Tomb 33 (Explored recently and shown on CNN.com) by the German archeologist Prof Claude Traunecker and his colleague Annie Schweizer)
In the Valley of the Dead in Egypt, hidden beneath the most popular tourist destination lies a maze of corridors and chambers that have remained hidden for a thousand years this is the – Tomb 33 which is the largest of all tombs in the region! And yet it is not a king’s tomb. Why did Petamenophis, a librarian for a pharaoh from the 26th dynasty, choose such an imposing tomb for himself? And what was the purpose of the hundreds of meters of frescoes covered with hieroglyphics? The last attempted excavation occurred over a hundred years ago, when a number of archaeologists went down and never returned. So what secrets lur
k in Tomb 33?
Where is Tomb 33?
Tomb 33 is located on the West bank of the Nile, 500 km south of Cairo, near Ancient Thebes. The tomb’s size is awe-inspiring. Comprised of 22 chambers connected by long corridors, it spreads over three levels reaching down twenty meters, and is more imposing than most Pharaohs’ tombs. Yet it’s mysterious that Tomb 33 was not built not for a Pharoah, or even a Royal family member. This was the tomb of Petamenophis – also known as Padiamenope, a librarian for a pharaoh . Understanding this tomb is also a big challenge as it does not resemble any other tomb
Johannes Dueminchen, the first researcher of this tomb, established through script on the tomb walls that Padiamenope was a high-ranking priest and Master of Rituals, “He who has been initiated in the mysteries of the sacred text”. Since then the tomb has been regarded as an archealogical mystery. To the frustration of the archaeological community the Egyptian government sealed off the tomb a century ago and have refused to allow further excavations. Then in 2006 the government finally invited a team of French and Egyptian Egyptologists to re-open and excavate Tomb 33.
A word on the excavators
Leading the excavation is Professor of Egyptology Claude Traunecker and his colleague Annie Schweizer. For Professor Trauecker excavating Tomb 33 is the realisation of his childhood ambitions. After reading the comic book The Mystery of the Great Pyramid, Traunecker decided to one day excavate tombs in Egypt. Working as a chemist in the textile industry, Traunecker eventually landed a job on the excavations of the Egyptian temple of Karnak through sheer persistence, and began a second career as an Egyptologist.
The tomb
As the walls sealing the Tomb
are broken for the first time, the archaelogists are awe-struck. The team enters a maze-like underground network of spectacular corridors and chambers entirely covered in frescoes and hieroglyphs. “It was worth getting the willies for this”, Annie Schweizer laughs. However, the mysterious grandeur of the priest’s tomb perplexes the archaeologists. “I have mixed feelings”, Traunecker explains, “All in all [Tomb 33] could be regarded as a vain or even foolish project. I’m very shocked by our visit”. Padiamenope built a Monument for posterity and time, the professor points out, but posterity has looted and time has defaced Tomb 33.
Yet as the excavation continues Padiamenope’s intentions come to fascinate the team. The walls contain an encyclopaedic depiction of the times and funeral rites of the later era of ancient Egypt, preserving a snapshot of a dwindling culture. Through hieroglyphic texts Padiamenope himself speaks to the archeologists. “Those who will yet be born”, reads one message, “may they enter the tomb and see what is inside. You who enter this tomb, look and try to understand. Read and restore these inscriptions”. The archaeologists begin to develop an astonishing explanation for Padiamenope’s grandiose monument to posterity.
Tyet sign, early Dynasty 18 (ca. 1550-1458 B.C.)
Egyptian; Abydos, Cemetery D, Tomb 33
Jasper
Gift of Egypt Exploration Fund, 1900 (00.4.39)
This symbol illustrates a knotted piece of cloth whose early meaning is unknown, but in the New Kingdom it was clearly associated with the goddess Isis, the great magician and wife of Osiris. By this time, the tyet symbol was referred to as the “blood of Isis” and scholars have suggested that it might depict the cloth a woman used during menstruation. Knots were widely used as amulets because the Egyptians believed they bound and released magic. The tyet sign was considered a potent symbol of protection in the afterlife and the Book of the Dead specifies that the tyet be made of blood-red stone, like this example, and placed at the deceased’s neck.
However, stylistically, many scholars believe that Pteamenophis’ tomb could not be dated as early as the 18th or early 19th dynasty. In this regard, the tomb appears to date no earlier than the Ethiopian Period
(when Nubians ruled Egypt). Some scholars believe that Petamenophis may have lived during the rule of Psammetichus I, the first king of the 26th Dynasty. In any event, Petamenophis must have been, to judge from his titles, a learned man and theologian. It should be noted that there is a statue of Petamenophis in the Egyptian Antiquities Museum in Cairo.
The next stage will be the cleaning, restoration and conservation of the tomb. It has important texts such as the Book of the Dead which need to be studied. In fact it is one of the most important, if not the most important, source for sacred texts during the period of Egyptian history. For example, there is also a Late Period version of the Book of Caverns in the tomb, which has yielded otherwise missing parts of this text. But the most amazing thing about this tomb is it’s sheer size, with some 330 meters of corridors.
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