250px|right|thumb|A view of the archaeological site of Dra' Abu el-Naga on the Luxor West Bank, [[Egypt]]

The necropolis of Draʻ Abu el-Naga () is located on the West Bank of the Nile at Thebes, Egypt, just by the entrance of the dry bay that leads up to Deir el-Bahari and north of the necropolis of el-Assasif. The necropolis is located near the Valley of the Kings.

History

According to the German Institute of Archeology or DAI, "Dra' Abu el-Naga is one of the longest occupied necropolis of Ancient Egypt: it was used as a burial place almost continuously between the Middle Kingdom and the early Christian (Coptic) periods, i.e. a period of ca. 2500 years. The oldest graves documented so far date to the end of the 11th dynasty (ca. 2000 B.C.). During the Seventeenth Dynasty and early 18th dynasty, kings and their families were interred here in small pyramid tombs such as Nubkheperre Intef, Sekhemre-Wepmaat Intef, Sobekemsaf I (strongly suspected), Ahhotep II and quite possibly both Amenhotep I and Ahmose-Nefertari in Tomb Tomb ANB. The social spectrum of the private necropolis ranges from simple burials with few grave goods to the burials of higher-ranking individuals e.g. the High Priests of Amun of Karnak and other high officials. In the early Middle Kingdom, at the end of the Second Intermediate Period and at the beginning of the New Kingdom Dra' Abu el-Naga was the site of the residence cemetery, as Thebes/Waset had at this time become the imperial capital and seat of government. Dra' Abu el-Naga's significance as a holy burial ground, which increased with the presence of the royal tomb complexes, resulted primarily from its position directly opposite the Temple of Karnak: The Temple of Karnak is known to have been the main cult centre of Amun from the Middle Kingdom and then became one of Ancient Egypt's most important temples during the New Kingdom."

During the Coptic eras, a monastery, Deir el-Bakhît, identified as the historical Theban Monastery of Saint Paulos, was built on the hilltop above the pharaonic cemetery.

Pharaonic-Era Tombs

According to the DAI, "Individual scenes from decorated graves, which are situated in the necropolis and date to the New Kingdom, were documented and published in 1845 during the course of the expedition led by Carl Richard Lepsius. By that point, many of the pharonic pyramids had been dismantled by stone robbers, leaving only the tombs behind. The first significant and to some extent documented excavations were undertaken by Joseph Passalacqua between 1822 and 1825 and concentrated on a number of shaft graves. Particular interest in Dra' Abu el-Naga came as a result of the discovery of three royal coffins of the Second Intermediate Period, one of which belonged to Nubkheperre Intef, which had been found by grave robbers in 1827 and then bought by the British Museum, London in 1835."

"In the years 1860 to 1862 Auguste Mariette initiated the apparently successful search of the tomb of this king. Mariette however did not document the location of the tomb and only an extremely cursive short description exists today. At the end of the 19th and at the beginning of the 20th century a number of ventures were undertaken in Dra' Abu el-Naga, during the course of which individual graves and grave clusters were excavated and their decoration documented (e.g. Northampton/Spiegelberg/Newberry, 1898/99; H. Gauthier, 1906; Carter/Carnarvon, 1908; W.M.F. Petrie, 1909)." This included work "in the tombs of New Kingdom officials and the mortuary complex of the 18th Dynasty king Amenhotep I and his wife Nefertari (1525–1504 B.C.)"

Tombs and structures

Theban Necropolis

There are at least 415 cataloged tombs in the Theban Necropolis, of which Dra' Abu el-Naga is a part. Of these, the following are in Dra' Abu el-Naga specifically.

TT (Theban Tomb) 1 to 100

  • TT11 – Djehuty, overseer of the treasury under Queen Hatshepsut (18th Dynasty)
  • TT12 Hery, Overseer of the Granary of Queen Ahhotep
  • TT148 Amenemopet, priest of Amun (Ramesside Period)
  • TT149 Amenmose, royal scribe of the table of the Lord of the Two Lands, overseer of hunters of Amun (Ramesside Period)
  • TT393 and TT396 unknown (18th Dynasty)
  • TT394 and TT395 unknown (Ramesside Period)

TT (Theban Tomb) 401 to 415

  • TT401 Nebseni, overseer of goldsmiths of Amun
  • Kampp 157 Userhat dating to the 18th Dynasty containing eight mummies, 10 wooden sarcophagi and over 1000 ushabti.
  • Kampp 161, estimated to be from the 18th Dynasty

Other tombs

  • Tomb ANB Possible tomb of king Amenhotep I (second king of the 18th Dynasty) and his mother Ahmose-Nefertari.
  • The lost tomb of Intef the Elder, a founding figure of the 11th Dynasty.
  • The lost Tomb of Nebamun; scientific analysis in 2008–09 indicated the tomb's location somewhere in the vicinity of Dra' Abu el-Naga.
  • Tomb of vizier Ankhu from the early 13th Dynasty.
  • Neferhotep, findspot of the Papyrus Boulaq 18.
  • It is possible that the complexes K93.11 and K93.12 could be attributed to king Amenhotep I and his mother Ahmose-Nefertari.
  • lost pyramid tomb of king Sekhemre-Wepmaat Intef; his pyramidion has been discovered and is now in the British Museum (BM EA 478).
  • lost pyramid tomb of king Sekhemre-Heruhirmaat Intef; his coffin, which is now in the Louvre in France, is believed to originate from this lost tomb.
  • lost pyramid tomb of king Senakhtenre Ahmose
  • lost pyramid tomb of king Seqenenre Tao
  • lost pyramid tomb of king Kamose
  • lost pyramid tomb of king Ahmose I
  • tomb of queen Ahhotep II found in 1859 here (17th and 18th Dynasty)

References

Bibliography

  • Marilina Betrò, Del Vesco Paolo, Gianluca Miniaci: Seven seasons at Dra Abu El-Naga. The tomb of Huy (TT 14): preliminary results, Progetti 3, Pisa 2009
  • André J. Veldmeijer, (with contributions by Daniel Polz & Ute Rummel), Sailors, Musicians and Monks. The Leatherwork from Dra‘ Abu el Naga (Luxor, Egypt), Sidestone Press, 2017 PDF