The Cambridge Theban Mission worked in TT99 from 26 November to 31 December 1998. The staff of the Mission was: Dr Nigel Strudwick (Field Director), Helen Strudwick (Assistant Director), Julie Dawson (Conservator), Günter Heindl (Architect), Dr Tony Waldron (Physical Anthropologist), Rosalind Janssen (Textiles Specialist), Dr Pamela Rose, Gillian Pyke, (Ceramics Specialists), Rebecca Hardy, Rita Lucarelli (Archaeological Assistants). The Inspector assigned to the Mission was Ramadan Ahmed Aly, and we are very grateful to him for all his help and advice.
We wish to thank Dr Gaballa and the Permanent Committee for permission to work, and our thanks go in Luxor to Dr Mohamed Nasr, Sabri Abdel Aziz, and Mohamed el-Bialey for enacting the practical side of our permission.
The aims of the season were to complete the excavation of the tomb, and to continue with certain specialist reports on aspects of the finds of the tomb.
At the end of the 1997 season we had partially excavated the large shaft I; there were two further shafts (G & H) to be excavated. The following are the preliminary accounts of the excavation, since there was no time in this season to study the finds from the work in any detail. One of the tasks of the Mission was to attempt to identify the two shafts indicated as being in this courtyard and excavated by Robert Mond in 1903.[1]
Shaft G: This shaft was excavated in two days, and appears to be an abandoned attempt at a burial place. It is 2.5 metres deep, and there are two small excavations at the East and North sides, but neither of these proceeded very far, and thus we conclude that the shaft was never seriously used for burials.
As there were no chambers associated with this shaft, it was agreed with the SCA that it could be refilled once it was planned.
Shaft H: This shaft is approximately 7 metres deep. It has two rooms, one on the East side, at a depth of 4 metres, measuring approximately 2 metres square, and the other at the bottom, about the same size. The second room is notable because it is clearly unfinished, with large masses of rough rock still in the room. Whether this room was ever used for burials is uncertain, and will have to await the study of the finds in a future season. This shaft was excavated after our Ceramics team had left Egypt, but it is clear that the pottery is a mixture of all periods from the New Kingdom until relatively modern. The fact that there seems to be a considerable amount of New Kingdom pottery might make it possible that this is a shaft of that date.
We are reasonably certain that this shaft is the second one noted by Mond, although his plan is not very accurate.[2] A new plan has now been made. At the end of the season, a lockable cover was installed on this shaft, and the shaft was used for the storage of the pottery discarded after the study of the ceramics carried out (see below).
Shaft I: Work on this shaft began by breaking up the large stones which had stopped progress at the end of the previous season. Work then continued downward, and the top of a door was reached at a depth of 12.5 metres. The shaft itself is 14.5 metres deep at the west end. The doorway leads west into a large corridor approximately 9 metres long, at which point it turns to the south. There is here a small side room. Two deep steps lead down into a second chamber, and at the south of this chamber is a recess in the floor which leads into the third chamber; this chamber is almost 20 metres from the doorway to the shaft. We can confirm that this is the 'large pit of Sen-nefera' referred to by Mond in his report on his 1903 season.[3] It appears that although Mond excavated the shaft, he did not clear the chambers; rather he must have made a cursory examination and picked up a few fragments lying on top of the debris. Three weeks were required to clear it; work on a proper plan of the shaft and chambers has begun.
In these last two chambers have been found many damaged elements of the burial of Senneferi; his name and title has been found on many fragments. We conclude that the final chamber in the tomb was the burial place. Material found includes many pieces of papyrus (probably Book of the Dead), some linen, probably also bearing texts from the Book of the Dead, and coffin and box fragments, as well as a very large quantity of 18th dynasty pottery. Thus we have no doubt that this shaft was the burial place of the owner of TT99, Senneferi. The fragments of papyrus and linen were discovered after the departure of our conservator, and must be properly conserved and mounted before they can be studied in a future season.
Tony Waldron
The human remains from TT99 consisted of a substantial amount of mummified material and a much larger number of disarticulated bones. Some of the mummies, including that of Wedjahor himself, were in an excellent state of preservation, fine examples of the embalmers' art.
It was possible to examine all the remains which had been recovered to date, but it is probable that more will be discovered as excavation of shaft I continues, and these will need to be looked at on a future occasion.
A preliminary analysis of the data suggests that at least 28-30 individuals are represented by the mummified remains and that there at least as many among the disarticulated bone. Precise information will be available only when the data have been fully analysed in London.
There were two extremely interesting cases of pathology in the assemblage. The first is a male skull with a number of holes of differing sizes in it. These holes are characteristic of those caused by the secondary spread of cancer. In a male, it is most likely that the cancer originated in the lung, and this is one of the earliest cases of this disease known to date.
The second case is that of a child of about 8-10 years of age with tuberculosis of the spine. The disease had attacked the lower vertebrae, particularly those in the lumbar region. The bodies of two lumbar vertebrae had been almost completely destroyed and the spine had collapsed, forming a sharp angulation, a condition referred to as Pott's spine. The lower legs of the child were also found and the bone was extremely thin, suggesting that he or she had been immobile for several months before death. It is possible that some of the nerves to the legs had been involved by the disease, but we cannot prove this.
It would be of very great interest to determine whether this child suffered from the bovine or the human form of tuberculosis as this would contribute greatly to out understanding of the history of the disease. Modern analytical techniques now make this possible, but a small sample would need to be removed and subjected to destructive analysis in London.
