Rock Cut Tombs and Recent Discoveries

A Special Archaeology Fundraising Talk with Dr. Alejandro Jiménez-Serrano

All funds raised support the Qubbet el Hawa project at Jaen University.

Join renowned archaeologist Dr. Jiménez-Serrano, (known for his appearances in recent ancient Egypt documentaries), as he unveils the captivating discoveries from the Qubbet el Hawa project in Aswan, Egypt. Since 2008, Dr. Jiménez-Serrano and his team have been meticulously exploring the 4000-year-old rock-cut tombs of the Middle Kingdom nestled in the Western hills of Aswan.

In a remarkable breakthrough in 2019, Dr. Jiménez-Serrano fulfilled every archaeologist's dream by uncovering the untouched tomb of Shemai. This discovery has since revealed astonishing insights into the life of a previously unknown noble who walked the earth 4,000 years ago, alongside an array of intriguing funerary artifacts.

During this engaging lecture, Dr. Jiménez-Serrano will delve into the latest revelations emerging from the necropolis of the Nobles. Highlights include:

• The remarkable intact tomb and mummy of li-Shemai, shedding light on the life of a young Nubian who held a prestigious position at court.
• Insights into the ongoing excavation and restoration efforts, witnessing the beautiful progress made in preserving these ancient rock-cut tombs from the Middle Kingdom.
• What lies ahead: the goals of the current Project and what they are hoping to achieve in current seasons.

Don't miss this captivating opportunity to explore one of Egypt's most exciting archaeological sites and uncover the fascinating discoveries reshaping our understanding of ancient Egyptian history.

Excavation details:

In front of the modern city of Aswan there is a hill known as Qubbet el-Hawa (the Dome of the Wind in Arabic). In that mastaba shape hill, the governors of the southernmost province of Egypt as well as the members of their courts constructed their funerary complexes from 2300 till 1800 BCE. These tombs do not only highlight because of their monumentality, but also because many of them show biographical episodes that permit to us to reconstruct the relationships between Egypt and Eastern Africa.

Since 2008, the University of Jaén (Spain) is excavating some of the most important tombs of this necropolis. The results of this excavations have surprised the scientific community after the discovery of several intact burial chambers, which have been analyzed by a multidisciplinary team of researchers who are using modern methodologies and technologies. Some of this new data has permitted to reconstruct part of the Egyptian history in the southernmost of Egypt.

About Dr. Alejandro Jiménez-Serrano

Alejandro Jiménez-Serrano is professor of Egyptology and Near Eastern Archaeology at the University of Jaen, Spain. Since 2008, he has been the director of archaeological excavations and interdisciplinary research at Qubbet el-Hawa in Aswan. He is co-editor of Middle Kingdom Palace Culture and Its Echoes in the Provinces (2021) and Results of the 2019 Research Season at Qubbet el-Hawa. He is a frequent participant in television documentaries on ancient Egypt.