The tomb of Henu at Deir el-Barsha

Since 2002 a mission of the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (Belgium) has been working at Deir

el-Barsha in Middle Egypt under the direction of Harco Willems. Several areas of the site have since

been the object of investigation, one of which is the hill to the south of the Wadi Nakhla, which is

honeycombed with Old Kingdom tombs. This research is being carried out by Marleen De Meyer,

who reports here on the latest discoveries.

Deir el-Barsha was used as a burial ground throughout

most of ancient Egyptian history and it is mainly re-

nowned for its Middle Kingdom nomarchal tombs (see

EA 25, pp.10-12). However, the fact that the site was

already extensively used for burials during the Old King-

dom is not so well known. Over a hundred rock-cut tombs

on the south hill bear witness to this earlier activity. The

vast majority of these tombs were left undecorated, but

a few have remains of relief carvings or engaged statues

hewn in the living rock. Stylistically these tombs date to

the Sixth Dynasty, making them contemporary with the

Old Kingdom tombs at Sheikh Said, which is only 4km

south of Deir el-Barsha and was the chosen burial ground

of the Old Kingdom nomarchs of the Hare Nome. At

Deir el-Barsha a Fifth Dynasty royal decree issued by

King Neferefre, inscribed on the façade of the tomb of

Iaib on the north hill, is at present the oldest known dated

document at the site.

Since 2004 the rock tombs of the south hill have been

the object of archaeological investigation. In four of these

tombs, and in one tomb on the north hill, a restora-

tion text was inscribed by a man named Djehutynakht,

son of Teti, dating to the late First Intermediate Period

(c.2050 BC). He identifies himself as a Governor of the

Hare Nome, and claims that he restored the tombs of

his ancestors, which he found in ruin. This text, which is

identical in wording in all five instances, is also found in

four Old Kingdom tombs at Sheikh Said, most of which

belong to governors. It is clear that this man had a mission,

and since he is likely to be identified with the father of

Ahanakht I - the first Middle Kingdom nomarch to be

buried at Deir el-Barsha - it would seem that he wanted

to stress the link between himself and the ruling class of

times past. Immediately the question arises, what exactly

did Djehutynakht mean when he spoke of restoring Old

Kingdom tombs? To answer this question, several of the

tombs with a restoration text were excavated. Did he

give each tomb an architectural ‘facelift’? No sign of this

was found. Did he reinstate the funerary cult? No clear

evidence of this has surfaced. Did he merely place the

View of the site at Deir el-Barsha, looking towards the cliffs into which the tombs are cut

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texts for his own glorification without doing any actual

restoration? Lacking any other source of evidence, things

began to look that way, at least until the tomb of Uky

was excavated.

This tomb is located high on the south hill, right in the

middle of huge screes of rock that were thrown down

from the New Kingdom limestone quarry on top of the

hill. This quarry is dated by a stela from the time of Amen-

hotep III, but talatat blocks seem to have been extracted as

well, pointing to activity in the reign of Akhenaten. The

tomb consists of two small consecutive rooms hewn in

the rock, each containing two shafts. Djehutynakht placed

his restoration text on the northern jamb of the entrance

door. Part of this text was published in 1901 by Clédat,

indicating that the tomb must have been exposed at that

time. However, it is not recorded on a map of the site

drawn by Fraser in 1892 (see this issue pp.18-19), nor are

the neighbouring tombs. This is strange, since Fraser’s map

is highly detailed and indicates all the other tombs that

are now visible, and others that are once again hidden by

debris. The only logical explanation seems to be that the

tomb of Uky was at that time still hidden from sight.

During previous missions, evidence was found of the

original Old Kingdom burials in both shafts of the first

room of Uky’s tomb. This year, the shafts in the second

room were excavated. The first of these was clearly plun-

dered, as the burial chamber already lay open before the

work started. The second shaft was filled to the tomb’s

floor level with debris, and it is this shaft with which we

are concerned here. After a top layer of mixed debris, the

fill of the shaft quickly turned to sterile white lime powder

with small pieces of limestone mixed in. Several years of

experience with shaft fills at the site had led us to believe

that this was the material that was used to backfill shafts

after a burial had taken place. This theory was proved to be

correct when the burial chamber of this shaft was reached;

it was protected by a blocking of loosely stacked limestone

blocks and its contents were preserved intact.

