19 - 25 July 2001
Issue No.543
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Al-Ahram Weekly Online 19 - 25 July 2001 Issue No.543 |
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Changing the rules
New archaeological discoveries are shaking up the way Egyptologists classify their finds. Nevine El-Areffinds history being rewritten
Archaeologists keep finding things where they are not supposed to be. A recent find on the west bank of the Nile at Luxor places a small 17th-dynasty pyramid in a necropolis known for its 19th- and 20th-dynasty royal tombs. It was once thought pyramid-building ended with the Middle Kingdom, but this theory was dispelled with the find. Earlier this week, the uncovering of a New Kingdom priest's tomb in the Abu Sir necropolis -- famous for its Old Kingdom fifth-dynasty pyramids and solar temples -- further convoluted ancient Egypt's chronology.
But while most professions are uncomfortable with confusion, Egyptologists seem delighted with the challenge. Dating from the New Kingdom era, which stretches across the 18th and 20th dynasties, the rock- hewn tomb undercuts the belief that the Abu Sir necropolis was solely an Old Kingdom burial ground.
The tomb is believed to belong to a high priest named Ben-Amun, who controlled the temple of the deity Ptah (the god of creation). The discovery, unearthed by an Egyptian mission excavating the area south of Sahure's pyramid, is both striking in architectural style and historically significant.
"It is a very important discovery," enthused Zahi Hawass, director general of the Giza Plateau and Bahariya Oasis. Hawass noted that the tomb could ultimately change the way Egyptologists look at this period in history, since the find clearly shows that Abu Sir was not only for Old Kingdom elites.
Adel Hussein, director of the Saqqara necropolis, told Al-Ahram Weekly that the large size of the tomb indicates that its owner was a high-ranking official in the royal entourage. Engravings found on the tomb's wall revealed that the deceased was the holder of the divine seal of Ptah, and a 4.1-centimetre-long statue showing the tomb's owner was found inside the burial chambre.
The tomb's large complex includes a rectangular courtyard and two mud-brick buildings, as well as an entrance gate and the burial chambre. But Hussein said that the tomb is in poor condition, noting that its blocks had deteriorated significantly due to its use as a stone quarry during the last century.
"As we removed the sand, we found that there was evidence that more than 10 statues were once erected in the courtyard, but only two remain," said Gaballa Ali Gaballa, secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA).
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