Researchers in Spain analyzed chamber three of tomb TT 209 in the Theban Necropolis near Luxor. The work covered use of the space from the Twenty-fifth Dynasty (754–656 BCE) through the Ptolemaic period (305–30 BCE). Sixteen mummified people, one mummified dog, and remains of at least four more individuals were documented. The team found no sign of disorder or forgotten rituals. Instead, each new burial respected earlier ones, showing a consistent spatial pattern. Early burials featured coffins, nets, amulets, and costly goods such as items in Phoenician amphorae, suggesting higher social status. Later deposits, especially from the late Twenty-fifth Dynasty into the Persian period (around 680–404 BCE), filled available space more densely. Bodies were sometimes stacked vertically, and arm positions changed. In the Ptolemaic era, four mummies and the dog were placed in layers without coffins but with upright jars indicating a distinct ritual. The dog lay directly above a man and woman, possibly reflecting personal ties or a new symbolic role in funerary beliefs.
