Secrets of Pharaonic Graffiti

By Ali abu Dashish and Maydaa Abo El-Nadar

CAIRO, Jan.9 (SEE) –Tomb of the golden Pharaoh Tutankhamen was found in the Valley of the King’s eastern part. The most famous modern kingdom’s Pharaohs were buried at the Valley, including, Thutmose III, Seti I, and Ramses VI, and Queen Hatshepsut.

Only two Pharaohs were buried at the Valley of the Kings’ western part. These kings were Amenhotep III and Ay. In other words, only these kings’ tombs were the ones discovered there.

Egyptian Archaeologist Zahi Hawass said, “We started excavating at the Valley’s eastern part in 2007. E first discovered houses where lived the workers, who built, sculpted and colored the tombs at the Valley. The houses were caves encountered directly in front of Tutankhamen’s tomb, some of which were revealed by Howard Carter.

As for the workers who were building tombs at the western part, they stayed at the city’s monastery (the workers’ city). They used to leave their house in the early morning and returned in the evening.

The weird thing is that some graffiti, for these workers, were discovered, including several ones about animals and a graffiti that depicted a worker’s lover. A block made of rock, was also found, pided into four parts, following rules of a game played in Upper Egypt called Sega. The block showed one of the games played by the workers in their free time.

On the other side, many of the graffiti found indicate that many tombs are still not discovered, bearing in mind that some kings ordered that some of their relatives should be buried far from their own body. In this regard worth noting is that Amenhotep III ordered that his father and mother in law, Yoya and Toya, should be buried in the Valley’s eastern part, and that his body should be buried in the western part. Amnehotep II ordered for his beloved pets to be buried next to his tomb.

The most important thing discovered was attendance work notebook, similar to what is found today at entities. When ancient Egyptian worker arrived, he had to sign the first letter of his name, in front of the workers’ supervisor. The 5000 year-old notebook is the first one in history, in other words, the first one discovered.

According to the discovered graffiti, several royal persons are buried in this place. The graffiti also suggest that there is an important zone, including a huge rock, under which there is a royal tomb, especially that the tombs of some kings, including Amenhotep I, Thutmose II, and Ramses VIII. Tomb of Amenhotep I is believed to be behind Deir El-Bahari Temple and in front of his Funerary Temple, same goes with the tombs of Thutmose II (Hatshepsut’s husband) and Ramses VIII.

Would the Egyptian mission, currently working at the Valley, find one of these tombs?