De Meyer EA 31 2007 the Tomb of Henu at Deir El-Barsha-libre

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The tomb of Henu at Deir el-Barsha Since 2002 a mission of the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (Belgium) has been working at Deir el-Barsha in Middle Egypt under the direction of Harco Willems. Several areas of the site have since been the object of investigation, one of which is the hill to the south of the Wadi Nakhla, which is honeycombed with Old Kingdom tombs.This research is being carried out by Marleen De Meyer, who reports here on the latest discoveries. Deir el-Barsha was used as a burial ground throughout most of ancient Egyptian history and it is mainly renowned for its Middle Kingdom nomarchal tombs (see EA 25, pp.10-12). However, the fact that the site was already extensively used for burials during the Old Kingdom is not so well known. Over a hundred rock-cut tombs on the south hill bear witness to this earlier activity. The vast majority of these tombs were left undecorated, but a few have remains of relief carvings or engaged statues hewn in the living rock. Stylistically these tombs date to the Sixth Dynasty, making them contemporary with the Old Kingdom tombs at Sheikh Said, which is only 4km south of Deir el-Barsha and was the chosen burial ground of the Old Kingdom nomarchs of the Hare Nome. At Deir el-Barsha a Fifth Dynasty royal decree issued by King Neferefre, inscribed on the façade of the tomb of Iaib on the north hill, is at present the oldest known dated document at the site. Since 2004 the rock tombs of the south hill have been the object of archaeological investigation. In four of these

tombs, and in one tomb on the north hill, a restoration text was inscribed by a man named Djehutynakht, son of Teti, dating to the late First Intermediate Period (c.2050 BC). He identifies himself as a Governor of the Hare Nome, and claims that he restored the tombs of his ancestors, which he found in ruin.This text, which is identical in wording in all five instances, is also found in four Old Kingdom tombs at Sheikh Said, most of which belong to governors. It is clear that this man had a mission, and since he is likely to be identified with the father of Ahanakht I - the first Middle Kingdom nomarch to be buried at Deir el-Barsha - it would seem that he wanted to stress the link between himself and the ruling class of times past. Immediately the question arises, what exactly did Djehutynakht mean when he spoke of restoring Old Kingdom tombs? To answer this question, several of the tombs with a restoration text were excavated. Did he give each tomb an architectural ‘facelift’? No sign of this was found. Did he reinstate the funerary cult? No clear evidence of this has surfaced. Did he merely place the

View of the site at Deir el-Barsha, looking towards the cliffs into which the tombs are cut

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texts for his own glorification without doing any actual restoration? Lacking any other source of evidence, things began to look that way, at least until the tomb of Uky was excavated. This tomb is located high on the south hill, right in the middle of huge screes of rock that were thrown down from the New Kingdom limestone quarry on top of the hill.This quarry is dated by a stela from the time of Amenhotep III, but talatat blocks seem to have been extracted as well, pointing to activity in the reign of Akhenaten. The tomb consists of two small consecutive rooms hewn in the rock, each containing two shafts. Djehutynakht placed his restoration text on the northern jamb of the entrance door. Part of this text was published in 1901 by Clédat, indicating that the tomb must have been exposed at that time. However, it is not recorded on a map of the site drawn by Fraser in 1892 (see this issue pp.18-19), nor are the neighbouring tombs.This is strange, since Fraser’s map is highly detailed and indicates all the other tombs that are now visible, and others that are once again hidden by debris. The only logical explanation seems to be that the tomb of Uky was at that time still hidden from sight. During previous missions, evidence was found of the

