The Elite Late Period Egyptian Tombs of Memphis 9781407303857, 9781407334141

Citation preview

l na tio ne di nli ad l o ith ria W ate m

BAR  S1903  2009  

The Elite Late Period Egyptian Tombs of Memphis

STAMMERS   THE ELITE LATE PERIOD EGYPTIAN TOMBS OF MEMPHIS

Michael Stammers

BAR International Series 1903 9 781407 303857

B A R

2009

The Elite Late Period Egyptian Tombs of Memphis

Michael Stammers

BAR International Series 1903 2009

ISBN 9781407303857 paperback ISBN 9781407334141 e-format DOI https://doi.org/10.30861/9781407303857 A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

BAR

PUBLISHING

CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES LIST OF TABLES AND MAPS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Chapter 1

iii vi vii

INTRODUCTION Purpose of the Study Historical Background Dating the Late Period The Area under Consideration Methodology Limitations of the Study

1 1 1 3 3 4 6

Chapter 2

LOCATION The Sacred Landscape Orientation The Memphite Necropoleis Saqqara The Sacred Animal Necropoleis Dahshur Meidum Giza Abu Rouash Abusir Heliopolis Old Cairo Memphis

9 9 12 12 14 16 18 18 18 19 19 22 24 24

Chapter 3

TOMB STRUCTURE The Saite-Persian Shaft Tomb The tomb of Udjahorresnet and its location The tomb of Pakap and its secondary shafts The chronology of the Saite-Persian Shaft Tombs The superstructure of the Saite-Persian Shaft Tombs The orientation of burial in the Saite-Persian Shaft Tombs The development and meaning of the Saite-Persian Shaft Tomb The Shaft Tomb Rock Cut Tombs Giza Saqqara Vaulted Chamber Tombs The Mastaba Tomb The Temple-Court Tomb Burials in other Sacred Structures Tomb in Old Kingdom Style

26 26 27 28 28 30 31 31 39 39 39 40 41 42 43 44 44

Chapter 4

DECORATION and INSCRIPTIONS The Saite-Persian Shaft Tomb Shaft Tombs Giza Saqqara Rock Cut Tombs Giza Saqqara Vaulted Chamber Tombs The Mastaba Tomb The Temple-Court Tomb Burials in other Sacred Structures

48 48 51 51 52 53 53 54 55 57 60 60

i

Chapter 5

THE TITLES OF THE ELITE The Priesthood The Military Machine The Administration The Title of ‘King’s Valet’ Honorific Titles

69 69 72 73 75 78

Chapter 6

ARCHAISM Archaism as a concept Archaism in Art and Architecture Archaism in Text Archaism in Titles

83 83 85 86 87

Chapter 7

CONCLUSIONS

89

MAPS

95

Appendix A THE STRUCTURES OF THE TOMBS The Saite-Persian Shaft Tomb Shaft Tombs Rock Cut Tombs Vaulted Chamber Tombs The Mastaba Tomb The Temple-Court Tomb Burials in other Sacred Structures Tomb in Old Kingdom Style

103 103 115 120 125 127 128 129 129

Appendix B DETAILS OF THE DECORATION and INSCRIPTIONS The Saite-Persian Shaft Tomb Shaft Tombs Rock Cut Tombs Vaulted Chamber Tombs The Mastaba Tomb The Temple-Court Tomb Burials in other Sacred Structures Tomb in Old Kingdom Style

130 130 135 136 141 144 150 151 151

Appendix C NAMES, GENEALOGY and TITLES of the TOMB OWNERS Memphis Heliopolis Old Cairo Abusir Giza Saqqara

152 152 152 155 156 159 162

Appendix D CONCORDANCE of FUNERARY TEXTS

171

Appendix E TITLES from the TOMBS

181

ABBREVIATIONS OF JOURNAL AND SERIES TITLES

189

BIBLIOGRAPHY

190

INDEX

205

Please note that the figures and maps are available to download from www.barpublishing.com/additional-downloads.html

ii

LIST OF FIGURES Page Figure 1. The ‘notch’ in the hills to the west of Abydos. 11 Figure 2. The Gurn on the West Bank at Thebes. 11 Figure 3. Geodetic lines from Giza and Abusir to the Sun Temple at Heliopolis. 13 Figure 4. Lines of sight from the Sun Temple at Heliopolis. 13 Figure 5. The Sacred Animal necropolis of North Saqqara. 16 Figure 6. Sunset as viewed from the Sphinx Temple at the Summer solstice. 18 Figure 7. Reconstruction of Niuserra’s Sun Temple at Abu Ghurob. 20 Figure 8. The site of Abusir. 20 Figure 9. The geodetic line through the northeast corners of the Fifth Dynasty Pyramids extended to the tomb of Udjahorresnet. 21 Figure 10. The area of Heliopolis, showing the positions of the cemeteries. 23 Figure 11. The area of Memphis. 24 Figure 12. Campbell’s Tomb: The position of the shafts relative to the ‘Trench’. 28 Figure 13. Tomb Y 9 at Abydos. 31 Figure 14. Tomb D 15 at El-Amra. 32 Figure15. Tomb D 47 at El-Amra. 32 Figure16. Tomb D 57 at El-Amra. 32 Figure17. The Osireion at Abydos. 34 Figure18. The excavators’ drawing of the main shaft of Campbell’s Tomb. 36 Figure19. Section through Campbell’s Tomb, showing the trench and the masonry-lined pit. 36 Figure 20. Reconstruction of the plans of the tombs of Karabasaken [TT 391] and Karakhamun [TT 223] at Thebes. 40 Figure 21. The tomb of Bakenrenef, showing similarities to the Twenty-fifth Dynasty Theban tombs. 41 Figure 22. The Theban tomb of Harwa [TT 37]. 41 Figure 23. The ‘Temple’ Tomb for High Officials in Post-Amarna Saqqara. 43 Figure 24. The tombs of the God’s Wives of Amun at Medinet Habu. 43 Figure 25. Detail of a vignette from Iufaa’s burial chamber. 49 Figure 26. Detail of a vignette from Iufaa’s burial chamber. 49 Figure 27. Part of the wall decoration of Iufaa’s burial chamber, showing Tutu. 49 Figure 28. The west wall of tomb LG 81. 51 Figure 29. Fishing scene from the tomb of Ii-Mrii in Giza. 51 Figure 30. The north wall of tomb LG 81. 51 Figure 31. Offering bearers from the Old Kingdom tomb of Sekhem-Ankh-Ptah. 52 Figure 32. Butchery from the Old Kingdom tomb of Princess Idut. 52 Figure 33. The south wall of tomb LG 81. 52 Figure 34. Detail of the chair from the west wall of the tomb of Ptahirdis. 53 Figure 35. Chairs from the Late Period and the Middle Kingdom. 53 Figure 36. Padibastet, from the façade of his tomb. 53 Figure 37. Vignette of Chapter 17 of the Book of the Dead of Hor. 54 Figure 38. Part of the entrance to tomb BN 2. 54 Figure 39. The tomb of Tjery. Plan, with chamber numbers and decoration key. 57 Figure 40. Petrie’s plan of the tomb of Tjery, showing ‘palace façade’ panelling. 57 Figure 41. Part of the exterior of chamber 4 of Tjery’s tomb, south side. 57 Figure 42. Tjery and his wife from chamber 1 of his tomb. 57 Figure 43. Part of the interior west wall of chamber 1 of Tjery’s tomb. 57 Figure 44. The doorway from chamber 1 into the central hall of Tjery’s tomb. 58 Figure 45. The north wall of the north chamber of Tjery’s tomb. 59 Figure 46. Part of the north wall of the east room of Tjery’s tomb. 59 Figure 47. Blocks from the tomb of Nesdjhouty. 60 Figure 48. Birds from the tomb of Kayemnofret. 60 Figure 49. Scenes from the Sun Temple of Niuserra. 62 Figure 50. The tomb of Hor. 103 Figure 51. View down the shaft of the tomb of Amentefnakht, showing the roof of the burial chamber. 104 Figure 52. Sections through the tomb of Amentefnakht. 104 Figure 53. The position of the tomb of Neferibra-Sa-Neith and Wahibramen within the Userkaf pyramid complex. 105 Figure 54. The tomb of Neferibra-Sa-Neith and Wahibramen. 105 Figure 55. The burial chamber of Neferibra-Sa-Neith. 106 Figure 56. Sections through the tomb of Psamtek and Setairbint. 107 Figure 57. Sections through the tomb of Padinisis. 107 and 108 iii

Figure 58. The burial chamber of Padinisis. Figure 59. Sections through the tomb of Padineith. Figure 60. Plan of the burial apartments of Padineith. Figure 61. The tomb of Djanehibu. Figure 62. The tomb of Hekaemsaf. Figure 63. Campbell’s Tomb from the east, showing the trench, the main shaft and the secondary shaft Figure 64. Campbell’s Tomb ( LG 84). Figure 65. Plan and section of the tomb of Udjahorresnet in Abusir. Figure 66. Udjahorresnet’s burial chamber. Figure 67. The tomb of Iufaa, showing, to the east, his cult chapel and, beyond this, the tomb of Padihor. Figure 68. The burial chamber of Iufaa during excavation. Figure 69. The tomb of Imakhetheretresnet. Figure 70. Plan and east-west section through the tomb of Necho. Figure 71. The tomb of Menekhibneko. Figure 72. Ground plan of the tomb of Hor. Figure 73. The tomb of Pawen-Hatef at al-Fustat. Figure 74. Section through the tomb of Kheperra at Giza. Figure 75. Plan of the tomb of Kheperra at Giza. Figure 76. Tomb LG 81. Figure 77. Tomb LG 82. Figure 78. Sketch of Tomb LG 83. Figure 79. Tomb LG 85. Figure 80. Photograph of Khafra’s causeway. Figure 81. The family tomb of Kanefer. Figure 82. The tomb of Irahor. Figure 83. Section through the tomb of Psamtek-Nebpehti. Figure 84. The two levels of the tomb of Ankhwahibrasaneith. Figure 85. The tombs northwest of the Sphinx. Figure 86. Plans and elevations of tombs LG 103, LG 104, LG 105 and LG 106. Figure 87. Photographs of tombs LG 103, LG 104 and LG 105. Figure 88. Plan of the tomb of Bakenrenef in Saite times. Figure 89. Section through the tomb of Bakenrenef, looking south. Figure 90. Section through Chamber C in Bakenrenef’s tomb. Figure 91. Sketch of Chamber C from the tomb of Bakenrenef. Figure 92. Plan of the tomb of Bakenrenef and the Twenty-sixth Dynasty galleries. Figure 93. Section through Chamber D in Bakenrenef’s tomb. Figure 94. Section through Chamber F in Bakenrenef’s tomb. Figure 95. The tomb of Bakenrenef and the Twenty-seventh Dynasty galleries. Figure 96. Detail of the eastern gallery (lower level) from Shaft 2 in Bakenrenef’s tomb. Figure 97. Final plan of the tomb of Bakenrenef. Figure 98. The three tombs at Matareya, of which the central is that of Wahibra-Tjeset. Figure 99. Tomb 2 at Heliopolis. Figure 100. Tomb 3 at Heliopolis. Figure 101. The tomb of Nesu-Khedu at Heliopolis. Figure 102. Vertical section through the tomb of Udjahormehnet Figure 103. The tomb of Panehsy in Matareya. Figure 104. Plan and section through the tomb of Tjery. Figure 105. Petrie’s plan of the tomb of Tjery, showing ‘palace façade’ panelling. Figure 106. The tomb chapel of Wennefer. Figure 107. The tomb chapel of Nesdjhouty. Figure 108. The Temple of Isis. Figure 109. The funerary apartments below Chapel 26 in the Temple of Isis. Figure 110. The tomb of Rames at Heliopolis. Figure 111. The relief paintings from the north and west walls of Padineith’s tomb. Figure 112. The north wall of the burial chamber of Djanehibu. Figure 113. The south wall of the burial chamber of Djanehibu. Figure 114. Part of the wall decoration of Iufaa’s burial chamber. Figure 115. Detail of a vignette from Iufaa’s burial chamber. Figure 116. Detail of a vignette from Iufaa’s burial chamber. Figure 117. Part of the wall decoration of Iufaa’s burial chamber, showing Tutu. Figure 118. Iufaa kneeling, from the west wall of his burial chamber. Figure 119. The west wall of tomb LG 81. iv

108 108 108 109 109 110 110 111 111 112 112 113 113 114 115 116 116 116 117 117 118 118 118 119 119 119 120 120 120 121 121 122 122 122 122 123 123 123 124 124 125 125 126 126 126 127 127 128 128 128 129 129 129 131 132 132 134 134 134 134 134 135

Figure 120. The north wall of tomb LG 81. Figure 121. The south wall of tomb LG 81. Figure 122. Decorations from the north wall (above) and the west wall (below) of the tomb of Ptahirdis. Figure 123. The façade of the tomb of Padibastet in Giza. Figure 124. Plan of the tomb of Bakenrenef, showing chamber numbers. Figure 125. The Tympanum from the west wall of the passage from Chamber B to Chamber C in Bakenrenef’s tomb. Figure 126. Vignette of Chapter 17 of the Book of the Dead of Hor. Figure 127. The vaulted ceiling of Chamber C in Bakenrenef’s tomb. Figure 128. Detail of the vaulted ceiling of Chamber C of Bakenrenef’s tomb. Figure 129. Details of the decoration of the flat ceilings in Chamber C of Bakenrenef’s tomb. Figure 130. The ceiling of Chamber D in Bakenrenef’s tomb. Figure 131. The decoration of the ceiling of Chamber E in Bakenrenef’s tomb. Figure 132. The text on the ceiling of Chambers F and G in the tomb of Bakenrenef. Figure 133. Entrance to tomb BN 2. Figure 134. Reconstructed end wall of the tomb of Harbes at Matareya. Figure 135. Details of the two long walls of the tomb of Udjahormehnet. Figure 136. The north wall of the tomb of Panehsy. Figure 137. The upper part of the south wall of the tomb of Panehsy, right half. Figure 138. The south wall of the tomb of Panehsy. Figure 139. The east wall of the tomb of Panehsy. Figure 140. The west wall of the tomb of Panehsy. Figure 141. Vignettes of Chapter 17 of the Book of the Dead from the papyrus of Hor. Figure 142. The ceiling of the tomb of Panehsy. Figure 143. The tomb of Tjery. Plan, with chamber numbers and decoration key. Figure 144. The exterior of Chamber 1 of Tjery’s tomb, east side. Figure 145. Part of the exterior of Chamber 1 of Tjery’s tomb, west side. Figure 146. The exterior of Chamber 4 of Tjery’s tomb, south side. Figure 147. The exterior of Chamber 5 of Tjery’s tomb, south side. Figure 148. The interior east wall of Chamber 1 of Tjery’s tomb. Figure 149. The interior west wall of Chamber 1 of Tjery’s tomb. Figure 150. The doorway from Chamber 1 into the central hall of Tjery’s tomb. Figure 151. The central hall of Tjery’s tomb, east wall. Figure 152. The central hall of Tjery’s tomb, west wall. Figure 153. The north wall of the North Chamber of Tjery’s tomb. Figure 154. The east wall of the North Chamber of Tjery’s tomb. Figure 155. Tjery and the Djed Pillar. Figure 156. The south reveal of the door into the West Chamber of Tjery’s tomb. Figure 157. The north wall of the West Chamber of Tjery’s tomb. Figure 158. The west wall of the West Chamber of Tjery’s tomb. Figure 159. The south wall of the West Chamber of Tjery’s tomb. Figure 160. The east wall of the West Chamber of Tjery’s tomb. Figure 161. The north wall of the East Room of Tjery’s tomb. Figure 162. Tjery being embraced by Anubis and Hathor. Figure 163. Blocks from the tomb of Nesdjhouty. Figure 164. The family tomb of Kanefer. The photograph behind the title page is of Campbell’s tomb, taken by the author.

Please note that the figures and maps are available to download from www.barpublishing.com/additional-downloads.html

v

136 136 137 137 138 138 138 139 139 139 140 140 140 140 141 142 142 143 143 143 143 144 144 144 145 145 145 145 146 146 146 146 147 147 148 148 148 149 149 149 149 150 150 150 164

LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Proposed Chronology of the Saite-Persian Shaft Tombs. Table 2. The comparative shaft dimensions of the Saite-Persian Shaft Tombs. Table 3. The orientation of the Heliopolitan tombs. Table 4. The distribution of Memphite tombs by type. Table 5. Inscriptions in the burial chambers of the Saite-Persian Shaft Tombs. Table 6. Decoration and inscriptions in the Shaft Tombs. Table 7. Decoration and inscriptions in the Rock Cut Tombs of Giza. Table 8. Decoration and inscriptions in the Rock Cut Tombs in Saqqara. Table 9. Decoration and inscriptions in the tomb chapel of Pathenfy from Heliopolis. Table 10. Decoration and inscriptions in the burial chambers of the Vaulted Chamber Tombs from Heliopolis. Table 11. Decoration and inscriptions in Tjery’s mastaba tomb. Table 12. Decoration and inscriptions in the Temple-Court Tomb of Nesdjhouty. Table 13. Decoration in the Memphite tomb chapels. Table 14. Correlation of texts between Bakenrenef’s and Theban Tombs. Table 15. Comparison of texts, relative to the position of the deceased, including those in the Pyramid of Unas. Table 16. The sequence of texts on the Memphite tomb walls. Table 17. The priestly titles of the Late Period elite buried in Heliopolis. Table 18. The Titles held by three ‘King’s Valets’ of Late Period Memphis. Table 19. The honorific titles from the tombs of the Memphite elite of the Late Period. Table 20. The priestly and secular titles of the elite Late Period tomb owners of Heliopolis. Table 21. The incidence of the class of title by tomb cluster. Table 22. A list of the titles by class found in the Memphite necropoleis, by type. Table 23. The incidence of titles by tomb cluster.

Page 30 33 42 45 50-51 53 54 55 56 56 59 60 61 63 63-64 65 70 75 78 80 80 81 82

LIST OF MAPS Map 1. The area under consideration. Map 2. Abusir cemetery. Map 3. Giza cemetery. Map 4. Plan of Giza mastaba cemetery G7000. Map 5. The tomb clusters of Saqqara. Map 6. Saqqara. Map 7. Late Period tombs around the pyramid of Unas at Saqqara (south side). Map 8. Late Period tombs around the pyramid of Unas at Saqqara (east side). Map 9. Saqqara: The tombs on the eastern escarpment.

Please note that the figures and maps are available to download from www.barpublishing.com/additional-downloads.html

vi

Page 95 96 97 98 99 99 100 101 102

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am grateful to the following for permission to reproduce their work: Bareš, Ladislav – Figures 8, 9, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71 and 114, and Map 2, from various articles as listed in the Bibliography. Bickel, Susanne and Tallet, Pierre – Figure 134 from their work La Nécropole Saite d’Héliopolis. Bresciani, Edda – Figures 21, 38, 61, 89, 92, 95, 96, 97, 112, 113 and 133 and Map 9, from her works La Tomba di Ciennehebu and Saqqara I: Tomba di Bocori – La Galeria di Padineit. Clark, Reg – Figure 1. Duckworth Egyptology – Figure 106 from Wolfram Grajetski’s work Burial Customs in Ancient Egypt. Eigner, Dieter – Figures 17, 20 and 22 from his work Die Monumentales Grabbauten der Spatzeit in der thebanischen Nekropole. el-Naggar, Saleh – Figures 14, 15, 16, 50, 52, 54, 56, 62, 77, 86, 87, 88, 90, 93, 94, 103, 124, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131 and 132 from various articles listed in the Bibliography and from his work Les Voûtes dans l’Architecture de l’Égypte Ancienne. Grajetski, Wolfram – Figure 10, from Stephen Quirke’s book The Cult of Ra. Otto Harrassowtz GmbH & Co. – Figures 103, 136, 137, 139, 139, 140 and 142 from Ahmed el-Sawi and Farouk Gomaa’s work Das Grab des Panehsi, Gottesvaters von Heliopolis in Matareya. Kitchen, Kenneth – Figure 107, from his work Memphite “Tomb Chapels in the New Kingdom and later” from Festschrift Elmar Edel. Lehner, Mark – Figures 6 from “Ägypten: Giza”. AfO 32: 136-158 and Map 6 from his work The Complete Pyramids. Martin, Geoffrey Thorndike – Figures 7 and 23, and Map 5 from his work The Hidden Tombs of Memphis. Nicholson, Paul – Figure 5 from the drawing by Joanne Hodges in the chapter in Divine Creatures (edited by Salima Ikram) dealing with the Sacred Animal Necropolis at North Saqqara. Quirke, Stephen – Figure 4, from his work The Cult of Ra, adapted from a figure in an article by David Jeffreys. The following have been reproduced from the original articles and books, as stated in the captions to the Figures: Aldred, Cyril – Figure 32. Baines, John and Malek, Járomir – Figure 11. Barsanti, M. Alexandre – Figures 57, 58, 59, 60 and 111, and Map 7. Ahmed Batrawi – Figures 81 and 164. Chaban, Mohammed – Figure 84. el-Sadeek, Wafaa – Figures 30, 33, 36, 36, 39, 41, 43 45, 46, 85, 104, 120, 121, 122, 123, 125, 143, 144, 145, 146, 147, 149, 153, 154 and 161. Gauthier, Henri – Figures 98, 99, 100, 101 and 110. Hamada, A – Figure 73. Harpur, Yvonne – Figure 29. Hill, Dorothy Kent – Figure 35. Hölscher, Uvo – Figure 24. Kamal, Ahmed Bey – Figures 102 and 135. Lauer, Jean-Philippe – Figure 55. Lepsius, Carl Richard – Figures 28, 72, 76, 79, 82, 83 and 119. L’Institut Français d’Archéologie Oriental for Map 8, from Labrousse, A; Lauer, Jean-Philippe and Leclant, Jean (1977) Le Temple Haut du Complexe Funéraire du Roi Ounas. Mosher, Malcolm – Figures 37, 126 and 141. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, – Figures 74 and 75 from Joyce Haynes’ work; – Figure 48 from William Kelly Simpson’s work; – Figure 109 from Christiane Zivie-Coche’s work. Peet, T. Eric – Figure 13. Petrie, Sir W M Flinders – Figures 40, 42, 44, 105, 148, 150, 151, 152, 156, 156, 157, 158, 159, 160 and 162. Quibell, James Edward – Figures 47 and 163. Saad, Zaki – Figure 51. Simpson, William Kelly – Figure 31. Vachala, Bretislav – Figures 27, 62 and 117. Verner, Miroslav – Figures 3, 7, 25, 26, 65, 66, 114, 115, 116 and 118. Vyse, Col. Richard William Howard – Figures 12, 18, 19, and 64. Wilkinson, J Gardner – Figure 91. Yale University Press – Figure 53. Zivie-Coche, Christiane M. – Maps 3 and 4 from Giza au Premier Millenaire. Autour du Temple d’Isis, Dame des Pyramides. Plates 1 and 2. vii

*** I am grateful to Professor Alan Lloyd, Dr. Kasia Szpakowska, Dr. J. J. Shirley and Dr. Ladislav Bareš for their guidance and encouragement with this work, to Dr. Michael Walter, Dr. Dagmar Mann and Dr. Julian Bird for their valued comments and to Jill Body for putting up with the constant proof-reading that this work has entailed.

viii

The dialogue between the tombs and the past, usually called ‘archaism’, is discussed in order to ascertain who had access to ancient texts, who chose those that were used, and why.

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND This study investigates the drivers for the development of the elite Late Period tombs of the necropoleis of Memphis. It studies their conceptual basis in the context of the social and political situation of the Late Period. It examines the landscape of Memphis and explores the geographic, geological and man-made features that encouraged the creation of a ‘sacred landscape’ with a view to discovering what features made this a desirable place for the building of tombs and why Late Period clusters of tombs were built in some parts of that landscape but not in others; it also considers the significance of their alignment. It sets out to discover what religious, social or ancestral factors made the elite choose the location of the individual tombs, what determined their structure and how they relate to older as well as contemporary structures. Finally, the reason for the positions of the different burial grounds of Memphis, and the interrelation between them, is explored in order to establish the socio-political factors influencing that choice.

In order to understand the tombs it is first necessary to understand the historical context within which they were built. The ebb and flow of history through Memphis reflects the – sometimes turbulent – history of the whole country; when Egypt was united and prospered, so did Memphis; when Egypt fragmented, as it did from time to time, Memphis did considerably less well. The history of Memphis therefore reflects the social situation in the country as a whole. With the collapse of the New Kingdom the Memphite area lost its importance, although in the Twenty-first Dynasty Smendes resided there and may have considered reinstating Memphis as his capital.2 The fragmentation of Third Intermediate Period Egypt meant that the kings concentrated on their home cities of Bubastis, Tanis, Leontopolis and Sais.3 It was Shabaka, in the Twenty-fifth ‘Nubian’ or ‘Kushite’ Dynasty, who restored and revitalised Memphis, making Giza and Saqqara once more fashionable places of pilgrimage.4 Shabaka erected three stelae at the Serapeum and a monumental gate in the temple of Ptah in Memphis.5 This new Dynasty was to become the new ‘Old Kingdom’, with ancient texts copied and embellished. The extent to which the Kushite rulers sought association with the Heliopolitan past is demonstrated by their adoption of the Fifth and Sixth Dynasty throne names of Djedkara and Neferkara.

The varying forms of tomb architecture are discussed in order to deduce the choices available to the tomb owners in their tomb design, and whether location and religious beliefs had an impact on those choices. The fundamental reasons for the unique architecture of the Saite-Persian Shaft Tomb, an important tomb type exclusive to Late Period Memphis,1 are established. Most of the SaitePersian Shaft Tombs were excavated more than a century ago and, until recently, the most completely described tomb of this type – Campbell’s tomb in Giza – has been only superficially discussed; many of the conclusions to those discussions do not stand up to closer scrutiny. That tomb is given the attention that it needs and reasons are found for the structures within that type of tomb. The Saite-Persian Shaft Tombs of Abusir have been discussed at length by their excavators, but their results have not been examined and compared with those for the other Saite-Persian Shaft Tombs of Memphis. This study makes that comparison, informing future discussion of Shaft Tombs in general and Saite-Persian Shaft Tombs in particular.

The Twenty-sixth Dynasty was born from an abuse of Assyrian trust. The Assyrians under Esarhaddon had penetrated Egypt as far as Memphis, but upon Esarhaddon’s death the Kushites were able to regroup.6 The next Assyrian ruler was Assurbanipal, who finally and conclusively pushed the Kushites, under Taharqa, back to their homeland in the south.7 Taharqa’s successor Tantamani briefly regained part of his former Egyptian territory but lacked the power to hold it; Assurbanipal, aided by the Saite ‘kings’ forced him south, reaching and sacking Thebes.8 Assurbanipal now had a dilemma; he did not want to become tied down to a land so far from home, and yet Egypt was too valuable a prize to throw away. He put his authority into the hands of Necho I, who was killed by Tantamani,9 and replaced the twenty vassal

The study examines how it was decided what decoration and inscriptions were selected and where they were placed. It attempts to explain diverging texts in the context of literacy and of religious orientation. It explores what the tombs say about demarcations of social status and religious beliefs. It establishes the ownership of the tombs, the owners’ titles of profession and rank, and considers how the status of their tombs reflects the sociopolitical situation of their time.

2

Grimal (1992): 311. Kitchen (1986): 128, 399, 446. 4 Kitchen (1986): 584. 5 Mysliwiec (2000): 90. 6 Kitchen (1986): 392. 7 Mysliwiec (2000): 107. A clay cylinder found at Nineveh contains a list of local Egyptian rulers under Assurbanipal’s control, including all the important cities in the Delta, as well as Herakleopolis, Hermopolis and Asyut. 8 Taylor (2000): 338. Hall (1925), 25 said that “Egypt never recovered … it was not even a city at all, nothing but a collection of temples with separate villages clustering around them.” 9 Lloyd (2000): 371. 3

1

There is one more example known from Sharuna [Gestermann et al. (1986), (1987), (1988)].

1

THE ELITE LATE PERIOD EGYPTIAN TOMBS OF MEMPHIS enthronement in 497/6 BC.23 Cambyses had tried to reconcile the Egyptians to Persian rule by adopting the traditional role of Pharaoh; this made it easier for the Egyptians to accept the change in ruler to Darius, who was crowned king of the whole of Egypt.24 To show his respect for Egyptian culture, temple building in Kharga and in Dush was encouraged, and a canal from the Nile to the Red Sea, begun under Necho II of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty, was completed under Darius.25 This improved access from Persia to Egypt for trade and military purposes, as well as for the delivery of tribute to Persia.26 Egypt, having no other option under the satrapy, took the Persian side in putting down the Ionian Revolt and assisted them in their assault on Greece, supplying the ropes that permitted the crossing of the Hellespont.27 Nevertheless, Egypt and Persia would never satisfactorily be one and, after the unsuccessful Revolt of Inaros, the Revolt of Amyrtaios brought the Persian Twenty-seventh Dynasty to an end in 404 BC, bringing Egypt her final period of independence.28

kings of northern Egypt, appointed by the Assyrians, with his son Psamtek.10 The latter gradually increased his own power base at the expense of Assyria, uniting the northern princes in 657 BC and making himself ruler of the Two Lands. He had his own daughter Nitocris adopted by Shepenwepet and Amenirdis as God’s Wife of Amun in 656 BC,11 thereby securing Thebes within his sphere of direct influence, for he now had a personal political link with the southern city. Assyria, which had more pressing problems nearer home, accepted Psamtek as sole king. There followed the Twenty-Sixth Dynasty, the last extensive period of home rule in ancient Egyptian history, lasting for one hundred and thirty-nine years. This lengthy period was guaranteed by skilful diplomatic relations with Greece.12 Greek mercenaries formed the backbone of the Egyptian Army and Navy, and trade with Greece was encouraged, while Naucratis was developed as the major trading centre.13 The new wealth created by a stable regime permitted building throughout the land, particularly in the ‘home’ city of Sais but also in Memphis and elsewhere.14 The background of the rulers of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty, coming as they did from the cities of the Delta, meant that there was a marked tendency in the Late Period for national considerations to take second place to local patriotism and loyalties.15

The Twenty-eighth Dynasty of Amyrtaios was a poor affair, lasting only five years but giving way to the slightly longer Twenty-ninth and then the Thirtieth, the last flowering of Egyptian home rule under Nectanebo I, Teos and, finally, Nectanebo II.29 The first two of these Dynasties were probably involved in internecine strife and it is likely that both Nectanebos came to the throne as the result of military coups.30 However, there were, once more, both time and money available for building programmes in the sacred animal necropoleis. Nectanebo I added the Avenue of Sphinxes to the Serapeum and relief blocks found in Apa Jeremias Monastery suggest that he may have built a temple there,31 while Nectanebo II added the relief decoration to the east and west Apis Temples that bordered the dromos leading to the Serapeum.32

Although Psamtek continued to use Sais as his royal residence and it remained the royal necropolis, he moved his administrative capital back to Memphis,16 prompting the reopening of the ancient cemeteries. Giza, Saqqara and Abusir became the places where the elite wished to be buried. Both religion and art saw a renaissance, often called ‘archaism’, allowing the flow of fresh ideas that will be seen in the ensuing discussion of the elite tombs.17 Eventually a new threat appeared, in the shape of Persia, which the Saite Dynasty found impossible to withstand and, in 525 BC, Egypt became a satrapy of the Persian kingdom under Cambyses.18 The arrival of the Persians must have caused serious disruption to Egyptian life and there is a marked reduction in building work.19 Udjahorresnet invested Cambyses fully with the role of Pharaoh.20 Cambyses made offerings in the temple of Neith in Sais,21 ordering the soldiers from the sacred areas, and he dedicated a stele in the Serapeum.22 In 522 Cambyses had to return to Persia to put down a revolt, leaving Egypt in the hands of the Satrap Aryandes, who abused his position and was executed when Darius I came to visit his Egyptian domain shortly after his

Persia had not given up on Egypt, because she was such a rich source of booty. Problems closer to home meant that no real attempt could be made to recover the satrapy until 373 BC, under Artaxerxes II. This attempt failed and his successor regained the province only at his third attempt, against Nectanebo II’s reported army of 20,000.33 Artaxerxes III and his successors in the brief Second Persian Period showed complete disregard for the Egyptian way of life,34 with the result that the Egyptians were more than happy to welcome Alexander into Egypt 23

Ray (2001): 100. Lloyd (1982): 173. 25 Lloyd (1982): 331. 26 Lloyd (1982): 331. 27 Lloyd (2000): 384. 28 Lloyd (2000): 385. Not everywhere was the new Dynasty readily accepted and Jews in Elephantine continued to recognise the Persians until 400 BC [Mysliwiec (1998): 159]. 29 The Twenty-eighth Dynasty ran from 404-399 BC, the Twenty-ninth from 399-380 BC and the Thirtieth from 380-343 BC. 30 Lloyd (2000): 386. 31 Martin (1994): 210. 32 Mysliwiec (1998): 169. 33 Lloyd (2000): 388. 34 Lloyd (1982): 179.

10

24

Assmann (2002): 337. 11 Grimal (1992): 354. 12 Lloyd (2000): 374. 13 Lloyd (2000): 375. 14 Taylor (2000): 359. Necho – the future king Necho I – had been Governor of Memphis. 15 Lloyd (1982): 179. 16 Grimal (1992): 356. 17 Chapter 6, on archaism. 18 Lloyd (2000): 384. 19 Josephson (1997): 10. 20 Lloyd (1982): 172. 21 Lichtheim (1980): 38. 22 Lloyd (1982): 175.

2

INTRODUCTION at Pelusium in 332 BC,35 ending Persian domination once and for all.

approach, containing many Kushite features.41 In Abydos there is similarly an alteration in tomb architecture with Tomb Y9 of the Twenty-fifth Dynasty.42 In the Memphite area, however, the Late Period developments in tomb design do not predate the Twenty-sixth Dynasty. This suggests that Abydos and nearby Thebes cross-fertilised their architectural ideas during the Twenty-fifth Dynasty. The impetus given to revolutionary tomb architecture by this movement was slow to reach the North, not arriving at Memphis until nearly a century later, by which time, except in a very few instances, it had lost its marked Kushite influences.

*** The Late Period was one of great change and, after a time of turmoil during the Third Intermediate Period and the Kushite Dynasty, Egypt needed to reinvent itself. There is little literature or inscriptional evidence from the time, so that archaeological and monumental records take on a very great importance. By an examination of these one would seek to gain an insight into the Egyptian’s selfperception and into how this developed.

This study, however, deals solely with the Memphite necropoleis. Here there are changes from the Twentysixth Dynasty onwards, particularly around the time of the Persian conquest. As the Twenty-fifth Dynasty has little relevance here, the dates taken for the Late Period, from the point of view of this study, are from the start of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty to the end of the Second Persian Period – from 664 BC to 332 BC.

DATING THE LATE PERIOD The dates of the Late Period have long been a matter of individual opinion. Early writers, who were primarily interested in the beginnings of the Egyptian Civilisation, the cultural flowerings of the Middle Kingdom and the high Empire of the New Kingdom tended to consider the end of the New Kingdom as marking the beginning of what Cyril Aldred called the period of ‘Decline and Eclipse’.36 Some modern writers still consider the Late Period to have begun with the Twenty-first Dynasty, when the New Kingdom disintegrated.37 Others however, tend to belong to two distinct camps. There are those who consider that Egypt’s ‘final flowering’ of the Late Period started with the unification of Egypt under the Kushites in the Twenty-fifth Dynasty.38 There is a certain merit in this view, since this marked a reunification of Egypt after a time of fragmentation, although that reunification was never complete. Alternatively, there are those who believe that the Late Period started with the regaining of ‘home rule’ under Psamtek I at the beginning of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty,39 when there was – eventually – a fully reunited country. There would appear to be merit in both the Twenty-fifth and the Twenty-sixth Dynasties as starting points for the Late Period.

THE AREA UNDER CONSIDERATION The geographical area covered by this study includes the East Bank of the Nile from Heliopolis to Old Cairo and the West Bank from Abu Rouash to Saqqara (Map 1). This area is dominated by the Sun Temple of Iunu in Heliopolis and had been an important place for burial over the centuries, as the following brief history of tombs in the area will relate. In the Second Dynasty it became the practice for the kings to be buried in Saqqara, with an enclosure in Abydos, rather than being buried in Abydos itself, which had been the practice of the previous Dynasty, although the last two kings of the Second Dynasty returned to Abydos. The elite who lived and worked in Memphis after the unification of Egypt were buried in mastaba tombs on the northern spur of the escarpment at Saqqara, and with the Third Dynasty this area was near to the royal burials.43

Tomb development, however, to the extent that it informs this debate, does not change neatly at the start of either the Twenty-fifth or the Twenty-sixth Dynasty. Tomb design in Thebes changed radically during the Twentyfifth Dynasty, probably with the appointment of Shepenwepet I as Divine Consort in 754 BC.40 These changes can be seen both in the design of the tombs of the God’s Wives themselves along the access road to Medinet Habu, and in those of their functionaries. The tomb of Harwa, a functionary of Amenirdis I towards the end of the Twenty-fifth Dynasty, is revolutionary in its

With the rise of the Old Kingdom, the royal burials moved from Saqqara to Meidum, then to Dahshur, Giza, Abu Rouash, Abusir and back to Saqqara again.44 In each case the elite were buried near their sovereign. With the breakdown of central authority in the First Intermediate Period the nomarchs became supremely powerful and placed their burials near to their nome capitals.45 The Middle Kingdom sovereigns forsook Memphis for ItjTawe and their officials were buried in mastaba tombs in Lahun, Lisht, Hawara and Dahshur, near to the kings.46 After the disintegration of the kingdom during the Second Intermediate Period the kings of the New Kingdom, who were from a Seventeenth Dynasty Theban background,

35

Arrian (1976 Translation): Book III, 1. Aldred (1961): 150. White (1952): 184 agrees when he says: “From the beginning of the Twenty-first Dy may be dated the Late Period” while Murray (1951): 63 and Gardiner (1961): 437 also have the Late Dynastic Period commencing with the Twenty-first Dynasty. 37 For instance Lichtheim (1980): Vol. III, ix and Neureiter (1994): 221. 38 For instance Grimal (1992): 394; Shaw and Nicholson (1995): 158 and Baines and Málek (1984): 9. 39 For instance Trigger et al. (1983): 279; Kitchen (1986): xi; Shaw (2000): 369 and Redford, ed., (2001): Vol. 2, 267. 40 Kitchen (1986): 480. 36

41

Eigner (1984): 156. Peet (1914): 87. 43 Trigger (1983): 55. 44 Kemp (1983): 86. 45 Grajetski (2003): 37. 46 Grajetski (2003): 45. 42

3

THE ELITE LATE PERIOD EGYPTIAN TOMBS OF MEMPHIS moved their tombs to the Valley of the Kings47 at Thebes and many of their officials were buried in the nearby hills.48 Some officials, who worked in administration in Memphis, however, were buried in Saqqara, south of the Unas causeway. With the subsequent disintegration of the Third Intermediate Period, burials were once again in the deceased’s region. The kings of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty chose to be interred in Temple-Court tombs within the courtyard of the Temple of Neith in their ancestral home at Sais.49 The elite, though, did not generally follow the precedent of being buried near to their king; they chose instead to be buried within the ‘sacred landscape’ of Heliopolis and Saqqara, which will be the subject of the next chapter. Most were buried in the ancient burial grounds on the West Bank, particularly from Giza southwards to Saqqara,50 where they could be seen by the living, thus taking advantage of a numinous area while indulging in conspicuous display. While there were Late Period burials in Abu Rouash, these consisted of communal tombs.51 At Dahshur Ahmed Moussa excavated a Late Period cemetery near the pyramid of Amenemhat II, producing “large numbers of stone, baked clay and wooden sarcophagi”,52 while the only Late Period burials recorded at Meidum were cut into older mastabas.53 Memphis itself was a thriving administrative city and one would not expect to see burials there, in the fertile valley of the Nile, but the great Temple of Ptah was located there and burials are attested nearby, although there are no details of any dating from the Late Period.

In Old Cairo (al-Fustat), several Late Period burials were discovered by A. Hamada during the 1930s in quarries known as ‘Batn el-Baqara’. These were generally of the non-elite people58 of Kher-Aha, the ancient name for that area, but among them was the important burial of PawenHatef. METHODOLOGY The study will first attempt to define who the ‘elite’ are within the context of Late Period Memphis. It is never easy to define an elite. The Egyptian elite could be defined by reference to their titles, but many of these were honorific and had no real relation to the administrative position that the person held within his society.59 Many titles were inherited, and many of these – particularly those connected with the priesthood – provided an income for the holder. These will be discussed in detail in Chapter 5. Outside the priesthood, elite status came from several sources. This could be as a result of a good and long ancestry, which retained wealth, or by being able to have access to Pharaoh, which would create wealth. Priestly titles produced a stipend.60 The most important matter for an Egyptian was to provide a tomb that would enable him to reach the Field of Reeds. In this provision money61 was lavishly spent, for the more one expended on one’s tomb the more chance one would have to enjoy the next life; the lavishness of the tomb would also provide a conspicuous display, encouraging the living to dwell upon one’s life and deeds. So it is to the tomb that we must look when we wish, in the twenty-first century, to define ‘elite’. The first criterion for a permanent tomb is to have at least some stone incorporated into it: this would not perish in the way of mud-brick but would last for ever. The stone may have travelled from the quarries in Aswan, it may have come from nearby limestone hills, or it may even have come from a neighbouring tomb or chapel, but for our purposes an elite tomb must incorporate stone. Noticeable here is the duality of Egyptian thought: much of the stone for building tombs came from the tombs built by others – and yet the tomb was perceived to be a permanent, inviolable, everlasting construction; it seems that although the stone was removed, the power of its essential substance remained. Secondly, in order to reach the Field of Reeds in safety, one needed to know the route and the answers to the questions that would be asked upon the journey, as well as to be protected from the potentially fatal attacks by the malign beings of the underworld. For this one needed the protection and advice of the mortuary texts, written as Pyramid Text Utterances, Coffin Text Spells or Chapters of the Book of the Dead: these would be written on the sarcophagus or directly to the tomb walls, in text or as vignettes to act as ‘aides-memoir’. Finally, a tomb chapel

So far the burials that have been discussed have all been on the West Bank of the Nile. The West Bank was the normal place to be buried, on the edge of the desert, at the edge of the horizon. However, burials had also taken place on the East Bank since antiquity. The cult of Ra in Iunu (Heliopolis) is attested from predynastic times54 and the city was already important by the Third Dynasty, when the architect Imhotep held the title of High Priest of Iunu.55 The area in and around the temenos wall of the Sun Temple became a popular place for burial. In the Fifth Dynasty the Heliopolitan doctrine became supreme, and it remained so until almost the end of ancient Egyptian history, with Ptolemy VI (Philometor) still incorporating the name of Ra, now Amun-Ra into his own as Irmaatenamunra.56 However, Heliopolis began to be quarried by the Ptolemies for stone for the new city of Alexandria, and by the time of Strabo’s visit in about 24 BC the temple was already in ruins.57 Throughout the Late Period there were burials within and close by the temenos wall of the Sun Temple.

47

Dodson (2000): 30. Grajetski (2003): 77. 49 Lloyd (2000): 378. 50 Grajetski (2003): 114. 51 De la Roque (1925): 65 and 71. 52 Leclant (1978): 281. 53 Rowe (1931): 190. 54 Quirke (2001): 81. 55 Grimal (1992): 65. 56 Clayton (1994): 208. 57 Quirke (2001): 113 and 73. 48

58

As defined by A Hamada in Hamada (1937). See Doxey (2001) and Quirke (2001a) for discussions of titles. 60 Lloyd (1983), Doxey (2001), Quirke (2004), Pressl (1998), Strudwick (1985), Chevereau (1985) and others. 61 There was, of course, no ‘money’ at this time, but this is the most convenient way of stating the concept of wealth. 59

4

INTRODUCTION useful analogies. From the detailed description of the tomb structures the study will address the issues of the extent to which considerations of security weighed upon the structure chosen, why different types of tomb were chosen, whether they were typical of the area and of the time and whether there appears to have been an individual choice in the design of the tombs. Consideration will be given to the tombs’ alignment and how, if at all, this relates to the alignment of earlier structures. The tombs will be examined in a historical, ancestral, economic and social context, and consideration will be given to what they tell us about the socio-political situation of the time. The study will address the question of what religious beliefs and social markers are demonstrated by the tomb, issues for which the works of Jan Assmann,75 Erik Hornung76 and Alix Wilkinson77 have helped form an understanding.

would need to be built and decorated so that the deceased could be provided with sustenance in the Field of Reeds.62 In the context of this study, those tombs that contain stone and either decoration or text are our elite. There are a few tombs in the Memphite area that are certain, from their sheer size, to be of the elite. The burial chambers of some tombs in Heliopolis, Giza63 and Old Cairo64 have survived and contain stone: they are undecorated and uninscribed, but this seems to be largely because the decoration of the superstructure has been robbed out and the burial texts were inscribed onto the sarcophagus rather than to the walls. In Saqqara, the tomb of Harkhebi is unfinished and the burial chamber of the tomb of Ankhwahibrasaneith was carefully dressed but undecorated: presumably it, too, was simply not finished. Both these tombs are included in this study. In Abusir, the anonymous Saite-Persian Shaft Tomb ‘R3’ is certain, by virtue of its similarity to the adjacent tombs, to have been built for an elite person, but no trace was found of decoration or text within it.

The study will next examine the texts and inscriptions from the tombs and will establish what was used, and where, in an attempt to establish the religious concepts that underpin the theology of, and drive, the tombs. It will consider how the texts and decorations in these tombs relate to previous and contemporary tombs. The works of Richard Fazzini78 and Edna Russmann79 discuss Late Period art, while those of Yvonne Harpur,80 Luise Klebs81 and Jacques Vandier82 have been very helpful in studying scenes of the Old, Middle and New Kingdoms to which it is necessary to relate the decorations now found on the Late Period tomb walls. During the last century many of the texts have been described by Gaston Maspero,83 Alexandre Piankoff84 and Etienne Drioton,85 while, more recently the excavators have rightly taken this description upon themselves. Much of the analytical work has been done in this regard by Louise Gestermann86 and Georges Soukiassian,87 whose works have provided a background for further exploration.

The concept of the ‘sacred landscape’ will be examined and consideration will be given to how this comes into being. The study will enquire why the cemeteries were built where they were, how they fit into the ritual or cultic landscape, and how the tombs relate to older, and contemporary, religious structures. The acquisition of ‘group memory’ and the creation of numinous places will be discussed. Janet Richards’ work on the conceptual landscapes of Abydos and Thebes65 and Michael Mallinson’s discussion of the Amarna landscape66 will be particularly helpful in considering the formation of ‘sacred landscapes’ in Egypt and elsewhere. From this, conclusions will be reached about the creation of the ‘sacred landscapes’ of the religious and funerary centres of Memphis. The different styles of tomb chosen for elite burial during the Late Period will be examined in detail to see what this tells us about the tomb owners’ positions in society and about that society itself. Structural comparisons will be made between the Memphite necropoleis and others. Excavation reports have given the technical details of the tomb structures, while the works of the Czech team on Abusir,67 of Susanne Bickel and Pierre Tallet on Heliopolis,68 Edda Bresciani69 and Saleh el-Naggar70 on Saqqara, and Christiane Zivie-Coche71 and Wafaa elSadeek on Giza72 have provided useful analyses of many of the tombs in these areas, and the works of Dietrich Eigner73 and Jan Assmann74 in Thebes have assisted with

A chapter will deal with the titles of the elite, listing and analysing all the titles found on the walls of the tombs. These fall into three categories: priestly, military and administrative. The priestly titles include those who work in the Sun Temple of Heliopolis and in other temples elsewhere, and also those who have honorific religious titles intended to bring a stipend. The military titles include those whose work was in the Army and the Navy, but also those of the Royal Guard, those in Security and those whose role was purely administrative. The third category, dealing with State Administration, includes 74

Assmann (1995). Assmann (2001) to (2005). Hornung (1971), (1992) and (1999). 77 Wilkinson (1994). 78 Fazzini (1975) to (1996). 79 Russmann (1974). 80 Harpur (1987). 81 Klebs (1915), (1922) and (1934). 82 Vandier (1964). 83 Maspero (1900) to (1901). 84 Piankoff (1942) to (1945). 85 Drioton (1953). 86 Gestermann (1994) and (2005). 87 Soukiassian (1982). 75

62

76

Donadoni (1997): 267. Tombs numbered LG 82, LG 83, LG 85 and LG 101 to LG 106. 64 Pawen-Hatef’s tomb. 65 Richards (1999). 66 Mallinson (1995). 67 Bareš, Verner and others, various dates. 68 Bickel and Tallet (1997), (1997a). 69 Bresciani (1977) to (1988). 70 el-Naggar (1978) to (1999). 71 Zivie-Coche (1991). 72 el-Sadeek (1984). 73 Eigner (1984). 63

5

THE ELITE LATE PERIOD EGYPTIAN TOMBS OF MEMPHIS comments on the existence and usage of those titles during the Old, Middle and New Kingdoms.

those whose work was in the Inner Palace, the Outer Palace, the ‘House of Life’, the Treasury, General Administration, Scribal and Secretarial Services and Provisioning. Honorific titles will be considered in detail. The works of Pierre-Marie Chevereau88 and Diana Pressl89 on Late Period Military and Administrative titles have been relied upon, while the works of Dillwyn Jones90 and Nigel Strudwick91 have afforded much information on the titles of the Old Kingdom. Stephen Quirke’s92 and William Ward’s93 works on Middle Kingdom titles, and that of Wolfgang Helck94 for the New Kingdom, have also been of assistance in establishing which titles were in continuous use and which were not. The occurrence of titles, by location and by number, will be considered in order to establish the social position held by those who were buried in the elite Late Period tombs of Memphis. There will also be a discussion on the extent to which titles were inherited or were gained as a result of hard work.

LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY The limitations of the study are primarily that the sample is statistically small. Although many tombs have come down to us, this represents only a small percentage of the population of Late Period Egypt. Tombs have been destroyed by people who used them as quarries for stone, by people who used the ancient mudbrick as sebakh and by the destructive effects of wind and water. Nevertheless, some seventy or so tombs have survived in the Memphite area, and that is sufficient for analysis and the drawing of some conclusions. Small samples have been useful in previous studies, for instance of Deir elMedina by Lyn Meskell105 and Morris Bierbrier,106 of the Theban tombs of the Late Period by Diethelm Eigner107 and of Nubian cemeteries by David Edwards.108 This study of Memphis tells us much about the position of the elite during the Late Period and about the social changes that came into force as a result of the Persian conquest. Another limitation is that excavators have not always been careful in the publication of their work and, until recently, excavation reports have left a great deal to be desired. This means that questions are raised to which there can be no answers, either because the tomb has since been robbed or destroyed, or because it has been reburied. In some cases even the tomb’s exact location is no longer known. There are also problems in interpretation of the material, in that the data has, until recently, been very badly recorded: the excavators at the beginning of the nineteenth century, who were responsible for much of the extant material, followed very different methods and did not record their work in a way that would be acceptable nowadays. Much valuable information has been lost and many of the extant artefacts that would be useful in research have not been properly attributed. Too often one sees ‘provenance unknown’ on museum records. One has to be careful not to see ancient work from a modern perspective. In order properly to consider the social and political attitudes of the time, one needs a knowledge of the dates of building of the tombs, but the lack of inscriptional evidence in the tombs that would provide such dates means that chronology is frequently uncertain. For this reason, a chronology of the Saite-Persian Shaft Tombs is proposed.109 This study will illuminate the interrelationship between the various sites that provided the place of burial at Giza, Saqqara and Abusir for those involved in the seat of administration in Memphis, and for those involved in the sacred temples at Memphis and Heliopolis.

Finally, consideration will be given to the relevance of the concept of archaism in the Late Period. The study will examine what gives rise to this widely applied term and will ask whether, in fact, ‘archaism’ is the correct term for the phenomenon or whether it would better be called ‘self-definition’. Many authors have discussed this issue, most recently Helmut Brunner,95 Sabine Neureiter,96 Jan Assmann,97 Louise Gestermann98 and Robert Morkot.99 Archaism will be examined in structure, art, literature and titles, with many examples drawn from the body of this work. The study will discuss the dialogue with the past and ask whether archaism is indeed a specifically Late Period Egyptian phenomenon. Bernard Bothmer,100 Jack Josephson,101 Elena Pischikova102 and Steven Shubert103 have given an insight into the archaism of Egyptian sculpture during the Late Period. Similarly, Louise Gestermann104 has analysed the texts of the Late Period. Their work, and that of others, will be discussed. The study will conclude with five supporting Appendices dealing with the structures of the Late Period elite tombs; the decoration and inscriptions from the tombs; the names, genealogy and title of their occupants; a concordance of religious texts that appear on the walls of the tombs, setting out on which walls of which tombs each text appears; and a list of the titles held by those whose tombs have been examined, together with 88

Chevereau (1985) and (1990). Pressl (1998). Jones (1998) and (2000). 91 Strudwick (1985). 92 Quirke (2004). 93 Ward (1982). 94 Helck (1958). 95 Brunner (1984). 96 Neureiter (1994). 97 Assmann (2002). 98 Gestermann (1994), (2005). 99 Morkot (2003), (2007). 100 Bothmer (1960). 101 Josephson (1997). 102 Pischikova (1994) and (1994a). 103 Shubert (1989). 104 Gestermann (1994), (2005), (2006). 89 90

Several authors have considered parts of the problem, but there are areas of study that have not been examined before in their entirety. For example, Christiane Zivie105

Meskell (1999). Bierbrier (1982). 107 Eigner (1984). 108 Edwards (2004). 109 See Chapter 3, page 76. 106

6

INTRODUCTION Saqqara was a popular site for excavation at the beginning of the twentieth century because of the readily available supply of artefacts and of textual information. Contemporary reports by Alexandre Barsanti115 and Gaston Maspero,116 together with the later reports of Zaki Saad117 and Jean-Philippe Lauer,118 provide virtually the only information available for the Late Period tombs in that area. Edda Bresciani’s publication of the SaitePersian Shaft Tomb of Djanehibu119 and of the great rock-cut tomb of Bakenrenef at Saqqara are examples of how excavation reports ought to be written.120 The data in all these publications has been invaluable. Although the excavations of the sacred animal necropoleis and reexcavation along the Unas causeway have produced valuable Late Period evidence, this appears to have been looked at in isolation and has not been considered as part of a single Memphite entity; only by doing so can one expect to gain an understanding of the socio-political situation in Memphis during the Late Period.

Coche, in her volume “Giza au Premier Millénaire. Autour du Temple d’Isis Dame des Pyramides”, considered in depth the reason for the establishment of the Late Period cemetery in Giza. She had studied the texts as part of the American Research Center in Egypt ‘Sphinx – Isis Temple’ Project.110 Although there were no tombs of High Priests discovered in or around the Isis Temple, her work details previous excavations at the site and the Late Period tombs found there, as well as the development of the Isis Temple itself. It sets out, in Part Three of her work, her view of Giza in Saite times, discussing the evolution of the Eastern Cemetery and the Isis Temple and listing documents that still exist on site as well as those from collections in Egypt and elsewhere that have come from the site. She details the Late Period tombs, both in the vicinity of the Isis Temple and elsewhere in Giza, and ends by considering the general utilisation of the area. However, she does not address the important issues of the ‘sacred landscape’ of Giza and only touches on the dialogue with the past of those tombs. Similarly Wafaa el-Sadeek’s “Twenty-sixth Dynasty Necropolis at Giza”, which centres on the tomb of Tjery, excavated by Flinders Petrie at the beginning of the twentieth century, has provided valuable information on the Late Period cemeteries at Giza. Her book also covers the Late Period tombs at Saqqara and elsewhere in Egypt, although not in detail, and considers the chronology and textual content of the tombs, but, again, not the issues that are the subject of this study.

Henri Gauthier’s early work on the Heliopolitan burials at Matareya and Ain Shams121 has been enhanced by Susanne Bickel and Pierre Tallet’s bringing together of all the evidence then available (1997). Their work “La Nécropole Saite d’Héliopolis”122 details what was known of fifteen Saite tombs in the area and seven sarcophagi, together with coffin parts, stelae and stone blocks from other Saite tombs. Their data and methodology have been invaluable for the consideration of the Heliopolitan Late Period tombs, being the only attempt to bring all the data together. Further discoveries in the area are comparatively frequent and the more important recent tombs are being transferred to the Ain Shams open air museum.

The Late Period burials at Abusir have been discussed by their excavators, in particular Miroslav Verner111 and Ladislav Bareš.112 The volume produced by the Oriental Institute of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic under the editorship of Miroslav Barta and Jaromir Krejči, entitled “Abusir and Saqqara in the Year 2000” has many articles usefully touching on the subject of this study.113 All these articles have provided valuable background information on current thought about the development of the cemeteries there. However, no discussion has taken place on the reason for the location of the important Late Period cemetery in Abusir and no comparative assessment has previously been made of the overall meaning of the huge Saite-Persian Shaft Tombs. Both these aspects will provide important information on the religious and socio-political thinking of the age. It is planned that a further volume, entitled “Abusir and Saqqara in the Year 2005”, be published.114

A. Hamada’s publication of the tombs that he excavated in al-Fustat (Greek ‘Babylon’) has been valuable as the only source of information about the tombs found there.123 The tombs were opened during quarry blasting at the site, which he believed to be part of a “vast necropolis where the people of Kheri-aha buried their dead since the Late Period.124” For the most part these are poor burials, but the tomb of Pawen-Hatef is that of a nomarch. The works of Erik Hornung, dealing with time and eternity in his “Idea Into Image”125 and Jan Assmann’s “The Mind of Egypt”,126 with his discussion of archaism, have helped in the consideration of the intellectual and religious aspects of the Late Period tombs.

110

115 Barsanti (1900), (1900a), (1900b), (1900c), (1901), (1901a), (1902) and (1904); Barsanti and Maspero (1900). 116 Maspero (1900), (1900a), (1900b) and (1901). 117 Saad (1940), (1947) and (1947a). 118 Lauer (1951), (1954) and (1956). 119 Bresciani (1977). 120 Bresciani (1983) and (1988). 121 Gauthier (1921), (1921a), (1922), (1927) and (1933). 122 Bickel and Tallet (1997) and (1997a). 123 Hamada (1937), (1937a) and (1938). 124 Hamada (1938): 479. 125 Hornung (1992). 126 Assmann (2002).

Fazzini (1996): 120. Verner (1982 to 2002). 112 Bareš (1988 to 2006). 113 These include The Destruction of the Monuments at the Necropolis of Abusir [Bareš (2000a)], Abusir during the Herakleopolitan Period [Daoud (2000)], Abusir - Saqqara - Giza [Goedicke (2000)], Die Rolle von Saqqara und Abusir bei der Überlieferung altägyptischer Jenseitsbücher [Kahl and von Falck (2000)], The Origins and Development of the Royal Necropolis at Abusir during the Old Kingdom [Krejci (2000)], Old-Kingdom Rulers as 'Local Saints' in the Memphite Area during the Middle Kingdom [Màlek (2000a)], and The Greek Cemetery in Abusir [Smolarikova (2000)]. 114 Ladislav Bareš: personal communication. 111

7

THE ELITE LATE PERIOD EGYPTIAN TOMBS OF MEMPHIS

The details of the tombs discussed in the study have come almost entirely from the published sources – largely those set out above – although some evidence has been obtained by visiting the tombs themselves and by correspondence with excavators, particularly Ladislav Bareš, who has been most helpful. The details of the tombs are set out in a dataset as Appendix C, which includes the name of the tomb owner in hieroglyphs and transliteration, with a reference to Hermann Ranke’s “Die Ägyptischen Personennamen” and his or her genealogy and titles, in hieroglyphs, transliteration and translation, and brief details of the funerary artefacts. Although much of this data has been previously looked at in isolation, this study examines it as a whole for the first time.

