26th April 2013
Puimre Tomb TT39 – Asasif - West Bank
I was on one of my wondering trips around the Asasif, there is always something new to see, whether it is the continuing work done over a period of time, or something I missed on previous visits. Even visiting areas that I have been to before, it is pleasing to see what has been done and the difference to be seen.
Puimre Tomb TT39 – Asasif - West Bank
I was on one of my wondering trips around the Asasif, there is always something new to see, whether it is the continuing work done over a period of time, or something I missed on previous visits. Even visiting areas that I have been to before, it is pleasing to see what has been done and the difference to be seen.
The tomb is located in an area known as El-Khokha at the Asasif. Puimre was the second prophet of Amun. He served as High Priest of Amun Hapuseneb.
Puimre lived during the reign of Hatshepsut and Tuthmosis III 18th Dynasty. He was the son of Puia and Lady Nefer-iah. Puimre had two wives: Tanefert and Sensonb. Sensonb was the daughter of the High Priest of Amun Hapuseneb and served in the temple of Amun as Devine Adoratrix.
The group was chosen to refurbish the so-called Tomb of Puimre, or TT39, one of the country's most important unrestored burial chambers.
The team, selected by the Egyptian government's Supreme Council of Antiquities and made up mainly of scientists from the University of the Valley of Mexico, in March will begin a five-year renovation project to make the site suitable for the public to visit. (It has been closed since the 1920s.)
They will apply techniques that Mexico's archaeologists have developed in their effort to preserve and understand their nation's 5,000 pre-Columbian sites, as well as myriad Spanish colonial churches, convents and palaces.
The benefit for Egypt is clear. The Mexican team will restore a tomb in the so-called Theban Necropolis that is in danger of collapsing and being lost forever. The restoration of the extensive tomb could shed light on the reign of one of Egypt's few female pharaohs, Queen Hatshepsut. It was built for one of her high-ranking priests around 1450 BC.
For Mexican archaeology, the effect will be the intangible one of adding to its prestige on the global stage, said team leader Gabriela Arrache Vertiz, an Egyptology professor.
"This project will show the relevance of Mexico's academic excellence, that it can be applied not only in our own country but beyond our borders," said Arrache Vertiz, whose team made a preliminary visit to the Luxor site in May.
The invitation grew out of a professional friendship developed over a decade between Arrache Vertiz and Zahi Hawass, now director of the antiquities council. Arrache Vertiz and her team spoke to Hawass about the possibility of working in Egypt. This year, the council decided to ask the team to work on restoring the Puimre site.
Mexican archaeologists believe they can bring unique expertise to the project.
"The tomb has problems similar to those of our pyramids and churches in that it was made with limestone," said Manuel Villarruel Vazquez, an architect whose specialty is structural restoration. "That rock is strong like glass but can break as easily, and several ceilings are cracked." He currently is restoring a Toltec pyramid that dates from AD 600 in Queretaro, about 100 miles north of Mexico City.
Villarruel Vazquez said his team might inject substances such as resin or epoxy into the ceilings of the Egyptian tomb that will expand and unite the different parts. The technique has been used successfully to save pre-Hispanic monuments and colonial buildings, he said.
Lead archaeologist Anjelina Macias Goytia will excavate vertical shafts inside the tomb that once led to other crypts and are filled with centuries' worth of trash. Experts will try to restore the tomb's hieroglyphics and inscriptions, most of which are carved into stone. Some, however, are painted onto stuccoed surfaces, just like wall paintings at many of Mexico's historic sites.
The team, selected by the Egyptian government's Supreme Council of Antiquities and made up mainly of scientists from the University of the Valley of Mexico, in March will begin a five-year renovation project to make the site suitable for the public to visit. (It has been closed since the 1920s.)
They will apply techniques that Mexico's archaeologists have developed in their effort to preserve and understand their nation's 5,000 pre-Columbian sites, as well as myriad Spanish colonial churches, convents and palaces.
The benefit for Egypt is clear. The Mexican team will restore a tomb in the so-called Theban Necropolis that is in danger of collapsing and being lost forever. The restoration of the extensive tomb could shed light on the reign of one of Egypt's few female pharaohs, Queen Hatshepsut. It was built for one of her high-ranking priests around 1450 BC.
For Mexican archaeology, the effect will be the intangible one of adding to its prestige on the global stage, said team leader Gabriela Arrache Vertiz, an Egyptology professor.
"This project will show the relevance of Mexico's academic excellence, that it can be applied not only in our own country but beyond our borders," said Arrache Vertiz, whose team made a preliminary visit to the Luxor site in May.
The invitation grew out of a professional friendship developed over a decade between Arrache Vertiz and Zahi Hawass, now director of the antiquities council. Arrache Vertiz and her team spoke to Hawass about the possibility of working in Egypt. This year, the council decided to ask the team to work on restoring the Puimre site.
Mexican archaeologists believe they can bring unique expertise to the project.
"The tomb has problems similar to those of our pyramids and churches in that it was made with limestone," said Manuel Villarruel Vazquez, an architect whose specialty is structural restoration. "That rock is strong like glass but can break as easily, and several ceilings are cracked." He currently is restoring a Toltec pyramid that dates from AD 600 in Queretaro, about 100 miles north of Mexico City.
Villarruel Vazquez said his team might inject substances such as resin or epoxy into the ceilings of the Egyptian tomb that will expand and unite the different parts. The technique has been used successfully to save pre-Hispanic monuments and colonial buildings, he said.
Lead archaeologist Anjelina Macias Goytia will excavate vertical shafts inside the tomb that once led to other crypts and are filled with centuries' worth of trash. Experts will try to restore the tomb's hieroglyphics and inscriptions, most of which are carved into stone. Some, however, are painted onto stuccoed surfaces, just like wall paintings at many of Mexico's historic sites.