Overlapping Histories: A Stratigraphical Approach to the Walls of Theban Tomb 123 (Luxor, Egypt)

Abstract

Currently, the walls of the Theban Tomb 123 (Luxor, Egypt) are the result and evidence of diverse histories developed over a span of 3400 years. They encapsulate, as overlapping layers, material and intangible transformations that reveal multiple uses, meanings, and ontologies which converged in the necropolis of Thebes. At this tomb, originally built for a scribe named Amenemhet, a detailed study of the stratigraphic matrix of one of the walls was undertaken. Forty-eight stratigraphic units have been documented and arranged in a Harris matrix through an exhaustive survey of the macroscopic evidence about the historical changes on the wall. The analysis performed reveals the complexity of these spaces and their multiple occupations across thousands of years and sheds light on the unambiguous visions of these places regarded as pristine relics of the pharaonic past.