INTRODUCTION

The 2003 autumn season of the Italian Archaeological Mission to Luxor in the tombs of Harwa (TT 37) and Akhimenru (TT 404) started on 1 November, 2003 and ended on 22 January, 2004. The activities were suspended from 26 November to 6 December, 2003 for the celebrations of the Ayd.

The season was mainly devoted to the continuation of excavations in the courtyard of the tomb of Harwa, which had been partially excavated during the 1999 and 2001 seasons. Conservation work was carried out on the remains of the pillars of the Northern and Southern porticos, which had been brought to light during excavations.

Re-examination and the creation of a digital inventory of the small finds collected during the past excavation seasons continued and is now almost complete.

Epigraphic works aiming to the identify the wall decoration were continued in the first pillared hall. They focussed mainly on continuing the reconstruction of the door-frames of the southern secondary rooms, begun last season. Knowledge of the scenes carved on the architraves was greatly improved.
 

The members of the team were: Francesco Tiradritti (Director and Egyptologist), Silvia Einaudi (Deputy-director and Egyptologist), Giacomo Maria Tiradritti (Director of logistics and administrator), Lorelei Corcoran (Egyptologist), Maria Beatrice Galgano (Egyptologist), Federica Raverta (Egyptologist), Elham Salah ed-Din (Egyptologist), Heba Sami Mohammed (Egyptologist), Miguel Angel Molinero Polo (Egyptologist), Christopher Hugh Naunton (Egyptologist), Mustafa Mohammed el-Sughair (Egyptologist), Maryam Fahmi Ayad (Egyptologist), Sophie Duberson (Conservator), Abeer Helmy (Conservator), Silvia Bertolini (Architect),  Diethelm Eigner (Architect), Carlos Alberto De La Fuente (Photographer), Franco Lovera (Photographer) and Enrico Vincenti (Engineer). The archaeological and epigraphic activities saw the participation of the following students: Tina Britovšek, Eva Butina, Matija Cresnar, Maya Jerala, Metka Osredkar, Daša Pavlovic, Jana Puhar and Vesna Tratnik of the University of Ljubljana (Slovenia) and Laura Deneke and Jacob Shock of the University of Memphis, Tennessee.
 

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