RICERCA ITALIANA     

Research program

From Archaeological Researches to Archives. Survey and study of Theban tombs of the Egyptian XVIIIth Dynasty documented in the Archives Loret - Varille (1881-1951) of the University of Milano and in other egyptological Archives

University Co-ordinator

Università degli Studi di MILANO - SCIENZE DELL'ANTICHITA' - ()

Research Unit Leader

Patrizia Piacentini

Description

The description of the research program will be articulated on the basis of the following points, correspondent to subsequent phases of the research itself: 1. the photographic material and other documents preserved in the Archives of Egyptology of the University of Milan: their arrangement; 2. choice of Theban tombs of the XVIIIth dynasty documented in the Milan Archives: the work to be carried on; 3. search of material on these tombs in other egyptological archives; 4. The tomb of Khaemhat (TT57): study of the iconographic and textual program, virtual reconstruction of the decoration through archival material and direct investigation; 5. Preliminary study of the iconographic and textual program of the other tombs included in the list, with possible virtual reconstruction of the decoration through archival material and direct investigation; 6. final objectives.

1. The photographic material and other documents preserved in the Archives of Egyptology of the University of Milan: their arrangement

Over 50000 images are preserved in the Archives of Egyptology of the University of Milan: about 1000 glass plates, about 700 ancient photos and the remaining are negatives, prints, slides, aerial and digital photos. Moreover, there are hundreds of squeezes, sketches, fac-similar, manuscripts. In 2004 their systematic ordering began, together with the digitalisation and the cataloguing, in view of the creation of an informatics archive.
Most of the photos are included in the Archives of Varille, famous French Egyptologist (1909-1951). He had ordered a great number of photos in a methodical way in collectors of various sizes, containing generally the negative and the print. Nevertheless, a conspicuous number of photos has not been ordered neither classified, probably because of the sudden death of the researcher. The exceptionality of these archives had already been shown in many contributions of Varille contemporary Egyptologists, that could use his documents in the forties and fifties (see e.g.. Bothmer, 2003, p. 54; Cristophe 1956, pp. 74-75; Mekhitarian, 1952, p. 143).
These photos illustrate most part of the archaeological Egyptians sites, from Alexandria to Abu Simbel crossing the oases, besides many Nubian sites. Among them, it must be noticed the presence of hundreds of photos of excavations (in Saqqara, in Middle Egypt sites, in Medamud, on the western Theban bank), and the nearly integral reproduction of the decoration and of the inscriptions of numerous Theban tombs. These images are particularly useful: the first ones as documentation, often unique, of the excavations and of the related findings, in many cases left in the stores and unpublished; the second ones, because in many cases they reproduce the walls of tombs today irremediably damaged. These last ones will be the centre of our search.
In the archives are also preserved 965 glass plates, belonged to Loret (1859-1946) and Varille. The work of their thematic arrangement and scanning has already begun: in a while, it will be possible to consult them directly on computer, and in the future also by internet, while the originals will be preserved in envelopes and special containers, with the purpose to preserve them in the best way. They reproduce numerous Egyptians monuments, especially of Luxor, of Karnak and of the western Theban bank, of Philae, Abidos, Saqqarah, of other sites in smaller quantity, as well as objects in museums or excavation findings.
In the Varille-Loret archives are also preserved numerous aerial photos, among which some of West Thebes. Remarkable are some hundred postcards, often printed from clichés of famous photographers, a lot of which reproduce scenes represented in the Theban tombs, and for this reason they directly interest us in this phase of the search.
Other photos reproduce objects preserved in Egyptian and European museums and in private collections: these last images are very important for their uniqueness. In many cases they reproduce objects dated from the epoch of Amenhotep III, that interested particularly Varille, and that could be very useful for the search itself.
The first phase of the search, already well advanced, consists in the systematic organization of the documents of the Milan Archives, related to the Theban tombs (photos, but also sketches, water-colours, fac-similar of texts, etc.).
Every document is inserted in an expressly elaborated database, based on Microsoft Access. Every image obtained from the document scanning is coupled to a card including all the important data, besides a description and a comment. The original document, often fragile and perishable, is inserted in special containers and therefore not more handled not for further controls, with the purpose to preserve it in the best possible way. This activity, already started by Luigi Prada on the occasion of his master degree, will be continued by the same Luigi Prada and by Laura Marucchi (egyptologists with archival competences) and by Marco Biaggi (experienced IT researcher with egyptological competences). Moreover, voluntary students will participate to the project, coordinated by the responsible of the unity of search, Patrizia Piacentini, and by Christian Orsenigo, young researcher (Assegnista di ricerca).
Within two years, or in an advanced phase of the search, a choice of images and cards will be inserted in the portal of the Library and of the Archives of Egyptology of the University of Milan (under elaboration), becoming accessible to the researchers.

