Study Season Week 3: Abydos, how I've missed you!
A view over the Theban Hills, Luxor.
Happy Friday from the one, the only, Abydos! (We don't count the one in Greece in this household). While it is beyond hot (it's 9pm and it's 100 degrees with no breeze), it is so fantastic to be back. I am getting ahead of myself though, you don't come here for my diary, you come for a retrospective of the week's work!
Matt and I were lucky to both have June 10th off so we decided to spend the day visiting the temple complex of Karnak - an incredible complex that reflects religious worship and building in the name of many gods, but primarily Amun Re - from the Middle Kingdom through to the 20th Dynasty (and possibly beyond). The complex is massive and includes an open-air museum of inscribed blocks that you can spend hours wandering if you have the time. It's a really fantastic place to compare the art of different kings and periods as well - I like to quiz Matt on who he thinks built certain portions based on the faces of the gods depicted - he was 10/10 this trip!
Matt in front of the long entrance to Karnak.
When I say the columns are big, I mean big.
I won't bore you with facts and figures about Karnak (unless you want more info - in which case I am always happy to share some easily digestible sources) but I do want to share something I find really cool. As you walk through the hypostyle (or pillared) hall, you pass mammoth pillars carved in the style of papyrus stalks. You'll notice as you move around that the ones in the center are open at the top, and the ones off to the side are closed like papyrus buds. This is likely because there was originally a ceiling on the sides of the hall which kept some pillars in darkness, and some in the sun. When papyrus is exposed to light, the buds open, just like the pillars that are in the sun!
Some of those open-top papyrus columns.
Some closed ones!
One of the projects recently has been the cleaning of Karnak, which has revealed amazing surviving paint like you can see here.
A monumental statue of Hatshepsut (right) leading to the temple of Mut at Karnak. Nearby is the "porch of drunkenness."
Some of you will know that one of my favorite goddesses is the lioness-headed Sekhmet who represents the fierceness of feminity but is also the goddess of plague (protection against it) and war. Her titles include "Lady of Slaughter," "Mistress of Dread," and "The One Before Whom Evil Trembles" (among other, equally badass ones). She was worshipped at Karnak along with her consort Ptah and their child Nefertum, in a chapel that rests to the North of the primary halls. The reason why I mention all of this is because, if you know where to go and who to pay, you can access this temple which contains an intact statue of the goddess in complete darkness. When you come out of the sun into her shrine, her black statue almost emerges from the shadow, and it's AWESOME. Local legends have even been spun about her sneaking around at night and taking children and animals (always found unharmed, but still scary). A lot of, what the locals call "coo-coo bananas," people pay to "channel" her magic in this shrine, but I'm more of a "hey girl, how's it going?!" kind of visitor.
The entrance to the Ptah/Sekhmet chapel.
An overgrown temple along the walk to visit Sekhmet.
Matt and I then decided to walk the newly open Avenue of the Rams/Sphinxes which recreates the ancient pathway from Karnak Temple to Luxor Temple (you can watch the opening here - it was quite the show https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLO1T1Ft7oQ). It was spectacular approaching Luxor temple the traditional way, and it was very peaceful.
To get to the avenue you have to go through the temple of Khonsu. The name may be familiar to some because he is the god depicted in the comic/show Moonknight by the name "Khonshu." This has to be a mistake because it translates to "he who stinks" which is just flat out rude to the moon god.
Matt and I wandering the avenue.
A view from Karnak towards Luxor Temple (not yet visible).
I promise I'll move past Saturday's agenda ASAP, but I want to mention that Luxor Temple is fabulous, not only because it's breathtaking, but also because it's an absolute nesting doll of a religious site. The ancient temple was used for a time as a Coptic Church, and then the Abu Hajjaj Mosque was built into the wall of the temple using blocks from the site. At this time the temple was buried with almost 20m of sand, so the modern entrance to the mosque is well above ground level. We have yet to visit, but it's definitely on my list. It's amazing to stand on the site of the temple, surrounded by colossal statues and Coptic paintings of the apostles while the call to prayer rings out in the same space. It not only collapses time, but is an amazing reminder of how space can be shared and adapted, but still remain an anchoring place for so many of differing backgrounds and beliefs.
An inscribed column with two ureai wearing the crowns of upper and lower Egypt, flanking the cartouche of the king.
A photo of a portion of the mosque with reused blocks from Wikipedia by Roland Unger.
I genuinely have zero idea what I'm doing here, but it's giving me some serious Imhotep in the Mummy vibes so I had to include it.
Some of the remaining Coptic paintings inside of the ancient hall of the temple.
We finished the day with a stop at Aboudy Coffee Break (where I kid you not, the one waiter knows us by name and remembers exactly when we're coming back every time) and then some spice shopping to round it all out.
The shop owner insisted on a photo so we won't forget him next time we're in town (we definitely won't - his saffron is ridiculously well priced...).
I, personally, will be eating french fries and tamiya and calling them my veggies for the remainder of my life.
The next day was back to work, this time at the site of El Kab - an often tourism-neglected site about two hours south of Luxor (but well worth a visit). While it is remarked for its wadi graffiti and amazing ancient townsite walls, I was there for the necropolis. Nestled into the hills, the necropolis was used from the Old Kingdom onwards and offers some of the best comparative data for my dissertation due to the date (late 17th or early 18th Dynasty), and the fact that it's not considered a "capital" site. As such, the art doesn't always stay loyal to the royal style, instead prioritizing local tradition, which is exactly my jam.
The view from the tombs. The structure in the distance is the ancient town wall.
The entrance to EK3 - Paheri.
A view of the statue niche and statue - both carved directly from the mountain stone.
Some musicians are depicted at a banquet.
