Week four at Deir el-Ballas brought a mix of behind-the-scenes work, continued site protection, and a few chances to step back and appreciate the broader archaeological landscape around us. As the season moves toward its final stretch, much of our focus has shifted toward documentation, conservation, and preparing the site...
Week 3 of the Deir el-Ballas Expedition brought together active fieldwork, photography, and a major push on documentation and collections. The week began with Wael el-Kady joining the team on site to photograph and film excavation, conservation, and survey work across the monuments. Wael spent time capturing high-quality video footage...
Week 2 of the Deir el-Ballas Expedition saw the project move fully into the rhythm of fieldwork, with teams spread across the site advancing excavation, documentation, conservation, and survey. A major focus this week was the continued establishment of our site grid and permanent fix points, led by Sarah Sowerby...
The 2026 field season at Deir el-Ballas is officially underway! Our first week has been a busy one, focused on reopening the site, coordinating with our Egyptian colleagues, and setting the groundwork—both administrative and archaeological—for the weeks ahead. After completing and signing the necessary paperwork in Cairo and Qena with...
This week was the team’s last week on site and in Luxor. Salima Ikram and Nicholas Brown completed the preliminary study of the animal meat offerings. Additionally, Shymaa Mandour, working from home, began the process of epigraphically recording the workmen’s marks from the tomb. Using photos taken by Nicholas in...
This week the team in the tomb of Thutmose IV (KV43) began their long-anticipated work of sorting through the various mummified meat offerings (“victual mummies”). We were joined by Dr. Salima Ikram of the American University in Cairo, who is a specialist in faunal remains. The team spent time carefully...
