Detail of an Offering Bearer Holding Two Birds (Shrine in the Rear Wall of the Tomb of Djehutihotep)

Continued from PART THREE...

After KU Leuven's epigraphic team completed their preliminary study, they set out to fully document the preserved decoration in the tomb of Djehutihotep. With originally more than 250 m² of the painted surface and a high degree of detail in the decoration, this posed quite a challenge.

To further complicate the matter, several phases of destruction prevented an unobstructed view of the decoration. These destructions already started in the pharaonic era, when quarrying in and around the Middle Kingdom tombs caused major fractures and partial collapse of the rock-cut tombs. The remaining scenes were mutilated even further with chisel and paintbrush when the tomb was converted into a Coptic church and was not spared of further damage under the activities of antiquities looters from the 19th century onwards.

Consequently, the project required a flexible methodology, which incorporated several layers of information and was easy to use in the field. Following the methodology, the Epigraphic Survey has developed for digital documentation, and with Krisztián Vértes' highly valued support, a workflow was created that catered to the team's specific needs.

Djehutihotep’s funerary chapel contains a sizable offering shrine with almost 20m² of painted decoration. This shrine, cut into the center of the north wall, is dedicated to the tomb owner Djehutihotep and his father, Kay. In the forthcoming installation, we'll focus our attention on the shrine in the north wall of the inner chapel of Djehutihotep as an illustrative case study. To be continued...

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