The excavations in the Petosiris Necropolis of Tuna el-Gebel continued in autumn 2022.

Figure: Excavation of GB 79

Excavation

This season, the excavations focused on two areas:

• The tomb building GB 79 was finally completely uncovered (the front court had already been excavated in 2021) and
• single tombs near the street leading to the tomb of Petosiris were excavated.

Figure: Single tombs near the street leading to the tomb of Petosiris

GB 79

GB 79 turned out to be a tomb building of Roman times with wall paintings and a comprehensive group of objects and burials. It is the first time at Tuna el-Gebel that a painted tomb was documented with its entire context!

The tomb was probably built in the 1^st half of the 1^st century CE and up to the 1^st half of the 3^rd century CE continued to be used.

Figure: GB 79 from north

Two rooms contained colorful Egyptian-style wall paintings with Roman influences.

In the first room a procession is shown on either side of a doorway, each with three individuals: Osiris, Sobek (?), and a woman (owner of the tomb?) to the right and Anubis, Thoth (?), and a woman (owner of the tomb?) to the left.

Figure: GB 79, first room, wall paintings: processions

In the second room, within the broad passage to the next room, Hapi with a bull to the left and Thoth to the right were represented.

Figure: GB 79, second room, wall paintings in the broad opening: Hapi with bull and Thot

In addition, several burials and numerous finds in this tomb were documented, which will be analyzed in the next campaign.

Figure: GB 79, some of the pottery found inside the tomb building

Geophysical survey

Furthermore, the geophysical survey in the eastern and southern sector of the necropolis was continued.

Figure: Geophysical survey conducted with ground-penetrating-radar-measurements