Egyptologist Patrizia Piacentini: "Our Work is a Great Scientific and Human Adventure"

Egypt never ceases to amaze archaeologists. Besides Giza and Luxor, as it turns out, there are many more interesting places in this country, real portals to the distant past. One of them is located in the western part of Aswan, on a hill next to the Mausoleum of Aga Khan. Scientists have found a huge necropolis here, and it is very interestingly arranged in the form of a kind of terrace. On an area of 100,000 square meters, archaeologists have identified almost 500 tombs and hundreds of mummified bodies dating from the 6th century BC to the 3rd century AD. There are rock tombs, and there are underground ones. They contain mummified bodies, not only of ancient Egyptians, but also representatives of other ethnic groups, including Persians, Greeks, Romans, and even natives of Equatorial Africa. The head of the scientific mission, which includes Italian and Egyptian researchers, is one of the leading European Egyptologists, Patrizia PIACENTINI. It was to her that the Egyptian authorities entrusted the excavations in such a sensitive place. There is so much material and it is so informative that researchers get a rich understanding of everyday life, diet, social hierarchy, even diseases of people who lived several thousand years ago. This year, the Italian-Egyptian project has unconditionally won the geographical National Crystal Compass Award in the «Scientific Achievement» category.

— Mrs. Piacentini, conducting excavations in Egypt, especially making discoveries, is probably the dream of any archaeologist. What do you feel while doing this work?

— I believe that everyone, at least once in their life, has dreamed of becoming an archaeologist—especially of making discoveries in Egypt—because I think it represents the archetype of discovery: studying a civilization capable of great advancements and artistic creations is a way of understanding ourselves. Emotions are certainly a powerful driving force during an excavation; each unearthed fragment helps to reveal a part of the history of this fascinating country, so deeply connected to Mediterranean culture as a whole.

 — What conclusions and discoveries were made as a result of the research conducted in Aswan? What gaps did they fill, what logical chains did they connect?

 — We have come to understand that in the portion of the necropolis we are investigating, a highly diverse population is emerging — in terms of origin, age, and social status — which lived in this borderland between the Persian period (5th century BCE) and the early Roman period (2nd century CE), with a particular concentration during the Ptolemaic-Roman period (3rd century BCE to 2nd century CE). We have 'met’ a military commander and a young man 'devoted to Isis, ’ women who died before marriage and were buried with their apotropaic (warding off evil) statuettes of Isis-Aphrodite, entire families buried close together, with children laid between their parents or siblings placed one atop the other, victims of epidemics such as tuberculosis. We have been able to observe that regardless of whether they were of Egyptian, Asian, Greek, or Roman origin, they were all captivated by the Egyptian religion’s promise of eternity and chose to be mummified and buried with the typical objects of Egyptian funerary tradition.

— What was interesting about ancient Aswan?

— Aswan (Syene in ancient times) was, for over a millennium, a big city, a river port, and a commercial hub. It was located at a strategic point from which began the trade routes crossing the desert to Nubia (present-day Sudan), the oases of the Western Desert, and, through the Eastern Desert, the Red Sea. And from here the boats navigated up the Nile to bring to the North the products coming from Subtropical Africa or the blocks of limestone and granite excavated in the quarries around the city of Aswan.

— By the way, these Aswan blocks were used, among other things, to build the famous Egyptian pyramids. Is it possible to draw parallels between the necropolises found in Aswan and the famous pharaoh burials in Giza?

— Not quite. The almost 500 tombs we discovered are located in Aswan, near the southern border of Egypt, more than 800 km away from Giza. In addition, the famous pyramids and tombs of Giza date back to almost 5000 years ago, while our necropolis in Aswan covers the last centuries of the history of Pharaonic and Graeco-Roman Egypt, around 2500–2000 years ago. But the inscriptions and decorations of the objects we discovered resemble the typical «Egyptian style» of the most ancient times. This is due to the apparent continuity of Egyptian art and language.

— Please tell us about the most interesting discoveries you’ve made during the work of your scientific mission.

— What surprised you as an experienced archeologist about the Aswan burials? 

— Surprise often comes from simple facts connected to the human experience—for example, recognizing our own sensitivity toward family bonds, as evidenced by numerous signs of parental love. These can be seen in the carefully arranged burials of children, who were often entrusted to the protection of an adult laid to rest beside them.

— Very young people frequently ask the question that may seem frivolous: aren’t you afraid to open ancient graves? 

— This is a question that every Egyptologist has to face many times during their career, and I would divide the answer into two parts. As for concerns related to safety, it is good practice, when a tomb is discovered, not to enter it immediately but to wait until the following day. This allows for air circulation and gives any desert dwellers—such as scorpions or snakes like the horned viper—time to leave. When we do encounter them, we handle the situation safely thanks to the precautions we take. While working, we always use the necessary safety equipment: high boots, gloves, masks, and protective helmets. 

The second part of the question stems from the emphasis placed by sensationalist journalism, entertainment literature, and film. It’s true that some tombs contain inscriptions warning those who might disturb the sleep of the deceased, but an archaeologist is a scholar—not a superstitious person!

— Tell us a little about your team. 

— I founded the Egyptian-Italian Mission at West Aswan (EIMAWA) in 2017. It was important to create is a highly qualified interdisciplinary team to investigate all the aspects of the necropolis and try to understand by whom, how, and when it was used, and how people who were buried there lived and died. The team includes Italian and Egyptian Egyptologists and archaeologists, topographers, engineers and geomatics experts (collecting, modelling, analyzing and managing data that have spatial reference), forensic anthropologists and radiologists, paleopathologists, paleobotanists, geologists, chemists, and data scientists. My role is to coordinate them, and then to put together their results in such different research areas, aiming at reconstructing some aspects of the history of the inhabitants of Aswan over almost one millennium.

In addition, some PhD students and young archaeologists take part in the mission. But all of us, senior and junior researchers, learn from each other every single day! It is a great scientific and human adventure.

— Can we assume that the multi-year project has been completed? What are its prospects?

— The first part of the project is completed, since we have well established the methodology and got major results in examining the people who lived in Aswan, and moved around along the desert and the river. But we will go on, if we continue to have the support of the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities. This can be excavating new tombs, anthropological and other scientific research.

Aivar Valeev