Let’s Discuss, W. B. Emery and Chris Naunton’s ‘Searching for the Lost Tombs of Egypt’.

 

I recently read Chris Naunton’s ‘Searching for the Lost Tombs of Egypt’, and I must admit that I could not put it down. I hate to admit it but I tend to struggle reading historical fiction, part of me thinks it was down to my four years at university just ‘skim’ reading, training myself to pick out certain parts of the text focusing on my assignments, so this was a pleasant surprise.

I found the book to be clear and concise whilst considering opinions from other historians. I must also comment on the images used in the book, which are visually stunning and allow the reader to visualise certain artefacts mentioned throughout each chapter. As I delve deeper into my ancient Egypt interest, the chapters based around Imhotep, Amenhotep I, Tutankhamun (of course), Cleopatra, and Alexander the Great were informative. I was able to learn a lot more about the Greek involvement in Egypt, which I did not know a lot about. I also liked how at the end of the book there is a timeline of the Pharoah’s and their dynasty’s as it can get quite confusing.

In this post, I want to focus on the role of W. B Emery and his dedication to finding the tomb of Imhotep. As previously noted, I am delving deeper into my interest in ancient Egypt however, I have not come across the work of Emery before. Naunton’s book made me aware of many other archaeologists who dedicated their lives to finding and preserving the lives of many ancient Egyptians, and I thank him for this. Howard Carter has become the prominent figure in the world of Ancient Egyptian discoveries (rightly so), but I do find myself wanting to learn more about the other figures who were also prominent.

            Walter Bryan Emery, born in 1902 and died in 1971, was a British Egyptologist who served in the British army during WWII. According to Naunton, Emery dedicated the last years of his life trying to discover the remains of Imhotep, ‘focusing his efforts at North Saqqara, close to the Step Pyramid’. Imhotep, also known as the ‘non-Pharaoh’ was the chief architect to Pharaoh Djoser. He was responsible for the Step Pyramid in Saqqara, thus, why Emery’s attempts were focused there. Naunton highlights that ‘the Step Pyramid was a revolutionary leap forward in architecture and building’ and inspired future builds. According to Naunton, Emery thought that he was close to discovering Imhotep due to the nature of his closeness to the Ibis and baboon. Later seasons (1966-67 and 1968) of excavations saw the discoveries of Saite-Ptolemaic pottery and two 3^rd dynasty mastabas (a ‘superstructure’ built of mud brick with a burial chamber buried deep under the structure).

The discovery of tomb 3510 was coined as ‘real Indiana Jones stuff’ by Naunton due to the nature of the finds, including ‘mummies of ibis’. The ibis bird was considered to be sacred in Ancient Egypt, they were worshipped as ‘Thoth’ which supposedly preserved Egypt from plagues and serpents. Thoth, or ‘Djehuty’ meaning ‘he who is like the ibis’ helped funerary deities. He was responsible for the verdict of the ‘heart-weighing ceremony’ which determined whether an individual was able to pass onto the Afterlife. If the heart was heavier than Ma’at’s Feather of Truth, then they passed.   Ma’at was the ‘goddess of truth, justice, balance, and most importantly – order’. The objects from the tomb were examined carefully, the mastaba 'offers the unusual opportunity to study a group of mummies from a discrete ancient Egyptian context', here you can find an interesting article based on the tomb and its findings. The article also stated that Emery was 'disinterested in the finds', as his priority was to find the remains of Imhotep. 

    If you get the chance to read Naunton’s book, please do. The efforts of Emery must be remembered and celebrated. I also recommend ‘Lost Treasures of Egypt’ on Nat Geo, the programme follows a series of archaeologists/Egyptologists as they uncover burial chambers whilst excavating in the unbearable heat. The programme features individuals who are clearly passionate about their subjects, and it’s an experience altogether to see what they have discovered, from potential temples, to crocodile pits close to the Nile, and even potentially Cleopatra’s tomb. The destruction that tomb raiders caused to these tombs and even mummified remains is heartbreaking, and the preservation of these bodies and their treasures is the step in the right direction. 

 Bibliography:

Atherton-Woolham, S., McKnight, L., Price, C., & Adams, J. (2019). Imagining the gods: Animal mummies form Tomb 3508, North Saqqara, Egypt. Antiquity, 93(367), 128-143. (Article linked here)

'Ma'at', https://egyptianmuseum.org/deities-Maat

Naunton, Chris. Searching For The Lost Tombs of Egypt. London, 2018. 

'Thoth', https://egyptianmuseum.org/deities-thoth#:~:text=Thoth%20was%20the%20god%20of,ibis%20bird%20or%20a%20baboon