Conservation around the Millennium (Hungarian National Museum, 2001)

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Archaeological work was started in the grandiose burial shrine, consisting of several rooms, by the TT65 project of the Eötvös Lóránd University, Budapest, headed by T. A. Bács in 1995. The walls, columns and ceilings are covered with wall paintings of high artistic standard. In the spring of 1997 assessment of the condition and photo-technical investigation of the wall paintings were carried out in preparation for future restoration, by Eszter Harsányi and Zsófia Kurovszky.

THE REALM OF THE DEAD

The ruins of the Ramasseum, the burial temple of pharaoh Ramses II, can be seen behind the village of Gurna from the terrace of the burial shrine carved into the rock on the eastern slope of the Sheik Abd el-Gurna hill (fig. 2). The reliefs on the columns and the walls used to stand out in vivid colours. Regrettably, the bright sunshine and the great temperature fluctuation took their toll, and only a few tiny spots of paint evidence how colourful they must have been. The Collossi of Memnon, the huge seated sculptures of Pharaoh Amenhotep III rise farther along the road to Luxor. Tradition holds that they used to greet the dawn with songs in ancient times.3 The path leading to the Valley of the Queens meanders south of the tombs of the nobles, and the path to the Valley of the Kings winds northwards. North of tomb no. 65, the construction complex of the burial temple of Queen Hatshepsut lies at the foot of the steep rock wall under el-Korn (fig. 1). On the other side of the Nile, the pylons of the Karnak temple rise against the sky.

HISTORY OF THE BURIAL PLACE OF THE PRIEST OF KARNAK4

Due to specific weather conditions in Egypt, monuments, wall paintings and sculptures standing in the open have suffered serious damages. The ones that

2. The terrace carved from the hill in front of the rock tomb and the entrance of the tomb

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