Tenth International Congress of Egyptologists Abstracts of Papers

XICE – Abstract of Papers
A mysterious tomb at Deir el-Bahari. Revelations of the excavations of the
Polish-Egyptian Cliff Mission above the temples of Hatshepsut and Thutmosis
III.
Andrzej Stefan Niwinski
The Polish-Egyptian Archaeological and Geological Cliff Mission is working on a
cliff ledge, ca. 100 m above the temples of Hatshepsut and Thutmosis III at Deir el-
Bahari since 1999, realising two main objectives: protecting the temple area below
against the danger of falling rock fragments, and documenting every trace of the
ancient human activities there. The researches have confirmed that the ledge was an
area of intensive engineering works, done on a gigantic scale, having however little in
common with a conceivable protection of the temples; on the contrary, these works
were most probably the reason of the destruction of the Thutmosis III temple in the
early 21 st Dynasty. It seems that their purpose was the protection of a tomb, both
against rain water and robbers. A presumable intensive activity of the ancient robbers
has been confirmed, as well, in form of several tunnels excavated in the area after the
aforementioned engineering works had been accomplished. The numerous graffiti
found there make possible an exact dating of these ancient activities, and attest to an
official control of the area in the early and middle/late Twenty-first Dynasty.
Some preliminary conclusions resulting from the excavations were announced
during the previous Congress of Egyptologists, and in this paper the results of the last
three seasons, including some rather astonishing ascertainments, are presented. The
tomb entrance was, according to all the archaeological hints furnished by the
excavations, and most probably, confirmed by the geophysical research done in
February 2006, situated under a huge fallen rock (“Pillar”) reposing on the ledge since
time immemorial, and the tomb corridor must have crossed two tectonic fissures,
which were, in consequence, carefully protected against rain waters, among others by
a system of drains avoinding any water accumulation. The burial chamber should be
expected under the high cliffs separating Deir el-Bahari from the Valley of the Kings.
As the “Pillar” presented a serious threat to the temple area below (making at the
same time any further archaeological investigation impossible), the SCA authorities
decided on removing it, and a special technical Egyptian team performed the
operation in Spring 2007. In the paper the actual situation on the ledge will be
presented, together with an analysis of the safety of the temple area at Deir el-Bahari
after these works and the further perspectives of research.
Sun temples and Pyramid Texts: king’s path to eternity through the evolution of
cult
Massimiliano Nuzzolo
The Pyramid Texts represent the oldest body of extant literature from ancient Egypt
embracing all the religious practices and instances developed up to the end of the Old
Kingdom. Through a comprehensive reading of the textual corpus, I will try to show
how the inclusion of the pyramid texts in the funerary beliefs concerning the ruler
would have served symbolic-ideological functions in defining and establishing the
conceptual image and nature of the pharaoh, namely the theoretical and ideological
bases of the Egyptian State embodied by the monarch. These functions involved
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