Description

This book publishes three 'Tombs of the Nobles' on the Theban West Bank in Egypt (nos. 294, 253, 254). The tombs, arranged around a single courtyard, date to the 18th dynasty, between about 1400 and 1300 BC, and belonged to middle to low-ranking officials in the granary and treasury administration of Upper Egypt. The owners, Amenhotep, Knummose, and Amenmose, were wealthy enough to build themselves well decorated tombs with some unusual scenes, such as the 'Granary of Amun' in the tomb of Khnummose and the house in the tomb of Amenmose. This publication is based on fieldwork carried out by an expedition from the University of Cambridge between 1984 and 1990. The work began as a project to complete work on the tomb of Amenmose initiated by Norman and Nina de Garis Davies, the records of which are stored in the archives of the Griffith Institute. It was subsequently expanded to include the two other tombs in the courtyard and to a full excavation of the underground areas, focussing especially on the later history of the tombs, which is here presented in detail for the first time in a treatment of a comparable group of tombs in the Theban Necropolis. Elements of the original burial equipment were preserved, allowing it to be compared with other groups of the period. The tomb of Amenhotep was usurped in the 20th dynasty by an official called Roma, who cut a new set of burial chambers and added some paintings. Over the next 500 years, all three tombs were used again and again by later priests and officials who were either unable or unwilling to cut new tombs of their own. Ultimately more than 200 individuals may have been buried in the tombs. The publication includes specialist reports on ceramics, human, animal, and botanical remains, and bracelets of the Islamic period.