Bab el-Gasus

Bab el-Gasus ( p. 17: "Daressy’s moniker ‘Tomb of the Priests’ likely finds its origins in the local traditions of Sheikh abd el Gurnah. Indeed, this phrase could be translated directly from the dialectal form of Arabic in use by Gurnawi workmen, resulting in the local designation of the tomb as ‘Bab el-Gasawsa’, which literally means ‘Gate of the Priests’, as Egyptians traditionally see pharaonic tombs as ‘gates’ into the netherworld. This Arabic phrase was probably wrongly interpreted by Herbert Winlock, who recorded it as ‘Bab el-Gasus’, which in fact means ‘Gate of the Spies’. It is perhaps for this reason that the expression was corrected to ‘Bab el-Kusus’, certainly by scholars familiar with the Cairene form of Arabic, and eventually adapting it to the typical Gurnawi pronunciation and spelling with a -g, instead of -k, resulting in the name ‘Bab el-Gusus’."), also known as the Priestly Cache and the Second Cache, was a cache of ancient 21st dynasty (c. 1070–945 BCE) Egyptian mummies found at Deir el-Bahari in 1891. It was excavated by French Egyptologists Eugène Grebaut and Georges Daressy, with Urbain Bouriant and Ahmed Kamal, on the direction of Mohamed Ahmed Abd al‑Rassul, who had also revealed the location of the Royal Cache in 1881. The tomb entrance was located on the flat area just outside the precinct wall in front of the Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut. The find was significant for Egyptology, particularly in respect of religion, mummification, and coffin studies. It is the largest intact tomb ever found in Egypt. Today, the contents of the tomb are spread between 30 museums worldwide.The Most Famous Ancient Egyptian Site You Have Never Heard Of , Egypt Today, 10 Jul 2016: "Yet, in the thirty or so museums abroad where the coffins are to be found"

In 1893, Khedive Abbas II of Egypt presented groups of artefacts from the tomb to 16 countries, as gifts celebrating the Khedive's accession to the throne. As a result of this dispersion, the artefacts have received limited focus by scholars.Review by Marissa Stevens, University of California, Los Angeles of Rogério Sousa, Burial Assemblages from Bab el-Gasus in the Geographical Society of Lisbon. Monumenta Aegyptiaca, 14. Turnhout: Brepols, 2017

It contained 254 richly decorated coffins (101 double sets) giving 153 coffin sets in total, as well as 110 shabti boxes, 77 Osirian wooden statuettes (mostly hollow and containing a papyrus), 8 wooden steles, 2 large wooden statues (Isis and Nephthys), 16 canopic reed baskets, 5 round baskets made of woven reed. The coffins were made almost exclusively with wood from the native fig tree, the Ficus sycomorus.

On the 125th anniversary of the find, the Centro de Estudos Clássicos e Humanísticos of the University of Coimbra launched the "Gate of the Priests" project, with the University of Leiden, the National Museum of Antiquities of Leiden, the Vatican Museums and UCLA, in order to reconstruct the original collection of Bab el-Gasus.

A new display of the Bab el-Gasus artefacts was opened at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo in 2021 following the moving of the Royal Cache.

Although one of the Theban tombs, the tomb never received a serial number.

International donations In 1907 Daressy published a list of the 71 coffins sets that were donated overseas in 1893 by Khedive Abbas: +LotLocationSarcophagi sets (Daressy, 1907)ImageRefCountryMuseumNumberNamesIFranceLouvre, Musée Bargoin, Château de Boulogne-sur-Mer, Musée de Picardie, Musée d'archéologie méditerranéenne5Distribution and current location of the French Lot from the Bab el-Gasus CacheIIAustriaKunsthistorisches Museum5IIITurkeyIstanbul4IVUnited KingdomBritish Museum5VItalyNational Archaeological Museum, Florence (Egyptian Museum)6The Lot V in the Egyptian Museum at Florence Gate of the PriestsVIRussiaVarious, including Irkutsk4The Lot VI of Bab el-Gasus in the light of the new archive documentsVIIGermanyEgyptian Museum of Berlin4VIIIPortugalLisbon Geographic Society4IXSwitzerland Kunstmuseum Appenzell, Musée d'Art et d'Histoire (Geneva), Musée d'ethnographie de Neuchâtel, Bern Historical Museum4The coffins from the Cache-tomb of Bab el Gasus in SwitzerlandXUnited StatesNational Museum of Natural History, National Museum of Anthropology (Mexico) (on loan)4XINetherlandsRijksmuseum van Oudheden4XIIGreeceNational Archaeological Museum, Athens4XIIISpainNational Archaeological Museum (Madrid)4The Lot XIII of Bab el-Gasus in the Museo Arqueológico Nacional in Madrid.XIVSweden and NorwayMedelhavsmuseet (Stockholm), Victoriamuseet för egyptiska fornsaker (Uppsala) and Museum of Cultural History, Oslo4XVBelgiumArt & History Museum, Brussels4XVIDenmarkNational Museum of Denmark4XVIIVaticanVatican Museums (Gregorian Egyptian Museum)2

Anonymous coffins 75 and 126 were sent to the Museum of Alexandria.

Burials Burials in the tomb include the following, amongst others: Children of Menkheperre Children of Pinedjem II Gautseshen Tjanefer

List of objects found A list of the objects found was published by Daressy in 1900:Daressy, 1900, p.144. Also in English at Sousa, Amenta & Cooney 2021 p. 9. 153 coffin sets, of which 101 include two coffins and 52 a single coffin 110 ushebti-boxes 77 wooden statuettes of Osiris, most of them hollowed and holding a papyrus scroll 8 wooden stelae 2 large wooden statuettes of Isis and Nephthys 16 canopic vases 1 mat 10 baskets of reeds 5 round baskets 2 fans 5 pairs of sandals 11 baskets with food (with meat, fruits, etc.) 6 baskets with floral garlands 5 large vases 5 pots 1 box with wooden hands and divine beards ripped from coffins

Gallery Initial discovery

Display at Egyptian Museum, Cairo

References Citations

Sources

Bab el-Gasus

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