Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean (12.2000(2001))

DEIR EL-BAHARI

EGYPT

EXCAVATIONS

Four sectors were distinguished for
excavation after the last season (Figs. 1, 2):
Sector A, which is a narrow strip of
slope descending from the “jamb” (or
protruding rock massif bordering the
“niche” on the east (where excavations were
conducted in 1999), down to a spot
opposite Butehamun's graffito no. 6;
Sector B, situated in the “gate” and
directly behind it towards the north.
Butehamun's graffito no. 1 is engraved
here;
Sector C, corresponding to the area
directly bordering the “niche” and the
western part of Sector A on the south; it is
naturally limited by a series of huge
boulders marked here with letters of the
Greek alphabet: (}, y, d, £,
Sector D, situated directly to the south
of Sector C; actually, a fairly steep slope
strewn with stones collapsed from the
gebel, with a dangerously inclined boulder
(marked as a on the sketch in Fig. 1)
superposed on top.
Excavations proceeded in sectors A, B
and C successively; in D the boulder will
have to be removed first, before any
archaeological explorations can be carried
out.
SECTOR A
From the eastern wall of the “jamb”,
descending downwards, hence between
the spots with graffiti nos. 5 and 6 of the
Royal Scribe Butehamun (Twenty-First
Dynasty), a trial pit 3 m wide was dug to
bedrock or else to the compact layer of
natural primary accumulation preceding
any human activity. Goat coprolites and
bee nests testify to there being vegetation
occasionally in the area at remote times in
the past. With the exception of a few
pottery sherds found in the uppermost

layer of debris, putative secondary
deposits fallen from the gebel or washed
down by rainfalls, there were no finds in
the east part of the trench.
The upper layer of accumulated debris
at the top end of the area, immediately east
of the “jamb” and just below graffito no. 5
of Butehamun, consisted of Naville's redim
originating from his explorations of the
“niche” at the very beginning of the 20th
century. Butehamun's graffito could hardly
have been made from the original surface
of the accumulation existing here in the
period preceding Naville's activity by
almost three millennia; it is rather too high
even for somebody standing on the top of
Naville's redim. An artificial platform may
have conceivably been constructed here,
the site offering excellent supervising
opportunities for any ancient activity
taking place in the area designated as our
sectors A, C and D.
A Coptic pottery jar was found in situ,
some 1.5 m below the present surface.
SECTOR B
Excavations conducted inside the “gate”
ruled out the artificial nature of this
unique rock formation. It is a natural
structure, the consequence of a tectonic
fissure lying underneath, which our
excavations have exposed on bedrock level.
At a depth of c. 1 m from the current
surface, the middle part of a royal-style
ceremonial dagger of the Seventeenth-early
Eighteenth Dynasties was discovered (Fig. 3),
opening new prospects for excavations in
the area.
Only a part of the bronze piece survives
(H. 8.3 cm; W. 3-5 cm; Th. 1.1 cm). The
pommel and blade are broken off, and the
original inlaid ornamentation of the handle
is missing. The narrow circular handle is

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