THE TOMBS OF THE TEMPLE OF AMENHOTEP II

During the excavation of the Temple of Millions of Years of Pharaoh Amenhotep II, beginning in 2007, burials belonging to large necropolises were investigated. These tombs were dug in the area both before the temple’s construction (first phase) and after its abandonment (second phase).

First Phase

The oldest tombs date to the Middle Kingdom (from 2160 BC) and were used repeatedly in the following centuries, during both the Second Intermediate Period and the early 18th Dynasty, before being sealed by the structures of the temple of Amenhotep II. These tombs, located in squares A17 and D21, are characterized by a descending access ramp and multiple internal chambers. During excavation, various objects were recovered, both intact and fragmented, including numerous ceramic vessels of various sizes, small alabaster and faience containers, ornamental objects, and amulets made of various materials. Among the most noteworthy objects is a bronze mirror with a decorated bone handle, found in tomb A17.

Alongside the objects that made up the grave goods, numerous skeletal remains were also found, some of which still retained their original mummiform position. The flooding of the Nile, which reached the Temple area, prevented the preservation of sarcophagi or other wooden elements in the burial chambers, as well as the mummified bodies.

This phase also includes several burials in niches, discovered in the area where the temple’s first courtyard would be built, including a child burial in a terracotta sarcophagus.

Second Phase

Starting in the Third Intermediate Period, after the abandonment of the temple, the area was again used as a necropolis. Twenty-seven tombs date to this phase. Each was accessible through a vertical, square-plan shaft, 2 to 6 metres deep, at the bottom of which are small, irregularly shaped rooms.

Many of these tombs were looted in ancient times, while others were investigated by the English archaeologist Flinders Petrie in the early 20th century. In still others, found intact, the original burials were discovered, along with the remains of the decorations that covered the sarcophagi and various grave goods. In addition to ceramic containers and ornamental elements, these included, in some cases, canopic jars intended to contain the viscera of the deceased and numerous ushabtis, small terracotta figurines intended to magically serve the deceased in the afterlife.

The temple area continued to be used as a necropolis until the Ptolemaic and Roman eras, with further near-surface burials occurring throughout the entire area of ​​the Temple.