8

time’ which, in the absence of written history, is the domain of myth, created as an historical perception by the repetition and interpretation of stories.133 The creation of tradition depends upon forgetting the past, which permits a renewal and a sense of continuity and change.134 By putting these myths into writing they are preserved intact and become canonical.135 The creation of a ‘group memory’ requires an ‘ideational landscape’, defined as a ‘landscape of the mind’,136 within which objects and symbols create a ‘topography of legends’ that continually refreshes the social memory.137 Simon Scharma has explained that landscape is designed by culture, convention and cognition to contain a cultural memory.138 Colin Renfrew and Paul Bahn have pointed out that a sacred central place within the ‘sacred landscape’ would be the axis mundi – the central axis of the world and probably the cosmos.139

CHAPTER 2 LOCATION This chapter asks why the Late Period elite tombs were located where they were within the area of Memphis. It explores the concepts of the ‘sacred landscape’ and ‘group memory’ in general and will consider them in an Egyptian context. It considers how early man came to terms with his environment and examines how the concept of ‘sacred landscape’ influenced the positioning of the tomb clusters around Memphis. A theory is put forward to demonstrate the overall meaning of the Memphite necropoleis. Conspicuous display is a phenomenon that will frequently appear in the discussion of tomb location. When an elite builds a tomb he takes into account more than religious considerations. During his life he will have become accustomed to demonstrating his superior position to those with whom he came into daily contact. In death he would wish to continue to demonstrate his wealth and position to those who were left behind; that was done by ensuring that the tomb was impressively large and lavishly decorated, so that those viewing it would be constantly reminded of the status of the tomb’s incumbent. That lavish decoration, created for the primary purpose of impressing, is conspicuous display. In addition to that, it maintains the name of the tomb owner, an important function of the tomb that will be discussed in the next chapter.

Once a ‘sacred landscape’ is established, it becomes, amongst other things, a place within which one would wish to be buried. As successive generations are buried there, the landscape becomes a centre for worship and communion with ancestors,140 reinforcing the ‘sacred landscape’ itself. The ‘sacred landscape’ can also become a powerful socio-political tool. Its creation is viewed as “a direct and conscious response to the immediate social and political needs of newly emerging (society)”.141 In order to control a population, it is necessary to give the people a common purpose and to make them believe that what they are doing is for the common good. Groups of people have to have a reason to accept the position of those who run their society and to obey their rules. One such reason is religion, and a centralised religion is consistently used as a social tool by the hierarchies to assist them in their domination of the people;142 getting people to accept their king as a god was instrumental in controlling them. From his comparative studies of early civilisations, Bruce Trigger has concluded that the form of hierarchy was similar in all ancient societies,143 confirming the ‘sacred’ or ‘ideational’ nature of their landscape.

THE SACRED LANDSCAPE Mircea Éliade has said: “To live in a world one has to establish it ... To install oneself within a territory is equivalent to the foundation of a world”.127 When small groups of people come together and form a larger and more complex social group, they need a reason to coalesce. For the general cohesion of his society, mankind needs to position himself within the landscape in which he lives128 and imbue the specific features of that landscape with meaning. In order for the members of the society to have a common perception of history and ideology, memories must merge and crystallise to chart relationships between the past and the present:129 when nothing concrete can be found, space and time are used instead.130 That space is the landscape, while the meaning of time comes from a ‘group memory’,131 which also has to be developed from the landscape. Traditionally, the ‘recent past’ covers the period of the last eighty to one hundred years; prior to this there is a ‘floating gap’ of history;132 before the ‘floating gap’ is a period of ‘ancient

Such an approach to ‘sacred landscape’ occurs throughout the world – for example at Stonehenge,144 by the Mayans145 and in North American culture,146 while 133

Assmann (1992): 66, 87. Hobsbawm (1983): 1-14. Assmann (1992): 103. 136 Knapp and Ashmore (1999): 12. 137 Assmann (1992): 139. 138 Scharma (1995) quoted in Naguib (1998): 183. 139 Renfrew and Bahn (2000): 398. 140 Buikstra and Charles (1999): 204. 141 Morgan (1994): 105. 142 Peatfield (1994): 21. 143 Trigger (1993): 110. 144 Renfrew and Bahn (2000): 199. 145 Brady and Ashmore (1999): 139. 146 Buikstra and Charles (1999): 203. 134 135

127

Éliade (1965): 22. Assmann (1992): 38, quoting Halbwachs’ theories from Halbwachs (1941). 129 Naguib (2002): 182. 130 Assmann (1992): 38. 131 Assmann (1992): 39. 132 Vansina (1985): 23 ff. 128

9

THE ELITE LATE PERIOD EGYPTIAN TOMBS OF MEMPHIS benefits that it can offer. In order to control things he must be able to name them, so that, by naming them, he recognises them and gains control over them; recognition also banishes fear. This concept is presented in Chapter 144 of the Book of the Dead, in which the deceased is told the names of the guardians of the seven gates, and in Chapter 146,157 where, on arriving at each of the first fourteen of the twenty-one portals, the deceased has to be able to say to the guardian: “I know you, I know your name”.158 Early Egyptians also needed to put the potential chaos of the world in order, and for this the concept of Maat was developed. Jan Assmann has defined Maat as “a meaningful, all-pervasive order that embraces the world of humankind, objects and nature – in short, the meaning of creation, the form in which it was intended by the creator god”.159

“many great cities from China to Cambodia and from Sri Lanka to … Peru are laid out on cosmological principles, allowing the ruler to ensure harmony between his subjects and the prevailing sacred and supernatural forces.147” Springs and caves,148 valleys and mountains,149 were important for Greek sanctuaries,150 and Minoan ‘peak sanctuaries’ can commonly see and be seen from the human habitation, from which they are remote, yet accessible.151 Remoteness was an important factor, distance conferring a greater prestige.152 Some landscapes become sacred, not because of the numinous nature of the landscapes themselves but because they contain an image which is compellingly sacred. In that way the mountain of Jebel Barkal in the Sudan became sacred because the peak to the northern end resembled the protective deity Wadjet, who guarded the infant Horus, and, by association, the king.153 In western Thebes, the ‘Hathor Grotto’ above the Valley of the Queens became sacred because of the grotto, from which a waterfall and stream descended in dynastic times, representing rebirth in Hathor.154 Some landscapes are of a sufficiently numinous nature to have sustained a religious presence spanning different religions over a great period of time. The site of Luxor temple, for example, has sustained a continuous cultic use from at least dynastic times, through Christian beliefs into Islamic, with each cultic centre clearly discernible. It seems likely that a cult centre has existed there since prehistory. It is that numinous nature of monuments that encourages modern pilgrims to remove scrapings of stone: by imbibing these small particles the power of the stone can be taken in.

Similarly, the hunting and fishing scenes on the walls of tomb chapels frequently show disordered birds and animals, which the deceased puts in order.160 Such recurrent events as the motion of the heavens, the tides and inundations also need to be ‘tamed’ by giving them names and describing their physical attributes. The ‘sacred landscape’ at once tames nature and serves the needs of the people who live on the land.161 For the maintenance of law and order, personifications of the two opposite aspects were created; in Egypt the powerful myth of Horus and Seth was a personification of Maat and Isfet162 that endured throughout history.163 Lists became important as a way of preserving the past,164 and genealogy gave a way of joining together the ancient and recent past,165 potentially giving the holder of such genealogy a permanent and powerful link with myth, and, from that, social position. The divine king and other gods took part in an eternal cycle designed for the maintenance of Maat, which embodies social order166 and, in consequence, the continuing safety of the land of Egypt.167 By inference, the dead king would maintain order in the next life, and those buried in proximity to him would become a part of the order of the world.

Burials are often at the place where the entrance to the next world is thought to be.155 In Egypt the dead tend to be buried in the desert landscape, in the west, where a clear association can be seen with the next world, often in the shape of the Axt.156 This easy access to the next world will be seen as one of the prime reasons for the location of some of the Memphite tomb clusters.

At the very beginning of Egyptian history, Abydos became the royal burial ground because it had already become a ‘sacred landscape’.168 The ancient Egyptian words tA-Dsr are translated as ‘the sacred land’,169 an

Mankind needs to be in control of his environment; he needs to know what is in the landscape, how it behaves and how it will affect him. If he feels in control of his ‘sacred landscape’ he can more readily take part in the

157 “The Spells for entering by the mysterious portals of the House of Osiris in the Field of Rushes”. Faulkner (1972): 133-135. 158 Faulkner (1972): 136. 159 Assmann (2001): 3. 160 This concept is discussed in Chapter 4, below. 161 Pedley (2005): 51. 162 Isfet is ‘chaos’, the opposite of Maat. 163 Assmann (1992): 174. 164 Assmann (1992): 111. 165 Assmann (1992): 50. 166 Assmann (2001): 3. 167 O’Connor (1983): 201 says that “weakness, inability or inefficiency on the part of the king could create persistent maladministration in Egypt or losses abroad, all evidence of the disintegration of Maat.” By inference, the maintenance of Maat creates the opposite effects. 168 Richards (1999): 92. 169 Faulkner (1999): 293.

147

Renfrew and Bahn (2000): 399. Jost (1994): 217. 149 Jost (1994): 219. 150 Birge (1994): 234. 151 Peatfield (1994): 23. 152 de Polignac (1994): 11. 153 Hamilton (2005): 240. 154 Weeks (2005): 354. 155 In northwest Madagascar, for example, the Kajemby bury their dead on beaches so that the ancestral spirits of this fishing community might give their blessing to the living, and at Stonehenge the dead were buried in round barrows around the periphery of the stone circle. [Pearson (2001): 131]. 156 See the discussion on Abydos, Akhetaten and Giza on Page 11 below. 148

10

LOCATION expression which appears to originate in Abydos170 and which would seem to have had the same meaning as the phrase ‘sacred landscape’ that is the object of this present discussion. The phrase was extended to mean ‘necropolis’, as the sacred area within which burials take place. From the royal burial ground in Abydos the sun was seen to set between the hills of the western mountains in such a way that it resembled the hieroglyphic sign Axt171 (Figure 1) the horizon into which the sun did, indeed, die every evening: the dead would become identified with the dying sun.172

Figure 2. The Gurn on the West Bank at Thebes. [Author’s Photograph]

Akhenaten attempted to create a ‘sacred landscape’ for the god Ra in his form as the Aten, based on that of Thebes, when he designed his city of Akhetaten – modern Amarna178. There was large-scale building at Karnak and in its surroundings by Amenhotep III in the Eighteenth Dynasty, and Akhenaten would certainly have been familiar with this; indeed, the same architects may well have worked on both plans. The sun rose each day above the Royal Tomb, where the hills form the hieroglyph Axt, as do the hills behind Abydos, although here they are to the east while in Abydos they are to the west.179 Akhetaten did not, however, become a ‘persistent place’. It failed to survive through the period of the ‘recent past’ into the ‘floating gap’. Therefore, in spite of all attempts to impart a sacred nature to its landscape, it simply did not last long enough to gain one.180

Figure 1. Abydos: the ‘notch’ in the western hills. [Photograph by Reg Clark]

The ‘sacred landscape’ of Thebes was defined in the New Kingdom, although it had existed throughout history. Dominated by the Gurn (Figure 2), processional ways extended west from Karnak temple into the ‘ideational landscape’ in which the east and west banks of the Nile became a great temple dedicated to Amun-Ra.173 On the ‘living’ side of the Nile, to the east, lies the great temple of Karnak in which Amun-Ra lived, while to the south of Karnak is Luxor temple, where the birth of Amun-Ra was celebrated each year during the Opet Festival. Across the river, on the ‘dead’ side of the Nile, the area is bounded to the north by the chapel of Amun-Ra and the Hathor chapel in the hills of Deir el-Bahri, where the mortuary temple of Hatshepsut of the Eighteenth Dynasty housed the barque of Amun-Ra during the Beautiful Festival of the Valley.174 Hathor was ‘Lady of the West’ and guardian of the Theban necropolis175 and, as ‘Lady of the Sycamore Tree’, she provisioned the dead.176 The southern limit is at Djeme, the place in which the Hermopolitan Ogdoad was buried, marked by the chapel of Hatshepsut and Tuthmosis III in Medinet Habu.177 The royal mortuary temples of the New Kingdom stretched out along the north-south line between these two positions on the west bank, dominated by the gigantic mortuary temple of Amenhotep III at Kom el-Hetan. The Theban landscape began with the birth of the sun god in the east and ended with his death in the west, beyond which is the horizon and eternity.

170

Other sites became sacred because the presence of deified people, once mortal, made them so. In this category falls the tomb of Petosiris, at Tuna el-Gebel near Hermopolis, which became a burial vault for people of a later age because of the sanctity it afforded.181 S. Schlanger has defined a ‘persistent place’ as one that is “used repeatedly during the long-term occupation of a region”182 and it is that persistence that permits a landscape to reinforce its sacred nature. The ‘long-term’ must be long enough to exceed the ‘floating gap’ of history and to enshrine ‘old’ memories.183 The recording of historical events in antiquity will inevitably have been narrative, and a narrative story is normally regarded as fiction;184 since all ‘old’ history will therefore be regarded as narrated story, there will have been no way of separating truth from fiction in ‘old’ tales, with the result that the teller alone is in a position to advise his audience of what 178 Mallinson (1995): 204. Michael Mallinson conjectured a plan whereby the centre of the city was a mirror image of Karnak temple, turned north – south. 179 Gardiner (1957): 489, sign N27. This is said to represent the ‘sun rising over a mountain’. It should therefore more properly be to the east and not to the west. 180 Richards (1999): 96. 181 Lefebvre (1923-4): 21-9 in Baines (2004): 47 182 Schlanger (1992): 92. 183 Assmann (1992): 39. 184 Assmann (2002): 7.

Hannig (2001): 1015.

171

Gardiner sign N27. Richards (1999): Figure 4.7. Johnson (2001): 66. 174 Shafer (1998): 3 and 242, note 16. 175 Hart (1986): 78. 176 Ikram (2003): 109. 177 Bell (1998): 178. 172 173

11

THE ELITE LATE PERIOD EGYPTIAN TOMBS OF MEMPHIS daily places of birth and death of the sun,198 a natural cycle unavoidable in a climate, such as that of Egypt, with almost uninterrupted sunshine. The western desert was under the control of other deities who inhabited the landscape. The jackal gods Wepwawet199 and Anubis200 patrolled the area, and the great underworld gods Sokar and Osiris were perceived to live there.201 To be close to these would enhance one’s chances of safely reaching the Field of Reeds. Because of this, and because it included the horizon into which the sun died every evening, the western desert naturally became the place where people, too, went when they died. The escarpment that marked the separation of the cultivable Nile Valley from the barren desert also marked the delineation between the living and the dead. And yet those who died and were buried there would not be forgotten: the sheer scale of the cliffs to the west meant that large tombs built there could readily be seen from Memphis in the valley. For these reasons Saqqara became the burial ground for Memphis, where it was deemed expedient to demonstrate one’s wealth by the conspicuous display of large, impressive tombs. The way in which the desert imposes itself upon the landscape can be seen from Map 1.

is correct, whether in fact it is or not. In a ‘persistent place’, therefore, it is the story-tellers – primarily the priests – who are in a position to tell the population what to believe and what to disregard. ORIENTATION In Egypt there are three dynamics that affect the whole of life: the south-north passage of the Nile, the east-west passage of the sun and the static position of the circumpolar stars. These three elements were consistently obvious to the people who lived there, and, through the ‘sacred landscape’, came to reflect creation and the maintenance of Maat.185 The world was divided into four quarters, each associated with one of the four cardinal points.186 This landscape was reflected in the temples, which were built into the landscape to follow its sacredness,187 to reinforce its sacred nature and to ensure that, through ritual, Maat was maintained, with the perpetuation of the natural cycles (and non-cyclical events), mirroring the ‘first’ creation.188 The sun was born each morning from the mound of creation; at a later date the mound was placed within the inner sanctuary of the Sun Temple, so that the sun entered the world through the vulva that was represented by the pylons at the temple entrance.189 There it would “arise as Khepri as you come out of Nenet, and your rays spread over the world”.190

Netjerikhet / Djoser, at the start of the Third Dynasty, built his mastaba tomb within a giant enclosure wall. Tradition has it that his architect Imhotep, wr mAA, or High Priest of the Sun Temple of Heliopolis,202 conceived the plan of raising the tomb in a series of steps.203 The steps of the pyramid may be the ladder to heaven referred to in several Pyramid Text Utterances: in Utterance 572, the gods who are on earth “make a ladder for you that you may ascend on it to the sky”;204 in Utterance 625, the king says: “I have gone up upon the ladder with my foot on Orion”,205 and in Utterance 688, “Atum … makes firm the wooden ladder for this king”.206 Alternatively, it may be a representation of the primordial mound that appeared from the waters of Nun at the creation of the world.207

Bruce Trigger found that all the early civilisations that he had examined had a fundamentally similar set of religious beliefs,191 which finding is clearly reflected in Nabta Playa,192 Stonehenge,193 the Pawnee earth lodge194 and Newgrange,195 where “the passage-grave resembles a vagina leading into the womb.196” Where these aspects of orientation were important to the ‘sacred landscape’, one would expect them to be reflected into the structure of the tomb as well. And so it has been shown, with virtually all the Late Period tombs having the same orientation as their earlier counterparts. THE MEMPHITE NECROPOLEIS The desert has always been a place apart from Egypt, a place of chaos.197 It was an ideational landscape in which supernatural and actual dangers lurked. It included the

198 The sun died in the west at the beginning of the first hour of the night and was born again in the east at the end of the twelfth. [Hornung (1999): 34 and 65] 199 Spencer (1982): 157. 200 Assmann (2001): 82. 201 Spencer (1982): 157. 202 Lehner (1997): 84. 203 Malek (2000): 92. This was possibly because the enclosure wall concealed his tomb from the people of Memphis below by whom it should have been seen and admired. 204 Faulkner (1998): 227. 205 Faulkner (1998): 259. 206 Faulkner (1998): 297. 207 Verner (2002): 116. Lehner (1997): 82 says that access to the pyramid complex and adjacent areas at that time was through the wadi from Abusir Lake, north and slightly east of the site, which would probably have been flooded during the inundation. For that reason the enclosure was not set on the edge of the escarpment facing Memphis but further towards the desert, on the opposite side of the wadi from Khasekhemwy’s enclosure – the Gisr el-Mudir

185

Shafer (1998): 1. Trigger (1993): 90. Gundlach (2001): 379. 188 Shafer (1998): 2. 189 Shafer (1998): 5. 190 Finnestad (1998): 206. This refers to the Temple of Horus at Edfu, from which much of our knowledge of temple ritual derives. Although Ptolemaic, there is every reason to expect, given the conservative nature of ancient Egypt, that early ritual contained the same concept. 191 Trigger (1993): 110. These were from Egypt to Mesopotamia, America, Africa and the Far East. 192 Wendorf (1993): 12; Malville (1998): 490. 193 Glastonbury (2007) website. 194 Humphrey and Vitebsky (1997): 14. 195 Bahn (2001): 319. 196 Humphrey and Vitebsky (1997): 85. 197 Oakes (2004): 336. 186 187

12

LOCATION By the Fifth Dynasty the great enclosure of Djoser had almost certainly become sacred and his architect Imhotep had been deified and venerated as the son of Ptah.216 Userkaf built his pyramid in the immediate vicinity of the Step Pyramid – tight against the eastern enclosure wall, towards the northern end and on top of the enigmatic ditch that surrounds Djoser’s monument.217 The practice of building close to Djoser’s Step Pyramid continued sporadically until the end of the Old Kingdom, when the area fell into disuse. The later kings of the Fifth Dynasty built their monuments in Abusir.218

Royal burials, and with them the elite, moved from Saqqara during the Third Dynasty, to Meidum,208 then to Dahshur,209 Giza and Abu Rouash in the Fourth.210 This left the area of Saqqara free from royal building until Userkaf returned there at the start of the Fifth Dynasty, some one hundred and fifty years later.211 The abandonment of Saqqara permitted the ‘sacred landscape’ to acquire more of those myths that come with group memory, encouraging Imhotep to become revered. The life cycle of gods and deified people was construed to take place in sacred, rather than in secular, time and space,212 and monumental time was sacred time.213 During the Old Kingdom, ‘group memory’ developed Saqqara into a ‘sacred landscape’ within which the building of one’s tomb became highly desirable. The kings of the Fourth Dynasty forsook Saqqara and Dahshur as their burial ground and built instead at Giza: Miroslav Verner has made the point that a geodetic line drawn through the south-eastern corners of the three pyramids at Giza would extend to the Sun Temple at Heliopolis,214 thus tying in the sacred Temple with the pyramid (Figure 3).

Figure 4. Lines of sight from the Sun Temple at Heliopolis.

To the south, it has been said that Abu Ghurob was the most southerly position from which the Sun Temple of Heliopolis could be seen.219 However, Miroslav Verner’s geodetic line, mentioned above with reference to Giza, when drawn through the northwest corners of the pyramids at Abusir, would meet the line from Giza at the place within the Sun Temple at Heliopolis where the benben stone is thought to have been placed. This suggests that the connecting line was of great importance and that, even if the Temple could not actually be seen, sight of it was inferred. The Sun Temple could probably also have been seen from the location of the tombs at Kher-Aha, at Babylon,220 which might otherwise have been built elsewhere. However, the extensive quarrying at Babylon makes this assumption impossible to prove.

Figure 3. Geodetic lines from Giza and Abusir to the Sun Temple at Heliopolis. [From Verner (2002): 303]

Abu Rouash was also in line of sight from the Sun Temple at Heliopolis (Figure 4). It was at the northern limit from which the Sun Temple could be seen, because immediately north of Abu Rouash the mountain descends sharply into the delta plain.215 Building further north would have been at a considerably lower level and would have meant that the Sun Temple could not have been seen from the pyramid.

The shape of the pyramids, clad with shining white limestone, represented the benben stone and the pyramid capstone itself was called benbenet.221 The pyramids are thought to depict the rays of the sun, suggesting a solar meaning for them which is reinforced by their east-west orientation. However, tradition also had it that the king became one with the circumpolar stars when he died, a 216 Assmann (2002): 55. Hurry (2000): 28 says that this understanding is the result of the reading of one of the Oxyrhynchus papyri. Grimal (1992): 64 says that Imhotep was deified in the Late Period. 217 Lehner (1997): 82. 218 Malek (2000): 109. 219 Kaiser (1956): 104. 220 Facing the Roda nilometer in modern ‘Old Cairo’ [Rizkana and elAlfi (1988): 54]. Ghosh (1992): 34 says that the name ‘Babylon’ may come from the Arabic Bab il-On, meaning ‘the Gate of On (Heliopolis)’. The tombs of Kher-Aha might also lie on the geodetic line from Abusir to the Sun Temple in Heliopolis. 221 Quirke (2001): 115.

208

Huni, or possibly Snofru. Kemp (2006): 159. 209 Snofru. Malek (2000): 93. 210 Radjedef built at Abu Rouash, Khufu, Khafra and Menkaura at Giza. Although Shepseskaf returned to south Saqqara, he abandoned the pyramid form and built the ‘Mastabat el- Fara’un’. Malek (2000): 97. 211 Malek (2000): 105. 212 Shafer (1998): 130. 213 Assmann (2002): 60. 214 Verner (2002): 302. 215 This dramatic drop into the plain can be seen on maps but is most obvious when standing beside the pyramid at Abu Rouash.

13

THE ELITE LATE PERIOD EGYPTIAN TOMBS OF MEMPHIS Maat’ in Memphis231 and Memphis was described as ‘the Divine Island of Ancient Times’.232 The island was the first appearance of land after the Nile inundation and, by inference, became the first appearance of land from the primordial ocean at the time of creation. It therefore became a powerful metaphor. Plutarch said that the name of Memphis was interpreted to mean the tomb of Osiris.233 The people of the Saite period who lived in Memphis were surrounded by the past and sometimes imitated it in a way that will be discussed in a later chapter.234 In Giza and Saqqara they could see past glory and wanted to be associated with it: they took advantage of the ‘sacred landscape’ in which they found themselves.

situation confirmed in the name of Djoser’s pyramid complex, which is “Horus is the star at the head of the sky”.222 In Pyramid Text Utterance 215 the king ascends to the sky as a star,223 while in Utterance 216 he fades at dawn with the other stars.224 An alignment with the north remained paramount. The classic pyramid was entered from the north and from that point the deceased could join the circumpolar stars.225 The air shafts from the socalled ‘Queen’s Chamber’ and from the ‘King’s Chamber’ of the Great Pyramid are orientated towards the stars226 and it has been suggested that the pyramids were accurately orientated by taking sightings of the brightest stars.227 In the pyramids, therefore, west and north become closely associated.

The importance of the ‘sacred landscape’ was based primarily on the temple and on the interrelation between the earth and sky, and the living and the dead, but another form of landscape was equally important when choosing a place for burial: the funerary landscape, which determined the structure of the tomb and which will be discussed in the next chapter. Each of the burial sites of Memphis will now be discussed in more detail.

The association of west with north reflects different aspects of the Egyptian concept of eternity, expressed as nHH and Dt. NHH (neheh) is cyclical eternity, represented by, amongst other concepts, the daily rising and setting of the sun, and it is therefore associated with the east-west axis of the tomb structure; Dt (djet), on the other hand, is a linear, unchanging eternity, represented by the fixed north star, and is associated with the northern access to the tomb.228 NHH, as ‘change’ was associated with Khepri, while Dt, as ‘completeness’ was associated with Atum.229

SAQQARA The earliest elite tombs at Saqqara had monumental superstructures with ‘palace façade’ niche decoration, painted in geometric patterns,235 and they were arranged along the edge of the escarpment (Map 5), from where their conspicuous display could be admired. The Step Pyramid of the Third Dynasty was built in a position above Abusir Lake (Map 6). The city of Memphis236 gradually migrated southwards until, in the later Old Kingdom, it reached a position under the modern town of Mit Rahina, when it was known as mn-nfr.237 The pyramids of the later Old Kingdom are generally situated opposite the new position of the city, above the Wadi elTafla.238 These ancient monuments eventually acquired a sanctity which the people of the Late Period held in high regard and with which they wished to be associated in death. The south Saqqara pyramids, however, were not within the ‘sacred landscape’ of ‘Old’ Memphis and the south Saqqara pyramid field may well have been in ruins by the Late Period. South Saqqara was probably not visible from Memphis and was divorced from the attentions of visiting pilgrims, making it a less desirable place in which to be buried: conspicuous display there would have been pointless, as people would not be reminded of the name and social status of those buried there. In addition to the sanctity of ancient monuments, in a royal burial ground it was important to be buried as close as possible to the tomb of the pharaoh, whose

The pyramid shape of the structures at Abu Rouash, Giza and Abusir reflects the shape of the benben stone within the Heliopolitan Temple, while the Sun Temples at Abu Ghurob appear to be direct copies of the stone on its pedestal. It seems, then, that the entire area from the Heliopolitan Sun Temple, stretching out across the river to the West Bank pyramids and Sun Temples and thence to the horizon, from Abu Rouash in the north to Abusir in the south, is a vast extension of the Sun Temple and constituted a ‘sacred landscape’. The temple itself is part of the cosmos and Jan Assmann has said that “The temple was a ‘sky’ on earth, but at the same time sky and earth.” 230 In the desert, west of Memphis, the area of the Sun Temple of Heliopolis was extended so that Jan Assmann’s statement is literally true. Within this ‘sacred landscape’ there are other, smaller funerary landscapes. The Memphite area was deeply privileged by the sacred animal burials and by its antiquity, so that the whole area took on a special sanctity. In the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Dynasties there are records of an ‘Island of

222

Quirke (2001): 116. Faulkner (1998): 42. 224 Faulkner (1998): 43. 225 Frankfort (1961): 100. 226 Verner (2002a): 200. The southern shaft is aligned with Sirius and the northern shaft with β-Ursae Minoris. Lehner (1997): 112-113 says that both sets were orientated to Orion and the ‘northern polar stars’. 227 Quirke (2001): 115. 228 Hornung (1992): 68; Allen (1988): 25; Zabkar (1965): 78-83 discusses various scholars’ interpretations of the meanings of nHH and Dt. 229 Assmann (2001): 75. Uphill (2003): 24 gives Dt as past eternity and nHH as future eternity. 230 Assmann (2001): 37. 223

231

Erman ZÄS 33 (1895): 22 quoted in Wilkinson (1994): 395. Sethe ‘Amun und die acht Urgötter vom Hermopolis’: §250 quoted in Wilkinson (1994): 395. 233 Plutarch De Isid. 20 (translated by Gwyn Griffith) quoted in Wilkinson (1994): 395 234 Zivie-Coche (1976): 309 235 Bard (2000): 74. 236 inbw-HD. Malek (2000a): 244. 237 Malek (2000a): 244. 238 Jeffreys (1998): 68. 232

14

LOCATION divinity would be reflected onto the tomb owner;239 and from a social point of view it would be equally important to be seen to be buried in close proximity to a pharaoh: proximity in death implied proximity in life.

occupied by the ibis and baboon galleries,253 but it has not yet been found. So it is unsurprising that the Step Pyramid took on a special meaning in the Late Period; here were very sacred monuments that pilgrims would regularly visit.

By the Late Period, Djoser was venerated as the ‘Opener of Stone’240 and his pyramid, the first large monument completed in stone, was seen as a place of pilgrimage. Stone was the building material of immortality,241 being used in a mortuary context, by those who could afford it, where it was expected to last for eternity.242 Brick, on the other hand, was the medium used for structures built for the living, by whom it could be replaced as and when required. Djoser’s pyramid was cleared in the Twentysixth Dynasty and a new passageway was cut into the structure243 to enable access to the lengthy underground passages that were Djoser’s palace, probably representing the Underworld.244 At the time of the original Third Dynasty construction, the walls of the chambers of the main tomb, and of the south tomb, were covered in blue faience tiles and the ceiling was decorated with a star motif representative of the night sky.245 This theme would almost certainly have been seen and admired by Late Period visitors.

For the purposes of this study, the term ‘pilgrims’ refers to three distinct classes of people. Firstly, there are those who visit a site as a matter of personal piety. Jan Assmann has said that ‘personal piety’ takes four different forms, including local forms of religion centred on local shrines,254 domestic and individual cult chapels,255 and popular religion. Popular religion would encourage people to leave votive offerings256 at the sites they revere, by which that reverence can be identified. Many votive offerings were given to Imhotep, at the Step Pyramid in Saqqara, by the pilgrims visiting there in the hope of medical intervention.257 The second class of pilgrims are those who would have attended the cults of ‘ancestor gods’. Jan Assmann has said that “the ancestor gods were dead gods, and as such received a veritable mortuary cult. They embodied the depth of time, the incipient awareness of which developed during . They were gods of the past, or more precisely of what came before the past, the mythical primordial age that brought forth the foundations of the present. The celebrants of the cult of the ancestor gods were aware of being separated from that past, and their awareness expressed itself in cultic acts of remembrance for the dead”.258

Imhotep was Djoser’s chamberlain and architect and he was revered as a great healer.246 James Henry Breasted said of him: “In priestly wisdom, in magic, in the formulation of wise proverbs, in medicine, in architecture, this remarkable figure of Zoser’s reign left so notable a reputation that his name was never forgotten. The people sang his proverbs centuries later, and 2,500 years after his death he had become a god of medicine whom the Greeks, who called him Imouthes, identified with their own Aesculapius”.247

These cultic acts consisted, in the main, of festivals and processions.259 The third class of pilgrims are those who visit the burials and tombs of their recent ancestors. In addition to the sanctity of the Step Pyramid, there was another factor that made the area important: the walls of the burial chamber and antechamber of the pyramid of Unas, the last king of the Fifth Dynasty, were the first to be covered with Pyramid Texts. His tomb must have been open during the Late Period. This was the oldest corpus of religious texts,260 many of which date from the distant past as perceived from the Late Period, their very antiquity appealing to those Egyptians in their search for the remote past.261 These important texts gave the deceased king the information that he required on his journey to the sky, his reception in the realm of the dead, his joining of the solar barque and the dangers of the journey to the Field of Reeds, as well as spells for his

He was described in the Turin Canon as the son of Ptah248 and became one of the principal gods worshipped in Memphis.249 Imhotep was also identified with the Phoenician god of healing, Eshmun250 and was High Priest of Heliopolis.251 In the New Kingdom Imhotep was named as the earliest wisdom teacher.252 Imhotep’s tomb is thought to be in the vicinity of Djoser’s Step Pyramid, possibly in the area 239

Ikram (2003): 141. Assmann (2002): 55. 241 Assmann (2002): 55. 242 Arnold (2003): 229. 243 Siliotti (1997): 112. 244 Lehner (1997): 88. 245 Lehner (1997): 92. 246 Hurry (2000): 55. 247 Breasted ‘A History of Egypt’ (1919): 113, quoted in Hurry (2000): 55. 248 Grimal (1992): 65. 249 Hurry (2000): 55. Djoser was sometimes confused with Imhotep. Africanus, referring to Djoser, said: “(Djoser), who because of his medical skill has the reputation of Asklepios among the Egyptians.” [Nunn (2000): 122]. 250 Jayne ‘The Healing Gods of Ancient Civilisations’ (1925): 138, quoted in Hurry (2000): 55. 251 Josephson (2001): 151. 252 Hornung (1971): 51. 240

253 Nicholson (2005): 48. Imhotep was associated with Thoth, and therefore with the ibis and baboon. Newspaper reports in December 2007 have stated that the location of Imhotep’s tomb may have been identified, but nothing more ha so far been heard of this. 254 Assmann (2002): 229 cites the shrine of Heqaib on Elephantine as an example. 255 As those at Amarna and Deir el-Medina. [Assmann (2002): 229]. 256 Assmann (2002): 229. 257 Hurry (2000): 55. 258 Assmann (2002): 363. 259 Assmann (2002): 363. 260 Hornung (1999): 1. 261 Roccati (1997): 81.

15

THE ELITE LATE PERIOD EGYPTIAN TOMBS OF MEMPHIS provisioning.262 That information could be of equal value in the Twenty-sixth Dynasty. A knowledge of the ancient language in which the Pyramid Texts were written was developed by the Late Period scribes.263 The ceiling of Unas’ burial chamber, like that of Djoser, was covered with the representation of stars and this was the first pyramid since the Step Pyramid to have been decorated.264

magnificent tombs of the elite personages who had died more recently, thus the ancient and the recent would become associated in splendour. The tombs on the eastern escarpment were particularly well placed for conspicuous display, as they directly overlooked Memphis. THE SACRED ANIMAL NECROPOLEIS

The building of temples and tombs reinforced the development of a ‘sacred landscape’ and created an area in which people would wish to be buried. This sanctity encouraged clusters of tombs to be built in the Late Period. Firstly, there are several large tombs in the immediate vicinity of the pyramid of Unas (Map 5, Area 1), drawing power and assistance for their journey into the next life both from the pyramid texts close by and from the adjacent Step Pyramid and, probably, from Imhotep’s tomb. Other tombs of the period lined the Unas pyramid causeway, which was almost equally sacred. To the northeast of the Step Pyramid was another cluster of Late Period tombs around the pyramid of Userkaf (Map 5, Area 3), which had been built within the ditch round the Step Pyramid enclosure and close against the enclosure wall. The cluster of tombs gained spiritual strength from both these structures. A third cluster of tombs is to the northwest of the Step Pyramid enclosure (Map 5, Area 2), where the tomb owners took strength not only from that monument but also from the Serapeum and from the other sacred animal necropoleis and temples that had become of great religious importance during the Late Period. A fourth cluster of Late Period tombs is in the vicinity of the Monastery of Apa Jeremias (Map 5, Area 5).

Figure 5. The Sacred Animal necropolis of North Saqqara. [From Nicholson (2005): 47]

By the Late Period, religion in Egypt no longer differentiated between the gods of the sky, those of the earth and those of the underworld, and the deities tended to function in every area: the worship of visible images became all important.266 Erik Hornung said: “Just as a god may reside in a cult image of stone or wood, so he may reside in the body of an animal. The best known of these living cult images is the Apis bull in Memphis, which was worshipped as a separate deity by the early dynastic period, and later as an embodiment of Ptah”.267

Finally, there is a small cluster of important rock-cut tombs cut into the eastern edge of the escarpment (Map 5, Area 4). The western desert was the great sacred place of the dead and was the domain of Osiris. By cutting one’s tomb directly into the desert one would be closer to Osiris. At the same time, the entrance to these tombs looked eastwards, so that the deceased could welcome the rising sun. He could therefore take part in both the diurnal and the nocturnal solar journeys, being ready to join the solar barque when the ba of Ra unites with the body of Osiris to create new life at the sixth hour of every night.265

Personal gods increased in importance and the personal god, which now became accessible to all classes, became the means for overcoming the impermanence of life.268 It seems that the proliferation of animal cults in the Late Period was an attempt to appease the gods following foreign invasion269 and the kings became their benefactors.270 But whatever the reason, in addition to the Apis bull, which was revered as Ptah and became identified with Osiris upon his death, his mother was now

In addition to the religious reasons for the positions of the Late Period elite tombs, Saqqara was close to Memphis, creating an opportunity for conspicuous display. A stream of pilgrims would come to visit the buildings of Djoser and the tomb and shrines of Imhotep; at the same time, not only would the living occupants of the capital see the great tombs of the past, they would also see those

266

Hornung (1971): 230. Hornung (1971): 136. 268 Neureiter (1994): 244. 269 Nicholson (2005): 49. 270 Johnson (1994): 153. It has been suggested that the growth of animal cults was an attempt to set Egyptians apart from foreigners, although that seems a most unlikely reason as Egyptians already considered themselves apart from foreigners. 267

262

Hornung (1999): 5. Roccati (1997): 81. Lehner (1997): 154. 265 Hornung (1999): 37. 263 264

16

LOCATION revered as Isis.271 Later, the cult of the father of Isis, revered locally as Thoth, was added in both his ibis and his baboon form.272 The lunar ibis was counterbalanced by the addition of the solar hawk.273 To the east of the area was a catacomb devoted to Anubis.274 These gods were represented in their animal form and when they died they were mummified and buried with due reverence in galleries set aside for that purpose at the northern end of Saqqara (Figure 5).

GIZA The Giza plateau was ideal for the ambitions of the Fourth Dynasty kings to build pyramids. The limestone rock there is nearly flat, making the quarrying of stone much easier than it would have been on a sloping plane, and yet it slopes gradually down towards the southeast.281 This is the so-called Mokkatam Formation that runs from Giza in the north to Saqqara in the south, with a small break to the north of Abusir.282 The bedrock is at the surface, which means that no overlying rock had to be removed before quarrying the construction stone. The limestone there also has many cracks, or joints, with the result that it is readily split, and yet it does not shatter.283 It was exactly the rock that was needed for the cores of the pyramids, although the fine limestone casing blocks had to be ferried across the river from Tura.284 The sloping edge of the plateau to the east was perfect for the construction of the causeways from the valley to the mortuary temples. A natural escarpment to the north meant that the pyramids built there could readily be seen from across the river, within the extended Heliopolitan Sun Temple that has been discussed above.

DAHSHUR Although it contained Snofru’s pyramids from the Fourth Dynasty, as well as Middle Kingdom pyramids, the site of Dahshur was not popular with the Late Period elite. The site was used only for a short time by Snofru in the Old Kingdom and for three kings of the Middle Kingdom, when a cult of Snofru appeared in the valley temple of the Bent Pyramid.275 But this cult disappeared with the end of the Middle Kingdom and the area fell into general disuse after that time. In 1976 a Late Period cemetery was excavated by Ahmed Moussa close to the pyramid of Amenemhat II, producing “large numbers of stone, baked clay and wooden sarcophagi”,276 but no tombs were described. By virtue of the recovered grave goods and the lack of evidence of monumental architecture, this was probably not an elite cemetery, although it could be that elite tombs at Dahshur remain unexcavated. However, it is too far from Memphis to be seen by those who lived there and the lack of a cultic centre at Dahshur in the Late Period makes it unlikely that pilgrims would have passed that way, giving no opportunity for conspicuous display by the elite.

A principal concern of the architects of the pyramids was to align them with the cardinal points, the most accurately aligned pyramid being that of Khufu. Research by Kate Spence has suggested that the pyramids were aligned using sightings of celestial bodies, which resulted in inaccuracies in the positioning of the succeeding pyramids’ alignment, due to the phenomenon known as celestial precession.285 She has further suggested that all eight pyramids, from that at Meidum of the very beginning of the Fourth Dynasty up to, and including, that of Neferirkara of the Fifth Dynasty, were aligned using a plumb line passed through an invisible chord linking two circumpolar stars on opposite sides of the north pole.286 The importance of the circumpolar stars to the king has already been noted above, and Spence’s theory would seem to reinforce this.

MEIDUM Meidum is even further away from Memphis than Dahshur. Although the pyramid completed by Snofru277 was built there, creating the first true pyramid as the forerunner of the great pyramids of the Fourth Dynasty, it had collapsed by the Twentieth Dynasty.278 Meidum developed no special relationship with the Late Period Egyptians because it was deep in the desert and much too far away from Memphis for the elite to consider it a worthwhile burial ground, as it would not have been visited by the living so that their tombs would not have been seen.

Khufu’s son Djedefra deserted the cemetery of Giza to build his pyramid at Abu Rouash, but when he died his brother Khafra returned to Giza, where his pyramid, and that of Menkaura, were built. The three Giza pyramids were surrounded by the secondary pyramids of the deceased kings’ queens and by the mastaba tombs of their courtiers. Causeways ran down from the mortuary temples to the valley temples. The Sphinx was sculpted from the natural rock by Khafra beside his causeway. Next to the Sphinx is the enigmatic Sphinx Temple, from which during the summer solstice the sun can be seen to set almost exactly midway between the pyramids of

Flinders Petrie found Twenty-sixth Dynasty coffins built into Meidum Old Kingdom Mastaba 17279 and Thirtieth Dynasty coffins in the Far South cemetery280 but these were intrusive burials, of those of lower social standing. 271

Nicholson (2005): 46. Nicholson (2005): 48. 273 Nicholson (2005): 48. 274 Nicholson (2005): 48. 275 Lehner (1997): 104. 276 Leclant (1978): 281. 277 Lehner (1997): 97. 278 A burial in the debris of the pyramid casing has been dated from this time. Sampsell (2003): 102. 279 Porter and Moss (1978-1981): Vol. IV, 95. 280 Porter and Moss (1978-1981): Vol. IV, 95. 272

281

Sampsell (2003): 103. Sampsell (2003): Figure 10.1. 283 Sampsell (2003): 104. 284 Sampsell (2003): 106. 285 Spence (2000): 321. 286 Spence’s analysis suggested that this was carried out using the stars ζ-Ursae Majoris and β-Ursae Majoris. By using this hypothesis, Spence has suggested a revised date of 2480 BC ± 5 years for the accession of Khufu. 282

17

THE ELITE LATE PERIOD EGYPTIAN TOMBS OF MEMPHIS with which to associate their own tomb, these attributes being imparted by the creation of the Temple of Isis.

Khufu and Khafra, forming the hieroglyph Axt (Figure 6),287 a sacred form that has already been seen in this study at Abydos and Akhetaten.

In the Twenty-third Dynasty this became the second most sacred shrine in Giza, after the Sphinx.293 The Temple was considerably enlarged during the Late Period, when new chapels were cut into the structure of the adjacent mastabas. Isis was protectress of the area, but she was not alone in being venerated in her Temple: her priests also celebrated the mortuary cults of Khufu, Khafra, Djedefra, Menkaura and Khufu’s daughter.294 The popular cult of Isis, created within an Old Kingdom structure, has similarities to the popular cult of Sakhmet that developed within the Niuserra complex at Abusir.295 Giza regained general favour in the Twenty-sixth Dynasty, and this lasted until Ptolemaic times.296 In addition to the Isis Temple and the Sphinx, there was a third sacred place. In the desert of South Giza was Rosetau, of which Osiris was the Lord.297 Sokar was also a native of Rosetau,298 where his shetayet was located299 and which is the “Land of Sokar, who is on his sand”;300 it is a waterless and desolate place. Chapter 17 of the Book of the Dead describes an island and the Mound of Osiris as Rosetau: “I go on the road that I know towards the isle of the Righteous: What is it? It is Rosetau. The south gate is in Naref. The north gate is in the Mound of Osiris”.301

Figure 6. Sunset as viewed from the Sphinx Temple at the Summer solstice. [From Lehner (1985): Figure 6A]

There was a clear break in succession with the start of the Fifth Dynasty,288 and the new kings had their burials moved south to Saqqara and Abusir. The Giza plateau now afforded insufficient space for new pyramids to have causeways running eastwards towards the Nile.289 During the Eighteenth Dynasty Giza took on renewed importance; it was a royal domain and Amenhotep II used the area for hunting, and erected a small temple, dedicated to the Sphinx as Horemakhet, on a terrace northeast of the Sphinx.290 Tuthmosis IV cleared the Sphinx of sand and the monument quickly became identified with Ra-Horakhte, or Harmarchis,291 probably in an act of legitimization by the future king. The elite built their tombs in Saqqara, which was far closer to Memphis itself.

A temple to Osiris was built at the supposed site of Rosetau during the New Kingdom, although its position is not now known. This was the holy place of Sokar at Memphis, which has been suggested as being either near to the Sphinx,302 which would guard its entrance, or at the southern limit of the necropolis.303 The more remote, southerly position would seem better suited to the entrance of the way into the Field of Reeds. The Pyramid Texts suggest this to be an ideal place for burial and, as a result, it was sometimes used for that purpose from the Late Period onwards. Jean Yoyotte excavated the presumed site of the necropolis of Rosetau in Gebel Gibli, south Giza, in 1972 and found a great many ushebtis and amulets, but no tombs.304 These may have been votive objects left by visiting pilgrims. The remote

In the Twenty-first Dynasty, Henutsen’s mortuary chapel, attached to the southernmost secondary pyramid of Khufu, was redeveloped into a Temple of Isis (Map 3). The reason for choosing this pyramid as the site for the Temple has been discussed by Christiane Zivie-Coche, who said: “Maybe the former mortuary chapel of pyramid G-Ic was better preserved and easier of access then the other neighbouring monuments; it was also the closest to the temenos wall of the Sphinx; all that must have contributed to its selection; and it certainly had the prestige attached to an ancient and venerable monument”.292 This agrees with the findings of this study that the elite needed an ancient, prestigious and venerable monument

293 Zivie-Coche (1991): 310. At the beginning of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty Isis, manifested as Isis-Hathor, is shown suckling Horus. Other composites appeared. 294 Zivie-Coche (1991): 312. The priests included six generations of the same family of Pami, whose genealogies were inscribed in the chapel of Harbes. 295 Bareš (2000a): 9. 296 Zivie-Coche (1991): 306. 297 The Htp di nsw formula is frequently addressed to ‘Osiris, Lord of Rosetau’ – for instance in the Boston stele of Iufankh (MFA number 301-117), from Giza. [Zivie-Coche (1991): 252]. 298 Graindorge (2001): Vol. 3, 306. 299 Wilkinson (1994): 393. A shetayet is a sanctuary under a mound surrounded by trees. 300 Hornung (1999): 36. 301 Allen (1974): 28. 302 Zivie (1976): 293 303 Edwards (1986): 35, note 45 304 Leclant (1973): 399.

287 Lehner (1985): 141. The effect is best seen from the top of the Sphinx Temple colonnade. 288 The Westcar papyrus tells of magical events surrounding the birth of the first three kings of the Fifth Dynasty. Malek (2000): 109. 289 Quirke (2001): 129. 290 Lehner (1997): 132. 291 Mostafa (1994): 94. 292 Zivie-Coche (1991): 40.

18

LOCATION position of Rosetau, divorced from the pyramids and Sphinx, was in a low-lying area, so most of the elite chose positions for their tombs associated with the other sacred sites, where they could more readily be seen.305 An exception to this was the early Twenty-sixth Dynasty Chief of Police Tjery,306 who chose to build his tomb high on the escarpment to the south of Giza plateau. Here it overlooked Rosetau, the Pyramids (and, in consequence, the Isis Temple) and the Sphinx, and could take sacred power from them all. Alan Lloyd speculates that, through religious belief, one gains access to universal forces which are capable of passing beyond what is ‘normal’.307 Thus, by believing that the power of these three sacred areas would assist him, Tjery was able to receive their power. In addition, being placed where it was, Tjery’s tomb could be seen by visitors to the sacred sites below. Indeed, those exterior faces of his tomb that could be seen from the north, facing those sacred sites, were finished with ‘palace façade’ decoration,308 to demonstrate to all below that this was the tomb of a powerful and important person. Even when Egypt was under foreign domination the indigenous cults persisted: the Sphinx continued to be a place of pilgrimage into Roman times, both Marcus Aurelius and Septimius Severus making improvements to its structure,309 while the area of Tjery’s tomb was used for burial until Roman times.310

was an idea brought from Tanis317 and the royal burials in Sais, and in Giza such burials occurred in both the Isis Temple318 and the Sphinx enclosure, where rock cuttombs were constructed.319

Giza developed a popular character in the Late Period and became a place of pilgrimage because of Isis and Harmarchis, the Sphinx;311 people placed votive offerings at these sites, from which those buried nearby would take solace. With the pyramids as a backdrop, the Sphinx drew visitors to the desert edge.312 The Twenty-sixth Dynasty saw increasing popularity of the cults of Osiris, Isis and the Sphinx,313 which led to the area to the north and west of the Sphinx, and along the causeway of Khafra, becoming a major cemetery. The restricted access, the distance from centres of pilgrimage, and the limited ability to make a conspicuous display in Rosetau reduced the advantages of burial there for the elite.

ABUSIR

ABU ROUASH The pyramid of Djedefra in Abu Rouash is the northernmost pyramid, placed on the rocky hilltop in such a position that it overlooks both the Delta and the Nile Valley.320 It was visible from the Sun Temple at Heliopolis,321 from which it was due west, so that from Heliopolis the sun would have been seen to set over Djedefra’s pyramid. It seems likely that the location of this pyramid also reflects stellar beliefs: it is positioned as far north as possible to be close to the circumpolar stars and, as has been seen from Kate Spence’s theory, above, was aligned using them.322 Whereas the name of Khufu’s pyramid in Giza, ‘Khufu’s Horizon’,323 reflects the diurnal passage of the sun, the name of Djedefra’s pyramid, ‘Djedefra’s Starry Sky’,324 clearly reflects a stellar ideal. So, once again, we have the association of east-west with north-south. This was an important, sacred site, but too far from Memphis for mass pilgrimage and therefore of little value for conspicuous display, although there were some Late Period burials there of those lower down the social order.325

The change of Dynasty from the Fourth to the Fifth is shrouded in mystery.326 That the kings of the Fifth Dynasty took the throne in suspicious circumstances can be inferred from the story of their divine birth in the Westcar papyrus.327 There was a marked reinforcement of the religious doctrine of Ra and his Temple at Heliopolis,328 such that the first king of the Fifth Dynasty, Userkaf, built a Sun Temple at Abu Ghurob,329 which was the southernmost point from which the Sun Temple of Heliopolis could readily be seen,330 although this is not attested in ancient sources. R A Wells took a different view, that the sun sanctuaries were orientated along the azimuths corresponding with the risings of important stars and their crossings of the axis of each sanctuary’s lower temple during certain religious festivals.331 They

Burials at Giza and Saqqara include members of the local priesthood314 and also dignitaries from the Delta cities315. Tombs were safer here than they would be in the Delta, which was always subject to the ravages of water, and the Saites sought to be associated with the past, revering and repairing ancient monuments.316 This area was ideal for them. Burial inside the temenos wall of a sacred temple

317

Ikram (2003): 160. For example Bepeshes, Ankhpakhered and Horemsaf. [Zivie-Coche (1991): 181, 270, 272] 319 For example the tombs of Ptahirdis and Padibastet. [el-Sadeek (1984): 136] 320 Verner (2002a): 218. 321 Jeffreys (1998): 66. 322 Spence (2000): 321. 323 Verner (2002a): 189. 324 Verner (2002a): 217. 325 de la Roque (1925): 65. 326 Verner (2002a): 265. Had they been legitimate inheritors, there would probably not have been a change of Dynasty and no propaganda would have been necessary. 327 Lichtheim (1975): 202-204. 328 Quirke (2001): 128. 329 Quirke (2001): 127. 330 Kaiser (1956): 104. 331 Wells (1990): 95 and Wells (1993): 305. 318

305

Zivie-Coche (1991): 302. Petrie (1907 [Reprint 1977]): 28. Lloyd (2007): 1. 308 Petrie (1907 [Reprint 1977]): Plate XXXVII. 309 Verner (2002a): 237. 310 Zivie-Coche (1991): 312. 311 Zivie-Coche (1991): 305. 312 Zivie-Coche (1991): 306. 313 el-Sadeek (1984): 103. 314 For example the Prophet of Osiris, Lord of Rosetau, Ptahdiaw. [Zivie-Coche (1991): 214] 315 For example the Chief of Police, Tjery. [Petrie (1907 [Reprint 1977]): 28] Tjery was from Sais. 316 Zivie-Coche (1976): 309. 306 307

19

THE ELITE LATE PERIOD EGYPTIAN TOMBS OF MEMPHIS Saqqara.339 By this time parts of the peripheral structures of the complexes had been reused to repair others.340 Weathering had also taken its toll but efforts were made to restore the structures during the First Intermediate Period and the Middle Kingdom.341 The site then seems to have been completely abandoned until the Sakhmet cult of Niuserra rose at the start of the New Kingdom, supported by the kings, possibly from the time of Tuthmosis IV, but certainly from Horemheb to Ramesses II.342 Limestone from the nearby monuments was generally recycled either as stone blocks or as lime343 and was used for cutting stelae for the cult. Large scale destruction of Neferefra’s unfinished pyramid took place at that time. The site was abandoned when Memphis ceased to be the major administrative city at the time of Ramesses II, except for the Sakhmet cult, which assumed only a local importance.344

would thus have been in a position from which they might control the correct commencement of the festivals and they would effectively have been a giant solar clock.332 Four further Sun Temples were built by Userkaf’s successors333 (Figure 7) and it was probably because of the very presence of these Sun Temples, and their connection with the Sun Temple of Heliopolis, that Abusir became a sacred and ‘purified’ area. The Sun Temples and their associated pyramids shared estates and offerings,334 and it is likely that Userkaf’s Sun Temple was built so that the power of the Temple in Iunu could be reflected from it onto his own pyramid, which lies close to the northern end of the eastern side of the enclosure wall of Djoser’s pyramid and was out of the line of sight from the Sun Temple at Heliopolis. A line drawn from the pyramid of Userkaf through his sun temple, when extended would reach the apex of Khufu’s pyramid.335 It seems probable that Userkaf built his pyramid there in order to partake of the sanctity created by Djoser and the deified Imhotep. The subsequent Fifth Dynasty pyramids were built at Abusir, such that the northeast corners were on a geodetic line to the Sun Temple in Heliopolis336 (Figure 3).

Figure 8. The site of Abusir. [Based on Bareš (1999): Figure 1] KEY: 1 – The tomb of Udjahorresnet. 2 – The tomb of Iufaa. 3 – The tomb of Menekhibneko. 4 – The tomb of Padihor. 5 – The Pyramid Complex of Neferefra. 6 – The Pyramid Complex of Neferirkara. 7 – The Pyramid Complex of Niuserra. 8 – The Pyramid Complex of Sahura. 9 – The Mastaba of Ptahshepses. 10 – The Sun Temple of Userkaf.

Figure 7. Reconstruction of Niuserra’s Sun Temple at Abu Ghurob. [From Verner (2002a): 271]

The Sun Temples centred on a squat obelisk in an open court (Figure 7). On top of the obelisk was a representation of the benben stone, which could be seen from the Sun Temple in Heliopolis.337 These are temples for the solar cult and for the king in partnership with Ra, clearly identified as such by their names.338

Udjahorresnet made Abusir important again during the Twenty-sixth Dynasty; his tomb was begun in year forty or forty-one of the reign of Amasis,345 when a new cemetery came into being on the southwest outskirts of the pyramid field, some two hundred metres from the Old Kingdom monuments (Figure 8). Abusir Late Period cemetery contained at least five large Saite-Persian Shaft

Abusir was abandoned as a pyramid field at the end of the Fifth Dynasty, when Djedkara had his pyramid built in 332

Krejči (2000): 471. Quirke (2001): 128. 334 Quirke (2001): 128. 335 Goedicke (1995): 46; Goedicke (2000): 406. 336 Verner (2002a): 302. 337 Quirke (2001): 90. 338 Userkaf: ‘Birthplace of Ra’; Sahura: ‘Field of Ra’; Neferirkara: ‘Place of the heart of Ra’; Niuserra: ‘Recipient of the heart of Ra’; and Menkauhor: ‘Horizon of Ra’ – Quirke (2001): 128. 333

339

Verner (2002): 37. Bareš (2000a): 2. Bareš (2000a): 6. 342 Bareš (2000a): 9. 343 Baines (2004): 37. 344 Bareš (2000a): 13. 345 Bareš (2003): 152. 340 341

20

LOCATION Tombs and several other smaller shafts.346 Further dismantling and reuse of limestone from the Old Kingdom monuments took place.347 This might, indeed, have been one of the factors that encouraged Udjahorresnet to choose this site, as he required more than five hundred cubic metres of limestone for his tomb.348 However, southwest of Abusir, in the area known as ‘Lion’s Hill’ is an ancient quarry where abundant limestone is laid in a horizon between sixty and eighty centimetres thick from which it can be easily extracted.349 Miroslav Verner has suggested that Udjahorresnet chose this remote site for his burial either because he felt “socially isolated in view of his close links with the Persian occupiers” or because he wanted to start a new cemetery centred upon his tomb.350 The Serapeum and sacred animal galleries are only some 1,500 metres away from his tomb351 and this proximity would seem another compelling reason for the location of this cemetery.

tomb, the other tombs in the cluster of Late Period tombs at Abusir would participate in the same benefits. Not only were the Late Period tombs of Abusir directly associated with the Heliopolitan Sun Temple, they were also on a line connecting the Step Pyramid in Saqqara with the Giza pyramids.352 Moreover, the tombs looked down upon Abusir Lake and were built on a slope from which the sacred animal cemeteries in north Saqqara, especially the Serapeum, some short way to the south, could be seen353 (Map 6). An ancient road ran slightly south-east of the Late Period cemetery, connecting Abusir with north Saqqara.354 The ‘Lake of the King’ is mentioned in Chapter 142 of the Book of the Dead, in which we find “Osiris presiding over the Lake of Pharaoh (l,p,h)”355 and this is almost certainly Abusir Lake, which was the place where a kiosk was erected for the funeral rites of the Apis bull.356 Pyramid Text Utterance 300 states: “I am bound for the place where dwells Sokar who presides over PDw-S.” 357 This, too, is thought to refer to Abusir Lake.358 The lakes of Memphis were said to be full of water lilies;359 the water lily was an emblem of Nefertum and the plant from which the sun rose – both symbols of rebirth. Sokar is also active in rebirth360 and during the Festival of the God of the Netherworld he would travel by boat from Abusir Lake through the necropolis to Rosetau.361 Sokar was god of the Memphite necropoleis and appropriated many of the elements of the cult of Osiris.362 Association with him would therefore have been a powerful incentive to build nearby. As well as being burial places, islands were also places of birth and rebirth; it was on Chemmis Island that Isis gave birth to Horus.363 The island was the primordial mound and therefore the seat of creation and of all birth and rebirth. The ritual of processing to an island is shown in the Old Kingdom tomb of Ptahhotep, where ‘Traversing the Lake’ took place before burial, after which the deceased became an Akh.364

Figure 9. The geodetic line through the northeast corners of the Fifth Dynasty Pyramids extended to the tomb of Udjahorresnet. [Based on Bareš (1992): Figure 4]

Association with the ancient pyramid complexes of the Fifth Dynasty, a position within the ‘sacred landscape’ of the Sun Temple of Heliopolis, and a site overlooking the Lake of Sokar and the Serapeum must have been compelling reasons for people of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty to build their tombs on Abusir hill. These elite tombs were also within easy reach of Memphis, under

As has already been seen, the geodetic line passing through the northwest corners of the three Abusir pyramids of Sahura, Neferirkara and Neferefra is directed at the obelisk in the Sun Temple at Heliopolis. If that line is extended to the southwest (Figure 9), it passes through the centre of the tomb of Udjahorresnet, thereby associating him directly with the enormous benefits emanating from the Sun Temple of Heliopolis. By building his tomb on this line it now became a part of the extended Temple and Udjahorresnet could therefore take immediate advantage of the daily passage of the sun as it moved towards the horizon. By association with that

352

Bareš (1996): 9. Bareš (1988): 160. 354 Bareš (1992): 123. 355 Book of the Dead Chapter 142 § S var. 2 in Allen (1974): 119. 356 Spencer (1982): 199. 357 Faulkner (1998): 89. 358 Krejči (2000): 472, note 27; Daoud (2000): 194, note 11. 359 Wilkinson (1994): 394. 360 Graindorge (2001): 305. 361 Arnold (1998): 51. 362 Gaballa and Kitchen (1969). 363 Wilkinson (1994): 393. 364 Zivie (1976): 393. 353

346

Bareš (2000): 13. Bareš (2000a): 13. 348 Bareš (2000a): 13, note 78. 349 Krejči (2000): 473. 350 Verner (2002): 188. 351 Verner (2002): 189. 347

21

THE ELITE LATE PERIOD EGYPTIAN TOMBS OF MEMPHIS and Pyramid Text Utterance 527 describes the creation, and the birth of Shu and Tefnut, in On.374

modern Mit Rahina, in a position which would have facilitated the construction of the Old Kingdom pyramid complexes365 and of their Late Period counterparts, since labour and stone were near at hand. It would also have meant that the tombs would be conspicuous to the Memphite people. Military and administrative activity at that time was centred on the palace of Apries, near Abusir Lake,366 making the location ideal for conspicuous display. Moreover, the temple to Neith, the goddess associated with Sais, was to the north of Memphis, in the area of the palace, so that building in Abusir would associate these people of Sais directly with their nome deity.

