands of Bahariya.
We marked out the land: four squares in the sand were dug and we located four tombs. This was obviously a huge burial ground. I directed the excavation by allocating each square to two archaeologists and 15 workmen. At the same time, the architect began to draft a site map, the electrician provided power for the lighting and equipment, and the restoration specialists and conservators were ready and waiting with chemical solutions for the mummies as and when they appeared.
As the first tomb was opened, the brilliance of yellow-gold glinted in the sunlight -- it was so exciting. Soon, I was able to see the mummy of a woman about 1.55m in height. Her mask and waistcoat, divided into three sections with two circular disks representing breasts, were decorated in gold.
I paid particular attention to this mummy as she was removed from the tomb. She had a beautiful crown with four decorative rows of red-coloured curls; her hairstyle similar to styles found on terracotta statuettes of the Graeco-Roman period. I paused in my examination to look around and saw many other mummies to the left and right. All kinds of mummies -- men, women, and children -- were being lifted from the soil. Reluctantly, I left the dazzling woman and walked along the squares of arid ground that had suddenly become "Mummy Lane", proceeding to the third tomb. There I found that we had unearthed a beautiful pottery coffin of the type archaeologists call "anthropoid" -- so called because of its human shape and the painted face of the deceased on the surface of the coffin.
We worked on mummies throughout the day and we dreamed only of mummies during the night. We started each day at 6.30am and as the first square was properly excavated, its contents became clear. A member of our team came to me and said that in this particular tomb there were 43 mummies. "This scene is indescribable," she exclaimed, "it is a festival of mummies!"
I walked through the rows of mummies inside the tomb (now called No. 54), which was hewn into the sandstone bedrock. Its architectural components are comprised of an entrance area and the "room of handing-over" (delivery room). During the ancient burial ritual, two people would stand within this room and hand the mummy over to two others inside the tomb. Two interior chambers, carved from sandstone, were each further divided into two sections and full of mummies laid on stone shelves. Glancing at a corner I saw a very touching pair: A lady was laid to rest beside her husband, her head turned toward him. It seems that the husband had died before the wife and she asked that the family bury her near him, where she could gaze at him forever.
Mummies were not all we found in the tombs. Artefacts, such as statues of women in mourning, were scattered everywhere among them, lifting their hands up in the same pose of grief. Earrings, necklaces with different amulets and pottery were found in the tombs. There were also Ptolemaic coins, the most fascinating bearing the image of Cleopatra VII, the famous, ill-fated lover-queen of Alexandria.
At this stage I gave instructions for the cleaning of the mummies, taking photographs and measurements to ensure their conservation. I then moved to square No. 2, where I met with another of my assistants, Mahmoud Afifi. Together we started cleaning the decorative chest coverings ("cartonnage", or gypsum covering) of some of the mummies. I also asked Afifi to continue the excavations and clear the other mummies in this square.
One mummy of a man was completely wrapped in linen with a waistcoat covered with cartonnage. The mask and waistcoat were covered with a fine patina of gold. The face was long and seemed to be that of a 50-year-old man. The crown included a fillet worn across the forehead, decorated and inlaid with different coloured stones -- blue, dark red, turquoise and others. On the right and left sides of the crown were representations of plants and images of the goddesses Isis and Nephthys, who guard the deceased with their outspread wings.
Never have I taken part in so exciting an excavation. Not only was each of the tombs unique, but each of the hundreds of mummies inside them was as singular and special as the individuals they represented. These mummies, many of them sumptuously decorated with religious scenes, represent the very best of Roman-period mummies ever found in Egypt. They are close to 2,000 years old, but they have stood the test of time remarkably well.
As the sun set over Bahariya, I was filled with anticipation -- with hope. No one knew what treasures the next day held in store. I reflected on the amazing relics we had uncovered and felt that this discovery might be the key to so many unanswered questions about Egypt's ancient civilisation. I knew that these mummies, silenced for 2,000 years, would soon have their stories written in the pages of history.
