Having demonstrated to the students how to plan an epigraphic
program on one wall in the court of TT41, come Saturday we let them loose in
the tomb. Each pair was given their own particular wall, and as in the previous
year JJ and Will made scarce. Will and Sayed remained at the tent and began to
introduce our inspector Atito to the basic 5 steps of epigraphy, while JJ and Hazem
went off to have a look at potential tombs to assign to the students as part of
the research component of the field school. Just after second breakfast we were
amazed to look up and find a familiar countenance striding across the desert,
clearly aiming for our tent. As he got closer, we realized that it was none
other than Abu Gomaa! So for the remainder of the day we had 2 Gomaa’s for the price
of 1! There was, needless to say, much celebration and general rejoicing.
Abu Gomaa riding shotgun
The students continued their planning work all that
day and resumed it first thing Sunday morning. Meanwhile, Atito continued with
his epigraphy practice, learning as the other students had, how to draw damage
on the façade of TT 110. Every so often Will and/or JJ would silently lurk
behind pillars within TT 41 in order to see what was happening with the
students without being seen. Any reservations or concerns we might have had were
quickly dispelled with the realization that the students were doing exactly
what they were supposed to be doing. Discussing, comparing, and contrasting their
work not only within each pair, but between groups of colleagues as well. About
an hour before the end of the work day, Mr. Will spoke with each group to see
if they would manage to finish by the end of that day. All were in the very final
stages of their plan; some had even finished and were discussing their
presentation that was set for the next day. Both JJ and Will were extremely impressed
with how well they had understood the concepts and how successful they seemingly
were in putting them into practice. With this sense of optimism, JJ and Will
felt no qualms in celebrating our first week’s work with good friends and colleagues
Keli and Jen from Chicago House at our traditional watering hole, The Lantern.
It was nice to be welcomed back by the gregarious Debi, and see that the menus
had been updated, but that all our favorite meals were still available. We had
a great time bringing Jen and Keli up-to-speed on how our work was progressing,
but also to swap stories of what we had all been up to over the summer.
Can you spot the difference?
On Monday it was time for our student pairs to present
their work to the larger group. We began with Ahmed ElNasseh and Rasha,
followed by Mario and Rehab, and Mahmoud and Safaa. As we had surmised form the
day before, we got off to a great start with all 3 groups giving excellent,
comprehensive, presentations, which engendered discussion and clearly showed
the degree to which they had all understood the basic principles. One reason we
had begun with Ahmed ElNasseh and Rasha, is because sadly it was to be his last
day with us in the school as he had been offered the opportunity of excavating
with the French in Saudi Arabia and his flight was scheduled for that evening.
Having known of this in advance, we had prepared a little surprise for him at
breakfast. No, it wasn’t a cake! But rather, the traditional Egyptian delicacy known
as fatir, which we have raved to you all about in previous years. Sweet, flaky
bread that one dips in sugarcane molasses, or on which one spreads salty gibna
abyad – both savory and sweet, the perfect food! In addition, seeing as Ahmed
would not be able to complete the course and receive a certificate at
graduation for the entire program, we prepared for him a letter of
recommendation for the portion he had completed, as well as a gift of a drawing
board and personalized mug from Mr. Will and the Mudira. The same gifts we had
given the graduates of the advanced school last year.
Ahmed el Nasseh and Rasha's Epigraphy Program
Mena and Rehab's Wall Diagram
Mahmoud and Safaa's Epigraphy Program
Presentation of gifts to Ahmed ElNasseh
After breakfast, the presentations resumed, with our
final 2 groups: Alaa Talaat and Amira, and Walid, who presented on his own as
his partner Hala unfortunately had scratched her eye while working the day
before and had to be seen by a doctor. As with the earlier groups, once again
our students did not disappoint! Alaa and Amira presented a very complicated wall
extremely well and Walid, acknowledging Hala’s contribution to their work, did
an excellent job presenting their joint efforts. In celebration of the
completion of this part of the program, and recognizing that we would no longer
have Ahmed with us, we took several group photos, including the full complement
of students.
Alaa Talaat and Amira's Epigraphy Program
Walid and Hala's Epigraphy Program
Student antics at the entrance to TT 41
Epigraphy Team in front of De Garis Davies House
At the end of the work day Will and JJ renewed the arrangement
we had with Hazem and his family last season, joining them for an early meal at
Omm Hazem’s after the work, and coming home with plenty of leftovers for later!
We also got to see Hazem’s brother Ahmed, who was in town briefly between tour
trips to Hurghada and Cairo.
