The complaint filed by three members of the failed XVI campaign of the Visir Amen-hotep Huy Project in Luxor for alleged fraud and labor exploitation is not the first complaint that the Egyptian authorities have received against its directors, Francisco Martín Valentín and Teresa Bedman, known among Spanish Egyptologists as ‘the Valentines’. In December 2011, Mostafa Amin, then secretary general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, received a letter with “irrefutable evidence”, attached to a CD, requesting the suspension of the work of the two missions of the Supreme Council of Antiquities. Institute of Ancient Egyptian Studies (IEAE) in Luxor. At that time, the IEAE directed by Valentín and Bedman, today converted into a foundation, had two permanent projects, Sen in Mut and that of Vizier Amen-hotep Huy, in Deir el Bahari and Asasif. As stated on the institution’s website, both were protected and financed by the Spanish Ministry of Culture, the Gaselec de Melilla foundation and the IEAE itself. One of the rules of the Supreme Council of Antiquities prohibited, however, working on more than one site at the same time, according to the report. Related News In a standard Spanish archaeological mission Yes Three interns from an archaeological mission in Egypt present a complaint for alleged fraud and labor exploitation Mónica Arrizabalaga They denounce that they were not returned the money they contributed to participate in the last campaign of the Visir Amen-Hotep-Huy project that was not carried out due to the absence of permits. The letter also denounced that the field directors of both missions “do not have a degree in Archeology or Egyptology.” With multiple references, it stated that Valentín “has a degree in Law and a doctor in Egyptian Religion from the Institute of Religious Sciences of the Complutense University of Madrid” and belonged to the law firm Daniel Cano & Asociados. “Teresa Bedman says that she has a degree in Geography and History from the University of Granada, but no one has seen the official document that certifies her degree,” added the document where she wondered how this was possible if the Egyptian regulations for foreign archaeological missions said that “no concession will be made to any expedition director who does not have significant experience in the field.”Varnish in a historical graphite“Field directors must be archaeologists and have significant experience in the field. It is not acceptable for people who are not archaeologists to direct an excavation,” stressed the letter sent to Mostafa Amin, where Valentin and Bedman were accused of being “responsible for a bad action carried out on the tomb of Senenmut (TT353)” and of having hidden the truth. Archaeologist Tito Vivas, who worked on said tomb, stated that Senenmut’s graphite was stained with varnish that fell off during the installation of a wooden ramp, because it was not protected. Vivas personally verified the existence of that varnish stain and indicated that Valentín and Bedman asked him to scrape it with a scalpel, which he refused. “This incident is not a contribution to the conservation of pharaonic monuments, universal heritage,” the letter added. The graphite stained with ABC varnishAn architect who had worked for two campaigns in the excavation of the other IEAE mission, in the tomb of Vizier Amen-hotep Huy, wrote a negative report in which he explained the serious structural problems that jeopardized the work and the recommendations that should be followed. Despite these analyses, the report indicates that archaeological work on the tomb continued, carried out by unqualified personnel. It attached a multitude of links to the mission’s Facebook page where unqualified members of the team were seen classifying, for example, ceramics or human remains. One of them was the journalist Luis del Palacio, who was left one morning in charge of the excavations when he was not qualified, according to what he told ABC. After being expelled from the Sycamore House where they lived during their stay in Luxor and once released “from the ‘vote of silence’ imposed by professors Martín and Bedman”, which required them to sign a confidentiality clause, Del Palacio published a critical article in which he denounced the lack of security at the site and also made these facts known to the Egyptian authorities. In the detailed 17-page exposition, this 2011 complaint included the unjustified dismissal of an overworked archaeologist, whose work was then done by 4 or 5 people without qualifications, that Valentín and Bedman referred to Egyptian workers as “dogs” or that A documentary was recorded for television without having the necessary permits. In conclusion, he urged the paralysis of the work of this Spanish mission in Egypt due to its “many irregularities.”
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