25/07/2019

The first Brazilian archaeological mission in Egypt.

Pesquisadoras trabalham na catalogação de cones funerários achados na tumba / Foto: Acervo BAPE (Brazilian Archaeological Program in Egypt)

Reproduction from the newspaper O Estado de São Paulo

By Júlia Marques – Finalist in the Science Communication category of the 2019 IMPA-SBM Journalism Award

The Brazilian accent will resonate among the ruins of Ancient Egypt. For the first time, Brazil is leading an archaeological mission in the country. The work, led by researchers from the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG), aims to uncover, at the beginning of next year, the secrets of a tomb built around 1,500 years before Christ in the ancient region of Thebes, now Luxor, in southern Egypt.

“There are Brazilian archaeologists working in Egypt, but until now, they have always been on foreign missions,” says José Roberto Pellini, a professor at UFMG who will lead the project, enthusiastically. It was after an invitation from the Egyptian government that Pellini and his team put together an excavation project. “They gave us many options for working on monuments, and we ended up choosing Theban tomb 123.”

The structure was built during the reign of Pharaoh Thutmose III, a king known as the Napoleon of Egypt for his military conquests. But, unlike the tombs intended for burying kings, such as the luxurious tomb of Tutankhamun, the Theban tombs were somewhat more modest: they served as cemeteries for nobles and held the objects they wished to take to the afterlife. Tomb 123 belonged to Amenemhat, about whom little is known so far.

Entrada da Tumba TT123 / Foto: Acervo BAPE (Brazilian Archaeological Program in Egypt)

No dia 18 de dezembro de 2017, foi a abertura da tumba TT123. Na foto, membros da equipe brasileira acompanhados por representantes do governo do Egito / Foto: Acervo BAPE (Brazilian Archaeological Program in Egypt)

“He was a priest and held the position of bread counter, which was important because bread served as a kind of salary in Egypt,” explains Pellini. The excavation work in the tomb will begin in a small adjoining room, which is clogged to the ceiling with sediment. What they will find inside is a mystery. Researchers still don't know if the objects in that room actually belonged to Amenenhet or were taken from other tombs in the necropolis.

Tomb 123 had never been studied, except in the 19th century, when an English researcher entered the structure. “He stayed for a day, but didn’t do anything,” says Pellini. What the Brazilians found in just a superficial cleaning earlier this year is promising. “We identified various materials, pieces of sarcophagi, two parts of mummies, statuettes. Everything very well preserved, of very high quality. So, expectations are high for the excavation.”

According to experts, the mission places Brazil on the international scientific production circuit. "It's another important step for the field and one that consolidates the dialogue with researchers from Europe, Egypt, and the United States," says Maria Beatriz Borba Florenzano, from the Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at the University of São Paulo (USP).

Brazilian researchers will spend 50 days in Egypt, between January and February, taking advantage of both the academic break and the country's winter – outside of this season, temperatures in the desert region can exceed 40°C. Early in the morning, at 6 am, the excavations begin. Tools such as trowels will help remove the materials. Beforehand, a toxicologist assesses the risks of contamination of the materials, which have been stored for hundreds of years – and the use of masks inside the tomb is mandatory.

At the end of the day, far from the necropolis, the work is almost the same as that of any mortal: notes on paper, spreadsheets on the computer, sorting photos and videos. “Even though Egypt has been studied for centuries, each tomb has its own story, which helps to understand the role of that person (the owner) in the context. The more stories we can interpret, the more we understand how this society functioned,” explains archaeologist Caroline Murta, coordinator of the excavation.

Nothing found in the tomb will be brought to Brazil. An agreement with the Egyptian government guarantees that the artifacts will remain in the country – either stored in the tomb itself or in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. The complete excavation work is only expected to be finished in the next four or five years. During this period, researchers hope that more Brazilians, including undergraduate students interested in Egyptian archaeology, will join the project, in a kind of “tomb-school”.

The advantage, says Caroline, is that archaeology in Egypt is "didactic" like in few other parts of the world. Protected by the dry climate, even human remains, such as mummies, are found in a good state of preservation. "Organic material, difficult to find in Brazil, is very well preserved there. This is good for undergraduate students; it's rich. It's possible to produce a lot of knowledge with these objects," explains the archaeologist.

Access

To democratize access to the tomb, researchers also plan to make it accessible to anyone through virtual reality. To this end, 360-degree images of the structure are being created. The idea is that the images – showing the stages of the excavation – will also help the researchers. Far from Egypt, it will be possible, for example, to recall exactly where the artifacts were extracted, which helps in interpreting them.

