RESEARCHES IN THE TOMBS OF HARWA

(TT 37) AND AKHIMENRU (TT 404) 2006*

Francesco Tiradritti

Introduction1
In 2006 the Italian Archaeological Mission to Luxor2 conducted two separate seasons,
from February 16th, to April 5th (Spring) and from November 1st to December 14th (Autumn).
The Spring season was mainly devoted to epigraphic activities in the Tomb of Harwa (TT 37)
and the Tomb of Pabasa (TT 279), the latter being a concession shared with Dr. Mohammed
El-Soghair and Dr. Mahmud Abd el-Rasek. Excavations in the area of the ramp and entrance
portico were also carried out as a continuation of the 2005 archaeological campaign. The
Autumn season focussed on excavations in the courtyard of the Tomb of Harwa, although
epigraphic work to reconstruct the rear wall of the southern portico was also continued.
Conservation work in
the entrance portico and RA = Ramp
PT = Entrance Portico
the vestibule of the Tomb of VE = Vestibule
Harwa continued in Spring. CR = Courtyard
NE = Niche Entrance

Plan of the Tomb of Harwa (TT

37, in blue) and Akhimenru (TT
404, in dark)2006 Excavations.

* The photographs in this report are by Carlos de la Fuente (Fig.
4) and Francesco Tiradritti (Figs 1-3, 6); the drawings are by Janoš
Jerončič and Matija Čresnar (Fig. 7) and Sabine Lämmel (Figs 8-12).
The plan of the tomb is a digital elaboration by Silvia Bertolini of an
original by Diethelm Eigner. The English text has been revised and
corrected by Chris Naunton.
1 The 2006 activities of the Italian Archaeological Mission to
Luxor were funded by Compagnia di San Paolo, a private patron
and the Italian Foreign Affairs Ministry. The insurance covering the
members of the mission was provided by Toro Assicurazioni S.p.A.
The members of the Cultural Association ‘Harwa 2001’ O.N.L.U.S.,
through their membership subscriptions and donations, substantially
contributed to the success of the excavations. Our warmest thanks
go to all of them. We also would like to thank the authorities of the
Supreme Council of Antiquities who greatly facilitated our activities:
Dr. Zahy Hawass, General Director, Sabri Abd el-Aziz, Director of
Pharaonic Antiquities, Dr. Mansur Boreik Director of Upper Egyptian
Antiquities, and Aly el-Asfar, Director of the Area of Western Thebes.
Special thanks are due to Hassan Mohammed, Mohammed Bakri and
Amru Abu el-Safaa Khalifa, our inspectors, who accompanied the
mission and extended their sincere friendship to us. The help and the
support given to us by the Italian Government, represented in Egypt
by H.E. the Ambassador Antonio Badini and the archaeological expert
Dr. Maria Casini, proved, as usual, invaluable.
2 In 2006 the team was formed by: Francesco Tiradritti
(Director and Egyptologist), Silvia Einaudi (Deputy-director and
Egyptologist), Mustafa Mohammed el-Soghair (Deputy-director and
Egyptologist), Miguel Angel Molinero Polo (Deputy-director and
Egyptologist), Giacomo Maria Tiradritti (Director of logistics and
administrator), Maria Milagros Alvarez Sosa (Egyptologist), Noemi
Delgado Corona (Egyptologist), Federica Raverta (Egyptologist),
Chris Naunton (Egyptologist), Alice Bifarella (Archaeologist), Tina
Britovšek (Archaeologist), Saša Čaval (Archaeologist), Matija
Čresnar (Archaeologist), Januš Jerončič (Archaeologist), Sabine
Lämmel (Ceramicist), Silvia Bertolini (Architect), Sophie Duberson
(Conservator), Bruno Szkotnicki (Conservator), Carlos Alberto de
La Fuente (Photographer), Giacomo Lovera (Photographer), Laetitia
Delaloye (Student), Lucia Diaz-Iglesias Llanos (Student), Dulce
Montesdeoca Martin (Student), Luisa Lagravinese (Student), Ilaria
Meschiari (Student) and Alessio Corsi (Student).

