Research
Saqqara Diary 2023 – First week
info@museitorino.it
011 44 06 903
From Monday to Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.
A Relief for Us All
Lyla Pinch Brock
Caption: Lyla Pinch Brock working in the tomb of Panehsy.
Photo: Nicola Dell'Aquila.
The weather is cool in the morning out here in the desert. We are working in the shadow of the step pyramid, sombre under a sky of cotton-batten clouds. Unlike our Egyptian colleagues, the team members who flew in are not usually here in February, so they are bundled up against the cold in scarves and down jackets. We slap our hands against our sides to keep warm. But in no time at all, we are peeling off our layers and warming ourselves in the sun like lizards.
Caption: Lyla Pinch Brock collating her drawings against the reliefs in the tomb of Panehsy.
Photo: Nicola Dell'Aquila.
Caption: The central chapel of the tomb of Panehsy in 2022.
Photo: Nicola Dell'Aquila.
My name is Lyla Pinch Brock, and I am wearing my epigrapher hat for the next two weeks -- that is, I will be a copyist. I am one of the senior team members, having been with the crew for almost twenty years. One of our jobs this season is to record the series of reliefs we found last season lining the walls of a chapel in the tomb of Panehsy. I say “our” because it’s decidedly a group effort.
Caption: The tomb of Panehsy uncovered in 2022.
Photo: Nicola Dell'Aquila.
Caption: Limestone wall fragment with raised relief showing the name of the tomb owner Panehsy.
Photo: Nicola Dell'Aquila.
First on the scene is one of our dig directors, Daniel Soliman, whose main job is to expedite our work. He organises a table and chair for me and then gets two of the workmen, ‘Assam Sayed and Rafa’at ‘Eid to carefully remove the wooden hoarding and soft styrofoam we installed over the carved stones last year to protect them from the wind and rain. What with world weather patterns changing, we don’t know what to expect. Our inspector, Hanna Donqol is on hand to check the stones’ condition and take some photos.
Caption: A bull depicted in the tomb of Panehsy.
Photo: Nicola Dell'Aquila.
The hoarding is carefully lifted away. We breathe a collective sigh of relief to see everything is still in good condition. However, there is some minor spalling of the stone and we all agree that some conservation is in order. Thankfully, the Friends of Saqqara foundation has offered to fund it.
Caption: Relief fragments depicting Panehsy seated on chair and footstool .
Photo: Nicola Dell'Aquila.
The reliefs show offerings being brought before the tomb-owner, including a hapless bull so fat that his hooves have splayed under his weight. In the retinue are priests and officials rendered in small scale, while on either side of a doorway Panehsy the owner is depicted full-size, majestically accepting his due. He wears fine sandals and a pink pleated robe and holds two staves of office. He held the important post of steward of the temple of Amun during the first part of the reign of Ramesses II, around 1279-1259 BC.
Caption: Inspector Hanna Donqol (left) and conservators Basma Zaghloul Esmael (seated) and Yousef Hamadi ‘Awad (standing).
Photo: Nicola Dell'Aquila.
I get to work. I will trace the reliefs using the excellent photographs taken by Nicola Dell’Aquila, and then collate my drawings against the walls. Once they are all checked, they will be inked in for publication. Two days later I am happy to see our conservators arrive – Basma Zaghloul Esmael and Yousef Hamadi ‘Awad, who did such a superb job last year cleaning and conserving our tiny “family” chapel with its exquisite miniature statues that I had the pleasure of recording with funding from the Amarna Foundation.
Caption: Basma Zaghloul Esmael, Lyla Pinch Brock and Yousef Hamadi ‘Awad.
Photo: Nicola Dell'Aquila.
This season we will also work on a large, highly-detailed and very important stela of the tomb owner which is part of the larger chapel. It was found last year on the last day of work, confirming the archaeologists’ truism -- “the best thing is always found on the last day.”
Caption: Stela in the tomb of Panehsy.
Photo: Nicola Dell'Aquila.
