The site Abydos – Umm el-Qaab

The site of Umm el-Qaab is a large cemetery on the edge of the desert southwest of the ancient city of Abydos in Upper Egypt, where all of the kings of the 1st Dynasty and the last two kings of the 2nd Dynasty were buried.

The French Egyptologist Emile Amélineau first uncovered extensive parts of the area between 1895 and 1998. However, his methods were considered inadequate already in this early phase of Egyptian archaeology. For this reason, William Flinders Petrie, who had criticised the insufficient documentation, took over the concession for the excavations a short time later. During his first excavation in the winter of 1899-1900, the British archaeologist uncovered six royal tombs of the 1^st Dynasty: those of the kings Wadji (tomb Z), Den (tomb T), Adjib (tomb X), Semerkhet (tomb U) and Qaa (tomb Q) as well as of queen Meret-Neith (tomb Y). He also produced the first general plan of the site. However, considering the short time for these achievements, it is not surprising that little has been documented and published in comparison to modern standards.

For this reason, the German Archaeological Institute initiated further excavations in the royal cemetery at Umm el-Qaab in 1978, which continue to this day. In the 2010s, Günter Dreyer had the overall plan of the site revised and completed. In this context, also the northeastern corner of Meret-Neith’s tomb was briefly cleared in 2011 and 2013.

Tomb Architecture

The tomb complex is oriented along the local north-south axis, i.e. parallel to the Nile River, and is made of unfired mudbricks. The central part measures approximately 16.5 x 14.3 m and is entirely placed underground with the top of the walls just below the ancient desert surface. The maximum wall thickness is about 1.3 m. All the walls were bound by mud mortar and were originally plastered with mud.

The main chamber (Y-KK) is located at the centre of the tomb. It is most probably the chamber in which Meret-Neith was buried - although Petrie did not report any specific human remains here. Running parallel to the main chamber are eight elongated side chambers (Y-KK1 to Y-KK8) where the queen's numerous grave goods were presumably kept. This central area is surrounded by a rectangle of 41 subsidiary chambers, leaving a large gap in the southwestern corner.

During the new excavations, the team observed evidence of different construction phases. For example, the exterior and interior walls of the central part appear to have been built around the same time, while most of the partition walls in the side chambers were constructed after that.

After the burials and grave goods had been deposited, the chambers were covered with wooden beams, mats and irregular layers of mudbricks and mud. A large tumulus of sand and debris was probably above the central area. The subsidiary chambers were probably covered by small mudbrick structures.

Photogrammetry

Concerns regarding the preservation and site management of the Umm el-Qaab site in general, and Meret-Neith’s tomb in particular, resulted in additional digital documentation of the royal tombs. Virtual Reality (VR) or Augmented Reality (AR) applications are therefore designed to protect the archaeological remains while at the same time making them accessible to visitors.

Photogrammetry has already been used as a valuable documentation method in various archaeological disciplines. Recording processes adapted to the circumstances are not invasive. They help to protect sensitive objects and allow for a highly accurate archaeological documentation without destruction.

In addition, the photogrammetry workflow can quickly capture a large amount of data, which is particularly important for large-scale sites and details. At the same time, the resulting large amounts of data can be easily processed with a relatively affordable computer infrastructure. The models created in this way can be easily shared, visualised, and processed in various applications.

Once the relevant parameters have been defined, this high-quality computed model geometry can immediatly generate representations of specific features that would take considerably more time using traditional documentation techniques (i.e., surveying, manual mapping on site).

An example is the generation of various arbitrary cross-sections and outlines of both architectural structures and artefacts. It is also possible to generate ortho-projections of arbitrary views for visualisation and further processing (measurements, tracing, etc.). The model can also serve as a basis for creating virtual or augmented realities.

Grave Goods

Thousands of Early Dynastic artefacts and ecofacts have already been found in the excavated areas. They include ceramic and stone vessels, mud and clay sealings, personal adornments, various objects made of wood, ivory, copper and different stones, as well as human, faunal and botanical remains. Their classification and analysis are ongoing.

Among the ceramic vessels, the so-called wine jars clearly dominate the inventory. They are followed in descending order by small-sized jars, ovoid jars of various sizes, globular to barrel-shaped vessels, cylindrical jars, bowls and plates of different sizes and designs, bread moulds and imported Levantine jars.

Wine Jars in KK-2

The side chamber Y-KK2 in the north-eastern corner of the main tomb originally contained many wine jars. Petrie had already excavated this chamber in 1899 but left several wine jars in their original position. Also, Dreyer and his team cleared the northeastern corner of the tomb for its integration into the overall site map, but they did not move the vessels. At that time, they found about 50 wine jars still in a primary position, of which about 20 were intact and held their clay sealings. Soon after that, the site was looted and the chamber was partially emptied; it was subsequently backfilled by our colleagues of the inspectorate.

When the chamber was finally excavated again in 2021, its lowermost layer of fill material comprised a vessel deposit that was most probably in its primary position. This deposit included 24 intact and complete wine jars, of which three still held their intact mud sealings. The vessels were positioned upright in a cluster at the chamber's centre.

Small Finds

In the present project, the term small finds is applied to all artefacts except pottery vessels.

In the tomb of Meret-Neith, many such small finds are represented by stone vessels, which were often made of calcite and siltstone. Most documented shapes are cylindrical jars, bowls and plates. Some intact or complete vessels have survived Petrie's excavations and can be seen in different museum collections today. Furthermore, several stone vessel fragments bear inscriptions, some of which exhibit the name of queen Meret-Neith.

Scientific Analysis

The Meret-Neith Project aims to establish a high standard in the application of archaeological science in Egyptian archaeology, and indeed, the scope and research questions of the project are greatly enhanced owing to the application of various archaeological science methods.

The project applies analytical techniques both to suitable materials from the current excavations as well as to materials that Petrie excavated at the turn of the 20^th century.

Radiocarbon dating helps to better reconstruct the absolute chronology of Meret-Neith. A wide variety of short-lived organic materials recovered from her tomb have been selected for analysis, including organic contents of ceramic vessels (fatty substances, plant remains), remains of rope and wood from both the central part and the subsidiary chambers.

Organic residue analysis is carried out on selected vessels from Meret-Neith's funerary assemblage to determine what was contained in the vessels. Residue analysis is particularly powerful when used in combination with archaeobotanical analysis.

Luminescence analysis assists in chronometrically dating ceramic and mud artefacts from museum collections. In the field, portable luminescence profiling is applied to reconstruct site taphonomy, relative chronology architectural construction phases and the relationship between archaeological deposits within the tomb. This profiling allows for a way to rapidly disentangle complex past activities in the field.

E.C. Köhler, P. Ferschin, A. Hood, F. Junge, B. Kovacs and M. Minotti, A preliminary report of new archaeological fieldwork at the tomb of queen Meret-Neith of the 1^st Dynasty at Abydos - Umm el-Qaab, Egypt and Levant.

E.C. Köhler, Visualizing an Ancient Egyptian Queen: the Tomb of Meret-Neith of the 1^st dynasty at Abydos – Umm el-Qaab revisited, in: Tristant, Y. (Hg.), Egypt at its Origins 7, Orientalia Lovanensia Analecta, Leuven 2024, 371-393.