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Epigraphic Activities The decoration of the pillars was repeated in the Tomb of Pabasa which, in this case, has
Silvia Einaudi, Federica Raverta, proved to be extremely useful in understanding the decoration of the Tomb of Harwa. Other
Miguel Angel Molinero Polo and Chris Naunton than the scene of the fowling there were others showing the production of honey (since it
was inscribed on the upper part of a pillar, it is preserved only in fragments recovered
Courtyard during excavations), the slaughter of a bull, fishing in the canal, the drying of fish and the
The excavation of the courtyard is not yet finished. Nevertheless, the upper part of production of wine. The remaining sides of the pillars each bear a row of offering bearers,
the walls of the courtyard is already visible. Apart from the western side, around the in some cases with Harwa standing to face them, holding a stick.
entrances to the subterranean part of the Tomb of Harwa and to the Tomb of Akhimenru, The rear wall of the southern portico was decorated with daily life scenes that take place
only the northern and southern porticos are decorated. The eastern ends of each and the in front of a huge image of Harwa standing, at the western end. The scenes are executed
corresponding half-pillars bear chapters of the Book of the Dead. The same is true of the in a fine raised relief similar to that used for the register on the northern portico. The state
west half-pillar of the southern portico. of preservation of the wall is extremely poor. Other than the gradual collapse of the rock,
The pillars of the northern portico are undecorated. Excavations in the 2001 and 2003 the situation has been made worse by illicit attempts to remove large portions of the reliefs.
seasons revealed three registers of decoration in the lower part of the rear wall of that To date nine registers of the decoration have been revealed. Notwithstanding their
portico. The upper register shows with a row of offering-bearers. The second is unfinished. fragmentary state, it is already possible to identify some of the scenes on the walls: the
Some scenes of a tjeref-dance have been exposed in the western portion. In the eastern part measuring of the fields after the annual flood of the Nile; offering bearers; rams, donkeys
the figures are simply outlined in red ink and it has until now been impossible to ascertain and cattle belonging to the funeral estate of Harwa; fishing in a water-stream (or pool);
the nature of the scenes. The north-east corner was more deeply excavated and a portion of hunting in the marshland; some sculptors and artisans at work and various agricultural
the unfinished third register was brought to light there. The incomplete state of the reliefs activities.
proves that the decoration in this part of the courtyard was still in progress when it was It has been also possible to identify other scenes through the analysis of the decorated
decided to end the work in the Tomb of Harwa. While artists were working on the lower blocks found during excavations: the plough (Fig. 2), a different kind of fishing, general
registers, others were engaged in the carving of a text with large hieroglyphs, some columns metal workers (or jewellers) and scribes.
of which are still visible at the western end of the rear wall.
The pillars of the southern portico were decorated on three sides only. Those facing the
centre of the courtyard did not receive any decoration. The work on the pillars was still in
progress as is demonstrated by the fact that the images on some sides of the pillars are partly
carved and partly outlined in red ink. The state of the figures on the western side of the
third pillar from the entrance allows us to say something about the progression of the work.
The preserved decoration shows a scene in which some men are picking something from a
tree. The images of the men are at an advanced state of carving, whereas the branches are
simply outlined in red ink (Fig. 1).
This suggests that
there were artists
who specialised in the
execution of human
figures and others in
plants implying a high
level of specialisation
and allowing a dramatic
reduction of the labour
force.

Fig. 2. Plough scene as reconstructed from the fragments of the decoration recovered during excavation.

Work on the decoration of the walls of the courtyard began in Spring and continued
Fig. 1. Detail of the scene into Autumn. The blocks recovered during excavations had been collected in cardboard
with figures of men roughly
boxes and stored inside the tomb. The blocks had been previously examined so that they
carved and trees outlined in
red ink. could be divided according to their provenance, as some blocks from the subterranean

