Many nations with ancient world sites were entangled in wars, internal disturbances or were in the hands of despots who closed their borders to scientific teams. Egypt, a peaceful country with its long history of hosting foreign expeditions, was a favoured destination amongst archaeologists. The Egyptian government and its people were a pleasure to work with, the climate reasonably pleasant and no matter where a team worked, the expedition members were always within a short distance of major cities and facilities. Add to this mix, six millennia of history and the greatest collection of archaeological sites in the Ancient World, other than China. This immense treasury of opportunities offered a limitless horizon which ensured that Egypt remained at the top of the list in every Faculty of History as the country in which to undertake a campaign.
Abdullah said “I have to meet requests from scores of research bodies wishing to engage in new projects, spread government funding as widely and efficiently as possible whilst ensuring the archaeological efforts do not overly disrupt the demands of income generating tourists who descend on the country like ravening locusts.”
“Something I would not admit publicly is my imperative to inveigle archaeologists into conserving as much of existing finds rather than discovering new artefacts and adding to my organisation’s burden. The tombs around Luxor are under constant threat of incremental destruction and their conservation is urgent. Since the construction of the Aswan Dam, rising salt levels in the soil along the Nile have led to increasing problems with crystalline salt building up in limestone structures and these deposits can lift the plaster on which decorations had been painted. In the tourist tombs, exhaled moisture creates an environment that promotes the gradual deterioration of what were once brilliantly painted walls.”
“There is an enemy I cannot fight, the increase in global tourism. Until the discovery of Tutankhamen’s tomb in 1922, the Valley had languished as a remote way station on the periphery of The Grand Tour. Today, interest in ancient Egypt engenders intense pressure, not only on the few restored tombs but every monument in Egypt.”
“We are permanently caught on the horns of a dilemma between two conflicting demands. The Minister of Tourism, Mohammed Aboukir, is also a close friend of President Kamal. I receive regular, polite requests from the President’s office asking me to see what could be done to facilitate Aboukir’s feverish demands to open more tombs in both the Valleys of the Kings and Queens. Our major problems with regard to the Valley tombs are still the ones we are all well aware of.”
Unspoken was the knowledge that the hills looming above the Valleys had served as a gigantic catchment area funnelling water from the extremely rare but torrential cloudbursts into naturally occurring watercourses, creating instant waterfalls that cascaded down the sides of the escarpments forming the Valley’s ramparts. Water, carrying with it sand and loose rocks, flooded into the tombs, and over time, filled chambers and corridors with sediment and finally smothered many tomb entrances, hiding them from view. Why the kings, in choosing the Valley as their burial site, ignored the topography, which to modern eyes shows overwhelming evidence of the effects of water generated erosion, remains unknown since the choice of this ravine as a site for a cemetery defies logic. All the tombs were quarried downwards, some with their entrances in the valley floor.
In recent history, damage caused by new flooding presented substantial problems for Nineteenth and Twentieth Century explorers. Carter, noting the effects of a cloudburst in 1918, wrote: ‘We have had heavy downpours and this time, a particular phenomenon occurred. The Valley of the Tombs of the Kings, joined by the Great Western Valley, in a few moments became little short of mountain rivers… the torrent cutting out wide furrows in the valley bed and rolling before it stones two feet in diameter’. A more dramatic flood in 1994 re-filled several previously cleared tombs. As a consequence of ancient flooding, many sections of tombs remain packed almost solid with sand, rocks and fragmented artefacts, the removal of which is a formidable task as the previous method of aggressively applying pick and shovel was now rarely sanctioned. This was an expensive, time consuming task that could not be rushed, no matter what Minister Aboukir wanted.
“This joint venture will bring a breath of fresh air to the work in the Valley as we sometimes lose sight of the major issues in the minutiae of science.” confided Abdullah.
The rationale of the CEA-BEAS project was designed, on its surface, to meet the demands of the Ministry of Tourism. Firstly, to get more tombs open by repairing those with easily remediated damage. Secondly, to stabilise sections of tombs already accessed by the public by removing the danger of possible collapse of weakened substructures. The biggest portion of the project was to repair tombs that were deemed of potential interest but suffered from significant structure issues.
There are sixty three tombs in the Valley of the Kings. Apart from simple shaft and single chamber tombs, the majority are gems of ancient engineering, even if some are incomplete or are now heavily damaged mausolea. Our mission was to identify as many repairable tombs of interest and, within our budget, ‘fix ‘em up’. Abdullah and Yousef had a second agenda,the installation of protective devices over tomb entrances to prevent future water damage, seal off little researched tombs until future investigation was feasible and to eliminate a new and modern threat – vandals and graffiti artists who entered tombs and defaced walls.
I was to find working with Abdullah to be a pleasure but one taken on the run. He worked at maniacal speed, managing a dozen different matters simultaneously. He was troubled by the knowledge that as fast as he oversaw the restoration of monuments, the effects of exposure to climate and the damage caused by a careless public generated renewed deterioration. As he said, it was a case of two steps forward and one step backwards.
