Somehow Saturday morning we managed to arise, mostly ready
for the work day. When we were picked up we discovered we weren’t the only
ones still recovering – Saad had overslept and managed to arrive at Karnak only
later in the morning. But somehow the rest of our students made it, on time, to
the Karnak Lab to begin their final week of training with Hassan. Leaving them
in his capable hands, JJ, Will, and Marco headed back to TT 110, picking up
Hilary from Chicago House, and Owen from the west bank, along the way. It is a
photography day at TT110, with Hilary and Marco working in the tomb while Owen
worked under the tent. Hilary was experimenting with her newly developed RTI
technique, catching details of cartouches, while Marco was taking photos for creating
his 3D model of the tomb. Meanwhile Owen was creating screen-shot instructions
as a teaching aid for the students so that they could work up and revise the
models that they had begun to create on Thursday. The work was somewhat delayed
by the arrival of Dr. Tamás Bács and one of his graduate students, whom we had
initially seen walking up the gebel in such a deliberate manner we realized
that they could not be tourists. Tamás had accepted JJ’s invitation to come and
visit before beginning his own work at the tomb of Hatshepsut’s high priest
of Amun Hapuseneb (TT67) and the adjacent TT65 of Hatshepsut’s overseer of the
granary Nebamun, but usurped in the Late Ramesside Period.
These tombs are just up the cliffside from TT110, and it was delightful to see
Tamás again, and talk a bit about his work, and the work we are doing in TT110.
Because of the late start, we stayed on site until 2:30, tired but having accomplished
a great deal in terms of the photography.
A view from TT110 up the cliffs towards TT65 and TT67
Marco at work inside and outside TT110
In many ways Sunday was a repeat of Saturday, but with just
Hilary and Marco, as Owen had completed the instruction sheets. Hilary spent the morning finishing the detailed shots she was taking, while Marco carried on photographing for the
3D model of TT110, including the external courtyard and façade to put the tomb
in its proper topographic context within the landscape of the gebel. Will
walked him through the court, explaining what was modern, and what original so
that Marco could better visualize what the facade looked like in antiquity based
on the surviving architectural clues. Seeing as TT110 is a relatively small
tomb, JJ and Will introduced Marco to TT41, where the students had spent time
the initial week preparing their epigraphy plans, so that Marco could get a
better sense of what was possible in a subterranean Egyptian tomb. Marco was
yet again amazed as to what often lies hidden behind the rock-cut tomb facades
that he had been observing around and above TT 110. Yet another example of the
potential ancient Egyptian architecture offers for 3D modeling. By the end of
the workday, Hilary had finished her work, and Marco realized he had just the
rear room of TT110 remaining, but preferred to come back the following day to give him
time to check what he had already done in case more photos needed to be taken.
Also, our student Alaa had asked if Marco could look and see if it might be
possible to create a 3D model of his tomb. TT108, which Alaa had begun to
record at the end of our last field season, and completed between then and now.
The tomb is small and unfinished, and literally under the tent where we have
been having second breakfast, so it couldn’t be more convenient!
We had incorporated Owen, Hilary, and Marco into our working
lunches at Oasis, which has been splendid as they have been able to brief us
on their work in the tomb. They had not needed our help, expect occasionally to
hold mirrors or block out the sunlight, clearly putting us into our place as
props and accessories to the real photographic tomb action! The working day
done and dusted, we had a particular treat in store for Sunday evening, knowing
the Will’s good friend Liam McNamara, currently the Keeper of the Egyptian
Department at the Ashmolean and Director of the Griffith Institute in Oxford,
had completed a brief season at Hierakonpolis with Renee Friedman (see 2016
fieldtrip) and was passing through Luxor for one night only in order to catch
the direct Luxor-London Egypt Air flight Monday morning (the same flight we
will be taking in just a week!). The timing was so tight that he arrived at his
hotel at 6pm, just long enough to get cleaned up before we whisked him away thanks
to Ayman and his taxi, to our favorite Italian watering hole, Pizza Roma, where
we could offer him dinner and a cold beer. It was marvelous catching up as well
as comparing notes about our respective field seasons. Before we knew it, 2
hours had elapsed and it was time to deposit Liam back at his hotel, only to
find that he was planning to meet another Hierakonpolis colleague for a drink –
Xavier Droux, who was in Luxor leading a tour from the UK. Xavier left his glass
of beer being guarded at the King’s Head Pub, an old Egyptological watering
hole, to rush across the street and meet us in front of the Sonesta/St. George
hotel for a brief reunion. JJ and Will called it a night, leaving the boys to
it.
On Monday we went back to TT110, this time just with Marco
to finish off all of the photography in the tomb and so that he could also take
pictures for Alaa in TT108 to create for him a 3D model. Marco had finished in
TT110 by breakfast, leaving plenty of time for Alaa’s tomb, or so we thought! Our
breakfasts have become so famous, that we were joined by Ramadan and Ezz, as
well as Afaf and her Inspector, our 2015 Inspector Esmaa. It was a lovely
reunion, but led to so much chatting that we forgot that we actually had to leave
early in order to join the team at Karnak for lunch since Owen and Hilary had
agreed to come back to finish their teaching in the afternoon. Lunch proved to
be something of a special occasion in that Shaimaa and Nadia had prepared a
feast for everyone: tahina, gibna abyad, salat, minced meat béchamel, and homemade
kunifa (squares of shredded coconut and honey) for dessert. It was truly
delicious! The day was long but productive, and the students came away with a good
knowledge of the digital photography process. That evening JJ had arranged for
a dinner at Hazem’s so that the parents of a close friend, who are in Egypt on
a Nile River cruise, could experience a home cooked, traditional Egyptian meal hosted by Hazem. Over dinner we fielded many questions about archaeological life and work in Egypt,
and shared some of our favorite places to visit. Everyone enjoyed the
evening tremendously.
