The Swedish Mission at Gebel el-Silsila was
honoured by a two-day visit of the Swedish Ambassador to Egypt, H.E. Jan
Thesleff, and second Secretary Mr. Ahmed Ismail this last week. They arrived in
the midst of this year’s worst sandstorm, but nevertheless shared a great meal
with the team and visited some of the monuments of the West Bank.
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| greeting on the boat during the storm, little Jonathan had the great honor to meet H.E. our ambassador |
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| Bio-archaeologist Poppy shows H.E. Ambassador Thesleff and Secretary Ahmed some of the osteological finds |
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| PhD scholar Moamen Saad introduces the speos |
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| in the midst of the storm! |
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| Chef Abdalla presented a great lunch to share while the storm was raging |
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Moamen Saad talks about the reliefs of the speos
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| end of day one, group photo as the storm calms |
Returning to a calmer, sunlit site the
following day, H.E. Ambassador Thesleff and Mr. Ahmed Ismail were accompanied
by Mr. Abdel Moniem, General Director of Aswan and Nubia, Mr. Khaled Shawky,
Director of Abu Simbel, Mr. Mostafa Badawi, representative for the Kom Ombo
Inspectorate, Mr. Mohamed Ibrahim, Inspector of Gebel el-Silsila, and Mdm Zienab,
representing the Kom Ombo Museum.
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| Mr. Abdel Moniem greets H.E. Ambassador Thesleff |
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| arriving to the cemetery |
The team was incredibly honoured to show the
most recent discoveries in the 18th Dynasty cemetery, which marked
the start of a lovely walk through the marvellous landscape of Gebel
el-Silsila. Walking eastwards, there were glimpses of a unique Epipalaeolithic
Rock Art panel and some bushy tailed giraffes characteristic for the
Predynastic period, below which is a quarry (Q7) belonging to the period of
Amenhotep III-IV, crowned by the famous stele of Amenhotep IV presenting
offerings to Amun-Re.
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| Mr. Abdel Moniem explains the site to H.E. Ambassador Thesleff |
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| look carefully and you will find the predynastic giraffes! |
The walk continued into the subterranean
galleries of the same period, leading to another site of new discoveries this
season: the “Fallen Monuments’ Quarry” (Q15). For those interested, the discoveries
will be released soon, and the start of the excavations was filmed by a UK
production company earlier this year to be aired during the spring!
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| outside the galleries of Amenhotep III-IV |
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| Silsila beetles? |
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| photographer Bob photographing photographer Moamen |
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| inside the gallery |
The group returned to the cemetery, and
H.E. Ambassador Thesleff was shown the waterlogged tomb that reached the news
recently. Meanwhile Chef Abdalla John had prepared a fabulous lunch, which
everyone shared on site. It was a great honour for the international mission to
personally introduce each one of our fabulous Egyptian workers, without whom
none of the work on site would be possible. Sharing lunch together, side by
side, was a great reminder of how close this great Silsila family is!
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Group image, although excluding key figures such as chef Abdalla,
reis Ahmed, photographer Bob, bio-archaeologist Poppy... |
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| Fine dining on site! |
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| John showing the waterlogged shaft-tomb |
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| H.E. Ambassador Thesleff greeting Hamoudi, one of our great workers! |
As a final stop before ending this great
visit, PhD scholar Moamen Saad shared his latest research of the magnificent
Nile stelae and chapels, which after this season’s excavations have revealed
more information and architectural elements (once destroyed or buried during an
ancient earthquake!).
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| walking down the new steps made this season |
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| Similar to H.E. Ambassador Charlotta Sparre, who stood on these steps during her visit to Gebel el-Silsila two years ago, H.E. Ambassador Jan Thesleff paid his respect to the site as he climbed the royal staircase of Ramses II! |
The team would like to express its deepest
gratitude to H.E. Ambassador Thesleff and Mr. Ahmed Ismail, as well as all the
representatives from the Egyptian Antiquity Ministry, for honouring us with
their visit, making a great contribution towards strengthening the ties between
Sweden and Egypt. On behalf of all the people represented in the images, we
would also like to express our thankfulness towards our awesome photographers,
without whom we would not be able to share these glimpses. Thank you Mr. Robert
Mittelstaedt (our chief photographer), Mr. Ahmed Monsour (Reis), PhD scholar
Moamen Saad, and archaeologist Trisha Coletto! An extra thank you dear Abdalla
Ali/John for presenting two great dinners for us to share!