As the afternoon drew to a close it was clear that our mission was nothing more than grist for a civil engineer’s mill despite all the issues of turf wars and political infighting – considerations I hoped would be managed by our employers. What none of us knew at the outset of our campaign was that we would inadvertently open a new and dramatic chapter in Egypt’s vast encyclopaedia of history.
Chapter 6 - A LESSON IN GEOLOGY
Egypt - Present day
I met Professor Dief and Dr. al-Badawi in the latter’s office where we continued our review of the tombs unofficially selected to present to the joint Boards. We three had been meeting well before the field surveys had even commenced as we wished to get ahead of the game, so to speak. Earlier, to break from the rigours of our meeting, we re-visited the Council’s museum. The British Egyptian Antiquities Society’s arrangement of its exhibits and functional areas had provided a practical blueprint for the much larger Council headquarters in Cairo. Until the establishment of the CEA, it had been an unhappy footnote in recent Egyptian history that native born archaeologists and specialists only served in secondary roles under an unbroken stream of European administrators and explorers who migrated to the country in the wake of Napoleon’s adventure. The late, ultra patriotic President Abu Khalid had actively sponsored the establishment of a national organisation to manage Egypt’s heritage. Since its inception, highly trained and dedicated administrators, archaeologists and technicians had built the Council into the most internationally respected organisation in Egyptology.
I had known Yousef al-Badawi prior to joining the BEAS but could never quite understand why we always seemed to bump into each other when taking my holidays in London. I was to discover my father had stage managed these meetings so Yousef and I could take each others’ measure. Once I made this discovery, I had reason to comprehend more of my father’s strategic understanding of the Society’s future and its probable relationship with the Council over the next decades.
After receiving al-Badawi’s favourable opinion, Sir Reginald assumed I would inevitably fall into his clutches and accept a role not as yet completely formulated. At about the same time, my Father wilfully discarded the curriculum vitae of other possible contender
s for the position of the Society’s Directorship of Civil Engineering. He must have been very sure of his son’s latent ambition! My fate was sealed and my future carefully but surreptitiously manipulated by Abdullah, Yousef and my father. After my appointment, we laughed at the machinations involved in manoeuvring me to head up the restoration project. The Egyptians agreed that my father, in another life, must have served his apprenticeship at the Ottoman Court in Constantinople where he had mastered the ways of Byzantine politicking and beguiling lesser folk such as his son.
After momentarily reflecting on how I had been snared, we continued our review after our stroll through the galleries. We turned our attention to the enigmatic tomb of the controversial Queen Hatshepsut (KV20). After much discussion, Abdullah said “Definitely keep on the list. KV20 is not a sad tomb; it is a disaster of epic proportions. If Dennis can miraculously stabilise and restore the structure, his belief that a certain type of energetic tourist would be willing to pay to meet the challenge of the precipitous descent into the burial chamber and the arduous climb back to the surface, may garner Board approval.”
Laughing, I responded “Good, my colleagues and I try to make miracles today, the impossible we leave for tomorrow!” I queried current attitudes about working in the tomb of Seti I (KV17) even though it was not under consideration. In 1903, Carter undertook quite extensive structural repairs as sections of the burial chamber walls had sagged due to the subsidence caused by a slow crumbling of the mysterious tunnel built under the chamber’s floor. He brought in hydraulic jacks, lifted the rear wall, installed new brick piers and filled several large cracks in an attempt to stop more painted plaster falling off the walls.
Yousef replied “KV17 is a mess. It is enormous, very popular with the tourist trade and suffers from every problem you can think of. We are considering a major restoration project involving a multi-disciplinary team and when we have completed research into such a project, we can discuss his tomb again but for now, put a question mark against it.”
By day’s end we had almost finished our review. The sun was setting over the city; we had drunk too much coffee and smoked too many cigarettes. Yousef suggested we conclude for the moment and meet later for dinner to refresh our senses with some truly tantalising food and the prospect of belly dancing. After agreeing to meet at a restaurant near the Citadel, I returned to my hotel, showered and changed into more causal evening wear. Later, once dinner finished with a mildly erotic display of belly dancing, we retired to a nearby coffee shop. After ordering strong Egyptian coffee, Yousef looked at me.
“Forgive me, Dennis. You know I am a specialist in the field of restoration of artefacts such as coffins, furniture, papyri, pottery and suchlike - admittedly a limited field. Can you explain why the Valley tombs have suffered such fundamental damage, much of which appears to be, in a historical time frame, very recent?”
Abdullah nodded in agreement. “The New Kingdom tombs are about 3,000 years old and we are now considering how to limit or stop the results of rock failure. Walls are bulging, large slabs have come down from ceilings, supporting pillars are crumbling or have shattered and cracks appear almost overnight in chambers and corridors. I know geological change is a slow business but, as Yousef as said, much of the damage appears to be almost contemporary.”
I took a sip of the hot sweet coffee. “Gentlemen, this is a complex subject and one normally kept for the lecture hall.”
“Come now, Dennis, do you have a more pressing engagement tonight?”
“No, but what I can tell you is all fairly dry information.”