Tuesday, being one of Marco’s last days in Egypt, we thought
we had better let him actually visit Karnak Temple, instead of just looking at
it from the back gate! Also, Will, JJ, and Hassan had agreed to give a lecture
for the Scientific Department Center of Karnak, led by Moamen Saad, another of
Will’s former students who is currently working on recording the Ramesside
inscriptions at Gebel Silsila and whose work we visited as part of our field
trip in 2015. The talk was meant for inspectors based in Luxor, and many from
Karnak and Luxor Temples, as well as the Sphinx Avenue project attended. At the
end of the talk, while we were receiving congratulations, we noted that Hassan
was actually being interviewed for local Luxor television. Being innately shy,
very much against his will, a media star in the making. Duty done, we had a
late breakfast of what Hazem managed to save for us from our scavenging,
locust-like students, and returned to the temple, providing Marco with a potted
history of Egypt as it related to the development of Karnak. This was
particularly pleasurable as we were seated in the shade of the hypostyle hall,
making it even more apropos. The timing proved perfect as we rounded out the
day with the Festival Hall of Thutmose III. Thanks to the morning lecture and
word spreading throughout the temple, we were giving special permission to
visit parts of the structure normally closed to the public. Celebrity does have
its perks! But our work day was not actually finished as we had an extended
staff meeting over lunch to discuss with Hazem, Sayed, Hassan and Yasser plans
for the February-March season and to finalize the decision selecting which students
would attend the new field school. Marco participated and made useful
contributions regarding the photographic and photogrammetry aspect, which he had
helped Owen and Hilary teach, and it seemed an opportune moment not only to thank
him, but also to ask if he were willing to join us again next year as an official
member of the team to continue in that role. He accepted readily, and we were
all well pleased to welcome him to the team. Our “Visiting Scholar” had become
a full-fledged team member with the new title of “Photogrammetry and 3D Creator”
(see field crew page). Marco was spared the remaining 2 hours of the meeting so
that he could go back to the hotel for a much needed nap. Karnak has that effect upon people! Finally finishing up the meeting at 6, thanks to Ayman closing
the dining room, even by our standards this was a bit ridiculous to sit down
for lunch and not leave until dinner! However, by the end we were all pleased
with the decisions we made in terms of our selections and expanding the field
school from 5 to 10 students, as well as incorporating the photographic and
digital element more firmly in the teaching structure.
By day’s end Tuesday Hassan had essentially finished his
teaching, so on Wednesday Yaser came to the Karnak Lab to give the students
some instruction in digitally inking pottery and object drawings. Leaving him
to it, JJ, Will, and Marco headed west so that JJ could finish up business with
the teftish, accompanied by Sayed and Hassan, while Will and Marco visited the
Ramesseum. We re-grouped in time to visit Sayed’s tomb in Qurnet Murai, TT 362,
an early Ramesside tomb that belonged to a high priest of Mont named Usermontu.
It had been hidden under the local homes, and only exposed after the houses
were removed and the debris cleared. As was often the case, the tomb had been
robbed from the rear via passages from other tombs, but still contained mounds
of intrusive bones and pottery from later occupation. Remarkably, the plaster
painted walls, especially in the second chamber, are still extraordinarily
well-preserved, and, by Ramesside standards, extremely beautiful. By now it was
nearly noon, and being hot, dusty, and hungry we agreed to adjourn to Sheikh
Ali for colds drinks and lunch. This was a treat for Marco, who had yet to
experience the lovely garden environment of which the west bank archaeological
community is so fond, and would not be at the graduation ceremony,
which traditionally is held in the Sheikh Ali garden. Bidding a fond farewell
we headed back to the east bank to have a rest before re-grouping for dinner. Since
it was Marco’s last night, we thought it would be an opportunity to introduce
him to Pizza Roma, which seemed an appropriate
venue for saying goodbye to our Italian compatriot. Hazem, Sayed, Hassan, and
Owen joined us, but Yaser and Hilary were unable to as they had previous engagements, so they said their goodbyes via telephone. We ended the evening by strolling
through Luxor Temple, admiring the beautifully lit reliefs and statues, and
giving Marco one last glimpse of ancient Egyptian architecture. Saying our
goodbyes as we exited the temple, Marco was dragooned by Hazem and Sayed for
one final stop for coffee and shisha at a local café. We will draw a veil over
this and hope Marco made his flight in the morning …
Luxor By Night
Thursday marks the last day of the field school, and as is
our custom the students were evaluated for their progress over the course of
the school. This time, since Hassan did the digital epigraphy teaching, he also
evaluated the students, taking the entire morning until just after breakfast.
Once the evaluations were finished, we all returned to the lab so that Hassan
could give the students some final points about digital drawing and inking.
With final words of thanks and appreciation, a last group photo was taken in
front of Khonsu Temple in memory of our time at the lab and the completion of
the digital epigraphy course, and we walked out of the temple happy to have completed another field school, and sad to see our students go.
The graduation ceremony is tonight (Thursday evening) at the
same site as in previous years – the garden of Sheikh Ali at dusk. Students,
their families, and staff have all been invited for one last evening together,
and inevitably more photos. Tune in next week for our last hurrah.
