14 december 2026 | In Search of the Priestess of Hathor, Amunet

Project Amunet aims to reunite the objects that comprise the intact Eleventh Dynasty burial assemblage of Amunet, a priestess of Hathor who lived during the reign of king Mentuhotep Nebhepetre. Her tomb was excavated by Eugène Grébaut, then Director of the Egyptian Antiquities Service, at Deir el-Bahari in 1891, but its location has since been lost. Drawing on both published and unpublished sources—including newspaper reports, eyewitness accounts, personal letters, journal articles, and museum catalogues—the project re-examined the circumstances of the discovery and reconstructed an inventory of the tomb’s contents.

 In 2025, Project Amunet undertook its first season of artefact research, generously funded by the Egypt Exploration Society (EES). For the first time in 134 years, Angela Tooley and Maarten Praet examined Amunet’s surviving burial equipment across the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization, and the Grand Egyptian Museum. The objects were studied visually, while Amunet’s body and jewelry was analysed through CT scanning, a non-invasive technology. This research provided an opportunity not only to reassess the archival record against the surviving objects, but also to start considering Amunet’s burial equipment within the context of mid-Eleventh Dynasty burial practices.

This lecture will present the findings of the Project’s research until now, highlighting new evidence and questions concerning Amunet’s burial assemblage, its dispersal and history, and, in particular, her role within the royal court of Nebhepetre Mentuhotep.

Angela Tooley received her PhD from the University of Liverpool on the subject of ancient Egyptian tomb models, going on to author the Shire Egyptology book Ancient Egyptian Models and Scenes. She has a fascination with Middle Kingdom material culture and is author of several papers on Middle Kingdom female figurines.

Maarten Praet is a Ph.D. candidate in Egyptian Art and Archaeology at Johns Hopkins University. He previously earned three MA degrees—in ancient history, archaeology, and Egyptology—from KU Leuven. Maarten has conducted archaeological fieldwork across Egypt and Belgium, and currently directs the Mentuhotep Temple Project, which aims to document and conserve Mentuhotep Nebhepetra’s temple at Deir el-Bahari for future generations. He also has experience working in museums including the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and the Johns Hopkins Archaeological Museum. His dissertation reexamines the political aspects of the reign of Mentuhotep Nebhepetra.