The Devil Is in the Details: The Mastaba of Akhmerutnisut Documentation Project (MAD-P)

Description

The mastaba of Fifth Dynasty official Akhmerutnisut (G 2184) in the Western Cemetery of the Giza plateau is an important example of funerary architecture and decoration from the transitional period of non-royal funerary practices in the mid-Fifth Dynasty. It has, however, never been fully published, though its unique decoration and architecture have often been mentioned in scholarship. The Mastaba of Akhmerutnisut Documentation Project (MAD- P), funded by ARCE’s Antiquities Endowment Fund, provides the first context-sensitive study of this tomb.
Akhmerutnisut’s mastaba was first excavated in 1912 by the Harvard University-Boston Museum of Fine Arts Expedition (HU-MFA). In 1913, the tomb’s offering room and part of its forecourt were transported to the MFA in Boston, where they remain in storage. The rest of the mastaba, however, has remained unprotected against the elements for over one hundred years, negatively impacting its state of preservation, which is rapidly deteriorating.
In December 2023, MAD-P had its first season, which aimed to assess the state of the mastaba and improve its documentation from the early 20th century, which lacks consistency in measurements and includes no mentions of significant portions of its decoration and masonry. This presentation aims to present the results of our work, while also discussing the importance of revisiting previously excavated monuments and, especially, of conducting context-sensitive studies of ancient Egyptian non-royal tombs, zooming into the picture for a more detailed perspective, rather than zooming out for a broader picture.

Period	3 Sept 2024
Event title	Current Research in Egyptology: CRE 2024: UK
Event type	Conference
Conference number	24
Location	Liverpool, United KingdomShow on map
Degree of Recognition	International