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Saturday, May 31, 2014

View of Elkab.

Today is Friday and, as usual, we take a road trip to look at monuments. We are heading to Elkab and Moalla – thirteen of us. Unfortunately the temperature is slated to be around 46/47 Centigrade = 115-117 Fahrenheit today, and that is hot, because we have lost the wind the last day or two. But the bus is air conditioned, and we have lots of water and ice in coolers.

A view from the New Kingdom tombs at Elkab back at the enormous brick town enclosure of Elkab reminds us of what an important center this city was in antiquity. Famous locals such as Ahmose son of Ebana, whose figure and autobiography are shown here, fought in the wars against the Hyksos after Elkab itself had been sacked by Nubians invading from the south (as recently revealed by Vivian Davies’s discovery of an inscription in the Elkab tomb of Sobeknakht). Ashley, Darcy, Gaultier, and Meredith are finished in the tomb and discuss a venture across the road to the town.

Ahmose, son of Ebana.
The students in discussion.

Exterior of the tomb of Pahery.

The tomb of Pahery is always a favorite. The exterior scene of the tomb owner greeting the sun  is expanded within by diverse scenes of all the creative activities made possible by the sun god and other deities such as Nekhbet, the patroness of Elkab itself. One detail here is of people on Pahery’s estate gutting fish next to others pulling flax. Inside the statue niche is a scene depicting the local governor Pahery offering on behalf of princes Wadjmose and Amenmose, sons of Thutmose I, whose tutelage was entrusted to Pahery.

Painted wall relief detail of people on Pahery’s estate gutting fish next to others pulling flax. Statue niche.

Enjoying the sights of Elkab.

These outings bring people into contact with things that they have heard of but never seen, things that they have seen before but in which they will discover something new, and sometimes things that they have never even heard of. The faces here tell it all – some of all of these contacts is happening for Rania, an Egyptian seeing these monuments for the first time, for Kierra, on her first trip to Egypt and enthralled with everything, for Allie visiting Elkab for the first time, like Ashley, Jill and Richard in the rear, and finally for Violaine, a veteran Egyptologist with a huge smile on her face because of what she sees and reads on the wall. It is never stale!


Desert temple of Amenhotep III.

The small desert temple of Amenhotep III is set into the wadi less than a mile past the rock cut tombs and was designed as a bark shrine for Nekhbet in her guise as the Lady of the mouth of the wadi. At various festival times her boat with her statue within it was carried out to the shrine to await the return of expeditions to the Red Sea, to the gold mines, etc., and of course the return of the goddess herself, equated with the Hathoric deities who might wander to the south but eventually return to the joy of her followers.

This temple was decorated by Amenhotep III but by style and even dedication was a construction of his father Thutmose IV who was depicted seated with his son on both sides of the entrance doorway. You can see again the enjoyment of Kierra, Rania (pointing), Gaultier, and Meredith as they view the image of the bark on the wall.

Wall paintings in the tomb.
The students enjoying the view. Wall paintings in the tomb.

Stop at Ptolemaic era shrine.

.Interior view of the chapel.

We stop at the desert shrine nearby built in the Ptolemaic era. Fronted by a Ramesside chapel, this small temple is being restored and is quite worth the visit. The interior of the chapel is a reused New Kingdom vaulted tomb (like those of Pahery, etc.), now dedicated primarily to Nekhbet. But here is a bit of the original tomb inscription still visible

Moalla at  Hefat.

Next we head back north and stop at the site of Moalla at ancient Hefat, where the local ruler Ankhtify left a large and highly impressive tomb. Several missions have worked here over the years, including the University of Liverpool. (Our archived 2006 visit here also contains a number of photographs of the interior of the tomb.) Yale has had a mission in this area as well, and both have noted the pyramidal shape of the hill chosen to hold tombs (unfortunately Sobekhotep’s was not open at the time of our visit). The remarkable and vibrant First Intermediate Period painting style of Ankhtify’s tomb has few rivals – other than the fragments from Gebelein directly across the river which are now in the Turin Museum in Italy. Here we see some fish from the extended fishing and fowling scene of the tomb and perhaps an unfinished beer-making tableau on one of the columns. As we leave the group clings to the little shade they can find. An extremely hot day, but everyone had a great time and are happy to return to Luxor.

The group leaving Moalla.

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