Celebrating with the dead - Space concepts and funeral rituals in the necropolis of Petosiris at Tuna el-Gebel / Egypt

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Katja Lembke
• Subject Area: Classical, Roman, Christian and Islamic Archaeology ; Egyptology and Ancient Near Eastern Studies
• Term: since 2017
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 387853947

The Petosiris-necropolis of Tuna el-Gebel is the largest known cemetery in Egypt from the Ptolemaic and Roman times. After the excavation permit was granted in 2018, a complex with a limestone and an adobe building was uncovered. In the latter, large installations for rituals as well as the quantity of rooms indicate the practice of mummification inside the tomb. The limestone tomb, on the other hand, was reused for a previously unknown settlement in Late Antiquity. The geophysical survey based on GPR (Ground-penetrating-radar)-measurements provided excellent pictures of the eastern part of the necropolis and enables to determine promising future excavation areas. It remains the desideratum to extend this investigation to the entire site. Additionally, a model of the ancient ground level will help to define the structure of the surface and indicate the potential existence of multi-storey buildings below the sand. Furthermore, numerous forms of drainage systems point to an extensive use of rainwater and possibly also to a climate change in today´s arid surroundings.Generally, the project focuses on the intercultural discourse (in terms of a formation of linguistic and non-verbal aspects), e.g. the change in burial customs from hiding to exposing the mummy, the transformations of rituals, or different phases of (re-)using the buildings. Based on these aspects, the agency of the architecture, the tomb furniture, the objects (e.g. the grave goods, or the remains of rituals) and of the mummies themselves (e.g. mummy masks, or gilded flesh) will be analysed. Alongside these communicative and magical aspects, the impact of the social structure on the cultural change will be determined, e.g. the social position, religion, gender, or ethnicity of the deceased.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• Co-Investigator: Professor Dr. Wolfgang Rabbel