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part of the Tomb of Harwa had been recovered during the excavation of the courtyard. During the recording of the blocks more pieces from the door frames of the side rooms
Until this season the decoration of the rear walls and the chapters of the Book of the Dead opening into the first pillared hall were identified. This substantially improved the
incised on the half-pillars and on the east sides of the two porticos only had been taken into reconstruction of these architectural features, which
consideration. Although the work is still in the early stages, important progress has been had been started during the 2003-2004 season. All
made especially as regards the texts of the Book of the Dead. The original provenance of the blocks whose precise provenance has been
some fragments from the rear walls have also been found. It is the case of the head of the identified have been photographed and stored
red heron (Fig. 3), whose large figure acts as central point of all the scenes of hunting in the accordingly. The work focussed on the door frames
marshlands. of the southern rooms, but the reconstruction of
two of the northern door frames has also begun.
The copy of the inscriptions of the pillared hall of
the Tomb of Pabasa (TT 279), conducted in the 2003-
2005 seasons, was of great use for the recognition of
the inscribed blocks collected during the excavation
of the first pillared hall of the Tomb of Harwa. Thus
it was possible to identify about twenty blocks from
the pillars. These have been drawn on tracing paper
and the copies stuck onto the pillars which have
been reconstructed in plywood for this purpose.
That showed that the versions of the Ritual of the
Hours in Harwa and Pabasa are very similar to each
other, although the distribution of the hieroglyphs
is different, mainly due to the fact that the name of
Pabasa is, as a rule, preceded by the full form of his
titles.
Fig. 4. Physical reconstruction of the southern
side of room S4 door frame.

Excavations
Tina Britovšek, Saša Čaval, Matija Čresnar and Januš Jerončič

The Entrance Portico

Fig. 3. Red heron in the marshland with the fragment of its head identified through the analysis of the blocks.
Activities in this part of the monument continued as a continuation of the excavations
conducted in Autumn 2005. Further layers of loose sand have been removed. At the western
side of the south-west pillar a small pit has been exposed. It was filled with straw leaves
First Pillared Hall (vine leaves?). Fragments of inscribed
Registration of decorated fragments from the excavation of the first pillared hall was papyrus bearing texts in Hieratic,
continued during the Spring season. In this process the forms used to record each block, Demotic and Greek were found inside
conceived in the previous seasons, have been subject to some minor improvements. A few the pit (Fig. 5). It is highly likely that
minor modifications were also made to the system of transliterating hieroglyphic texts in they were discarded by robbers who
order to facilitate the easy retrieval of words in the database used to store the data from the considered them too fragmentary to
registration of the blocks. have any economic value.
Recording of the blocks from the excavation of First Pillared Hall (I) squares A2, 3, 4, 5;
B2, 3, 4, 5 and D4 and of the Southern Side Rooms (S) 3, 4 and 5 has now been completed. Fig. 5. Fragments of funerary papyri found in
Due to the number of blocks, record of square I.D5 is still to be finished. The total number the pit at the western side of the south-west
of blocks recorded during the Spring exceeds one thousand five hundred. Most of the data pillar of the entrance portico.
from the block sheets have been recorded on the database.

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The Courtyard unfortunately, severely damaged and it was only possible to uncover the lower part of a
Excavations in the courtyard were resumed in autumn. The use of a fully digital total figure of Harwa seated in front of an offering table.
station sped the process of recording which allowed the excavations to proceed dramatically Excavations in front of what was believed to be the entrance to the Tomb of Akhimenru
faster than in the past seasons. demonstrated that the opening in the northern wall has to be considered a break in the wall.
In the first part of the season excavations focussed on the southern part of the courtyard. The feature looks like a sort of chapel on the rear (West) wall of which a niche is carved,
A large layer providing evidence that the area had been used as a stable was exposed at the where either a statue or a stela was once placed.
centre. The collapsed parts of the upper part of the ceiling of the southern portico were also
almost completely excavated. Associated with them, a rectangular block of sandstone with
rough signs of chisel was discovered. It may belong to a ledge intended to lie over the
ceiling of the portico and which may have had to be carved with huge hieroglyphs. This
architectural feature is evident in the Tomb of Sheshonq (TT 27), one hundred years later
than Harwa’s, and located to the East at the edge of the desert, close to the cultivation.
Another sandstone block, intended to act as cornerstone, had previously been discovered in
the excavation of the South-East corner of the courtyard. It is possible that when the work
in the Tomb of Harwa reached its sudden end, the ledge covered only the southern portico,
since no similar blocks have been found in the excavations of the northern part of the
courtyard.
Excavation of the southern area of the courtyard exposed further contexts relating to the
action of robbers. The recovery of some fragments of the Italian newspaper Il Corriere della
Sera, dated December 31st, 1895 –
January 1st, 1896 (Fig. 6) shows
that although approximately one
metre of debris in the courtyard
has been excavated, the contexts
recently exposed belong to a
late chronological phase in the
history of the tomb.

Fig. 6. Fragments of Il Corriere della

Sera, December 31st, 1895 – January 1st,
1896.

