Online Activities: Ancient Egypt
Tomb with a View: A Short Epigraphic Season in Thebes
By Roberta L. Shaw & Lyla Pinch-Brock
Picture this: a quiet spot high on a desert hill, away from the madding crowd (local villagers and tourists) with an unobstructed view of the narrow green ribbon of vegetation flanking the River Nile, the life-blood of Egypt. This site is known as the Qurneh necropolis since it rests just above the village of Qurneh on the west bank of the river opposite the town of Luxor (ancient Thebes), where the famous Temple of Karnak is situated. There are several such sites on the west bank, nestled against the protective desert escarpment that barricades the Valley of the Kings. These sites contain the eternal homes of the nobles serving their kings in death as they did in life. They represent the finest expression of private funerary art in Egypt's long cultural history.
Virtually no other area in all of Egypt has received such concentrated and continued study as the vicinity of Luxor. Many early explorers visited the area, and many of them collected the "souvenirs" that now grace the holdings of the major museums of the world. Systematic recording of the area began early this century, resulting in the encyclopedic publication, Topographical Bibliography of Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphic Text, Reliefs, and Paintings, which contains a description of virtually every extant tomb, temple and town of pharaonic Egypt. The volume covering the Theban necropolis alone contains some 400 entries.
For many years it had been the goal of the Egyptian section of the ROM's Department of Near Eastern and Asian Civilizations to undertake an epigraphic project in Egypt. The building of the High Aswan Dam, continuing pillage of monuments, and global change of weather patterns pose increased danger to the preservation of ancient sites. Indeed, in 1993, the United States government allotted $15,000,000 for preservation and restoration of Egyptian monuments, and epigraphy is considered preservation.
The village of Qurneh.
Entrance and courtyard of Theban tomb #89.
