The houses in this photo of Gourna no longer exist. They had been built above or against ancient tombs. Some of the tombs were finely painted, but others were in a very poor state after some 'use' by the families.
It was decided that, to preserve what was left of these tombs, that the houses would be demolished. A famous Egyptian architect, Hassan Fathy, was commissioned to design a village, appropriately named New Gourna. However, some families resisted the move and so there are only two left. A few of the houses have been left at Qurnet Marai, opposite the ticket office.
The aim of the ARCE is to protect what remains of these houses as well as the tombs nearby. They are being photographed and catalogued to show the history of the area.
Some of the uncovered tombs have yet to be investigated properly, so for the time being they are protected by filling the entrance with mud brick. The painted tombs, of which there are many, have a padlocked metal gate. Some even have a vertical burial shaft, like this one below.
This is looking down on one of the recent houses after preservation.
The ARCE have made wide paths up the side of the hills, not only to visit the tombs but also to take advantage of the stunning views across the West Bank towards the Nile. They have even placed covered seating areas, a thoughtful touch!
As we followed the path downwards we came to a working site. All of the men were carrying rubber containers filled with rubble. This was first sifted before being discarded.
Essam then led us across to the new tomb of Djehuty, TT110. He described to us how the tomb has been cleaned. It was covered in smoke damage, to the extent that nothing really could be seen. It must have been painstaking work for the conservators, trying to remove it. Parts just could not be cleaned.
We were lucky enough to actually be allowed inside. It's very dark at the moment, as it's not open to visitors yet. I was surprised to see an actual solar panel, there aren't many around in Egypt!
The tomb is unusual in that it has references to the joint rulers, Hatshepsut and Thutmosis lV. There is a lovely scene of Djehuty presenting a bouquet of flowers to her. There's plenty of hieroglyphs, but they're not very clear. It's going to be interesting for us to translate them when we return home, a few weeks work at the least!
From here we moved back up the slope to where all the pottery shards were being washed and sorted by a workman.
From here we saw them in their separate crates, waiting for re assembly, not a task I'd want! As you can see, this bowl is made of many pieces glued together.
This is a beautiful, but plain jug that came from Memphis and would have been a wine amphora.
Our first decorated vessel.
And finally a second one, a rather elegant vase.
Our visit to the sites came to an end. It had been a really interesting morning Andy I know that I've learned a great deal about the valuable work the ARCE do here. They also run training schools for young Egyptian people to learn form the best archaeologists, Egyptologists, conservators and epigraphers. That's how it should be, Egyptians looking after their own history with help from others.
On our way back to the hotel we stopped at Kom el Hetan, the Colossi site. I needed to drop off some things for Hourig Sourouzian, the Director of the site. She was away in Paris, giving a lecture but her husband, Reiner Stadleman was there. It was lovely to see him as I thought that he'd been ill, but he was absolutely fine. We made an arrangement to return at the weekend, once we've come back from Cairo.
Lunch was a special treat today. The owner of the hotel had invited us for a traditional Egyptian meal. It was delicious! It worked out well for us as it meant we didn't have to go out for dinner before having to get up early for our flight to Cairo tomorrow.
After this, we went back to the ARCE office to see Essam. He had photos of various digs he'd been involved with that he wanted us to see. We were particularly interested in that next to the pyramid of Menkaure as we will be seeing it tomorrow. We spent about an hour with him then said our farewells, exchanging details so that we can keep in touch.
This is our last night at the New Memnon Hotel and I have to say that it is exceptionally good. I only wish that I had found it earlier in my travels. I thought that I would miss being by the Nile and the convenience of easily crossing over to the east bank, but I haven't.
It's totally peaceful here, unlike staying by the ferry with the constant noise all hours of the day and night. As long as there is somewhere to buy water then I am happy!
The hotel itself has lovely gardens and the rooms are so comfortable.
There is even tea and coffe AND a proper kettle and a fridge in the large rooms. The bathrooms are well done and have lovely thick, white towels. The shower has some force behind it and is is a proper cubicle, not a shower curtain where the water goes everywhere. This is definitely going to be my choice for future trips and its location overlooking the Colossi can't be beaten, especially at night. As I said in a previous post, to see the statues and the Theban Hills lit up so close is awe inspiring!
So it's off to bed and up at 5.30am for the 8.30am flight to Cairo. Goodness knows what tomorrow will bring!
No comments:
Post a Comment