UniPI Excavations in Dra Abu el-Nasa, near Luxor
When the “Italian mission in Dra Abu el-Naga” (MIDAN) started its activities, only the cult chapel was known, the only room of the tomb that could be accessed: “thanks to our numerous campaigns – the Egyptologists from Pisa explained – it was possible to retrace the history of Huy and discover a new tomb, completely unknown and even more ancient than the first one, overlooking a courtyard open air that in 2010 led us to new important discoveries: the entrance with two other tombs, and a new well funeral that is the subject of our current trench. During this campaign, we could even find – researchers said – the unknown owner of the greatest and oldest tomb, which still jealously keeps the secret about his name and his titles; the few scenes preserved on the walls suggest that he was an important person of his time. In his funeral banquet with his wife he receives the homage of his sons, daughters and various guests who are intent on tapping into rich menus, while two musicians will enliven the sound of a double oboe and harp; a fragment of another wall has preserved only the red colour of a rare scene of precious metals and gold, which appears only in the graves of the great nobles.”
The members of the team led by professor Marilina Betrò include Gianluca Miniaci (deputy-director), the coordinator of a European Marie Curie project at the École Pratique des Hautes Études in Paris and Academic Fellow of the British Museum; Anna Consonni, egyptologist and expert in ceramics; Paolo Marini, egyptologist and designer, a doctoral student at the University of Pisa; Anna Giulia De Marco, egyptologist; Emanuele Taccola, head of the laboratory design and renovation of the Department of Civilizations and Forms of Knowledge, University of Pisa; the photographic documentation is provided by Claudio Benedetti, a staff member of Communication at the University of Pisa.
Source: Università degli Studi di Pisa
For information on recent excavations, follow the links below
XIII expedition – MIDAN (November 2014)