A monkey (likely a pet) tethered to the chair of the deceased and his wife.
An awesome example of a funeral vignette - starting at the top left you can move through the deceased's coffin being moved, the journey to Abydos, the bringing of items, the visiting of god's shrines, mourning - and then all the way in the bottom right is the deceased now in front of the god of the dead, Osiris.
The inside of EK7, the tomb of Renni. This area, above his statue niche, includes the cartouche of Amenhotep - making this tomb the closest one to my work's period. Also, it was a really big deal to get the king's name in your tomb, so clearly Renni was important.
An object frieze likely intended to depict things buried with, or offered to, the deceased and his wife.
Two men prostrate themselves before the deceased - however, the deceased's image is lost, so now they prostrate themselves before the family's dog, which is an appropriate reverence to hold towards a dog.
The deceased and his wife. You can see how different the art style is between this tomb (early 18th Dynasty) and the first (solidly middle 18th Dynasty).
One of our mourners has a receding hairline - given my interest in images that break with the canon of what early scholars thought about the body and Egyptian art, I'm always drawn to those who aren't depicted as "conventionally perfect" (at least in regards to 1900s ideas about bodily representation).
Some of these vignettes can be funny if you know where to look - look at the man in the middle - it looks like he may have been tripped by the animals walking by!
The external decoration of EK4 - Setau.
This tomb is solidly dated to the 20th Dynasty, but notice that the depiction of the deceased, wife, and pet monkey are almost identical to EK3. It's likely the deceased and his artists took inspiration from the tomb of Paheri, since it is located next door, and included many of the same vignettes.
Some of the banquet scene, above the entrance to one of the burial chambers.
We love a detail shot! Look at the attention paid to the toes!
An interesting depiction of a man prostrating himself before an inscribed monument. Could it be this tomb?
I, overall, consider my visit to the site pretty successful, and it was a good way to end the (slightly pain-in-the-ass) Research Associate portion of my trip.
A final goodbye to the pool that had become my second home in Luxor.
Then began the trip to Abydos! Unfortunately, our trip didn't take place on a boat, but the air-conditioned car was an okay upgrade in my opinion. We were arriving the same day as the UPenn team, but we were early enough that we got the pick of the rooms (chose my old room, obviously), and had time for a celebratory G&T with Debbie (my - now former/but forever my non-official - advisor) to kickoff the study season. The Penn team will be working at the Senwosret tomb and Middle Kingdom town of Wah-sut and we are very excited to see what they uncover. The director (and my new advisor) Josef Wegner is an amazing archaeologist who basically touches the ground and will find something history-altering, so it's always fun to keep up with their excavations. If you want to dive into past things they've done check out the archive of the Penn Expedition Magazine (https://www.penn.museum/research/expedition-magazine).
Ahh, I missed this view.
Debbie and I have begun our work by collating the tags to our database and we are lucky enough to have an osteologist coming out tomorrow to begin looking at our bodies. I'm hoping we have a killer cross-section of the population and her work will really help us to put together a photo of who these people are that we get to study. I will keep you updated! We also got a chance to visit the Egyptian/ARCE/UNESCO/USAID/MotA project at the Osirion - a massive, subterranean, "mock-up" of the tomb of Osiris - equipped with some of the earliest underground aqueducts known to man. The goal is to work on conservation and also make it accessible to tourists. In the past you could pay a hefty price to go down - and many of those coo-coo bananas people would pay for the (now stagnant, bright green) water to drink and "cure their ailments." I don't think I have to say this but, even if you're given the chance, don't drink the Osirion water.
A lovely Hathor head from a vessel.
We're dealing with a lot of "mud objects" that we can't quite identify yet...could this be a horse head? A sheep?
The massive undertaking of clearing the top of a subterranean tunnel. These teams are amazing.
Mmmmm, doesn't it look delicious?
Rolland (another Penn grad student) and I were told this is what happens when you don't listen to your advisor...
Look at that crocodile demon!
Matt has also unofficially joined the team as our wifi helper and database specialist. We're working with him to build a database for the project that will hopefully make future seasons easier to record, and my dissertation work significantly easier. We got some really promising work done today and he doesn't seem sick of our questions yet - inshallah his patience with our lack of knowledge remains intact!
Our database specialist! Notice the image on the upper wall? Matt has a tattoo of a version of the image (it's related to math) and keeps finding it at ancient sites. First Pompeii, now the Osirion!
Yesterday was also a very special day for me as it was my 30th Birthday. It was actually the first birthday I have ever spent away from home and I think I went into the trip accepting that it would be mediocre and I could celebrate when I get home. I will definitely do the latter, but Matt did some secret shopping when I was at work in Luxor so I would have gifts to open, and then I was thrown not one, but two little parties! My team got me a cake and surprised me with it (and gifts!) after breakfast and then, after dinner, the house staff also gave me a cake and created a balloon hurricane/volleyball game in the dining hall while blasting multiple versions of happy birthday with all the lights off. It was such an amazing way to celebrate a milestone birthday - and while I can't wait to celebrate with friends and family at home - it made me realize just how much of a family I have here too.
Before I go I wanted to update you all on the true celebrities of the dig house - the dogs. Suka and all her babies have found forever homes across the country, and from what we hear they are all very happy and healthy. Kofta did not find their adoption agreeable and ran away for months. Luckily, he was found - skinny but unharmed - and is home being loved on and overfed to make up for his weight loss. He also seems very happy that we are all here - although he keeps pooping in front of one of the Penn archaeologist's door, so we aren't sure what she did to draw his ire.
A kitty chilling in Luxor Temple.
That's all for this week! Stay tuned for some more data from the field and bone news! Emily