Lost Tombs

First published in 1988. The Theban private tombs form a major source for our knowledge of Egyptian society. Ostensibly a great amount of work has been done in the necropolis over the past one hundred and sixty years of its modern history, and the bibliography for this area is among the most extensive in Egyptology. Many of the 415 or so decorated tombs have received a full publication, but for a great number only selected scenes have been made available, and a surprising amount remains to all intents and purposes unpublished. The present study is concerned with a number of painted tombs of the Eighteenth dynasty which were visited by the early travellers, but the exact location of which is now unknown. The careful drawings and tracings made by these pioneers are apparently all that remains to show the appearance of these tombs. Some of the scenes represented are not found elsewhere in the necropolis, and others have special points of interest or unique details, linguistic, iconographic and religious, to offer. This very important material has not previously been used by scholars, and it has not been recognized that fragments of some of these vanished tombs can actually be traced to collections in museums and elsewhere.