Another goal of the group is to make the space open to visitors. In addition to the excavations, conservation work is also being carried out on the structure. “Once restored, it should be one of the three most beautiful tombs in all of Luxor. The quality of the reliefs on the walls is unparalleled,” says Pellini. Rare scenes such as the slaughter of a pig and the image of Amenemhat driving a war chariot – an action generally attributed to pharaohs – are examples of the richness of detail.

Pellini observa estrutura da tumba, que contém cenas raras / Foto: Acervo BAPE (Brazilian Archaeological Program in Egypt)

Materiais encontrados na área de escavação não deverão sair do país e a ideia é que o local vire ponto de visitação e estudo / Foto: Acervo BAPE (Brazilian Archaeological Program in Egypt)

The expedition also includes a less "Indiana Jones" approach, undertaken by the Argentinian group that will be part of the Brazilian mission. The Argentinians will conduct an anthropological study, interacting with the local community. "We are interested in working with the living in the necropolis, not just the dead and pharaonic figures," says María Bernarda Marconetto, anthropologist and professor at the National University of Córdoba, Argentina.

“The entire population that lives there has a very strong connection to the necropolis, they take care of the tombs, do (work such as) guiding, making replicas, and selling handicrafts,” says Bernarda, who intends to delve into how these peoples interpret their own history. The team will also include a French member and Egyptians connected to the country's antiquities service, who will mainly help with the translation of the inscriptions.

Sala anexa, que será escavada na viagem do ano que vem, tem sedimentos até o teto; uma limpeza superficial encontrou estatuetas e até múmias / Foto: Acervo BAPE (Brazilian Archaeological Program in Egypt)

Brazil's interest in Egypt dates back to the Empire.

Brazil's fascination with Egypt is not recent: it dates back to the time of the Empire and has in Dom Pedro II its greatest representative. A scholar and passionate about the ancient civilization, the emperor made two trips to Egypt. "He knew some symbols and, while traveling, he noted, transcribed, and drew everything he saw. It wasn't just curiosity; he was a scholar of the history of Ancient Egypt," says historian Liliane Corrêa.

As part of her postdoctoral research at Aswan University in southern Egypt, Liliane retraced the emperor's steps earlier this year. Besides his fascination with temples – Karnak in Luxor was his favorite – Pedro de Alcântara also admired the landscapes. “He described the sunsets and their colors in contrast with the Nile and the desert,” she recounts. “The Valley of the Kings, where Brazilian archaeologists are excavating, didn't attract as much attention, probably because most of the tombs hadn't yet been discovered when he was there.”

No dia 23/5/1876, o jornal A Província de São Paulo (Hoje O Estado de S.Paulo) publicou a agenda imperial em que aparece a viagem de Pedro II ao Egito, em dezembro

On one of his trips, Dom Pedro II received gifts such as the coffin of the singer Sha-amun-em-su , who lived during the first half of the 8th century BC. The piece quickly became one of the emperor's favorites, and he kept it in his office until the Proclamation of the Republic. Taken to the National Museum in Rio, along with other items from the collection, it was lost after the fire that destroyed the collection in September.

Pedro II e comitiva em frente à grande esfinge de Gizé / Foto: Brasiliana Fotográfica Biblioteca Nacional (Brasil)

À esquerda, anotações de suas viagens / Foto: Marcos de Paulo/Estadão; à direita, o esquife da cantora Sha-Amun-Em-Su, destruído no incêndio do Museu Nacional / Foto: Fábio Motta/Estadão

Science

In universities, researchers' interest in Ancient Egypt gained momentum in the 1980s . However, the number of scientists dedicated to Egyptian archaeology is still small. For Júlio Gralha, professor of Ancient History at the Federal Fluminense University (UFF) specializing in Egyptology, the Brazilian expedition opens up the field of research.

“It’s one thing to work with information and images. It’s quite another to be able to conduct research on-site. This opens a path to facilitate the travel of Brazilian researchers to Egypt or to places that have Egyptological materials, especially now that we have lost the collection at the National Museum,” says Gralha. Argentina, which will be part of the Brazilian commission, already had its own missions. Portugal and Spain did too. “It was time for Brazil to achieve this.”

Although some in the academic community see little relevance in studying such ancient civilizations, the researcher explains that aspects of Egyptian society, such as how they dealt with homosexuality and femininity, remain relevant today. “Some researchers look at the world from the 1Fridays century onwards. But many of today's problems are further back. We need to study ancient societies. They still give us answers.”