Week 4 – part 1: 26–28 January 2025
The beginning of week 4 marked the departure for the longest excursion of the programme – a thirteen day trip down the Nile, excitedly awaited by us all. With Luxor looming patiently on the horizon we boarded the bus, with which we were to become well acquainted over the coming days, and for the first time we headed deeper into Egypt. The bus ride itself proved to generate at least some excitement, as we were zooming down the roads of Middle Egypt, we left the busily chaotic landscape of Cairo and gradually fell into the quiet vastness of the ever-changing sandy and rocky deserts flanking the Nile Valley.
We first headed towards Minya, a lively city on the banks of the Nile. On our way there we stopped at the first site of our expedition, climbing up the hills of the beautifully situated tombs of Beni Hasan, the last resting place of the governors of the 16th Upper-Egyptian (Oryx) nome. Together with our arrival at the foot of the hills, the first in our series of student site presentations also arrived, incidentally by myself. And so we ventured into the ‘home’ of Khety (Tomb 17), with its at times perplexing painted decoration. The tombs themselves charmed with their abundant depictions of 11th and 12th Dynasty daily life. Between all the acrobatics, dancing, carpentry and wine-making scenes, a hunt for a prominent bird silhouette or two set out, eventually ending with their triumphant (photographic) capturing. The painted decoration was not the only astonishing sight of Beni Hasan. The view sprawling from the side of the hill itself, straight out the doors of the tombs, with the languid shimmering Nile flowing lazily in the background, a patchwork of unravelling lively green fields, abruptly ending with a harsh boarder of the desert was undoubtedly a favourite. The calmness and simultaneous quiet grandeur of the view made it indisputably understandable why anyone would want to be buried in such a place.
Throughout those first couple of days in Middle Egypt, we had a chance to somewhat peak into the daily life humming through the streets of Egypt, however only through the—quite literal—looking glass (the window of the bus). The village at the foot of the Beni Hasan hills charmed I think all of us. A fleeting atmosphere of a time passed, a genuine life led in the literal shadows of ancient history, enclosed in the breathtaking and silencing beauty of the region, moved and enchanted us. Some of us even had the rather unique pleasure of experiencing an Egyptian wedding at the hotel. Welcomed with countless open arms, that kept expanding and drawing us into the centre of festivities, we might not have danced all night, but we certainly did boogey.
The winner of the ‘putting-it-into-perspective’ contest was certainly the city of Amarna. Consuming an entire day and most of our vitalities, the impressive shadows of this once great city were nothing short of impressive. We could hardly grasp the alleged enormity of the entire enterprise. Chief Inspector Hamada Kellawy accompanied us throughout the day. Hopping on and off our bus, we got to see the rock-cut Royal Tomb, North Tombs and boundary stela ‘U’, as well as the rocky remains of the Archive, North Palace and Great Palace with adjacent Great and Small Aton Temple. Here it was time for the second site presentation, this time by Lisa.
Harnessing the reins of our imaginations one last time, in the flat area of the (not so small) Small Aton Temple, we attempted to reconstruct the building phases and sprouting additions to this once bustling place of cult. I think that for many, a shocking and perhaps even somewhat reviving experience, in terms of general spirit, was the visit to the Archives building, where the famous Amarna Letters come from. Although last on the long list of things in a day that was filled to the brim, the opportunity to visit such a legendary site silenced all of us, feeling like a showstopper of sorts. A wonderful lunch made by the members of the local community combined with a stunning view of the ancient plane, unfurled the wonderful side of this harsher landscape.
Those first days of the week were also the beginning of the pockets of archaeological insights in the current Egyptological research scene, launching our visits to ongoing archaeological projects. Having arrived at Zawyet el-Maytin, we were greeted by Bart, a fellow archaeologist who led us around the vast site. Although the small step pyramid might seem as the obvious point of interest, their work (at least for the coming seasons) will focus more on the areas a bit up the hill and the necropolis hidden amongst them.
Led up, down and at times even into the rocky limestone hill, we listened to all of the unconventional discoveries and the exciting plans for future research. While the site itself is certainly more than impressive, I think what shocked us most were the massive heaps of pottery. Especially for the ceramic-minded in our midst, the morning and early afternoon of the day consisted mainly of pottery-picking and pottery-marvelling. The osteology enthusiast in our group was also not left disappointed, as at the end of our tour we were introduced to the osteology team and the skeleton of an Old Kingdom man on their table.
Afterwards we headed to Tuna el-Gebel to walk through the head-spinning maze of the ibis catacombs. Wall niches carved into the dark rock filled with ibis mummies extended down, deep into the ground, making us uniformly agree that working as a priest of Thoth in this particular location would not be the most coveted post among us (not to mention the chilling vision of getting lost inside). Funnily enough, we got to dust off both our Middle Egyptian readings skills and the sarcophagus of a priest which, after years in the catacombs, was certainly not the most spotless reading aid.
The tomb of Petosiris was one of my personal favourites. The rather bold and proud decisions in design made by Petosiris resulted in depictions of Old and Middle Kingdom daily life scenes (parallels of which we could recall from the walls of Beni Hassan) represented in garments and style characteristic for the Prolemaic period. The most stunning and exquisite element of the tomb (at least for me) was however the colours. Shades of blue, purple and maroon filled the walls in a beautiful mosaic, attesting to the seamlessness of skill in both control of pigment production and artistic play of different shades by the painter.
Even though our visit to the region of Minya lasted only a few days, it was utterly consuming. The contrasts between what we have grown used to in Cairo in terms of both landscape as well as way of life and the plains, fields and the continuous presence of the winding Nile of Middle Egypt unveiled only a part of the diversity of Egypt I am sure we are bound to witness. Leaving the quiet unyielding presence of centuries of history, lost to sands of moving time behind us, we are headed towards the ever-bustling Luxor.
Agnieszka Gawin