As we anticipated, we spent some of our Friday working at
Chicago House. We needed to prepare some fieldtrips for the students for the time next week when they won’t be able to
receive illustration instruction from Yaser, seeing as he will be away for a
few days to start his field school at Abydos. Work accomplished, we rounded out
the evening by having a drink at the Winter Palace’s Royal Bar with Steve
Harvey, an old friend and colleague who is in town for a few days leading an AIA
(Archaeological Institute of America) tour through Egypt. It was lovely to
catch up and reminisce! Seeing as he also had to be up early, we made our way
home at the unbelievable time of 8:30, though we still didn’t manage to get to bed
until after 10.
Saturday was the day of truth for Group 1, who began their
practice drawings in TT 110 at the places we had designated for them and where
they will ultimately be drawing for real Meanwhile, Group 2 got its first introduction
to pottery illustration from Yaser. Yaser gave each student the necessary
drawing tools (profile gauges, calipers, etc.), explaining all their individual
uses, and began reviewing the “5 steps” of archaeological illustration. They
managed to get through to step 2! We also got to see quite a bit of Ezz today,
as we met him on the way to work, at breakfast with Ramadan, and then again on
the way home from work.
On Sunday we continued in much the same fashion, with Yaser
finishing up his explanation of the 5 step drawing process with Group 2, while
Group 1 continued working in the tomb. Several of the Group 1 students were
able to finish their first practice pieces, and two began looking at the photocopies
from Davies publication for the area they will draw in order to check his work
against the wall. After breakfast both groups re-formed in Yaser’s illustration
tent in order for Will to discuss and demonstrate the drawing of particular
hieroglyphic signs, paying close attention to specific diagnostic traits and
features. The purpose of this exercise is to help the students be able to
recognize individual signs on the wall, even when they are damaged or badly
preserved. This took us, yet again, right up until 1pm, by which time everyone
was very glad to escape the heat of the day, which is now pushing above 30C / 88F.
Through the desert grapevine, as we were packing up, we learned that our friend
and colleague Liam McNamara was in town briefly from Hierakonpolis on his way
to the airport o travel to Cairo, and that he was lunching at the Oasis before
leaving town. Seeing as his transport was provided by our driver Ayman, he knew
to delay his departure slightly so as to rendezvous with us at the end of our
work day. Thus, we were able to see him as he was finishing his lunch and we
were ordering ours for an information-packed half hour.
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| Sayed and Mario at the false door |
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| Rasha, Walid and Will at the north stela |
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| Rasha making her hand copy |
On Monday our two groups swapped places, with Group 1 going
off to the tent to begin pottery drawing instruction with Yaser, and Group 2 (finally)
coming back into the tomb and resuming their hand copies from last week. After
some review to remind them, and us, as to how far they had each gotten, they seemed
to have quickly returned to the zone just in time for a visit from our Chicago House
neighbors in TT 107, artist Sue Osgood and epigrapher/Egyptologist Ariel Singer. This was particularly satisfying
seeing as we had visited their work and Sue had graciously explained her
drawing techniques and methods, and now our students were able to return the compliment.
It was one of those kinds of days where not just one bus, but several arrive,
and we had what we thought were random tourists visiting the tomb only to realize
they were young Egyptological colleagues from Australia whom we had briefly met
at the Oasis. JJ was able to give them a brief introduction to the tomb while
the students continued to work, and seeing as it was nearly time for breakfast
we invited them to join us. As we were leaving the tomb we saw Vincent Oeters
on the horizon with his parents and girlfriend Myrthe, whom we had been
expecting. Vincent, in good Egyptological fashion, knew when to arrive for 2nd
breakfast, as if by instinct! So inviting them along, the more the merrier, we had
a particularly festive, extended breakfast, so much so that we had to send Abu
Hamada and Mohammed to collect all the chairs from Yaser’s tent. Again Vincent,
knowing archaeological etiquette, brought gifts – a package of the traditional
Dutch stroopwafel (waffle-like wafers filled with caramel). But being so many,
Vincent’s mum, in good motherly fashion, divided them into quarters – enough for
1 apiece, except for Will and JJ, and the staff, who each got 2. YAY! For JJ,
the first time she had tried this, and for Will a much appreciated delicacy. Treats
consumed, we headed back to our respective work places and Vincent’s party was
able to get an impression of not only the tomb, but also our students’ work.
Those of you from reading our previous blogs will remember that Vincent visited
us 2 years ago, so it was an enjoyable reunion for many of us. Bidding farewell
to Vincent and his family, and directing them to Sheikh Ali for a well-deserved
repast, Will took charge in the tomb while JJ was able to visit our former
student Mahmoud’s nearby tomb, TT 172 of Montuiywy, in order to have a look and
discuss the style of wall painting and interesting historical aspects of the
tomb and its owner.
