THEBAN TOMB 29 & C3 EXCAVATION

The tomb complex is composed of 3 tombs, TT96, TT29 and TTC3 (TT is for Theban Tomb - see fig. 2). It was originally destined to be the tomb of the vizier during the reigns of Amenhotep II and Thutmosis IV (approx. 1427 - 1391 BC), Amenemope. Though Amenemope himself does not seem to have occupied the tomb (he received the high honor of being buried in the Valley of the Kings, in KV48), his relatives, descendants and various other members of the family circle were buried in the main funerary shafts under the chapel of the tomb, as indicated by artifacts and remains dating from later eras.

TT29 was reused as late as the 26th dynasty (685 – 525 BC), as attested by ushebtis (little figurines representing the deceased) and coffin fragments dating from that period, but this time by low ranking officials and their families, as evidenced by the rather crude funerary preparation of the remains (Bavay, 2007). After several pillaging events, probably occurring during the Late Period (664 – 332 BC), the tomb was abandoned for centuries until the 6th century AD, when Coptic monks used the site as their hermitage.

The occupation of the site by the monks continued until the 8th century, after which it was once again forgotten for centuries. In the 19th century, the site was occupied by a family of villagers who, seeking refuge from the Napoleonic Armies and profit from looting, built a house on top of the chapel in which they and their descendants lived until World War II. The Corthals Lab has been part of the excavation under the direction of Dr. Laurent Bavay since 2009.

COLLABORATION(S)

IN COLLABORATION WITH:

- Dr. Laurent Bavay (Site Director, Director of CReA, Universite Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium)

- Dr. Dimitri Labouri (Site Co-Director, Universite de Liege)

- Anja Stoll (Universite Libre de Bruxelles)

PUBLICATIONS

2021. Farmer M, Corthals A. A Structure-from-Motion Pipeline for Bone Morphology 3D Analysis. In: Ikram S, Kaiser J, Porcier S, eds. The Ancient Egyptians and the Natural World: Flora, Fauna, and Science. Sidestone Press; 2021.

Forensic

Informatics

This project aims to collect information from commingled, decontextualized human remains spanning 30 centuries in a late New Kingdom tomb complex in southern Egypt