A glimpse down the shaft into the newly discovered burial chamber

original Old Kingdom burials in both shafts of the first room of Uky’s tomb. This year, the shafts in the second room were excavated.The first of these was clearly plundered, as the burial chamber already lay open before the work started. The second shaft was filled to the tomb’s floor level with debris, and it is this shaft with which we are concerned here. After a top layer of mixed debris, the fill of the shaft quickly turned to sterile white lime powder with small pieces of limestone mixed in. Several years of experience with shaft fills at the site had led us to believe that this was the material that was used to backfill shafts after a burial had taken place.This theory was proved to be correct when the burial chamber of this shaft was reached; it was protected by a blocking of loosely stacked limestone blocks and its contents were preserved intact. In the small chamber a complete and untouched funerary assemblage of the late First Intermediate Period was encountered. The floor space of the burial chamber was taken up almost entirely by a wooden box coffin inscribed with one horizontal line of ornamental hieroglyphs on all four sides and on the lid.This text revealed that the name of the deceased was Henu, his titles being ‘Overseer of the Domain’ and ‘Sole Courtier’.The only other decoration on the coffin consists of a pair of udjat-eyes painted on the eastern side. On top of the coffin, a pair of white wooden sandals had been placed near the foot end, as well as a model of three women grinding grain and a model of four men making mud-bricks. The latter is especially unusual, as so far only three such models have been found. One of these comes from Beni Hasan, while the other two were found in 1915 by the expedition of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts in the almost intact tomb of the Governor Djehutynakht.This tomb is on the north hill at Deir el-Barsha, and belongs to a different Djehutynakht from the one known from the restoration inscriptions. However, considering that three out of the four known brick-making models originate from Deir el-Barsha, it would seem to have been a local favourite.

The entrance to the tomb of Uky among the screes of rock

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Close up view of the model of three women grinding grain

The sandals that were placed on top of the coffin

The model of the mud-brick makers on top of the coffin

The sandals and wooden funerary models as they were found on top of the coffin. Between the coffin and the wall of the burial chamber are the statue of the tomb-owner and the beer-making model

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The wooden boat model with the oars replaced in the hands of the rowers

The statue of the tomb owner Henu next to his coffin

Close up of the model showing a woman sieving beer mash

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The name of Henu written in hieroglyphs on the coffin

To the east of the coffin several more tomb models were found, including one of a woman husking grain with a mortar and pestle and another of a woman sieving fermented mash to make beer. Together with the model of the women grinding grain that was found on top of the coffin, these three models represent essential stages in the bread and beer production process, two vital commodities for the afterlife. Another model found next to the coffin was a large (over 1m long) rowing boat with fourteen crewmen. Because of a lack of space, the oars had been placed between the men on the deck of the ship. However, all ten oars were recovered and could be replaced in their original positions in the hands of the rowers. Finally a 50cm tall statue of the tomb owner in official dress was also found next to the coffin. The fine details in his facial expression testify to a high level of craftsmanship. In fact the quality of all the wooden models is remarkable, with fairly correct anatomical proportions and an eye for realistic detail such as the black feet of the men standing in the mud. All the wooden figures are perfectly preserved, with their colours as vibrant as if they were applied yesterday. Inside the coffin the intact mummy of Henu was found. The outer layers of the wrappings had been eaten by insects, but otherwise no damage was observed. Below his head lay a wooden headrest on which the name and titles of Henu were also inscribed. No funerary mask had been supplied, but instead the facial features of the deceased had been moulded by wads of linen that were wrapped in with the bandages.The mummy was wrapped in a shroud of fine textile with a border of fringes. Based on the palaeography of the text on the coffin, and the style of the wooden tomb models, this funerary assemblage can be dated to the late First Intermediate Period and is thus contemporary with the restoration text of Djehutynakht. This gives us the first clear indication of what exactly Djehutynakht meant by restoring the tombs of his ancestors. By using the tomb for the burial of members of his entourage - to which Henu must have belonged - the funerary cult in that tomb was reinstated, which was clearly beneficial for the original tomb owner as well.With this new evidence in mind, the finds in other tombs with restoration texts will need to be re-evaluated.

Harco Willems brushing dust off the coffin lid

The undisturbed mummy of Henu, with the wooden headrest visible, as he was found in his coffin

q Marleen De Meyer is a PhD candidate in Egyptology at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium, and works for the Deir elBarsha expedition under the direction of Harco Willems.This project is financed by the Fund for Scientific Research - Flanders, and the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven. Photographs are by the author unless otherwise indicated.

Marleen De Meyer copying the hieroglyphic texts on the coffin. Photograph: Stefanie Vereecken

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