DB320

The Deir el- Bahari with the scientific grave number DB/TT320 is an ancient Egyptian grave investment in the necropolis of Deir el- Bahari north of Thebes. The Cachette served as a mummy custodian to protect from grave robbers and was created ( according to current knowledge ) in the 22nd dynasty under Sheshonk I.. Originally the grave for Pinudjem II was built.

History

The Deir el- Bahari was discovered in 1871 by the brothers Ahmed Soliman and Mohammed Abd el- Rassoul. The Abd el- Rassoul family concealed the discovery of the tomb, as it was for them to be a welcome source of income. In the years following the discovery, they sold again and again some finds from the grave. Finally, Gaston Maspero was attentive, who was then director of the Egyptian Museum in Bulak / Cairo and head of the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities. He suspected the discovery of a tomb from the 21st Dynasty.

Maspero traveled end of May 1881 to Upper Egypt to investigate the matter. On April 4, Ahmed Abd el- Rassoul was arrested shortly after, one of his brothers. It took until June 25, 1881 to one of the brothers admitted the discovery and on July 6, he led the delegation of the museum under the direction of Emil Brugsch, former assistant to Maspero to the grave.

In the Cachette and the temporary storage of Abd el- Rassoul family about 40 sarcophagi and about 6000 other finds were seized. Now it was clear that it was not a grave from the 21st dynasty, but a depot for umgebettete pharaohs mummies to protect from grave robbers. Since the discovery had become known in the area, acted very quickly to Brugsch. Within 48 hours, all findings were loaded and stored in Luxor, to be transported to Bulaq to later with the museum ship (the " Menshiéh "). In this haste was decided not to scientific documentation, which today turns out to be a major failure.

1998 prompted the Institute for Egyptology and Coptic Studies at the University of Münster in cooperation with the Department of Egyptology of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow further investigation. The new excavations were led by Professor Erhart Graefe. In these excavations, further amounts of objects and fragments were seized. The degree of destruction of many of these findings points to the rough handling of the goods by the delegation headed by Brugsch.

Architecture

One reaches into the grave by an approximately twelve -meter long access shaft (A). From there you can go into an approximately 7.5 meters long and 1.4 meters wide corridor (B ) with incorporated steps and a ceiling height of approximately 1.8 meters. At the end of the aisle it comes in a 90 ° angle to the right into the actual grave. The total length of the system is about 61.80 meters. At about halfway up the Ganges (C ) there is a niche to the left (D) of about 7.8 meters long and 3.9 meters wide. Following the passage ( e ) leads to the main grave chamber ( F). The whole plant has a ceiling height of about two meters.

The main findings

In addition, eight other unknown mummies were found. A, B, C, D, E, F indicate the location in the Cachette at, * means that the locality has not been documented. Table according to Reeves / Wilkinson and Dodson / Hilton.