On Tuesday we switched gears and began the second, research,
portion of the field school training, starting with an extra lie-in as we all
met on the East Bank corniche in front of Chicago House at 8am. Before going
into Chicago House, we took the opportunity of the cool morning to remind them
of the general etiquette of using the library, and JJ spoke briefly about the
basic plan for the research program and handed out the tomb assignments to each
pair. Once in the library, Sayed gave the students a brief refresher in Arabic of
the use of the library and JJ reminded them how to understand the bibliography
entries given in various books they would consult, following which each group
went off into the stacks in search of their tomb publications. Once each pair
had found their main tomb publication, JJ handed them off to Mr. Will, who, in
the meantime had located the German publication of TT 41 and explained to the
students how the publication had been organized. He then proceeded to let each
group critique the plate depicting the line drawing of the wall they themselves
had studied, planned, and presented just the day before. This was an excellent
opportunity for them to demonstrate just how much they had learned about not
only the methodology, but also their particular wall so as to speak both
knowledgably and confidently about what they saw in the German publication.
Sayed's refresher
Mudira JJ reviewing Porter & Moss with the students
A bemused Mr. Will with the students
Walid and Hala critique the publication of their TT41 wall
Because Chicago House library closed at noon for
lunch, the students were able to end their day early, and after gobbling up
some biscuits in the garden, everyone headed home. Mena, seeing as he had to go
directly to his job and had no time for lunch, ate an entire packet all by
himself! We have the evidence to prove it …
Group shot outside Chicago House Library
The evening presented the opportunity of renewing
contact with our old friend Afifi Rohim, who has been working in the Western
Valley and was so helpful to us in February and March. He was particularly interested
in hearing how the students were doing in the advanced portion of the school.
We met him and his colleagues Tayib and Ahmed Ali, along with Hazem and Sayed,
at a new open-air coffeeshop in Luxor which came highly recommended. It did not
disappoint and we had a lovely time over coffees catching up and laughing.
On Wednesday we returned to the west. The previous
night, at Mr. Will’s insistence, JJ had created a “5 step” program for research,
modeled upon all of the various 5 step outlines Will has prepared. With this
addition, we now have 5 “5 step” documents for all aspects of illustration and research!
JJ reviewed the new 5 steps with the students, and armed with this information the
students made their way to their assigned tombs to begin step 2. Mr Will and
Mudira JJ visited each group through the course of the morning just to double
check they were all beginning with the first step! Much relieved, we found they
were so could leave them to get on with it.
Thursday we returned to Chicago House so that the
students could carry on researching their tombs, collecting photos and bibliography
that they would put to use for their research projects, in fact returning to
step 1. Everyone was so intent on their research, we found it necessary to
enforce a biscuit break mid-way through the morning for fear they would collapse
from malnutrition! Once again, we ended our day at noon, making for a nice
reward for all of the students’ hard work.
Biscuit Break
Seeing as it was Thursday and we were on the East Bank
for a change, we decided to have our usual staff lunch at Pizza Roma, which is
within a stone’s throw of where Yaser lives. Consequently, Yaser was early,
saving us a table in a conveniently empty restaurant, one advantage to eating
so early. All Egyptians love pizza, but Egyptian pizza is a very different
thing than you might expect, the crust being very thick and doughy and things
go on the pizza you’ve never seen on pizza before! But at Pizza Roma, they experience
true Italian pizza because the Egyptian owner and chef trained in Rome. Hazem
loves the gorgonzola pizza (yuck!), Sayed tried the BBQ chicken and vegetable
pizza (weird!), and Yaser was introduced to Italian pizza for the first time. So
impressed was he that he plans to bring his family, since his children, as all
children worldwide, love pizza! The meeting was primarily to bring Yaser up-to-date
with the previous week’s teaching since he ahs not been actively involved on
site or in the library. An early lunch also meant that we had plenty of time
for the traditional Chicago House Halloween party, which is usually a great gathering
of the many different foreign missions (Spanish, Polish, Mexican, American,
French, Swiss) beginning work in Luxor in the Autumn. As in the past the
Chicago House staff made all welcome. The house and courtyard were spectacularly
decorated, including even an active projection of spooky ghosts encircling the
courtyard.
Angry Birds
Despite the late night, Will and JJ managed to still put
in a productive day’s work at Chicago House library, re-meeting many of the,
now un-costumed, colleagues from the night before. We ended the day by meeting
up with all of our former students, and of course Hazem, Sayed, and Yaser, at a
local coffeeshop on the Nile. It was wonderful to see them all, and made all
the more special by the fact that Rasha xxx, from our first field school way
back in 2015, was visiting her family in Luxor from Saudi Arabia, where she now
lives with her husband and son, was able to join us for the reunion. Since the
field school we found that both Abu el-Hagag and Shaimaa had new members of
their family, a little girl for Abu el-Hagag, and a little boy for Shaimaa.
Having realized that Hassan Ramadan should have completed his PhD defense in
Berlin, Yaser was able to put through a Skype call on his ipad and
unbelievably, we were all able to speak to Hassan and congratulate him in his apartment
in Berlin. Needless to say, he passed! And when he joins us on the 6th, he will
be Dr. Hassan Ramadan Aglan, and there will be cake!
