Djehuty Project: 20 years of archaeological excavations in Luxor, Egypt

RESULTS

• In the last archaeological campaign we found the first testimonies of the Ancient Kingdom, ca. 2200 B.C., in our site. Fragments of a “Meidum bowl” that advance the use of this area of the necropolis by two centuries.
• The chapel tombs of Djehuty and Hery (TT 11-12), built between 1520 and 1470 B.C., have their walls entirely decorated with inscriptions and scenes in relief, both religious and funerary, as well as civil; the latter inform us about their families and their administrative career.
• From a later period, we discovered the tomb of the overseer of the weavers, Ramose, who served under Ramses II, ca. 1200 BC.
• The latest significant finding of impact among the scientific community and the general public, which occurred in 2017, consists of a funeral garden, discovered at the entrance of a large tomb from 2000 BC. The garden preserved the seeds of plants that grew there 4,000 years ago, as well as the trunk of a small tamarisk still standing in a corner of the garden. After protecting it with a metal structure and insulating plates, we made an exact replica that was placed just above the original.
• Proof of the uniqueness and value of some of the findings is the fact that seven sets of pieces are on display at the Luxor Museum
  1- Linen cloth with the date of its production written in red ink, mentioning the year 2 of the reign of Amenhotep II, ca. 1450 B.C.
  2- The “Table of the Apprentice”, a stuccoed wooden board, used by a beginner scribe ca. 1470 B.C.
  3- Sample of part of the set of fifty bouquets (dried) used in a funeral ca. 1000 B.C., and found together with fifty vases.
  4- Intact burial of Iqer, ca. 2000 B.C., including his red inscribed coffin, walking sticks, bows, arrows and pottery used in the ritual of the deceased’s farewell.
  5- Set of seven gold earrings found at the entrance of the burial chamber of Djehuty, ca. 1470 B.C.
  6- Anthropomorphic and polychrome coffin, type “rishi”, of a character called Neb, ca. 1600 B.C.
  7- Set of models/mummy models (shabtis) wrapped in linen and inscribed with the name of the “Son of King Ahmose”, together with their wooden coffins.