Heliopolis may mark the place where the benben stone was found and it was there that it reputedly stood in a shrine. Pyramid Text Utterance 600 states: “Atum-Khepri, when you became high, as the high ground, when you rose, as the benben in the Phoenix Enclosure in Heliopolis you sneezed Shu, you spat Tefnut, and you put your arms about them, as the arms of a ka, that your ka might be in them.” 375

A Greek cemetery was founded at Abusir, most probably because of the cult of Sakhmet which was practised at the mortuary temple of Niuserra until it was abandoned at the end of the Second Persian period.367 The cult, which sees parallels in the Temple of Isis at Giza, had been known to the Greeks for a long time before the establishment of their cemetery there.368 The constant flow of people visiting both the cult temple and the cemetery would have passed below the Twenty-sixth and Twenty-seventh Dynasty tombs and they would almost certainly have marvelled at the wealth and power of their occupants.

The importance of Heliopolis as a religious centre cannot be underestimated: The 300th Chapter of the Leiden Papyrus I 350 states: “All the gods are three: Amun, the Sun and Ptah, without their seconds. His identity is hidden in Amun, his is the sun as face, his body is Ptah. Their towns are on earth, fixed for the span of Eternal Recurrence: Thebes, Heliopolis and Memphis, according to the pattern of Eternal Sameness. When a message is sent from the sky, it is heard in Heliopolis, and repeated to (Ptah) Perfect of Aspect in Memphis, put into a report, in Thoth’s writing, directed to the town of Amun …” .376

HELIOPOLIS Heliopolis – ancient Iunu – was already in existence long before the unification of Egypt.369 It was capital of the Thirteenth Nome of Lower Egypt. The city was the first created place; without it there could be no creation. An early text states “When Heliopolis was not yet founded that I might be in it”.370 The city was seen as a temple on the primordial mound.371 It is very likely that the Sun Temple of Heliopolis is of extremely great antiquity, as predynastic burials have been found southeast of the main temple and appear to have been related to an earlier temple structure.372 Its position, beside the river Nile and yet on the edge of the desert, fulfilled the requirement of creation by being part of Egypt and yet, at the same time, part of the ‘other’. It was there that creation took place, for Coffin Text 80 says: “… when (Atum) gave birth to Shu and Tefnut in Heliopolis, when he was one and developed into three, when he parted Geb from Nut, before the first corpse was born, before the two original Enneads developed and were existing with me …” 373

and the importance of On is frequently shown in the Pyramid Texts: In §14, for instance, the king “speaks with the Great Ennead in the Mansion of Princes, which is in On”,377 §207 confirms that Atum came from On,378 as did Isis and Nephthys,379 Hu and Sia,380 Nut381 and Nekhbet.382 The Great Cavern was at On383 and the Eye of Horus was found there.384 The ancient souls of Pe and Nekhen were coupled with the souls of On.385 All these are manifestations of the inherently sacred nature of Heliopolis. From the earlier discussions on ‘sacred landscape’ this is exactly what would be expected: the landscape became sacred because it contained the traditional features of water, mountains and remote, yet accessible, areas of desert. In order to ‘establish’ this landscape a meaning had to be placed upon it and myths 374

Faulkner (1998): 198. Allen (1988): 14. 376 Allen (1988): 54. 377 Faulkner (1998): 4. 378 Faulkner (1998): 50. 379 §460. Faulkner (1998): 92, note 5. 380 §467. Faulkner (1998): 92, note 4. 381 §823. Faulkner (1998): 148. 382 §1451. Faulkner (1998): 224. 383 §810. Faulkner (1998): 145. 384 §1242. Faulkner (1998): 197. 385 §904. Faulkner (1998): 158. Book of the Dead Chapter 112 speaks of the souls of Pe, Chapter 113 of those of Nekhen, Chapter 115 of the souls of Heliopolis and Chapter 114 of those of Hermopolis. Faulkner (1972): 108-113. 375

365

Krejči (2000): 473 Bareš (1996): 9. 367 Smolarikova (2000): 70 368 Smolarikova (2000): 70. 369 Quirke (2001): 81. 370 Assmann (2001): 25. The source of the text is not specified. 371 Assmann (2001): 25. 372 Quirke (2001): 81. 373 Allen (1988): 23. 366

22

LOCATION needed to achieve a satisfactory journey into the next life and tombs built in Heliopolis would have been seen by the large numbers of people who worked there or visited. The west, where the sun set, was the normal place of burial, but, as the area around the Sun Temple provided everything that was required, there would have been no need to look elsewhere. There is evidence that elite people were, indeed, buried there. Although a large corpus of evidence shows that numerous tombs have come to light over the years, most of these are poorly reported. Mostly these have been found during rescue excavations within busy building sites, resulting in, at best, hurried and sketchy reports or, at worst, no detail except that a tomb had been discovered.396

were created, emanating from group memories. Finally, the imposition of a social hierarchy and the growing importance of Memphis created an ‘ideational landscape’ which stood the test of time. By inference from the passage from the Leiden Papyrus quoted above, Memphis and Thebes were also similarly created. By the Third Dynasty the Sun Temple at Heliopolis had assumed great importance as the place where the Sun God’s body rests.386 It was closer to the sky than anywhere else in Egypt387 and became known as the ‘Domain of the Benu’.388 The Phoenix – bnw – was an embodiment of the sun as it rose every day. The words bnw and bnbn share the same linguistic root as wbn, the Egyptian for ‘to shine’, and are therefore readily associated with the sun.389 A temple was built to Atum during the Middle Kingdom,390 tying together the creative and solar aspects of the Heliopolitan area. With the increase in the importance of Memphis, the great Sun Temple at Heliopolis saw a parallel rise in its importance: so much so that in the Fourth Dynasty the solar cult became the principal royal cult, Khafra being the first to incorporate the name of Ra into his own name and Djedefra being the first to adopt the sA-ra name as ‘Son of the Sun’.391 Evidence prior to the Fourth Dynasty is sparse, but a fragment found by Ernesto Schiaparelli in a pit in Iunu bore the name of Netjerikhet / Djoser of the Third Dynasty.392 The Temple of Ra, housing the benben on its pillar, was the focal point of the conurbation and the reason for its importance. The priesthood, who spent their lives in and around this sacred site, would have wished to be buried as close as possible to the Temple’s temenos wall, and the earliest tombs of the Old Kingdom were in that position. With time the cemetery extended eastwards and by the Late Period it had spread over a huge area (Figure 10). The Sun Temple maintained its importance throughout history until, in late Ptolemaic times, it was used as a quarry for stone for construction work in Alexandria. By the time that Strabo visited Egypt, in about 24 BC, the city was deserted.393

Figure 10. The area of Heliopolis, showing the positions of the cemeteries. [From Quirke (2001): 112] Key: A – The Menwer Bull Tombs. B – The main Sun Temple enclosure. C – The Old and Middle Kingdom cemeteries. D – The New Kingdom and Late Period cemeteries. E – A small undated necropolis.

OLD CAIRO397

In modern times the explosion of Cairo’s population has meant an expansion of the city to the northeast, so that the ancient Sun Temple and its associated burials are under what are now the busy modern Cairo suburbs of Heliopolis, Matareya and Ain Shams.394 The elite of the Heliopolitan nome would also have wished to be buried in their nome capital if they could.395 The proximity of the sacred site of the Sun Temple would have provided all the assistance that would have been

With foreign intervention and Persian domination, it appears that the local elite abandoned Heliopolis as their burial ground. They chose instead to favour a sacred site at the southern end of the province of Iunu, at Kher-Aha, the battleground of Horus and Seth,398 which was probably within sight of the Sun Temple at Heliopolis. Before the move to Kher-Aha the ancient priestly titles of Iunu had been of primary importance to the higher officials, but following the move these became increasingly less important, eventually being supplementary to the main titles.399

386

Assmann (2005): 429, n. 19. Assmann (2005): 306. 388 Quirke (2001): 28. 389 Quirke (2001): 29. 390 Assmann (2002): 60. 391 Mojsov (2005): 25. 392 Quirke (2001): 84. 393 Quirke (2001): 113. 394 Hawass (2004a) webpage. 395 Bickel and Tallet (1997): 67 describe Heliopolis as “… lieu de residence privilégié des bienheureux après la mort.” 387

396

Bickel and Tallet (1997): 67. ‘Old Cairo’ is the modern term for this location, which is also known as ‘al-Fustat’ and has previously been known as the Egyptian ‘Babylon’. In antiquity it was called Kher-Aha’. 398 Quirke (2001): 113. 399 Quirke (2001): 113. 397

23

THE ELITE LATE PERIOD EGYPTIAN TOMBS OF MEMPHIS It is difficult to tell what the topography of Old Cairo was like during the Late Period or before, as extensive quarrying has altered the site immensely. However, that quarrying has itself revealed several communal poor tombs,400 as well as the elite tomb of PawenHatef. MEMPHIS Memphis was a living city, thriving with the administration of state over the millennia.401 It housed the great Temple of Ptah, Lord of Craftsmen402 and was part of the ‘ideational landscape’ discussed with reference to the Leiden Papyrus I 350, above. There is evidence of burials there from all periods, probably connected to the Ptah Temple, as a position close to the temenos wall would have been the ideal place of burial for priests and other pious people. Evidence of Late Period burial comes, among others, from a limestone low relief carving, in Cairo Museum, showing a deceased man Hena, ‘Commander of the Domains of Upper and Lower Egypt’, ‘Official of the Heavenly Mysteries’ and ‘Chief Officiant’, seated on a lions’ foot chair holding a lotus flower and to whom a procession of servants is bringing vases.403 CONCLUSIONS The location of the clusters of Late Period tombs in the area of Memphis was driven by the existence of two major ‘sacred landscapes’, one to the north and one to the south (Figure 11). These contain other smaller landscapes and the two are effectively joined together at Abusir. Within them are housed the elite burials of the Late Period.

Figure 11. The area of Memphis. [Based on Baines and Malek (1984): 135]

westwards. Two sets of geodetic lines, joining the corners of the Giza and the Abusir pyramids, meet at the focal point, which is the position of the benben stone on its obelisk within the Sun Temple’s sanctuary. From there a line of sight stretches to the pyramid of Djedefra at Abu Rouash in the north and to the Sun Temple of Userkaf at Abusir in the south (Figure 11).404 The southern geodetic line, if extended outwards, passes through the Late Period tomb of Udjahorresnet in Abusir.

To the north there is the vast extended Sun Temple of Heliopolis. This covers the area from Heliopolis 400

Hamada (1937). At the beginning of the First Dynasty the capital was at inbw-HD and it moved south to mn-nfr at the end of the Fifth or early Sixth Dynasty, both sites being part of Memphis. [Malek (2000): 114] By the Late Period the administration was based upon the Palace of Apries, also in Memphis. [Lloyd (1983): 321] 402 Malek (2000): 114. 403 Gauthier (1921): 34. See Appendix C. 401

404 These two points both house a pyramidion as a representation of the benben stone itself: at Abu Rouash this is the capstone of the pyramid, while in Abu Ghurob, close by Abusir, it is the top of the obelisk.

24

LOCATION A line joining the two landmarks of Djedefra’s pyramid and Userkaf’s Sun Temple would have the hills of south Giza – and therefore Rosetau – almost exactly at its centre point. This would have been the ‘axis mundi405’. This would have created a profoundly ‘sacred landscape’, within which the sun is born, shines and dies each day, and at the centre of which is Rosetau. This central complex is further enhanced by the triad of Osiris, Isis and Horus (Harmarchis / Horemakhet), manifest in the Temple of Isis, the Sphinx and the presumed Temple of Osiris at Rosetau. The second ‘sacred landscape’ is to the south, based on Memphis itself. Although the city of Memphis migrated over time, as the river Nile moved eastwards, the religious centre seems to have remained at the Temple of Ptah, as creator. This was extended to the Serapeum, where the embodiment of Ptah within Apis was buried and worshipped. This landscape included the ancient and sacred site of Djoser’s Step Pyramid, the presumed tomb of the deified Imhotep, son of Ptah, Sokar’s place of rebirth in Abusir Lake and the sacred animal burials and temples, which had become major religious centres in their own right during the Late Period. These two landscapes met at Abusir. There the Sun Temples of Abu Ghurob reflected the rays of the sun from Heliopolis onto the pyramids which, although on a geodetic line from the benben stone, may not have been in a line of sight from the sacred object. This was the area sacred to the elite of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty who, with their successors, were buried there although that was probably not their sole consideration. It was certainly most desirable to be buried in a place where one was under the protection and guidance of the gods, but that was not enough: one had to be remembered for who one was and for what one had done. In order to obtain a good life in the Field of Reeds one had to keep one’s name. This is a theme to which this study returns when considering tomb structure in the next chapter, and in the conclusions to the chapter dealing with decoration, but to build a large and impressive tomb where people would constantly pass by is certainly a way in which one’s name would be remembered. In addition, conspicuous display would ensure that not only one’s name but one’s deeds and social status would also be remembered. That was an important matter that encouraged the elite to build their tombs in some parts of the ‘sacred landscape’ but not in others: north Saqqara, Abusir and Giza fulfilled the requirements but Abu Rouash did not: it simply could not be seen. Heliopolis, with its Sun Temple, was the focus of the ‘sacred landscape’ and therefore an ideal place for burial. With foreign domination, some of the elite chose to be buried in Kher-Aha, which was geographically connected to Heliopolis and its ‘sacred landscape’. 405 See Figure 11. Given the distance between Abu Rouash and Abu Ghurob and the inherent inaccuracies of measurement, this could mean that the ancient surveyors intended Rosetau to be at the centre of the extended Sun Temple.

25

behaviour is required in the next life, then one needs to know what it is.

CHAPTER 3 TOMB STRUCTURE

One’s name is an important attribute that must be kept if one is to survive into the next life; for this to be maintained it is important that future generations be aware of one’s tomb, and preferably also of one’s deeds.407 By conspicuous display the visitor will be constantly reminded of the person, and biographical texts inside the tomb chapel will refresh fragile memories of who one was. The form of tomb structure will therefore be governed by religious considerations and by the need for the occupant to be remembered.

This chapter examines the different forms of tomb found in the Memphite necropoleis, the structures of which are described in detail in Appendix A. It then goes on to examine, as far as possible, the drivers for the development of the architectural forms. The relationship between the structure of the tomb and others in the Memphis area and elsewhere is explored in an attempt to understand their socio-political context and what that tells us about the tomb owners’ social positions. Architecturally, there are eight different forms of tomb within the Memphite necropoleis:

The different tomb types will now be discussed in order. 1

1. The Saite-Persian Shaft Tomb, a structure specific to the Late Period in which a large central shaft holds a burial chamber that is accessed from a secondary shaft. 2. The Shaft Tomb, in which the burial is directly in the shaft, or in a lateral chamber reached from the shaft. 3. The Rock Cut Tomb, which is cut directly into the living rock. 4. The Vaulted Chamber Tomb, in which a short access leads to a vaulted chamber that houses the burial. 5. The Mastaba Tomb, reminiscent of an Old Kingdom mastaba tomb. 6. The Temple-Court Tomb, which has the features of a temple, with a court before the funerary chapel and the burial below. 7. The Tomb cut into an earlier sacred structure. 8. A tomb in the Old Kingdom style.

The Saite-Persian Shaft Tomb has a deep central shaft, within which lies the burial chamber. Access to the burial chamber is by way of a smaller secondary shaft, from which a passage leads to the burial chamber, usually horizontally or at a slight incline. The whole tomb is filled with fine sand after burial. This is a form of construction confined to the Late Period and found almost exclusively in the areas of Abusir, Giza and Saqqara.408 The cemetery of Abusir from the Saite and Persian Periods (shaded in Map 2) lies to the southwest of the Fifth Dynasty Pyramid complex at Abusir. When Carl Lepsius excavated this area he thought that he had found another pyramid, which he labelled ‘Pyramid no. 27’.409 The Czech mission in 1980-1981 found otherwise. The mission’s surface survey estimated that in this area there were at least four or five square structures which were not pyramids.410 Upon excavation they turned out to be the Saite-Persian Shaft Tombs of Udjahorresnet, Iufaa, Padihor, Menekhibneko, and the anonymous Tomb R3.

Appendix C lists all the recorded tombs of the Late Period elite in the Memphite necropoleis and gives the details, where known, of the genealogy and titles of the owner. It also lists the funerary goods found in those tombs. Having decided in what area one should construct one’s tomb, the architectural form became of primary importance. The choice depends upon a variety of factors, from religious ideals to contemporary fashion. As Mike Parker Pearson has said: “Tombs are not just somewhere to put dead bodies: they are representations of power. … Funerary architecture legitimises and extends the hegemonic order. Tombs can be the focus of a society’s economy”.406

All the tombs at Abusir are clustered close to the Fifth Dynasty pyramids and their orientation is the same as those earlier structures, suggesting that these were of great importance to the Late Period builders. All are of the type known as the Saite-Persian Shaft Tomb, but there are also secondary burials. There is no known family relationship between those buried in the SaitePersian Shaft Tombs, although Imakhetheretresnet, who was buried in Iufaa’s tomb was his sister.411 We know that Udjahorresnet came from Sais412 and he seems to have created a cemetery in Abusir for those associated

Religious reasons are a prime consideration in creating a particular type of tomb, for it is religious conviction that will better enable the tomb builder to enter the Field of Reeds and that conviction will dictate the form of the tomb. If religion dictates that, for example, one travels to the west after death, then that direction will be important; if one expects to meet certain gods after death, then one must be prepared to do so; if a certain standard of

406

THE SAITE-PERSIAN SHAFT TOMB.

407 In order to remain whole in the next life one must keep one’s body, heart, name, shadow, bA and kA. 408 Gestermann (1986): 65. The only tomb of this type outside the Memphite area is Tomb S 14 at Kom el-Ahmar / Sharuna. In that tomb the main and secondary shafts are not joined. 409 Verner (1982): 164. 410 Bareš (1988): 156. 411 The burial of Gemnefherbak in Iufaa’s tomb is not related to Gemnefherbak the father of Menekhibneko, as the former had the sole title of xrp Hwwt Nt, while the latter had only that of wr Hw. Personal communication: Ladislav Bareš. 412 Verner (2002): 187.

Pearson (2001): 196.

26

TOMB STRUCTURE involvement with the Persians, it must have been completed in the subsequent Dynasty.

with him; it therefore seems possible that these people, grouped together in death, may have had a common Saite ancestry, although there is no direct evidence for this.

There are no signs of a cult temple to Udjahorresnet at Abusir, although his statue, now in the Vatican, was intended to be used as part of a funerary cult.423 Another statue of Udjahorresnet was found in Memphis, leading Ladislav Bareš to the opinion that his funerary cult may have been celebrated in Sais and in Memphis, away from his tomb in Abusir.424 However, a cemetery grew up in the vicinity of the tomb of Udjahorresnet that was probably used into Ptolemaic times,425 confirming the importance of this area and suggesting that his cult was also celebrated in Abusir.426 Udjahorresnet’s cult might well have been practised in an area of the superstructure of his tomb set aside for that purpose. No other cult structures have been identified in Abusir, although the suite of rooms to the east of Iufaa’s tomb may well have had a cultic function (Figure 67, Page 112). It seems possible, however, that the cult chapel of Neferibra-SaNeith in Saqqara was placed above the main shaft.427

THE TOMB OF UDJAHORRESNET (Page 111) AND ITS LOCATION. From the small size of the robbers’ hole in Udjahorresnet’s sarcophagus, coupled with the fact that there were no traces of resins or oils used in mummification,413 and no fragments of canopic jars, mummy wrappings or of skeletal remains were found either in or around the coffin, it seemed to Miroslav Verner that the inner coffin was never used,414 which has given him cause to wonder whether this tomb was in fact a cenotaph.415 He considered that, because the inscriptions on Udjahorresnet’s naophorous statue in the Vatican link him to Sais, it is there that his tomb should be sought.416 Ladislav Bareš, however, considers that Udjahorresnet was actually buried in his Abusir tomb:417 the hole in the sarcophagus was as big as the cavity inside at the foot end and therefore big enough for the extraction of the mummy, and he thinks that any fragments of vegetal material would probably have been destroyed by humidity, insects or rodents.418 Miroslav Verner’s argument that the lack of canopic jars was evidence of a lack of burial is countered by the fact that Menekhibneko, who was buried in a nearby tomb, had no canopic jars in his tomb either;419 the canopic equipment might have been buried in an adjacent pit with other mummification material.420 It seems more likely that Udjahorresnet was buried in this impressive tomb in Abusir.

The reasons for Udjahorresnet building his tomb in Abusir are interesting, as this is away from the earlier elite burial grounds in Giza and Saqqara. Udjahorresnet could have felt socially excluded, having taken an opportunistic stance with Cambyses when the Persians ended the Twenty-sixth Dynasty,428 and he might have felt it expedient to move away from the traditional areas because of this, or the important positions in Giza and Saqqara might already have been used by his time. There was a ready supply of ancient stone in the adjacent Fifth Dynasty pyramids, and he could take considerable power from their substance by using them. However, he had also become supremely powerful and, like many who do so, was a vain man: on his naophorous statue in the Vatican, for instance, he said that Cambyses cleared the Temple of Neith at Sais because he had asked him to,429 and he goes on to say: “I was a man good in his city, saving its people from the monstrous cataclysm when it happened in the entire land … I did for them everything beneficial as a father would have done for his son when the cataclysm fell.”430

Although the remains of a considerable superstructure were available to the excavators, its form is a matter of conjecture. Miroslav Verner thought that the tomb was surmounted by a small pyramid,421 but Ladislav Bareš envisaged a battered enclosure wall supporting a flat roof ending with concave cornices, the remains of which were found during excavation.422 The general form of the superstructure of the Saite-Persian Shaft Tombs is discussed below. Several items from the tomb contain the cartouche of Amasis, clearly showing this tomb to have been started in the Saite period, although because of Udjahorresnet’s

While others have the title ‘Royal Acquaintance’ (rx nswt), he had the title ‘True Acquaintance of the King, who loves him’ (rx nswt mAa mr.f). Taken in this light, it may have been that Udjahorresnet wanted to create a cemetery that would be centred upon his own tomb.431 It could be that he wanted to set up an endowment for the construction of huge tombs in Abusir that would enhance

413

Verner (2002): 186. Verner (1995): 19. Part of a human mandible and fragments of five green faience ushebtis were found [Verner (1991): 166], leading Ladislav Bareš to the opinion that this tomb was, indeed, occupied. Anthropological examination has since determined, however, that the mandible is that of a 20 – 24 year old male: since Udjahorresnet was an Admiral under Amasis and lived until about year 21 – 22 of Darius I, he must have been much older than this when he died, and this mandible must be intrusive [Bareš (1999): 80]. 416 Verner (2002): 187. 417 Ladislav Bareš, personal communication. 418 Bareš (1999): 80. 419 Ladislav Bareš, personal communication. 420 Ladislav Bareš, personal communication. 421 Verner (1982): 164. 422 Bareš (1988): 156. 414 415

423 Lloyd (1982): 167. The statue was probably from the temple of Neith in Sais. 424 Bareš (1996): 6. 425 Bareš (1999): 108. 426 Miroslav Verner [BIFAO (1989), 289] and U. Rőssler-Kőhler [SAK 16 (1989), 266] in Bareš (1996): 7. 427 Drioton and Lauer (1951): 470. 428 Verner (2002): 188. 429 Lloyd (1982): 170. 430 Lloyd (1982): 176. 431 Verner (2002): 188.

27

THE ELITE LATE PERIOD EGYPTIAN TOMBS OF MEMPHIS THE CHRONOLOGY OF THE SAITE-PERSIAN SHAFT TOMBS.

his own position over time; but that is pure conjecture. His tomb lies in a sacred area: it overlooks the Serapeum and the other sacred animal burials in north Saqqara, it is roughly on a level with the Step Pyramid of Djoser, which is clearly visible from it, and it overlooks the Fifth Dynasty Sun Temples. As we have seen in Chapter 2, the tomb also lies on a geodetic line from the Sun Temple at Heliopolis. His tomb was probably visible from Memphis, and the size of his tomb would have provided a conspicuous display that would have been appropriate for a vain man, suggesting that he chose this as an ideal position, rather than having it forced upon him.

For a proper consideration of the tombs in the Memphite necropoleis, the most important of which are the SaitePersian Shaft Tombs, it is essential, wherever possible, to put them in chronological order. An analysis of available data from various sources is as follows: Hor had two ‘good names’: ‘Wahibra-em-akhet’ and ‘Neferibra-em-akhet’. The former, which includes the throne name of Psamtek I (664 – 610 BC), was used in painted inscriptions and the latter, including the throne name of Psamtek II (595 – 589 BC) was used in the incised inscriptions. From this, Zaki Saad concluded that Hor changed his name during the construction of his tomb.435 Edda Bresciani took the view that the ‘Wahibra’ came from the birth name of Apries and that he died under that reign.436 However, it would seem far more likely that the incised hieroglyphs represent the chosen form and that the painted words were a ‘first draft’. Inscribed texts are normally drafted and corrected in ink before being cut.437 If this is so, Hor lived under the reign of Psamtek I and died under the reign of Psamtek II: had he died in the later reign of Apries one would surely have seen evidence of attempts to replace the ‘Neferibra’, and such evidence has not been found. Hor’s tomb, being inscribed on the exterior, represents an early attempt to produce a burial chamber which is itself a giant sarcophagus; this suggests that it may not originally have been intended to create the structure now known as the Saite-Persian Shaft Tomb of his tomb, but that he may have envisaged a shaft tomb in which the exterior of the burial chamber would be visible. Subsequent tombs of this type had internal decoration, where the deceased would be able to see it, and it seems likely that his is the earliest Saite-Persian Shaft Tomb.

THE TOMB OF PAKAP (Page 110) AND ITS SECONDARY SHAFTS. The only Saite-Persian Shaft Tomb known to be in Giza is in the tomb cluster in the vicinity of the Sphinx. It is that of Pakap, also referred to as ‘Campbell’s Tomb’, shown on the plan in Map 3. Wafaa el-Sadeek said that the main shaft for the burial of Pakap in ‘Campbell’s Tomb’ is not central within the ‘trench’ “probably on account of the shafts from the southeast corner of the remaining rock leading to burial chambers x, y and z”,432 which suggests that the small shafts were constructed at a different time from the main shaft. However, the perimeter structure of the Saite-Persian Shaft Tomb – Vyse’s ‘fosse’; Perring’s ‘trench’433 – was equidistant from the totality of shafts (Figure 12), suggesting that they were all contemporary; the southern secondary shaft was therefore part of the overall tomb design. The significance of this and the ‘trench’, which contained water to create a structure reminiscent of that in the Osireion at Abydos,434 will be discussed later in this chapter.

Amentefnakht has a ‘good name’ of Haaibrameriptah,438 incorporating the throne name of Apries, under whose reign he flourished. The owners of the twin tombs of Wahibramen and Neferibra-Sa-Neith again include the throne names of Psamtek I (664 – 610 BC) and Psamtek II (595 – 589 BC), respectively, in their names. On the basis of this, they were probably born in those reigns and would have died later. Jean-Philippe Lauer dated the tomb of Neferibra-Sa-Neith as later than that of Wahibramen,439 and the construction of the twin tombs is such that the latter’s must be the earlier.440 Georges Soukiassian suggested that those tombs associated with the pyramid of Userkaf date to the reign of Psamtek II or Apries, while those associated with the pyramid of Unas date to the reign of Amasis or to the beginning of the first

Figure 12. Campbell's Tomb: The position of the shafts relative to the 'Trench'. [Based upon Vyse (1840a) Figure 1]

435

Saad (1947): 391. Bresciani, Pernigotti, and Giangeri Silvis (1977): 20. This can be seen in several tombs in the Valley of the Kings and in the tomb of Padihor in Abusir, described on page 136. 438 Saad (1947): 386. 439 Drioton and Lauer (1951): 478. 440 See the details of the tomb in Appendix A. 436 437

432

el-Sadeek (1984): 128. el-Sadeek (1984): 127. For a fuller discussion of the Osirian nature of the ‘trench’, see Stammers (2006): 138-147. This is also discussed later in this study. 433 434

28

TOMB STRUCTURE Persian Period441 and the findings discussed here tend to support this view.

fundamentally different from that employed in the other tombs close by. Here two projections on each short end of the coffin lid were supported by wooden beams sitting on four sand-filled holes in the floor. When the time came to lower the lid, the sand was slowly and carefully removed from the holes allowing the lid to descend.455 The same method was adopted by Udjahorresnet and Iufaa.456 This was an improvement on the earlier method in which the lid was supported on six pillars, removed at the time of closure. This less sophisticated method had been adopted in the closely associated tombs of Psamtek,457 Padinisis458 and Djanehibu.459

The three connected tombs of Psamtek, Padinisis and Djanehibu are all dated to the late Twenty-sixth Dynasty.442 Psamtek, the son of Harsiesi and Tagemtisi, dedicated a stele at the Serapeum to the Apis Bull which died in Regnal Year 23 of Amasis443 and Louise Gestermann placed him in the second half of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty, or even into the Twenty-seventh.444 The connecting passage between the tomb of Psamtek and that of Padinisis would suggest that they were conceived as a connected pair.

The tombs at Abusir were all of the same period, although that of Iufaa is slightly later than that of Udjahorresnet,460 based on horizontal stratigraphy.461 The life of Udjahorresnet is well documented, and he died during the reign of Darius I,462 although Ladislav Bareš originally concluded that all the tombs at Abusir were built before the Persian conquest.463 New evidence has now come to light, in the form of potsherds and papyri however, that suggests that tomb building in Abusir was not complete before Year 21-22 of Darius I.464 The tomb of Padihor is smaller than the associated tombs and this may be because of reduced economic circumstances, possibly making it later than those of Udjahorresnet and Iufaa; it is possible that the Gemnefherbak buried in Iufaa’s tomb was a nephew of Menekhibneko,465 making Iufaa and Menekhibneko roughly contemporary.

Gaston Maspero suggested that Padinisis was the son of Psamtek, son of Tagemtisi,445 who was buried close by,446 and on the basis of that paternity, that he would have died under the reign of Darius I.447 However, Louise Gestermann suggests an earlier date on the basis of a seal of Padinisis in Brussels, which names Amasis.448 Porter and Moss date the tomb of Djanehibu to the reign of Amasis,449 and Edda Bresciani has it securely within that reign.450 The archaeology of the three tombs here, joined together as they are by a subterranean passage, suggests a family relationship and a certain contemporaneity that would tend to reinforce an earlier date. Three people held the title of ‘Captain of the Fleet of Ra’: Psamtek-Meryptah, Djanehibu and Hekaemsaf. Psamtek-Meryptah dedicated a stele at the Serapeum to Apis V of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty (Apis XLI, Regnal Year 23 of Amasis).451 The archaeology and epigraphy of the tombs of Djanehibu and Psamtek are similar, suggesting a close temporal proximity between them. The texts on the coffins of Psamtek and Djanehibu are virtually identical, again suggesting that they may well have been contemporary. It has been assumed by Edda Bresciani that the tenure of Psamtek-Meryptah preceded that of Djanehibu, and that Hekaemsaf followed,452 although she also says that they were contemporaneous.453 A seal of Hekaemsaf mentions Amasis,454 again suggesting that he lived under that reign.

The tomb of Pakap, whose good name is Wahibraemakhet, in Giza is clearly dated to the Twentysixth Dynasty; the secondary burial ‘X’ contained a sarcophagus of that date,466 so that the main burial cannot be later. The religious iconography of the tomb is detailed and carefully executed and this is the height of the SaitePersian Shaft Tomb. It was either built at a time of political and economic stability or by a person of extreme wealth and status, or both. It has a second secondary shaft, which appeared only in this tomb and in some in Abusir, started during the reign of Amasis, so that this tomb would seem to date to the very end of the Twentysixth Dynasty.

Alexandre Barsanti suggested that the method of closing the sarcophagus in the tomb of Hekaemsaf was 441 Soukiassian (1982): 57. It is not clear on what he based his conclusion. 442 Gestermann (2001): 140 ff. 443 Barsanti (1900): 185. 444 Gestermann (2001): 142. 445 Barsanti (1900a): 232. 446 Maspero (1900a): 235. 447 Maspero (1900a): 261. 448 Gestermann (2001): 140. Brussels Musées Royaux inventory E 6941. 449 Porter and Moss (1978-1981): Vol. III, Part 2, 648. 450 Bresciani, Pernigotti, and Giangeri Silvis (1977): 19. 451 Chevereau (1985): 97. Although his ushebtis are in several collections and his canopic jars are in the Louvre (2982 to 2985), his tomb is not known. 452 Bresciani (1977): 19. 453 Bresciani (1977): 19. 454 Gestermann (2001): 141.

455

Barsanti (1904): 72-73. Bareš (1999): 22. 457 Barsanti (1900): 165. 458 Barsanti (1900a): 230. 459 Barsanti (1900c): 262. 460 Verner (2002): 194. 461 Bareš et al. (2000): 5. 462 Lloyd (1982): 173. 463 Bareš et al. (2003): 153. 464 Ladislav Bareš, personal communication. 465 Ladislav Bareš, personal communication. 466 Ptahhotep. His sarcophagus lid is in the Ashmolean Museum 1847.295. Buhl (1959): 140, number K.1. 456

29

THE ELITE LATE PERIOD EGYPTIAN TOMBS OF MEMPHIS TOMB OWNER

REIGN

HEAD

LOCATION

Single/ Family tomb

TO Hor

Psamtek I – II

W

Saqqara

Single

Amentefnakht

Apries – Amasis

W

Saqqara

Single

Wahibramen

Apries – Amasis

W

Saqqara

Single

Neferibra-SaNeith

Apries – Amasis

W

Saqqara

Single

Psamtek

Amasis

N

Saqqara

Family

Padinisis

Amasis

N

Saqqara

Single

Padineith

Amasis

N

Saqqara

Family

Djanehibu

Amasis

N

Saqqara

Single

Hekaemsaf

Amasis

W (?)

Saqqara

Single

Pakap

Amasis

W

Giza

Single

Udjahorresnet

Darius I

W

Abusir

Single

Iufaa

Darius I

E

Abusir

Family

Menekhibneko

Darius I

N

Abusir

Single

Padihor

Darius I

W

Abusir

Single

Tomb R3

Darius I

W

Abusir

Not Known

pyramids had been identified by any excavator at Abydos, coming down in favour of the mastaba. However, the existence of several pyramidions from Abydos suggests that some form of pyramid did indeed exist. The Late Period pyramidions from Abydos were discussed by Herman de Meulenaere.470 The angle of slope of the pyramidions, in the six cases where this can be measured with any accuracy from the available documentation, varies from 65o to 75o. The angle of the superstructure of Thirtieth Dynasty Tomb G 50 at Abydos – the only tomb for which the angle of the superstructure is measurable – is 70o, strongly suggesting that by the Thirtieth Dynasty the sides of the superstructure – of that tomb at least – constituted a true pyramid.471 Tomb D 57 at el-Amra exhibits different characteristics. Here the walls over the dome (Figure 16) appear to be at an angle of 80o and become more acute as the walls get higher.472 So it seems likely that pyramids sat atop the Abydene tombs. If this were so, it is possible that they were also present in Memphis. In the case of the Saite-Persian Shaft Tombs, Wafaa elSadeek stated that “it is now clear that (Campbell’s Tomb) had no superstructure”.473 Richard Harold Vyse thought that there had been a superstructure which had been destroyed or robbed out.474 John Perring had found stones that suggested an arched roof, and conjectured “that the whole monument (including the trench) may have been covered by a pyramid” .475

Table 1. Proposed Chronology of the Saite-Persian Shaft Tombs.

From all of this, the chronology set out above is proposed for the Saite-Persian Shaft Tombs, from which it can be seen that the earliest tombs were associated with Userkaf’s pyramid and that those around Unas’ pyramid followed them, those in Abusir and Giza being the latest (Table 1). Full details of the tombs are in Appendix C.

Jean-Philippe Lauer surmised that a colonnaded cult and offering chapel existed above the main shaft of the SaitePersian Shaft Tomb of Neferibra-Sa-Neith in Saqqara;476 Miroslav Verner thought it was a pyramid;477 Diethelm Eigner suggested a mastaba478 and Edda Bresciani reconstructed a cult chapel over the main shaft of Djanehibu and a small offering hall above his secondary shaft.479 Ladislav Bareš has said that it may have been a mastaba or a truncated pyramid,480 but concluded that with the present state of knowledge it is not possible to confirm which shape the superstructure may have taken.481 From his description of the tomb of Udjahorresnet in Abusir it seems most likely that a truncated pyramid with a flat roof covered the main shaft

THE SUPERSTRUCTURE OF THE SAITE-PERSIAN SHAFT TOMBS. It is unfortunate that not enough remains of the superstructure of the Saite-Persian Shaft Tomb to form an opinion as to its shape, although pyramids and mastabas are conjectured, and it could be a step pyramid in imitation of that of Djoser. Louise Gestermann has said that these ideas are nothing more than theories.467 Diethelm Eigner has suggested that the superstructures extended eastwards from the tombs to form a chapel, and he cites fragments of palmiform and composite capitals as evidence for this.468 If the model for the architecture of the Saite-Persian Shaft Tombs came from Abydos, then the form of superstructure would probably have done so as well. However, the form of the superstructures in Abydos is also a matter for speculation. Auguste Mariette considered them to be true pyramids, Flinders Petrie thought they were truncated pyramids or mastabas, and Arthur Mace felt they were domes.469 Eric Peet found the corbelling of the superstructure to be inconsistent with the requirement for a dome and pointed out that no

470

de Meulenaere (1975): 1-20. There were only two Old Kingdom pyramids with similar angles – those of Shepseskaf (70o) and Khentawes (c 74o). [Lehner (1997): 17]. This angle of slope is found, however, in the pyramids of Kush from the Twenty-fifth Dynasty onwards. [Lehner (1997): 194]. It seems possible that the angle of the Kushite pyramid was taken from Abydos. 472 Randall-MacIver, Mace, and Griffith (1902): 80. 473 el-Sadeek (1984): 128. 474 Vyse (1840): 148. 475 Vyse (1840): 133. 476 Drioton and Lauer (1951): 470-471. 477 Bareš (1999): 48. 478 Eigner (1999): 437. 479 Gestermann (2005): 357. 480 Bareš (1999): 48. 481 Bareš (1999): 23. 471

467

Gestermann (2005): 360. Eigner (1999): 438. 469 Randall-MacIver, Mace and Griffith (1902): 80. 468

30

TOMB STRUCTURE provided by ejecting the former occupier of some noble structure. The stages of the latest degradation can be traced. The deep well and chamber became shortened and simplified by Ptolemaic times.”488

and that the whole tomb was surrounded by an enclosure wall, the area between being paved with limestone blocks.482 THE ORIENTATION OF BURIAL IN THE SAITEPERSIAN SHAFT TOMBS.

During the last century or so much work has been done,489 so that the developmental phases of the Late Period elite tomb, and in particular the Saite-Persian Shaft Tomb can now be determined more clearly, beginning with the Abydos vaulted tomb.

Looking next at the orientation, the east-west burial practice was from a New Kingdom model developed in the Third Intermediate Period,483 while the north-south axis of burial harks back to the Old Kingdom.484 JeanPhilippe Lauer485 and Edda Bresciani486 thought that the change of orientation was as a result of the examination of Old Kingdom monuments by the Saites, suggesting that there was a shift of religious thought during the period. However, if one examines the geographical location of the Saite-Persian Shaft Tombs, one can reach a different conclusion. The only tombs orientated northsouth in Saqqara are those four to the south and southeast of Unas’ pyramid, and three of them — those of Psamtek, Padinisis and Djanehibu — are joined by an underground connecting passage.487 If this plan was conceived at the time of the construction of the first tomb it would have been natural to orientate the group in a north-south direction, where it would face the Unas pyramid that was clearly so numinous, supplying the sacred substance of both its stone and its Pyramid Texts. The tomb of Padineith, contemporary with the early constructions in this sequence, followed this practice and may even have been intended to be joined to the others. The Abusir tomb of Menekhibneko is also on a north-south axis. Being roughly contemporary with the tomb of Iufaa, there seems little likelihood of there having been a difference of religious philosophy between the two, and it can be conjectured that Menekhibneko’s orientation was a matter of expediency and personal choice – possibly because it was easier to deliver the funerary goods to the burial chamber by way of a southern shaft than it would have been from the west because of the existence of the earlier tombs. Iufaa was buried with his head to the east, quite contrary to what one would expect; this might have been an error or because of the position of his cult chapel to the east, but this only reinforces the feeling that the direction of burial was a matter entirely of personal choice, especially in Abusir.

Figure 13. Tomb Y 9 at Abydos. [From Peet (1914): Figure 46]490

The development of the vaulted tomb at Abydos from the simple structure of the New Kingdom, on a north-south axis, is well argued by Eric Peet.491 The original vaulted tomb arose, he suggested, out of a desire to produce a larger burial chamber in an area where the rock is unsuitable for any simpler form of construction. During the Eighteenth Dynasty, this vault was within a bricklined rock-cut chamber.492 At some stage during the Third Intermediate Period this practice was modified so that the vault was built just below the surface.493 At that time the orientation changed from north-south to east-west,494 probably to reinforce the notion that the deceased travelled to the west into the next life. By the Twentyfifth Dynasty, the vault was built within a deep pit and filled with sand.495 At first there was no superstructure but soon a mastaba was built above it. The transition to later practice is demonstrated by Tomb Y9 (Figure 13), probably of the Twenty-fifth Dynasty.496 This consists of a rectangular chamber with a shaft to its east giving

THE DEVELOPMENT AND MEANING OF THE SAITE-PERSIAN SHAFT TOMB. Writing in 1898, Flinders Petrie dismissed the development of tombs during the Late Period thus: “In the XXVIth Dynasty, tombs were made with a well-shaft, and one chamber or several at the bottom of it under the ground. Too often a tomb was

488

Petrie (1898): 14. For example, by Bareš and Verner (1988 to date); el-Sadeek (1984); Gestermann (2006); Peet (1914). 490 See also Curto (1981): 107. 491 Peet (1914): 86 ff. 492 Peet (1914): 90. 493 Peet (1914): 91. 494 Peet (1914): 91. 495 Peet (1914): 90. 496 Peet (1914): 87. 489

482

Bareš (1999): 48. See the section on the Development and Meaning of the SaitePersian Shaft Tomb, below. 484 Bresciani, Pernigotti, and Giangeri Silvis (1977): 22. 485 Lauer (1954): 134, note 2. 486 Bresciani, Pernigotti, and Giangeri Silvis (1977): 25. 487 Porter and Moss (1978-1981): Vol. III, Part 2, Map LXI also shows this connecting passage. 483

31

THE ELITE LATE PERIOD EGYPTIAN TOMBS OF MEMPHIS access, through an arched door, into a vaulted chamber. The walls outside this support a truncated pyramid.497 By the Twenty-sixth Dynasty this plan had further developed by thickening the walls of the vaulted chamber so that they were strong enough to support the superstructure. The vault and the superstructure now formed a single mass of masonry.498 The development of vaulted tombs is also seen in elAmra. Originally, during the Twenty-fifth Dynasty, a deep shaft was cut, with rock-cut chambers leading from it499 (Figure 14). The deep shaft probably referred to the tomb of Sokar, which had itself been the basis for many of the design features of the nearby Osireion.500 By the time of the construction of Tomb D 47 during the Twenty-sixth Dynasty (Figure 15), the shaft was large enough to take the whole burial chamber: this was vaulted and a dummy burial chamber was added above. Figure 16 shows further development, in that Tomb D 57 now has an added staircase at the side, leading down from an arched doorway at right angles to the axis of the tomb. As can be seen from Figures 15 and 16, both tombs D 47 and D 57 have been created by cutting a deep shaft and placing the burial apartments within it. This form of structure developed into the Saite-Persian Shaft Tomb.

Figure15. Tomb D 47 at El-Amra. [From el-Naggar (1999): Doc. 281-C]

Figure 14. Tomb D 15 at El-Amra. [From el-Naggar (1999): Doc. 281-B]

Figure16. Tomb D 57 at El-Amra. [From el-Naggar (1999): Doc. 281-D] 497

While tombs in Abydos and el-Amra were geographically closely associated with the tomb of Osiris, the need to build tombs in other locations away from that sacred area

Peet (1914): 91. Peet (1914): 91. Randall-MacIver, Mace, and Griffith (1902): 64. 500 Gestermann (2006): 204. 498 499

32

TOMB STRUCTURE these were clearly associated with the pyramid of Unas, being tight against his mortuary temple. The tombs closest to Djoser’s pyramid – those of Hor and NeferibraSa-Neith / Wahibramen, next to Userkaf’s pyramid, and that of Amentefnakht, on the northern edge of the Unas pyramid complex, had shafts varying in depth from 14.00m to 22.00m and in width from 7.90m x 5.90m to ten to eleven metres square. There appears to be no correlation in size between the different areas or between Old Kingdom and Late Period tombs in the vicinity. In Abusir, however, the tombs of Iufaa and Menekhibneko have corridors leading from the west and south, respectively, into the burial chamber, which Ladislav Bareš has conjectured as being a design copied from the Saite entrance into Djoser’s Step Pyramid.507 The SaitePersian Shaft Tombs may well have been inspired by Djoser’s imposing monument, but it appears that it is the second secondary shaft – the one that does not normally directly join the burial chamber – that is modelled on the Saite entrance to the Step Pyramid, and not the primary ‘secondary shaft’ that is a defining feature of the SaitePersian Shaft Tomb.

denied this benefit to the tomb builder, who had to find other ways of becoming associated with Osiris. It seems that in the Memphite necropoleis, the best method of achieving union with Osiris was thought to be by emulating the structure of the ‘Osiris Tomb’ itself,501 of which many elements are found in the Cenotaph tomb of Seti I; this became the model for the Late Period tomb in Memphis, incorporating the architectural style developed in el-Amra. In Saqqara, the tomb builders would have seen the Step Pyramid and its two burial chambers, and it has been suggested by Louise Gestermann502 and Miroslav Verner503 that “this type of shaft tomb was probably inspired by the substructure of the pyramid of Djoser”.504 The main burial of Djoser was in a granite burial chamber at the bottom of a shaft 7.00m square and 28.00m deep.505 The shaft of the second, ‘South Tomb’ had the same dimensions.506 As can be seen from Table 2 below, the shaft dimensions of the Saite-Persian Shaft Tombs were inconsistent. TOMB OWNER

SHAFT DEPTH

SHAFT DIMENSIONS

DJOSER (For comparison)

28.00

7.00m sq.

Udjahorresnet

20.00m+

5.50m sq.

Iufaa

22.00m

13.00m sq.

Menekhibneko

20.00m

12.50m x 12.00m

Padihor

12.00m

4.80m x 3.20m

16.30m

9.30m x 8.00m

From the time of Pakap onwards, all the larger SaitePersian Shaft Tombs508 have two secondary shafts, whereas all those earlier than that time, and the small tomb of Padihor, which is later, have only that which is connected with the burial chamber. In the cases of Pakap and Iufaa, the second secondary shaft is to the south and Iufaa has a sloping passage leading to the main shaft,509 just as the Saite entrance into the Step Pyramid, which is also on the southern side, does. The second secondary shaft of Menekhibneko is to the west, but this entire tomb is at right angles to the general layout of the Saite-Persian Shaft Tomb in Abusir. Tomb R3 has a sunken court, not a second secondary shaft, to the south, and this, too, seems to imitate the Saite entrance to the Step Pyramid. Ladislav Bareš has conjectured that the southern shaft of Iufaa’s tomb and the western shaft of Menekhibneko’s were used for construction purposes,510 although a trench two metres west of the main secondary shaft in Iufaa’s tomb held wooden beams used for construction.511 It seems more likely that these new features were imitative of the important new Step Pyramid entrance, and that the sunken court of Tomb R3 is a more sophisticated, later, version of this. The western shaft512 still connects with the burial chamber within the main shaft and this seems to be an inviolate religious requirement; the deceased still needed to travel to the west to enter the Field of Reeds and this connected shaft would help him so to do. But the added reference to the Step Pyramid appears to have brought to the tomb some of the power of the substance

ABUSIR

GIZA Pakap SAQQARA (Beside the Unas pyramid) Djanehibu

25 – 30m

Not given

Psamtek

Not given

Not given

Padinisis

27.50m

7.10m x 8.00m

Padineith

28.00m

4.50m x 3.00m

Hekaemsaf

28.00m

8.70m x 10.80m

Amentefnakht

22.00m

7.90m x 5.90m

Udjahor

20.00m

8.50m x 8.25m

(Northeast of the Step Pyramid) Hor

14.00m

8.50m x 8.25m

Neferibra-Sa-Neith /

ca. 20m

ca. 10m – 11m sq.

Wahibramen Table 2. The comparative shaft dimensions of the Saite-Persian Shaft Tombs.

The deepest shafts were in the tombs of Padineith and Hekaemsaf, and these were, indeed, the same depth – but not the same width – as the shafts of Djoser. However,

507

Bareš et al. (2003): 149. Those of Iufaa, Menekhibneko and Tomb R3. Tomb S-14 in Sharuna had only a secondary shaft that was not connected to the burial chamber [Gestermann (1986): 65]; this must also be considered as a ‘second’ secondary shaft but it is thought to be Ptolemaic and is not within our geographical area. 509 Verner (1999): 20. 510 Ladislav Bareš; personal communication. 511 Bareš et al. (2005): 95. 512 The southern shaft in the tomb of Menekhibneko. 508

501

Details of this are set out after Figure 17 below. Gestermann (2006): 200. 503 Morrison (2007) webpage. 504 Miroslav Verner, quoted in Morrison (2007): webpage. 505 Lehner (1997): 88. 506 Lehner (1997): 93. 502

33

THE ELITE LATE PERIOD EGYPTIAN TOMBS OF MEMPHIS representing the primordial mound; the island that appeared at the creation of the world thus became the tomb of Osiris.523 The burial chamber itself was placed below this mound on an island; it was originally flat but an Osiris ‘bed’ was incorporated into the Osireion during the Twenty-sixth Dynasty, probably during the reign of Apries.524 In the Eighteenth Dynasty a staircase was added to the west of the burial, on a north-south axis and entered from the north,525 which led to the underground area of the tomb, representing the Lower Duat. The burial chamber had a proportion of 3:4. This special proportion contains a right-angled triangle: a triangle whose sides are in the proportion 3:4:5 must always contain a rightangle and the right-angled triangle had been regarded as sacred during the Old Kingdom.526 In the centre of the tomb was a mound, representing the Duat, within which the god’s coffin was laid at the annual ritual and around which was a grove of trees for his bA. The coffin of the deceased, representing the barque of Ra, does not touch the ground during burial rites, but rests on a mound of sand. There were three hundred and sixty-five offering places around the tomb for daily offerings to the god, and there were seven gates;527 seven is a number representing the concepts of perfection and effectiveness and there were seven gods revered at Abydos.528 Several of these elements are found in the Cenotaph tomb of Seti I (Figure 17).529

of that monument. One can surmise that the smaller tomb of Padihor does not have a second secondary shaft because of his reduced economic circumstances. There are no indications that the second secondary shaft was cut for secondary use of the tombs. While the whole of the Memphite desert area was an extension of the Heliopolitan Sun Temple, dedicated to Ra (and Amun-Ra), the structures of Late Period tombs themselves needed to be associated with the cult of Osiris, with whom the deceased would become identified after judgment. During the prehistoric period, Sokar was probably worshipped in the area of Memphis,513 where his function was that of a god of the dead.514 He became the guardian of the Memphite necropoleis515 and was associated with Saqqara.516 The cult of Osiris became dominant with the approach of the Late Period, spreading to the peripheral localities of Egypt,517 and Osiris became identified with Sokar.518 When Osiris dies, life stops throughout the cosmos, only to begin again with his rebirth;519 Ra and Osiris fused in the middle of the night, when the hour was at its darkest, to create that rebirth. In that way the bA and the corpse of the deceased united.520 The nocturnal solar passage then continued to approach dawn and resurrection. Tomb structure needed to enable the occupant of the tomb to become part of that fusion and rebirth. The ideal was to imitate the ‘Tomb of Osiris’, which was seen to be the actual First Dynasty tomb of Djer in Abydos,521 and this was the model for the cenotaph tomb of Seti I at Abydos.522

Osiris is connected with water, and the rise and fall of the Nile represents the death and resurrection of the god, part of the everlasting cyclical rhythms of the earth.530 In the Late Period, Osiris was associated more and more closely with the Nile and its inundations,531 and with this close association it seems that, as well as helping the deceased to become Osiris, the ‘Osiris Tomb’ had a function, through its cycle of death and rebirth, to ensure the continuation of the Nile and its inundations. It must therefore have had a function of maintaining Maat and a united Egypt. In Abydos the primordial mound in the Osireion is an island surrounded by a water-filled ditch, and there is evidence of trees on the margin. There are pits below the side chambers in the Osireion and a waterway has been partially excavated from there towards the Nile.532 In order to attain the Field of Reeds, the deceased had to cross the primordial waters below the earth, which involved the descent of the dead into the ground. However, as Henri Frankfort pointed out, this is not inconsistent with a solar mythology as the sun descends into the earth at dusk and so, by being deep within the earth, the deceased is able to join the solar

Figure 17. The Osireion at Abydos. [From Eigner (1984): Abb.136]

Diethelm Eigner has analysed the tomb of Osiris at Abydos and has set out its diagnostic elements as follows: It was a concentric arrangement, but based on a square, with a tumulus or mastaba superstructure

523

Wilkinson (1994): 393. Eigner (1984): 163. 525 The Osireion is orientated to ‘River North’. At this point the Nile flows northwest, so that the ‘north’ arrow on the figure is misleading: the entrance was, from the Egyptian point of view, from the north. 526 Lauer (1977): 55. 527 Eigner (1984): 164. 528 Wilkinson (1994): 136. 529 The Cenotaph tomb of Seti I became the model for many Late Period tombs. 530 Frankfort (1961): 107. 531 Assmann (2002): 410. 532 Eigner (1984): 168. 524

513

Watterson (1999): 170. Gestermann (2006): 203. 515 Watterson (1999): 170. 516 Gestermann (2006): 203:.The name of Sokar indeed forms the basis of the place name Saqqara. 517 Assmann (2001): 184. 518 Hart (1987): 204. 519 Assmann (2001): 70. 520 Hornung (1971): 229. 521 Eigner (1984): 163. 522 Eigner (1984): 166. 514

34

TOMB STRUCTURE barque during its nocturnal journey.533 The mound of sand below the actual burial also reflects the nocturnal passage of the sun, for during the seventh hour in the Amduat, Apophis is on a sandbank, behind which the sun’s corpse lies before revival.534 Not only was there a mound of sand within the tomb of Osiris, but the whole was covered with earth and surrounded by trees, thereby creating a shetayet, which, at Edfu, was described as “The mound of pure sand which cannot be removed”.535

rebirth, so this represents the daily cycle of the sun. The deceased is then depicted in the Field of Offerings on the western horizon, where the Opening of the Mouth ceremony is carried out and the Red Pot is broken.544 Leslie Grinsell gives two relevant reasons for the breaking of objects in an Egyptian context: they can be broken “to release the spirit in the object to accompany the dead to the after-life” or they can be broken “to symbolise the destruction of the enemies of the deceased”.545 This practice was common in the Archaic Period and the Old and Middle Kingdoms, dying out in the Third Intermediate Period but apparently being revived in the Late Period.546 The cults of Osiris and Ra are seen to be inseparable in the funerary rites and the landscape within which tombs were built.

The fourth hour of the Amduat has a series of winding passages descending into the earth and at the start of the fifth hour of the night the barque of Ra crosses a pyramid-shaped mound within which the body of Sokar lies in its grave.536 This grave is also on an island surrounded by water. It seems likely that the structure of the tomb of Djoser was based upon this concept of winding passages leading to a deep burial. The tomb of Djoser was itself influential during the Twenty-sixth Dynasty, at which time a new entrance was made into the Step Pyramid from the south.537 This type of tomb construction, with a winding passage leading to the burial chamber, is found in the tomb of Nebhepetra Montuhotep in Deir el-Bahri538 and in the royal tombs in the Valley of the Kings.539 Some of the ideas incorporated into the construction of this early tomb were copied into those of the Late Period, possibly in an act of archaism, as will be seen below.

