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Together with the excavations, some comparative studies of different private tombs have been done in the Theban Necropolis. Since 1984, a number of tombs belonging to the late 18th Dynasty, from the reign of Tuthmosis IV to Horemheb, have been visited, in order to restore the original designs of the mural paintings at the "Kom al- Samak".
Judging from the artistic features of the mural paintings, it seems that close observation and comparative studies of the motifs and artistic styles of the temple reliefs and tomb wall paintings from the same period are valuable.
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[Tombs No. 128 and 129]
Schenkel has already reported on tombs No. 128 and 129. Tomb No. 128 belongs to the Saite period and it was built making use of tomb No. 129 built in the 18th Dynasty of the New Kingdom. The tombs' interiors were checked by referring to Schenkel's report. However, the paintings and reliefs on the ceiling and walls are not well preserved, and the figure of the Goddess Nut which was reported to be painted on the ceiling could not be detected. The tombs were surveyed and charted on paper. A part of the floor in the hall was excavated, and it was discovered that the floor had been covered with sand and rubble to a depth of approximately 50 cm.
[Tomb No. 317]
At the beginning of the survey, the sand covering the hall of tomb No. 317 was removed. It became clear that this tomb was built by having destroyed and older, smaller tomb. There were no reliefs or inscriptions in the inner chamber. There was a shaft with a depth of 3.5 m, and under the shaft there were two rooms. A great number of mummies and human bones were excavated from the hall and the rooms under the inner chamber. The ceiling is covered with soot and it is hard to see the paintings clearly. However, they were photographed and also sketched.
[Tomb No. 318]
Four statues in the inner room which were mentioned by scholars of the last century have completely disappeared. It seems that they have been taken away by tomb robbers. However, the condition of the paintings on the walls and the ceiling was rather good. The outer lintel and jambs of the inner room together make the form of a gate. Inscriptions are carved and painted on them. Here the name of Amen has been deliberately erased.
[Physical Anthropological Studies]
A great number of mummies and human bones were found in the tombs. They were examined and measured using physical anthropological method. Valuable data on the ancient Egyptian mummification process were obtained through these examinations.
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[Tomb No. 333]
The hall ceiling of the tomb No. 333 is completely lost. Most of the wall paintings of the hall and the inner room had suffered serious damage. A number of fragments of painting were found lying on the floor of the inner room. The white plastered forecourt of tomb No. 333 were recovered outside the entrance during our excavation.
[W-4, W-5 and W-6]
In March 1988, an unregistered tomb was found at the location only 5 meters to the north west of tomb No. 333. This, we called W-4 for the time being. The hall ceiling is lost, and it has neither painting nor inscriptions inside. Sandstone columns with the name of the Overseer of works, Amen-em-wia, were uncovered in the forecourt. It was presumed that W-4 was originally an 18th Dynasty tomb, re-used in the Ramesside period.
Following this discovery, we decided to excavate and clear the area to the west of tomb No. 333. Two other unregistered tombs (W-5 and W-6) were discovered in 1988 and 1989. Both had suffered serious damage. The south wall of the hall of W-5 bore ritual scenes in front of mummies, which are standing in front of the entrance of a tomb with a pyramidion on top of it. Most of the wall-paintings inside W-6 are lost, although on the west wall of its hall there are the remains of a fowling scene, heavily covered with soot. High quality fragments of painting were also found lying on the floor of its hall. From the remains of the wall paintings, it was concluded that W-5 and W-6 are the long-lost tombs A 21 and A 24. This area of the necropolis has also yielded a variety of isolated objects, including funerary cones, shabtis, stamped mud bricks and a stone statuette.
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Aerial view of the excavation site
Excavation of the tomb
Mural painting of the tomb
Painted mural fragment of the tomb
Mummy found at the tomb
Human figure found at the tomb
(First drafted: 20 February 1996)
(Last revised: 25 January 2000)