Mini Episode.
In 1906 CE, a tomb came to light in the hills west of Luxor. On February 15, archaeologists Ernesto Schiaperelli and Arthur Weigall uncovered and opened the hidden burial of Kha and Merit. These middle-class Egyptians, who lived c.1450-1390 BCE, had gone to their afterlife in a well-furnished sepulchre full of items they would need in the next life.
Remarkably, this burial was sealed, intact, since the day it was first closed. Schiaperelli and Weigall stumbled on one of the greatest finds of the day – an undamaged, perfectly preserved burial from the ancient world (a feat not replicated since)….
- Dates: c.1450 BCE and 1906 CE.
- Figures: Kha and Meryt
- Tomb: Theban Tomb 8 (TT8). Wikipedia.
- Pictures: Images of Kha and Meryt are available on Flickr.com. See a gallery of treasures by Hans Ollermann, and HEN-Magonza, including the gilded coffins of Kha and Meryt.
Listen
Objects from Kha and Merit’s Tomb.
Bibliography
Rafaella Bianucci (et al.), “Shedding New Light on the 18th Dynasty Mummies of the Royal Architect Kha and His Spouse Merit,” PLOS ONE 10. Online.
Peter Lacovara, The World of Ancient Egypt: A Daily Life Encyclopedia, 2016. Online.
Lynn Meskell, “Intimate Archaeologies: The Case of Kha and Merit,” World Archaeology 29 (1998). Online.
Charles Nicholas Reeves, ““Arthur Weigall and the Tomb of Yuya and Tjuyu,” (2013) Academia.edu.
Eleni Vassilika, The Tomb of Kha, 2010.
Website: Deir el Medina online.