The Saite-Persian Shaft Tomb takes the deep shaft associated with el-Amra and incorporates Osirian ideas. At the bottom of the deep shaft (Figure 18) was a burial chamber that normally had the shape of the coffin of Osiris; vaulted and with posts at the four corners:547 it was inscribed with religious formulae taken from the Pyramid Texts, the Coffin Texts and the Book of the Dead. No longer was it a myth to consider that one’s tomb could not be robbed. The deep shaft filled with fine sand made it impractical for tomb robbers in antiquity to penetrate the tomb and extract its contents; however, quite clearly it was religion, not security, that was the primary reason for the construction of the Saite-Persian Shaft Tombs.

Before burial, rites were carried out to identify the deceased with the Sun God in a sacred place that included obelisks, which were symbols of Heliopolis and of the western horizon, and a pool surrounded by palm trees, which represented the place where the sun god purified himself before starting his daily journey.540 The pool and palm trees were also characteristic of Pe and Dep – Buto – where the world began; the pool was the ‘winding waterway’ that connected Buto with Sais.541 In the holy place of the ‘Butic burial’, depicted in tombs of the Eighteenth Dynasty, there are flower or vegetable beds and sycamore-fig trees, representing the eastern horizon, while offering tables for burning incense represent the western horizon.542 The sacred place is surrounded by shrines of gods and ancestors. There are three pools that represent a progression from Death, symbolised by Sokar, through regeneration, symbolised by Khepri, to rebirth, symbolised by Hekat, all supervised by Osiris.543

The Saite-Persian Shaft Tomb in Memphis started its development with the tomb of Hor. It seems that a rise in the importance of the Osirian cult in the early part of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty encouraged Hor to bury his sarcophagus deep underground, following the practise at el-Amra and in the Osireion. That the buried structure was considered a sarcophagus is evidenced by the writing of texts to the exterior, not the interior, of what, in subsequent tombs, developed into a burial chamber. Hor was buried directly within this sarcophagus but by the time of Amentefnakht a second sarcophagus of black basalt had been added within the white limestone outer and the inscriptions were moved to the interior, where they could be seen by the deceased. The implications of ritual purity stated by the white colour of the outer sarcophagus and of resurrection stated by the greenishblack of the inner are inescapable.548

In New Kingdom tomb depictions in Saqqara the deceased’s statue is carried to an island in a lake on a Neshmet-barque, which has a lotus prow and stern. The lotus is a symbol of Nefertum and thence of creation and

The next stage of development, at the time of Wahibramen and Neferibra-Sa-Neith, saw the addition of a wooden coffin into the basalt inner sarcophagus. The development in Saqqara was now complete but the

533

Frankfort (1961): 115. 534 Hornung (1999): 38. 535 Wilkinson (1994): 393. 536 Gestermann (2006): 204. 537 Siliotti (1997): 105. 538 Eigner (1984): 167. 539 Weeks (2001). 540 Wilkinson (1994): 391. 541 Wilkinson (1994): 391. 542 Wilkinson (1994): 391. 543 Wilkinson (1994): 391.

544

Wilkinson (1994): 393. Grinsell (1961): 476. 546 Grinsell (1961): 481. 547 Erman (1907): 187. The coffin would have had a hawk on each corner post and Anubis on its lid: see Taylor (1989): 54, plate 42. 548 Wilkinson (1994): 109. 545

35

THE ELITE LATE PERIOD EGYPTIAN TOMBS OF MEMPHIS connecting passage or from beneath the burial chamber.552 In Campbell’s Tomb, the trench is about 22 metres below ground level, its base being some 6 metres lower than the bottom of the main shaft. Howard Vyse said that the trench “seems … to have been made for the purpose of insulating the tomb”553 – presumably from the influx of water during the Nile flood. The average Nile flood level was 1.5 metres554 leaving the bottom of the trench, by Vyse’s measurements, still some 3.25 metres below the 1838 water level when the Nile was not in flood. The bed of the river Nile has risen by about 1m every 1,000 years,555 so that at the time of the construction of Campbell’s Tomb the water level was some 2.5 metres lower than in 1838; there would still, however, have been about 0.75 metres of water in the trench at normal river levels, rising to 2.25 metres during the inundation. A masonry-lined pit, 2.75m deep, is under the short passage (Figure 19) and this could also have been for drainage. But the bottom of the burial chamber was significantly above flood level, so that flood water would not have entered it.556

evolution of the Saite-Persian Shaft Tomb reached its height with the tomb of Pakap in Giza and those of Udjahorresnet and Iufaa in Abusir and with the appearance of the second secondary shaft.

Figure 18. The excavators' drawing of the main shaft of Campbell's Tomb. (From Vyse (1840): 216)

Trench

A secondary shaft, much smaller than the first, was cut, usually to the east, but sometimes to the west or the south, of the main shaft, with which it communicated by means of a short passage.549 The passage typically entered the burial chamber at the foot of the sarcophagus. After burial, the main shaft, secondary shaft and burial chamber were filled with fine, sifted sand and the passage between the shafts was blocked, usually with stone, making intrusion by tomb robbers extremely difficult. The main shaft was sometimes surrounded by a trench550 and a ‘pit’ descended into the bedrock, either as a continuation of the secondary shaft,551 or from the

Pit

Figure 19. Section through Campbell's Tomb, showing the trench and the masonry-lined pit. [From Vyse (1840), Figure 5]

The tomb of Udjahorresnet in Abusir has the only known trench similar to that of Campbell’s Tomb, and there is an additional trench inside the eastern side of the main one. The series of passages within other tombs, passing below the burial chamber, may represent an early attempt at the trench. These passages can be seen below the burial chamber in the tombs of Amentefnakht,557 Hor558 and the 552

The tombs of Hor and Hekaemsaf. Vyse (1840): 131. 554 Butzer (1976): 17. 555 Bunbury (2005). 556 Stammers (2007): 141. 557 Saad (1947): 383. Figure 2.32.

549

553

Exceptionally, in the case of the later tomb S.14 at Sharuna, the secondary shaft did not communicate with the main shaft [Gestermann (1986)]. 550 The tombs of Pakap and Udjahorresnet. 551 The tombs of Pakap and Psamtek/Setairbint.

36

TOMB STRUCTURE double tomb of Neferibra-Sa-Neith and Wahibramen559 in Saqqara. It is difficult to tell from the excavators’ reports whether or not these features existed in other tombs, although it is clear that no trench existed in the tomb of Amentefnakht,560 and there was no room for a trench around the connected tombs of Padineith,561 Psamtek562 and Djanehibu.563

are to be regenerated.577 Nun was vital to the deceased and was a central part of the Osirian cult, important throughout Egypt. Herodotus described the “Vaults of Cheops … built on a sort of island, surrounded by water introduced from the Nile by canal”,578 which Jean Kerisel thought ran from the bottom of the escarpment to a structure like the Osireion that must have been in the vicinity of Khafra’s causeway.579 The island at the end of the canal represents the mound of creation.580 Osiris is the very epitome of resurrection, demonstrated by the eternal rhythms of the earth. The annual changes in the level of the Nile, rising to inundation and subsiding to normal levels, are seen to be an important aspect, not only of these natural cycles but also of resurrection: in the regular and predictable recurrence of flooding, the Nile brought fertility to the land, enabling the growth of new crops. The annual, cyclical ebb and flow of the Nile followed the monthly lunar cycle and the daily solar cycle in representing death and resurrection to the ancient Egyptians. These are compelling reasons for concluding that the trench in Campbell’s Tomb, which allowed this annual ebb and flow of the Nile flood waters to be part of the tomb, was a deliberate Osirian feature. The bottom of the shaft in Iufaa’s tomb lies close to the present underground water table,581 while Udjahor’s tomb was “filled with water”.582 With the rise in the water table since antiquity, this could well have meant that Udjahor’s sarcophagus was originally an ‘island’ surrounded by water.

Udjahorresnet’s trench was more than eleven metres deep;564 its purpose was considered by Ladislav Bareš, who stated that the trenches “resemble the situation of the cenotaph of Seti I at Abydos imitating the tomb of Osiris”.565 Jean-Philippe Lauer thought these passages were for defence,566 arguing that they would save the burial from attack from below.567 However, the task of attacking the burial chamber from below would only have threatened an attacker with a deluge of fine sand; a religious reason for these features must be more compelling. Hans Bonnet stated that a feature of the Osireion in Abydos was a platform surrounded by a trench which filled with water during the Nile inundation.568 During the inundation, Pakap’s burial chamber would also have been an island above the water that surrounded it in the trench.569 The only parallel to the trench at Saqqara lies in the corridor round the tomb of Bakenrenef,570 which is similar to that in the tomb of Harwa in Thebes.571 In both these instances the corridor was thought by Diethelm Eigner to represent the cavern of Sokar,572 which, according to the Book of the Amduat, is traversed during the fifth hour of the night.573 Hans Bonnet suggested that the concentric arrangement of passages round a central burial chamber was based on an island surrounded by water, such as the primordial mound.574 Campbell’s Tomb was also concentrically organized.

This interpretation adds meaning to the masonry-lined pit (Figure 19) descending into the bedrock at the foot of the sarcophagus. Secondary shafts exist in all the SaitePersian Shaft Tombs and are a characteristic feature of them. They were primarily designed to allow access to the burial chamber, but they also enabled the evacuation of those who caused the entry of sand into the tomb after the funeral.583 There was an added advantage in that the sand used to fill the tomb also discouraged robbery. However, the downward extension of the secondary shaft, or the pit below the passage adjacent to it or beneath the burial chamber, would not have been needed for either purpose. Diethelm Eigner saw the pit as playing some part in the evacuation of sand from the main shaft during the sinking of the burial chamber from ground level to its place of permanence.584 Jean-Philippe Lauer argued that these pits were for security against a possible overflow of sand when the main shaft was filled after burial.585 Miroslav Verner suggested they were for protection586 and Ladislav Bareš, considering the shaft below the connecting passage in Udjahorresnet’s tomb, also thought

The dead had to cross water to reach the Field of Reeds.575 The river is an element of the ritual passage of the deceased and a symbol of social stability.576 This water is Nun, from which the sun is raised at dawn, and in which the old and worn have to be immersed if they 558

Lauer (1954): Planches I and II. Figure 2.34. Drioton and Lauer (1951): Planche 1. Figure 2.35. 560 Author’s visit to the tomb, April 2005 561 Barsanti (1901): Figure 2.27 562 Barsanti (1900a): 563 Barsanti (1900c): 564 Bareš (1988): 158. 565 Bareš (1999): 63, note 314. 566 Lauer (1954): 133. 567 Drioton and Lauer (1951): 477. 568 Bonnet (1971): 567. 569 For a detailed discussion of the Nile flood levels relative to Campbell’s Tomb, see Stammers (2007). 570 Eigner (1984): 178. 571 Porter and Moss (1978-1981): Vol. I, Part I, 64, 68-69. And see below. 572 Eigner (1984): 178. 573 Hornung (1999): 37. 574 Bonnet (1971): 576. 575 Frankfort (1961): 114. The lake was a purification phase before reaching the afterlife: Assmann (2005): 144. 576 Davis (1977): 177. 559

577

Hornung (1971): 161. Herodotus (1910 translation): Book II, 124. 579 Kerisel (1991): 79. 580 Wilkinson (1994): 395. 581 Verner (1999): 24. 582 Barsanti (1902): 210. 583 Bareš (1999): 25. 584 Eigner (1999): 438. 585 Drioton and Lauer (1951): 472. 586 Verner (2002): 181. 578

37

THE ELITE LATE PERIOD EGYPTIAN TOMBS OF MEMPHIS sand below the burial chamber in the tombs of Djanehibu,603 Neferibra-Sa-Neith,604 Udjahorresnet605 and in Abusir Tomb R3.606 In the absence of published excavation details for other tombs, a full discussion of this practice is not possible. Diethelm Eigner suggested that the sand hill of Sokar is to be equated with the primordial mound of Osiris.607 Such sand layers represent the primordial mound. Edwin Brock described the Osireion in Abydos as having a deep water-filled moat leaving an island in the centre where the sarcophagus would be placed.608

that it was probably for protection, although he surmised that it could have been part of the structure abandoned at an early stage of construction, or that it could have had a religious meaning.587 A pit exists in all the Saite-Persian Shaft Tombs for which detailed evidence is available: those of Udjahorresnet,588 Djanehibu,589 Psamtek and Setairbint,590 Amentefnakht,591 Hor,592 Padinisis593 and the joint tomb of Neferibra-Sa-Neith and Wahibramen.594 In the Underworld Books of the New Kingdom, the soul of the dead Osiris is united with that of Ra in the sixth hour of the night, to permit the regeneration of the seventh hour.595 The deep pit brought the deceased into the realm of Osiris enabling him, as Osiris, to be united with Ra and to join the solar barque during its nocturnal and, later, diurnal passage. Ladislav Bareš follows Edwin Brock in thinking that it was a symbolic burial for Sokar, and Louise Gestermann, who thinks it has religious connotations.596 Had the pit been designed to remove water or for the handling of sand, it seems unlikely that it would have been lined with masonry, as in Campbell’s Tomb and that of Djanehibu,597 but an important religious function would make that necessary. Considering all these factors, it is highly probable that the trench and pit have a religious significance, connected with Osiris, and were not built for purely practical purposes.

The Saite-Persian Shaft Tomb, with the trench giving access to Nun, the pit giving access to the solar barque, and the burial chamber placed on a mound of sand, was designed to follow Osirian tradition: these are ‘Osiris Tombs’. At the same time they have proved ideally suited to guard against robbery, an essential consideration if the body was to survive into the next life. The second secondary shaft appeared at the very end of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty and has been discussed above.609 This was not an Osirian feature and seems to relate directly to the Saite entrance into the Step Pyramid. If the cutting of a new entrance into the Step Pyramid during Saite times was an act of archaism, then the copying of this new entrance into other tombs that were probably built very shortly after that entrance, was probably also an act of archaism.

The fact that access to water was, in many cases, illusory would have mattered little to the Egyptian, who believed absolutely in the power of HkA (‘heka’), loosely translated as ‘magic’. Heka is a force that works automatically and requires no intervention;598 it is implied in the presence, among earlier funerary equipment, of ‘soul houses’ designed to be magically transformed into food, drink and shelter for the deceased599 and it is explicit in the Pyramid Texts, which were used extensively in the Late Period.600 If water was required to surround the coffin, the power of heka would ensure that it did so.

How do the tombs of Pakap, Udjahorresnet and Iufaa, as the most extensively published examples of this type of tomb, agree with Diethelm Eigner’s ideals of the design of the Osirian tomb? All are concentric squares. Access to the Osireion was by a staircase from the north; there were no staircases into the Memphite tombs, although there is one into the cultic structure to the east of the tomb of Iufaa and the tombs were meticulously orientated so that their sides aligned with the cardinal points. The burial chamber was itself an island in the shaft: in the case of Pakap it was actually an island in water and this water rose and fell with the Nile inundation; in the tombs of Udjahorresnet and Iufaa it was only symbolically so. The Osireion had the ‘sacred proportion’ of 3:4 of the lower Duat,610 and the burial was in a cave in the lower Duat.611 The proportion 3:4 equates to the sides of the ‘Sacred Triangle’, mentioned by Plutarch.612 The burial chamber of Pakap has, indeed, the proportion 3:4, that of Udjahorresnet has a proportion of approximately 3:4.75 and that of Iufaa is 3:3.5. The nine other Saite-Persian Shaft Tombs of which measurement is possible vary in proportion from 3:3.5 to 3:5 – although it must be said

Diethelm Eigner pointed out that, during the annual ritual of the burial of the Osirian relic, the coffin was laid on a mound of sand representing the primordial mound.601 It was from this mound that Osiris was resurrected.602 Pakap’s entire burial chamber rests on a layer of sand about 0.75m thick, above the bedrock, while there was 587

Bareš (1999): 62-62. Bareš (1992): 108. Figure 2.3. 589 Barsanti and Maspero (1900): 162. Figure 3.29. 590 el-Naggar (1999): Doc. 302A. Figure 2.30. 591 Saad (1947): 383. Figure 2.32. 592 Lauer (1954): Planches I and II. Figure 2.35. 593 Barsanti (1900a): 230. 594 Drioton and Lauer (1951): Planche 1. Because of its isolation from the main shaft, the secondary shaft in Sharuna tomb S.14 [Gestermann et al. (1986): 78] must be considered only as a pit. 595 Hornung (1999): 125. 596 Bareš (1999): 63. 597 Bresciani, Pernigotti, and Giangeri Silvis (1977): Tav. II. 598 Hornung (1971): 208. 599 Pinch (1994): 153. 600 For instance §924b “I possess magic”, §1318 “The magic that pertains to me is that which is in my belly” and §1324 “It is magic that says this to you” quoted in Breasted (1959): 94. Translations from Faulkner (1998): 160 and 208. 601 Eigner (1984): 164. 602 Bonnet (1971): 567. 588

603

Bresciani, Pernigotti, and Giangeri Silvis (1977): Tav. II. Drioton and Lauer (1951): 477. 605 Bareš (1992): 111. 606 Bareš (2005c) webpage. 607 Eigner (1984): 178. 608 Brock (2002): 23. This was once the case, but nowadays the Osireion is almost permanently under water. 609 Page 33. 610 Eigner (1984): 166. 611 Eigner (1984): 169. 612 Lauer (1977): 55. 604

38

TOMB STRUCTURE that accurate measurement is not possible from most plans. The exact proportion of 3:4 occurs in over a third of the tombs, and it is also the mean figure. The burial chambers had seven ‘gates’: in the tomb of Pakap these were represented by a recess in the north and south of the sarcophagus, another at each corner and the entrance to the burial chamber itself,613 while in the tomb of Udjahorresnet they were represented by a recess at each corner of the sarcophagus and one in each of the north, south and west sides of the burial chamber.614 There were seven ‘gates’ in the burial chambers of the tombs of Djanehibu, Padinisis, Hekaemsaf and Hor. The burial chambers in the tombs of both Pakap and Udjahorresnet were on an ‘island’ of sand.615 The Osireion in Abydos was inside a sacred grove:616 it is possible that there were groves of trees around the Memphite tombs, which have not so far been revealed by excavation, but constraints of space would seem to make this unlikely.

The sarcophagus of Pawen-Hatef (in Old Cairo – Page 116) appears to form an island but, as far as can be determined, his tomb does not appear to have a ‘pit’ or a ‘trench’ to connect it – either actually or symbolically – with water. His sarcophagus is reminiscent of others from Saite-Persian Shaft Tombs619 and has four boxes to the sides that are laid on sand; although it is not known whether the sarcophagus itself rested on a bed of sand.620 There are sufficient similarities between the Saite-Persian Shaft Tomb and this tomb to suggest that it was designed with Osirian ideas in mind. It seems likely that this Shaft Tomb is later than the Saite-Persian Shaft Tombs discussed in the previous section, dating to a time when, under foreign domination, the inhabitants of Heliopolis felt it expedient to move to Kher-Aha621. At that time the economic base for the construction of those huge structures had diminished but many of the features of those grand tombs remain.

According to the excavators, Tomb D 57 at el-Amra (Figure 16) had a burial chamber with a dummy chamber above.617 It is not clear why the chamber was split in this way, but a similar arrangement can be seen in the tombs of Udjahormehnet in Heliopolis and of Pakap in Giza.

The burial chamber of Tomb LG 83 (Page 117) has distinctive features that associate it with Diethelm Eigner’s description of the Osiris Tomb set out earlier: it is concentric and the burial chamber is an island surrounded by water; the sarcophagus was laid in a cutout in the mound representing the island. Whether or not the sarcophagus was laid on sand is not known, but the Osirian nature of the tomb is incontrovertible.

What happened to the Saite-Persian Shaft Tomb after the early Twenty-seventh Dynasty? It seems that with the Persian conquest the economic basis for the construction of such massive tombs was removed, when the satrapy took away ultimate power from the elite. Although the prime factor for the structure of the tomb remained religious, the removal of the wealth and status required to produce these massive structures meant that tombs had to be rethought. The structures became less complicated: the secondary shaft disappeared, leaving just the main shaft with its sarcophagus within and this then developed into a shaft with a lateral burial chamber. The Saite-Persian Shaft Tomb was a tomb of its time: it existed only in the Memphite area618 and lasted for a comparatively short period from the Twenty-sixth to the Twenty-seventh Dynasties. 2

The proportions of the burial chambers are impossible to measure because of the lack of evidence, but Tombs LG 81 (Page 117) and LG 83 (Page 117), and the tomb of Irahor (Page 119) seem to have had a mound in the centre of the burial chamber. The tomb of Irahor also has six apertures in the walls of the burial chamber which, taken with the entrance doorway, would equate to the seven ‘gates’. 3

ROCK CUT TOMBS

GIZA It is difficult to see any association between the structure of the Rock Cut Giza tombs, detailed in Appendix A, and the traditional Osiris tomb, and one must assume that the very close proximity of the Sphinx in the first case and Rosetau in the second made such special construction unnecessary. Further excavation and publication of greater detail at a future date may resolve this situation.

THE SHAFT TOMB

The Shaft Tomb is evidenced only in Giza. These tombs, with their deep shafts, have clear Osirian influences on their design. Their burial chambers are basically concentric, but based upon a square, and in many cases they are actually connected with water. In the cases of General Kheperra (Page 116) and those in Saqqara, there is no direct connection with water but in Kheperra’s tomb the access shaft continues into the bedrock so that the connection with water may be made by heka, in a manner that we have seen associated with the Saite-Persian Shaft Tomb.

The tombs at the southern extremity of the Giza necropolis are clearly placed to take full advantage of the Fourth Dynasty pyramids in front of them, of the Sphinx that is clearly visible, and of the presumed location of Rosetau close by. In these circumstances it would not be necessary to make other arrangements than to ensure a burial shaft descending into the rock from which easy access to Rosetau could be gained.

613

Vyse (1840a): 132. Bareš (1999): 51. 615 Bareš et al. (2003): 150. 616 The grove was probably of sycamore trees. 617 Randall-MacIver and Mace (1902): 80. 618 There was a similar tomb in Sharuna [Gestermann (1988)]. 614

619 Those of Udjahorresnet, Padinisis, Neferibra-Sa-Neith and Wahibramen. 620 Hamada (1937a): 137. 621 See page 24.

39

THE ELITE LATE PERIOD EGYPTIAN TOMBS OF MEMPHIS in the full sun of the solar religion, but the decoration of the rooms changes as one moves underground, with the deceased becoming Osiris in the innermost room, above the actual burial chamber. The Open Court in Bakenrenef’s tomb has a central basin and this, together with the vaulted, pillared hall are features associated with the tomb of Osiris.623 In Bakenrenef’s tomb there is a niche at the western end of the main structure that probably held a statue of Osiris.624 Jan Assmann states that the underworld is imagined as a temple in which Osiris sits enthroned in the holiest part.625 A further correlation between these Theban tombs and that of Bakenrenef is the addition of the passageway shown in Figure 21 that encircles the inner parts of the tomb: this is strikingly similar to that of Harwa [TT 37], shown in Figure 22.

SAQQARA The impressive rock-cut tomb of Bakenrenef, visible to all those approaching north Saqqara, comes from a different tradition from those that we have already seen. Its form reflects the design of the Theban tombs of the late Twenty-fifth Dynasty. The plans of the Theban tombs of Karabasaken and Karakhamun are shown in Figure 20 and these have the same orientation and basic form as the tomb of Bakenrenef, with an entrance pylon and a symmetrical underground tomb plan on an eastwest axis. Both these tombs are dated to the late Twentyfifth Dynasty. The tomb of Bakenrenef is later than those, but the influence is clearly from the south. While the Theban tombs have simple arched ceilings, the later structure of Bakenrenef’s tomb has full vaulting, and where the central ceiling of the pillared hall is flat in all the Theban tombs, that of Bakenrenef is vaulted.622

Cutting one’s tomb into the living rock gave several advantages. On the passage to rebirth after death one had to descend into the earth,626 where the underworld gods resided.627 In many mythologies a cave was identified with the womb of the earth and was the logical place for rebirth.628 So by cutting a tomb into the rock one is creating a cave from which one can more easily enter the next life. Stone itself could be sacred, and is the reason for which expeditions were sent to far off, dangerous places such as the Wadi Hammamat to extract specific types of stone – in that case the basalt needed for sarcophagi. We are told of an Eleventh Dynasty expeditionary force of ten thousand men, under the command of the future Amenemhat I of the Twelfth Dynasty, to Wadi Hammamat to extract “a precious block of the pure stone of this mountain, whose excellence was made by Min” for a sarcophagus; “day 27 (saw) the descent of the lid of this sarcophagus, a slab of four by eight by two cubits, as it came from the works. Calves were slaughtered, goats sacrificed (and) incense was laid on the flame”629 The Rock Cut tombs discussed in this section took full advantage of all these benefits.

623

Arnold (2003): 168. Harwa’s tomb, for example, had an Osiris statue in this position. [Tiradritti (2004): Figure 5]. 625 Assmann (1989) 149. 626 Hornung (1999): 34. 627 Hornung (1971): 228. 628 Robertson (1967): 111; Hays (1963): 181. In the Bronze Age Talayotic culture of the Balearic Islands, for example, artificial caves were made for burial to enable the deceased to be closer to rebirth. [Exhibits, National Archaeological Museum of Catalonia, Barcelona]. 629 Extract from the Rock Stele of King Nebawyre Montuhotep IV. Lichtheim (1975): 115.

Figure 20. Reconstruction of the plans of the tombs of Karabasaken [TT 391] and Karakhamun [TT 223] at Thebes. [From: Eigner (1984): Abb.15]

624

In the Theban tomb there was a different approach to the problem of association with Osiris from that taken in Memphis. In Thebes, the entrance and the Open Court are 622

el-Naggar (1986): 17.

40

TOMB STRUCTURE 4

VAULTED CHAMBER TOMBS.

HELIOPOLIS The vaulted chamber tomb is found exclusively in Heliopolis. The tombs discovered below the northeast Cairo suburbs thus far appear all to be Vaulted Chamber Tombs, except for that of Rames (Page 129). Most have vaulted burial chambers, either rectangular or square. The tomb of Udjahormehnet (I) (Page 126) is peculiar in that the burial chamber is divided horizontally along its length to create two chambers, one above the other, a structure that also exists in the tomb of Pakap in Giza. None of the tombs has an extant funerary chapel, although the blocks from some of these have come to light and will be discussed in the chapter dealing with decoration and textual evidence. The cemetery of ancient Iunu extended eastwards over time and the Late Period burials are now under the modern suburbs of Ain Shams, Matareya and Sharqueya. Henri Gauthier excavated in Heliopolis during the 1920s and 1930s. In 1921 he revealed a series of nine mudbrick tombs which had been badly damaged by water and by people. They were aligned roughly east-west and lay just below ground level. The burial chambers were either to the north or to the south, and Henri Gauthier considered this alternating orientation to be for maximum economy of land usage.630 For that reason the tomb chapels may have been immediately above the burial chambers. The Inspectorate of Antiquities, in 1996, listed some thirtyfive sites in Ain Shams West / Matareya and another eighty sites in Ain Shams East from which evidence of burials, in the form of blocks or parts of coffins, had been recovered during construction works.631 These areas are widely spread and the evidence is sparse: because of the modern infrastructure tombs are only rarely found and, although there must have been a very large number of tombs of the Late Period, the statistical sample is very small. Many Late Period tombs appear to have been dismantled and reused in Ptolemaic and Roman times. After the Twenty-sixth Dynasty there are few elite burials in the area of Iunu, the secular population having moved to Kher-Aha (Old Cairo) at the time of the Persian conquest, although the kings of the Thirtieth Dynasty continued to patronise the district.632 In 1997 Susanne Bickel and Pierre Tallet compiled a useful listing of twenty-four tombs found thus far in the Saite necropolis at Matareya.633 Those tombs of which structural detail is available are listed in Appendix A.634

Figure 21. The tomb of Bakenrenef, showing similarities to the Twenty-fifth Dynasty Theban tombs. [Based on Bresciani (1983): Figure 2]

630

Gauthier (1921): 198. Abd el-Gelil, Shaker, and Raue (1996): 139-145. 632 Quirke (2001): 112. 633 Bickel and Tallet (1987): 283-290. 634 Several other tombs have been excavated but no structural details of them are known. They are listed in Appendix A. 631

Figure 22. The Theban tomb of Harwa [TT 37]. [From Eigner (1984): Abb. 12]

41

THE ELITE LATE PERIOD EGYPTIAN TOMBS OF MEMPHIS

TOMB

Main Titles

Orientation

Entry

Single/ Multiple

Rames (Section 8)

Divine Father Lector Priest Royal Acquaintance Cellermaster Divine Father

E-W

N

S

N-S

S

S

E-W

?

M

Tomb 2

Chief Physician Sole Companion Director of the Palace Not known

N-S

W

M

Tomb 3

Not known

N-S

W

M

Tomb 4

Not known

E-W

?

?

Tomb 5

Not known

Sq.

?

M

Nesu-Khedu

Overseer of Scribes Chief Lector Priest Scribe Prince Mayor Chancellor Chancellor Sole Companion Divine Father

E-W

W

S

N-S

?

M

E-W

E

S

Wahibra-Tjeset PsamtekSenebu (Section 8)

Hor Neferibrasaneith

Panehsy

Nesu-Khedu and Wahibra-Tjeset, which were concentric and based on a square. The position of the tombs, in close association with the Sun Temple at Heliopolis would have meant that its cult of Ra would be pre-eminent. 5 TJERY The only Late Period mastaba tomb to be described in the Memphite necropoleis is that of Tjery, who lived early in the Twenty-sixth Dynasty and probably came from Sais, to which his son continued allegiance.637 It is in Giza. The south escarpment of Giza, set away from the main monuments to the south, in the vicinity of Rosetau, was dominated by the tomb of the Chief of Police Tjery. His tomb is the only surviving Memphite elite tomb of the Late Period of which substantial portions of the superstructure have been described (Page 127). Its position far to the south not only placed it immediately above the presumed position of Rosetau, discussed in the previous chapter; it also made quarrying for stone from it more difficult. It is aligned roughly north-south, with the entrance at the south.638 The chapel above ground is in the shape of a cross, with the burial shaft cut into the centre of the southern end of the south room. The north, east and west rooms of the superstructure had vaulted limestone roofs and there are indications that the large south room was open to the sky,639 forming an open court, analogous with the Open Courts of the Late Period tombs on the Assassif in Thebes, which have a solar function. The walls were of Tura limestone skins with rubble infill. From Petrie’s plan640 it seems that the exterior of the northern part of the tomb had ‘palace façade’ decoration.641 Jacques Vandier said that this architectural form was a decorative motif providing magical protection.642 This ‘palace façade’ panelling symbolised status and power.643 The king was born and died in his palace, being ritually born again at the time of the heb-sed, so that the palace became associated with rebirth and eternal life; the decoration that surrounded it naturally took on a potent force.644 The enclosure wall to the Step Pyramid complex was used to provide Djoser with a source of magic for resurrection645 and, seeing this, the elite of the Late Period saw the adoption of this motif as a way of attaining eternal life.646 They would also be associated, in the mind of those who saw this decoration, with the great builders of the past who had also used it, whom Tjery copied in a sign of respect and with whom

Table 3. The orientation of the Heliopolitan tombs.

Of the twenty-five tombs listed in Appendix C, structural details of only ten are known: these are summarised in Table 3. Four of these are orientated north-south, five are orientated east-west and one is square;635 the entrance to one is from the north, one is from the south, one is from the east and three are from the west. The tombs were all of similar size and shape but the lack of any regular orientation tends to confirm Henri Gauthier’s suggestion that the restricted space meant that tombs were orientated so as to maximise land usage.636 Whether the tomb was built for an individual or for a family burial seems to have been a matter of choice, there being four for single and five for multiple burials; this decision does not seem to have been influenced by the tomb owner’s rank. The two holders of the title ‘Divine Father’ and those with the title ‘Lector Priest’ chose to be buried alone, while it appears that those with secular titles chose to be buried with others. This suggests that the priesthood were solitary people, while those not of the priesthood wanted to be buried with their families – although the paucity of information makes it impossible to confirm this.

637

Petrie (1907 [Reprint 1975]): 28. el-Sadeek (1984): 8. 639 el-Sadeek (1984): 17. 640 Petrie (1907 [Reprint 1977]): Plate XXXVII. 641 This type of structural decoration was extremely ancient, probably coming from Mesopotamia during the Nagada II period, as representations were found on four Nagada IIc pots in Maadi. [JiminezSerrano (2007): 24]. 642 Vandier (1952): 698. 643 Scarre (1994): 76. 644 Jimines-Serrano (2007): 29. 645 Jiminez-Serrano (2007): 31. 646 Jiminez-Serrano (2007): 30. 638

There is no evidence that the structure of any of the Heliopolitan tombs was designed upon specifically Osirian lines, with the isolated exceptions of the tombs of 635 636

THE MASTABA TOMB.

This is Tomb 5, of which the entrance location is not known. Gauthier (1921): 198.

42

TOMB STRUCTURE by pilgrims for whom the structure took on a special meaning.

he wished to be associated. It seems possible that Tjery would have been able to see the enclosure wall of the Step Pyramid from the escarpment upon which his tomb was built, and sought to be associated with it; he could certainly see other Old Kingdom structures, some with ‘palace façade’ decoration, in the Giza cemeteries below. Thus his ‘conspicuous display’ would show his importance to those who lived, while giving him additional power to enter the afterlife.

Being near to a divine temple would have given the deceased added protection for the hazardous journey to the Field of Reeds. This style of tomb may have been an imitation of the burial places of the prehistoric kings of Egypt.649 It came to be used in Medinet Habu by the God’s Wives of Amun650 (Figure 24) and continued in use until at least the end of the Late Period, with the tomb of Petosiris in Tuna el-Gebel being a prime example.651

Tjery did not have a pyramid incorporated into his Giza tomb; presumably he did not see the need for one as the great Fourth Dynasty pyramids were immediately in front of him and he would have been able to draw magical power from them. He had his tomb chapel built of the same materials and by the same methods used in the Old Kingdom and the shape was influenced by mastabas at Meidum and Giza.647 The transverse chambers in Tjery’s chapel reflect those in the chapel of Bakenrenef, although the orientation is different. The need to create an Osiris Tomb was not as great for him as for others, since he had ready access to the entrance to the Underworld directly from Rosetau below. 6

THE TEMPLE-COURT TOMB.

Figure 23. The 'Temple' Tomb for High Officials in Post-Amarna Saqqara. [From Martin (1992): Figure 10]

Figure 24. The tombs of the God's Wives of Amun At Medinet Habu. [From Hölscher (1958): Abb. 14]

The Temple-Court Tomb is a structure that appeared as the ‘temple’ tomb in the post-Amarna necropolis in south Saqqara (Figure 23). That structure had a pylon leading to a forecourt, which incorporated an earlier tomb shaft, storage rooms and chapels.648 The development into the ‘Temple-Court Tomb’ saw the enlargement of a purposebuilt burial chamber so that it was contiguous with the mortuary chapel above it. The structure is also similar to the tombs of Buto and Sais, which were probably visited

The Memphite necropoleis have only two examples of the Temple-Court Tomb, both in Saqqara, although blocks from the tomb of Hor-Sematawy, found within the temple dromos of the Heliopolitan Sun Temple, suggest it to have been of this type,652 and Joachim Quack considers that the Heliopolitan tomb of Nesu-Khedu, included as a ‘Vaulted Chamber Tomb’ above (Page 126), might also have been a Temple-Court Tomb.653 Although neither of the two Memphite examples has a portico, the structural appearance of each is strikingly similar to Herodotus’ description, and to the tombs of the God’s Wives of Amun at Medinet Habu (Figure 24).

647

el-Sadeek (1984): 209-210. Martin (1992): 40. The tomb type probably developed into the royal tombs in Tanis, born out of a need for greater protection than was afforded by the royal burials in the Valley of the Kings in Thebes. [Lloyd (1983): 321]. These were used as a basis for the royal tombs in Sais, which Herodotus describes as follows: “The Saites buried all their kings inside this temple … It is a spacious cloister, built of stone, and adorned with pillars carved so as to resemble palm-trees, and with other sumptuous ornaments. Within the cloister is a chamber with folding doors, behind which lies the sepulchre of the king” [Herodotus Book II, 169. (1910 translation): Vol. II, 202], which Alan Lloyd interprets as being “located near a divine temple; the mortuary chapel was built immediately over and contiguous with the burial chamber; and the cult chapel was preceded by a portico [Lloyd (1988): Vol. III, 203]. 648

Within the Memphite necropoleis, both examples of the Temple-Court Tomb are found in Saqqara. It may be that the ground in Giza presented none of the flat areas required for the building of such structures, or it may

649

Lloyd (1983): 321. Hölscher (1958). 651 Lefebvre (1923). 652 Quack (2006): 127. 653 Quack (2006): 126. 650

43

THE ELITE LATE PERIOD EGYPTIAN TOMBS OF MEMPHIS south and south-north, so that the limited space was maximised;660 they descended a mere two metres below the modern levels.661 Henri Gauthier considered the structure probably to be Saite, on the basis of inscriptions: the title wdpw Iwnw is an extension of the Middle Kingdom title of wdpw, which came into use during the New Kingdom.662 Henri Gauthier also said that the row of tombs was built in imitation of Old Kingdom style:663 they are of a very simple cruciform type that occurred in many places at many times and was common during the Old Kingdom.664 It must also be possible that they are actually Old Kingdom structures that were reused in the Late Period.

simply be that they existed and, being a ready source of stone, the superstructures have been robbed out. The Temple-Court Tombs of Wennefer (Page 128) and Nesdjhouty (Page 128) are the funerary chapels connected with their underground burial chambers. As such, these are the areas of the tombs to which visitors would come to make offerings to the deceased’s Ka. The Temple-Court Tomb is considered by Joachim Quack to have acquired an Osirian association when the structural form was taken from Tanis to Memphis,654 while Nesdjhouty’s tomb is seen by Kenneth Kitchen as a straightforward development from the New Kingdom tomb chapel.655 A large symbol of Thinis,656 with human feet to either side, was found in the southernmost chapel of Nesdjhouty’s tomb chapel – an undeniably Osirian theme, since Abydos, the burial place of Osiris, was in the Thinite nome. The remains of a statue of Apis with a human body were found at the rear of the tomb chapel, demonstrating the importance of animal cults during the Late Period.

*** There remains one further tomb that does not fit any of the above tomb forms: that of Psamtek-Senebu (Page 129). This enigmatic tomb does not contain stone and is neither decorated nor inscribed. It does not, therefore, meet our criteria as an elite tomb. However, Psamtek-Senebu was entitled ‘Chief Physician’, ‘Healer’, ‘Chief of Pharaoh’s Dentists’, ‘Commander of the Battle Fleet’, ‘Sole Companion’, ‘Director of the Palace’, ‘Overseer of Interpreters’, ‘One who Stands Before the Throne’, ‘King’s Valet’, ‘Administrator of the Two Thrones’, ‘Prophet of the King’s Two Daughters’, ‘Keeper of the Celestial Secrets’ and ‘Director of the Palaces of the Red Crown’, so that he was certainly of elite status; his tomb cannot be ignored. The tomb was oval and appears to have been surmounted by a tumulus; the internal structures were of mudbrick. This is a form of tomb that is not of Egyptian background, but is similar in form to the tumuli found in Napata, which date from between the New Kingdom and the first half of the first millennium BC.665 Bakenrenef’s tomb, discussed above, has southern – probably Theban – influences and here, again, we find a structure emanating from the south. Perhaps Psamtek-Senebu was of a Kushite background brought to Memphis as an adviser. The tomb was concentric and based on a square, while it also had a tumulus superstructure, which might have represented the primordial mound; these are all Osirian features, but there is nothing in the available evidence to suggest that these are not just coincidental arrangements.

Typical of this type of tomb, all had an impressive superstructure, probably richly decorated, with undecorated or sparsely decorated burial apartments below. It would seem likely that some of those tombs listed in Appendix A, with their undecorated and uninscribed burial chambers, may well have been Temple-Court Tombs. 7 BURIALS STRUCTURES.

IN

OTHER

SACRED

In the Eastern Necropolis at Giza (See Map 3), to the east of Queen Henutsen’s Pyramid, southeast of Khufu’s ‘Great’ Pyramid, lies the Temple of Isis, which became a religious focal point during the Saite period.657 The central part of the Temple of Isis was built around the mortuary temple of Queen Henutsen.658 The tombs in this cluster are all within older structures, from which they appear to have taken their strength. Those within the Temple of Isis are naturally associated, through her, with Osiris. They exhibit no markedly Osirian features, as these were presumably not deemed necessary by those buried in such close association with Isis. 8

CONCLUSIONS In the Memphite necropoleis there are several distinct traditions of tomb being built at the same time: the Mastabas and Rock Cut Tombs, with underground funerary apartments, suitable for use over several generations, and the larger shaft tombs, with block superstructures and, sometimes, dissociated chapels, more suitable for individual or single generation burials.

TOMB IN THE OLD KINGDOM STYLE.

Excavating close to Matareya station in Heliopolis in 1921, Henri Gauthier found a row of tombs aligned with the ancient temenos wall of the Sun Temple of Heliopolis.659 The tombs, of which that of Rames (Page 129) was one, were orientated alternatively north654 655

Quack (2006): 131. Kitchen (1989): 279.

660 Gauthier (1921a): 198, and see the discussion on the Vaulted Chamber Tomb, above. 661 Gauthier (1921a): 197. 662 Gauthier (1921a): 203. 663 Gauthier (1921a): 198. 664 Kanawati (1987): 65. 665 Edwards (2004): 118.

656

tA-wr. Hannig (2001): 1076 and Quibell (1912): 33. el-Sadeek (1984): 105. Zivie-Coche (1991): 16. 659 Gauthier (1921a): 197. 657 658

44

TOMB STRUCTURE there was a personal choice involved in deciding what form the tomb should take, provided that one had the economic ability and social status to build it. There is the additional possibility that construction of the largest and most extravagant elite tombs might have required royal approval, which might not have been readily given, especially during times of foreign domination.

As will be seen from the later chapter dealing with titles, those members of the Late Period elite buried in the Memphite tombs represent the highest ranks of society, with the largest and most visible tombs being built by those at the top end of the social hierarchy; at the same time, people with similar titles have built tombs of different styles in different places. For instance, people with the title ‘Chief Physician’ have built a Vaulted Chamber Tomb in Heliopolis666 and a Saite-Persian Shaft Tomb in Abusir;667 ‘Sole Companions’ have built a Vaulted Chamber Tomb in Heliopolis,668 Saite-Persian Shaft Tombs in Abusir669 and Saqqara,670 a Rock Cut Tomb in Giza671 and Shaft Tombs672 and Temple-Court Tombs673 in Saqqara; while ‘Chancellors’ have built Vaulted Chamber Tombs in Heliopolis,674 a Shaft Tomb in Old Cairo,675 Saite-Persian Shaft Tombs in Abusir676 and Saqqara,677 a Rock Cut Tomb in Giza,678 a Shaft Tomb,679 a Temple-Court Tomb680 and a Rock Cut Tomb681 in Saqqara. What, then, drove the elite to build a particular type of tomb in a particular place? There is a clear tradition of building a particular type of tomb in some places, so that we have Saite-Persian Shaft Tombs in Abusir and Vaulted Chamber Tombs in Heliopolis, while in other areas there are a variety of alternative tomb types. The positioning of the cemetery in Abusir has already been discussed,682 but Rock Cut Tombs and Shaft Tombs can be cut only where the rock is suitable. In Heliopolis the rock was not suitable, and there was also the destructive effect of the annual inundation, but in all other areas the nature of the surface topography and underlying geology allowed a variety of types of tomb to be built. Table 4 below summarises the distribution of the Memphite tombs. Intrusive and secondary burials apart, in the areas where the ground is suitable and a choice of tomb type possible, the distribution between those types is even; on the escarpments there are rock cut tombs, and shaft tombs were cut into the rocky substrate exposed on the flatter overlying areas. There is little evidence of Mastaba Tombs or Temple-Court Tombs, but both these tomb types are easily robbed – as the superstructures of the Shaft Tombs have been – so the fact that there are few of these does not mean that they did not exist: absence of evidence is not evidence of absence! It appears, then, that

Table 4. The distribution of Memphite tombs by type.

With the exception of the Vaulted Chamber Tombs, and possibly the Temple-Court Tombs, of which there is insufficient evidence, all the structures were driven by Osirian belief. In the Vaulted Chamber Tombs, located in Heliopolis, this Osirian approach is not noted. While tradition was probably important in the design of the tomb structure, it was also vital for it to incorporate the potency of antiquity. So, not only do we see the ‘palace façade’ panelling of Tjery’s tomb, we also see potsherds set in resin in the coffin of Wahibramen,683 while ancient pottery was used to temper Iufaa’s enclosure wall and ancient stone from the Old Kingdom pyramids of Abusir was used in his burial chamber. Limestone from Unas’ pyramid was also used in the construction of the Late Period tombs built close to it, thus imparting sacredness from the substance of the stone. Although the use of old stone may just be expedient, discussion earlier in this chapter has stressed the power of antiquity, and the use of the ‘red pot’ associated with the Opening of the Mouth Ceremony.684

666

Udjahormehnet. Udjahorresnet. 668 Panehsy. 669 Udjahorresnet, Iufaa and Menekhibneko. 670 Psamtek, Padinisis, Hekaemsaf, Neferibra-Sa-Neith Wahibramen. 671 Padibastet. 672 Irahor. 673 Nesdjhouty. 674 Hor Neferibrasaneith, Panehsy and Ankhkhonsu. 675 Pawen-Hatef. 676 Udjahorresnet and Iufaa. 677 Padinisis, Hekaemsaf, Neferibra-Sa-Neith and Wahibramen. 678 Padibastet 679 Irahor. 680 Nesdjhouty. 681 Bakenrenef. 682 In Chapter 2 and earlier in this chapter. 667

and

683 684

45

Drioton and Lauer (1951): 482. Wilkinson (1994): 393.

THE ELITE LATE PERIOD EGYPTIAN TOMBS OF MEMPHIS which lasted over one hundred and twenty years;696 of the available options,697 he concluded that, although in all probability material of that date had been found, it has consistently been wrongly dated, because it was not materially different from that of an earlier date.698 This, in turn, suggests that there was little development in tomb structures throughout the Late Period. However, from the evidence that has been examined in this chapter, it is clear that there was very considerable development from Saite into Persian times, but stagnation thereafter until the Thirtieth Dynasty. That the cult of Osiris remained strong throughout the period is also demonstrated by the structural detail of the tombs.

Position and orientation were of great importance, so that we find Saite-Persian Shaft Tombs built within the pyramid complexes of Userkaf and of Unas. The alignment of these tombs, whether in Saqqara, Giza or Abusir, is invariably the same as the Old Kingdom pyramids and the orientation is with the head to the west, except in a few cases that have been discussed above. The division of the entire structure of the tomb into superstructure, cult chambers and burial apartments conforms to the tripartite household division into reception, living and private areas685 that has been seen in tombs from early Dynastic times and that was perfected in the Second Dynasty.686 It has been discussed at length in connection with the Amarna house687 ─ although Jan Assmann688 and Jürgen Zeidler689 identify the typical Saite tomb as having four parts, Diethelm Eigner identifies five690 and Wafaa el-Sadeek separates it into six.691 The separation of the parts of the tomb in Thebes is easy to analyse,692 but the lack of superstructure makes it difficult to assess the functions of the parts of the Memphite tombs. In Iufaa’s tomb complex there is a reception place to the east of the tomb which served as an offering and meeting area and an enclosed superstructure above the main shaft, which became a private space for the deceased. Bakenrenef’s tomb follows the typical Theban model, with an open reception court, the rock cut chambers leading directly from this, and the underground funerary apartments for the deceased. In Tjery’s tomb there is also an open court, followed by rooms which were open to view, and the underground part of the tomb that was private. The continued division of the tomb into three parts during the Late Period is thus demonstrated by that evidence which is available.

The development of the Saite-Persian Shaft Tomb started from simple beginnings, when Hor sought to follow Abydene Osirian mantra by constructing a giant sarcophagus in his deep shaft. From there it developed into a structure with pits and trenches that reinforced the Osirian nature of the tomb. The final stage in its development was the addition of a second secondary shaft in imitation of the Saite entrance to the Step Pyramid. From then on, the economic constraints following the Persian conquest forced the decline of this type of tomb, which ultimately became a Shaft Tomb; that, in turn, further developed when economic circumstances permitted during the Thirtieth Dynasty. The alignment of the tombs followed that of the nearby Old Kingdom pyramids, while their east-west orientation was driven by Osirian beliefs. The Rock Cut Tomb of Bakenrenef was also so driven, but that design was dictated by the form that arose in Twenty-fifth Dynasty Thebes. The seven categories of tomb available699 enabled the tomb owner to exercise considerable choice in the design of his tomb.

The chronology of the Saite-Persian Shaft Tombs has been considered above and this study has found, as the name implies, that they date from the Twenty-sixth and the early Twenty-seventh Dynasties. But few tombs have been dated to the remainder of the Late Period. MarieLouise Buhl, for example, identifies sarcophagi from only the Twenty-sixth and Thirtieth Dynasties and the Ptolemaic era;693 the number of ushebtis attributed to the Persian Period is similarly very small694 and Late Period Books of the Dead are also dated to the Saite Period, the Thirtieth Dynasty or to the Ptolemaic Period.695 David Aston considered this apparent lack of funerary architecture from later in the Twenty-seventh Dynasty,

Security was an important issue for tomb builders. The kings of the New Kingdom had built their tombs in the remote Valley of the Kings in an attempt to hide them from robbers. In the approach to the Late Period security was sought by the construction of tombs within the sacred temple enclosure at Tanis, and this was more successful. The Saite-Persian Shaft Tombs were filled with fine sand, which provided a greatly improved method of security; those intent on robbing the tombs would have had to remove tons of sand before reaching the interior of the burial chamber: that this task proved daunting is evidenced by the number of intact tombs that have been found. In fact, it had been thought by some that the structure of the Saite-Persian Shaft Tomb developed primarily for the security that it afforded. This study, however, has demonstrated that the structure developed for religious reasons.

685

Thomas (1980): 95. Grajetzki (2003): 12. 687 Spence (2004): Figure 1, after Borchardt and Ricke. 688 Assmann (1977): 12 separates the typical tomb into superstructure (pylons and courts), staircase and vestibule, open court and niche, and substructure (cult chambers and burial apartments). 689 Zeidler (1994) 690 Eigner (1984): 61 and Eigner (1999): 433 divides the tomb into superstructure, staircase vestibule and antechamber, open court, cult chambers and burial chambers. 691 el-Sadeek (1984): 169 divides it into superstructure, staircases, open court, substructure, cult chambers and burial chamber. 692 Eigner (1984): 61. 693 Aston (1999): 18, quoting Buhl (1959). 694 Aston (1999): 19. 695 Aston (1999): 20. 686

696

525 – 404 BC. Shaw (2000): 482. David Aston [Aston (1999): 20] said that either: (a) the Persian period did not exist; (b) cemeteries of the Persian Period have not been found; (c) nothing was buried with the deceased during the Persian Period; or (d) funerary material of the Persian period has been wrongly dated. 698 Aston (1999): 19. 699 Excluding the Old Kingdom-style tomb of Rames. 697

46

TOMB STRUCTURE The elite tombs in the western necropoleis were impressive affairs, deliberately positioned and constructed for conspicuous display. At the same time they were closely associated with the past in an effort not only to take power from nearby monuments of antiquity but also to suggest to the population at large that the tomb owner was somehow of the same ‘stuff’ as that which had been possessed by those who had made Egypt great. The tombs incorporated Osirian features to assist the deceased on his journey into the next life. But the social, economic and political power to build these massive tombs lasted for only a short time, starting with growing internal stability in the Twenty-sixth Dynasty and ceasing after the imposition of satrapy by the Persians in the Twentyseventh Dynasty, although there was resurgence during the Thirtieth Dynasty.

47

complexes or the alignment of Campbell’s Tomb to copy the great Fourth Dynasty pyramids and mastaba fields, not only achieved religious ideals but also associated the Late Period deceased with the power and grandeur of these earlier tomb builders. Again, visitors to these tombs could appreciate this similarity and think positively about the more recently deceased, while the religious orientation towards the rising and setting sun remained intact.

CHAPTER 4 DECORATION AND INSCRIPTIONS The previous chapters have looked at the reasons for the positioning of tombs within the landscape and at their structure. This chapter examines tomb decoration, for which the evidence is sparse, and the more abundant inscriptional evidence; it considers what decoration and text was used, and where, and asks what this tells us about the tomb owner and how it relates to contemporary tombs and to tombs from the past. The decoration and inscriptions come almost entirely from the subterranean parts of the tombs – the burial apartments – where robbery of stone is more difficult than from those areas above ground; that evidence which is available from the tomb superstructures – primarily the open funerary chapels – is very fragmentary in nature for that reason. The overall textual content of the tombs is distorted by the loss of the associated chapels.

As with the previous chapter, the different tomb types will be considered separately. Full details of the decoration and texts from the tombs are in Appendix B, and a concordance of the texts forms Appendix D. 1

THE SAITE-PERSIAN SHAFT TOMB.

The earliest of the Saite-Persian Shaft Tombs, that of Hor704 from the area of the Userkaf pyramid in Saqqara, was inscribed only on the outside of the burial chamber; the walls inside the burial chamber bear only an offering scene. The top of the vaulted roof has the earliest recorded incidence in Late Period tombs of Nut and the sky being inscribed on the ceiling of the burial chamber.705 This motif is usually found on the inside of a coffin lid, where Nut acts as protectress for the deceased; the appearance here gives the impression that Hor has created a sarcophagus of his entire burial chamber. Although not much textual evidence has survived, Etienne Drioton pointed out that only five of twentyseven intended columns of text had been executed to the north wall.706

In the tomb chapels, open to visitors, many of whom would have been illiterate, the walls primarily held pictorial information which was enhanced by texts only for clarification: names and titles, for instance, could be written only in text, while the age-old depictions of hunting, fishing and agriculture could readily be understood solely from pictures.700 So here it was important for the visitor to understand the religious and social context within which the deceased had lived. His lifetime works were displayed, as was his anticipated position in the afterlife. The pictures would help in the manifestation of this afterlife, and the prayers of the visitor, encouraged by these representations, would assist in the achievement of that end. In the burial apartments there were no visitors: in the cases of the elite with whom this study deals, the deceased were probably highly literate and the information on the walls could be written entirely as text, which also had a magical quality; pictures were added to the texts either as ‘aides-mémoire’ or simply to make the walls more decorative. The texts are a selection from the Pyramid Texts, the Coffin Texts and the Book of the Dead, with some additional texts given the letters ‘A’ to ‘M’.701 These ‘lettered’ texts were incorporated during the Twenty-sixth Dynasty, many being first described from the tomb of Padinisis in Saqqara,702 when it was probably thought that the original texts needed to be updated because they no longer fulfilled the needs of the people of the Late Period.703 It is the decoration and texts from the tomb chapels and burial apartments of the tombs that will now be examined.

The inscriptions in the subsequent Saite-Persian Shaft Tombs became largely formulaic, including references from the Pyramid Texts, the Coffin Texts and the Book of the Dead, as well as prayers to Osiris, Ra, Ptah-Sokar and Anubis. With the change of tomb site to the area adjacent to the Unas pyramid, the vaulting of Psamtek’s burial chamber707 incorporated a star-studded motif in imitation of the night sky, a device probably copied from the burial chamber of the pyramid of Unas, to create a full Universe within the deceased’s burial chamber. This form of decoration was continued in the adjacent tomb of Padinisis,708 but the ceiling of the burial chamber of Djanehibu’s contiguous tomb was not decorated.709 Padineith’s ceiling was merely painted blue, without stars, and all the subsequent burial chambers had undecorated vaults within their burial chambers.

The alignment of the tombs, associated in many cases with earlier examples, such as the Abusir tombs’ relationship to the nearby Fifth Dynasty funerary

The tomb of Padinisis710 contained offering formulae that were similar to those from the tomb of Pepi II, which may have been open in the Twenty-sixth Dynasty.

700

704

701

705

Aldred (1980): 87. The ‘Padinisis Lettered Texts’, identified by Gaston Maspero [Maspero (1900a): 234-261] are detailed in Appendix D. 702 Barsanti (1900): 232. 703 Hornung (1999): 7, 13. The Pyramid Texts evolved into the Coffin Texts during the Middle Kingdom, and during the New Kingdom there was further evolution into the Book of the Dead

Temp. Psamtek I – II. Bresciani, Pernigotti, and Giangeri Silvis (1977): 20. Drioton (1953): 125. 707 Temp. Amasis. 708 Barsanti (1900a): 232. 709 Barsanti (1900): 263. 710 Temp. Amasis. 706

48

DECORATION AND INSCRIPTIONS On the east wall of Iufaa’s tomb there is a depiction of the god Tutu, together with Horus and Thoth (Figure 27). Tutu was a form of the god Shu717 and a personification of the sun;718 he was the son of Neith719 and therefore closely associated with Sais, which was probably the ancestral home of Iufaa. This is believed to be the earliest representation of Tutu,720 whose only known temple is at Ismant el-Kharab, in Dakhla oasis.721 Another wall has a depiction of the sun on the primordial mound, a vulture and depictions of various gods, including at least nine forms of Ptah.722 The ceiling, in common with the SaitePersian Shaft Tombs that immediately preceded this tomb, is undecorated; the motif of a starry sky reappears, however, in the tomb of Menekhibneko, where a solar barque is also shown in an association of tradition with innovation.

Although Padinisis’ tomb was within the Unas pyramid complex, he evidently thought that the offering formulae from that pyramid were insufficient for his needs; one assumes that his architect searched Old Kingdom sources until he found the texts in the Sixth Dynasty pyramid of Pepi II.

Figure 25. Detail of a vignette from Iufaa’s burial chamber. [From Verner (2002): 203]

The walls of Iufaa’s burial chamber in Abusir711 show a completely different approach, with far more prominence being given to animal deities, probably because of the nearby Sacred Animal Necropolis in Saqqara. The tomb walls are the most completely decorated of their kind, with some one thousand one hundred and fifty columns of text, and the decoration on the walls and sarcophagi covers about one hundred square metres.712 The walls have scenes depicting libation and purification, with many accompanying gods and demons in the shape of snakes and hippopotami.713 A vignette (Figure 25) shows two protective hippopotamus goddesses714 with the uroboros ― the symbol for eternity715 ― but this has the head of a hippopotamus in place of that of a snake.

Figure 27. Part of the wall decoration of Iufaa's burial chamber, showing Tutu. [From Vachala (2002): 101]

Figure 26. Detail of a vignette from Iufaa's burial chamber. [From Verner (2002): 200]

The texts in the tomb of Padihor723 are all beautifully executed but with errors: these scribal errors have been corrected in black ink.724

Another vignette, shown in Figure 26, depicts three Apis bulls, with cobras in place of feet, each of which has a different tail: one has that of a falcon, the other two are unclear. This clearly reflects the importance of the Apis cult at this time and is a polymorphic depiction that often appears on Late Period mummy wrappings.716 711

717

Temp. Darius I. Bareš (2006): 2. 713 These have close parallels with scenes on the ceiling of Esna temple. Bareš (2006): 3. 714 Probably Tawaret, who was associated with childbirth and hence resurrection. Hart (1986): 212. 715 The snake swallowing its own tail symbolised eternity and was shown surrounding the newly born sun god. [Quirke (1992): 120]. 716 Bareš (2006): 3.