That is also evidenced by the

recovery of the remains of several
mummies during this season. They have been mostly found scattered in correspondence
with the entrances to the subterranean part of the tomb of Harwa, and the southern branch
of the corridor that surrounds it. The robbers took the mummies from the burial shafts,
which date to the Greco-Roman Period and are found in various parts of the monument. Fig. 7. The state of excavation of the courtyard at the end of Autumn season.
They unwrapped them, removed any valuable items, such as cartonnages and amulets,
and eventually discarded them. It is worth noting that the majority of the mummies found
were lying face against the ground so as to make it impossible for them to recognise the
robbers. That their placement was intentional and was dictated by superstition is further
demonstrated by the fact that most of the mummies have had their legs or feet broken, to
prevent them from walking or persecuting their injurers.
In the second part of the season, excavations moved to the western side of the courtyard.
The lower part of the decoration of the niche-entrance northern wall was exposed. It was,

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Pottery report (Autumn) more detailed study of these pottery groups – in particular of those from the first pillared
Sabine Lämmel hall – is needed in order to complement the preliminary results presented here and to shed
further light on the history of the tomb of Harwa.
In the course of the 2006 Autumn Season, work on the pottery from the tomb of Harwa
was resumed after a few years of interruption, and a detailed study of the material found in
the first pillared hall (Area I) and in two of the pillared hall’s north rooms (Rooms N2 and N3)
was carried forward on the basis of the preliminary observations made by A. Seiler in 2000
and 2001. Besides the study of these specific assemblages, a general framework for future
activities and research on the pottery from the tomb was also set up. This consisted primarily
of designing pottery analysis forms and in establishing a system of clay classification for the
different fabrics attested in the tomb. At present, five main groups of silt fabrics and three
of marl fabrics have been defined. This system can be used satisfactorily for the material
dating from the fourth century BC to the late Ptolemaic Period but its suitability for later
and, to a lesser extent, for earlier phases (in particular with regards to the marl fabrics
groups) must be tested in the future.
For this first renewed pottery study season in the Tomb of Harwa, special emphasis was
placed on the detailed examination of the material from Room N2, first because of the sheer
amount of pottery – including several restorable, complete or nearly complete vessels – this
room yielded, and second because much of this pottery seemed, at first sight, to belong to a
relatively homogeneous assemblage (stylistically and typologically). Room N2 was emptied
of its debris during the 1997 excavation season. Its floor was found literally covered with
a c. 20cm thick layer of densely packed sherds. In all likelihood, these originated from a
clearance of the first pillared hall, perhaps sometimes during the Ptolemaic Period.
Notwithstanding a few later and earlier intrusions, the great majority of the material from
Room N2 can be dated to the Pre-Ptolemaic and early Ptolemaic periods, approximately from
the beginning of the fourth to the beginning of the third century BC. The typological range
of this assemblage is relatively restricted. Among the most common and/or distinctive
shapes attested in Room N2 are a number of two-handled silt clay jars with globular body
and, probably, rounded base; silt clay 'sausage-jars' of various sizes (Figs 8-9) and large wide
mouth jars painted with stylised floral motifs, horizontal bands and net-patterns, typical of
the Ptolemaic period in the Theban valley. There is also a large number of fragmentary marl
jars with two or four handles and ridges on the shoulder and neck, as well as a series of
large hemispherical silt clay bowls with one or two ridges below the mouth (Fig. 10). Both
these shapes are often attested in connection with embalming activities at various Egyptian
sites, and the presence of thick layers of bitumen inside a fair number of jars from room
N2 suggests that these vessels also were once used for such a purpose, even though they
were not found in their original context. Finally the last main component of the assemblage
discussed here consists of small flat-based shallow cups and footed beakers, many of which
bear soot marks on their internal and external walls (Figs 11-12). These small vessels are
known in the first part of the Ptolemaic period, though they appear before that, at the outset
of the fourth century BC at least. As has been suggested above, their presence in the tomb
of Harwa (they are also numerous among the material from the first pillared hall) should
perhaps be connected with a secondary use of the main part of this funerary monument as
a sanctuary dedicated to the god Osiris.
A brief examination of the pottery from the first pillared hall and from Room N3 suggests
that these assemblages are in many respects comparable to that of Room N2. However, a

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