Inside the rock, on the western bank of Luxor, the sarcophagi had been arranged with an almost domestic precision: a narrow space, used down to the last centimeter, painted wood, lids separated from the coffins, overlapping rows as if in a warehouse where every gesture had been thought out. The Egyptian archaeological mission found 22 polychrome wooden sarcophagiwith mummies still inside, and a group of eight rare papyrisome of which still retain the original clay seal. The discovery comes from the Qurna area, in the Asasif necropolis, one of the most important funerary sectors of ancient Thebes, present-day Luxor.
The voices of Amon
One title recurs about the sarcophagi more than others: singer or singer of Amun. Functions, roles and affiliations therefore appear in place of personal names. A small, yet enormous trace, because it shifts the gaze from the great regal figures to those who lived within the religious organization of the temples. Amun was one of the central deities of ancient Egypt, venerated especially in Karnak, the great temple complex of Luxor. Singing for the god meant participating in rites, parties, ceremonies, moments in which music, voice and gesture had a sacred and social weight.
The room dates back to Third Intermediate Periodbetween the XXI and XXV dynasties, roughly between 1070 and 664 BC. It is a less immediate phase to talk about than the Egypt of the pyramids or that of Tutankhamun: political power fragments, the Theban clergy maintains a very strong role, the temples continue to be religious, economic and administrative centres. In that world, the singers of Amun had a recognized function. The fact that their titles return so often to these sarcophagi opens a concrete window on the life and death of women linked to the cult, respected figures and still little documented in material details.
A room filled to the brim
The burial chamber was rectangular and dug directly into the rocky bank. Archaeologists interpret it as a funerary depositprobably used to accommodate sarcophagi moved from previous burials. The layout strongly suggests this: ten horizontal rows, multiple levels, lids separated from the crates to increase capacity. Here the mystery has less to do with gold and much more to do with ancient logistics, with the need to protect, concentrate and preserve bodies and objects in a complex historical phase.
Ceramic vases were also found alongside the sarcophagi, believed to be linked to the materials used during mummification. It is an important detail because it moves the discovery from the simple scenic effect to the possibility of reconstructing gestures, substances, procedures. Oils, resins, natron, fabrics, organic residues: each trace, if preserved, can add a piece to the way in which the bodies were treated and prepared for the passage into the afterlife. In archaeology, sometimes, a crust on a vase speaks more than a perfect statue.
Those papyri still closed
The eight papyri are perhaps the most delicate part of the discovery. They were in a large clay pot and some still carry theirs clay seal. Before being studied they must be restored, translated and analyzed without damaging them. Inside there could be religious texts, administrative documents, funerary formulas, records related to the temple or burial management. At the moment their condition also counts: the seal left in place indicates a rare preservation, a kind of closed envelope that arrived almost three thousand years ago.
The most urgent work, meanwhile, concerns the sarcophagi. The wood is fragile, the fibers are compromised, the painted plaster layers lift, the pigments risk losing grip. The restorers intervened with consolidation operations, mechanical cleaning and photographic and architectural documentation before being transferred to the warehouses. Beauty, here, comes after stability. First, what time has left standing is held together.
It remains to be understood from which tombs these sarcophagi came. The mission is continuing its excavations to reconstruct the path of the objects, bodies and people to whom they belonged. The question concerns their first burial place, the reason for the move, the religious network that kept them together. Luxor continues to work like this: each new room seems closed, then opens a corridor of questions wider than the room itself. And this time, inside that room, there were voices written on the wood.