Budge (1969): 463. Budge (1969): 464. 719 Leitz (2002): Vol. VII, 381. 720 Kaper (2003): 257-259. 721 This known temple to Tutu was built in the late Ptolemaic era [Kamil (2006)] and was used until at least AD 337 [Ikram (1995)]. 722 Bareš (2006): 3. 723 Temp. Darius I. 724 Bareš et al. (2002): 105.

712

718

49

THE ELITE LATE PERIOD EGYPTIAN TOMBS OF MEMPHIS The location of the texts found in the Saite-Persian Shaft Tombs (and the associated tomb of Necho within Iufaa’s tomb) are summarised in Table 5 below. These are separated by area and are in approximate chronological order. TOMB

North Wall

South Wall

A Saqqara (Area of the pyramid of Userkaf) Hor Htp di Htp di nsw to nsw to Exterior Anubis. Osiris PT 267. Lord of Djedu. Offering List. Hor Interior Neferibra CT 179, CT 151. Sa-Neith 215.

(Area of the pyramid of Unas) AmenHtp di Offering nsw to tefnakht List. Anubis. PT 25, PT 267, 32, 223. 269, 270. CT 151, Text ‘L’. 625. CT 179, 208, 716. Psamtek PT 72 to PT 226, 81. 228 to Texts ‘A’, 231, 233, ‘L’, ‘M’. 234, 239, BD 72. 242, 262, 8 Sacred 368. Oils. CT 363, 429. BD 44. Texts ‘B’, ‘J’. SetairSacred bint Oils. Padinisis

PT 25, 36, 72 to 79, 81, 213, 214, 414, 634, 635. Text ‘D’. 13 Sacred Oils.

PT 270. Texts ‘E’, ‘L’, ‘M’, ‘C’. CT 151, 179, 208, 215, 227, 301, 352, 363, 429, 529, 625, 716.

East Wall

West Wall

PT 72 to 81, 368.

Offering Table. CT 151, 179, 208, 625, 716. Texts ‘L’, ‘M’. Htp di nsw to Isis. PT 226, 228, 229, 233 to 235, 237 to 242. Htp di nsw to Anubis. PT 267, 269, 270, 677. CT 161. BD 148.

Htp di nsw to Osiris, Lord of Djedu. Htp di nsw to PtahSokar. PT 25, 32, 62, 64 to 71, 106, 107, 218, 219, 223, 226 to 228, 239, 242. Offering List from Pepi II.

North South East West Wall Wall Wall Wall A Saqqara (Area of the pyramid of Unas - Continued) Padineith PT 72 to PT 226 Htp di Htp di nsw to nsw to 81, 368. to 229, Anubis. Osiris, 13 236, PT 267, Lord of Sacred 241. 269, Mendes. Oils. 270. Offering BD 125. List. PT 25, 32, 223. Djanehibu Offering Htp di PT 226 Htp di nsw to nsw to List. to 228, Anubis. Osiris, PT 72 to 233, PT 267, Lord of 79, 81, 234, 269, Mendes 368. 236. 270, and CT 151, 320. Abydos 625. Offering BD 46, List. 47. PT 25, Texts 32, 34, ‘A’, ‘C’ 223. CT 353, 710, 716. Text ‘L’. Hekaemsaf Htp di Htp di PT 26 to PT 25, nsw to nsw to 29, 32, 72 to 77, Anubis. Osiris, 226. 81. PT 62 to Lord of 71. Mendes. Offering List. (Near the Monastery of Apa Jeremias) KhedhebPT 25, PT 356, Opening PT 226 neith32, 35, 357, 364 of the to 231, Yerboni 77, 78, to 366, Mouth 233, and 81, 368, 373, Spells. 239, Psamtek 670. 593, CT 352, 242. Text ‘B’. 677. 457, CT 151, CT 179, 529. 301, 215. 363, 429, 457, 625. BD 44. [Psamtek CT 352. CT 352, burial in 457. above] TOMB

Ceiling

Nut. Prayer to the Ennead.

PT 226. CT 215.

Not known.

PT 35, 72 to 81, 368, 588.

Not known.

Htp di nsw to Osiris, Lord of Djedu. Offering List. PT 25, 32. Texts ‘H’, ‘K’.

Stars.

Htp di nsw to PtahSokar (twice). Offering List (twice). PT 25, 62 to 71, 79, 106, 215 to 217, 229, 232 to 234, 242.

Starry sky.

TOMB B Giza Pakap

50

North Wall PT 356, 368, 589. BD 178.

South Wall

East Wall

West Wall

Ceiling Painted blue.

Not decorated.

Not decorated.

Ceiling

DECORATION AND INSCRIPTIONS 2 TOMB

North Wall

South Wall

East Wall

West Wall

Ceiling

PT 25.

PT 226, 242.

Offering List.

Not decorated.

Iufaa

PT 356, 455.

Offering List. PT 204 to 210. CT 607. BD 148.

Menekibnekho

BD 148.

BD 144.

Padihor

PT 268, 269.

Necho (Second burial in Iufaa’s tomb)

Htp di nsw to PtahSokar.

CT 151, 208, 352, 625, 716. Htp di nsw to Osiris.

Litany to Ra. Book of Hours. PT 81, 414, 592, 634, 635, 670. Book of Hours (Day) Offering List.

PT 213, 214. Names & Titles. PT 210 to 212.

C Abusir Udjahorresnet

Book of Hours (Night) PT 25, 77, 78, 81.

SHAFT TOMBS.

GIZA TOMB LG 81 (Probably Thirtieth Dynasty). The walls of the main room of this tomb were covered with white mortar and decorated to show the tomb owner and his wife watching the netting of fish (Figure 28), offering tables and a butchery scene (Figure 30), all in Old Kingdom style. The fishing scene is similar to the scene from the tomb of Ii-mrii, from the time of Niuserra (Figure 29);727 while the offering bearers are comparable with scenes from the Old Kingdom tomb chapel of Sekhem-Ankh-Ptah in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (Figure 31), and the butchery scene is reminiscent of the scene from the Fifth Dynasty Tomb of Princess Idut in Saqqara (Figure 32).

Not decorated.

Stars and solar barque. PT 249, 251, 252.

Egypt was an agricultural country, and the pictures tended to show the production of the offerings as well as the offerings themselves.728 Thus the herding and butchery of cattle represented the offering of meat, while fishing represented the catching of the offerings of fish. The wall decoration would provide the offerings depicted, by heka, should the actual provision of offerings fail.

Table 5. Inscriptions in the burial chambers of the Saite-Persian Shaft Tombs.

As can be seen from this table, there is very little development of the basic textual content of these tombs over time. On the other hand, Ladislav Bareš has stressed that, although the Saite-Persian Shaft Tombs in Abusir were all built within a very short time frame – possibly as little as five years – there is a large difference in the choice and distribution of the texts upon their walls.725 There would surely have been some fundamentally important text that no tomb owner would omit, while there was a great choice available for supplementary texts. The texts in the Saqqara and Giza tombs are all from the Pyramid Texts and the Coffin Texts, with the exception of Chapter 72 of the Book of the Dead that appears in Psamtek’s tomb, Chapter 125 from that of Padineith, Chapter 44 from the tomb of KhedhebneithYerboni and Chapter 178 from that of Pakap. The later tombs from Abusir726 include extracts from the Book of Hours. Anubis, Ptah-Sokar, the Ennead and Isis are mentioned in the tombs in Saqqara but not in those in Abusir or in Pakap’s tomb in Giza, while Osiris is generally included. This suggests a movement in religious doctrine at about the time of the Persian conquest, with more reliance being given to the New Kingdom books of the afterlife and to the local gods. With the country becoming insecure, people seem to have looked back to the stability of the New Kingdom Empire. It is unsurprising, however, that the mortuary aspects of the Osirian cult remained.

Figure 28. The west wall of tomb LG 81. [Based on Lepsius (1897): 97]

Figure 29. Fishing scene from the tomb of Ii-Mrii in Giza. [From Harpur (1987): Figure 181]

725 726

727

Bareš (2006): 6. Those of Iufaa and Menekhibneko.

728

51

Giza tomb G 6020: Porter and Moss (1978-1981): Vol. II, part I, 170. Aldred (1980): 87.

THE ELITE LATE PERIOD EGYPTIAN TOMBS OF MEMPHIS

Figure 30. The north wall of tomb LG 81. [From el-Sadeek (1984): Figure 15]

Figure 33. The south wall of tomb LG 81. [From el-Sadeek (1984): Figure 16]

Not only were the wall depictions based on Old Kingdom models, but so, too, were certain aspects of their content. The stance of the tomb owner in the fishing scene is similar to the Fifth Dynasty model and is an attitude typical of the Old Kingdom,729 although the tomb owner’s wife is not shown either in these references or in Figure 35; the wife is, however shown in a similar pose in Jacques Vandier (1964) Figure 20.80, although the dress is somewhat different. The apparent side lock on the companion’s hair730 in Figure 28 suggests that this is the tomb owner’s daughter and not his wife, which would demonstrate a considerable confusion of design, as the daughter would have been shown at a much smaller scale during the Old Kingdom.731 Similarly, the offering tables shown in Figure 30 are of Old Kingdom type,732 but those shown in Figure 33 are not attested in Jacques Vandier’s work.

Figure 31. Offering bearers from the Old Kingdom tomb of Sekhem-Ankh-Ptah. [From: Simpson (1976): Plate A]

SAQQARA IRAHOR (LS 23). The antechamber of Irahor’s tomb had unspecified Book of the Dead texts and scenes. Above the door in the south wall a cobra spat protectively, which device is representative of the protection given at the Gates in the Book of Gates.733 The west wall depicted a solar barque, with lotus flowers at stem and stern; the lotus blooms by day and mimics the cosmic rebirth of the sun, becoming a symbol of resurrection.734 The barque was being pulled by a rope held by seven Ba birds. In front of the seven Ba birds was another barque in which Khepri was at the centre being adored by two more Ba birds; the morning

Figure 32. Butchery from the Old Kingdom tomb of Princess Idut. [From Aldred 1980): 86]

729

Vandier (1964): Fig. 18.14 and 18.16. I am grateful to Dr. J. J. Shirley for suggesting that this may in fact be the representation of part of a wig, in which case this would, indeed, be the tomb owner’s wife. 731 For example, Vandier (1964): Fig. 20. 80. 732 Vandier (1964): Fig. 27.19 and Fig. 27.20. 733 Hornung (1999): figures 31-41. 734 Harer (2001): 305. 730

52

DECORATION AND INSCRIPTIONS sun, in the form of a child, sat on the prow.735 Beneath the main barque was another solar disc from which the rays descend. These are representations of the Book of the Earth, which is found in the tomb of Ramesses VI in the Valley of the Kings.736

3

Irahor’s burial chamber had more, unspecified, Book of the Dead texts and scenes. The east wall is headed by twenty unidentified deities, of whom four are ram-headed and four are hawk-headed, together with eight seated goddesses, each holding a star. This represents the twelfth hour of the Book of Gates, just before dawn and resurrection.737 The west wall is headed by twenty-four deities. Gods, including the four Sons of Horus, Maat and Thoth, are represented on the main area of the east and west walls, between the niches. On the south wall Irahor adores a line of gods, including Amun, Horus, Neith and Geb, while a solar barque, containing Amun-Ra, is behind him.738 The ceiling of the burial chamber has depictions of vultures, who give protection, and the name and titles of the deceased.

The west wall of Ptahirdis’ tomb was decorated with depictions of the deceased sitting before an offering table (Figure 34).739 The chair on which he sat appears to have legs in the form of the fore and hind legs of a cow; it has a low back. This type of chair is said to be usual for the Late Period, but it is also found in the Old Kingdom,740 the early Middle Kingdom741 (Figure 35) and the New Kingdom.742 The Middle Kingdom example, although it has a similar low back, has lion’s feet and not those of cattle.

ROCK CUT TOMBS.

GIZA PTAHIRDIS.

The positions of the decoration and texts from the shaft tombs are summarised in Table 6.

TOMB

North Wall

South Wall

East Wall

West Wall

Offerings; butchery.

Kneeling men; sacred oils.

Fish netting; offerings

Unknown BD texts.

Unknown BD texts.

Standing with staff before solar disc.

Book of Gates.

Solar barque; solar disc. Book of the Earth.

Ceiling Figure 34. Detail of the chair from the west wall of the tomb of Ptahirdis. [From el-Sadeek (1984): 135]

(Giza) LG 81 (Chapel) (Saqqara) Irahor (Antechamber)

Irahor (Burial Chamber)

PsamtekNebpehti (Burial Chamber)

Offering Prayers.

Unknown BD texts; line of deities.

Unknown BD texts; 12th Hour of the Book of Gates.

Unknown BD texts; 24 deities.

Vultures; Name & titles of Irahor.

PT 593, 356, 364, 671, 365, 373, 721B CT 516 Padinisis Text ‘D’. Figure 35. Chairs from the Late Period and the Middle Kingdom. Above: from the Late Period tomb of Ankhefensakhmet. [From Hill (1958): 276 And 277]

Table 6. Decoration and inscriptions in the Shaft Tombs.

735

Lepsius (1897a): 280-281. This is the vignette intended to accompany the Sun Hymn [Faulkner (1972): 42]. 736 Weeks (2001): 256; Hornung (1999): 101. 737 Hornung (1999): 65. 738 Lepsius (1897a): 282.

739

Zivie-Coche (1991): 288. Vandier (1964): Fig. 21.95. Hill (1958): 277. 742 Vandier (1964): Fig. 23.131. 740 741

53

THE ELITE LATE PERIOD EGYPTIAN TOMBS OF MEMPHIS TOMB

North Wall

Ptahirdis

Padibastet

South Wall

East Wall

Offering being brought.

Seated before an offering table.

Exterior face only: welcoming visitors; name & titles.

Table 7. Decoration and inscriptions in the Rock Cut Tombs of Giza.

SAQQARA BAKENRENEF (Psamtek I). The rectangular entrance vestibule to Bakenrenef’s tomb had a flat ceiling containing the cartouches of Psamtek I and a hymn to Ra when he rises,745 the solar hymn being placed here where it is in full view of the rising sun. The building of this tomb during the reign of Psamtek I makes it the earliest elite tomb in the sample of this study. Chapter 3 demonstrated that it was of Theban design and in its textual and decorative content more Theban analogies are found. It seems likely that Bakenrenef was brought to the court of Psamtek I because of his knowledge of Theban affairs and it is possible that the endowment of a monumental tomb in Saqqara was an incentive for him to move north.

Figure 35. Chairs from the Late Period and the Middle Kingdom. Above: from the Middle Kingdom stele of Montu-User. [From Hill (1958): 276 And 277]

PADIBASTET.

Figure 36. Padibastet, from the façade of his tomb. [From el-Sadeek (1984): Fig.20] Figure 37. Vignette of Chapter 17 of the Book of the Dead of Hor. [From Mosher (2001): Plate 21746]

The façade of Padibastet’s tomb is reminiscent of that of Old Kingdom mastaba tombs in Saqqara.743 To each side of the door Padibastet stood, welcoming visitors to his tomb. He was shown in a long robe which Wafaa elSadeek identified as being Greek;744 however, from the appearance of the tomb façade, this dress appears more Persian than Greek. Padibastet had the honorific titles of ‘Prince’ and ‘Mayor’, making it unlikely that he would have had foreign ancestry; it seems far more likely that he had himself depicted in fashionable Persian dress to show visitors to his tomb that there was a mutual acceptance by him and the Persians.

The east wall of the pillared hall showed Nut bending over in a pose typically seen on astronomical ceilings,747 with the newborn Khepri beneath her body and an arm stretched out towards a crouching lion who extends a paw to her (Figure 37), representing the vignette of Chapter 17 of the Book of the Dead which says: “He is Ra when he arises in the eastern horizon of the sky. To me belongs yesterday, I know tomorrow”.748 This wall is, again, facing the rising sun, to whom the major text is addressed. An offering table suggests that it was in the pillared hall that the mortuary cult was practised; once finished with his offerings the deceased progressed westwards into his tomb and towards his resurrection in the west. Subsequent chambers continue this theme until the inner chamber, which houses a false door, is reached; a statue of Osiris was probably in this

The decoration from the Rock Cut Tombs of Ptahirdis and Padibastet in Giza is summarised in Table 7.

745

el-Naggar (1986): 15, note 7. the Papyrus of Hor is from Late Period Akhmim. Mosher (2001): 6. 747 For instance in the tombs of Seti I and Ramesses IV. Neugebauer and Parker (1960): Figs. 20 and 21. 748 Faulkner (1972): 44. 746

743 744

For instance that of Kagemni. [Siliotti (1997): 120]. el-Sadeek (1985): 139.

54

DECORATION AND INSCRIPTIONS PASHERINTAIHET (BN 2).

innermost position. Here Bakenrenef has reached the Field of Reeds and is reborn into a new life. The ceiling in the pillared hall has, at its centre, the twelve hours of the day and the night,749 a theme which was shown on the ceiling of the offering chamber of Queen Hatshepsut’s temple at Deir el-Bahri,750 from which his Theban tomb designers could readily have copied it. TOMB

North Wall

South Wall

East Wall

West Wall

Ceiling

Bakenrenef ‘B’

Stars flanked by gods. BD 15.

‘C’

‘D’

Figure 38. Part of the entrance to tomb BN 2. [From Bresciani (1978): Figure 8]

Offering text. Deceased between 2 Osiris figures. BD 40, 68, 69.

Adoring Osiris. Nut and Khepri in astronomical pose, Isis and Nephthys BD 18, 50, 54, 55, 71, 93, 99B.

BD 17.

CT 353.

Deceas’d before 5 Osiris figures. Doorway BD 15.

BD 39, 70. Text ‘C’.

Offering formulae. Adoring Osiris in a barque. BD 31 to 35, 57, 60, 125. Pillars BD 28, 30, 107 to 109, 112, 113, 115. Deceas’d before Osiris.

Tomb BN 2 had a monumental gateway, on the lintel of which the deceased was depicted standing and seated before an offering table (Figure 38). The chair on which Pasherintaihet sat is in New Kingdom style,751 while the attitude of his hands752 and the offering table are of Middle Kingdom style;753 the incense burner is of a style used from the end of the Eighteenth Dynasty until Ramesside times.754

Vaulted ceiling Stars. Hours of the Day and Night. Flat ceilings. Floral and geom. designs.

The distribution of the decoration and texts in the Rock Cut Tombs of Bakenrenef and Pasherintaihet in Saqqara is summarised in Table 8. 4

Blue with stars. Text ‘A’.

HELIOPOLIS

PT 226 to 243, 319.

Much of the evidence from Heliopolis is fragmentary, being derived from isolated blocks from tomb chapels and burial chambers. It is not possible to date these blocks more precisely than to say that they are probably of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty. Those blocks from tomb chapels have few parallels, as there is such a paucity of surviving Late Period examples, although fragments of similar scenes in Old Kingdom style have been found in connection with the Abusir tombs, and tomb LG 81 in Giza had a variety of scenes in Old Kingdom style.

CT 151, 179, 208, 215, 625, 716. Texts ‘L’, ‘M’. BD 36, 37, 40 to 42, 71, 125.

‘E’

BD 9, 89, 91.

‘F’

BD 103, 104, 106, 123.

Offering Texts. BD 22, 129.

Offering Texts. BD 103, 104, 123.

Vultures against a starry sky.

BD 52.

BD 51, 53.

BD 44, 57.

Star studded

BD 105.

Star studded

‘G’

PATHENFY. The entrance lintel normally tells the genealogy and titles of the occupant of the tomb, so that the visitor is encouraged to enter and make prayers for offerings to the deceased. A lintel from the tomb of Pathenfy gives the names and titles of thirteen generations of his ancestors. Being able to show a long genealogy was important for the demonstration of ‘eliteness’, as it is in most aristocracies.755 Those who could show their ancestry back thirteen generations have always been respected for that and are often seen as superior to those whose

Pasherintaihet Exterior face of tomb only: Owner seated and adoring. Table 8. Decoration and inscriptions in the Rock Cut Tombs in Saqqara.

751

Vandier (1964): Fig. 25. Vandier (1964): Fig. 22.120. 753 Vandier (1964): Fig. 26.13. 754 Vandier (1964): Fig. 28.8. 755 Long genealogies of priests provide evidence of their importance [Berlev (1997): 94]. See Chapter 5. 752

749 750

VAULTED CHAMBER TOMBS.

el-Naggar (1986): 16. el-Naggar (1986): 19.

55

THE ELITE LATE PERIOD EGYPTIAN TOMBS OF MEMPHIS north, this can mean that north is actually east or west, and in Luxor temple west has conveniently become north for the purposes of processions.762

genealogy can be traced through only three or four. A second block shows Pathenfy seated before a procession of cattle herders, and cutting papyrus in the marshes, the former showing him in a responsible position at a cattle count, an Old Kingdom motif often accompanied by scenes of animal husbandry and butchery,756 while the latter, also an Old Kingdom theme757 is presumably used on this block so that Pathenfy can make his own writing material, if necessary, in the next life.758

Table 10 summarises the location of the decoration and inscriptions from the burial chambers of the Vaulted Chamber Tombs of Heliopolis, described in Appendix B.

The location of the texts on the walls of Pathenfy’s tomb in Heliopolis is summarised in Table 9. TOMB

North Wall

South Wall

East Wall

West Wall

Pathenfy

Genealogy; cattle procession; cutting papyrus, butchery. Positions unknown.

TOMB

North Wall

South Wall

East Wall

West Wall

Ceiling

Wahibra -Tjeset

PT 213, 593.

Offer’g List.

PT 225, 226, 228, BD 67, 76.

PT 225 to 227.

Htp di nsw

Ceiling Not known.

CT 151, 352, 529, 625.

Table 9. Decoration and inscriptions in the tomb chapel of Pathenfy from Heliopolis.

PT 228, 229.

BD 60. Texts ‘L’, ‘M’.

NesuKhedu

Undec.

Blocks from the tomb of Petosiris Neferibraseneb show Osiris, flanked by Isis and Nephthys, and representations of Anubis,759 all clearly Osirian in nature; another block, one of two from the tomb of Mutshenet, shows a person playing sistra before an unidentifiable deity.760 These are scenes likely to have come from the burial apartments.

Petosiris Neferibraseneb

Osiris with Isis and Nephthys. Position unknown.

Not known.

Mutshenet

Playing sistra before a deity; religious texts.

Not known.

PANEHSY.

Harbes

PETOSIRIS NEFERIBRASENEB and MUTSHENET.

Undec

CT 179, 215, 353.

PT 225, 226.

Not known.

Position unknown PT 29, 32, 42, 74 to 76, 80.

Not known.

Position unknown.

One tomb from which all the decoration and texts are known is that of Panehsy. Here, the north wall is headed by twelve fire-spitting cobras, whose function is to deter the enemies of the deceased during the ninth hour of the Amduat. The tympanum of the east wall has a depiction of the manDt solar day barque on which the stem and stern posts take the form of lotus flowers: this represents the vignette of Chapter 17 of the Book of the Dead (for going in and out in the realm of the dead). The lotus is the flower from which Nefertum is born and is seen as an emblem of rebirth. The tympanum on the west wall holds the name and titles of Panehsy and an admonition to praise god four times. The number four represents completeness.761 On each tympanum the solar barque is travelling north, whereas one would expect them to sail in opposite directions, the day barque westwards and the night barque towards the east. This disparity is typical of the duality of Egyptian thought, by which east and west can be in any desired direction. This duality is often seen in the orientation of temples, which should be on an eastwest axis; where the direction of the Nile is taken as

Udjahor -mehnet

PT 226, 227, 422.

Not known.

CT 170. BD 146 Position unknown

Panehsy

Spitting cobras. PT 69, 422, 690. CT 222, 223, 227, 301, 353, 356 to 358. BD 45, 56, 59, 62, 69, 76, 184. Amduat th 9 Hour.

12 deities of the hours. PT 226 to 234. BD 13, 39, 169. Amduat th 7 Hour.

manDt day barque

msktt night barque

PT 366, 485B, 574, 637.

CT 151, 208, 625.

CT 837. BD 1, 17.

Nut with outstretched arms. PT 588. CT 368. BD 178.

BD 17, 67. Text ‘G’.

Texts ‘A’, ‘F’.

Texts ‘I’, ‘C’. Table 10. Decoration and inscriptions in the burial chambers of the Vaulted Chamber Tombs from Heliopolis.

756

Harpur (1987): 95. Harpur (1987): 150. 758 Bickel and Tallet (1997): 84. Pathenfy’s block has Cairo Museum journal d’entrée number JE36194. 759 Bickel and Tallet (1997): 79. This block is reputed to be in the magazine of the Matareya Antiquities Service, numbered 240. 760 Bickel and Tallet (1997): 78. The second block had only funerary texts. The whereabouts of the blocks is unknown. 761 Wilkinson (1994): 133. 757

762

56

Weeks (2005): 114.

DECORATION AND INSCRIPTIONS 5

THE MASTABA TOMB.

TJERY, in Giza. The position of the chambers and the decoration therein is shown on Figure 39.

Figure 41. Part of the exterior of chamber 4 of Tjery’s tomb, south side. [C] [From el-Sadeek (1984): Figs. 4-5]

Figure 39. The tomb of Tjery. Plan, with chamber numbers and decoration key. [Based on el-Sadeek (1984): 18]

Figure 42. Tjery and his wife from chamber 1 of his tomb. [From Petrie (1907, Reprinted 1977): Plate Xxxvi C]

The interior of the south chamber [E] shows Tjery and his wife, seated, with a jar below their chair766 (Figure 42). The chair is similar to that from the tomb of Ptahirdis, (Figure 34). The west wall [G] also shows Tjery and his wife seated on an animal-legged chair on a dais, with a jar beneath their chair; a lotus flower is at the rear of the seat. Harpists and singers are before them (Figure 43);767 the harps are possibly of Old Kingdom shape,768 as is the attitude of the singer.769

Figure 40. Petrie's plan of the tomb of Tjery, showing ‘palace façade’ panelling. [From Petrie (1907, Reprinted 1977): Plate Xxxvii]

From Flinders Petrie’s plan it seems that the northern part of the tomb of Tjery had ‘palace façade’ decoration (Figure 40). Originally used in the royal tombs at Abydos, the ‘palace façade’ was soon understood to be a symbol of royal authority and, over time, the elite saw this form of decoration as a way of attaining eternal life.763 It is also symbolic of power. The northern part of the tomb overlooks Giza plain, from where this expression of conspicuous display could be seen and admired by pilgrims and others. Osirian motifs are to the other exterior walls, including the offering scene shown in Figure 41. The chair upon which Osiris is seated in this figure is attested from at least as early as the tomb of Ramose of the Eighteenth Dynasty,764 while the offering table before him is of a type attested from the Old, Middle and New Kingdoms.765

Figure 43. Part of the interior west wall of chamber 1 of Tjery’s tomb. [G] [From el-Sadeek (1984): Fig. 6]

On the door jamb leading from the southern to the central hallway are two depictions of Tjery (Figure 44),770 again 766

el-Sadeek (1984): 32. Porter and Moss (1978-1981): Vol. III, Part 1, 296. Petrie (1907, reprinted 1977): Plate XXXVIA. 768 Vandier (1964): Fig. 185. 769 Vandier (1964): Fig. 184. 770 The style of offering table is not depicted in Vandier (1964) and is presumed to be of Late Period design. 767

763

Jiménez-Serrano (2007): 30. Vandier (1964): Fig. 297. 765 Vandier (1964): Fig. 27.19. 764

57

THE ELITE LATE PERIOD EGYPTIAN TOMBS OF MEMPHIS in an attitude dating from the Old Kingdom,771 which remained a generally common stance for an elite official into the New Kingdom;772 the kilt is not of Old Kingdom style.

Antonio Loprieno posited that there was a more or less direct connection between historical events and literary creations, which mirror the socio-political situation of the time,777 and by the New Kingdom the emphasis of biographical inscriptions had changed; no longer was the person’s morality stressed in these terms, but what became important was that which had been achieved, so that we have Paheri, from Eighteenth Dynasty el-Kab saying that he was a noble who had served his lord, that he was summoned as one who was blameless, did the tasks that were ordered and was a model of kindliness.778 The Third Intermediate Period, however, seems to have brought an altogether more materialistic attitude, with Ani saying “Keep your eye on what you own, lest you end as a beggar”.779 The traditional form returned after the Third Intermediate Period, and Harwa’s Twenty-fifth Dynasty statue780 bears his biographical inscription that reads “[I am one who] gave bread to the hungry (and) clothes to the naked … I did not rob, I did no wrong … I have given goods to the have-nots”,781 while Udjahorresnet, on his naophorous statue,782 said “I made a fine tomb for him who lacked one”.783 So, with the Late Period there seems to have been a return to past moral values. In the tomb of Tjery, however, we have another dimension: the statement that he has let the children live. This odd statement can only be indicative of the dreadful, dangerous times that existed in Lower Egypt before the Twenty-sixth Dynasty settled the country. The object of the vignettes in Chamber 2 is almost certainly for Tjery to be well endowed in Rosetau and others have to do with Tjery’s progression to the west, where he will be reborn; but they are also connected with his funerary offerings, so the position in the central chamber, where the funerary rites and the receipt of the mortuary cult meet, is most appropriate.

Figure 44. The doorway from chamber 1 into the central hall of Tjery’s tomb. [From Petrie (1907, Reprinted 1977): Plate Xxxvi G]

The central hallway [Chamber 2] is devoted in the main to funerary prayers for offerings, but also contains a statement that Tjery “had given bread to the hungry, let the children live and given burials to the old”.773 This statement of moral worth is extremely common from all periods: the false door of the Sixth Dynasty tomb of NeferseshemRa in Saqqara said that he “gave bread to the hungry [and] buried him who had no son774”, while the butler Meru of Edfu, from the First Intermediate Period, said “I buried the dead and nourished the living”,775 Horemkhauf, from Twelfth Dynasty Hierakonpolis said: “I have given bread to the hungry, clothes to the naked. I looked after the house of those who raised me; they are buried and made to live.”776

In Chamber 3, a small figure, possibly Tjery’s wife, stands behind Osiris, Isis and probably Nephthys, above a frieze of interwoven lotus flowers, a symbol of resurrection (Figure 16), similar to that on the lower part of the walls in the Open Court of Montuemhat’s Theban tomb,784 which is on the side of the plinth below the Osiris scene. In Chapter 3 it was suggested that the Open Court of Tjery’s tomb was similar to those in the Theban tombs on the Assassif; another association with those tombs is recorded here.

777

Loprieno (1996): 41. Lichtheim (1976): 18-19. 779 Lichtheim (1976): 139. Line 7. 780 British Museum 8163. 781 Lichtheim (1980): 27. 782 Vatican Museum 158. 783 Lichtheim (1980): 39. 784 Schulz and Seidel (1997): Fig. 18. 778

771

Vandier (1964): Fig. 18.6. Dr. J. J. Shirley, personal communication. 773 el-Sadeek (1984): 43. 774 Lichtheim (1975): 17. 775 Lichtheim (1975): 87. 776 Lichtheim (1975): 130. 772

58

DECORATION AND INSCRIPTIONS A summary of the decoration and text within Tjery’s tomb is at table 11. Area of Tomb

North Wall

South Wall

East Wall

West Wall

Exterior

Palace façade.

Tjery before Osiris.

Enthroned Osiris; Isis;

Tjery and family worship Osiris.

Name & titles. Chamber 1

CT 625. BD 67.

Doorway 1-2 Chamber 2

Figure 45. The north wall of the north chamber of Tjery's tomb. [J] [From el-Sadeek (1984): Fig. 7]

CT 151, 301, 352, 625. Prayers to Khepri, Isis, Osiris. Htp di nsw to OsirisKhentyImentiu.

Htp di nsw to Osiris.

Doorway 2-3

Chamber 3

Figure 46. Part of the north wall of the east room of Tjery’s tomb. [P] [From el-Sadeek (1984): Fig. 10]

Tjery and wife before offering table; musicians and singers; offering list.

Tjery with staff; adoration.

Name & titles.

Tjery adores Sokar barque, Osiris and Isis. BD 74.

BD 125. Weighing of the heart; Tjery adores Geb and Hathor. Htp di nsw to OsirisKhentyImentiu.

Name & titles. Htp di nsw to Osiris, Lord of Rosetau. Tjery in adoration. Tjery adores Osiris; Isis gives fine linen to Tjery; Bundles of lotus.

Doorway 2-4

Djed pillar.

Tjery, before offering table, adores Osiris; Maat.

Tjery’s wife in adoration.

Chamber 4

Htp di nsw frieze to Osiris, Lord of Rosetau; Guardians 4 (north), 5 to 10 (west), 11 to 14 (south), 15 (east); mummification to north and south tympanums, with canopic jars to south.

Doorway 2-5

Tjery’s grandfather and mother.

Chamber 5

2 sons offer to Tjery below Anubis and signs for protection, health, wealth and water.

785

Texts in Chamber 5 give the genealogy of Tjery and here Tjery’s two sons Gemefiskapat and Psamtek make offerings beneath a depiction of two Anubis figures, two wadjet eyes and groups of nfr, nwb and mw signs (Figure 46). This scene has close parallels in the decoration on the tympanum of the interior walls of the tombs of Dhutnufer (TT 104), from the time of Amenhotep II, and of Ankh-Hor (TT 414) of the Twentysixth Dynasty in Thebes,786 the latter also having a monumental tomb on the Assassif. It also appears in the tomb of Bakenrenef.787

Tjery and wife seated.

Tjery and son offer to Tjery’s father.

Gods of the 7 gates welcome Tjery.

Tjery embraced by Hathor and Anubis.

Table 11. Decoration and inscriptions in Tjery's mastaba tomb. 785 el-Sadeek (1984): 85. His great-grandmother was Tashepennet, his grandfather was Tjery and his parents were Gemefiskapet and Tadihor. Tjery had two wives, Tadihor and Taremenbastet; by Tadihor he had a son Gemefiskapet and by Taremenbastet he had a son Psamtek, who, we are told in the text, also became Chief of Police. 786 Eigner (1984): Abb. 96. 787 See Figure 125, Page 139.

59

THE ELITE LATE PERIOD EGYPTIAN TOMBS OF MEMPHIS 6

THE TEMPLE-COURT TOMB.

SAQQARA NESDJHOUTY.

TOMB

North Wall

Nesdjhouty (tomb chapel)

Fowling, hunting in the desert, papyrus harvest. BD 141, 142. Positions unknown.

South Wall

East Wall

West Wall

Table 12. Decoration and inscriptions in the Temple-Court Tomb of Nesdjhouty.

7 BURIALS STRUCTURES.

IN

OTHER

SACRED

GIZA No decoration is described from the tombs in the vicinity of the Temple to Isis, which were all built within other structures; many are within the Isis Temple itself. It seems probable that those who were buried here felt no need to decorate their own tombs as their progress towards, and maintenance in, the Field of Reeds would be assisted by those within whose structures they were buried. There is the additional possibility, however, that those who were buried within the Isis Temple, which may not have been functional at the time of their burial, were of insufficient economic or social standing to be able to have a more substantial and decorated tomb built for them; most were small chambers and the decoration and texts on their sarcophagus would have been sufficient for the occupant’s needs.

Figure 47. Blocks from the tomb of Nesdjhouty. [From Quibell (1912): Pl. LXII]

CONCLUSIONS The use of relief or painted decoration within tomb chapels had several functions. Firstly, the decoration served to remind the visitor of who was buried in the tomb. There was a strict tradition to the decoration of the chapel which had changed little since the Old Kingdom: the entrance doorway going into the tomb gave the name and titles of the deceased. His name, lineage and titles would be set at the entrance so that those passing by, or those who visit with intent, might know who the incumbent was, so that his name might survive. Padibastet’s tomb in Giza is an example of this. A biographical inscription frequently told of his deeds and there would be an admonition for visitors to offer a prayer for the tomb owner.

Figure 48. Birds from the tomb of Kayemnofret. [From: Simpson (1992): Plate A]

Fragments of blocks originating from the walls of Nesdjhouty’s tomb chapel contained depictions of fowling, papyrus harvesting and hunting in the desert, said by James Quibell to be in Old Kingdom style (Figure 47).788 The block depicting birds is similar to a depiction in the Fifth Dynasty offering chapel of Kayemnofret in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (Figure 48).789 On the north wall of Nesdjhouty’s chapel was a large depiction of him with his daughter, of which James Quibell said: “the imitation of Old Kingdom scenes is obvious”.790

The second function was that of offerings to ensure the succour of his Ka. The deceased would be shown receiving offerings and large areas of the chapel walls would depict those offerings being brought to him. The interior of the tomb chapel had traditional scenes, including offerings, hunting, fishing and cutting papyrus, and this area frequently included a biography of the deceased. Egypt was an agricultural economy, and the tomb decoration tended to show production of offerings rather than the offerings themselves.791 Thus the sowing and reaping of corn represented the offering of bread and beer; the growth and treading of grapes represented the offering of wine, while the herding and butchery of cattle represented the offering of meat and the flax harvest on the looms seen upon the tomb walls would produce fine

A summary of the decoration and text of Nesdjhouty’s tomb is at Table 12.

788

Quibell (1912): 32. Harpur (1987): 195. 790 Quibell (1912): 33. 789

791

60

Aldred (1980): 87.

DECORATION AND INSCRIPTIONS the New Kingdom and Third Intermediate Period versions and sometimes standing in place of the texts to which they refer.797

linen. Depictions of papyrus appear in the tomb of Nesdjhouty, who was a scribe, and of Pathenfy, whose titles are not fully known but who was probably also a scribe; by cutting papyrus they would have been able to continue their important professions in the next life. The depictions on the walls enabled the deceased to have everything that he needed in the next life: should the actual ritual of offering fail, the pictures of the wall decorations themselves would, by the magical processes of heka and hu become real, and the offerings would appear. Heka, or ‘ritual power’792 and hu, or ‘authoritative utterance’793 were essential attributes possessed by all the gods. Indeed, heka was the ‘soul of Ra794’. Heka could also be possessed by men, but it was not intrinsic in their makeup and could be acquired only by learning, heka-practitioners being typically called ‘knowers of things’.795 After death, and after having successfully completed judgment, the deceased would become an Imakhu;796 this venerated position was part way towards becoming a god and those who enjoyed it would also enjoy some of the benefits of being a god, including some ability to use the functions of heka and hu, enabling the transformation of pictorial activities into real ones. An offering table was positioned in the tomb for the giving of offerings, and this, too, often had representations of the offerings that were to be given.

While the decoration of the burial apartments themselves is an important adjunct to the texts, the decoration of the chapels tells us more of the relationship between the deceased, his environment and the monuments of the past. What little evidence there is of tomb chapel decoration comes, in the main, from a few isolated blocks, but also from the tomb of Tjery. There is, however, a consistency of theme that can be seen in Table 13. TOMB OWNER CHAPEL DECORATION HELIOPOLIS – Vaulted Chamber Tomb. Pathenfy (Unknown position): Seated before cattle herders; cutting papyrus. ABUSIR – Saite-Persian Shaft Tombs. Iufaa (Unknown position): Offering scenes and offering lists; water; stars. Menekhibneko (Unknown position): Offering scenes; fishing in papyrus marshes; flax harvesting; stars. GIZA –Rock Cut Tombs. Ptahirdis (East): Owner seated before offering bearers. (South): Offerings being brought. Padibastet (Entrance): Welcomes visitors, wearing foreign dress. GIZA – Shaft Tomb. Tomb LG 81 (West): Owner and wife watch fishing. (North): Offerings being brought; butchery. GIZA –Mastaba Tomb. Tjery Exterior: ‘Palace façade’ panelling. Worship of Osiris. Interior: (Entrance hall): Tjery and wife welcome visitors, with an offering table and musicians. (Central chamber): Funerary prayers; Weighing of the Heart. BD 74, 125. (North chamber): Adoration; Adoring the Djed Pillar. (East chamber): His ancestors welcome Tjery; on the west wall he is welcomed by Hathor and Anubis. (West chamber): Mummification; guardians of the Gates. BD 146. SAQQARA – Temple-Court Tomb. Nesdjhouty (Unknown position): Owner seated at an offering table. Fowling, hunting and cutting papyrus.

Other polyvalent scenes represented the ideal life that the deceased would enjoy in the hereafter: the hunting of game in the desert, fishing in the marshes, sitting at the cattle count and enjoying life with his family; additionally they demonstrated some of the activities that, as an important person, the tomb owner would have undertaken in life. Frequently the depictions of birds being caught, of fish being speared and of game being shot show the animals in a random position on the walls and not neatly placed upon a ground line, as would be normal in Egyptian art: it seems that this random positioning (Figure 48, for instance) represents ‘chaos’ which is being brought into ‘order’, or maat, by the deceased. Banqueting scenes helped the deceased journey to the next world and introduced him to his ancestors.

Table 13. Decoration in the Memphite tomb chapels.

In all cases, except for the tomb of Tjery, the decoration follows the time-honoured tradition of tomb chapels, dating back to the private tombs of the Old Kingdom.798 This tradition was taken to Abusir by Niuserra and is to be seen in continuous use from that time. The court of Userkaf’s tomb contains formal reliefs of spear fishing and bird hunting with throw-sticks and nets, which Stevenson Smith considered to have originated in the Sun Temple of Heliopolis;799 this corpus of scenes can be seen in the ‘Room of the Seasons’ in Niuserra’s Sun Temple at Abu Ghurob.800 Although fragmentary, as there are references to only two of the three seasons, here are depictions of ploughing and sowing, water sports, hunting in the desert, the summer harvest and the annual

Decoration in the underground and innermost areas of the tombs, though, has a different function. Here we find the mortuary texts which would ensure the safe and effective passage of the deceased into the Field of Reeds where, if successfully accomplished, he would spend a happy eternity. This safe passage would again be accomplished by the magical protection of the written words themselves. The decoration that accompanies these texts is often an enhancement to them, acting as an ‘aidemémoire’ for the deceased in his understanding of the texts, or as a substitute for them. This is often depicted as vignettes of the Book of the Dead, which appear standardised in the Late Period, significantly revised from

797 Mosher (1992): 144. All the Chapters of the Book of the Dead, with the exception of 2 to 14, 69 to 70, 96 to 97 and 142, were accompanied by vignettes, although those for Chapters 22, 29, 34, 58, 62 and 141 are rarely found. 798 Arnold (1998): 62; Smith (1998): 66. 799 Smith (1998): 64. 800 Aldred (1996): 80.

792

Lloyd (2007): 5. Lloyd (awaiting publication): 4. 794 The Book of the Celestial Cow. Lloyd (2007): 6. 795 rxw-xwt. Lloyd (2007): 7. 796 One who is venerated. 793

61

THE ELITE LATE PERIOD EGYPTIAN TOMBS OF MEMPHIS migration of birds and fishes.801 Figure 49 shows scenes of honey production, animal husbandry, bird migration and the netting of birds, from Niuserra’s Sun Temple.

importance of genealogy. On the western side of this chamber Tjery is ushered forward, in the embrace of Anubis and Hathor, into the central hall, which contains funerary prayers and the ‘Weighing of the Heart’ ceremony. The western chamber sees the final stages of the movement to resurrection, with mummification and depictions of the Guardians of the Gates. The westward movement is accentuated by the fact that the heads of all the canopic jars face west. In the northern and eastern chambers there are decorative associations with the monumental Theban tombs of the Assassif. In the tomb of Bakenrenef, the pillared hall has prayers for going in and out of the next world802 and spells for defeating enemies, for breathing and having power over water are to the west.803 The transverse Hall has the spell “for entering the Great Mansion”804 and “for going out into the day”805 with the added protection against “him who swallowed an ass”.806 At the innermost extension of the rock-cut section of the tomb – to the west – are offering formulae, and protective devices occupy the ceiling. Again, the general progression is from east to west, with a statue of Osiris at the western end of the tomb. Details of the decoration in Bakenrenef’s tomb are summarised in Table 8 on page 55.

Figure 49. Scenes from the Sun Temple of Niuserra. [From Vachala (2002): 91]

It is notable that Padibastet is shown in foreign dress to either side of the door in the small section of his tomb that is recorded and one must consider the reason for this. This high-ranking official included the honorific titles of ‘Prince’, ‘Mayor’ and ‘Sole Companion’, as well as ‘Chancellor’ and ‘General’ among his titles, and he was the son of parents with the Egyptian names of Hor and Djedhor, so that he was almost certainly Egyptian and not foreign. He might have felt it expedient to wear Persian dress in a time of Persian domination, or he might simply have found the style of dress – with which he would have come into contact among the many foreigners in Memphis during the Late Period – more comfortable than his traditional Egyptian dress. The form of dress could also have demonstrated to visitors to his tomb that Padibastet’s social status was sufficient to have been maintained under the Persians.

The tomb of Bakenrenef is a special case. It does not conform to any of the other Memphite tombs that have been discussed and, as has been seen, it has its structural roots clearly in Thebes. It is one of the earliest of the Late Period elite Memphite tombs and Bakenrenef almost certainly came to Psamtek I’s court from Thebes. There is no exact comparison between the inscriptions in the Theban tombs and those in Bakenrenef, but there are several cross-overs of text. These are tabulated as Table 14. While not attempting to suggest that the decoration of Bakenrenef’s tomb was taken from Thebes, or vice-versa, there does appear to be a common provider of the texts to both sources, which could possibly have been the architect who designed both Bakenrenef’s tomb and those of his Theban counterparts, or the priesthood.

The tomb of Tjery is more complete and the decorative scheme can be seen as a whole, although this does not necessarily inform us about the other tombs of the Memphite district. The exterior is designed for conspicuous display, with its ‘palace façade’ decoration harking back to the exterior decoration of the early Dynastic mastabas, placed on the northern walls – the only walls that can be seen by those in the plain below. For those who climb the hillside and visit the tomb however, the external scenes clearly show this to be a monument to Osiris, whose worship is demonstrated on every external wall at the southern end of the tomb. The decoration of the interior progresses naturally and combines the functions of tomb chapel with those scenes that, elsewhere, are found in the burial apartments of the tomb. The entrance hall welcomes the visitor, with Tjery and his wife shown in a variety of seated and standing poses; the presence of an offering table and musicians shows the funerary feast that often appears in New Kingdom chapels and is a reminder to the visitor that an offering prayer would be in order. At the northern end of the tomb is a hall, again dedicated to the worship of Osiris, but the main funerary process takes place across the central chambers, from east to west. The eastern chamber is dedicated to ancestor worship, with five generations of his family mentioned, showing the 801

802

Book of the Dead Chapter 17: Faulkner (1972): 44. Book of the Dead Chapter 10 [“For Going In and Out into the Day Against his Foes in the Realm of the Dead”], Chapter 31 [“For Driving Off a Crocodile”] and Chapter 59 [“For Breathing Air and Having Power Over Water in the Realm of the Dead”]: Faulkner (1972): 37, 56 and 68. 804 Book of the Dead Chapter 124: Faulkner (1972): 114. 805 Book of the Dead Chapter 10: Faulkner (1972): 37. 806 Book of the Dead Chapter 40: Faulkner (1972): 61. 803

Aldred (1996): 80.

62

DECORATION AND INSCRIPTIONS Text

Bakenrenef

Theban tombs

BD 15

Hall D, north

BD 44

Hall F, west

BD 50

Hall C, south

BD 53 BD 54 BD 55 BD 57

BD 89 BD 125

Hall F, east. Hall C, south. Hall C, south. Hall C, west. Hall F, west. Hall C, west. Hall C, west. Hall C, south. Hall D, west Hall E, north. Hall C, north.

Harwa, 2nd Pillared Hall, east. (Dyn. 25) Padihorresnet, passage. Sheshonq, Open Court, north. Ankh-Hor, Open Court, pillars. (Temp. Psamtek II/Apries807) Sheshonq, Open Court, pillars. (Successor to Ankh-Hor) Ankh-Hor, Open Court, pillars. Sheshonq, Open Court, pillars. Ankh-Hor, Open Court, pillars. Ankh-Hor, Open Court, pillars. Ankh-Hor, Open Court, pillars. Ankh-Hor, Open Court, pillars. Sheshonq, Open Court, pillars. Ankh-Hor, Open Court, pillars. Ankh-Hor, Open Court, pillars. Harwa, 2nd Pillared Hall, north

CT 151 CT 215 CT 625

Hall D, west. Hall D, west. Hall D, west.

BD 59 BD 60 BD 71

Ankh-Hor, Open Court, pillars. Mutirdis, Inner Room I. Pedamenopet, Room IX, north. Pedamenopet, Room IV, east. Mutirdis, Burial Chamber, west. Pedamenopet, Room IV, east.

TOMB

Hd To

Hor

W

Amentefnakht

W

PT 35, 72 to 81, 368, 588.

Neferibra-SaNeith

W

PT 226. CT 215.

Psamtek

N

PT 72 to 81. BD 72. Texts ‘A’, ‘L’, ‘M’. Sacred Oils.

Padinisis

N

PT 25, 36, 72 to 79, 81, 213, 214, 414, 634, 635. Text ‘D’. Sacred Oils.

Table 14. Correlation of texts between Bakenrenef’s and Theban tombs.

There is more substance available to us from the decoration of the subterranean burial apartments than from the tomb chapels. The majority of the available information is from the walls of the burial chambers in Saqqara. Brief details are summarised in Tables 5 to 12, which relate the inscriptions to their geographical location. However, as has been pointed out Chapter 3, some of the burials in the Saite-Persian Shaft Tombs were orientated north-south and some east-west. Assuming that those buried with their heads to the north were using that dualism of Egyptian thought that enabled north to become west, should this be more appropriate, it would be useful to re-tabulate the texts to align with the burial, rather than geographically. Edda Bresciani and Georges Soukiassian analysed those tombs in the Saqqara cluster around the Unas pyramid in this way, and their analysis forms part of Table 15.808 The data available from the other Memphite tombs, as set out in Tables 5 to 12, has been added to this Table. The Saite-Persian Shaft Tombs, shown in italics, have been put into the chronological order suggested in Chapter 3.

Head

Foot

Right

Left

PT 72 to 81, 368. Hor at Offering Table.

Htp di nsw to Osiris, Lord of Djedu. Offering List. Offering List. PT 25, 32, 223. CT 151, 625

Htp di nsw to Anubis. PT 267.

Htp di nsw to Isis. PT 226, 228, 229, 233 to 235, 237 to 242. CT 151, 179, 208, 625, 716. Texts ‘L’, ‘M’. PT 226, 228 to 231, 233, 234, 239, 242, 262, 368. CT 363, 429. BD 44. Texts ‘B’, ‘J’. PT 270. CT 151, 179, 208, 215, 227, 301, 352, 363, 429, 529, 625, 716. Texts ‘C’, ‘E’, ‘L’, ‘M’.

CT 151.

Htp di nsw to Osiris, Lord of Djedu. Offering List. PT 25, 32. Texts ‘H’, ‘K’. Htp di nsw to PtahSokar. Offering List. PT 25, 62 to 71, 79, 106, 215 to 217, 229, 232 to 234, 242.

Htp di nsw to Anubis. PT 267, 269, 270. CT 179, 208, 716. Text ‘L’. CT 179, 215.

Htp di nsw to Anubis. PT 267, 269, 270, 677. CT 161. BD 148.

Htp di nsw to Osiris, Lord of Djedu. Htp di nsw to PtahSokar. Offering List. PT 25, 32, 62, 64 to 71, 106, 107, 218, 219, 223, 226 to 228, 239, 242.

Table 15a. Comparison of texts, relative to the position of the deceased, including those in the Pyramid of Unas.

807

Bietak (1978): 42. Bresciani, Pernigotti and Giangeri Silvis (1977): 27-29; Soukiassian (1982): 57.

808

63

THE ELITE LATE PERIOD EGYPTIAN TOMBS OF MEMPHIS

TOMB Padineith

Hd. to N

Head

Foot

Right

Left

For comparison:

PT 72 to 81, 368. BD 125. Sacred Oils.

PT 226 to 229, 236, 241.

Htp di nsw to Osiris, Lord of Mendes Offering List. PT 25, 32, 223. Htp di nsw to Osiris, Lord of Mendes Offering List. PT 25, 32, 34, 223. CT 353, 710, 716. Text ‘L’. Htp di nsw to Osiris, Lord of Djedu. Offering List. PT 356, 357, 364 to 366, 373, 593, 677.

Htp di nsw to Anubis. PT 267, 269, 270.

UNAS (Fifth Dynasty)

Djanehibu

N

PT 72 to 79, 81, 368.

PT 226 to 228, 233, 234, 236. CT 151, 625. BD 46, 47. Texts ‘A’, ‘C’.

Hekaemsaf

W

PT 25, 72 to 77, 81.

PT 26 to 29, 32, 226.

KhedhebneithYerboni and Psamtek

W

PT 226 to 231, 233, 239, 242. CT 151, 301, 363, 429, 457, 625. BD 44.

CT 352, 457, 529.

ditto

W

Udjahorresnet

W

Iufaa

W

Menekhibneko Padihor

CT 352. PT 213, 214. Names & Titles. PT 210 to 212.

Offering List.

PT 226, 242.

Litany of Ra. PT 81, 414, 592, 634 to 635, 670.

N

BD 144.

BD 148.

W

PT 25, 77, 78, 81.

Offering List.

WahibraTjeset

N

PT 213, 593.

Offering List.

Panehsy

W

CT 151, 208, 625. BD 17, 67. Text ‘G’.

PT 366, 485B, 574, 637. CT 837. BD 1, 17. Texts ‘A’, ‘F’.

Offering List. PT 204 to 210. CT 607. BD 148. Hours of the Night. CT 151, 208, 325, 625, 716. PT 225 to 227. CT 151, 179, 215, 353. BD 60. Texts ‘L’, ‘M’. PT 226 to 234. BD 13, 39, 169. Amduat 7th Hour.

N

PT 23 to 57, 72 to 116, 111 to 121.

PT 213 to 219.

PT 226 to 243.

PT 204 to 212, 219 to 224.

Table 15b. Comparison of texts, relative to the position of the deceased, including those in the Pyramid of Unas.

There are several groups of texts that appear frequently in the tombs. The sequence Pyramid Text Utterances 223 – 25 – 32 (for offerings and cold water) appears following the Offering list in the tombs of Amentefnakht, Padinisis, Padineith and Djanehibu;809 however, while this series is to the right of the deceased in most tombs, it is to the left of Padinisis. The sequence Pyramid Text Utterances 267 – 269 (an address to Osiris and Ra, a prayer for the deceased to be crowned and enthroned, and a censing prayer) is to the left of the deceased in the tombs of Amentefnakht, Psamtek, Padineith and Djanehibu and, in part, in that of Padihor, and does not appear in any other position in any tomb. In the pyramid of Unas, the texts of the first series are to be found to the left of the deceased, on the walls of the burial chamber and the passage from the antechamber, while the second series is to be found on the south wall (foot) of Unas’ antechamber.810 If these texts were copied from the pyramid of Unas, this was done only superficially and the vast majority of the copied texts come only from the antechamber. Moreover, the Late Period Pyramid Text corpus includes several texts which are not in the Old Kingdom pyramids and which were first identified in the tomb of Padinisis, near to the pyramid of Unas. Georges Soukiassian has suggested that the later tombs around the Unas pyramid had more texts than those of an earlier date,811 which is not borne out by the data in Table 15.

Htp di nsw to Anubis. PT 267, 269, 270, 320.

Htp di nsw to Anubis. PT 62 to 71. PT 25, 32, 35, 77, 78, 81, 368, 670. CT 179, 215. Text ‘B’. CT 352, 457. PT 25.

PT 356, 455.

Hours of the Day. PT 268, 269. PT 225, 226, 228. CT 179, 215, 352, 529, 625. BD 67, 76. PT 69, 422, 690. BD 45, 56, 59, 62, 69, 76, 184. CT 222, 223, 227, 301, 353, 356 to 358. Amduat 9th Hour. Texts ‘I’, ‘C’.

809

Soukiassian (1982): 60. Creatures-kbc: website. 811 Soukiassian (1982): 57. 810

64

DECORATION AND INSCRIPTIONS

Djan

Pad

Psa

Iufa a

CT 151

CT 151

CT 151

CT 151

CT 151

CT 151

CT 625

CT 625

CT 625

CT 625

CT 625

CT 625

CT 625

CT 625

CT 625

CT 625

CT 208

CT 208

CT 208

CT 208

CT71 CT 6 716

CT 716

CT 716

CT 208

mte k

inisi s

mte k

u Psa

ehib

ribra

nraf

*

Nefe

CT 151

-Sa-

Ame

CT 151

nkh t

Bak

CT 151

enre nef

Wah ibra -Tje set The ry

CT 151

ehs y Pan

Neit h

Her analysis of the text sequences is shown in Table 16 and a new analysis, which builds upon that, now follows.

CT 716

'L'

'L'

'L'

'L'

'L'

'L'

'L'

CT 179

CT 179

CT 179

CT 179

CT 179

CT 179

CT 179

'M'

'M'

'M'

'M'

'M'

'M'

'M'

CT 215

CT 215

CT 215

CT 215

CT 215

CT 215

CT BD 62 353

CT 353

PT 226

'C'

'C'

The most common sequence, Coffin Text Spells 151 – 625, reads: “Going out from the tomb in the necropolis. The cavern of those who are in the Abyss is opened, the movements of those who are in the sunshine are extensive, the tomb of the Sole One is opened. When he went out, I went out the tomb, I went forth from the Great Lake, I descended into the lustral basins. My foot is on the …, my hand is raised aloft, I have laid hold of his lashing which belongs to Hnty-mnyt.f, I row in my seat which is in the Barque of God, I go down into my seat which is in the Barque of God, I have taken control without neglect of my seat which is in the Barque of the Controller, my seat which is in the Barque of God did not leave me stranded” .814 “O Great Tribunal of the sky, you have brought me among you as one of you, and I will not give these utterances of mine which I know to those who are ignorant. O evil-doers, open the doors to me; O tamarisk people, open the flood of the Great One; he supports the comfortable wing which is his body. May the two boats of Him who is tied up be bright for me, may the paths of the dark place be broad for me, so that I may protect the branches of the tamarisk people, and so that I may go forth and receive white bread” .815

CT 353

CT 353

'C'

'C'

'C'

CT 227

BD 184

CT 716 CT 227 CT 529

CT 301

CT 529

CT 352

CT 352

CT 352

CT 352

CT 301

CT 301

CT 301

PT 230

The meaning is self-explanatory. Of the ten occurrences of this sequence, that of Iufaa is on his sarcophagus. Of the others, the text sequence is at the head in three instances,816 at the feet in three817 and to the right in three.818 Geographically, in the same tombs, it is to the south in four,819 the west in three820 and the east in two instances.821

CT 457 CT 363

CT 363

CT 363 CT 529

CT 429

CT 429

CT 429

'E'

CT 301

PT 270

CT 457

The second most common text sequence deals with ‘not eating faeces or drinking urine in the Realm of the Dead,822 and this equates to Book of the Dead Chapter 53. The sequence includes the wish not to walk upside down that has been seen explicitly set out in Book of the Dead Chapter 51 in Bakenrenef’s tomb. This is found to the left of the deceased in three tombs823 and to the feet in

Table 16. The sequence of texts on the Memphite tomb walls. [From Gestermann (2005): Abb. 31]

814

Coffin Text Spell 151. Faulkner (1973): 130. Coffin Text Spell 625. Faulkner (1994): 208. 816 Those of Panehsy in Heliopolis and Khedhebneith-Yerboni and Bakenrenef in Saqqara. 817 Those of Djanehibu, Padinisis and Neferibra-Sa-Neith in Saqqara. 818 Those of Wahibra-Tjeset in Heliopolis, Padihor in Abusir and Amentefnakht in Saqqara. 819 Those of Amentefnakht, Padinisis and Djanehibu in Saqqara and Padihor in Abusir. 820 Those of Panehsy in Heliopolis and Khedhebneith-Yerboni and Bakenrenef (Chamber C) in Saqqara. 821 Those of Wahibra-Tjeset in Heliopolis and Neferibra-Sa-Neith in Saqqara. 822 Faulkner (1973): 171. 823 Those of Wahibra-Tjeset in Heliopolis, and Neferibra-Sa-Neith and Khedhebneith-Yerboni in Saqqara. 815

* The Psamtek in the tomb of Khedhebneith-Yerboni.

