News of the discovery of the tomb of Thutmosis II by the joint Egyptian-British archaeological mission led by the Supreme Council of Antiquities and the New Kingdom Research Foundation was recently announced (https://mota.gov.eg/ar/الأخبار-2/الكشف-عن-مقبرة-الملك-تحتمس-الثاني-آخر-مقبرة-مفقودة-لملوك-الأسرة-الثامنة-عشر-في-مصر/)
Since 2019, Medjehu’s team has been closely involved in the Western Wadis Mission (MoTA/NKRF/University of Cambridge) to study the wooden furniture discovered in the various necropolises uncovered by the team. The discovery of the tomb of Pharaoh Thutmose II is a major milestone in this collaboration, which has given us the opportunity to study and analyse one of the king’s sticks, inscribed with his name.
Made of Dalbergia melanoxylon—commonly known as Pharaoh’s ebony—this luxurious wood was imported to Egypt from the far south and was widely used in the crafting of high-status objects. The choice of this material and the quality of the inscription engraved on the stick (enhanced with red on the picture here) highlight the skill of the king’s craftsmen.
The discovery of these artefacts opens new avenues for research, and we hope that more wooden objects will soon be uncovered, shedding further light on the craftsmanship and trade networks of this key period in ancient Egyptian history.
If you want to know more about the use of these black woods in Egyptian craftsmanship see :
G. Eschenbrenner Diemer, “Ebony or not ebony? Use and identification of black woods in ancient Egypt. Overview and case study from the Western Wadi archaeological mission (MoTA/New Kingdom Research Foundation/University of Cambridge), Luxor region, Egypt.”, in Bouchaud et al., Proceedings of the 10th The International Workshop for African Archaeobotany (IWAA), Interdisciplinaria Archaeologica – Natural Sciences in Archaeology , forthcoming 2025.
