The western bank of the Dry Moat continued to be the main target of investigations in the 2017 field season, uncovering another section of the Upper Necropolis in front of Chapel 13 and exploring the burial chamber of Chapel 32 situated below that of Ikhi/Mery. The latter work resulted in the discovery of an intact burial of an anonymous Fifth Dynasty official. Conservation work remained an important part of the program.
After having finished the excavation in a zone located west of the Step Pyramid and spanning the area between the pyramid enclosure wall and the eastern border of the Dry Moat, the Polish–Egyptian mission started a new project aiming at a complex investigation of the Dry Moat. A geophysical survey of the area and excavations during these two campaigns focused on the east and west rock-hewn walls of the Moat, thus completing earlier research done in this part of the excavation field. A further part of the Upper Necropolis, containing simple burials from the Ptolemaic period, was unearthed and the exploration of the tomb inscribed for Ikhi/Mery and his namesake son was continued. Clearing the facade of the latter led to the discovery of another funerary structure cut in the rock below the general’s tomb. The floor of the upper tomb turned out to be the ceiling of the lower one. Preparations for the exploration of the new structure were made in 2014.
Fieldwork of the Polish–Egyptian Mission to Saqqara in the 2020 season continued on the eastern bank of the Dry Moat, resulting in the discovery of a rock-cut structure directly south of Corridor 1. Fieldwork also included exploration of a rock-cut chapel adjacent to the tomb of Merefnebef, part of the Sixth Dynasty funerary complex located south of the tomb. Both areas yielded new burials belonging to the so-called Upper Necropolis, which overlies the remains of late Old Kingdom funerary structures. Conservation work constituted an important part of the 2020 fieldwork program.
The paper presents the exploration of the eastern bank of the Dry Moat by a team from the University of Warsaw, extending further south from the section unearthed in 2001. The team also uncovered a previously unknown Old Kingdom funerary complex in the area south of the tomb of Merefnebef. Burials of the Upper Necropolis were found in both sectors. Field conservation, an important part of the program, is discussed in the appendix.
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