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| Hala drawing pottery |
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| Hussein drawing pottery |
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| Will and Ahmed el-Nasseh at the north stela |
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| Mahmoud examining the lintel |
Vincent displaying the stroopwafel
Vincent and his family visiting TT 110
Tuesday, even before we caught breath and had our first tea
and nescafe, the ARCE minibus arrived, carrying ARCE’s Egypt Director Dr. Louise
Bertini, Deputy Director for Research and Government Affiliations Director Mary
Sadek, and camerawoman Dana Smillie. They joined us for tea and coffee and then
hit the ground running, filming the landscape of the tomb, and various aspects of
the field school, including the students working on epigraphy inside the tomb
and drawing pottery with Yaser at the tent. The morning was rounded off by JJ
giving an interview answering questions regarding the nature and history of the
project. It all ran quite smoothly and by 9:30 they had finished and headed off
to visit and film other ARCE projects working in the Luxor area. We carried on working, with the two groups in the same area
that they had been on the day before. When we broke for 2nd breakfast we were
surprised and delighted to see that our former student Shaimaa Mandor had come
to visit! Many of our new students also know her very well, and a few had even
had some instruction in epigraphy from her, so there was much rejoicing all
around the table. Which had nothing, of course, to do with the homemade pastries
and delectable pound cake that Shaimaa had brought with her! Thanks to Shaimaa’s
visit, the students were also, finally, able to decide on a logo color for their
team shirts. They could all agree, at last, to choose the color of Shaimaa’s
headscarf – nibeety, a deep burgundy red.
After breakfast the two groups continued, with several in
the tomb finishing their initial practice sheets. Shaimaa
also joined us in TT 110, which was particularly helpful for Rehab as she is
drawing in the same area as Shaimaa did in 2015 and thus could give her some
good advice. Once again, the students
drawing pottery worked up until the last possible moment, with Yaser releasing
them a good 10 minutes past closing time. With the students realizing that Mudira
JJ was going to be away until Saturday, there were many fond farewells and wishes
of good luck for her talks in Cairo on Wednesday and Thursday, as well as
insistence that she return bearing presents.
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| Amira's hand copy |
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| Rehab's hand copy |
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| Rehab proudly displaying her first drawing |
After a meal at Hazem’s with his family, JJ caught the
shuttle from Luxor to Cairo, arriving and heading straight to Salima Ikram’s
for an evening visit with her and her husband Nicholas, as well as our now old
friend Piet Collett, who keeps turning up everywhere. Meanwhile, Mr. Will was
left in charge of the project in Luxor, enjoying a quiet evening at the flat in
readiness for a hectic day on site the next morning.
On Wednesday, whilst JJ was preparing for her talk at ARCE that
evening, Will and the team were visited by ARCE Luxor Associate Director John
Shearman and Conservator Khadiga Adam, who were showing a group from the US
Embassy the work ARCE had done in the tomb. Once the visit ended, it was time
to work, and now it was Group 1’s turn in the tomb to work on their epigraphy
and Group 2 heading off to continue pottery drawing with Yaser. On Thursday the
two groups switched places yet again, so that by week’s end each group had had
the same amount of time in the tomb as at the drawing tent. In
addition, in order to make sure that the students understood the various types
of surfaces present in the tomb before they began their drawing, Mr. Will
devised a game by which each student was asked to identify the different types
of surface found in TT110, at Mr. Will’s discretion: good surface, damage, ancient
plaster, and modern restoration. To Will’s relief (ha ha!), all 11 students
passed with flying colors!
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| Students queueing to begin Mr. Will's "game" |
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| Mario's turn at the "game" |
Hazem catching up on project work while Mudira's away
Crossing a street in Cairo
Friday was spent with Will preparing for the upcoming
fieldtrip by doing some research at Chicago House about the site of Elkab and
the particular monuments that we hope to visit, including New Kingdom (18th Dynasty)
rock-cut tombs, barque shrine of Amenhotep III, and assorted rock graffiti located
along the wadi in between. Upon the completion of Will’s work at Chicago House,
Hazem and Ayman collected him from the pavement and transported him to the
airport to greet the arrival of the Mudira’s plane. While waiting outside the
terminal, our friend Ellie Smith appeared put of nowhere, having just left Will
at Chicago House! It turned out that she was there to greet the Chicago House
photographer Sue Lezon, another old friend and colleague. So JJ and Sue had
been on the same flight from Cairo, but failed to properly recognize each other
until greeted by Ellie and Will. They admitted to thinking each looked familiar,
but they weren’t sure enough to say anything, seeing as it had been some 20
years since they had least seen one another!
