Abydos Archaeological Project

The Penn Museum’s excavations at Abydos began in 1967 and continue today. Abydos was one of the most important religious centers of ancient Egyptian civilization, home to the tombs of Egypt’s first pharaohs (c. 3000–2800 BCE), and the cult site dedicated to the worship of Osiris (king of the afterlife and god of the netherworld). The Penn Museum has been excavating the mortuary complex of pharaoh Senwosret III (reigned c. 1880–1850 BCE) since 1994. This 800-foot-long underground tomb at the foot of the desert cliffs was the first hidden royal tomb, marking a transition from the earlier pyramids. Excavations and research on the tomb, the mortuary temple, and the surrounding town continue to provide considerable evidence on society and culture during Egypt’s Middle Kingdom (c. 2050–1650 BCE)

The site of Abydos, in southern Egypt, was one of the most important religious centers of Egyptian civilization. Abydos was the location of the tombs of Egypt's first pharaohs (ca. 3000-2800 BCE). Through the rest of Egyptian history, Abydos served as the main religious center dedicated to the worship of Osiris, god of the afterlife. In an area today called "South Abydos" are remains of a tomb complex built during Egypt's Middle Kingdom by the 12th Dynasty king Khakaure-Senwosret (also called Sesostris III), who reigned ca. 1880-1850 BCE. Making use of the desert landscape, royal architects built an underground tomb for the pharaoh at the foot of the desert cliffs. Associated with this tomb was a mortuary temple and a town site, both built to maintain the afterlife cult of pharaoh Senwosret III. Anciently named Enduring-are-the-Places-of-Khakaure-true-of-voice-in-Abydos, the ruins of this expansive site offer considerable evidence on society and culture during Egypt's Middle Kingdom.

The Penn Museum has a long and special relationship with Abydos. In 1967, David O’Connor, then Curator of the Museum’s Egyptian Section, initiated the Pennsylvania-Yale Expedition to Abydos. A significant set of artifacts from the Museum’s work at North Abydos came to Philadelphia in the late 1960s, representing some of the last Egyptian material to enter the collection. Some 3,000 artifacts from Abydos are included in the Egyptian Section’s overall collection of more than 45,000 artifacts. Since 1994, the Penn Museum's Egyptian Section has been excavating at the mortuary complex of pharaoh Senwosret III at Abydos.

Tomb of Senwosret III at Anubis-Mountain

First discovered in 1902, the tomb of Senwosret III is one of the largest royal tombs ever built in ancient Egypt, though perhaps one of the least well understood. The 800-foot long, underground structure was once thought to be a cenotaph (symbolic tomb). Excavations between 2008 and 2014 produced considerable archaeological evidence that the tomb was used for the burial of the king. The tomb is particularly significant as a transitional form between the earlier tradition of royal pyramids and the hidden-tomb form that is well known from the Valley of the Kings. The tomb's location makes use of a prominent peak in the cliffs which ancient texts designate to be "Anubis-Mountain." Excavation and analysis of this tomb has expanded our understanding of changing concepts of the royal afterlife and how these ideas were expressed in new architectural forms.

The Mortuary Temple Nefer-Ka

The temple dedicated to the cult of pharaoh Senwosret III has been under excavation and analysis since 1994. The temple, anciently named Beautiful-is-the-Ka, was the religious and institutional focus of the Middle Kingdom community at South Abydos. The archaeological deposits around the environs of the temple offer considerable evidence on the administrative and economic systems of maintaining and operating a large royal temple during Egypt's Middle Kingdom. The ongoing work around the mortuary temple is helping to understand address the structure of ancient systems of administration and economy and how these evolved over time.

The Town Site of Wah-Sut

Established at the same time as the tomb and mortuary temple is one of the best-preserved urban sites known for Egypt's Middle Kingdom: a town anciently named Wah-Sut. A planned settlement built by royal architects, this site preserves remains of houses and domestic structures spanning some 200 years from ca. 1850-1650 BCE. Between 1994 and 2015, the project excavated a palatial-scaled (150 x 250 foot) residence which belonged to a series of sequential mayors of Wah-Sut, elucidating the nature of society at South Abydos in the Middle Kingdom. Areas adjacent to the mayoral palace revealed smaller-scale houses arranged in regular city blocks, suggesting a substantial, state-planned urban center. Urban archaeology at South Abydos helps to understand the nature of this ancient community that maintained the cult of a long-dead pharaoh over several centuries. Recent fieldwork seasons have sought to exhaustively excavate and document the preserved areas of the town and contextualize it within the environment at the edge of the Nile floodplain, particularly the areas where the town and agricultural land met.

Seneb Kay- 2014

Though archaeologists have been working at Abydos for over a century, during the 2013-2014 field season the Penn Museum team discovered the tomb of a previously-unknown pharaoh, king Woseribre-Senebkay (ca. 1650 BCE), as well as an entire dynasty dating to Egypt’s Second Intermediate Period. These discoveries bring the Abydos Mortuary Complex, initiated by Senwosret III, into sharper focus. Though the tomb had been robbed in ancient times, leaving few funerary goods, the sarcophagus and pharaoh himself were intact, allowing for bioarchaeological analyses. Senebkay appears to have died at the age of 35-40 from multiple battle wounds; cutting blows concentrated on his lower back, feet and ankles suggest he was attacked from below, perhaps while on horseback, and was struck on several times on the head with an axe after he fell to the ground.