Louise Gestermann has analysed the frequency of three text sequences812 and has found that the sequence ‘L’ – Coffin Text Spell 179 – ‘M’ – Coffin Text Spell 215 appears in seven of the Memphite tombs,813 the sequence Coffin Text Spells 151 – 625 appears in ten and the sequence Coffin Text Spells 363 – 429 appears in three.

812 813

Gestermann (2005): 393-396. See Table 15.

65

THE ELITE LATE PERIOD EGYPTIAN TOMBS OF MEMPHIS two,824 being twice to the north and once each to the south, east and west.

“You demand that you ascend to the sky and you shall ascend”833 This power – and that of heka – was manifested by gods and therefore by the king. It would certainly not have been available to the common man, however important, at an earlier time, and suggests the democratisation of Egypt during the Late Period. The text was found only once, on the wall to the right of the sarcophagus of Padinisis.

Finally, the sequence Coffin Text Spells 363 – 429 appears only in Saqqara, where it is to the deceased’s feet (south) twice825 and to the head (west) once.826 This text sequence reads: “Spell for ‘The beautiful West is joyful at meeting the man’. I have come to you, O son of Nut; may you reach Ra on the day of his festival, while the gods are in mourning, for they have seen the terror of the Broad Hall. May you reach Nut, may you see the hidden things, may you rescue Shu, may you extend your vision, for they have seen those who are in the limits of the horizon. Those who are in the sky have come to you on the day when the long-horn is lassoed, while the beautiful West is in joy, for they have seen the limb of the god. Such am I”.827 “Hail to you, you Lords of fishing and fowling! You have given me a catch of fish and fowl, you have divided up the Field of Offerings for me. May you be well-disposed to me as regards your own bodily members, for you have granted to me to outsoar the falcon with the ruffled plumage. O you gods, you gods, who are the plumed ones who row in the horizon when Ra sails in the firmament? Offspring of Shu! Offspring of Shu! May you not speak, O offspring of Shu!”828

The next most frequent texts are the ‘series of spells against snakes and other noxious creatures’834 of Pyramid Text Utterances 226 to 229.835 These read: “One snake is enveloped by another when is enveloped the toothless calf which came forth from the pasture. O earth, swallow up what went forth from you; O monster, lie down, crawl away. The Majesty of the Pelican has fallen into the water; O snake, turn round, for Ra sees you.” [226] “The head of the great black bull is cut off. O hpnwsnake, I say this against you; O god-repelling scorpion, I say this against you. Turn round, slide into the earth, for I say this against you.” [227] “One face falls on another, one face beholds another; the particoloured knife, black and green, has gone forth thereat and it has swallowed for itself that which it has licked.” [228] “This here is the fingernail of Atum which is (pressed) on the spine of nHbw-kAw, and which stilled the turmoil in On; fall down, crawl away!” [229]836

The most common individual text, about 6.5% of all the Late Period funerary texts, represents the prayer to Nut of Pyramid Text Utterance 368.829 This text alludes to the mummification of the deceased and his adoption as son of the sky. It reads: “Your mother Nut has spread herself over you in her name of ‘St-pt’,830 she has caused you to be a god to your foe in your name of ‘God’, she will protect you from all things evil in her name of ‘Great Well’, for you are the greatest of her children.” 831

These spells for protection against snakes usually appear at the feet of the deceased, which is the part of the body one would expect to be attacked by these creatures in the western desert. However, in the tomb of Padinisis they appear to his left and in the tombs at Abusir and Heliopolis they are to their right, although WahibraTjeset stressed their importance by adding them to the left as well. Next in popularity come Pyramid Text Utterance 32, the third in the sequence 223 – 25 – 32 mentioned above, and 249. These are both resurrection texts, reading: “Take the efflux which issued from you; your heart will not be inert, possessing it. Recite four times: Take what comes forth at the voice of you.” [32]837 “I appear as Nefertum, as the lotus-bloom which is at the nose of Ra; he will issue from the horizon daily and the gods will be cleansed at the sight of him.” [249]838

This text is most frequently found on the tomb ceiling or sarcophagus lid, but it is in the groove that runs round Pakap’s burial chamber and is to the walls at the head of Amentefnakht, Padineith and Djanehibu; that is the position in which one would expect to see the sky during life. Nut’s position is stated here as being not only a protector, but also a mother. Her appearance as part of the coffin suggests that the deceased has entered into his mother Nut, from whom he will be reborn. It was obviously desirable for Nut to assist the deceased in his advance into the next life, both as protector and as mother, but Pyramid Text Utterance 215 states that it was possible to do so on one’s own, using the power of Hu:832

This text is found to the right of the deceased in most instances, but is to the left in the tomb of Padinisis, to the head of Harbes and to the feet of Hekaemsaf.

824

Those of Padinisis and Bakenrenef in Saqqara. In the tombs of Padinisis and Psamtek. 826 In the tomb of Khedhebneith-Yerboni. 827 Faulkner (1994): 5. 828 Faulkner (1994): 72. 829 Patane (1993a): 65. § 638. 830 Possibly Wadi Natrun. 831 Faulkner (1998): 121. 832 Davis (1977): 164. 825

833

Faulkner (1998): 42. [§ 149] Heading to these spells in Faulkner (1998): 53. 835 Patane (1993a): 65. 836 Faulkner (1998): 54. 837 Faulkner (1998): 6. 838 Faulkner (1998): 61. 834

66

DECORATION AND INSCRIPTIONS mentioned in the previous paragraph, was not the only instance of his following other tomb design: in the same room – C – he has copied the panels of the hours, which represent the Book of the Amduat or the Book of Gates, from the mortuary chapels of Queen Hatshepsut and of Tuthmosis III.843 This Book of Day and Night appeared in the royal tombs of the Nineteenth Dynasty and then reappeared in the tomb of Osorkon II in Tanis,844 making its appearance here another instance of the democratisation of royal texts. In every hour of the day and night on the ceiling of this room Bakenrenef is shown facing the rising sun in the east, which would have been visible through the entrance doorway into the tomb.

The final text detailed by Massimo Patane in his list of those that occur most frequently is Pyramid Text Utterance 81,839 dealing with the offering of bandages and napkins so that the deceased can receive homage as a king, which reads: “May you awake in peace! May Tait awake in peace! May Taitet awake in peace! May the Eye of Horus which is in Dep awake in peace! May the Eye of Horus which is in the Mansions of the Nt-crown awake in peace! O you who receive the working women and who adorn the Great One of the carrying-chair, cause the Two Lands to bow to this N even as they bow to Horus; cause the Two Lands to dread this N even as they dread Seth; sit in front of this N as his god, open his path at the head of the spirits, that he may stand at the head of the spirits as Anubis who presides over the Westerners.” 840

With the end of the Saite-Persian Shaft Tomb the tradition of decorating the tomb walls seems also to have come to an end. None of the later Shaft Tombs is decorated. A movement in the direction of placing the decoration from the tomb walls onto the sarcophagus was seen in the tomb of Iufaa, and that movement seems to have been completed during the Twenty-seventh Dynasty; by the time that the last period of home rule once more permitted the construction of massive tombs, the walls are plain. Security must be a major consideration for this move: within the huge SaitePersian Shaft Tomb one’s burial was secure and one could rely upon the texts surrounding one’s coffin. With the reduction in size of the tombs there could no longer be a guarantee that the burial would remain inviolate; if one’s coffin was to be moved from its burial place, any texts inscribed upon the coffin would be moved with the occupant, making the decoration of the coffin a more secure option.

The texts against ‘noxious creatures’ are couched in general terms, but the other texts discussed above are all royal texts and stated the name of the king in their original form. Their use demonstrates a further democratisation of the royal domain. But in addition to these democratised royal texts, copied more or less accurately from the pyramids of a time nearly two thousand years earlier, a new corpus of texts was developed – the ‘lettered texts’ – first discovered in the tomb of Padinisis in Saqqara.841 This was a series of texts of which the content must have been thought lacking in the originals. Consisting mainly of prayers to Isis, Nephthys, Osiris and Orion, they often act as an introduction or supplement to a Coffin Text Spell.

In conclusion, the decoration of the tombs demonstrates a feeling both of innovation and of association with the past: of continuity and change. While the funerary chapels rely heavily on the decorative ideas shown on the walls of the nearby tombs of Giza and Saqqara, much of the design in the burial apartments is new; however, in spite of an often innovative approach to design, in this part of the tomb, too, there is some reliance on the past. The ‘starry ceiling’, which would seem to relate to the pyramid of Unas, appears, and New Kingdom references are added. The appearance of astronomical scenes – of stars and of Nut – on the ceiling reflects the cosmos and turns the burial chamber itself into an entire new world. The tomb of Bakenrenef is peculiar in its reliance on the Theban model, as is seen in its structure. That association is clearly evident in the decoration as well, with the copying of the ‘Hours’ from Eighteenth Dynasty Deir elBahri. The decoration of the burial chambers of the Memphite tombs is set out in Tables 5, 6, 8 and 10. There are many instances of the democratisation of earlier royal texts.

In the tomb of Hor, the inscriptional evidence is to the exterior of his burial chamber, set in sand at the bottom of his twelve metre deep main shaft. This was the first of the Saite-Persian Shaft Tombs and it seems that the design was at its early stages when Hor had his tomb built: the decoration found in his burial chamber, of the owner seated behind an offering table, would seem more appropriate for his funerary chapel than for his burial chamber. While the ceiling decoration of a star-studded sky is very ancient and harks back to the burial chamber of Unas, the depiction of Nut is an innovation, appearing in this tomb for the first time.842 This theme appears to have gained favour at the time that Bakenrenef was having his tomb decorated, for it seems to have been added as an afterthought into room C of his tomb: the whole theme of Nut bearing the morning sun, which should be on the ceiling, is here depicted on the south wall. However high his status in life, Bakenrenef’s tomb was not innovative. The astronomical depiction of Nut,

None of the burials described from the vicinity of the Temple of Isis in Giza is inscribed, the inscriptional evidence coming only from sarcophagi and other funerary

839

Patane (1993a): 65. Faulkner (1998): 19 Gestermann (1994): 90. 842 Bresciani, Pernigotti, and Giangeri Silvis (1977): 20. 840 841

843 844

67

el-Naggar (1986): 19. Hornung (1999): 116.

THE ELITE LATE PERIOD EGYPTIAN TOMBS OF MEMPHIS Having given birth to him in this life, she would be the natural person to give birth to him again in the next. His mother was a personification of Nut.

artefacts. The same issues of security that have been discussed above would apply here, but it also seems likely that those buried within such a sacred area would have received all the assistance that they needed to reach the next world purely from being so closely associated with the family of Osiris. No inscriptional help would then have been required. This would suggest, however, that those buried within the sacred temple enclosure at Heliopolis would have been similarly privileged, but the presence of inscriptions within their tombs confirms that this was not the case; this suggests that one’s tomb was less likely to be usurped in Heliopolis than elsewhere. Presumably, also, the resurrective qualities of Isis would help to reach the next life, where one would find assistance in joining the solar barque, whereas those associated with Ra (and Atum), while having no difficulties in joining the barque, would need help in getting reborn in the first instance. The texts in the Heliopolitan tombs, which deal almost exclusively with offerings and protection, would tend to support this suggestion. It may also be that those in Giza were less wealthy than those from Heliopolis and could not afford the expensive decoration and inscriptions on their tomb walls.

The drivers for tomb decoration and texts were the need to be reborn into the next life, to flourish there and to keep one’s name. In this time of increased literacy there is little divergence in the texts used, which suggests that there was little change in religious orientation during the Late Period, although the tomb of Iufaa, in particular, demonstrates a growth in animal cults. Those who built the Saite-Persian Shaft Tombs were clearly innovators. New texts were developed and existing texts were placed in new positions on the tomb walls. From the similarities that have become obvious from the body of this chapter, with, for example, the same sequence of Coffin Texts appearing in Heliopolis, Saqqara and Abusir, one must conclude that the textual corpus came from a common source, and this must have been provided to the tomb builder by the priesthood. Here were the literate people who understood what was needed to get to the Field of Reeds; here were the people who knew the spells and incantations that would be required for a safe passage; and here were the people who were in touch with those who would themselves be able to assist in the great journey. So it is from them that the source of textual conformity must emanate: and yet, within that conformity there is an enormous variation and some considerable degree of individuality. One must come to the conclusion, therefore, that the tomb owner would have consulted with the priesthood (of which he may himself have been a part) on what was needed, but that he would then have exercised considerable individual choice over what actually appeared on the tomb walls. Some decorations and texts he would have chosen because they had a particularly powerful religious content, or because they had a perceived value for his journey into the next life, some he would have chosen because he was recommended to do so, and some he would have chosen simply because he liked them. Texts which were once in the royal domain had become available to non-royal people by the Late Period.

Djanehibu mentions the name of his mother, but not his father, in his tomb.845 Others also mention only their mother,846 and Padinisis, who mentions his mother twenty times, talks of his father only once. From this one is drawn to the conclusion that, in a Late Period mortuary context at least, the position of one’s mother was more important than one’s father. Paternity was always of great importance, as has been seen, in obtaining religious titles and the wealth that came from them. Priesthood was frequently handed down from father to son for several generations and lengthy genealogies, such as that of Pathenfy, who listed his ancestors going back for thirteen generations, were matters of which one would have been proud. Bakenrenef’s tomb includes several generations of his successors who proudly claim their ancestry. So the virtual exclusion of the father’s name from some tomb walls must have another reason: title, position and income in this life could be conditioned by one’s father – but also passed through male members on one’s mother’s side – so one’s mother must have been of prime importance for entry into the next life. Tjery, who pours a libation to his father on his tomb walls, is welcomed into the next life by his mother and his grandfather, not by his father. The important factor here must be the fact that the deceased’s mother gave birth to him in this life, stressed in Coffin Text Spell 716, which states: “I am this child who slept and was helpless in his mother’s entrails; what I remember and what I forget, I will say in On.”847

845

Gestermann (2001) note 12 Iufaa, Necho and Padihor from Abusir, Kheperra from Giza and Amentefnakht, Udjahor, Wahibramen, Hor, Padipep, both Psamteks from the tomb of Khedhebneith-Yerboni and Pasherintaihet from Saqqara. 847 Faulkner (1994): 270. 846

68

and texts to assist them not only to reach the Field of Reeds but to thrive once there.

CHAPTER 5 THE TITLES OF THE ELITE

There were fundamentally three classes of elite people whose tombs we have from the Late Period: those in the religious profession, those connected with the army and navy, and those in the administration854. However, no division can be entirely satisfactory, as titles such as ‘Seal Bearer of the King’s Troops’ (sDAwty Tswt nt nswt) and ‘General’ (imy-r mSa), although they express a military function, may in fact be purely administrative. Equally, the titles included under administration include many, such as ‘rpa’, ‘HAty-a’ and ‘smr’, which may well have been honorary.

The previous chapters have examined the location, structure, decoration and inscriptions of the tombs of the elite of Memphis during the Late Period. This chapter gives some thought to the positions that these powerful people held from an examination of their titles. All the titles held by the elite Late Period tomb owners are listed in Appendix E. It is not always possible, from our standpoint many years on, to tell quite who were and who were not ‘elite’ simply from their titles, which was the reason for identifying elite tombs by their structure and decoration. Nevertheless, the titles give us much information about the status of their holder. Some titles that sound impressive have changed during Pharaonic history and have lost their meaning: the Vizier848, for example, who was the most powerful man in the land, second only to the King, during the New Kingdom and earlier,849 had become mainly a temple official by the Twenty-sixth Dynasty.850 In the Old Kingdom the Vizier was solely responsible for the judiciary; by the time of Horemheb this responsibility had passed to the priesthood, although it was still under the jurisdiction of the Vizier,851 but by the Late Period the function had been passed to the Great Knbt.852 Although the titles found in the Memphite necropoleis all appear of high status, a word of caution is needed in that status is not always what it appears to be.853

THE PRIESTHOOD The priesthood was of two main types: the divine priests and the mortuary priests. The King, as Horus, son of Ra, was natural High Priest of all the Egyptian gods and sole communicant with them.855 He alone was entitled to celebrate the rituals in the inner sanctum of the temples.856 However, since such a stance was impractical, he delegated his duties to professional surrogate High Priests – the Hm-nTr tpi, who were appointed by him.857 These men had individual titles for the most important of the temples: the High Priest in the Sun Temple at Heliopolis was called the wr-mAA ‘the great seer’858 and the High Priest in the temple of Ptah at Memphis was the wr-xrp-Hm(wt),859 the latter title generally being translated as ‘the Chief Craftsman’, suggesting the ‘first among equals’.860 The title sm wr xrp Hmwt was used by the High Priest of Ptah from the Twenty-sixth Dynasty until Ptolemaic times.861 It is symptomatic of the destruction of the elite tombs in the area of Memphis that, although we know the names of eight of the High Priests of Ptah,862 not one of their tombs has yet been identified; the only priestly tomb catalogued from Memphis is that of Hena, and its location is not known.863 He held the titles ‘Official of the Heavenly Mysteries’ and ‘Chief Officiant’.

The elite were set apart from the general population and enjoyed considerable wealth, accumulated from their positions, without which they would have been unable to build the tombs that are the subject of this study. This wealth was gained through heredity or because these people were good at what they did and there can be no doubt that the latter gained their positions in the first place because they were literate. They were those who found favour from the divine King or, in the case of the priesthood, directly from their god. Their accumulated wealth enabled them to build costly tombs, incorporating stone to make them last for eternity and with decoration

854 See Helck (1958), Sauneron (1960), Vittmann (1978), Chevereau (1985), Strudwick (1985), Pressl (1998), Doxey (2001), Quirke (2001a) and (2004). 855 Blackman (1918, reprinted 1998): 118. 856 Lloyd (1983): 303. 857 Lloyd (1983): 303. 858 Lehner (1997): 84. 859 Maystre (1992): 5. 860 Maystre (1992): 7. 861 Maystre (1992): 14. 862 Six High Priests of Ptah from the Twenty-sixth and Twenty-seventh Dynasties were catalogued by Herman de Meulenaere [de Meulenaere (1985): 263-266] as follows: Padipep (temp. Psamtek I); Nekao-menem-ineb-hedj (temp. Necho/Psamtek II); Hekairaa (temp. Necho/Psamtek II); Neferibre-men-em-ineb-hedj (temp. Psamtek II/Apries); Khenemibre-sa-Ptah (temp. Amasis) and Iahmes-men-emineb-hedj (temp. Amasis to the Twenty-seventh Dynasty). The Lexicon [Helck (1977): Vol. II, Col. 1262] lists an additional two High Priests of Memphis as follows: Iah-mes-men II [son of the last] (Twenty-seventh Dynasty) and Udja-Shu (Saite?). 863 The blocks from this tomb are detailed in Appendix C.

848

‘Vizier’ is not a title, but a convenient translation of the Egyptian term TAty. 849 Quirke (2004): 85. 850 Pressl (1998): 122. 851 Helck (1958): 62. 852 Pressl (1998): 43. 853 From his studies of Western Thebes, Barry Kemp was able to analyse the status of one thousand people living in the area known as Maiunehes, which was the town that had grown up around Medinet Habu during the time of Ramesses III. He divided the householders into eight categories: senior civil servants, priests, scribes, policemen, stable masters, junior officials, urban craftsmen, and those with rural occupations. From this it could be expected that the senior civil servants were the elite: and yet the true elite did not live in Maiunehes at all, but in Thebes, on the other side of the Nile. Although this is not an exact analogy, one must be circumspect about those titles that are found in Memphis a few hundred years later. [Kemp (1991): 307].

69

THE ELITE LATE PERIOD EGYPTIAN TOMBS OF MEMPHIS priestly title is shown by the holder, but many of the titles appear to be honorary, used as an expression of position and for the income they provided. The great Udjahorresnet, for example, included the simple ‘Priest’ (Hm-nTr) among his fourteen titles.

We are more fortunate in Heliopolis, where the tombs of a ‘High Priest’ (mr mAA) and a ‘Priest’ (Hm imy-is) have been found. Other titles specific to the Late Period officials buried in Heliopolis are ‘One honoured by every great god of Heliopolis’ (imAxw xr nTr aA nb Iwnw), ‘God’s Father of Heliopolis’ (it-nTr n Iwnw) and ‘Head of the Altar in the Great Residence of the Northern On’ (Hry HAwt m Hwt-aAt Iwnw), although some more general priestly titles occur, as set out in Table 17. Tomb Owner

Rames

it-nTr Xry-Hbt

Title (Translation) Prophet of the King’s Two Daughters. Keeper of the Celestial Secrets. Divine Father. Lector Priest.

Wahibre-Tjestet

it-nTr

Divine Father.

Nesu-Khedu

imAxw xr nTr aA nb Iwnw

One Honoured by Every Great God of Heliopolis. Priest of Isis, Mother of Gods. Priest of Osiris, Lord of Djedu. Chief Lector Priest. Divine Father of Atum, Lord of Heliopolis. Divine Father of Ptah, Lord of Inebu-Hedj. Chancellor to the God Shorn Priest.

PsamtekSenebu

Title (Transliteration) Hm nTr sAty bity

Hry sStA n pt

Hm-nTr Is.t wr.t mw.t nTr Hm-nTr wsir nb Ddw Xry-Hb Hry-tp it nTr n Itm nb Iwnw it nTr n PtH nb Inbw-HD sDAwty nTr Udjahormehnet Ineferi

fkt.j it-nTr Hm imy-is

Panehsy

it-nTr Iwnw

Rajaa.

mr mAA

Harbes

wab

Pathenfy

Hry HAwt m HwtaAt Iwnw

it-nTr

ABUSIR imy-r Hmw-kA imAxw pw xr N.t it-nTr anx im.sn Hm-nTr Hm-nTr xnsw m anw Hm-nTr sSAt Hry-sStA n pt

Date Late Period.

Beginning of the Saite era.864 temp. Psamtek I/ Apries. Saite.

xrp imyw wiA nTr Xry-Hb Hry-tp Xryw-Hbt GIZA

Ax n Hwt-nTr MAHs aA pHty nTr nb xAswt Spirit Priest in the Temple of Mahes, great strong god of all things foreign imy-r nTr niwt.f Chief of Local Priests wnrw Shrine Opener wr wADty Priest of the Temple of Wadjet in Buto865 Hm BAstt arq insy Priest of Bastet who ties the red ribbon Hm-nTr Priest or Prophet Hm-nTr n Ast Prophet of Isis Hm-nTr sxmt Prophet of Sakhmet

SAQQARA

Divine Father. Priest of Heliopolis. God’s Father of Heliopolis. High Priest of Heliopolis. Wab Priest.

Late Period. Late Period.

Head of the Altar in the Great Residence of the Northern On. Divine Father.

Saite.

One honoured by Ptah-Sokar One honoured by the Great God, Master of Rosetau imy-r st-sqb Overseer of the Place of Purification it-nTr Divine Father wab-nsw Royal ‘Pure’ Priest mry-nTr Beloved of God pA grg wab PtH Chantress of the Pure Foundation of Ptah fkty Shorn Priest Hm-PtH-nb-pHty Prophet of Ptah, Lord of Craftsmen Hm-nTr Priest or Prophet Hm-nTr Imn m Iwn Priest of Amun in Heliopolis Hm-nTr wbAstt nb(t) wbAstt Prophet of Bastet, Lady of Bubastis Hmt-nTr n Mwt Prophetess of Mut Hm-nTr n xpr-kA-ra Prophet of Nectanebo I Hm-Hr wr wADty’ Prophet of Wadjet (Text not recorded) Prophet of the Statues of Thahepemu imAxw xr PtH-skr imAxw xr nTr aA nb RsTAw

Late Period. Twenty-sixth Dynasty. Late Period.

Table 17. The priestly titles of the Late Period elite buried in Heliopolis.

The following is a list of the priestly titles held by the Late Period elite whose tombs form part of this study and who are buried in the Memphite necropoleis other than Heliopolis. The discussion that follows the listing relates to the titles held by those elite. In some cases only the 864

Overseer of the Mortuary Priests One honoured by Neith Divine Father Prophet Ankh-Im-Sen Priest / Prophet High Priest of Khonsu in Tura Prophet of Seshat Official of Heavenly Mysteries Leader of Those who Belong to God’s Barque Chief Lector Priest Lector Priest

865

Gauthier (1921): 203.

70

Hart (1986): 220.

THE TITLES OF THE ELITE (Text not recorded)

Prophet of Bubastis, Mistress of Heliopolis Hry-sStAw RAstAw Chief of the Mysteries of Rosetau xrp Hskw Director of Singers xrp SnDwt nb PtH Director of the acacia trees of Ptah sm Sem-priest sS n Hwt-nTr PtH Scribe of the Temple of Ptah866

Djedu’, ‘Chief Lector Priest’, ‘Divine Father of Atum, Lord of Heliopolis’, ‘Divine Father of Ptah, Lord of Memphis’ and ‘Shorn Priest’. Padibastet in Giza had the titles ‘Chief of local Priests’, ‘Priest of Bastet who ties the red ribbon’ and ‘Spirit Priest in the Temple of Mahes, great strong god of all things foreign’. Priesthood could be inherited, purchased or come as a co-option.876 The position of priest had been within the gift of the King, but it had become largely hereditary by the Twenty-sixth Dynasty;877 Herodotus tells us that “when a Priest dies, his son is put in his place”878 and Late Period stelae show genealogies of several generations of priests879. Papyrus Rylands IX tells us of a certain Petiese who was granted a priesthood in about year 4 of Psamtek I (660 BC) and who handed it down to his son and thence to his grandson.880 When Hecateus of Miletus visited Egypt he boasted to priests that he was descended through many generations from a god; he in turn was shown a genealogy of more than three hundred High Priests of Ptah, following father to son, but starting and finishing with mortal men;881 this must have been bogus, but even a bogus genealogy was valuable. Purely priestly families had come into being by the Twentieth Dynasty and existed throughout the Late Period.882 By Roman times no one could be admitted to the priesthood unless he could show that both his father and grandfather had been priests.883

The High Priests of the Late Period had the same function as did their predecessors from the Old, Middle and New Kingdoms;867 below them there were the important ‘God’s Servants’ or ‘Prophets’ (Hmw-nTr) and the ‘God’s Fathers’ (itw-nTr).868 The ‘God’s Father’, or ‘Divine Father’, was a class of priest performing rituals in the temple.869 The imy-r Hmw-nTr, as a supervisory office, was generally in the hands of the local governor.870 Below these came the wabw or ‘wab’-priests (‘pure’ priests), who seem to have been initiated into the priesthood but who have not yet advanced to the rank of Hmw.871 The ‘Lector Priests’ (Xryw-Hbt) recited the ritual872 and they were under the control of the ‘Chief Lector Priest’ (Xry-Hb Hry-tp). The wabw and the Xryw-Hbt were divided into four ‘watches’, or sAw, of one month’s duty in four.873 The function of the ‘Chief Lector Priest’ was probably to act as a central point for the control and communication of the precise rules governing composition and training in hieroglyphic script and art.874 Below this level again there were the junior ranks of the ‘Lay Priests’ (wnwt), the ‘Shrine Openers’ (wnrw) and the ‘Shorn Priests’ (fkty).

When there were insufficient priests to fulfil a temple’s obligations, any vacancy became the gift of the local Governor or High Priest; it was filled by one chosen by the existing priesthood, either by appointment, or as a result of payment, which had become common practice by the end of the Late Period.884 Priesthood could be conveyed by deed885 and casual positions could be filled as a result of general agreement of the priesthood.886 The title fkty or ‘shorn priest’ seems to denote a lowly position; this title was held by Nesu-Khedu in Heliopolis in addition to a lengthy string of administrative and priestly titles, suggesting that, though lowly, the title had status and, probably, a stipend. All these priestly titles are represented among the Late Period tomb owners. The priests saw themselves as Egypt’s social and intellectual elite.887

The title ‘Overseer of …’ (imy-r) declares the owner to be in charge of others of the class. It is found with reference to the Place of Purification among the titles found in Saqqara. A further class of priests called themselves ‘One honoured by …’ (imAxw) and imAxw pw xr ‘… Neith’, ‘ … the Great God, Master of Rosetau’ and ‘ … Ptah-Sokar’ are found in the Memphite area. Priesthood was an important source of wealth, as most (if not all) priestly offices came with a stipend875. This meant that a priestly position was highly sought after and some people accumulated long lists of priestly titles. Nesu-Khedu, in Heliopolis, for instance, had the titles ‘One honoured by every great god of Heliopolis’, ‘Priest of Isis, Great Mother of Gods’, ‘Priest of Osiris, Lord of

Women held important positions within the temples, with an inscription from the Temple of Edfu telling us that by Ptolemaic times all temples had musician priestesses

866 although an administrative position, it is included here because of its association with the Temple. 867 Maystre (1992): 175. 868 J. Capart, ZÄS xli. 89, quoted in Blackman (1918, reprinted 1998): 124. ‘God’s Father’ was probably a title reserved for those who had one or more daughters in the god’s harem. 869 Quirke (2004): 124. Nobody with this title is attested as being buried in Memphis. 870 Doxey (2001): 69. 871 Doxey (2001): 69. 872 Doxey (2001): 69. 873 Shafer (1998): 15; Lloyd (1983): 307. 874 Quirke (2004): 125. 875 Lloyd (1983): 302.

876

Sauneron (1960): 43. Maystre (1992): 16. Herodotus II, 37. 879 Berlev (1997): 94. 880 Ray (2001): 107. 881 Berlev (1997): 94. 882 Maystre (1997): 94. 883 Retzenstein: ‘Zwei relig.-geschichtl. Fragen’ p. 17f, quoted in Blackman (1918, reprinted 1998): 134. 884 Blackman (1918, reprinted 1998): 136. 885 Griffith: Hieratic Papyri, 29 et al. quoted in Blackman (1918, reprinted 1998): 136. 886 Sauneron (1960): 43. 887 Assmann (2002): 414. 877 878

71

THE ELITE LATE PERIOD EGYPTIAN TOMBS OF MEMPHIS attached to them.888 None were of a higher status than the ‘God’s Wives of Amun’ at Thebes during the Late Period, and one would expect to find tombs of elite women priests in Memphis and Heliopolis. However, only the titles of ‘Prophetess of Mut’, from Saqqara, and ‘Chantress of the Pure Foundation of Ptah’, from Giza, are attested among the Late Period Memphite tomb owners considered in this study; in both these cases they are the only titles held by the tomb owner, suggesting that few women were able to accumulate the wealth required to build an elite tomb.

an impressive list of priestly (Psamtek-Senebu), and honorific (Hor-Neferibrasaneith) titles, so that these lower military titles may have come from a position held earlier in their careers, from which they may have received a pension. Those military titles shown in the Memphite tombs are few and appear to relate only to those at the very top of their professions. It seems likely that these were primarily administrators who ran the army and navy from their offices in Memphis, and most held administrative, as well as military, titles. The titles are as follows:

The mortuary cults of the Late Period were in the hands of the Hmw-kA and the wAHw-mw, both hereditary titles.889 These titles are not represented in the Memphite tombs, suggesting that mortuary priests did not enjoy the same elite status as divine priests, although many divine priests could well have doubled their duties – and thence their income – by acting as mortuary priests as well. Menekhibneko in Abusir, however, was an ‘Overseer of the Mortuary Priests’. The sm Priest was responsible for the Opening of the Mouth ceremony,890 and that title was held by Pasherintaihet in Saqqara, possibly in an act of archaism; he also held the titles of ‘Prophet of Ptah, Lord of Craftsmen’, and ‘Prophet of Sakhmet’.

NAVY imy-r Haww nswt imy-r kbnwt nsw ARMY imy-r mHw-ib imy-r mSa imy-r pr aHA imy-r xAstyw (m) THnw

There were magicians, who were often indistinguishable from priests,891 and physicians who, during the Old Kingdom, held these offices as an addition to their priestly function.892 By the Late Period these were officers of the House of Life and were part of the Palace Administration,893 under which heading they will be dealt with here. The Priests of the House of Life may well have been those who gave Herodotus much of his information.894 We see many of the same titles carried through from the Old, Middle and New Kingdoms, showing a fundamental conservativeness of the priesthood.

imy-r xAswt HA(w) nbwt imy-r ssmt imy-r Snw xAswt imy-r TmHw’ mna bity mH ib xnt mnfyt Hry-mSa Hry-sStA nsty’

THE MILITARY MACHINE The Late Period military machine was of considerable size and included men of all social ranks from the highest to the lowest. Although a few people held titles suggesting active service, such as Psamtek-Senebu from Heliopolis,895 who held the title ‘Commander of the Battle Fleet’ and Hor-Neferibrasaneith, also from Heliopolis, who had those of ‘Trusted Man at the Head of the Troops’ and ‘Trusted Scribe at the Head of the Army’, it seems likely that the active soldiers would have been taken to their home districts to be buried. Both held

HqA-Hwt xrp qq(w)t sS mH ib xnt mSa sty mw ROYAL GUARD xrp-nfrw n mH-ib nswt xrp DAmw bity

(Overseer) Captain of the Royal Fleet896 (Overseer) Admiral of the Royal kbnt-ships (Overseer) Chief of the Life Guard (Overseer of the Army) General Overseer of the Armoury Overseer of the Contingents of Tjechenu Overseer of Foreign Mercenaries (Overseer) Master of the Horse (Overseer) General of Foreign Lands Overseer of the Contingents of Tjemhu Fit for Royal Service Trusted Man at the Head of the Troops Chief of the Army (General)897 Overseer of the Secrets of the Spear Ruler of the Fortress Commander of the Battle Fleet Trusted Scribe at the Head of the Army Liberator Commandant of Recruits of the Royal Guard Commandant of Recruits for the King of Lower Egypt

888

Blackman (1921): 8. Lloyd (1983): 307. 890 Doxey (2001): 71. 891 See Ritner (1993). 892 Doxey (2001): 71. 893 Quirke (2004): 36. 894 Lloyd (1975): 113. 895 Psamtek-Senebu’s tomb does not meet the requirements of an elite tomb as set down in Chapter 1, in that there is no evidence of stone, decoration or inscriptions. Nevertheless, his titles are important and their omission would seriously detract from this discussion. Full details of his tomb are in Appendix C.

SECURITY imy-r sA(w) prw

889

Overseer of Police

896 There were three people who held the title ‘Captain of the Royal Fleet’: Djanehibu and Hekaemsaf, whose tombs are close to the Pyramid of Unas, and Psamtek-Merimptah, who dedicated a stele in the Serapeum to Apis V (Years 15 – 23 of Amasis) but whose tomb has not been located. [Bresciani (1977): 19]. 897 The usual title for General is imy-r mSa. The only instance of the use of the title Hry-mSa comes from the tomb of Padibastet.

72

THE TITLES OF THE ELITE rs waty n nb tAwyt

nsw and the xrp rs nsw aH.905 From the slight difference between the two titles it would seem that one official may have been responsible for the King’s safety when he was in the palace and that the other held this responsibility when he went abroad; neither title is attested in the Memphite tombs, although Amentefnakht, buried in Saqqara, was responsible for recruitment thereto.

Sole Watcher for the Lord of the Two Lands

ADMINISTRATIVE imy-r sSw mSa nw Smaw mHw’ Overseer of the Royal Scribes of the Army of Upper and Lower Egypt sDAwty Tswt nt nswt Seal Bearer of the King’s Troops

The Police, of whom Tjery of Giza was Chief, were used in the deserts and to secure the borders in Saite times,906 although they may have had additional security responsibilities. The imy-r mSa were also responsible for police duties.907 During the New Kingdom, security seems to have been in the hands of the sDAwty nTr,908 at which time the police held the title imy-rA Sm(w)t.909 Further security matters are inherent in the title ‘Sole Watcher for the Lord of the Two Lands’, held by Hor Neferibrasaneith; the title implies that he was part of the intelligence service, spying on behalf of the King, which was a practice followed by the Persians after the conquest of 525 BC.910

With the reunification of Egypt by Psamtek I it became necessary to build a new, strong and loyal army and navy. The army was divided into infantry and cavalry, with Carian and Ionian soldiers being employed under the command of loyal Egyptian Generals.898 There is a Late Period Greek inscription on one of the colossal legs at Abu Simbel, next to the entrance, which suggests that the Egyptian army of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty was divided into two or three corps: one under the command of the King, and either a second corps of Greeks and a third of other foreigners, or just a second corps entirely made up of non-Egyptian forces.899 The Egyptian commanders and the commanders of the foreign forces are attested in Memphis, but no commander of Greeks is included; either there were just the two corps, or, more probably, the commanders of the Greek forces were buried elsewhere.

THE ADMINISTRATION Egypt was a bureaucracy and required large armies of administrators. These could advance to become very powerful men and it is those few from the top of the administrative profession, who are found in those elite Late Period tombs of Memphis that are the subject of this study. The following are their administrative and honorific titles:

Similarly Psamtek employed Greek sailors under the command of Egyptian Admirals. The titles attested here of ‘Admiral of the Royal kbnt-ships’, held by Udjahorresnet, and of ‘Captain of the Fleet of Ra’, held by Djanehibu, were both inaugurated in Amasis’ time and the former was brought back into use in the Thirtieth Dynasty.900 With the Persian victory in 525 BC the overall responsibility of Generals and Admirals was removed from Egyptian hands as a matter of expediency and these titles disappeared: Udjahorresnet, for instance, was relieved of his naval title by the Persians in accordance with the policy of keeping the highest military commands in Persian and Median hands,901 but he remained at the top of the social structure, holding the new position of ‘Chief Physician of Upper and Lower Egypt’ (hA wr swnw n Sma mHw) until his death in about year 22 of Darius I.902 He and Khnumibra, who left several inscriptions in the Wadi Hammamat, flourished under Persian rule and probably exercised authority over Persian administrators.903 Although the highest military ranks were reserved for Persians, some Egyptians still managed to hold their positions: Ahmose, for example, was a General and Field Marshal after the conquest.904

THE INNER PALACE imy-r aXnwty Overseer of Interior Chamberlains imy-r rw(y)t Overseer of the Antechamber imy-r s.t Overseer of the Throne iry-xt nswt Keeper of Items for the King Hry tp nswt King’s Valet xrp wr Sma mHw Director of Upper and Lower Egypt sAb Dignitary sDmi Judge THE OUTER PALACE wHmw nswt Royal Reporter THE ‘HOUSE OF LIFE’ imy-r HkAyw n srqt Overseer of the Magicians of Selket wr ibH pr aA Chief of Pharaoh’s Dentists wr swnw Chief Physician wr swnw Sma mHw Chief Physician of Upper and Lower Egypt xrp srqt Healer or Conjurer of Selket

The Royal Guard was responsible for the welfare of the King and this was in the hands of two officials: the xrp rs 898

Sheikh ‘Ibada al-Nubi (1997): 181. Lloyd (1975): 22. 900 Jones (1988): Nos. 44 and 56. 901 Lloyd (1972): 272. 902 Bareš et al. (2000): 5. 903 Lloyd (2007a): 9. 904 Lloyd (2007a): 8. The stele of Ahmose is in the Louvre, numbered 359. 899

905

Pressl (1998): 26. Pressl (1998): 53. 907 Lloyd (1983): 333. 908 Helck (1958): 66. 909 Helck (1958): 77. 910 Lloyd (1983): 333. 906

73

THE ELITE LATE PERIOD EGYPTIAN TOMBS OF MEMPHIS THE TREASURY imy-r (pr n) pr-HD imy-r prwy-nbw nw Xnw imy-r xtmt xa(yt)-rA

imy-r sAb sS nswt Overseer of the House of Silver Overseer of the Two Treasuries of Upper and Lower Egypt Overseer of the Treasury Revenue Officer

imy-r sSw nswt iaw-rA imy-r sSw nswt ab imy-r Snwtwy imy-r Sw.t nSmwt imy-r kAt nbt nt nsw

GENERAL ADMINISTRATION aA n xAt Great of the Office imy-r imy(w)-xnt (Overseer of Chamberlains) Chief Chamberlain imy-r pr wr Overseer of the Great House imy-r saH nbt Overseer of all Bureaucracy Hry-tp aH Assistant Director in the Palace xnty nst One who Stands Before the Throne xrp-aH Director of the Palace xrp Hwwt Director of the Palaces xrp Hwwt Nt Director of the Palaces of the Red Crown xrp Hwtw nt sxmty Commander of the Domains of Upper and Lower Egypt xrp ggH gb Commander of the Two Seats Xry nsty Administrator of the Two Thrones

wdpw Iwnw Hry mDt Hry-xAwt m pr-aA HONORIFIC imAxw xr nb.f imy ib nb.f imy-r niwt imy-r TmHw ir mr.y nb.f raw nb mrr nb.f mH ib mnx n nb.f mH ib n nswt ms n wr MSwS rnn nb tA.wy Psmtk

SECRETARIAL AND SCRIBAL imy-r aw Overseer of Interpreters imy-r sSw nswt Overseer of Royal Scribes imy-r sSw xnrt wr Overseer of Scribes of the Great Prison imy-r sSw xnty pr wr Overseer of Scribes who are at the Head of the Great House imy-r sSw DADAt Overseer of Scribes of the Council Hry-sStA m Hwwt Nt Secretary in the House of the Red Crown Hry-sStA mnx.t nswt Keeper of the Secrets of the King’s Menchet-Festival Hry-sStA n wDa mdw Keeper of Secret Orders Hry-sStA n pr nswt Secretary in the King’s House Hry-sStA n nb.f Keeper of his Lord’s Secrets Hry-sStA nb n nswt Official of All the King’s Secrets sHd sSw DADAt Inspector of Scribes of the Council sS a(n) nswt Scribe of the Royal Documents sS a(n) nswt n xft-Hr Scribe of Documents of the King of the Presence sS sxAw Writer of Memoranda PROVISIONING imy-r AH(w) m Sma mHw

rpa rx nswt rx nswt mAa mr.f rx-Sma HAty-a Hry-tp aA HqA-aD xrp rxyt sA nsw sAb smr smr waty smr waty n mr.wt sDAwty sDAwty bity Smsw-pr-aA TAty

Overseer of Scribes of the Royal Repast911 Overseer of Scribes of the Royal Repast Overseer of Scribes of the Royal Repast Overseer of the Two Granaries Overseer of Birds and Fish Overseer of all the King’s Food Cellarmaster of On He who is in Charge of Cattle Grounds Head of Food and Drink in the Great Residence One honoured by his Master Confidant of his Master (Overseer) Leader of (his) Town Overseer of the Tjemhw One who does daily that which his Master wishes Beloved of his lord Devoted Confidant of his Lord Royal Confidant Child of the Chief of the Meshwesh Young lord of the Two Lands of Psamtek Prince Royal Acquaintance True acquaintance of the King, who loves him Royal Relative Mayor Great Chieftain of the Heliopolitan Nome Leader of the Rekhyt-people King’s Son Dignitary Companion Sole Companion Sole Companion of Favour Chancellor Chancellor to the King of Lower Egypt Follower of Pharaoh Vizier

Elite status came from the priesthood, from inheritance or simply as a result of having access to the King. The highest military and civil personages would have been largely administrative and would have been in some way equivalent to the top of the modern civil service. But it was not only they who were in constant touch with the King: those who were part of his household and saw him

Overseer of the Fields of Upper and Lower Egypt

911 These three titles are subtly different, but all are translated as ‘Overseer of Scribes of the Royal Repast’.

74

THE TITLES OF THE ELITE Ptolemaic times.916 During the Old Kingdom those titles were associated with supervisory positions in the Treasury,917 the Palace,918 Provisioning919 and Works.920 Among our three ‘King’s Valets’, two have titles associated with the Treasury and two were ‘Directors of the Palace’. One was a High Priest and one was a personal priest to the King. While Psamtek-Senebu and Neferibra-Sa-Neith held the highest offices in the land, in that they were ‘Chief Physician’ and ‘Chancellor’ respectively, there is evidence that Necho was on an upward career path at the time of his death; he had become ‘High Priest of Khonsu’ and ‘God’s Father’ and seems to have moved to the inner circle with the apparently junior titles of ‘Companion’ (rather than ‘Sole Companion’) and ‘Revenue Officer’ in the Treasury. It could be that he was of Saite stock, one of those encouraged to be buried in Udjahorresnet’s new burial ground in Abusir, and that perhaps his move to the Palace was encouraged by Udjahorresnet himself. However, whatever the reason for Necho’s move, he now seems to have enjoyed a position of privilege.

on a regular basis, such as the ‘Companion’,912 (smr or smr-waty), the ‘Royal Acquaintance’ (rx nswt) and the ‘Royal Scribe’ were also in a privileged position, although ‘Companion’ and ‘Royal Acquaintance’ may have been honorific titles. And even those further down the social ladder, such as the ‘King’s Valet’ (Xry-tp nswt) would have had a daily contact which would have enabled them to put their point to the King and would have placed them in a special, privileged position.913 Good and long ancestry was also an important factor in being elite.914 If one were able to trace one’s ancestry to someone of particular position or moral standing, one would naturally gain respect from so doing; but simply being able to call oneself ‘the hereditary lord and count’, for example, would enhance one’s credibility and position, as this would suggest that one’s family had been influential for many years. THE TITLE OF ‘KING’S VALET The King’s Valet is referred to above as one ‘further down the social ladder’. However, there are nuances to the title which mean, perhaps, that it is instead a very senior and trusted position. The title is held by PsamtekSenebu (reign of Psamtek I), Neferibra-Sa-Neith (reign of Amasis) and Necho (reign of Amasis / Darius I), whose titles are set out in Table 18. Psamtek-Senebu Chief Physician Healer Chief of Pharaoh’s Dentists Commander of the Battle Fleet Sole Companion Director of the Palace Overseer of Interpreters One Who Stands Before the Throne King’s Valet Administrator of the Two Thrones Prophet of the King’s Two Daughters Keeper of the Celestial Secrets Director of the Palaces of the Red Crown

Neferibra-Sa-Neith Chancellor of the King of Lower Egypt

Necho Revenue Officer

Sole Companion Director of the Palace

Companion

Royal wab-Priest

God’s Father

King’s Valet Beloved of his Lord

King’s Valet

The title ‘King’s Valet’ was not, then, one that was held by a junior member of society, but rather by one at the very top of the ladder and close to the king. One might see modern British parallels in the titles held by these three men, in that the ‘Companion / Sole Companion’ might have had a function similar to that of the modern ‘Companion of Honour’ and the ‘King’s Valet’ might have had a function relative to the king similar to that of the modern ‘Lady of the Bedchamber’ relative to the queen. Here was, indeed, a trusted and very influential person. The central administration was based on the royal palace in Memphis, in the Inner Palace, the Outer Palace and the ‘House of Life’.921 The administration is separated into these three layers for ease of discussion but in addition I have separated the Treasury, General Administration, Secretarial and Scribal, Provisioning, and Honorific titles; all these would have been part of the three divisions of the palace but are worthy of separate discussion.

High Priest of Khonsu in Tura Overseer of the Secrets of the Spear Leader of Those Who Belong to God’s Barque

THE INNER PALACE The titles among the Memphite elite pertaining to the Inner Palace consisted of Overseer of Interior Chamberlains, Overseer of the Antechamber, Overseer of the Throne, Keeper of Items for the King, King’s Valet, Director of Upper and Lower Egypt, Dignitary and Judge. The only instance so far attested in the Memphite tombs of a title appertaining solely to services in the Inner Palace is that of ‘Overseer of Interior Chamberlains’, the single title held by Harkhebi; the responsibility of this official was to organise the arrangements for the private rooms of the palace.922 David Warburton thinks that this

Table 18. The Titles held by three ‘King’s Valets’ of Late period Memphis. In all three cases these people were ‘Companion’ or ‘Sole Companion’, both honorific titles of high rank, held by Viziers during the Old Kingdom915 and continuing until 912 Sole Companion was an ancient ranking title that placed its holder close to the centre of administration. Lloyd (2007a): 8. 913 Things do not change, and to have been able to say in Twentieth Century AD Great Britain that “my father knew Lloyd George” would equally have given one status. 914 Lloyd (2002): 120. 915 Strudwick (1985): 308.

916

Reymond (1981): 252. Strudwick (1985): 282. ‘Overseer of the Great Mansion’, Strudwick (1985): 182. 919 ‘Overseer of the Granaries’, Strudwick (1985): 260. 920 ‘Overseer of Works’, Strudwick (1985): 223. 921 Quirke (2004): 25 ff. 922 Quirke (2004): 27. 917 918

75

THE ELITE LATE PERIOD EGYPTIAN TOMBS OF MEMPHIS may have been honorific,923 but its appearance as a sole title suggests that it was functional. Overseer of the Throne was a title – one of many – held only by Padinisis, suggesting that this was not an onerous task, while Keeper of Items for The King was the sole title of Padihor.

was the sole title of Seankh-Wahibra from Heliopolis. In the time of Tuthmosis IV the ‘Overseer of the Treasury’ reported directly to the Vizier and opened the gold house with him daily,934 overseeing the ‘Overseer of the House of Silver’, a title held by Padinisis and Ptahhotep, who was responsible for sealed items of gold within the Treasury.935 This title had also been in existence during the Old Kingdom936 and continued to be attested during the Middle Kingdom.937 Hekaemsaf was ‘Supervisor of the Two Treasuries of the Royal Residence’, a title that implies a more specific and possibly a more allembracing responsibility. During the Old Kingdom this title had existed in a form that did not mention the Royal Residence,938 probably added during the Late Period. The only other title attested in Memphis that would seem to be connected with the Treasury is that of ‘Revenue Officer’, held by Necho, which has not been found before this period. In addition, Stephen Quirke considers that, at least in the Middle Kingdom, the ‘Royal Acquaintance’ was a particularly trusted person, close to the King, who could be sent on missions involving valuables.939 However, as that title never appears in conjunction with another Treasury title and is usually accompanied by other honorific titles, it would seem that the title is itself honorific.

THE OUTER PALACE The Outer Palace is represented by Udjahor, who had the title of ‘Royal Herald’, or ‘Royal Reporter’ (wHmw nswt). He held responsibility in the space between the inside and the outside of the palace,924 much as a modern porter would within his lodge. The office was confirmed as part of the palace during the New Kingdom.925 THE ‘HOUSE OF LIFE’ The ‘House of Life’ was “a place for transmitting and developing writings on healing and other knowledge, and perhaps compositions in hieroglyphic script and formal art”.926 There are no titles containing the phrase pr-anx attested from Late Period Memphis, but several contain references to healing. Udjahormehnet from Heliopolis, Udjahorresnet from Abusir and Psamtek, son of Tagemtisi, from Saqqara all held the title ‘Chief Physician of Upper and Lower Egypt’. Psamtek-Senebu, from Heliopolis was ‘Chief Physician’ and also a ‘Healer’ or ‘Conjurer of Selket’. This was an Old Kingdom title brought back into use in the Twenty-sixth Dynasty,927 although a single example has been found from the Middle Kingdom.928 Psamtek-Senebu also held another physician’s title, that of ‘Chief of Pharaoh’s Dentists’, which was associated with the priesthood, although it was not in itself a priestly title. It is possible that Psamtek-Senebu was also a priest of Sakhmet, as all other known priests of Sakhmet were physicians and magicians.929 Another connected title, the ‘Overseer of the Magicians of Selket’ is attested from the tomb of Wennefer in Saqqara, who, like Udjahormehnet, held only priestly titles.

GENERAL ADMINISTRATION The General Administration was in the hands of a group of men whose titles speak for themselves. The title ‘Director of Upper and Lower Egypt’ is one of a long list of Bakenrenef’s titles attested by Günther Vittmann.940

THE TREASURY The ‘House of Silver930’ was the Treasury931 and here were those responsible for the wealth of the State. The title ‘Overseer of the Treasury’, which had been in existence since the Old Kingdom,932 was held by a group of specialist administrators with overall responsibility for the Treasury,933 including Padinisis, Psamtek, son of Meramuntabes, and Psamtek, son of Meretneith, while it

Justice seems to have been removed from the duties of the Vizier by the Late Period, the title of ‘Judge’ appearing in the tomb of Padiset in Giza, whose only titles were ‘Judge’ and ‘Dignitary’ and whose tomb has the only occurrence of each of these titles. The title sAb may have had the function of Judge during the Old Kingdom,941 and these two titles were closely associated in the New Kingdom942 and in this Late Period tomb. Padipep’s sole title was ‘Great of the Office’, while Iufaa was ‘Director of the Palaces’ (xrp Hwwt) and three people held the title ‘Director of the Palaces of the Red Crown’. The most commonly held title was ‘Director of the Palace’ (xrp-aH), held by eleven people, to which Psamtek-Senebu added ‘Administrator of the Two Thrones’. Still at a senior level, Psamtek, son of Meramuntabes, was not only ‘Overseer of the Great House’, but also ‘Overseer of all Bureaucracy’; Menekhibneko was entitled ‘Secretary in the House of the Red Crown’ and Hor was ‘Chief Chamberlain’.

923

934

Warburton (2001): 581. Quirke (2004): 32. 925 Bryan (2006): 90. 926 Quirke (2004): 36. 927 Gauthier (1933): 33. 928 Quirke (2004): 37. As with Psamtek-senebu of the Late Period, Nemtyemhat, who bore this title, also had the title of Chief Physician. 929 Assmann (2001): 69. 930 pr HD. 931 Quirke (2004): 48. 932 Jones (2000): No. 733; Ward (1982): No. 364. 933 Pressl (1998): 27, 35; Quirke (2004): 48.

Bryan (2006): 77. Quirke (2004): 59. 936 Twenty-four of thirty-seven holders of the title ‘Overseer of the House of Silver’ in Memphis during the Old Kingdom were Viziers. [Strudwick (1985): 284]. 937 Quirke (2004): 59. 938 Jones (2000): No. 522. 939 Quirke (2004): 60. In the New Kingdom the title was often held by butlers. 940 Vittmann (1978): 146. 941 Jones (2000): No.2932. 942 Helck (1958): 59.

924

935

76

THE TITLES OF THE ELITE sounding title of ‘Writer of Memoranda’949 may well mean that Udjahorresnet, the holder, was in a position of being able to write instructions and initiate actions on behalf of the King. Although not strictly scribal, both Psamtek-Senebu and Menekhibneko held the title ‘Overseer of Interpreters’, which was probably a function connected with the translation of documents and dealing with foreign emissaries.

Pasherintaihet numbered only ‘Assistant in the Palace’ along with his priestly and military titles. Three titles: ‘One who Stands Before the Throne’, ‘Commander of the two Seats’, and ‘Commander of the Domains of Upper and Lower Egypt’ would all appear to be connected with the general administration, although in a less senior capacity. SECRETARIAL AND SCRIBAL The scribal profession is in itself elite, representing a highly trained group of literate people.943 As would be expected, scribes of all sorts are found among those buried in the Memphis area; what is surprising is that only the title ‘Overseer of Scribes to the Great Prison’ appears three times, while those of ‘Overseer of Interpreters’ and ‘Overseer of Scribes at the Head of the Great House’ appear twice; all others in this category appear once only. Menekhibneko held the title of ‘Overseer of Interpreters’, and other secretarial appointments in the Palace of the Red Crown and to the King, as well as being ‘Scribe to the King’s documents of his Presence’; he was a very trusted and senior private secretary to the Pharaoh. Udjahorresnet also held multiple titles, as ‘Overseer of Scribes of the Great Prison’, ‘Inspector of Scribes of the Council’ and ‘Writer of Memoranda’. With the exception of Nesu-Khedu, who was ‘Overseer of Scribes who are at the Head of the Great House’ and ‘Overseer of Scribes of the Great Prison’, and Psamtek-Senebu, who had the title of ‘Overseer of Interpreters’, all the other bearers of titles in this group were buried in Saite-Persian Shaft Tombs, confirming the elite status of the secretarial and scribal professions.

PROVISIONING The provisioning of the palace came from the large estates that it owned, which provided much of the country’s wealth, so that offices connected with agriculture were very important. During the Middle Kingdom provisioning was in the overall charge of the ‘High Steward’,950 a title not attested in Late Period Memphis. As with the previous group, most titles have only a single holder, the sole exception being that of ‘Overseer of Scribes of the Royal Repast’ in its form imy-r sAb sS nswt, which was held by both Psamteks buried in the tomb of Khedhebneith-Yerboni in Saqqara. This title had three forms; as well as that just cited, the titles imy-r sSw nswt iaw-rA and imy-r sSw nswt ab are both translated as ‘Overseer of Scribes of the Royal Repast’. Three people held two titles in this category: Psamtek, son of Meramuntabes, was ‘Overseer of Scribes of the Royal Repast’ and ‘Overseer of all the King’s Food’, Padineith had the titles ‘Overseer of Scribes of the Royal Repast’ and ‘He who is in Charge of Cattle Grounds’, and Rames was entitled ‘Head of Food and Drink in the Great Residence’ and ‘Cellarmaster of On951’. It seems that these multi-titled people were responsible for the food served in the palace, while the others dealt with the administration of food production, except that Padineith had a title of each type.

Of the titles reading ‘Overseer of …’, the only one to be attested during the Old Kingdom is that of ‘Overseer of Interpreters’, held by Psamtek-Senebu and Menekhibneko, which William Ward944 and Dillwyn Jones945 translate as ‘Overseer of Foreign Mercenaries’; given the appearance of mercenaries during the New Kingdom, and the increase in their use during the Late Period, this would seem a logical development. All the other titles of this form appear to have come into being during the Late Period. Some of the secretarial posts hark back to the Old Kingdom, when ‘Secretary in the King’s House’,946 ‘Keeper of his Lord’s Secrets’947 and ‘Scribe of the Royal Documents’948 are attested.

Again, few of these titles appear from earlier times. The ‘Overseer of the Fields of Upper and Lower Egypt’ emerged during the late Old Kingdom and was adopted at court during the Middle Kingdom,952 incorporating marshes during the New Kingdom,953 and the only other food production title attested earlier is that of ‘Overseer of the Two Granaries,954 which was used during the Old,955 Middle956 and New Kingdoms.957 During the New Kingdom there were two ‘Overseers of the Two Granaries’, each responsible for half of the grain redistribution programme and each with his own staff.958 Of the titles relating to the palace, wdpw, which William Ward and Dillwyn Jones translate as ‘Butler’959 is also

The senior scribal positions seem to be ‘Overseer of Scribes who are at the Head of the Great House’ and ‘Overseer of Scribes to the Council’. The simple-

949

Hannig (2001): 742. Quirke (2004): 61. 951 During the reign of Amenhotep II the wdpw and the wbA provided food and drink to the royal palace. [Helck (1958): 268]. 952 Quirke (2004): 91. 953 J. J. Shirley, personal communication. 954 Ward (1982): No. 385. 955 Jones (2000): No. 923. 956 Quirke (2004): 63. 957 Bryan (2006): 81. 958 Bryan (2006): 82. 959 Ward (1982): No. 755; Jones (2000): No. 1494. 950

943

By the Late Period, demotic was in general administrative use. Hieratic continued to be used for religious and literary documents, while the hieroglyphic script became increasingly relegated to sacred texts. [Roccati (1997): 82]. 944 Ward (1982): No. 59. 945 Jones (2000): No. 337. 946 Jones (2000): No. 2274. 947 Jones (2000): No. 2298. 948 Ward (1982): No. 1360; Jones (2000): No. 3057. Strudwick (1985): 210 informs us that forty-seven Memphite people had held the title during the Old Kingdom.

