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The
lost tomb of "the father of Egypt". Discovery that
has never been made
08/23/2005 11:14
Poor translation lead to the news in the Russian media about
the discovery, which had not been made actually
The Egyptian
archaeology provides us with a lot of surprises and unexpected
discoveries every year. However, sometimes a "sensation"
turns out to just journalists' mistake. This is what happened
with the supposedly discovered untouched tomb of the king Amenhotep
I that was even compared with the discovery of Tutankhamen's
tomb. Poor translation and misinterpretation of the words of
Dr. Zahi Hawass, Secretary General of the Supreme Council of
Antiquities of Egypt, lead to the news in the Russian media
about the discovery, which had not been made actually.
In fact
the Minister of Culture of Egypt Faruk Hosni just confirmed
that the joint Egyptian-Polish expedition gained the right to
start the diggings at the Necropolis of Thebes aiming at discovery
of Amenhotep's tomb. Zahi Hawass supported the initiative by
saying that "if the archaeological team discovered the
tomb of Amenhotep I, then the find would likely come to be listed
as one of the greatest archaeological discoveries of the 21st
century". Journalists omitted the word "if"
in their comments, which lead to the confusion. Later the tomb
turned out to be "untouched" and
hence similar to that of Tutankhamen. Just because of this single
word and amateur journalists who seek sensations the world is
waiting for treasures that will never be discovered. And there
are serious historical reasons for this.
Amenhotep
I occupies a very important place in Egyptian history. Djeserkare
Amenhotep was the son of the pharaoh Iahmes I who freed Egypt
of Hyksos invaders and ruled in the period of the revival of
Egyptian power and culture: it was the time of the foundation
of the magnificent New Kingdom. The period of Amenhotep I was
marked by quick economic growth, development of agriculture,
crafts, trade and temple construction. During his reign à
new stage of Nubia exploration began: in the eighth year of
his rule Egyptian troops reached the fourth cataract of Nile.
Triumphal stelae in honor of reconciliation of southern provinces
of Egyptian kingdom were constructed in Qasr Ibrim and Sai where
Amenhotep I laid a temple and a residence of governor of Kush.
A new large-scale construction program was started in the main
sanctuary of the kingdom - the Temple of Amen in Karnak. Here
a famous alabaster sanctuary with the scenes of Sed festival,
when the king"s connections with gods were renewed, was
erected. The king built a chapel in Abydos to honor his deified
father, the founder of the XVIIIth dynasty.
Architectural fragments with the name of Amenhotep I were found
in El-Kab, Kom Ombo, Elephantine island and also at Serabit
el-Khadim in Sinai. The settlement of Deir el-Medina was founded
on the west bank of Nile at Thebes. It was settled by artists,
craftsmen and artisans who worked at the building of royal tombs
in the Valley of the Kings. It is during the reign of this Amenhotep
when the royal tomb was separated from the mortuary temple for
the first time.
The sanctuary
of Amenhotep I, named Men-set, constructed in the rocks of Deir
el-Bahri was, probably, later demolished during the construction
of the funerary temple of queen Hatshepsut.
Still the
king who ascended the throne at a very young age always lived
in the shadow of his mother, the Great Iahmes-Nefertari, who
seemed to be the real inspirer of Egypt's renaissance. Along
with political activity she reformed many of the religious norms
of that time and became the first well-known "God's
Wife of Amen", high priestess in Karnak, the founder
of the famous temple school for priestesses and the organizer
of famous festivals for worshipping Amen in Thebes. That is
why Iahmes-Nefertari and Amenhotep I were deified posthumously
and were worshipped as the patron saints of Thebes and especially
of the Necropolis, where their names were remembered and honored
centuries later.
What about
the tomb of Amenhotep I? It was mentioned in the list of the
burial-vaults, inspected by the civilians in the 16th year of
pharaoh Ramesses IX's reign but it has not been identified yet.