We look forward to seeing you next Tuesday for a new diary!
Lyla Pinch Brock
Caption: Lyla Pinch Brock working in the tomb of Panehsy.
Photo: Nicola Dell'Aquila.
The weather is cool in the morning out here in the desert. We are working in the shadow of the step pyramid, sombre under a sky of cotton-batten clouds. Unlike our Egyptian colleagues, the team members who flew in are not usually here in February, so they are bundled up against the cold in scarves and down jackets. We slap our hands against our sides to keep warm. But in no time at all, we are peeling off our layers and warming ourselves in the sun like lizards.
Caption: Lyla Pinch Brock collating her drawings against the reliefs in the tomb of Panehsy.
Photo: Nicola Dell'Aquila.
Caption: The central chapel of the tomb of Panehsy in 2022.
Photo: Nicola Dell'Aquila.
My name is Lyla Pinch Brock, and I am wearing my epigrapher hat for the next two weeks -- that is, I will be a copyist. I am one of the senior team members, having been with the crew for almost twenty years. One of our jobs this season is to record the series of reliefs we found last season lining the walls of a chapel in the tomb of Panehsy. I say “our” because it’s decidedly a group effort.
Caption: The tomb of Panehsy uncovered in 2022.
Photo: Nicola Dell'Aquila.
Caption: Limestone wall fragment with raised relief showing the name of the tomb owner Panehsy.
Photo: Nicola Dell'Aquila.
First on the scene is one of our dig directors, Daniel Soliman, whose main job is to expedite our work. He organises a table and chair for me and then gets two of the workmen, ‘Assam Sayed and Rafa’at ‘Eid to carefully remove the wooden hoarding and soft styrofoam we installed over the carved stones last year to protect them from the wind and rain. What with world weather patterns changing, we don’t know what to expect. Our inspector, Hanna Donqol is on hand to check the stones’ condition and take some photos.
Caption: A bull depicted in the tomb of Panehsy.
Photo: Nicola Dell'Aquila.
The hoarding is carefully lifted away. We breathe a collective sigh of relief to see everything is still in good condition. However, there is some minor spalling of the stone and we all agree that some conservation is in order. Thankfully, the Friends of Saqqara foundation has offered to fund it.
Caption: Relief fragments depicting Panehsy seated on chair and footstool .
Photo: Nicola Dell'Aquila.
The reliefs show offerings being brought before the tomb-owner, including a hapless bull so fat that his hooves have splayed under his weight. In the retinue are priests and officials rendered in small scale, while on either side of a doorway Panehsy the owner is depicted full-size, majestically accepting his due. He wears fine sandals and a pink pleated robe and holds two staves of office. He held the important post of steward of the temple of Amun during the first part of the reign of Ramesses II, around 1279-1259 BC.
Caption: Inspector Hanna Donqol (left) and conservators Basma Zaghloul Esmael (seated) and Yousef Hamadi ‘Awad (standing).
Photo: Nicola Dell'Aquila.
I get to work. I will trace the reliefs using the excellent photographs taken by Nicola Dell’Aquila, and then collate my drawings against the walls. Once they are all checked, they will be inked in for publication. Two days later I am happy to see our conservators arrive – Basma Zaghloul Esmael and Yousef Hamadi ‘Awad, who did such a superb job last year cleaning and conserving our tiny “family” chapel with its exquisite miniature statues that I had the pleasure of recording with funding from the Amarna Foundation.
Caption: Basma Zaghloul Esmael, Lyla Pinch Brock and Yousef Hamadi ‘Awad.
Photo: Nicola Dell'Aquila.
This season we will also work on a large, highly-detailed and very important stela of the tomb owner which is part of the larger chapel. It was found last year on the last day of work, confirming the archaeologists’ truism -- “the best thing is always found on the last day.”
Caption: Stela in the tomb of Panehsy.
Photo: Nicola Dell'Aquila.
We look forward to seeing you next Tuesday for a new diary!
info@museitorino.it
011 44 06 903
From Monday to Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.
