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Further ongoing projects

"Dayr al-Barsha": The tombs of Nefri, Gua, Sepi I-III and Seni.

  • further information on the project "Dayr al-Barsha"

    View of the archeological site at Dayr al-Barsha, Egypt.
    Photo: Tanja Pommerening
    View of the archeological site at Dayr al-Barsha, Egypt.

    Cooperation between Tanja Pommerening (JGU Mainz, from October 2020 Philipps Universität Marburg) and Harco Willems (KU Leuven).

    The project, set up as part of the Dayr al-Barsha Project at KU Leuven, involves the uncovering, documentation, and publication of the five shaft tombs located in Zone 2 of Dayr al-Barsha, including those of Nefri, Gua, Sepi I-III, and Seni.

    The tombs were rediscovered and excavated in 1897 by Daressy and his team; the partial results, however, have only been published in an article so rudimentary that without re-excavations it is impossible to assign the significant objects, now in London, Cairo and Paris, among others, to their original context.

    The aim of the project is to

    1. compare the residual finds and fragments preserved by post-excavation at ground level with objects already in museums in order to reconstruct the original tomb furnishings of the respective tomb,

    2. determine the architecture,

    3. evaluate the objects found in the tombs integrally and in a historical-comparative context, and

    4. reflect on the stages of uncovering and backfilling in the area since antiquity.

    From March 15 to April 15, 2018, the Egyptian Museum in Cairo hosted the exhibition "Life in Death: The Middle Kingdom at Dayr al-Barsha," featuring objects from the five shafts.

    Publication on the topic

    POMMERENING, T. / H. WILLEMS (2021): Unravelling Daressy's excavations of the five shafts in front of the tomb of Djehutihotep at Dayr al-Barshā. In: W. Claes / M. de Meyer / M. Eyckerman / D. Huyge† (eds.): Remove that Pyramid! Studies on the Archaeology and History of Predynastic and Pharaonic Egypt in Honour of Stan Hendrickx. Leuven et al: Peeters, pp. 871-897.

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