ASWAN, EGYPT—Ahram Online reports that a six-foot-tall wall has been found near the rock-cut tombs of Qubbet Al-Hawa by a team of archaeologists from the University of Birmingham, the Egypt Exploration Society, and the Qubbet Al-Hawa Research Project (QHRP). The wall is thought to support Old Kingdom tombs located on the upper terrace of the cemetery. “This find is likely to change our understanding of the ancient funerary landscape of Qubbet Al-Hawa,” said project codirector Essam Nagy. Pottery fragments in the wall date to the reign of King Pepi II of the Sixth Dynasty (2278–2184 B.C.), as well as the First Intermediate Period and the Middle Kingdom. This indicates "the expansion of the cemetery during the latter parts of both periods,” explained Eman Khalifa of the QHRP. Last month, the group announced the discovery of Sarenput I’s funerary causeway at the site. Sarenput I was governor of the area at the beginning of the Middle Kingdom. General director of Aswan and Nubia Antiquities Nasr Salama thinks that additional tombs will soon be discovered at the site. For more, go to “A Pharaoh’s Last Fleet.”
