Choosing the Location of a ‘House for Eternity’. A Survey on the Relationship between the Rank of the Hatshepsut’s Officials and the Location of their Burials in the Theban Necropolis

Abstract

This survey aims to determine if a link exists between features of the Theban landscape and where the Egyptian elite chose to build their houses of eternity within the context of the early Eighteenth Dynasty. It is hoped that through GIS-generated tomb location maps, the analysis of their owners’ status and reflection on the landscape’s topography, this study will be able to approximate a relationship between the ranking of Hatshepsut’s officials and the location of their tombs in the necropolis of Western Thebes. This is driven by the current limits in our understanding of the inner hierarchy among officials as well as the tomb site selection process and, therefore, the necessity of expanding such limits.