“You have two attentive students and the night is still young. Please proceed.”
“Right, remember that as boredom overtakes you, you asked for it. There is a combination of factors working against us at the moment, keeping in mind ‘a moment’, when measured against the life of the tombs, is a relative period of time. The fundamental geology of Egypt has remained unchanged for millions of years. Apart from sporadic hard rock deposits, indicative of ancient volcanic activity, most of the country is a sedimentary sandstone and limestone plateau, both very soft semi-porous stone which was used extensively in construction, due to the ease with which it is worked. Unhappily though, it is gradually worn away by its enemies. In regions with high rainfall, water slowly dissolves it and wind, carrying fine particulate sand, abrades it. In the post industrial world, pollution accelerates the decay of stone and not only soft stone. This is already evident throughout Egypt”
“More coffee, Dennis as I suspect we are in for a lengthy lecture.” quipped Yousef.
“I promise to keep the unabridged version for the classroom. Tonight you will get the short version.” I replied, accepting another cup. “Egypt is a fortunate land. It has ample riverine water, even in times of reduced snowfalls at the Nile’s headwaters. In the remote past, there were long periods of fairly constant rainfall which created eroded wadis like the Valley of the Kings. Over time the climate changed, leading to today’s scenario of limited rainfall in the more arid regions. I define ‘today’ as about one million years. When it rains,it can be torrential though the cloudbursts are of short duration. Rain was the first enemy to attack the tombs and may have been a phenomenon the tomb builders understood. At first glance it makes no sense to build subterranean tombs in what is effectively a dried out watercourse. The ancient Egyptians may have known that the Valley, or for that matter, all wadis flood during periodic downpours although the Nineteenth and Twentieth Dynasty kings appear not to have considered water a problem, hence the very large portals.”
“So what did they do? It is my conjecture that they built walls and channels to divert flood waters. There is now meagre evidence of these measures because they were built of mud brick or cut into the hillsides. Why stone was not used is a mystery although I suspect when the Valley was operating as a full blown necropolis with the workmen from Deir el-Medinah on hand, one of their responsibilities would have been maintaining such barriers. Possibly, there were very rare moments when tomb entrances dug into the valley floor, safe behind their protective walls, sat in the midst of pools of water. Those above ground level were protected by diversionary walls built around the larger entrances. Surface water evaporates quickly and, even though limestone is semi-porous, only a little water would penetrate the tombs and if it did, workers would not have seen any damage as it was hidden behind the doors sealing them.”
“Carter, during his excavations in 1920, uncovered a trench outside the tomb of Merenptah which appeared to be designed to divert flood water away from the entrance. Remember, downpours were and still are a very rare occurrence and it is probable that through the period when the Valley was in use, it may have only seen one or two deluges.”
“Bravo,” said Abdullah, “but why do we find fragments from unrelated tombs deep inside pillaged tombs?”
“Ah, a good question. We know the tombs were heavily plundered in the last hours of the Twentieth Dynasty. Logically, grave robbers, under the direction of the high priest, worked in some haste in difficult conditions. Working in poorly ventilated corridors and chambers, lit only by flaming torches, they plundered quickly and ruthlessly and then, at their leisure, picked through the looted material outside the ransacked tomb. What they couldn’t use they appear to have smashed. This would account for the pieces of broken artefacts littering the area near tomb entrances.”
“A flash flood would flush a lot of these fragments back into the open tombs. Picture this. Tombs probably had lost their water protective devices thanks to the absence of the Valley workmen. Robbers broke through the original sealing walls of Eighteenth Dynasty tombs. The Nineteenth & Twentieth Dynasty tombs had their timber doors stolen as timber was rare and expensive. Add a complete absence of concern about the necropolis until the Twenty-Second Dynasty. Over time, each downpour washed more debris into the tombs until several were badly choked. The entrance to others simply disappeared under layers of rock scree. I won’t bore you with figures but a t
ypical flash flood would bring millions of litres of water into the valley, carrying with it thousands of tonnes of debris.”
“That various tombs were plugged with flood debris was a mixed blessing. On one hand, the tombs couldn’t be readily ransacked again as digging through the fill was hard work. On the other, whilst this material was almost cement hard when dry, it acted like a large sponge every time it flooded, resulting in further incremental damage. Nonetheless, for centuries conditions were fairly stable. Once tombs were re-opened by the first excavating teams, real damage began, more so in tombs that had never been ravaged by flood water. Every time the Valley flooded, water flowed off the escarpment, streamed down hillsides bringing with it sand, rock chips, stones and even boulders. Tombs quarried downwards provide perfect avenues for these torrents to follow.”
“Even though Carter and others realised the extent of the problem and took some steps to build flood defences, far too many explorers and, I am afraid, Egyptian administrators, did nothing to prevent the ingress of water and debris into the gaping tomb mouths. Remember the damaged caused by the floods of 1994? The opening of pristine tombs created a second generation of problems. Tombs covered with immaculate painted walls unseen by human eyes for three millennia were exposed to the elements, of which water was the greatest but not the only destroyer.”
The Golden Falcon Page 7