Mary Had a Little Ram An Enigmatic 17th Dynasty Deposit in Dra Abu el-Naga

Abstract

The Spanish Mission to Dra Abu el-Naga (Proyecto Djehuty) has been working in the Eighteenth Dynasty Theban Tombs of Djehuty (TT 11) and Hery (TT 12) and their environs since 2002. The excavators uncovered a deposit west of the courtyard of TT 11, consisting of a wrapped ram, a wooden coffin, and a dense deposit of pottery sherds. This is possibly one of the earliest excavated animal burials in the Theban area, and unusual in the fact that it is of a ram. This article focuses on exploring and contextualising this rare find of the late Second Intermediate Period/early New Kingdom.