Pražské Egyptologické Studie (Aug 2018)
Čtyři domy z města mrtvých. Předběžná zpráva o výzkumu komplexu hrobek AS 103 pod chrámem z Nové říše v jižním Abúsíru // Four houses from the city of the dead. Preliminary report on excavations of a complex of tombs, AS 103, under the New Kingdom temple at Abusir South
Abstract
In November 2017, mud brick structures, designated as AS 103, were excavated (fig. 1) in the area of the southeastern part of the later New Kingdom temple (numbered as structures AS 70–73; fig. 2). AS 103 is a complex of four corridor chapels (in an area with measurements of 15.0 × 12.7 m). The western inner walls of each corridor chapel were decorated with single and composed niches (figs. 3–6). Interestingly enough, Niche 9 in Corridor chapel 1 was found with wooden planks on the mud brick masonry (fig. 6). Four limestone offering basins were found, one of them inscribed with a female name Nfr.t-jw=s (fig. 7). A preliminary study of the pottery enables us to date Corridor chapel 1 and 2 to the Fifth Dynasty, whereas Corridor chapels 3 and 4 might have been constructed already in the late Third Dynasty or in the early Fourth Dynasty. The excavations brought to light new information on the burial practices of non-elite people of these periods: in this particular part of Abusir, AS 103 represents the first thoroughly excavated complex of such a type of tombs, which undoubtedly continues in all directions, built chronologically from the east to the west.
