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Finnish team at the workmen's huts in 2011

The fourth field season of the research group called "Workmen's huts in the Theban mountains", which is a part of the  ongoing project "Man and his environment", started on 10 October 2011 and was again funded by the Academy of Finland.
The working area of the latest season was more extensive than in previous seasons. The main objective was to excavate and document the western cluster of huts and the ruins of the rock chapel and its surroundings, as well as to measure and document the northern and eastern clusters. The season was very successful and all objectives were achieved.
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The excavation area has now been accurately surveyed and there is sufficient data to produce an overall map of the site and of the individual huts and chapel. Preliminary maps show significant differences from the map published by Bernard Bruyère in his excavation report of 1939. Most of the pottery finds consisted of fragments, although several examples of complete vessels were found. Two bowls were found in one of the mastaba benches in the western cluster. Most of the pottery fragments can be dated to the New Kingdom, more precisely to the 19th and 20th dynasties, but a good deal of Coptic pottery was also recovered.
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Identifying the individual rooms in the western cluster was a challenge, as the reality did not match Bruyère's 1939 map. Once the crumbling stones had been removed from the standing walls and the room units were clearly identifiable, it was possible to count the number of existing rooms in the cluster. The total number was 51.
The height of the walls varied greatly across the centre of the cluster from east to west, resulting in a significant drop between the huts. The rooms built in the depression were therefore at a much lower level than the than those on the edge of the cluster. Almost all the walls were restored during the French excavations of 1939. In some places none of the original ancient Egyptian walls remained, in others only the lowest layer of layer of stones was original. Fragments of plaster, used to make the walls smooth, were found in many rooms. Sometimes the remains of a thinner layer of white plaster, 1-3 millimetres thick, could be seen on top of the thicker grey-brown layer of plaster. Many of the walls thus had a smooth surface, at least partially whitewashed.
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As the ground is very uneven and sloping in different directions, the flat floors were constructed using loose soil. parts of the floor surface. A smooth surface was then created by compacting and/or coating with mortar.
The architectural elements found in the rooms consisted of mastaba benches, limestone seats / stools, fixed thresholds and loose thresholds. thresholds and loose thresholds carved in stone with a hole for a bolt (the door was thus designed like the swing doors). A limestone headrest was also found.
Remains of fireplaces were found in three of the rooms. Two other fireplaces were found near the outer walls of the cluster. walls. Shards of Coptic pottery were found in the ashes of one of the fireplaces.
The identification and analysis of the ruins of the chapel is problematic. No evidence has been found to indicate to whom or to which gods the chapel was dedicated. Even the design of the structure itself raises questions. It is possible that it consisted of a central altar room, bordered on each side by a room. This would be a typical "tripartite sanctuary" for the holy triad. At the moment it is not possible to say with certainty that the flanked units were indeed "rooms". There are steps carved into the rock flanking the southern wall of the chapel. Some of the steps have unpublished graffiti dating back to the Pharaonic period.
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The Pharaonic graffiti covering the cliff surface has been
has been published. Steps carved into the rock are also visible in front of the sanctuary itself.
Remains of plaster have been found on these steps as well as on the walls and floor of the sanctuary.
The number of finds for this season rose to 229. Most of the objects found are ostraka with hieratic texts or graphic designs. Fragments of stelae with images and many fragments with hieroglyphic text were also found.
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The most spectacular discovery was made under a pile of stones, described by the French excavators as a "thick wall" separating two rooms in the eastern cluster. When the stones were removed, it turned out that the "thick wall" was actually a small room or space between the two rooms. In one corner of the room was found what at first sight looked like pile of fabric. Perhaps linen for mummification? No! When the bundle was examined, it was found to be twisted rags used as lamp wicks. Jaana Toivari-Viitala had never seen anything like it in her "Egyptological life" - not in any museum, not in any publication.

Some modern objects were also found. Pieces of pipes, perhaps used by Bruyère himself, emerged from the sand, as did old and stylish cigarette boxes. At the end of the fieldwork, all the objects were taken to the Valley of the Kings and later to the SCA storeroom next to the Carter House. The next season, starting in autumn 2012, will focus on the best possible conservation of the ruins.
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Photography © 2011 Heidi Kontkanen

The project team: Jaana Toivari-Viitala, Elina Paulin-Grothe, Tanja Alsheimer, Virpi Perunka, Annika Eklund, Pavel Onderka, John Winfer, Abd El-Hamid Osman Taia Daramalli (Abdu), Yrjö Viitala, student trainee Kaarina Hemminki, insp. Mohamed Hatim from SCA + 41 local workers

The Finnish version of the “Reflections on the Workmen's Huts in the Theban Mountains field project's third season” was written by Jaana Toivari-Viitala and published in The Finnish Egyptological Society’s member newsletter KIRJURI, 1/2012.
The article was kindly translated by Heidi Kontkanen from Helsinki.


www.egyptologinenseura.fi

On Saturday 8 September 2012, the Egypt Exploration Society organised a seminar in London entitled The Workmen's Huts in the Theban Mountains, documenting the royal tomb builders' huts above the Valley of the Kings. Dr Jaana Toivari-Viitala, Head of the Egyptology Programme at the University of Helsinki, was the speaker for the day. She described the work of the past four seasons during which her team has been excavating the remains of the huts above the Valley of the Kings at the Station de Repos'. The Finnish team has excavated three of the four groups. So far they have found over 700 objects (excluding pottery and faience). All the objects are now stored in the storerooms of the Carter House on the west bank of the Nile in Luxor.
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Working conditions were harsh and a thermometer photo showed the team enduring temperatures as high as 63 degrees Celsius! But the cooler breeze on the cliffs makes this place more bearable than the conditions in the valleys below, so it could be refreshing for the crew to sit and relax in the cooler evening air after a day's work.

