In New Discoveries in Drabu el Naga, Dr. Hawass brings us up to date with his excavations at this promising site on the West Bank of the Nile, close to Luxor and directly across from Karnak. There are about 80 numbered tombs at Drabu el Naga, some of which are royal tombs dating from the Seventeenth Dynasty, with other New Kingdom tombs belonging to Theban priests and privileged court officials.
In New Discoveries in Drabu el Naga, Dr. Hawass brings us up to date with his excavations at this promising site on the West Bank of the Nile, close to Luxor and directly across from Karnak. There are about 80 numbered tombs at Dra Abu el-Naga, some of which are royal tombs dating from the Seventeenth Dynasty, with other New Kingdom tombs belonging to Theban priests and privileged court officials.
Nakht was a sem-priest, which is why he had leopard skin painted on the lid of his coffin. The heiroglyphs on the coffin make sure he receives a good burial and magical offerings of food and drink from Anubis. They also give him protection from the gods Isis, Nephthys and the four sons of Horus. The sides of the coffin were painted to look like the walls of a palace, a house for him to live in forever, and the eyes let him see his offerings and watch the sunrise.
During the mummification process, the internal organs would be removed from the body and stored inside the canopic chest, which would be placed in a canopic shrine close to the tomb. The ancient Egyptians believed that the deceased spirit may want to return to the body, so it was important to preserve it. For some burials, this meant an elaborate mummification process that took several days.
