The Macquarie Theban Tombs Project: 20 years in Dra Abu el Naga

The UNESCO World Heritage List acknowledges the historical significance of the vast region of ancient Thebes, in Upper Egypt c. 700 km south of the modern capital Cairo (fig. 1),1 located on both shores of the Nile and encompassing the large temple complexes of Luxor and Karnak on the east and the most extensive known ancient necropolis on the west bank. As one of many international archaeological missions, a team from Macquarie University led by Boyo Ockinga has been conducting annual fieldwork seasons on the Theban West Bank over a period of over 20 years, since the early 1990s? In this time, the Macquarie team of Egyptologists, various specialists, students and volunteers have excavated and recorded three tomb complexes dated to the New Kingdom and commenced work on a fourth in the northern part of the necropolis, in the area called Dra Abu el Naga North.