WATER, ITS CONTINUED IMPORTANCE TO ANCIENT EGYPTIAN CULTURE AND ITS PRESERVATION

In Egyptian myths, primeval waters of Nun were a formless mass from which the universe was born. Waters symbolized the depths of the netherworld. Pure water was a sacred substance. Stone-lined reservoirs filled with groundwater were created as divine pools in temples. An example is found at the Temple of Amun at Karnak. These sacred waters provided storage settings for the ceremonial sailing barks that contained images of gods, served as homes for sacred animals (geese and crocodiles), and were the sources of water for daily purification, healing and temple rituals. Egyptians celebrated the annual Nile flood and worshipped Hapy, god of floods, who insured soil fertility. They recorded the water level predicting soil fertility and crop yield. Today, scientists locate groundwater on fracture trace-and lineament-related zones of fracture concentration. These zones are found within all types of bedrock. Observations in the Valley of the Kings and Queens suggest an apparent relationship between fracture zones and placement of tomb entrances and shafts. Entrances found on fractured limestone include the tombs of King Ay, Tuthmosis III and IV, Dra Abu el-Naga, Bab el-Maaleg, Queen Hatshepsut, Princess Neferu and others. Portions of the Valley of the Kings show angular topographic offsets, valley, swale, and windgap alignments, revealing positions of near-vertical fracture zones. Accumulation of talus, colluvium and alluvium along these zones of structural weakness would tend to disguise tomb entrances. Fracture traces might reveal future locations of undiscovered tombs. Fractures zones should be considered when planning stormwater diversion projects because their high vertical hydraulic conductivity may enhance percolation, thereby, exposing tombs to water damage. Tomb networks offer analogues for the study of unsaturated flow in fracture-dominated rocks.