Digging Through the Archives: The Location of the Tomb of Mentuhotep ‘Buau’ Re-established

During excavations at Hatshepsut’s funerary complex in Deir el-Bahari for the Egypt Exploration Fund (EEF), Édouard Naville uncovered thirteen 11 th Dynasty tombs south of the Hathor shrine. One tomb, still containing most of its original burial equipment, belonged to a man named Mentuhotep ‘Buau’, though its precise location was later lost. New evidence from Naville’s excavation journal (1893–1896) now allows the tomb’s exact position in the north triangular court of Mentuhotep II’s complex to be securely identified. The journal also reveals the existence of four other tombs in the area, previously forgotten.