The Theban Necropolis, located across the Nile from Luxor, contains over 400 tombs. In a new study published in the journal Frontiers in Environmental Archaeology, Spanish researchers closely examined the third chamber inside tomb TT 209 to understand how the burial space evolved over time.
The tomb was built during the Twenty-Fifth Dynasty (754–656 BCE) and remained in use until the Ptolemaic period (305–30 BCE), when it was finally abandoned. By studying the arrangement of human remains and funerary objects, the researchers reconstructed how generations of people repeatedly adapted the chamber for new burials.
“We found a total of 16 mummified individuals, a mummified dog, and a disturbed deposit containing the remains of at least four people,” said lead author Dr. Jared Carballo-Pérez, a researcher at the University of La Laguna. “A detailed study of the bodies indicates neither a chaotic accumulation nor a loss of the original ritual over time. Rather, there was a spatial logic in which each new deposit was adapted to the presence of earlier bodies—a kind of funerary memory within the processes of reuse.”
Senior author Dr. Miguel Ángel Molinero Polo, a professor of Egyptology at the University of La Laguna, added: “We have little information about the behavior of the people who entered the tombs, their motivations during each historical period, and how they conceptually reconfigured the pre-existing space.” How the Egyptian tomb changed over time
To better understand how bodies were placed and how the burial chamber evolved, researchers excavated the space, photographed the mummies, and created detailed sketches and descriptions. They recorded the location and orientation of each body, as well as its relationship to the chamber’s architectural features. The team identified nine burial deposits within the chamber. These included both individual and multiple burials, along with objects associated with the deceased. The earliest burials were generally spaced apart, with bodies placed in coffins.
“The earliest individuals buried here appear to have held high social status, as they were interred in coffins with funerary nets and amulets, accompanied by a range of costly items—such as the contents of Phoenician amphorae, large numbers of which were found nearby,” said Molinero Polo.
Over time, burial practices began to shift. By the end of the 25th Dynasty and into the Persian period (circa 680–404 BCE), new bodies were placed wherever unused space remained. Consequently, the chamber became much more densely packed. Researchers also observed changes in the positioning of certain bodies; while arms were typically extended in earlier burials, some later individuals had an arm folded across the chest.
Another major shift occurred during the Persian period. Rather than relying primarily on separate individual interments, people increasingly positioned bodies vertically. Bodies stacked one atop another were found in two-thirds of the chamber’s burial deposits.
Mummified dog found alongside human burials
One of the most striking arrangements was located in the southeastern section of the chamber. Dating back to the Ptolemaic period, it consists of four mummies and a mummified dog stacked on top of one another.
“The bodies, buried in a vertical stack, lacked coffins but were carefully mummified. They may also be associated with upright jars, pointing to a specific ritual not seen during the earlier phases of the tomb’s use,” said Molinero Polo.
The dog may offer another clue regarding the beliefs or relationships of the people buried there.
“One detail I find very beautiful is the presence of a mummified dog placed directly atop the mummies of a man and a woman,” said Carballo-Pérez. “This could indicate a close bond between these individuals and the animal—a sentiment that, I think, is easy to relate to.”
“It might also reflect further shifts in ritual practice, with the animal taking on the role of a psychopomp—a symbolic guide for the journey to the afterlife,” added Molinero Polo.
Intensive use of the burial site
Other variations in body positioning confirm the idea that burial traditions continued to evolve rather than simply disintegrate. In later deposits, for instance, some individuals were buried with both arms crossed over their chests—a pose Egyptologists call the “Osirian position.”
These patterns indicate that the increasingly crowded tomb did not simply become disorganized, nor did its cultural traditions vanish. Instead, researchers argue that the chamber was repeatedly brought back into active use. Each new interment altered the organization and perception of the available space, while simultaneously taking earlier burials into account.
Reconstructing every stage of the tomb’s history is not always possible. In some deposits, researchers cannot determine the precise order in which bodies were added or the exact intent behind their placement. The chamber was used for centuries and withstood several destructive events; it flooded multiple times, suffered fire damage, and was repeatedly entered by people, actions that shifted the debris and complicated the archaeological record. Despite these limitations, the findings could alter how archaeologists interpret other crowded burial sites.
“Nevertheless, what we are presenting implies that deposits previously considered ‘disorganized’ can be reinterpreted,” concluded Carballo-Pérez. “This helps us better understand the social behavior underlying funerary practices.”
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