Pamela Rose
Work this season concentrated on the pottery from the courtyard of the tomb, which was excavated in 1996 and 1997. The material was studied by Pamela Rose and Gillian Pyke.
The quantity of pottery was such that only a sample of it could be examined in the time available. The material from each layer within the selected squares was separated into groups reflecting their area and period of manufacture, and each group was weighted to enable comparison with pottery from other squares. In all, well over 700 kilos of ceramics were recorded in this way.
The ceramics came from a range of periods, including the Eighteenth dynasty, the Third Intermediate period, the Late Roman period, and medieval to relatively recent times. Little could be reconstructed. However, there were some large fragments, particularly of Late Roman fineware bowls manufactured in the Aswan area. These can be closely dated, and some 60 were drawn this season. Others will be drawn in a future season. The quantities of pottery belonging to different periods showed some variation in quantity amongst the layers in each square, the lowest level having the least recent material. This may indicated that not all of the courtyard was excavated by Mond.
A brief examination of the pottery from Shaft F inside the tomb revealed a find of great interest. This was almost all the fragments of an amphora of the first century AD, which was reconstructed by Gillian Pyke. The vessel type is very unusual and the reason for its presence in the tomb remains to be explained.
Julie Dawson
Conservation work was carried out from 8th-20th December 1998.
The condition of repairs made in the 1997 season was examined. All were in good condition.
A condition survey was made of accessible sections of the ceiling in the rear room were cleaned. Loose dust and cobwebs were removed with a bulb aspirator and soft brush. This was followed by cleaning with a Wishab (soft latex) sponge. . On the walls further areas of flaking paint and fine plaster identified in the condition survey conducted in previous years were secured using a grout made of 1 part Plextol B500 (acrylic dispersion) diluted with 3 parts distilled water, this combined 1:1 with sieved gypsum powder.
In the corridor the painting fragments were cleaned. Areas of paint and fine plaster identified in the condition survey were secured as above. Small patches of edge repair were made to delaminating coarse plaster using a mortar made of 1 part sieved gypsum powder and 3 parts sieved and washed sand, mixed with distilled water and a little Plextol B500 (to aid cohesion). A barrier layer of 10% Paraloid B72 (acrylic resin) in acetone was applied to the plaster before application of the mortar.
The ceiling was photographed for the detailed condition survey and a report was made. Flaking paint and fine surface plaster around major losses were secured. Cleaning by brush and Wishab sponge was begun.
The walls were examined with ultra-violet light to detect and record the presence of original coatings.
The condition of objects treated in previous seasons was checked.
Further cleaning was carried out on the mud-encrusted head of an anthropoid coffin, revealing more detail of the painted features and of the structure of the surface.
A small piece of inscribed fine linen folded into the mummified leg of Wedjahor was removed so that it could be conserved and stored more safely. The linen was gently humidified and straightened to enable the text to be read, and a supportive mount made.
Two pieces of very fragmentary and crumpled inscribed papyrus were humidified and relaxed. Small bridges of Japanese tissue adhered with 2% Methocel AC4 (methyl cellulose) in water/alcohol were applied across weak areas and breaks, and supportive mounts were made.
Rosalind Janssen
Work on the textiles was begun with examining sample bags of linen from the excavations this season. The first was from Shaft I, Room 3, layer 2. The linen was in four perceivable grades ('royal linen' was absent), with weaves of the types 'tabby', 's-spun', 'z-spun', and '2-plied'. Six exceptional pieces were extracted, labelled, and wrapped in acid-free tissue. The features observed on them included a typical New Kingdom twisted knotted fringe, a rolled hem secured with whipping stitches; the same weaver's mark was noted on two samples, and one sample was naturally crimped. The second sample was from shaft H layer 12. This produced a greater range in weave from a thick basket weave to a relatively fine one. Another set of samples from Shaft G layer 6 was examined; these were extremely fragmentary, but two interesting samples were extracted. One has a continuous rolled hem, and another has an extensive darned area.
I also examined a relatively undamaged sample of linen from Shaft I Room 3 layer 3. It included three grades of linen, plus a tiny fragment of 'royal linen'; typical New Kingdom long twisted plied fringes were observed. The most spectacular piece was a fragment 70 cm long by 12 cm wide with a 15 x 7 cm patched area made from a finer linen, secured on two faces with rolled hems and careful whipping stitches. Patching has previously been stated to be a Coptic phenomenon, so a firm New Kingdom context would make this very important.?
I further examined a bag of samples of decorated linen from the 1993-1996 seasons. The plain mummy linen is without doubt of Pharaonic date, and shows evidence of dying with samples in red (madder?) and yellow (safflower?). However, the large majority are within the Coptic-Islamic range (including various blue striped cottons) and thus they are out of the range of my expertise.
I am delighted to report that the excavation phase of the work in TT99 has now finished. Study, however, is still not in its final phase, and at least one further season will be needed to complete the study of the various categories of material which have been discovered since 1993.
Nigel Strudwick
Luxor, December 31, 1998
[1] See his two articles: 'Report on work done in the Gebel esh-Sheikh abd-el-Kurneh at Thebes January to March 1903', ASAE 5 (1904), 101-2. 'Report of work in the necropolis of Thebes during the winter of 1903-1904', ASAE 6 (1905), 87 (fig. 21, 22).