77

THE ELITE LATE PERIOD EGYPTIAN TOMBS OF MEMPHIS attested from the Old and Middle Kingdoms,960 becoming ‘Royal Butler’ during the New Kingdom.961 A Second Intermediate Period instance of Hry-xA(w)t seems to be related to a priestly function connected with offering tables or altars;962 as this meant keeping them supplied with food, a development into the title ‘Head of Food and Drink in the Great Residence’ (Hry-xAwt m pr-aA) would seem natural.

Vizier had become largely honorific, and the Vizier’s duties were tied mainly to a temple,963 but Bakenrenef sought to reinforce the importance of his office by adding the title ‘Director of Upper and Lower Egypt’. During the Old Kingdom the title of sDAwty bity was honorific and in the Middle and New Kingdoms it represented a status only slightly lower than that of Vizier964. During the Middle Kingdom that title was always followed by a secondary title such as that of an Overseer – imy-r pr wr or imy-r Xtmtyw.965 Among the Late Period titles attested in Memphis, however, this is the case only in the tombs of Padinisis and Hekaemsaf; in every other instance the title of sDAwty bity stands without such a secondary title, although of the ten times that it is represented in the tombs, it appears eight times with smr waty, three times with rp-a and HAty-a, once with HAty-a alone and three times with rx nswt. These are all honorific titles themselves, demonstrating the importance of status; in the Old Kingdom the title sDAwty bity had been held by eighty-five Memphite Viziers966 and the high incidence of its occurrence in the Late Period may suggest that this was once again an honorific position. It was held by three people in the Heliopolitan tombs, one in Old Cairo, two in Abusir, one in Giza and five in Saqqara. The simple sDAwty is attested only from the tomb of Bakenrenef in Saqqara. The relationship between these and other honorific titles is shown in Table 19.

sD

Aw t sD y Aw t rx y bi ns t y w rx t ns w sm t m r Aa m sm r.f rw a sm ty rw rp aty a n m rw HA t ty -a

HONORIFIC

HELIOPOLIS Hor Neferibrasaneith

X

X

X

Psamtek-Senebu Panehsy

X

Harbes Ankhkhonsu

X

X X

X

X X

OLD CAIRO Pawen-Hatef

X

X

ABUSIR Udjahorresnet

X

Iufaa

X

X

Menekhibneko

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

Necho

X

X

With four hundred and fifty-two title holders in Memphis, ‘Royal Acquaintance’ was the most prolific Old Kingdom honorific title.967 During the Middle Kingdom, the title holder was a particularly trusted person, close to the King, who could be sent on missions involving valuables.968 However, as the title never appears in conjunction with another Treasury title in the Late Period Memphite tombs and is usually accompanied by other honorific titles, it seems likely that the title is again honorific in the Late Period. A far grander version of the same title, ‘True acquaintance of the King, who loves him’ (rx nswt mAa mr.f), would seem typically to confirm the vanity of Udjahorresnet, who alone held it in this form. The title of sA nsw was associated with rx nswt during the Old Kingdom,969 when it was honorific. During the Middle Kingdom the title was held by common people, with a meaning something like ‘Royal Adherent’970 and in the New Kingdom it became associated with the Viceroy of Nubia and the priesthood.971 In our sample, however, the only holder is Irahor, who was also rpa and HAty-a, and so not a commoner.

GIZA Ankhpakhered

X

Shepenswt

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

Kheperre Ptahirdis

X

X

X

Padibastet SAQQARA Psamtek (son of Tagemtisi) Padinisis

X

X

Hor Hekaemsaf

X X

X

X

Nereribra-Sa-Neith X Wahibramen Irahor

X X

Psamtek (son of Meramuntabes) Nesdjhouty Bakenrenef X

X

X X

X X

X

X

X X

X

Table 19. The honorific titles from the tombs of the Memphite elite of the Late Period. 963

Pressl (1998): 120. J. J. Shirley, personal communication. 965 Quirke (2004): 12. 966 Strudwick (1985): 310. 967 Strudwick (1985): 310. 968 Quirke (2004): 60. 969 Jones (2000): No. 2911. 970 Ward (1982): 145 and No. 1245. 971 Bryan (2006): 101.

The highest rank in the land had traditionally been that of ‘Vizier’, which is represented in Memphis by Bakenrenef and Padineith. By the Late Period, however, the title of

964

960

Quirke (2004): 66.S Bryan (2006): 95. 962 Quirke (2004): 123. 961

78

THE TITLES OF THE ELITE father was Ankh-Hor, so not a ‘King’ – however, it is perhaps possible that Irahor was the son of Ankh-Hor of Thebes and that the title of ‘King’, given to Montuemhat by the Assyrians, continued in use into the Twenty-sixth Dynasty. Hor was also a ‘Royal Relative’ who held the titles ‘Sole Companion’, ‘Overseer of Chamberlains’, ‘Divine Father’, ‘Sem Priest’ and ‘Chief of the Mysteries of Rosetau’; since he was the son of Irterau, it is possible that he, also, came from Theban stock into the court at Memphis.

The ‘Companions’ (smr) were ancient titles, ‘Companion’ being an Old Kingdom honorific title associated with the ‘Overseer of the Treasuries’.972 The title ‘Sole Companion’ was an honorific title held by the Memphite Viziers and by, among others, the ‘Overseer of the Scribes of the King’s Documents’, the ‘Overseer of Works’, the ‘Overseer of the Granaries’, and the ‘Overseer of the Treasuries’.973 The title smr, rather than smr-waty, may suggest that the holder was slightly outside the centre of the royal circle, or it may suggest that the holder was on the career ladder up to that position. The enhanced title ‘Sole Companion of Favour974’, held by Nesdjhouty in the Late Period, was an honorific title held from the Fifth Dynasty.975 The more usual title ‘Sole Companion’ continued into Ptolemaic times.976

Many of these positions were hereditary, as was the title of Vizier held by the incumbents of Bakenrenef’s tomb Horiraa (I to IV) and Padineith from about 495 BC to 365 BC.982 Louise Gestermann has suggested, however, that Psamtek, son of Tagemtisi, whose tomb is beside Unas’ pyramid, started from humble beginnings, rising to become one of the greatest in the land.983 Many of those who were of the secular elite also held priestly titles, probably denoting the receipt of a stipend.

The titles rpa and HAty-a nearly always appear together and often appear with smr waty (or smr) or sDAwty bity, or both. The title rpa was commonly held by the Memphite Viziers during the Old Kingdom977 and the High Priest Hepuseneb was rpa and HAty-a during the reign of Amenhotep II.978 Bakenrenef, who had the titles rpa and HAty-a also held the rather less grand titles of smr (rather than smr waty) and sDAwty (rather than sDAwty bity); this suggests that he was rather less close to the king than those with the fuller titles would have been, and this may, once more, be a sign that he was of Kushite extraction. This slight removal from the king would also seem relevant in the case of the nomarch Pawen-Hatef, who may have had not infrequent conflicts of interest and who held the titles of smr and ‘Follower of Pharaoh’, although he was also a Royal Chancellor.

These are all people at the extreme upper echelons of religious and secular society, and often those in close association with the King. With the Persian conquest in 525 BC there was a decline in the extent to which the Egyptian elite held the top positions in bureaucracy, particularly in military bureaucracy. There is very little evidence from the later Late Period tombs. Only Wennefer, who was a ‘Prophet of Nectanebo I’ and Padineith, who was buried in the tomb of Bakenrenef and whose dates are known, are incontrovertibly of the Thirtieth Dynasty. Of those, Wennefer was also ‘Overseer of the Magicians of Selket’, while Padineith was ‘Vizier’ under Nectanebo I984 and ‘Priest of Statues of Amasis’. More assistance is given to us from the stele of Somtutefnakht.985 Somtutefnakht, from Herakleopolis, began his career under Nectanebo I, served under the Persians and into the time of Alexander the Great.986 His Thirtieth Dynasty titles included rpa, HAty-a, sDAwty bity and smr-waty, as well as several priesthoods, and some titles that are not represented in the tombs of this study; since these titles are continuous throughout Egyptian history, it is possible that some of the tombs that contain these titles can be dated to a later, rather than to an earlier, Dynasty.

Many of these titles are found in Old Kingdom sources979 and that of ‘Overseer of (his) Town’, which was a title frequently held by the Vizier during the Old980 and New Kingdoms,981 was held by the Vizier Bakenrenef during the Late Period. Some titles, though, have not appeared during the Old or Middle Kingdoms, including those related to the Libyan Tjemhu and Meshwesh, those including the name of Psamtek, ‘One who Does Daily That Which his Master Wishes’, ‘Devoted Confidant of his Lord’, ‘Royal Relative’ and ‘Leader of the Rekhytpeople’; all these were Late Period creations. rnn nb tA.wy Psmtk and rx-Sma are included as honorific titles. It is, however, possible that these were actually the titles of minor royalty. Irahor bears the titles ‘King’s Son’ and ‘Young lord of the Two Lands of Psamtek’; his

CONCLUSIONS One would expect, from the location of the Sun Temple, that the majority of those buried in Heliopolis were priests. The evidence, which is detailed in Table 20, is inconclusive. Most held priestly titles – some held only priestly titles – but Psamtek-Senebu was a ‘Chief Physician’. Nesu-Khedu was, similarly, ‘Overseer’ of two classes of Scribes, with only minor priestly titles, while

972

Strudwick (1985): 282. Strudwick (1985): 308. Jones (2000): No. 3277. Jones translates this as ‘Sole Companion/Possessor of Love’. 975 Strudwick (1985): 286. 976 Reymond (1981): 252. 977 The title HAty-a was held by one hundred and eight people in Old Kingdom Memphis, of whom fifty-one were Viziers. Strudwick (1985): 308, 310. 978 Helck (1958): 286. 979 These are listed in Appendix E. 980 Strudwick (1985): 318. 981 J. J. Shirley, personal communication. 973 974

982

Bresciani (1983): 32. Gestermann (2001): 132. It is unclear on what basis she has made this suggestion. 984 Bresciani (1981): 18. 985 Naples Museum 1035. 986 Lichtheim (1980): 41. 983

79

THE ELITE LATE PERIOD EGYPTIAN TOMBS OF MEMPHIS Table 21 sets out the incidence of titles in the elite Late Period tombs of the Memphite necropoleis and analyses the number of times in each tomb cluster that a particular type of title appears per tomb. Tombs where no titles are given have been omitted. A full listing of the tombs and the titles of their owners forms Appendix C. The small sample will tend to distort the results, but it can be seen that Heliopolis, discussed above, had an above average incidence of priestly titles and a lower than average incidence of all other types of title, as would have been expected for a religious centre.

Hor Neferibrasaneith, Padipep, Ankhkhonsu and SeankhWahibra had no priestly titles at all. Tomb Owner Psamtek-Senebu

Rames

Wahibra-Tjestet Nesu-Khedu

Hor Neferibrasaneith

Priestly Title Prophet of the King’s Two Daughters. Keeper of the Celestial Secrets.

Divine Father. Lector Priest. Divine Father. One Honoured by Every Great God of Heliopolis. Priest of Isis, Mother of Gods. Priest of Osiris, Lord of Djedu. Chief Lector Priest. Divine Father of Atum, Lord of Heliopolis. Divine Father of Ptah, Lord of Inebu-Hedj. Chancellor of the God. Shorn Priest. None

Udjahormehnet

Divine Father.

Padipep Seankh-Wahibra Ineferi Panehsy

None None Priest of Heliopolis. God’s Father of Heliopolis.

Rajaa

High Priest of Heliopolis. Wab Priest. Head of the Altar in the Great Residence of the Northern On. Divine Father. None

Harbes Pathenfy

Ankhkhonsu

Secular Title Chief Physician. Healer. Chief of Pharaoh’s Dentists. Commander of the Battle Fleet. Sole Companion. Director of the Palace. Overseer of Interpreters. One who Stands Before the Throne. King’s Valet. Administrator of the Two Thrones. Director of the Palaces of the Red Crown. Royal Acquaintance. Head of Food and Drink in the Great Residence. Cellarmaster of On. None Overseer of Scribes of the Great Prison. Overseer of Scribes of the Royal Repast.

Trusted Scribe at the Head of the Army. Trusted Man at the Head of the Troops. Prince. Mayor. Chancellor of the King of Lower Egypt. Royal Scribe. Devoted Confidant of his Lord. Sole watcher for the Lord of the Two Lands. Royal Acquaintance. Chief Physician of Upper and Lower Egypt. Great of the Office. Overseer of the Treasury. None Chancellor of the King of Lower Egypt. Sole Companion. Royal Acquaintance. None

TOMB CLUSTER

No. of Tombs 14 1 6 5

PRIESTLY TITLES No Per Tomb 20 1.43 0 0.00 11 1.83 2 0.40

MILITARY TITLES No Per Tomb 3 0.21 1 1.00 5 0.83 2 0.40

ADMIN. TITLES No Per Tomb 19 1.36 1 1.00 18 3.00 1 0.20

HONOR. TITLES No Per Tomb 9 0.64 3 3.00 12 2.00 8 1.60

Heliopolis Old Cairo Abusir Giza (Isis Temple) Giza (Sphinx) Giza (Khafra) Giza (South) Saqqara (Unas) Saqqara (N/E Step Pyramid) Saqqara (N/W Step Pyramid Saqqara (Mon’y) Saqqara (East) TOTAL

2

3

1.50

1

0.50

1

0.50

4

2.00

5

2

0.40

1

0.20

3

0.60

0

0.00

5

2

0.40

1

0.20

4

0.80

1

0.20

8

8

1.00

7

0.88

17

2.13

10

1.25

7

4

0.57

1

0.14

10

1.43

11

1.57

3

5

1.67

1

0.33

0

0.00

0

0.00

4

0

0.00

2

0.50

13

3.25

6

1.50

3

7

2.33

1

0.33

3

1.00

5

1.67

63

64

1.02

26

0.41

90

1.43

69

1.10

Table 21. The incidence of the class of title by tomb cluster.

Old Cairo has given us only one elite tomb. Pawen-Hatef was nomarch of the Heliopolitan nome and was buried within his district. He was also Chancellor to the King of Upper and Lower Egypt. The analysis in Table 21 shows average incidence of military and honorific titles but a below average incidence of the other classes in the single tomb of this cluster. Abusir held the tombs of the powerful Udjahorresnet and others. Although all except Padihor held priestly titles, only in Necho’s case was this stated at the beginning of his title list. All those buried in this cluster were career civil servants; Iufaa and Udjahorresnet had military backgrounds. The incidence of titles in Abusir was above the average in every case. In Giza, one would expect those buried in the precincts of the Temple of Isis to have priestly titles, but this is not so. Of the five people buried there, only two had titles connected with the priesthood; two of the others were ‘Princes’ and ‘Mayors’, while the fifth was a ‘Child of the Chief of the Meshwesh’ and therefore also of princely status. In this cluster, the incidence of honorific titles was above average but the incidence of all other types of title was below average.

Royal Acquaintance. None

Chancellor of the King of Lower Egypt.

Table 20. The priestly and secular titles of the elite Late Period tomb owners of Heliopolis.

80

THE TITLES OF THE ELITE Those buried in the cluster of Rock Cut Tombs beside the Sphinx were courtiers, with an above average incidence of priestly, military and honorific titles, while those in the cluster of Shaft Tombs along Khafra’s causeway had a below average incidence of all classes of title. On the cluster on the south escarpment, Tjery was ‘Chief of Police’, while those buried in the vicinity of his Mastaba Tomb were two priests, a Judge and a civil servant, exhibiting a below average incidence of all classes of title. In Giza, therefore, there is no indication that people of similar rank were buried in the same cluster of tombs and the area of tomb location seems to be arbitrary.

TITLES

TOTAL

Priestly Divine Father

9

Chief Lector Priest

2

Lector Priest

2

High Priest

2

Priest / Prophet

19

Honoured by God (imAxw )

7

Military General

In the cluster of tombs around the Unas pyramid in Saqqara are those of two ‘Admirals’, a ‘Chief Physician’, a ‘Chancellor’, a ‘Master of the Horse’, a ‘Chief of the Lifeguard’, an ‘Overseer of the Two Granaries’ and the family tomb of the ‘Temple Scribe’ Kanefer. The tombs in this cluster exhibit a higher incidence than average of all classes of title except for priestly. Those in the cluster of shaft tombs to the northeast of the step pyramid were all ‘Chamberlains’ or ‘Chancellors’ with the exception of Psamtek-Nebpehti, who was a ‘General’, while the ‘Royal Scribe’ Hor had a Rock Cut Tomb. They have an above-average incidence of honorific titles and the administrative titles are exactly average, although the other two classes of title are below average.

7

Admiral

5

Other Military Title

10

Inner Palace

10

Outer Palace

1

House of Life

7

Treasury

8

General Administration

24

Scribal / Secretarial

22

Provisioning

11

Honorific

Of the three buried in the cluster to the north and west of the Step Pyramid whose titles are known, two were priests and one was a ‘General’; in consequence they show an above average incidence of priestly tiles but a below average incidence of military titles and the classes of administrative and honorific titles are not represented at all.

Companion

18

Haty-a

14

sDAwty

13

rpa

10

Acquaintance Confidant

8 7

Vizier

2

Other Honorific Title

13

Total of titles sampled

231

Table 22. A list of the titles by class found in the Memphite necropoleis, by type.

Those in the vicinity of the Monastery of Apa Jeremias were career civil servants, again with the exception of the ‘General’ Ankhwahibrasaneith, and this cluster, which omits priestly titles altogether, has an above average incidence of all other classes, while those buried on the eastern escarpment, who were ‘Viziers’ and a priest who was also a ‘General’, have an above average incidence of priestly and honorific titles. In Saqqara, there is no general indication that people of similar rank were buried in the same tomb cluster.

A summary of the titles found from the Memphite tombs, listed by class, is at Table 22. From this it can be seen that there were different career paths open to those with ambition. There are forty-one priestly titles in the sample. Most of the priestly titles, however, are held as additional titles by people who are in other professions; although nearly twenty per cent (twelve) of our sample of tomb owners have priestly titles alone. A military career gives possibilities of advancement, with the same number (twelve) having attained the rank of Admiral or General; but the most prolific title holders are those who appear to have come through the scribal profession. Not only are twenty-two of our sample in purely scribal or secretarial positions, but four of those responsible for provisioning also have scribal titles, making a total of twenty-six, or over eleven per cent of the titles being scribal. Fiftyseven non-scribal titles – almost one quarter of the sample – pertain to the running of the Inner Palace, the Outer Palace, the House of Life and the General Administration, while eight people (three and a half per cent) were engaged at the Treasury; in a tax-gathering society, one would have expected a higher percentage of the bureaucracy to be engaged in the Treasury, suggesting

The highest incidence of priestly titles was found on the eastern escarpment in Saqqara, in Abusir, to the north and west of the Step Pyramid, close to the Sphinx in Giza, and then in Heliopolis. Most military titles were found in Old Cairo, followed by the area of the Unas pyramid and then Abusir. The highest incidence of administrative titles was near the Monastery of Apa Jeremias, followed by Abusir and the area of the Unas pyramid, while the most prolific occurrence of honorific titles was in Old Cairo, Abusir, the Sphinx area in Giza and the eastern escarpment in Saqqara. There is a small indication that there might have been areas in which a certain class of person would be buried, but it seems, rather, that one was at liberty to choose the most prestigious location for one’s tomb, whatever one’s wealth and status. 81

THE ELITE LATE PERIOD EGYPTIAN TOMBS OF MEMPHIS that some of those in General Administration were also engaged in taxation, or that those engaged in tax gathering were not themselves in a position to accumulate that wealth. This was, then, a meritocracy.

Isis

SAQQARA Sphinx Unas NE of N&W Mon'y

Temp. Area

Pyr

Haty-a

3

3

Hm nTr

3

2

Hry-sStA

2

East

Step of Step Area Escarp't Pyr

Pyr

2

2 2

2

1 2

1

2

imy-r Haww

2

imy-r xtmt imy-r kbnwt

The order in which the titles appear is not fixed. For instance, on the east wall of the tomb of Psamtek, son of Tagemtisi, he is imAHw xr nTr aA nb qrs, smr-waty, xrp aH, wr swnw, imy-r TmHw; while in another position on the same wall he is HAty-a, smr-waty, xrp aH, Hry sStA n prw nsw, wr swnw, imy-ib n nb.f, ir mry nb.f raw nb, imy-r THnw, imAxw xr PtH-Zkr. On the west wall, however, he is HAty-a, smr waty, xrp aH, Hry sSA n prw nsw, wr swnw, imyib n nb.f, imAxw xr nb.f, imy-r TmHw, imAxw xr nTr aA nb RsTAw. The titles rpa and imy-r xAtyw (m) THnw do not appear in his tomb but only on his stele, while imy-r TmHw appears only in the tomb, suggesting this to be a later title, gained nearer to his time of death.987 There is no consistency about which title appears nearest to his name nor higher on the wall or in any specific location.

2

imy-r mSa Hry-mSa it-nTr

1 3

imy-r sSw

1

1 2

rx nswt

4

sDAwty

4

1

1

6

rpa

3

1 1

3

2

3

1

1

smr (waty)

4

3

4

2

1

sS

3

1

sm

2

Taty 2

wnr

Whereas eighteen of the twenty-six honorific titles used during the Late Period were also in use during the Old Kingdom, many of the working titles were new or altered from a previous form, reflecting what was being done rather than the ideal of antiquity. A full listing of all the titles, together with comments on their usage during the Old, Middle and New Kingdoms, forms Appendix E.

987

GIZA

Many people who have attained a sufficient economic standing to afford an elite tomb have at least one honorific title, which may be hereditary, but thirty four of the tomb owners (over fifty-three per cent) have no honorific titles at all. From this it seems that fewer than half of the Memphite elite held hereditary titles or were sufficiently close to the king to have received an honorific title, and that the majority obtained their wealth through hard work in their chosen field.

ABUSIR

HELIOPOLIS

TOMB TITLES BY CLUSTER

xrp

4

xrp-aH

2

xry-xbt

2

3

2

2

TOTAL

14 28

8

4

17

9

3

13

11

Tombs:

14

5

7

8

8

3

4

3

6

Table 23. The incidence of titles by tomb cluster. Looking at the incidence of titles by tomb cluster, one arrives at the situation shown in Table 23. The basis upon which the data has been collected was to include only those titles which occur in a minimum of twenty-five percent of the tombs in any cluster. The single tomb in Old Cairo has been ignored, as it cannot be said to constitute a cluster, and the tombs on the South Giza escarpment (those of Tjery, and tombs 101 to 106) have been omitted because no title in this cluster appears in a quarter or more of the tombs. There is clearly a high incidence of priestly titles in Heliopolis, which is to be expected, and the only incidence of the title ‘Vizier’ is on the Eastern escarpment of Saqqara. That said, there is no evidence that certain titles are clustered and that people with those titles are buried near to each other.

Gestermann (2001): 131.

82

similar,997 and one could see similarities with the Middle Kingdom looking back to the Old Kingdom and the New Kingdom to the Middle Kingdom for legitimization. Helmut Brunner also thought that texts were chosen to reflect the feeling of the time, so that texts from the First Intermediate Period were copied during the Third Intermediate Period.998 Even if everyone, including the copyist, was unaware of the precise dating of his source, the visual impact would have been obvious to him.999 Information was carried down through the generations by word of mouth and people could thereby identify with specific earlier periods.

CHAPTER 6 ARCHAISM Archaism has been encountered in all the earlier chapters of this study. This chapter will now examine the phenomenon of archaism itself to decide whether it was an act of nostalgia or reawakening, or something entirely different. ARCHAISM AS A CONCEPT Helmut Brunner defines archaism as “going back to ancient forms whose line of tradition has been interrupted.”988 He described it as “being characterised by a seemingly indiscriminate sense of concepts and forms from any period of the past without creating contexts in which reference to a single particular period or historical figure would predominate”.989

There has been much more discussion of archaism since the 1970s, when the cultural phenomenon began to be studied,1000 particularly by Helmut Brunner, Sabine Neureiter, Jan Assmann, Louise Gestermann and Robert Morkot. Helmut Brunner considered the phenomenon of archaism to stem from the ‘group memories’ and the ‘sacred and ideational landscapes’ that were discussed in Chapter 2 of this study, when he wrote: “The genuine root of archaism is the confusion of mythic primordiality with historical past. Egypt was alive as long as it harked back to its mythic foundations. The historical past, though it had the apparent advantage of being accessible to inquiry and recovery, was no substitute for the vitality and normative strength of the mythic tradition. All that the quest for authenticity revealed was outward forms, not living spirit”.1001

Although this description is not universally accepted,990 without question there was archaism during the Late Period and this has been regarded by many as a phenomenon of the times. When Cyril Aldred looked at archaism in the Late Period, he thought it was a matter of nostalgia, recalling a former grandeur to which the times could only aspire. He saw it as a way of retreating from “the world of [Egypt’s] decline”.991 H R Hall, too, saw the Late Period as a period of decline characterised by conscious archaism “typical of a degenerate age”.992 Adolf Erman said of archaism that “it seems as if the old people longed for their lost youth, when they lived free from foreign influences: that time which is manifested by the pyramids”.993 Walther Wolf also talked of a “non-living state of mind that looks backwards”.994

Jan Assmann agreed that the references to the past in the Twenty-fifth and Twenty-sixth Dynasties took place on such a scale that they are justly called a ‘renaissance’.1002 Sabine Neureiter, who applied theories of comparative cultural studies, talked of archaism as a ‘revitalisation’, and said “this means a different interpretation because a cultural habitus which only lives as a memory is, when it is revitalised, no longer identical with itself”.1003

French Egyptologists use the word ‘renaissance’ where the German and English speakers use ‘archaism’, and other terms, such as ‘eclecticism’, and ‘classicism’ have also been used.995 These terms all impart a feeling of the phenomenon, and all imply that the object under consideration looks back to provide a “venerable old appearance”.996 Eberard Otto saw Late Period archaism as beginning in the Third Intermediate Period and taking the First Intermediate Period and Middle Kingdom as models because the authors saw their political situations as being

Her thesis was that revitalisation was a process by which the ruling system was adapted to its changing sociocultural environment in order for the elite to retain their privileges1004 and she pointed out that by the end of the New Kingdom ‘privilege through power’ was replaced by ‘privilege through knowledge’.1005 Elisabeth Siebert thought that archaism demonstrated a desire to revive aspects of former political greatness and religious efficacy.1006 Robert Morkot said that archaism

997

Otto (1954): 88. Brunner (1984): 387. 999 Brunner (1984): 387. 1000 Neureiter (1994): 219. 1001 Brunner (1970): 161. English translation from Assmann (2002): 342. 1002 Assmann (2002): 341. 1003 Neureiter (1994): 220. Translation: Dr. Dagmar Mann. 1004 Neureiter (1994): 225. 1005 Neureiter (1994): 240. 1006 Siebert (1998): 284. 998

988

Brunner (1984): 386. Brunner (1984): quoted in Török (1997a): 189. 990 Otto (1954): and Wildung (1969): quoted in Török (1997a): 189-190. 991 Aldred (1961): 155. 992 Hall (1925): 317. 993 Erman (1934): 321. 994 Wolf (1935): 24. 995 Neureiter (1994): 221. 996 Neureiter (1994): 221. 989

83

THE ELITE LATE PERIOD EGYPTIAN TOMBS OF MEMPHIS while Jan Assmann thought that archaism has two forms: a form that continues through time and a form that recurs after intervals of time. It is thus related to the dual Egyptian concepts of Dt and of nHH as linear and cyclical eternity, discussed earlier, and to the maintenance of Maat over Isfet.

“can be found in the copying and adaptation of whole scenes, of specific physical features, regalia and costumes, in the creation of titularies, and in the writing of monumental inscriptions”.1007 although he pointed out that “it is not always easy to determine whether an ‘art work’ is based on models of a much earlier period, or whether it is part of a continuing, if undocumented, tradition”.1008

The elite used their knowledge of history to justify and to legitimise their economic and social privileges,1017 in much the same way that kings have done for their reigns; we saw, in Chapter 2, the creation of a social structure and an elite through an ideational landscape.

According to Janet Johnson, “the conscious archaism found in Saite Period art and inscriptional material has led modern scholars to think of the whole period as one when people attempted to live in the past. … It is sometimes claimed that the Saites, and Egypt under the Saites, tried to return to the glories of former periods when Egypt was at the height of her military prowess and cultural energy”.1009

Archaism reached its zenith in the Twenty-fifth Dynasty with, for example, Old Kingdom Memphite temple depictions on the walls of the Taharqa temple in Kawa.1018 Steven Shubert saw the accession of the Kushites to power as leading to an artistic revival,1019 while Robert Morkot also found an Eighteenth Dynasty influence in the early Libyan Period.1020 Archaism is not, in fact, confined to those periods when Egypt “was not at her greatest”, or was rebuilding herself after such a period, but appears throughout Egyptian history, one of the earliest examples being in Hierakonpolis, where tomb structures of the Nagada II Period were copies of those from Nagada I, possibly in an attempt to gain inspiration and justification from the past,1021 and from an ideational landscape. The ‘palace façade’ decoration that is seen in Late Period Thebes and Giza existed in earlier structures as well – for example in the archaic mastaba tombs on the edge of the escarpment in Saqqara, the Third Dynasty ‘Covington’s Tomb’ in Giza South Field, and the New Kingdom enclosure wall of Hatshepsut’s temple at Deir el-Bahri – a temple that was itself modelled on the five hundred year old temple of Montuhotep II adjacent to it.1022 The pyramid of Amenemhat I included inscribed blocks from Old Kingdom royal monuments;1023 the New Kingdom reliefs from Ahmose’s temple were also based on a model from Montuhotep II’s temple at Deir elBahri.1024 In all periods this archaism was seen as a conscious political attempt “to restore Egypt to the pinnacles of its ancient glory.”1025

Christiane Zivie-Coche felt that the Egyptians always sought solace from ancient models during difficult times1010 and that seeking is shown in archaism1011 but Robert Morkot considers the whole of archaism to be a matter of “researching and using the past”.1012 Alan Lloyd agrees, but points out that while “(the Egyptians) show a determination to draw on the traditions of the Old, Middle and New Kingdoms, as well as the Kushite Period, they display anything but the arid archaism of which they are still too often accused”.1013 E V Pischikova found that “scenes of daily life re-appear in private tomb decoration … The Saite artisans selected those scenes that were compatible with the current ideas of the tomb decoration. The regular occurrence of ‘mistakes’ shows that the ancient scenes were understood in new ways. The representation of a real process of work, related to the victual of the deceased in the Old Kingdom, had lost its main role by (the Late Period). Scenes of daily life were identified with offering and ritual scenes”.1014 These ‘mistakes’ were actually a reflection of the invention shown in Late Period iconography.1015

During the Twenty-eighth to Thirtieth Dynasties there was a conscious imitation of the Saites,1026 in what Steven Shubert called ‘neo-archaism’,1027 the artistic resurgence being caused by the reunification of Egypt under native rule.1028 The Romans introduced Egyptian images into Rome, attracted by the portrayal of fertility and abundance in the paintings1029 and ‘Egyptomania’

Barry Kemp explained that the ancient Egyptian “develop(ed) a great interest in the concept of the universe as a balance of two opposing forces – one directed towards order, the other towards disorder”,1016

1017

Neureiter (1994): 252. Morkot (2003): 80. 1019 Shubert (1989): 29. 1020 Morkot (2007): 160 – the reigns of Sheshonq I to Osorkon II. 1021 Friedman (2005): 12. 1022 Assmann (2002): 356. 1023 Smith (1998): 91. 1024 Morkot (2003): 97. 1025 Lloyd (1983): 289. 1026 Johnson (1994): 150. 1027 Shubert (1989): 39. 1028 Morkot (2003): 99. 1029 Freeman (1997): 146. 1018

1007

Morkot (2007): 160. Morkot (2003): 79. 1009 Johnson (1994): 149. 1010 Zivie-Coche (1991): 309. 1011 Zivie-Coche (1991): 305. 1012 Morkot (2007): 160. 1013 Lloyd (2000): 390. 1014 Pischikova (1994): 86. 1015 Lloyd (2000): 390. 1016 Kemp (1991): 4. 1008

84

ARCHAISM flourished in Rome,1030 continuing until ancient Egyptian culture merged with Christian.1031 This ‘Egyptomania’ can be seen as an extension of Egyptian archaism. In more modern examples, Whitney Davis quotes a series of paintings by Picasso from AD 1957 said to be ‘after’ Velazquez’s Las Meniñas painted in AD 1656,1032 and a ‘Centennial’ grandfather clock shown on the Antiques Roadshow on 2nd September 2007 was said to be a copy, made in about AD 1900, of an original made about one hundred years earlier “when clock-making was considered to have been superior”, demonstrating the phenomenon of archaism in a modern setting. So archaism was not a purely Saite, Late Period phenomenon, and it occurred at all times, in Egypt and elsewhere.

consider these decorative schemes as being copies, but rather as being ‘borrowings’ from designs that have met with personal preference, probably taken from pattern books.1040 It seems inconceivable that the busy elite palace official would have had either the time or the inclination to look at what was in other tombs, the chapels of some of which must have been open for examination at the time. He is far more likely to have summoned an architect and to have chosen his decoration from pattern books. It seems, therefore, that in the field of tomb decoration the inspiration can come either from a pattern book or from an existing decorative scheme.1041 It is clear that there is no particular source, either in time or in location, for archaism. In fact, Helmut Brunner said that people in the Late Period could probably not put a date to an old work of art.1042 After the Amarna interlude, it was also natural to seek out texts from an earlier, less disturbed time – but perhaps the greatest of all archaisms is the Osireion in Abydos, built by Seti I but in an unquestionably Old Kingdom style.

ARCHAISM IN ART AND ARCHITECTURE. Harry James has said that this archaism was confined almost exclusively to the field of religion, both in its daily and its funerary aspects.1033 However, we possess very few artefacts that do not fall into one or other of these categories, making his statement difficult to substantiate.

Royal iconography is copied into elite tombs of the Late Period. Apiculture, for example, is first found in the ‘Room of the Three Seasons’ in Niuserra’s Sun Temple1043 and, later, on Unas’ causeway;1044 in the Late Period this scene appears in the Theban tombs of Pabasa1045 and Ankh-Hor.1046 A Saite copyist’s grid has been observed on the reliefs in the underground chambers of Djoser’s Step Pyramid,1047 and much of the royal iconography from the tombs in the Valley of the Kings was copied into the great elite tombs on the Assassif in Thebes. There is a general sense of democratisation in the Late Period.

John Cooney, in the 1950s, pointed out that few Saite scenes of daily life had come to light, drawing his conclusions mainly from the reliefs taken from the Theban tomb of Montuemhat, now in the Brooklyn Museum.1034 He decided that they had been copied from the New Kingdom tomb of Menna, which must have been open to visitors during the Twenty-fifth Dynasty. But, he said, the later artist had changed many of the details, while retaining the original composition: the artist “had no desire merely to copy the productions of a vanished age or even to imitate them … Most basic compositions were already ancient by the Seventh Century BC and then, as today, it was the presentation [that was important] … Practically all art products have some relationship with, or dependence on, the past” .1035

Not only in decorative art do we find archaism. In statuary, the copying of earlier styles has made the dating of unprovenanced works notoriously difficult,1048 a difficulty which has been assisted by Bernard Bothmer’s work on Late Period statuary.1049 To illustrate the extent of Late Period copying, Jack Josephson has cited, among others, the seated statue of Montuemhat1050 and the Twenty-fifth Dynasty Virginia Museum man’s head and shoulders,1051 which imitate Middle Kingdom style, as well as the Thirtieth Dynasty ‘Baker’s Head’1052 and Pennsylvania statue,1053 which imitate Saite art.1054 The Thirtieth Dynasty Brooklyn statue of a priest of Amun looks back to the Twenty-sixth Dynasty, and thence to

The changes seen in the objects shown in Saite reliefs were at first thought to be accidental errors in copying from earlier models but they actually represent new ideas1036 and Alan Lloyd has confirmed that the artists of the Late Period show invention in their iconography.1037 The number of objects shown in funerary reliefs reduces from the Twenty-fifth Dynasty onwards, reflecting a deliberate selection of objects.1038 In Tjery’s tomb, for instance, only one jar of sacred oil is shown in the funeral procession.1039 For this reason, Elisabeth Siebert does not

the walls of Djanehibu’s tomb, eight to the walls of Psamtek and Setairbint’s tomb but only three in tomb LG 81. 1040 Siebert (1998): 284. 1041 der Manuelian (1994): 55. 1042 Brunner (1970): 153. 1043 Figure 49, Page 62. 1044 Pischikova (1994): 74. 1045 Porter and Moss (1978-1981): Vol. I, Part 1, 359. 1046 Bietak and Reisen-Hasleur (1978 and 1982): Abb. 49. 1047 Morkot (2007): 160. 1048 Tait (2003): 11. 1049 Bothmer (1960). 1050 Berlin 17271. 1051 Williams Fund No. 51-19-3. 1052 Metropolitan Museum of Art 1972.118.195. 1053 Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology E.14303. 1054 Josephson (1997): 2-9.

1030

Vittmann (2004): 13-25. Neureiter (1994): 240. 1032 Davis (2003): 31. 1033 James (1991): 738. 1034 Cooney (1950): 194. Brooklyn Museum 48.74, for example. 1035 Cooney (1950): 198. 1036 Pischikova (1994): 69. 1037 Lloyd (2000): 390. 1038 Pischikova (1994a): 65. 1039 Pischikova (1994a): 68. The number of sacred oils shown on the tomb walls varies greatly; for example, there are eleven oils shown on 1031

85

THE ELITE LATE PERIOD EGYPTIAN TOMBS OF MEMPHIS the Old Kingdom1055 and the statue of Montuemhat in Cairo1056 depicts him standing in Old Kingdom royal attitude.1057

that the decoration of Djoser’s Step Pyramid was also used as a model for decoration elsewhere. In Chapter 4 we found many other decorative examples. In Abusir, scenes of fishing in the papyrus thicket and flax harvesting, which have decorated tombs since the Old Kingdom, also decorated the superstructures of Iufaa’s and Menekhibneko’s tombs. The chairs shown in Ptahirdis’ tomb in Giza are said to be in Middle Kingdom style and tomb LG 81 has fishing and butchery scenes in Old Kingdom style. The offering tables shown in these tombs are of Old Kingdom, Middle Kingdom, New Kingdom and Late Period style. Much of the decoration within the tombs in Saqqara – most notably that of Bakenrenef, but also those adjacent to Unas’ pyramid – is in New Kingdom style, but that is probably a continuation of a cultural trend rather than an archaism – although some of the blocks from Nesdjhouty’s tomb are clearly in Old Kingdom style.

But artistic content is not always treated originally and there are instances of scenes being slavishly copied, so that they are indistinguishable from earlier styles. Some relief fragments from Florence, for example, labelled as “Dynasty 18, from Gurnah”,1058 actually come from Montuemhat’s tomb.1059 The slaughterhouse scenes on the walls of Chapel ‘C’, again from the tomb of Montuemhat in Thebes, are exact copies of those in the southern Hall of Offerings in the mortuary temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahri.1060 The two monuments are very closely associated geographically and one must conclude that the Deir el-Bahri slaughterhouse scenes – and possibly the entire monument itself – were an important role model for Montuemhat. Chapter 4 of this study has found instances of archaism in, for example, blocks from the tomb of Nesdjhouty which are from a Fifth Dynasty model.1061

The ‘breaking of the red pot’ that has been seen, particularly in connection with the tomb of Wahibramen in Saqqara, was a ritual that had died out during the Third Intermediate Period after centuries of use but was revived in the Late Period.1067 If this ritual was revived, then so might others have been, of which we have as yet no direct evidence.

Examples of archaism in the architecture of the Late Period tombs are many, particularly from the welldocumented Theban area. The vaulted door frames, niches, ‘palace façade’ decoration and funerary cones found in Late Period tombs, especially in Thebes, reinterpret earlier structural forms, some of which had long fallen out of use.1062 However, Late Period archaism was not confined to Thebes and was probably developed in Memphis during the period of the Kushite invasion.1063 The palace of Apries, excavated by Flinders Petrie, was a fortified mudbrick building complex which had “a large decorated limestone doorway, whose interesting archaizing reliefs, showing religious rituals, have stylistic and iconographic ties to royal works of earlier period, especially the Old Kingdom”.1064

ARCHAISM IN TEXT. No literature can be securely dated to the Late Period,1068 although there was a general increase in literacy, with all officials and some traders being able to read.1069 The tale of Wenamun, which stressed the importance of Egypt as the heart of the cosmos, was written in the New Kingdom1070 or early in the Late Period.1071 Two important pieces of literature which probably date from the Late Period are the ‘Bentresh Stele’ and the ‘Famine Stele’,1072 both of which are written in a deliberately archaic style. The ‘Setne’ papyri, purporting to date from the reign of Ramesses II, are also probably of Ptolemaic date,1073 while the ‘Instruction of Ankhsheshonq’ is written in a Ptolemaic hand,1074 and Papyrus Insinger, the story-cycle of king Pedubastis and the story of ‘the Lion in search of a Man’ are of Graeco-Roman date, although they may all be later renderings of earlier stories.1075 Literature was increasingly available during the Late Period, but a knowledge of the past was the domain of the priesthood.1076

This study has described examples of archaism from the Memphite area. In Chapter 3 we saw that Tjery’s tomb had ‘palace façade’ decoration on the northern exterior walls and this decorative motif was also on Iufaa’s enclosure wall in Abusir. It is very likely that the structure of the Saite-Persian Shaft Tombs in Abusir, with their sloping passages leading to the huge central shaft, are developed from early Abydene tombs and hark back to the Step Pyramid of Djoser.1065 The burial chambers of several Saite-Persian Shaft Tombs are copies of the Old Kingdom ‘house’ coffin.1066 It seems probable

The texts on Late Period tomb walls, however, described in Chapter 4, are frequently pure copies of the Pyramid Texts, Coffin Texts and Book of the Dead Chapters from

1055

Smith (1998): 248. Cairo Museum CG 42236. 1057 Wildung (1978). 1058 Museo Archeologico 7612 a-i. 1059 Cooney (1964): 79. 1060 der Manuelian (1994): 37. 1061 Figure 18, Page 36. 1062 Siebert (1998): 284. 1063 Morkot (2003): 93. 1064 Fazzini (1996): 115. 1065 Gestermann (2006): 201, 203. The entrance to Tomb R3 is particularly reminiscent of the Saite entrance to the step pyramid. 1066 Taylor (1989): 53. 1056

1067

Grinsell (91961): 481. Lloyd (2000): 391. 1069 Neureiter (1994): 248. 1070 Simpson (1972): 142. 1071 Tait (2003): 1. 1072 Lichtheim (1980): 90 and 94. Wilkinson (2007): 27 gives a date of Ptolemy V for the Famine Stele. 1073 Lichtheim (1980): 125. 1074 Lichtheim (1980): 159. 1075 Lichtheim (1980): 184, 151 and 156. 1076 Neureiter (1994): 249. 1068

86

ARCHAISM Herman de Meulenaere has pointed out that there is no difference between ‘basilophorous’ names in the Late Period and official names of the Old Kingdom.1090

earlier tombs, but often they have innovative additions. There is, for instance, decorative innovation in the tomb of Iufaa, with one of the first appearances of the god Tutu. The inclusion of what had previously been royal mortuary texts on the tomb walls again shows a narrowing of the gap between royalty and the elite, and biographical inscriptions confirm this trend.1077 One also finds, among the Late Period tombs, copies of other tombs of almost contemporary date,1078 such as the ‘New’ texts added to the Pyramid Texts in Padinisis’ tomb, which were reproduced onto the walls of the adjacent tomb of Djanehibu and those of Bakenrenef in Saqqara and Panehsy in Heliopolis.1079 Antonio Loprieno considers that, as there was an unbroken cultural continuity between past authors and present readers, the earlier texts should be considered as ‘canonical’, rather than ‘classical’.1080 Far from copying, Memphis shows considerable innovation and creativity.1081

CONCLUSION It has been said that Egypt was a conservative country, with change occurring only slowly over the years.1091 But this study has shown that there was considerable change of concepts during the Late Period. The enormous SaitePersian Shaft Tombs grew in a time of stability but then their size contracted as the economic circumstances of the elite diminished in the period following the Persian conquest, to grow once more in the changed form of the later Shaft Tombs. However, even though there were many changes, the general continuity of Egyptian thought shows in archaism. This has been seen as ‘a harking back to the past across interruptions’, but this study has concluded that this was a result not of nostalgia or revolution but of a gradual evolution of thought during the Late Period, in an environment that encouraged individual freedom of expression. Certainly archaism looks back to the past; but this searching was for the history and tradition contained in the ideational landscape of which one would become a continuing part, and that tradition was constantly being brought up to date.

Knowledge of the ancient texts, particularly of the Unas Pyramid Texts and the Book of the Dead Chapters from the royal tombs in Thebes, probably came from libraries.1082 The copies of early documents by Saite craftsmen are said to show many misunderstandings of the earlier texts,1083 but there are also corrections made and grammatical changes from plural to singular, or the addition of the indirect genitive ‘n’, are easily handled,1084 demonstrating that the knowledge of Old Egyptian was good and that these ‘misunderstandings’ were probably no more than simple scribal errors.

The archaism of the Late Period did not generally set out to deceive, although the ‘Famine’ and ‘Bentresh’ stelae were intended to be read as old documents to implant history and to adjust the group memory. Titles which had lapsed into disuse were used again in the Late Period but it is not known whether the functions connected with the titles were also resurrected. Nowhere is an ancient cartouche used to misrepresent the age of any tomb yet discovered.

ARCHAISM IN TITLES. Some Old Kingdom titles lapsed and reappeared in the Late Period. The title ‘Participant at the Festival of Ra’, enjoyed by the High Priest of Heliopolis Iahmes-men-emineb-hedj, was an Old Kingdom title brought back into use in the Late Period.1085 Tjery’s title sAw-prw was a Middle Kingdom title that had fallen out of use during the New Kingdom1086 and many priestly titles from the Old Kingdom also reappeared in the Twenty-sixth Dynasty.1087 Louise Gestermann sees this reuse of ancient titles, as with the revival of artistic and cultural themes, as a renaissance in the administration, based on knowledge, and not as a haphazard choice.1088

After some 400 years or more without monumental nonroyal tomb construction, architects and priests were asked to design new tombs during the economic revival of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty. For inspiration, they naturally looked at what was available to them: they examined nearby ancestral tombs1092 and their thoughts were driven by what they considered to be the most potent religious architecture, decoration and texts from temples, royal and private tombs alike, especially those from sacred sites such as the Osireion in Abydos, and Djoser’s and Unas’ pyramids in Saqqara. But there were genuine new designs in the tomb structures of the Kushite and Late Periods, such as the massive tombs on the Assassif in Thebes and the Saite-Persian Shaft Tombs. And new ideas shone through in the ‘new’ texts on the tomb walls. Thus the archaism of the Late Period was born, not out of a desire to be identified with a better past, nor out of the artistic sterility of an ‘age of decline’, but out of a genuine desire to produce what was right in the field of funerary architecture, much as had been done throughout time. ‘Archaism’ was the driver, and not the end-point, of art,

The rn nfr came back into use during the Twenty-sixth Dynasty, reminiscent of Old Kingdom names,1089 and 1077

Lloyd (2000): 392. der Manuelian (1994): 51. 1079 Gestermann (1994): 89. 1080 Loprieno (1996): 55. 1081 Zivie-Coche (1991): 309. 1082 Gestermann (2006): 201. 1078

1083 was produced, for example, in place of Manuelian (1994): 57]. 1084 der Manuelian (1994): 57. 1085 Maystre (1992): 174. 1086 Yoyotte (1952): 149. 1087 Shafer (1998): 16. See Appendix E. 1088 Gestermann (2006): 201. 1089 Assmann (2002): 341.

. [der

1090

de Meulenaere (1966): 30. Neureiter (1994): 250. 1092 el-Sadeek (1984): 212. 1091

87

THE ELITE LATE PERIOD EGYPTIAN TOMBS OF MEMPHIS architecture, literature or titles in Late Period society. As Robert Morkot has said: “archaism … is rarely a stale reproduction of earlier models, but usually a combination of features both old and contemporary”.1093

1093

Morkot (2003): 99.

88

priesthood were represented, from the ‘High Priest’ to those with the humble title ‘Shaven One’, as well as military personnel and those engaged in bureaucracy. Many of the incumbents had honorific titles, which may well have been hereditary, but it emerged that these represented fewer than forty-eight percent of the tomb owners. Although there was a powerful aristocracy, this suggests that Late Period Egypt was, for most, also a meritocracy operating under the divine king. Many of the honorific titles found in the tombs had come down unchanged from the Old, Middle and New Kingdoms (Appendix E). However, those titles that defined specific functions, such as ‘He who is in charge of Cattle Grounds’ were not found before the Late Period, and those that were temporally specific, such as ‘Priest of Statues of Amasis’, could not have been. There was evidence of a slight reduction in status in some of the titles of Bakenrenef and Pawen-Hatef, who, although they were of the highest status, were smr, not smr waty, suggesting that they might have been slightly outside the core group of intimate royal advisers. This, in turn, is an indication that Bakenrenef was of southern stock, while Pawen-Hatef was a nomarch; in both these cases the king might have had cause to be wary. Psamtek’s rise to power had been assisted by people from the Delta, particularly from his own nome of Sais; now he had to rely upon the services of a southerner and a non-Delta nomarch, and the slight marginalisation of these people suggests that he did not trust them as much as he did those from his own background.

CHAPTER 7 CONCLUSIONS The aim of this study has been to investigate the drivers for the development of the elite Late Period tombs of the necropoleis of Memphis and to place them in a sociopolitical context. This immediately posed three questions of definition: (1) What were the dates of the Late Period? (2) What area constituted the elite Memphite necropoleis during the Late Period? and (3) Who were the elite of Late Period Memphis? The dates of the Late Period were discussed, insofar as these related to tomb architecture, and it was found that major changes took place in different places at different times. In Thebes and Abydos new architectural designs appeared during the Twenty-fifth Dynasty but it took time for this revolution in thought to reach Memphis, and tomb design there did not change until the Twenty-sixth Dynasty. Therefore, for the purposes of this study, the dates of the Late Period have been taken as being from 664 BC until the Alexandrine conquest in 332 BC. The area of ancient Memphis, and the location of its elite Late Period necropoleis, was explored. During the Old Kingdom the royal burial grounds of Memphis, and the associated burials of the elite, covered an area from Abu Rouash in the north to Meidum in the south. In the New Kingdom, Saqqara was reused for elite burials and by the Late Period this reuse had extended to other areas of the Memphite desert. The Late Period elite tombs are found in clusters in Giza, Abusir and Saqqara on the west bank of the Nile and in Heliopolis and Old Cairo on the east.

Defining the area of the elite Memphite necropoleis led to the question of why these particular tomb clusters developed where they did, when other places used in antiquity were not reused. Clearly there was something numinous in those particular landscapes that set them apart from others, and led to their being regarded as ‘sacred landscapes’. That immediately gave rise to the question of how ‘sacred landscapes’ formed. As a result of extensive research it is clear that all ‘sacred landscapes’ form in the same way. They require certain topographical elements in order to acquire sanctity: ideally they need water but, at the same time, they need a remoteness that can become accessible to those who inhabit the landscape, and they need lengthy time, so that myths can coalesce into acceptable ‘fact’. They function primarily as a way of explaining the inexplicable, but also as a way of imparting power to those who run their society.

It was initially decided that the elite were those who could afford to incorporate stone into the structure of their tomb and decoration on and within the tomb. However, as the research progressed this definition needed to be amended as it became clear that some tombs – in particular Tomb R3 in Abusir and the later Shaft Tombs of Giza, which were undecorated and uninscribed – belonged to people whose ability to build such structures indicated that they must have been part of the elite. There were a few unfinished, undecorated tombs, such as those of Udjahor and Harkhebi, that would probably have been decorated had they been finished, and the tomb of Psamtek-Senebu, which contained neither stone nor decoration, showed from the owner’s titles that he was part of the upper echelons of society; these, too, were included. In other words, the elite have to be understood as a socio-economic elite. The lack of decoration to the tomb walls later in the Late Period can be accounted for by the fact that the important religious formulae which these would have contained were transferred to the sarcophagi instead. This, in turn, implies the insecurity of the tomb, which could well have been reused and the sarcophagi moved elsewhere.

The extended Sun Temple of Heliopolis fulfils these criteria. The Nile flowed adjacent to the Sun Temple, and yet the desert, high on a plateau to the west, was not only remote but readily accessible. Heliopolis was the home of the sacred benben stone and there legends of creation had formed in the group memory of distant antiquity. This subsequently became the place where the sun was born and, as its daily passage was watched by the local inhabitants, it was seen to die in the remote western desert. That area naturally became the place of death and, as the area expanded, it was aligned with the Sun Temple itself by geodetic lines. The area within those lines – from

In order to establish the social status of the elite occupants of the tombs, an analysis was made of the titles found within them. This data showed that all levels of 89

THE ELITE LATE PERIOD EGYPTIAN TOMBS OF MEMPHIS demonstrate this by conspicuous display, which meant that their tombs had to be seen. Giza, Saqqara and Abusir were ideal for this, as pilgrims could regularly visit these sites and marvel at the tombs they saw upon their way. The tombs of those who built in Saqqara and Abusir could probably also be seen from the city of Memphis. These were areas that the elite of the Late Period chose for the construction of their tombs.

Abu Rouash in the north to Abusir in the south, and containing sites on both sides of the Nile – became an extension of the Sun Temple itself and, therefore, a ‘sacred landscape’. The pyramids of the Fourth and Fifth Dynasties, and the Sphinx were built in the desert, on the geodetic lines from the Sun Temple of Heliopolis, and these monuments developed sanctity of their own. The creation of the sacred shape of the horizon, Axt, within which the sun set at the summer solstice, by the pyramids of Khufu and Khafra made that area even more numinous. In the New Kingdom a temple to Osiris was constructed at the place believed to be the site of Rosetau, which was the entrance to the underworld, and during the Third Intermediate Period the Isis Temple developed next to the pyramid of queen Henutsen, near to the Sphinx enclosure. Both these constructions created areas of additional sanctity in Giza and the entire area then became the abode of the triad of Osiris, Isis and Horus, in his form as Hor-em-akhet, the Sphinx. Rosetau was almost certainly at the exact centre of the extended Sun Temple of Heliopolis, being at the midpoint of a line drawn from the pyramids of Abusir to that of Abu Rouash.

On the right bank of the Nile there was a different agenda. Here the Heliopolitan Sun Temple was the centre point of the ‘sacred landscape’ of Heliopolis and a place of immense antiquity and sanctity. It would have been an ideal place in which to be buried as one could thereby have taken direct part in the daily birth and death of the sun. This cherished ideal meant that the necropolis of Heliopolis, which was itself already ancient, spread over time and by the Late Period occupied a very large area indeed. For the people buried in Heliopolis there seemed to be no need of conspicuous display, as these people were buried in a very numinous place. Slightly to the south, but still within sight of the Sun Temple, was the ancient town and necropolis of Kher-Aha, in which Late Period elite burial took place after the Persian conquest encouraged a move away from Heliopolis.

However, the extended Sun Temple of Heliopolis was outside the direct sphere of Memphis and included only areas north of the city. For the southern part of the desert landscape to become numinous a separate ‘sacred landscape’ was required. This was based upon the Temple of Ptah in Memphis and extended to Saqqara, where ancient royal and elite burials had taken place that could be seen from the city itself. The sanctity of Saqqara had been considerably enhanced by the construction of Djoser’s Step Pyramid there and the subsequent deification of its architect, Imhotep. The pyramid of Unas, close to the Step Pyramid, contained the Pyramid Texts which became important to the people of the Late Period, who considered that these would guide their journey into the next life.

Having established the reason for the placement of tomb clusters in the Memphite necropoleis, it is necessary to discover what drove the architectural and decorative forms of the tombs, and to consider their development. A study of the available evidence shows that there were seven distinct Late Period forms of elite tomb, all with irrefutably Osirian features in their construction. There is strong evidence that the Saite-Persian Shaft Tomb developed from the deep shaft tombs found in el-Amra and Abydos, areas closely related, geographically, to what was believed to have been the tomb of Osiris himself. The Late Period Shaft Tomb, in turn, developed from the Saite-Persian Shaft Tomb. Architectural forms within these two types of tomb related directly to the Osireion built by Seti I in Abydos, and the development of pits and trenches within the structure of the SaitePersian Shaft Tomb enabled the deceased more successfully to join the solar barque at the time of the union of the souls of Ra and Osiris. These were all ‘Osiris tombs’. A later development of the Saite-Persian Shaft Tomb added a second secondary shaft, this latter being related to the structure built to the south of the Step Pyramid of Djoser during Saite times.

When the elite of the Late Period sought places in which to be buried, they wished to associate themselves with these great monuments of the past and the numinous places within which they were built. Giza and Saqqara provided these landscapes and Abusir, which was where the two landscapes joined, stood in a position associated with all the other sacred sites. It was close to the Step Pyramid, the Sun Temples of Abu Ghurob and the sacred animal necropoleis that grew in north Saqqara during the Late Period. Abusir was directly on the geodetic line to the Sun Temple of Heliopolis and it was also on a line that joined the Step Pyramid to the pyramids of Giza, from both of which it could be seen.

In addition to the Saite-Persian Shaft Tombs and the Late Period Shaft Tombs, other forms of tomb architecture include the Rock Cut Tombs, including that of Bakenrenef, which was examined in detail. Bakenrenef’s tomb has a common architectural background with the massive Theban tombs built on the Assassif from the Twenty-fifth Dynasty onwards. The form and function of the entrance and underground sections of the tomb appear similar, and a passage cut round the innermost portions of Bakenrenef’s tomb is similar to that cut round the Theban tomb of Harwa. The Theban influence suggests that

Despite all this, placing their tomb in a ‘sacred landscape’ was not enough for the elite of the Late Period. The religious function of the tomb was important, but it did not fulfil all the requirements of the Late Period tomb owner. These were people who had achieved the highest positions in the land and they wanted to be remembered both for their name and for their deeds. They chose to 90

CONCLUSIONS Bakenrenef came from Theban stock, probably brought to court by Psamtek I in an advisory capacity.

pyramids in order to be associated with the power of those earlier structures.