2. Choice of Theban tombs of the XVIII dynasty documented in the Milan Archives: the work to be carried on

Among the around 350 Theban tombs of the XVIII dynasty (on the basis of the estimation of Kampp, 1996 and Strudwick - Strudwick, 1999), a group of tombs to analyze has been selected, on the basis of a first verification of their actual state effected in situ and of a verification of the presence in the Milan Archives of graphic and photographic documentation.
This material, that at a first inventory result to include about a thousand of unities, concern tombs both well known, as for instance the TT48 of Amenemhat, and unpublished or nearly unknown, as for instance the TT248 of Djehutymes.
There are some particular remarkable cases, as the complete photographic mapping of the TT57 of Khaemhat or the numerous photos of the TT192 of Kheruef.
The unity of search will deal with the following tombs, attributable to the kingdoms of Thutmosi IV and Amenhotep III:
TT 66 (Hepu); TT 69 (Menna); TT76 (Tjenuna); TT77 (Ptahemhat); TT 108 (Nebseny); TT258 (Menkheper); TT 54 (Huy); TT 78 (Horemheb); TT90 (Nebamon); TT91 (anonymous); TT295 (Djehutymes Pary); TT 46 (Rames); TT 47 (Userhat); TT48 (Amenemhat); TT 57 (Khaemhat); TT89 (Amenmes); TT107 (Nefersekheru); TT120 (Anen); TT139 (Pairy); TT161 (Nakht); TT253 (Khnummes); TT294 (Amenhotep); TT 192 (Kheruef).
For each tomb an extensive bibliographical search is going on, from the first excavations to the actual searches, to determine what has been published or not and to discover the presence of fragments or other materials in egyptological collections.
For the published tombs, it will be verified the contribution of the photos and of the materials of the Milan Archives, before studying the decorative and textual program. In the case they are unpublished, a more detailed iconographic and textual study will be proposed (see point 5, infra).
Where possible, on the base of an accord with the Supreme Council of Egyptian Antiquities, the control of the actual situation of each tomb of the group will be effected, to verify the possible degradation and the possibility of integration of texts and decorations through the photos and the squeezes effected in the XIX and XX century. As many Egyptologists affirm, C. May Sheikholeslami declared in a recent conference on the Theban necropolises, referring to the excavations effected in past in the Theban tombs: "Careful attention to contemporary accounts and the remarks of excavators, no matter how imperfect their recording methods were, can help restore an apparently lost archaeological context" (see Sheikholeslami, 2003, p. 136).

3. Search of material on these tombs in other Egyptological archives

A further step will be the search of documentation on this group of tombs in other archives, as the Centre de Documentation and the Institut Français d’Archéologie Orientale in Cairo, the Chicago House of Luxor, the Bibliothèque Nationale, the Collège de France and the Centre Golenishchev in Paris, the University of Heidelberg, the University of Marburg, the Berlin Museum, the Griffith Institute and the Bodleian Library in Oxford, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, the Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York. In these centres, it is known the presence of materials on the Theban tombs. Accords of collaboration have already been taken with the responsible of some of these Archives and others will be taken in the next future. During the missions to these centres, it will be verified the presence of materials concerning the tombs studied by the unity of search.

4. The tomb of Khaemhat (TT57): iconographic and textual study, virtual reconstruction of the decoration through archival material and direct investigation

In the Milan Archives, as said before, is preserved a lot of material related to this tomb, that will be therefore studied in detailed way. The probably complete photographic material, the existence of squeezes on paper, as well as the existence, at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, of about thirty plaster squeezes, can bring to a virtual reconstruction of the tomb.
The tomb, discovered in 1842 by George Lloyd, is one of the only four tombs known at the epoch of Amenhotep III that presents a decoration in relief. The squeezes realized during the XIX century of such thin bas-reliefs, today to a large extent preserved in Milan and Boston (see Dunham, 1936), have been the principal cause of the total loss of the original coloration, but they allow today a detailed study of the monument, also of the parts of decoration and text lost for human or natural causes during the last 150 years.
Already Loret, in 1884, described in detail the tomb and copied the texts (manuscripts in the Milan Archives), then Mond, in 1905, performed excavations and realized the plan. In 1941, Varille analyzed the text of the "Appeal to the living" (fac-similar and manuscripts in the Milan Archives), a text that needs to be analyzed again and commented for his particularities (see Orsenigo, 2002); in 1973 Abdel-Aziz - Sadek had studied a stele of the tomb, while J. Assmann, in 1983, studied the religious texts. In 2001, L. Pinch-Brock wrote a chapter on the tomb in a general volume on the monuments of Western Thebes, illustrating it with beautiful photos.
To date, a complete iconographic and textual study is still missing: this will be the priority objective of the search unity.

5. Study of the iconographic and textual program of the other tombs included in the list, with possible virtual reconstruction of the decoration through archival material and direct investigation

The study of the iconographic and textual program will be extended to a certain number of other tombs of the first half of the XVIII dynasty (particularly of the kingdoms of Thutmosi IV and Amenhotep III, see the list supra). This period is characterized by deep changes in the Egyptian society, as shown also by the introduction of an important series of new repertoires of images in the tombs of the high officials of the state. After an in situ and an archival study, and considering the recent bibliography, a new reading and a reinterpretation of the figurative and textual programs of the burials of this period could be achieved, only traced with very general lines in the last century.
The virtual reconstruction of the select tombs, practicable through direct recognition, recent photos, archival material that can allow the integration of the data lacking today, will be realized according to the available material, the time and the financing of the search. It would allow to reconstruct the whole decorations and texts, when possible, and therefore a better understanding of their logic, of their disposition and of their content.
This operation, already effected in a preliminary and experimental way on some of the selected tombs, with the collaboration of the students of the Egyptology course of the School of Specialization in Archaeology of the University of Milan, gave great results and it seems therefore possible the application of the model to a more important series of tombs.

6. Final objectives

Additionally, final aim of the search will be the bringing in of new information for the search on the monuments of the western Theban shore, contributing on one side to their development and to the maintenance of the documentation on them (the Supreme Council of Egyptian Antiquities is particularly sensitive about this question, see el-Bialy, 2003), and on the other to the exploitation of the Egyptological Archives recently acquired by the University of Milan, making them accessible through computer supports, internet and publications.
To conclude the search, it will be organized a conference involving the members of the unity of search and other researchers that work in the Theban necropolis and in the Egyptological archives, and to publish its proceedings.