Tuesday 12 May 2015

Tomb of Djehutyhotep Looted?


It is being reported that the tomb of Djehutyhotep in Deir el-Bersha in Middle Egypt has been looted. The suppliers of the no-questions asked antiquities market reportedly hacked out the large scenes. No details or confirmation available yet.

The British Museum has some sawn-out fragments of the wall decoration of this tomb (here too), removed at the end of the nineteenth century. Their webpage notes that the famed statue-dragging scene had already been damaged.

Update 26th May 2015

KU Leuven - Egyptologie adds the information:
Two weeks ago, the Egyptological world was shocked by tweets by Monica Hanna about the looting and extensive destruction of the tomb of Djehutihotep at Dayr al-Barsha (https://twitter.com/monznomad/status/597860115555942400). According to some reports, entire walls with relief decoration would have been removed, and one report even suggested the dig house had been looted. We have since been trying to get reliable information on this matter from the antiquities authorities. The reports we now have are consistent in confirming the grave news that the tomb has been entered and that a relief has been stolen (not two, as has been stated elsewhere). However, the damage is said to be much less extensive than feared. A small scene immediately to the east of the entrance has been hacked out. It was damaged already in Newberry's day (1891-1892), but it still showed the well preserved top part of a man carrying a chest towards Djehutihotep, who is being purified by other servants. It was also one of the few reliefs where the head of a figure was still in good condition. We have no photos at our disposal that confirm what the other walls of the tomb look like.
'Colorful fragment hacked out from ancient Egyptian tomb, excavators say', Cairo Post May 26, 2015

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