Mummification Museum Lecture - Excavations in front of Karnak temple by Mansour Boraik

Luxor News Blog (Jane Akshar)

Jane has added her latest Mummification Museum lecture notes to her blog, accompanied by photographs taken at the lecture. Many thanks Jane!

The excavation at the front of Karnak has been going on for 2 years and they have been under considerable stress because of the redevelopment in the area. Sometimes they were competing with the Army who wanted to get on with the redevelopment whilst the SCA were trying to excavate. Further excavation will be taking place when some more houses are demolished in the area.

When the started Karnak was surrounded by slums, shops and the stadium and you could not see it from the Nile. The parking area was right in front of the temple, there were guard towers that were unneeded and created the wrong atmosphere.

The original redevelopment plan was based on the knowledge of the temple at that time which in itself was based on an interpretation of a plan in the tomb of Neferhotep TT49. This has proved to be incorrect and the redevelopment plan has been altered as a consequence.