User:Archaeologyslay/Tomb of Horemheb in Saqqara

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(FROM THE ARTICLE)- 3rd paragraph, first section

The tomb was built in three phases, as Horemheb's status rose. The first design consisted of an entry pylon into forecourt, a colonnaded court containing the burial shaft and three chapels or offering rooms. Intrusive burials were found in the side chapels. The forecourt was then walled to produce two small chapels, one at each side. They were entered by two new piercings through the pylon. A new walled forecourt was constructed in front of the pylon. To make this extension a 5th–6th Dynasty mastaba was demolished and the burial shaft with a burial chamber some 17m below incorporated into the new forecourt. Burials from the 19th Dynasty were found at 9m depth. Finally, the forecourt was closed by a pylon some 7m high and colonnaded to form the first peristyle open court. The narrowed original forecourt was covered with a vaulted roof and contained statues while the chapels became storage rooms.

To add, in new paragraph or even new section:

Excavations (Note: I have Covid right now, so I am going to put in information that I have on the topic for now)

Excavations took place over 4 sessions. Anything that was discovered during excavations worth preserving was sent to the Cairo Museum.

1975


 * In 1975, Geoffrey T. Martin began excavations on the tomb
 * The first necessary order of business was to remove large mounds of sand to level the area that was selected to excavate. Immediately upon removal, the tops of mud-brick walls    became visible
 * Determined to be the outlines of the courtyard excavators had set out to find
 * The central area of the limestone-paved Great Courtyard slowly slopes towards a narrow channel in the ground, called a runnel, on the north to assist in rain drainage. Was    determined that twenty-four limestone columns supported a roof originally, however only 10 survived with the rest only surviving by the base of the columns
 * These columns were originally decorated with a raised rectangular pattern with rectangle panels, illustrating Horemheb worshipping the various deities
 * A shrine and procession of foreigners can be observed, with a fine drawing of a horse beneath it
 * Further down are blocks depicting the Window of Appearances, though finely etched, including a scene in which the king is shown defeating an adversary
 * Within the courtyard as well a number of loose blocks with depictions of royalty were of interest to those executing the excavation
 * A great official adorned     with jewelry representative of honor is being supported by attendants or      servants, accompanied to the right of him is a larger figure with one      hand lowered in a greeting gesture
 * This find is regarded as one of the best carved reliefs from the Late 18th Dynasty- an attempt at a portrait
 * East doorjambs of the corridor entrance before the chapel entrance contain inscriptions of Horemheb, with the wall across from it on the north depicting a scene with a procession of  offerings
 * The best preserved scene in the tomb beside the doorjambs is on the south wall of the antechapel entrance hallway
 * Shows Horemheb seated in the state and tended to by a Iunmutef priest
 * Above this is a text version of the Opening of the Mouth ritual
 * Antechapel itself is 8m by around 5.34 meters
 * Traces of color on the walls shows that it was painted in the same fashion as the chapels of the Theban tombs
 * The west side of the antechapel has two places for statues, carved with the titles of Horemheb

1976

Three main tasks in the excavation process were completed: the western half of the tomb, clearance of the Forecourt in the east area of the tomb, and the excavation of the two chapels. From these areas, blocks of Ramesside and other small finds were found. Any further work would have increased the chances of partially exposing or even damaging another large structure or monument. Additional excavation work was done in the burial shaft in the northwest corner of the Great Courtyard. The tomb was expanded towards the east. From this area, stone pavings and more blocks were taken.


 * Some blocks that were found were from the Old Kingdom; they were reused as building material for the pylon. They are also reminiscent of scenes that decorated the causeway of Unas
 * Chapels A and B were used as dwellings
 * Chapel B had a stela that attracted a great deal of curiosity
 * Depicted Horemheb and a lady seated before a funerary priest making a drink
 * The second portion of the courtyard has limestone flags and a runnel similar to that of the Great Court but on the south side instead.
 * The walls are adorned with drawings of the Memphite funerary service
 * Lots of attention drawn to the mourners and their noteworthy disposition
 * This is interceded with a rectangular panel depicting Horemheb in the dress of a high court  official adoring god Osiris
 * Funerary scenes are continued on the north side of the east wall
 * Entrance to the statue room comes after this, with inscriptions of the titles and epithets of the tomb owner on the doorjams
 * Unfinished chariot scenes in the courtyard and a loose block that was found seem to show that of a military encampment setting
 * The main funerary chapel, with the walls disappeared, is square and more central on the west side of the tomb
 * Bases for two columns are in what remains of the floor
 * Additionally found was a mud-brick hut on the northwest side of the courtyard appears to have been  used as temporary dwellings of Coptic masons
 * Hut masks the entrance to a shaft, due to its size was assumed to be the entrance to the principal burial chamber
 * Both side chapels had vaulted roofs
 * Most of burials were greatly disturbed
 * Two statues in the Statue-room are positioned in the Second Court
 * Foundations of a third are also visible
 * Female head and torso, though severely dilapidated, was found in the debris of the courtyard
 * Came from another pair of statues
 * Two of the columns in the courtyard are described for females as well
 * Martin notes that one of the surprising products of this excavation session was the range of artistic styles observed in the reliefs from this session of the project

1977


 * Third excavation session revealed that:
 * Shafts in the Great Courtyard had been entered in the 19th century
 * Originally 4 burials in this part of the tomb, but excavators found everything overturned and or  destroyed
 * Burials were rich given that lots of gold leaf was found among the rubble
 * Found a glass inlay of a human head
 * Lots of pottery, though nothing can be given an assigned chamber to do the scatter of the shards
 * Not all of it was Egyptian, evidence through fragments of some imported Mycenaean pieces
 * Continued to empty the shaft until 17m depth was reached
 * Entered another burial chamber containing a late Old-Kingdom sarcophagus in a pit in the floor
 * According to evidence, this was the burial chamber of a mastaba that Horemheb destroyed in  order to build his architecture
 * Interestingly, several Christian symbols adorn the walls
 * Shafts 2 and 3:
 * Lots of skeletal material
 * The burial chambers of both shafts stretch down into the underground parts of other tombs by way of  robbers' tunnels
 * Burial chambers of shaft 3 are on two levels
 * At 8 meters the chambers  are met on the west and east sides
 * Shaft 4 is broken into via a hole from a previous plunder
 * This shaft was designed to give access to the principal burial-place, intended for Horemheb and his wife
 * At 8 meters, a doorway opens on to the south side blah blah blah say something about many hallways and robber's holes connecting the chambers and shafts to one another

1978


 * 4th season of excavations
 * Successful excavation of the underground parts of the tomb
 * Many more burials, pottery and skeletal remains discovered