8th September 2014
41c
Karakhamun, Karabasken & Irtyrau Tombs Revisited
South Asasif.
41c
Karakhamun, Karabasken & Irtyrau Tombs Revisited
South Asasif.
I had the opportunity and pleasure to visit again the Karakhamun, Karabasken and Irtyrau tomb sites. With permission of Elena Pischikova (Team Leader), Ken Griffin was kind enough to show me around the three tomb sites. On this visit I was astonished and amazed to see the amount of work that has been done since my last visit in May.
Irtyrau Tomb TT390 – Female Scribe – Chief Attendant of the Divine Adoratrice of Amun, Nictocris I – Period Psamtik – 25th Dynasty.
On this occasion I managed to see the inside of Irtyrau Tomb TT390. I was very impressed and happy to see the inside. It is quite vast and spacious with a lovely false door and columns. It is at the moment being used as a storage area and has to wait its turn for excavation and restoration. It is a complicated site with mud brick buttresses holding up the walls that surround the courtyard. When I was inside, I had a great feeling of excitement and enthusiasm for what will be found, what will be done and how it will one day look. It’s a great place.
Karakhamun TT223 Tomb - First Ka Priest - Late period Saite – 25th Dynasty.
Ken was walking around with a few stone fragments of the Book of Dead in his hand where I had the pleasure of seeing him fit them in place along with other pieces on the wall where they belong. There were other Egyptian Conservators piecing together fragments for the eventual placing on the walls. Karakhamun is the main area of work at the moment.
Karabasken TT391 Tomb – Prophet of Khonsemweset-Neferhotep, Fourth Priest of Amun – Mayor of the City – 25th Dynasty.
Well, this is where I was amazed the most. I just looked at what had been done since my last visit and found it hard to take in the difference and the hard work that had been put into its transformation. Levels have been lowered many, many metres revealing some wonderful parts to this site. The newly exposed stone stairway that leads to the entrance is stunning, the steps are in an amazing order of preservation and there is a spectacular gateway at the bottom with hieroglyphs that lead to the courtyard. Today, men were erecting an iron security gate, as is the norm with all tombs.
We then went into the Karabasken tomb; also being used as a storage area, where I met up again with Mohamed a Conservator. Just as on my last visit, there he was, the same image, a big smile with stone fragments in his hand.
There is an excitement in and around these sites where one can see the amount of work that has already been done, the work still to be done and what may lie ahead and what will be found. This truly is what Egyptology and Archaeology is about. One day, just as with the majority of other tombs, it will be opened to the public, will they ever know what work went into it for it to be opened to them? I hope so and I hope the tourists will come in great numbers to see these wonders and to support the industry and local people.
Again, I had a great time and can’t wait until the end of the next season to once again see the difference between the visits.
I became a Patron member to the South Asasif Conservation Project to give financial support and to follow their work. You can also become a member where you will get updates of the progress being made each season.
A great thanks to Elena Pischikova, John Billman and Ken Griffin.
See my previous articles of 20th March 2013 & 12 May 2014