It is not known whether Amenhotep I was buried together with
his ancestors, kings of the XVIIth dynasty, at the necropolis
of Dra Abu el-Naga (K93.11) or in one of the unfinished tombs
in the Valley of the Kings (KV39, AN B?).
It
must be mentioned that even different sites of the Theban necropolis
were unified under one place in the "sensational"
news reports. Meantime, the mummy of the king was discovered
among the remains of other pharaohs, at the Deir el-Bahri Cache
(TT320), where it was placed by the priests that wanted to save
it from plunder. Egyptologists Emile Brugsch was the first European
who descended into the Cache on 6 July 1881. What he saw at
tó mine and in the crumbling corridors surpassed his
expectations and even the stories of the locals who discovered
the Cache.
Brugsch
wrote, "Soon we came upon cases of porcelain funerary offerings,
metal and alabaster vessels, draperies and trinkets, until,
reaching the turn in the passage, a cluster of mummy cases came
into view in such number as to stagger me.
Collecting
my senses, I made the best examination of them I could by the
light of my torch, and at once saw that they contained the mummies
of royal personages of both sexes; and yet that was not all.
Plunging on ahead of my guide, I came to the end chamber., and
there standing against the walls or here lying on the floor,
I found even a greater number of mummy-cases of stupendous size
and weight.
Their gold
coverings and their polished surfaces so plainly reflected my
own excited visage that it seemed as though I was looking into
the faces of my own ancestors. I was not sure whether it was
a dream or the reality. I took a look at one of the tomb-chests
and read the name of Seti I, the father of Ramesses II. Just
a few steps from it Ramesses II himself lied in modest tomb
with his arms folded. The deeper I was going into the gallery,
the more treasures I discovered. Amenhotep I here, Ahmose I
there, three Thutmosid pharaohs, queen Iahmes-Nefertari - all
in all 37 coffins with well-preserved mummies of kings, queens,
princes and princesses".
Among all
this royal mortals Amenhotep I occupied a special place as a
divine king, who became the example of the ideal ruler of Egypt
together with his mother. In the ancient times when the Cache
was founded, his body was the first to be transferred there
in order to consecrate the place for other pharaohs. His mummy,
restored during the last reburial, was swathed with special
accuracy and covered with flowers. For urgent burial of the
king the coffin of the "wab" priest
Djehutimes was made over and provided with necessary regalia
and texts. The mummy of Amenhotep I was not unwrapped and is
kept at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. His name on the shrouds
accompanied with the unusual title "iti ni Kemet"
which means "the Father of Egypt".
To crown it up: the tomb of Amenhotep I will have been uncovered
at least twice by the time it is identified: by the robbers
indirectly mentioned in the Abbot Papyrus and by the priests,
who took the king"s body for its reburial. Practice shows
that royal tombs, from which the mummy was taken, became the
subject of robbery at once. When Dr. Hawass was talking about
potentially great discovery, he meant of course great archaeological
value of such discovery and possibly the remains of funeral
implements, similar to those that were found at the sacked tombs
of Thutmose III, Amenhotep II, Thutmose IV and Horemheb - i.e.
cracked vessels, wooden statues, faience amulets and many other
objects, that were scattered among the rock fragments and sand
on the floor of former "houses of eternity" in the
Valley of the Kings.
Dr. Victor
V. Solkin
President of the Association of Ancient Egypt Studies "MAAT",
Member of the International Association of Egyptologists.
Illustrations:
1.Amenhotep I as Osiris. Limestone. London, British Museum.
2.Statuette of Iahmes-Nefertari. Wood. Paris, Louvre.
3.The mummy of Amenhotep I from the Deir el-Bahri Cache. Cairo,
Egyptian Museum.
4.The Valley of the Kings. Entrance into the tomb KV39 attributed
to Amenhotep I.
5.The image of deified Amenhotep I on the mummy-case of the
priestess of Thebes of the XXI dynasty. London, British Museum.
DISCLAIMER:
I make
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on the matter. The information was acquired off the web and from authors (owners
of said pages) and other sources and described as "information"
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