In the small chamber a complete and untouched funer-

ary assemblage of the late First Intermediate Period was

encountered. The floor space of the burial chamber was

taken up almost entirely by a wooden box coffin inscribed

with one horizontal line of ornamental hieroglyphs on all

four sides and on the lid. This text revealed that the name

of the deceased was Henu, his titles being ‘Overseer of

the Domain’ and ‘Sole Courtier’. The only other decora-

tion on the coffin consists of a pair of udjat-eyes painted

on the eastern side. On top of the coffin, a pair of white

wooden sandals had been placed near the foot end, as well

as a model of three women grinding grain and a model

of four men making mud-bricks. The latter is especially

unusual, as so far only three such models have been found.

One of these comes from Beni Hasan, while the other

two were found in 1915 by the expedition of the Boston

Museum of Fine Arts in the almost intact tomb of the

Governor Djehutynakht. This tomb is on the north hill at

Deir el-Barsha, and belongs to a different Djehutynakht

from the one known from the restoration inscriptions.

However, considering that three out of the four known

brick-making models originate from Deir el-Barsha, it

would seem to have been a local favourite.The entrance to the tomb of Uky among the screes of rock

A glimpse down the shaft into the newly discovered burial chamber

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The sandals and wooden funerary models as they were found on top of the coffin. Between the coffin and the wall of the burial chamber are the statue of the

tomb-owner and the beer-making model

The model of the mud-brick makers on top of the coffin

Close up view of the model of three women grinding grain

The sandals that were placed on top of the coffin

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The statue of the tomb owner Henu next to his coffin

The wooden boat model with the oars replaced in the hands of the rowers

Close up of the model showing a woman sieving beer mash

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To the east of the coffin

several more tomb mod-

els were found, including

one of a woman husking

grain with a mortar and

pestle and another of

a woman sieving fer-

mented mash to make

beer. Together with the model of the women grinding

grain that was found on top of the coffin, these three

models represent essential stages in the bread and beer

production process, two vital commodities for the afterlife.

Another model found next to the coffin was a large (over

1m long) rowing boat with fourteen crewmen. Because

of a lack of space, the oars had been placed between the

men on the deck of the ship. However, all ten oars were

recovered and could be replaced in their original positions

in the hands of the rowers. Finally a 50cm tall statue of

the tomb owner in official dress was also found next to

the coffin. The fine details in his facial expression testify

to a high level of craftsmanship. In fact the quality of all

the wooden models is remarkable, with fairly correct

anatomical proportions and an eye for realistic detail such

as the black feet of the men standing in the mud. All the

wooden figures are perfectly preserved, with their colours

as vibrant as if they were applied yesterday.

Inside the coffin the intact mummy of Henu was found.

The outer layers of the wrappings had been eaten by in-

sects, but otherwise no damage was observed. Below his

head lay a wooden headrest on which the name and titles

of Henu were also inscribed. No funerary mask had been

supplied, but instead the facial features of the deceased

had been moulded by wads of linen that were wrapped in

with the bandages. The mummy was wrapped in a shroud

of fine textile with a border of fringes.

Based on the palaeography of the text on the coffin,

and the style of the wooden tomb models, this funerary

assemblage can be dated to the late First Intermediate

Period and is thus contemporary with the restoration

text of Djehutynakht. This gives us the first clear indica-

tion of what exactly Djehutynakht meant by restoring

the tombs of his ancestors. By using the tomb for the

burial of members of his entourage - to which Henu

must have belonged - the funerary cult in that tomb was

reinstated, which was clearly beneficial for the original

tomb owner as well. With this new evidence in mind, the

finds in other tombs with restoration texts will need to

be re-evaluated.

Marleen De Meyer copying the hieroglyphic texts on the coffin.

Photograph: Stefanie Vereecken

Harco Willems brushing dust off the coffin lid

The name of Henu written in

hieroglyphs on the coffin

The undisturbed mummy of Henu, with the wooden headrest visible,

as he was found in his coffin

q Marleen De Meyer is a PhD candidate in Egyptology at the

Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium, and works for the Deir el-

Barsha expedition under the direction of Harco Willems. This project

is financed by the Fund for Scientific Research - Flanders, and the

Katholieke Universiteit Leuven. Photographs are by the author unless

otherwise indicated.

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