During the four seasons of surveying, the Finnish team found that the existing layout of the remains of the huts did not always correspond to the map published by Bernard Bruyère in 1939. The numbering of the huts used by Bruyère also had to be adjusted due to inaccuracies. Bruyère's notebooks, which he kept during the excavation in April 1935, have been published by the French Institute and are now available online:

 
Archives de Bernard Bruyère (1879-1971)
MS_2004_0156_024 ; 7 April 1935 - 8 April 1935
http://www.ifao.egnet.net/bases/archives/bruyere/?&os=557

 
MS_2004_0156_025 ; 9 April 1935 - 14 April 1935
http://www.ifao.egnet.net/bases/archives/bruyere/?&os=558

 
MS_2004_0156_026 ; 9 April 1935 - 14 April 1935
http://www.ifao.egnet.net/bases/archives/bruyere/?&os=559

 
The Finnish team used Bruyère's numbering with modifications and published a new map of the existing layout in their preliminary report of the work carried out during the fourth season in 2011-2012 (the link to which can be found at the bottom of this page). The French team published their finds from the 1935 season in the village of Deir el-Medina together with the finds from the area around the huts, without distinguishing the sites, so that it is now impossible to know which objects came from the area that the Finnish team is concerned with.

We were shown slides of some fascinating finds: an intact New Kingdom bowl, a fragment of a votive stele dedicated to the goddess Meretseger, and several ostraka, mainly pictorial. One large ostrakon was found in many pieces and is now being assembled like a large jigsaw puzzle. A bundle of linen carpets was found along with 27 lamp wicks - the only complete set of wicks ever found. The wicks were of different thicknesses and lengths and the linen was of different types. Rosalind Janssen, who was in the audience, will be studying the find in the future. As well as being an expert on Deir el-Medina, she is also an expert on textiles and this is her main research (resulting in a publication: Hall, Rosalind: Egyptian textiles).

Several slides documented the condition of the rooms before the clearance and their condition after the work. Floor plaster was found in some of the huts: it had been laid in three layers - two layers of limestone plaster mixed with earth, and the top layer was thin and white pure plaster. A slide of a stone door post with a recess for a wooden door peg and a photograph of another, taller, upright door post were among the architectural finds that documented the way the huts were once enclosed.
These were found in several places. We were also shown a picture of the original plaster that had survived intact on the wall of one of the huts.

Most huts consisted of 2 rooms, but the hut of Kenherkhepshef, who held the office of scribe from at least year 40 of Ramesses II and continued until year 1 of Siptah (c. years 1239-1193 BC), was the largest and most centrally located hut in the settlement and consisted of 3 rooms. We were shown slides of Kenherkhepshef's room, which was paved with limestone slabs, and his seat made of limestone blocks. It was U-shaped, as if to imitate the wooden seats of the furniture in the village houses.

The team found nearly 20 fireplaces, some inside the huts, some outside. Two of the fireplaces contained New Kingdom pottery and ash, which helped to date their use to the New Kingdom. It has been suggested that the function of the fires outside the huts may have been to keep wolves away.


While the team was working on the site, a snake about 1.5 metres long passed by the team and made its way up the cliffs of Al-Qurn to bask in the sun. The photo of the large snake was a sobering sight for those who had visited the huts in the past and, like us, walked around and sat down on the ground to eat or just to reflect on the past.

The analysis of the ruins of the shrine, located to the south of the huts at the foot of the rising mountain, was problematic. Clearing the area revealed steps carved into the rock flanking the south wall of the shrine. They reach above the shrine. The entire structure consisted of only a few original layers of New Kingdom stone. The modern walls built by the French team were dismantled by the Finns. The layout itself raises questions. It is possible that it consisted of a central altar room bordered on each side by a room. This would be a typical "tripartite sanctuary" for the holy triad. However, there is no evidence to clarify to whom or to which gods the sanctuary was dedicated. It is interesting to note that it is the only building on the site that faces the temple of Karnak on the east bank. At the moment it is not even possible to say with certainty that the flanked units were actually "rooms", the team call them "dummy rooms".

The seminar ended with a stimulating discussion about the possible functions of the site. Was the site a gentlemen's club? Game pieces and a game board were found at the site. Rosalind Janssen mentioned a text referring to "a place of hard drinking", which has not yet been identified. Was it a pub? Other suggestions for the use of the site included a checkpoint, an administrative centre for the workers, an infirmary or even a place where tomb robbers hid to share their booty. The Finnish team has one more season - the last - to resolve these questions and find the answer to the project's objective: what was the purpose of the huts during the Ramesside period?

I would like to thank Andrea from Sweden and Malcolm Dennes from Somerset, UK, who both attended the seminar with me, for their valuable contributions to the content of this page.

Sources:
1. KIRJURI, 2/2011-The Finnish Egyptological Society’s member newsletter
2. http://www.helsinki.fi/news/archive/1-2009/28-13-42-13.html (accessed in 2012)
3. http://www.egyptologinenseura.fi/English/engframe.htm (accessed in 2012)
4. http://www.egyptologinenseura.fi/fieldwork/Preliminary%20report_WHTM%20Project_fourth%20field%20season%202011-2012.pdf (accessed in 2012)

5.http://www.egyptologinenseura.fi/fieldwork/Preliminary%20Report_Toivari-VIitala_Academy%20of% 20Finland_Season2010_for%20ASAE.pdf (accessed in 2012)
6. http://www.egyptologinenseura.fi/fieldwork/engl/index.html (accessed in 2012)
7. http://www.ees.ac.uk/news/index/195.html (accessed in 2012)

8. http://www.ifao.egnet.net/bases/archives/bruyere (last accessed September 26th 2012)

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