A different form of tomb was found in Heliopolis – the Vaulted Chamber Tomb, closely associated with the Sun Temple and of small size due to the lack of space available in this already crowded burial ground. Two unusual tombs were also found in Heliopolis – the tomb of Rames, said to be ‘in Old Kingdom style’, but possibly an actual Old Kingdom tomb which had been reused, and the tomb of Psamtek-Senebu. This latter had no stone and was undecorated, and yet he included among his titles those of ‘Chief Physician’, ‘Director of the Palace’ and ‘Commander of the Battle Fleet’, which would certainly indicate that he was of elite status. His tomb had an oval tumulus as its superstructure (Appendix A), which is a design more usually found in Nubia than in Egypt,1094 and it is suggested that he, too, came to the Memphite court from the south – possibly from as far south as Nubia – to advise.

Security was an important issue for the tomb owner. Those connected with the tombs of the past were aware of their being robbed; the royal tombs at Tanis were designed in a new style because it was known that the tombs in the Valley of the Kings had been robbed. Evidence of the robbery of the elite tombs in Giza and Saqqara must have been obvious during the Late Period, and the builders of the elite tombs of the Late Period even took stone from the adjacent Old Kingdom structures for the construction of their own tombs. None of the traditional types of tomb had solved the problem, but with the Saite-Persian Shaft Tomb a new solution was found to the problem. By excavating a very deep tomb and filling it with fine sand, robbery became virtually impossible. Although security was not the primary purpose of the design of the Saite-Persian Shaft Tomb, several intact tombs have survived because of this design feature.

Tjery’s tomb was the only Mastaba Tomb found among the Late Period sample, and this, as well as having an Old Kingdom ‘mastaba’ form, included the ancient form of ‘palace façade’ panelling to that side of the tomb which would be seen by pilgrims, as an expression of conspicuous display. The tomb also had an Open Court, a solar device again reminiscent of the massive tombs on the Assassif in Thebes.

Research has established that the decoration of the elite Late Period tombs was primarily along Osirian lines, in order to give the deceased as much assistance as possible for the hazardous journey into the next life. Large Osiris figures appear on the southern exterior walls of the tomb of Tjery, but most of the other extant above-ground decoration from these tombs shows the traditional scenes that have been seen on funerary chapel walls since the earliest times. Below ground the scenes are based upon ritual and rely heavily on the Books of the Afterlife. Although the Osirian nature of these changed little over the years, contemporary issues were addressed by, for instance, the inclusion of animal deities and the god Tutu on the walls of Iufaa’s burial chamber. The Late Period designers had examined the Pyramid Texts closely and, where it was felt that they were unclear, they were ‘improved upon’ by the addition of extra texts. Considerable leeway was found both in what went into one’s tombs and where in the tomb it went, from which it was concluded that the tomb owner himself decided what he wanted, probably choosing from a pattern book, possibly provided by a priestly scribe. The inclusion of the name of the deceased’s mother was shown to be of great importance, suggesting that she would have been required to give birth to him in the next life, as she had done in this.

Only two examples of the Temple-Court Tomb have been identified, both in Saqqara. This form, which was closely associated with temples, is a ready source of stone; other examples may well have existed but have been robbed out. There was also evidence of Osirian elements in the structure of these tombs. The occupants of the TempleCourt Tombs, the Vaulted Chamber Tombs and those tombs built into other sacred structures would all have taken assistance in their passage into the next world from those older associated structures. It has been found that it was not always possible for the deceased to be buried with his head to the west, in an orientation that would have been the theological ideal for ease of passage to the next life. The tomb owners had no compunction, if local influences so dictated, in being buried on an alternative axis. In that way Iufaa had his head to the east and it is reasonable to suggest that this was so that he could become more a part of the cult centre that was built to the east of his tomb, while Menekhibneko’s tomb was orientated so that the access was from the south, making access to the burial chamber easier. The Egyptian mind would have enabled the tomb magically to reorientate itself, by the power of heka, when needed, to the correct alignment. However, even if the orientation of the axis of burial was not always eastwest, all those tombs which were close to pyramids were aligned in the same way as the stellar alignment of the

An examination of the dialogue of the Late Period elite with the past showed that there was continuity and change during Late Period Egypt in that a close association with the past was perceived as something that could only benefit society. That association has been seen in many areas, especially in the close association of Late Period tombs with monumental ancient architecture. The Saite-Persian Shaft Tombs were placed in close proximity to important ancient monuments and aligned so that they effectively became a part of the wider group of monuments, the later Shaft Tombs were actually cut into ancient monuments, of which they became a part, and the tombs in Heliopolis were closely associated with the

1094

Tumulus I at Napata, for instance, produced New Kingdom and Third Intermediate Period objects and charred nuts dated from the first half of the first millennium BC. [Edwards (2004): 118].

91

THE ELITE LATE PERIOD EGYPTIAN TOMBS OF MEMPHIS rather than on the Rock Cut Tomb that continued to develop in Thebes,1096 where Kush remained influential. There is evidence that Bakenrenef and Psamtek-Senebu followed a Kushite influence in the design of their tombs and this probably means that they came from a background at least as far south as Thebes. Bakenrenef and Psamtek-Senebu each had an impressive list of titles which, in the case of Bakenrenef were largely honorific and related to the temple, while those of Psamtek-Senebu seem to have been largely administrative. It seems probable that these men, or their parents, were all connected with the administration in Thebes and that they were moved to Memphis for the background knowledge that they could bring to the administration.

ancient temple. In decoration, the depictions from ancient tomb chapels of Giza and Saqqara were used as a basis for the design of the chapel decoration within the Late Period tombs, and the Pyramid Texts from the pyramid of Unas were used as a basis for the texts on the walls of some of the Late Period tombs. Ancient Egypt had always been a conservative country, relying as much for its greatness on its long history as from contemporary events and activities. In this light, the pyramids and other ancient structures of Giza and Saqqara were seen as part of the on-going history of the country and this continuity gave comfort to those who were a part of it. And yet the thousands of years necessarily brought change. That change had been seen in the past, with the breakdown of society at the end of the Old, Middle and New Kingdoms and its rebuilding at the start of the Middle and New Kingdoms. Those who lived at the start of the Late Period would have taken part in the reunification of their country; they and their descendents would therefore have rightly considered that their society, too, although very different from those of earlier times, was once again in a time of resurgence. The Egyptians would probably have seen this as another instance of linear and cyclical eternity.1095

With the reunification of Egypt, Psamtek I needed continuity of administration, and it was essential that he was aware of the way in which the Thebans thought, as this previously alien part of his country had had an agenda which he now needed to understand and to mould to his own ends. It seems that he encouraged Bakenrenef into his court, probably by granting him the title of Vizier and possibly by endowing him with his extravagant Theban-style tomb in Saqqara. There was a growth in confidence and a slow economic resurgence, but it took nearly a century before the new elite had accumulated sufficient wealth to facilitate the reinterpretation of tomb design. The ‘Overseer of Chamberlains’, Hor, was the first to experiment with the Saite-Persian Shaft Tomb, creating a separate and isolated burial chamber within the traditional Abydene shaft, but accessed from a separate shaft outside the tomb. Following from Hor’s advanced thought, another two Chancellors, Neferibra-Sa-Neith and Wahibramen, built a similar tomb together nearby, completing the change to an integral burial chamber.

It has been demonstrated that continuity and change can be seen in all aspects of the architecture and decoration of the Late Period elite tombs of Memphis. Continuity exists in the structures of the Vaulted Chamber Tombs and in their Osirian nature, while change had occurred in the development, and subsequent decline, of the SaitePersian Shaft Tomb. Continuity existed in the ancient decoration and texts upon the tomb walls, while change was evident with the amendments of the ‘Padinisis’ texts and the appearance on the tomb walls of animal deities and new gods. Continuity existed in the many honorific titles that were held by the tomb owners, while change has been seen in the number of new titles appearing in the Late Period. The elite Late Period tombs of the Memphite necropoleis reflect the whole of the continuity and change of the turbulent society of the time. Continuity in design, decoration, text and titulary has been regarded as archaic, but the archaism in elite Late Period tombs was not a copying of ancient ideas, rather a use of them to assist in the creation of the tomb structures, decoration and texts of the time, the better to enable the deceased to make a successful journey into the next world and to flourish once there. With the revival of artistic and cultural themes came the reuse of ancient titles.

Construction then moved to the vicinity of the Unas pyramid, where two Admirals, a Chancellor and a Chief Physician built Saite-Persian Shaft Tombs – but so did those with the rather less elevated titles of Overseer of Scribes and Overseer of the Life Guard. There is every reason to believe that sufficient wealth was available during Amasis’ reign for those slightly below the uppermost levels of society to be able to afford an imposing tomb. During this phase, too, there was sufficient time and disposable wealth available for the complete reappraisal of the Pyramid Texts, so that some of them were clarified and enhanced by the addition of further texts.1097 Udjahorresnet decided upon the move to Abusir and the group of Saite-Persian Shaft Tombs there shows an increasing opulence and further re-evaluation of the textual content. The second secondary shaft was added to the tomb structure to include the power of the Step Pyramid into the other, Osirian, attributes of the tomb. The Persian conquest came at this time and, although

What, then, does the elite Late Period Memphite tomb tell us of the socio-political situation of the time? When Assurbanipal invaded Egypt, aided by the northern Egyptian princes who created the Twenty-sixth Dynasty, he went as far as Thebes. In doing so he drove the Kushite influence to the south and allowed the north to develop independently from the southern tradition. This encouraged new thought in the north, and the design of a new type of tomb, based upon the deep shaft of Abydos 1095

1096 Although the Rock Cut Tomb of Bakenrenef was built in Saqqara, during the reign of Psamtek I, for special reasons that are discussed here. 1097 The Padinisis Lettered Texts; see Appendix D, page 440.

Dt and nHH.

92

CONCLUSIONS could have been built. It does not seem demographically feasible that only twenty-nine people in more than a century would have built monumental tombs, so that some wealthy people must have chosen not to construct monumentally, perhaps relying on piety alone to reach the Field of Reeds.

Udjahorresnet and Iufaa were able to maintain sufficient wealth and status for the completion of their large and impressive tombs, there is evidence that the wealth available to other Egyptians was reduced. The size of the Saite-Persian Shaft Tomb reduced to that of Padihor, the last tomb of this type built in Abusir. This decline of wealth during Persian times encouraged the development of a long series of shaft tombs with lateral burial chambers, effectively removing the Saite-Persian Shaft Tomb’s main shaft, until increased affluence during the Thirtieth Dynasty enabled the construction once more of imposing Shaft Tombs.

There appears to be no ancestral relationship between the tombs in particular clusters, but there is evidence that several tombs were built with family occupation in mind. Neither is there any evidence that groups of people with similar functions were buried in the same cluster – indeed, it seems that there was much individual choice in the placing of one’s tomb. The tombs were aligned with earlier monuments nearby, and a general association with the past is shown in all aspects of the design and decoration of the tomb. The location of the tomb clusters appears to have had some bearing on the type of tomb chosen – only Vaulted Chamber Tombs, for instance, are found in Heliopolis and only Saite-Persian Shaft Tombs in Abusir. In the case of Heliopolis, this was partly because the nature of the ground did not permit the construction of Rock Cut Tombs and the overcrowded necropolis could not accommodate the construction of massive tombs; but the people associated with the Sun Temple chose a place where their piety could be rewarded.

The only Saite-Persian Shaft Tomb built other than in Abusir after the move there was that of the Overseer of Scribes, Pakap1098. It is clear, from the existence of a second secondary shaft, that this tomb was contemporary with those of Iufaa and Menekhibneko, although it was built in Giza. Udjahorresnet came from Sais and Iufaa had connections with that city, so it seems probable that those buried in the elite Late Period necropolis in Abusir were all from a Saite background, while Pakap was not, causing him to be unacceptable to Udjahorresnet’s group. Although the Persians removed power from the Egyptians to their own people during the Twenty-seventh Dynasty, cultural developments introduced under the Saites continued until the second Persian Period.1099 Persian influence is shown in the tomb of Padibastet, for the dress that he wears is of Persian design. But with the removal of the Persians and a final period of ‘home rule’, the economic base of the Egyptians once more allowed them to keep their wealth, as it was no longer siphoned off to Persia. The Shaft Tomb appeared and, by the Thirtieth Dynasty, there was sufficient wealth for those at the top of society once more to build massive tombs, this time in the form of deep Shaft Tombs, along Khafra’s causeway, and to explore a closer association with Osiris. However, the religious texts and associated decoration had been transferred from the walls of the tomb onto the sarcophagus by this time, suggesting that the tomb owners were aware that their sarcophagi might be removed from their tombs; by moving the texts onto the sarcophagi in this way they would maintain contact with them, no matter where they were.

In the matter of tomb design considerable choice was available to the tomb owner, so that we have Bakenrenef, Hor and Tjery all building tombs of very different design at about the same time. The provision of decoration and texts to the tombs, again, seems to have been a matter of personal choice for the tomb owner. Through all the turbulence of the Late Period the priesthood continued to flourish, with little change being seen in their tombs. This investigation of the tombs of the elite in the area of Memphis has shown us an international society, which grew from association with the Assyrians to become proudly independent. That independence permitted the confident flowering of a sometimes hereditary aristocracy but, at the same time, the growth of a hard-working meritocracy, whose positions are demonstrated by the building of monumental, conspicuous tombs. Incorporating valued Osirian ideals, the tombs were designed along lines chosen from a repertoire of possible tomb types, and built within an Osirian landscape to incorporate structural and decorative ideas that increased their association with Osiris in his underworld. Although they had become accustomed to being associated with foreigners, the Persian conquest changed life for the Egyptian elite; many of them maintained their social positions, but the highest non-royal position in Egypt was now held by the satrap and the wealth that would have been expected to come to the elite from holding their titular positions was increasingly transferred to Persia. Tomb sizes diminished to reflect that reduction in wealth. This reduction in position and wealth must have been partly instrumental in the dissatisfaction that encouraged the Egyptians to revolt against the Persians, causing great hardships but eventually resulting in their removal and

Desirable as it was, not all of those who were able chose to have a monumental tomb built for themselves. Some seventeen Saite-Persian Shaft Tombs and twelve Shaft Tombs have been identified in the Memphite area and, given the scale of the monuments, coupled with the extensive survey work carried out, it seems unlikely that many more of these massive edifices will come to light. If the assumption is correct that the economic ability to build these tombs lasted from the reign of Apries until shortly after the Persian conquest, and then again only in the Thirtieth Dynasty, there was a combined time-scale of a little over one hundred years during which these tombs 1098 This ignores the tomb at Sharuna, which had lost some of the SaitePersian Shaft Tomb’s features. 1099 Johnson (1994): 151.

93

THE ELITE LATE PERIOD EGYPTIAN TOMBS OF MEMPHIS the beginning of the Twenty-eighth Dynasty. That and the following dynasty lasted for only a short time, but with the Thirtieth Dynasty there was the wealth and growth in confidence that permitted the final flourish of the Egyptian civilisation. This enabled the elite once again to display their wealth in the design and construction of monumental tombs. The Late Period elite tomb, then, was driven by the wish to be buried in a ‘sacred landscape’, by the imperative of being associated with Osiris, and by the wish to create a conspicuous display so that one’s name and deeds would live in the memories of those who followed.

94

THE MEMPHITE AREA

Map 1. The area under consideration

95

THE ELITE LATE PERIOD EGYPTIAN TOMBS OF MEMPHIS

ABUSIR

Map 2. Abusir cemetery. [From Bareš (1992): 122]

Key: 1Udjahorresnet 2 Iufaa 3 Menekhibneko 4 Padihor

96

MAPS

GIZA

Map 3. Giza cemetery. [From Zivie-Coche (1991): Pl. I]

97

THE ELITE LATE PERIOD EGYPTIAN TOMBS OF MEMPHIS

TOMB CLUSTER IN AND AROUND THE TEMPLE OF ISIS

Map 4. Plan of Giza mastaba cemetery G7000. [From Zivie-Coche (1991): Pl.2]

98

MAPS

SAQQARA

Map 5. The tomb clusters of Saqqara. [From Martin (1992): Figure 5] The numbers 1 to 5 relate to the areas separated in the text.

Map 6. Saqqara. [From Lehner (1997): 83]

99

THE ELITE LATE PERIOD EGYPTIAN TOMBS OF MEMPHIS

TOMB CLUSTER IN THE AREA OF THE UNAS PYRAMID – South side (Area 1 on Map 5).

Map 7. Late Period tombs around the pyramid of Unas at Saqqara. [From Barsanti (1901a): p. 246]

100

MAPS

TOMB CLUSTER IN THE AREA OF THE UNAS PYRAMID – East side (Area 1 on Map 5).

Map 8. Late Period tombs around the pyramid of Unas at Saqqara. [From Labrousse, et al. (1977): 32]

101

THE ELITE LATE PERIOD EGYPTIAN TOMBS OF MEMPHIS

TOMB CLUSTER ON THE EASTERN ESCARPMENT (Area 4 on Map 5)

Map 9. Saqqara: the tombs on the eastern escarpment. [Based on Bresciani, et al. (1983): figure 1]

102

APPENDIX A THE STRUCTURES OF THE LATE PERIOD ELITE TOMBS OF THE MEMPHITE NECROPOLEIS. 1

THE SAITE-PERSIAN SHAFT TOMB.

The Saite-Persian Shaft Tombs are listed in the chronological order proposed in Chapter 3. The other classes of tomb are listed geographically, by cluster. SAQQARA Tomb cluster to the northeast of the Step Pyramid. (Area 3 on Map 5) HOR. Psamtek I – Psamtek II. The tomb of Hor, who probably died during the reign of Psamtek II,1100 lies just south of the perimeter wall of Userkaf’s temple and east of the northeast angle of the Queen’s pyramid. The main shaft is 9.50m from east to west, 8.00m from north to south; it is 12.00m deep to the top of the burial chamber and 14.00m deep overall1101 (Figure 50). The access to the burial chamber from the secondary shaft, which is 1.20m square,1102 is from the west, through a vaulted brick passageway, towards the head of the sarcophagus; the mummy was placed with his head towards the west, with his arms extended on his thighs, and directly in the sarcophagus — not within a second anthropoid stone sarcophagus as was usual – which could have been for reasons of economy.1103 It seems possible that the entrance was from the west so that it could be approached from the main axis of Userkaf’s mortuary complex. The secondary shaft continues below the passage to the burial chamber and into the bedrock by at least five metres: however, the excavators did not reach the bottom.1104 A second chamber was cut from the secondary shaft, opposite the burial chamber to facilitate the handling of the funerary goods at the time of burial. The sarcophagus, which was 3.20m x 1.80m,1105 had niches in the north and canopic jars.1106 To the north and south of the burial chamber a pit was sunk some four metres below the burial chamber and these two pits were connected by a passage that runs beneath the head of the deceased: Jean-Philippe Lauer thought that this arrangement was to prevent tunnelling by tomb robbers1107 but that would seem an unlikely approach for tomb robbery.1108

1100

Saad (1947a): 12. Lauer (1954): 133. 1102 Saad (1947a): 11. 1103 Lauer (1954): Plate 1. 1104 Lauer (1954): 133. 1105 Saad (1947a): 11. 1106 Lauer (1954): 134. 1107 Lauer (1954): 136. 1108 This feature, which corresponds to the ‘pit’ in Campbell’s tomb, is discussed on pages 36-37. 1101

Figure 50. The tomb of Hor. [From el-Naggar (1999): Doc. 301-A]

103

THE ELITE LATE PERIOD EGYPTIAN TOMBS OF MEMPHIS Tomb cluster in the area of the Unas pyramid. (Area 1 on Map 5) AMENTEFNAKHT. Apries – Amasis. On the northern edge of the pyramid enclosure of Unas is the tomb of Amentefnakht, built during the reign of Apries.1109 The main shaft of his tomb measured 10.90m x 8.00m1110 and the burial chamber, which is twenty-two metres below ground, was 7.90m east-west x 5.90m north-south.1111 This contained a sarcophagus 4.20m x 2.60m (Figures 51 and 52). The secondary shaft was to the east and led to the burial chamber through the usual small passage. This smaller shaft continued for several metres below the level of the burial chamber. The roof of the burial chamber held three ceramic pots, keeping the sand filling of the shaft out of the burial chamber until the time of burial, when they were broken to enable the sand to infiltrate.1112 At the time of burial these pots were broken and the sand was allowed to fill the burial chamber, making robbery difficult.1113 Two of the three ceramic pots in the roof of the burial chamber can clearly be seen in Figure 51. To the east and to the west of the sarcophagus, a pit descended into the bedrock and these pits were joined together by a passage beneath the burial. The lid of Amentefnakht’s sarcophagus was a single piece of limestone which, when lifted, revealed a greenish slate anthropoid coffin, of which the lid and the body were cemented together;1114 inside this was the body of the deceased.1115 There were four niches to the walls at the sides of the sarcophagus, which were filled with sand and timber baulks that held the sarcophagus lid in a raised position; when the time came to close the sarcophagus, the sand was allowed to pour out of the niches, allowing the timber baulks and the lid to descend.1116

Figure 52. Sections through the tomb of Amentefnakht. [From el-Naggar (1999): Doc. 302-D]

Tomb cluster to the northeast of the Step Pyramid (Area 3 on Map 5). NEFERIBRA-SA-NEITH Apries – Amasis.

and

WAHIBRAMEN.

The Saite-Persian Shaft Tomb of Neferibra-Sa-Neith and Wahibramen (Figures 53 to 55), was excavated by Cecil Mallaby Firth in 1928-1929 and by Etienne Drioton and Jean-Philippe Lauer in 1950.1117 Jean-Philippe Lauer thought that this appeared to be a mirror image of the tomb of Hor but the plan does not corroborate this (Figures 50 and 54).1118 It lies within Userkaf’s pyramid complex in a position symmetrically opposite the subsidiary pyramid (Figure 53), so that it seems to equate his social position with that of the earlier king. Parts of the superstructure of fine limestone taken from the temple of Userkaf were still in place; the walls appear to have surrounded the main and secondary shafts separately and

Figure 51. View down the shaft of the tomb of Amentefnakht, showing the roof of the burial chamber. [From Saad (1947a): Fig. 1]

1109

Saad (1940): 386. Saad (1940): 693. 1111 Saad (1947): 382. 1112 Saad (1947): 384. 1113 Saad (1947): 389. 1114 Saad (1947a): 10. 1115 Saad (1947): 389. 1116 Saad (1947a): 8. 1110

1117

Drioton and Lauer (1951): 470. Lauer (1954): 133. For instance, Hor’s tomb has a chamber cut opposite the entrance to the burial chamber; it has passages below the burial chamber; the secondary shaft is not continuous but has a ‘jog’ at the level of the burial chamber. None of these features is replicated in the tomb of Neferibra-Sa-Neith. 1118

104

APPENDIX A: THE STRUCTURES there was a rectangular structure about 4.00m x 2.50m immediately to the east of the secondary shaft which Jean-Philippe Lauer considered to have been a ramp or staircase leading up to a colonnaded portico that formed the entrance to a funerary chapel over the main shaft;1119 although this could well have been the case, it would seem to have more to do with the structure of the pyramid complex.

Figure 53. The position of the tomb of Neferibra-Sa-Neith and Wahibramen within the Userkaf pyramid complex. [From Smith (1998): 64]

Figure 54. The tomb of Neferibra-Sa-Neith and Wahibramen. [From el-Naggar (1999): Doc. 301-B] .1120

The main shaft is ten to eleven metres square and about twenty metres deep, with the secondary shaft, some two metres east of it, descending twenty-eight metres (Figure 54). At about ten metres above the bottom of the secondary shaft, a passage leads to the two burial chambers within the main shaft.1121 These were built at different times, and that of Neferibra-Sa-Neith must have been second, as their comparative positions would have made the later burial of Wahibramen impossible. Two pits slope down from the base of the main shaft, outside 1120

1119

In el-Naggar (1999): Doc. 301-B the burials are shown orientated north-south, however, in Drioton and Lauer (1951): Plate I they are clearly east-west. I believe the excavators’ plan to be correct and have followed this in Figure54. 1121 Drioton and Lauer (1951): 472.

Drioton and Lauer (1951): 470.

105

THE ELITE LATE PERIOD EGYPTIAN TOMBS OF MEMPHIS Pyramid Text Utterance 244, giving strength to the deceased.1126

the burial chambers, and these pits are connected by a passage between them below the burial chambers themselves.

Neferibra-Sa-Neith and Wahibramen had different mothers but it is not known whether they shared a common father, or whether there was any relationship between them that would have encouraged them to share a tomb. Tomb cluster in the area of the Unas pyramid (Area 1 on Map 5). In the immediate vicinity of the Pyramid of Unas is a series of Saite-Persian Shaft Tombs (Maps 7 and 8). As with all other tombs of this type, these consist of a large rectangular shaft within which a vaulted burial chamber was constructed of fine white limestone. In some cases the limestone came from the mortuary chapel of Unas,1127 probably to take advantage of the sacredness of the substance of the stone, although it would also have saved on cost. Close to the main shaft, and communicating with it, is a second, smaller shaft allowing access to the burial chamber within the main shaft.

Figure 55. The burial chamber of Neferibra-Sa-Neith. [From Drioton and Lauer (1951): Planche II]

The three tombs to the south of Unas’ pyramid, those of Djanehibu, Psamtek and Padinisis are joined together by a passage that connects the bottom of their secondary shafts,1128 as is clearly shown on Map 7.

The northerly tomb, built of Tura limestone and shaped like a vaulted Late Period coffin, with pillars at the four corners (Figures 54 and 55), is that of Neferibra-SaNeith. The tomb contained the sarcophagus, which measured 3.20m x 1.78m and was 2.20m high overall.1122 This, in turn, contained the usual anthropoid second sarcophagus and a wooden inner coffin. The burial chamber has niches in the floor, to north and south of the sarcophagus, for the canopic vessels. At the head and foot of the sarcophagus were small shafts which Jean-Philippe Lauer explained as being connected with the closure of the sarcophagus lid; by removing the sand filling of these shafts, timber baulks that rested upon it would have descended, allowing the sarcophagus lid, which rested on top of these timbers, to descend along with them (Figure 55).1123

PSAMTEK. Amasis. Psamtek’s tomb was the central of the three connected tombs south of Unas’ pyramid. It again had a burial chamber at the bottom of the main shaft, connected by a passage with the secondary shaft (Figure 56). A further passage connected the two shafts at a lower level and the second shaft descended into the bedrock below this. There are niches cut into the east, west and north walls of the burial chamber, but these were empty: his tomb had not been occupied.1129 The sarcophagus had its head to the north.1130

The southerly tomb is that of Wahibramen. It was found intact but was unfinished and uninscribed.1124 Architecturally it was similar to its twin, except that the vaulted burial chamber did not have pillars at the four external corners. The vault itself was a true arch with wedge-shaped keystones.1125 The vault sat directly on the limestone sarcophagus of Wahibramen, so that the sarcophagus must have been closed before its construction. Inside the limestone outer sarcophagus was a wooden inner one, sitting in an anthropoid recess; the space between was packed with potsherds set in resin, which may be an allusion to the broken red pots of

1126 Faulkner (1998): 58. The text reads “… that you may be strong and that may fear you – break the red jars”. 1127 Barsanti (1901): 99. 1128 Bresciani, Pernigotti, and Giangeri Silvis (1977): 15. 1129 Barsanti (1900): 164. 1130 Barsanti (1900): 161. The niche on the north wall contained a large pot of embalming material, while those on the east and west walls held the alabaster canopic jars.

1122

Buhl (1959): 68. 1123 Drioton and Lauer (1951): Plate I. 1124 His name and titles were found on his funerary equipment. 1125 Drioton and Lauer (1951): Plate IX. This architectural feature – technically called ‘voussoirs’ – first appeared in the tombs of the God’s Wives of Amun in Medinet Habu, dated to about 760 BC. [Arnold (2003): 253].

106

APPENDIX A: THE STRUCTURES main shaft by means of a doorway, cemented closed, and a passage 27.50m below ground level. The secondary shaft continued below the passage, forming a ‘pit’. The burial chamber was vaulted, with stone corner posts constructed in the manner of Late Period coffins.1133 The vaulted outer coffin with a post at each corner was a design introduced during the Twenty-fifth Dynasty; modelled on a shrine, it harks back to the Old Kingdom ‘house’ coffin1134 in an act of archaism. At each corner of the sarcophagus there was a stone pillar to guide the lid during closure. A niche in each of the east and west walls contained the canopic jars.1135

Figure 56. Sections through the tomb of Psamtek and Setairbint. [From el-Naggar (1999): Doc. 302-A]

A second, smaller burial chamber in Psamtek’s tomb belonged to Setairbint. This led directly from the south side of the secondary shaft in such a way that the entrances to the burial chambers were directly opposite each other. Her tomb, which was roughly cut into the rock, had two canopic jars in rough-hewn niches to east and to west.1131 The entrance to her tomb was from the north, and the sarcophagus was orientated north-south, with the head to the north (Figure 56). From the unfinished nature of the structure, one would expect that this secondary burial was not planned when the main part of Psamtek’s tomb was built. It is not known whether Psamtek and Setairbint were related, although the fact that she was buried in Psamtek’s tomb would suggest a personal relationship.

Figure 57. Sections through the tomb of Padinisis. [From Barsanti (1900a): 230-232]

PADINISIS. Amasis. Padinisis’ tomb, which again lies to the south of Unas’ pyramid, was excavated by Alexandre Barsanti in 1899 (Map 7).1132 The burial chamber was, as usual, at the bottom of a large shaft, 7.10m x 8.00m, here on a northsouth axis (Figures 57 and 58). The secondary shaft, some three metres to the south, communicated with the 1131 1132

1133 The section drawings in Figure 57 are reminiscent of the coffin in Taylor (1989): 54. 1134 Taylor (1989): 53. 1135 Barsanti (1900a): 233.

Cairo Museum JE 34078. Barsanti (1900a): 230-231.

107

THE ELITE LATE PERIOD EGYPTIAN TOMBS OF MEMPHIS At the north, east and west sides of the burial chamber there were niches; those to east and west contained the canopic equipment.1140 The limestone sarcophagus rested on a grey stone base.1141

Figure 57. Sections through the tomb of Padinisis. [From Barsanti (1900a): 230-232]

Figure 59. Sections through the tomb of Padineith. [From Barsanti (1901): Figures 1 - 3]

Figure 58. The burial chamber of Padinisis. [From Barsanti (1900a): 233]

PADINEITH. Amasis. There was evidence of a superstructure to Padineith’s tomb, which lies to the southwest of the pyramid of Unas. The excavators found a stone wall about three metres high round two sides of the main shaft, which measured 4.50m north-south and 3.00m east-west (Figure 59) .1136 The smaller shaft of the tomb opened, at a depth of 28.00m, to form the access to the main burial chamber on the north and to two other subsidiary chambers on each of the other three sides (Figure 60); these had presumably contained further burials, as they were full of broken ornaments and mummy parts.1137 The entrance to the vaulted burial chamber had been blocked by stone slabs.1138 The burial chamber, which measured 3.55m x 1.94m and was 2.44m high, again took the form of a vaulted box with corner posts and was constructed of fine limestone, which Alexandre Barsanti considered to have come from the pyramid of Unas,1139 again taking advantage of the sacredness of the substance of the stone.

Figure 60. Plan of the burial apartments of Padineith. [From Barsanti (1901): Figure 4]

DJANEHIBU. Amasis. Djanehibu had a tomb shaft twenty-five to thirty metres deep, and at the bottom was a huge monolithic limestone sarcophagus with an inner anthropoid basalt sarcophagus1142 containing the mummy.1143 Entry into the tomb was from the southern shaft via a short corridor into the south of the burial chamber, at the foot of the sarcophagus (Figure 61). The burial chamber was vaulted.1144 There were two small niches on each of the east and west sides and a large niche on the east, north and west sides of his burial chamber.1145

1140

Barsanti (1901): 99. Barsanti (1901): 100. 1142 Cairo Museum JE 35156. Buhl (1959): 22. 1143 Bresciani, Pernigotti, and Giangeri Silvis (1977): 20. 1144 Bresciani, Pernigotti, and Giangeri Silvis (1977): 20. 1145 Barsanti (1901): 99. 1141

1136

Barsanti (1901): 97. Barsanti (1901): 98. Barsanti (1901): 98. 1139 Barsanti (1901): 99. 1137 1138

108

APPENDIX A: THE STRUCTURES

Figure 61. The tomb of Djanehibu. [From Bresciani, et al. (1977): Tav. II]

HEKAEMSAF. Amasis. The shaft of Hekaemsaf’s tomb was 8.70m north-south, 10.80m east-west and 28.00m deep (Figure 62). The secondary shaft was to the east and at the bottom of this were two chambers with subsidiary burials of members of Hekaemsaf’s family.1146 These secondary burials had their heads to the north and west, while Hekaemsaf was laid in an east-west direction – although the excavation report is unclear as to the direction of his head. The burial chamber was 5.20m x 3.13m.1147 There were niches in the north and south walls of the burial chamber for the facilitation of the closure of the sarcophagus, and beside these niches stood the canopic vessels; a larger niche in the centre of the west wall may have been for the protection of those charged with closing the sarcophagus.1148 The limestone sarcophagus had a granite inner sarcophagus containing a wooden coffin.1149

Figure 62. The tomb of Hekaemsaf. [From el-Naggar (1999): Doc. 302-E]

1146

Barsanti (1904): 70. Barsanti (1904): 71. Barsanti (1904): 72. 1149 Barsanti (1904): 75. 1147 1148

109

THE ELITE LATE PERIOD EGYPTIAN TOMBS OF MEMPHIS GIZA Tomb cluster in the vicinity of the Sphinx. PAKAP (‘Campbell’s Tomb’). Amasis.

Figure 63. Campbell’s Tomb from the east, showing the trench, the main shaft and the secondary shaft (top). [Author’s Photograph]

Tomb LG 841150 is orientated with the length of its sides towards the cardinal points. The tomb has a massive shaft, 9.30m east-west x 8.00m north-south with no identifiable superstructure1151 (Figures 63 and 64). The main shaft is 16.30m deep and at the bottom there is a vaulted burial chamber 4.50m x 3.35m built of Tura limestone. The chamber is divided in its height by a floor of stone slabs set almost centrally. A ‘trench’, or cutting, 1.63m wide was made to a depth of 22.25m at a varying distance from the shaft and all round it1152 (marked ‘C’ – ‘C’ on Figure 64). Col. Richard Howard Vyse, who excavated it with John Perring in 1837, saw this as having been arched over at the top.1153 The entrance to the burial chamber was by way of a secondary shaft to the west of the main shaft but within the ‘trench’. The secondary shaft of Pakap’s tomb also gives access to burial chamber ‘x’, on an east-west axis. A second secondary shaft, to the south of the main shaft, gives access to two burial chambers, ‘y’ and ‘z’, containing three burials on an east-west axis. Burial chamber ‘w’ is almost certainly of a much later date, as it is cut through the surrounding trench.

Figure 64. Campbell’s Tomb ( LG 84). [After Vyse (1840a): Figures 1 and 3] 1150

This is ‘Campbell’s Tomb’, the Saite-Persian Shaft Tomb of Pakap. el-Sadeek (1984): 126. Vyse (1840): 220. 1153 Vyse (1840): 220. 1151 1152

110

APPENDIX A: THE STRUCTURES ABUSIR UDJAHORRESNET. Darius I. This tomb was started in year 40 or 41 of Amasis.1154 Udjahorresnet died in ca. 5141155 or 510.1156 Udjahorresnet’s tomb had a central shaft, 5.50m square, lined with limestone blocks and surrounded by a trench (Figure 65).1157 This arrangement was itself surrounded by an enclosure wall of limestone blocks.1158 The superstructure was approximately 26.50m square, of limestone blocks surrounded by a limestone-clad enclosure wall about 2.20m – 2.50m high and three metres thick at the base.1159 There was no entrance and the internal floor was of rough cut limestone blocks laid over the sand fill of the main shaft.1160 Foundation deposits were found under the northeast, northwest and southwest corners of the enclosure wall and there was evidence of a further deposit in the spoil adjacent to the southeast corner.1161 The meaning of the trench is discussed in Chapter 3.1162 A secondary shaft was outside that wall, central on the eastern side and connected to the main shaft by a passage some seventeen metres below ground level,1163 which was blocked by a portcullis, protecting the burial chamber from possible access.1164 The main shaft was more than 20.00m deep, with the top of the burial chamber at a depth of about 14.00m.1165 The whole was orientated to the cardinal points, as the nearby Old Kingdom pyramids had been. The burial chamber (Figure 66), orientated east-west, was constructed of white limestone blocks and had a vaulted ceiling, in which were three conical openings, through which fine sand was allowed to flow in order to fill the burial chamber after the body had been placed into the sarcophagus. In the east and west walls of the chamber were four recesses which Ladislav Bareš considers to have been for the placement of magic bricks.1166 There was also a pillar placed in each of the four corners of the burial chamber, which was likely to have been used to guide the sarcophagus lid into position.

Figure 65. Plan and section of the tomb of Udjahorresnet in Abusir. [From Verner (2002): 181]

1154

Bareš (2001): 38. Spalinger (1984): 822. 1156 Rössler-Köhler (1989): 266. 1157 Verner (1986): 159. 1158 Verner (2002): 179. 1159 Bareš (1996): 4. 1160 Verner (1986): 159. 1161 Bareš (1996): 4. 1162 See also the tomb of Pakap [LG 84] in Giza, above. 1163 Verner (1991): 162. 1164 Verner (1994): 195. 1165 Verner (2002): 180. 1166 Bareš (1992): 110. 1155

Figure 66. Udjahorresnet’s burial chamber. [From Verner (1991): 165]

111

THE ELITE LATE PERIOD EGYPTIAN TOMBS OF MEMPHIS that the tomb was filled with sand and that, after Iufaa’s death, the sarcophagus was sealed and the roof of the burial chamber completed at ground level before the whole burial chamber was sunk to the bottom of the shaft by the gradual removal of the sand from the shaft beneath it.1184 It is possible that the burial chamber incorporated ancient blocks,1185 and they may have been used because their source was close by; but it would seem more likely that they were incorporated into the structure in order to include the magical power of their ancient substance in much the same way as he incorporated ancient potsherds into his enclosure wall and those who built their tombs south of the pyramid of Unas incorporated his ancient stone into their structures.1186

The massive white limestone sarcophagus, with its lid 5.10m long x 2.76m wide x 1.10m thick,1167 filled the bottom of the burial chamber. Inside the white outer sarcophagus was a black basalt anthropoid one and inside this was a wooden inner coffin. Udjahorresnet was laid with his head to the west. The tomb was robbed in antiquity, the robbers cutting a hole 0.28m x 0.40m in the lid of the anthropoid sarcophagus. IUFAA. Darius I. Traces of dates of regnal years 17 and 22 were found in the mortuary chapel.1168 Iufaa’s intact tomb was of very similar construction and dimensions to that of Udjahorresnet1169 and was, again, set out to the cardinal points. The enclosure wall was battered and built of mud-brick in which there was a temper of Old Kingdom potsherds,1170 taking power from the substance of these ancient items; the exterior was decorated with ‘palace façade’ panelling,1171 in imitation of the enclosure wall of Djoser’s Step Pyramid;1172 it was faced with limestone and may have had a round top.1173 It is possible that a square superstructure, with battered walls and a cornice, divided into separate rooms, sat above the main shaft of the tomb.1174 A massive inscribed stele of white limestone was placed in a niche centrally on each side of the enclosure wall,1175 probably representing places of adoration.1176 The central shaft was 13.00m square x 22.00m deep1177 and the tomb had two secondary shafts, one to the west and one to the south (Figure 67); Ladislav Bareš thinks that the southern shaft was used for construction purposes.1178 A passage sloped downwards from the western shaft, at 19.00m, and entered the burial chamber, at 22.00m.1179 A further passage from the southern shaft led northwards, at a depth of about fourteen metres, sloping downwards to the main shaft.1180 The burial chamber, which is 6.50m x 4.10m externally and 4.90m x 3.30m internally, was orientated east-west, as would be expected, but Iufaa lay within the burial chamber with his head to the east.1181 The burial chamber, set into the main shaft, had a barrel vaulted ceiling that represented a giant sarcophagus (Figure 68).1182 The roof was unfinished. There would have been insufficient space within to manoeuvre the enormous sarcophagus lid, as there was a gap of only some 0.45m of space around the sarcophagus,1183 leading Ladislav Bareš to the conclusion

Figure 67. The tomb of Iufaa, showing, to the east, his cult chapel and, beyond this, the tomb of Padihor (R 1). [From Bareš, et al. (2002): 99]

1167

Bareš (1999): 54. Bareš (2002): 100. Bareš (1996a): 7. 1170 Verner (2002): 193. 1171 Bareš (2005a) webpage. 1172 Bareš (2003): 150. 1173 Bareš, Smolarikova, and Strouhal (2005): 97. 1174 Bareš, Smolarikova, and Strouhal (2005): 97. 1175 Bareš (1996): 8. 1176 Gestermann (2006): 199. 1177 Bareš (2005a) webpage. 1178 Ladislav Bareš, personal communication. 1179 Bareš and Smolarikova (1997): 9. 1180 Verner (1999): 20. 1181 Bareš (2002): Figure 1. 1182 Bareš and Smolarikova (1997): 12. 1183 Callender (1998): 22. 1168 1169

Figure 68. The burial chamber of Iufaa during excavation. [From Bareš (2005a): webpage]

1184

Ladislav Bareš, personal communication. Bareš (2005a) webpage. 1186 See the Saite-Persian Shaft Tombs of Saqqara. 1185

112

APPENDIX A: THE STRUCTURES

A structure about five metres to the east of Iufaa’s enclosure wall and covering some three hundred square metres (Figure 67), was almost certainly the chapel for his mortuary cult.1187 A staircase east of the deceased’s head led north into two cruciform sets of rooms, connected by a narrow passage. Each set of rooms had an open central area. The easternmost room of the southern set had a limestone panel set into each wall while the other rooms were plastered with Nile mud.1188 The setting of a panel into each wall would seem to echo those placed centrally on the sides of the enclosure wall, suggesting this, too, as a place of adoration. There was evidence of the floors having been lined with limestone and there were limestone doorways.1189 The northern set of rooms was much larger than the southern and the walls were again plastered with Nile mud, which may have been whitewashed. The entrance room contained a large niche to the south, with pillars to each side; the niche was on the axis of Iufaa’s tomb and probably held his statue: as Iufaa was buried with his head to the east, this conjectured statue would have been directly in line with his head. A low bench was in the south-western corner of the south-western room of the northern set. All the rooms of the northern set were vaulted and the floors were of mud directly onto the bedrock.1190

Figure 69. The tomb of Imakhetheretresnet. [From Bareš (2005d): webpage]

There were other burial chambers in Iufaa’s tomb, including the intact burial of Gemnefherbak, whose relationship to Iufaa is not known, found in a chamber in the northern wall of Iufaa’s tomb shaft.1194 A further corridor ran from near the western end of the main corridor to the bottom of the western secondary shaft of Iufaa’s tomb. Another trench was found some two metres west of the western secondary shaft and this contained wooden beams which were probably used as a device for lowering Iufaa’s burial chamber.1195

A sloping trench ran southwards from a point roughly midway between Iufaa’s tomb and the eastern structure (Figure 67) to a point opposite the south-eastern corner of the tomb, where it was blocked by a very large mud-brick wall, behind which was a shaft four metres deep, descending into the bedrock.1191 This seems to parallel the pit that descends into the bedrock within several of the Saite-Persian Shaft Tombs.1192 A corridor 0.90m x 2.30m high ran twenty-six metres from that shaft in a direction slightly south of west. Two chambers had been cut into the southern wall of this corridor and these contained some twenty large storage jars of mummification materials, while the remains of a mummy mask were found close to one of them.1193 The corridor had been filled with clean sand. Two wooden coffins, of Iufaa’s sister Imakhetheretresnet (Figure 69) and an anonymous man were at the farthest end of the corridor.

Figure 70. Plan and east-west section through the tomb of Necho. [From Bareš, et al. (2005): Fig. 1]

NECHO. Darius I. Necho’s intact burial was found in the western wall of the western secondary shaft of Iufaa’s tomb,1196 in a burial chamber 2.90m x 0.95m x 0.70m high, on an east-west axis and cased with limestone panels (Figure 70). The chamber was built of limestone blocks and contained a

1187

Bareš et al. (2002): 101. Bareš et al. (2002): 97 ff. Bareš et al. (2002): 97 ff. 1190 Bareš et al. (2002): 100. 1191 Bareš et al. (2002): 102. 1192 See the discussion of this feature in Chapter 3. 1193 Bareš et al. (2002): 103. 1188 1189

1194

Spencer (2004a): 25. Bareš et al. (2005): 95. 1196 Bareš et al. (2005): 98. 1195

113

THE ELITE LATE PERIOD EGYPTIAN TOMBS OF MEMPHIS PADIHOR. Darius I.

box-shaped wooden outer sarcophagus within which was an anthropoid wooden inner coffin. The body had its head to the east. Three shafts were cut into the bedrock below the burial chamber, each filled with yellow sand; a pair of shafts under the centre of the coffin each contained two canopic jars with human heads, while the shaft nearest to the tomb entrance contained a linen parcel of unidentifiable organic matter in a jar.1197

The tomb of Padihor [R1 on Figure 80] lies slightly to the east of that of Iufaa. It had a 12.00m deep main shaft, 4.80m x 3.20m, and a smaller shaft to the east, leading by means of a small passage to the burial chamber at the foot of the main shaft.1204 The burial chamber was 2.40m x 0.90m x 1.25m high and on an east-west axis. Marks in red on the walls of the burial chamber show where it had been intended to cut niches, presumably for the canopic jars or magic bricks.1205 The tomb was originally surrounded by a mud-brick wall.1206

MENEKHIBNEKO. Darius I. The tomb of Menekhibneko is currently being excavated by the Czech mission and has a decorated, battered limestone enclosure wall, largely destroyed in antiquity.1198 Once more, this was orientated with the sides to the cardinal points (Figure 71). It had a central main shaft, 12.50m x 12.00m x 20.00m deep,1199 with secondary shafts to the south and west.1200 Ladislav Bareš believes that the western shaft was used during construction.1201 Two small shafts were to the south of the enclosure wall: one, to the southwest corner of the structure, 1.70m x 1.50m and 12.00m deep, lined with mud-brick and leading to an oblong chamber with three lateral niches at the west, contained pottery storage jars with mummification and burial equipment.1202 The second small shaft 1.10m x 1.00m, was covered by limestone slabs and this was the secondary shaft giving access to the burial chamber. Menekhibneko was laid in the burial chamber, which had a vaulted ceiling, with his head to the north. Ladislav Bareš has conjectured a rectangular superstructure within the round-topped limestone enclosure wall, which would have had battered outer walls and a concave cornice, and within which there might have been several rooms.1203

TOMB R3. Darius I? About sixty metres from the northeast corner of the enclosure of Iufaa’s tomb is the Saite-Persian Shaft Tomb R3, with a mudbrick superstructure 11.50m square.1207 Although undecorated and uninscribed, it is included here because it forms part of the important cluster of SaitePersian Shaft Tombs in Abusir and, from its size, it must have been built for an elite person of considerable wealth. A limestone enclosure wall appears to have surrounded the main shaft. A mudbrick-lined sunken courtyard, 0.40m below ground level and accessed from the east by three steps, was at the centre of the southern face of the superstructure.1208 The walls of the courtyard were probably considerably higher, placing the courtyard below ground level.1209 A small corridor led from there to the rectangular central main shaft, 2.10m x 1.80m and 22.00m deep. No views have been expressed about the function of this courtyard, but it could conceivably have been a cult place in imitation of one at the Saite entrance into the Step Pyramid, which was also at the south. It has been conjectured that the corridor leading from this into the main shaft also mimics the Saite entrance that was cut in the same position into the Step Pyramid of Djoser.1210 Half way down the shaft was a niche to each of the north and south sides, in the northern one of which were found the remains of a wooden anthropoid coffin.1211 At the base of the shaft was a cavity 3.20m square within which the white limestone sarcophagus 2.50m x 1.40m1212 sat directly on a bed of sand on an east-west axis. The interior coffin was anthropoid and the head was to the west. Although the sarcophagus had been firmly closed, there was no other evidence that the tomb had been occupied; it was robbed in antiquity.1213 A trench to the east of this tomb, but within the superstructure, seems to have been for the handling of the burial equipment. The small secondary shaft of the tomb lies to the west.1214 A large pit running westwards from the south-eastern corner of the sunken courtyard contained pottery dated

Figure 71. The tomb of Menekhibneko. [From Bareš (2005b): webpage]

1204

Bareš et al. (2002): 105. Author’s visit. 1206 Bareš et al. (2002): 105. 1207 Bareš et al. (2003): 149. 1208 Bareš et al. (2003): 149. 1209 Bareš et al. (2003): 149. 1210 Bareš et al. (2003): 149. 1211 Bareš et al. (2003): 150. 1212 Bareš (2005c) webpage. 1213 Ladislav Bareš, personal communication. 1214 Bareš et al. (2003): 151. 1205

1197

Bareš et al. (2005): 102. Bareš (2005b) webpage. Morrison (2007): webpage. 1200 Bareš et al. (2003): 152. 1201 Ladislav Bareš, personal communication. 1202 Bareš et al. (2005): 98, Bareš (2005b) webpage. 1203 Bareš et al. (2005): 97. 1198 1199

114

APPENDIX A: THE STRUCTURES

SAQQARA

unfinished Saite-Persian Shaft Tomb and that the “chimneys” are secondary shafts, but in the absence of any drawings of the excavation it is not possible to confirm this.

Tomb cluster in the area of the Unas pyramid

HOR [Tomb LS 18]. Date unknown.

UDJAHOR. Date unknown.

This tomb lies to the southwest of the Teti pyramid and is dated to the Twenty-sixth Dynasty (Figure 72). It is included here because, although it is uninscribed and there is no evidence of the use of stone in its structure, Hor’s titles suggest that he was close to the king and therefore elite.

stylistically to the end of the Sixth Century or the beginning of the Fifth Century BC .1215

The tomb of Udjahor was excavated in 1901 by Alexandre Barsanti.1216 The 8.50m x 8.25m shaft descended twenty metres. At the bottom of the shaft was a limestone sarcophagus, without a burial chamber. This was 4.50m x 2.80m and had been placed centrally in the shaft, with the head to the west, and within this was a wooden coffin.1217 The secondary shaft was to the south of the main burial shaft, but this had been cut to a depth of only six metres.1218 Niches to the north and to the south of the shaft had each held one hundred and ninety-eight ushebtis, and some fifty were found at a depth of four metres in the main shaft. At the head of the sarcophagus was the canopic jar of Duamutef and to the feet were those of Hapi and Kebhsenuf; the canopic jar of Amset was not recovered from the water that filled the tomb.1219 Further canopic jars were inside the wooden coffin.1220 It seems that construction work on this tomb was interrupted, possibly by the untimely death of Udjahor. Tomb cluster to the northeast of the Step Pyramid

Figure 72. Ground plan of the tomb of Hor. (From Lepsius (1897 [Reprinted 1975]) Vol. I, 172)

HARKHEBI. Date unknown. The tomb of Harkhebi lay close to the road leading from Memphis to the Step Pyramid and two thirds of the way along it.1221 His burial shaft, between five and seven metres on each side, was central within “a sort of square room of nine metre sides, partly rock-cut and partly built of brick”.1222 from which it descended fifteen metres. On the east and west sides of the shaft a “chimney”, 1.00m square, was cut for three-quarters of the height. This was “of the type that permits the removal of sand when the sarcophagus was placed at the bottom”.1223

Tomb cluster in the vicinity of the Monastery of Apa Jeremias. KHEDHEBNEITH-YERBONI and two people called PSAMTEK. Date unknown. The joint tomb of Khedhebneith-Yerboni and of two men called Psamtek is probably a Saite-Persian Shaft Tomb. The burial of Khedhebneith-Yerboni was to the west and those of the two Psamteks were to the east.1224 Nothing more is known.

The unfinished burial chamber measured 9.25m on its north wall, 8.50m on its west wall, 9.68m on its south wall and 8.80m on its east wall, and was orientated eastwest. It contained a large white sarcophagus which, in turn, contained a black basalt inner sarcophagus. The mummy was encased in bitumen. It seems probable from the description of the burial chamber that this is an

2

SHAFT TOMBS.

Shaft Tombs appear to have been the logical successors to the Saite-Persian Shaft Tombs, which they sometimes partly resemble.

1215 Smolarikova in Bareš et al. (2003): 153-4. This was mainly from eastern Greece and from Syria-Palestine or Phoenicia, probably coming from the Nile Delta. Such Egyptian pottery as was present was of a style characteristic of the Saite Sixth Century BC. 1216 Barsanti (1902): 209. 1217 Barsanti (1902): 210. 1218 Barsanti (1902): 209. 1219 Barsanti (1902): 210. 1220 Barsanti (1902): 212. 1221 Daressy (1903a): 76. 1222 Daressy (1903a): 76. 1223 Daressy (1903a): 76.

1224 Porter and Moss (1979): Vol. III, Part 2, 670; Corteggiani in BIFAO (1973): 153, notes 3-6; Burton MSS 25618, 28, 29 verso and 30; Burton’s Collectanea Aegyptiaca – British Library 15613-75, 19812-60.

115

THE ELITE LATE PERIOD EGYPTIAN TOMBS OF MEMPHIS OLD CAIRO – al-Fustat.

GIZA

PAWEN-HATEF. Date unknown, but after the Persian conquest.

Tomb cluster in and around the Temple of Isis. KHEPERRA. Date unknown.

Figure 74. Section through the tomb of Kheperra at Giza. Figure 73. The tomb of Pawen-Hatef at al-Fustat. [From Hamada (1937a): Figure 68]

The only elite Late Period tomb discovered in al-Fustat to date is the shaft tomb of Pawen-Hatef. His shaft, of uncertain depth, led to a burial chamber 7.50m x 4.50m, within which was a large1225 rectangular Tura limestone sarcophagus carved with an anthropoid interior shape (Figure 73). The head was towards the east. Centrally on each side of the sarcophagus there was a ‘box’ of limestone slabs erected on sand.1226 The apparent groove that is shown on the western side of the shaft is paralleled by those to north and south of the main shaft of Udjahorresnet (Figures 65 and 66). The tomb has been badly destroyed as a result of quarrying works and much of the structure of the shaft (or shafts) has disappeared. The tomb of Pawen-Hatef and his sarcophagus have the general appearance of a Saite-Persian Shaft Tomb.

Figure 75. Plan of the tomb of Kheperra at Giza. [From Haynes (1988): Figs. 82 and 85] 1225 The sarcophagus weighed 60 tons and took two months to transfer to the Cairo Museum. 1226 Hamada (1937a): 137.

116

APPENDIX A: THE STRUCTURES Tomb LG 81 had a portico with four lotus-flower capitals in front of a chapel cut into the rock of Khafra’s causeway, towards the pyramid1232 (Figure 76).1233 The main room of the chapel had two pillars which stood above a deep shaft, referred to as a ‘well’ or ‘spring’1234 by Carl Lepsius when he visited.1235 The walls were plastered. The shaft, which does not appear to have been excavated, measured 2.15m x 1.98m. There was an inner chamber 3.24m x 3.04m which was unfinished.

Cut into Mastaba G7757A (Map 4) was the shaft burial of the Prince and Mayor Kheperra (Figures 74 and 75) and his family. The shaft was 14.50m deep and opened at the sides, at various levels, into ten burial chambers, five of which contained sarcophagi. In one room1227 was the wooden coffin of Kheperra’s mother, Tasheritnesisis.1228 Kheperra’s own burial chamber was 12.50m below ground. It was lined with limestone blocks, which had been cemented in place,1229 and contained the black basalt anthropoid sarcophagus of the deceased1230 with its head to the north. After interment the burial chamber was closed by cementing stones between it and the shaft, which was filled with sand. Figure 74 shows that the shaft of this tomb continued below the burial chamber into the bedrock and there appear to have been several niches in the walls, both of which are features associated with the Osiris Tomb, discussed in Chapter 3.

TOMB LG 82. Date unknown. The anonymous Tomb LG 82 was vaulted, with a rock cut shaft leading from the vaulted chamber (Figure 77).1236

Tomb cluster in the vicinity of the Sphinx. Of the tombs along Khafra’s causeway, LG 81 to LG 83 and LG 85 all have deep shafts ending in burial chambers, some of which have pillars. TOMB LG 81. Date unknown. This is possibly the tomb of Horemakhet.1231

Figure 77. Tomb LG 82. [From el-Naggar (1999): Doc. 298]

TOMB LG 83. Date unknown.1237 Tomb LG 83 had a single shaft in which the General Ahmosi and his mother Queen Nakhtbasteteru, wife of King Amasis, were buried in black basalt sarcophagi.1238 A third sarcophagus, belonging to Tashentihet, daughter of Desnub, was also recovered from the tomb.1239 The deep shaft was cut through Khafra’s causeway itself, from the substance of which it would have taken considerable power. The tomb was on three levels (Figure 78). The first level had a simple chamber; at the second level, six lateral chambers contained two sarcophagi. The third level consisted of a raised platform with four pillars around a central cut-out for the 1232

el-Sadeek (1984): 116. The lotus is a symbol of resurrection. 1234 Lepsius (1897 [1975 Reprint]): Vol. I, 97. 1235 Lepsius (1897 [1975 Reprint]): Vol. I, 97. 1236 Lepsius (1897): 98. 1237 If the burials of Ahmosi and queen Nakhtbasteteru were intended to be in this tomb, then a Saite date would be probable. However, from the style of this Shaft Tomb, a later date would seem more likely and the sarcophagi of Ahmosi and the queen may well have been moved there from their original place of burial. 1238 Porter and Moss (1978-1981): Vol. III, Part 1, 289. Both sarcophagi are in St. Petersburg Hermitage Museum; that of Ahmosi is 766, and that of Nakhtbasteteru is 767. 1239 el-Sadeek (1984): 125. The sarcophagus was left in the tomb but its lid was taken to Cairo School of Medicine; it is now lost. 1233

Figure 76. Tomb LG 81. [From Lepsius (1897a): I, Pl. 14, 27; II, Pl 278]

1227

Room III. der Manuelian (2005) webpage. 1229 Haynes (1988): 176. 1230 Boston Museum of Fine Arts 30.834. Buhl (1959): 27. 1231 el-Sadeek (1984): 114. The name was recovered from two ushebtis, Berlin nos. 345 and 352. 1228

117

THE ELITE LATE PERIOD EGYPTIAN TOMBS OF MEMPHIS Khafra’s pyramid.1243 Also to the west of the Sphinx, in an area where he is hoping to locate the tombs of priests who maintained the cult of Khufu in the Twenty-sixth Dynasty, are four other shafts,1244 of which one is 30.00m deep and leads to six side chambers.1245 This is an ‘Osiris Tomb’ with a symbolic empty sarcophagus on a mound with four pillars. The tomb produced a box of four hundred and four ushebtis, each 0.15m high.1246

sarcophagus; a trench surrounded this platform. The first two chambers were orientated north-south, enabling those in the lateral burial chambers to be orientated east-west. The third chamber was on an east-west axis.1240

Further Late Period tombs have been discovered by the Supreme Council of Antiquities in the area of Khafra’s causeway (Figure 80). These have produced a painted wooden coffin with a round top and an anthropoid wooden coffin surrounded by pottery jars and amulets.1247

Figure 78. Sketch of Tomb LG 83. Figure 80. Photograph of Khafra’s causeway. (Author’s photograph).

TOMB LG 85. Date unknown. The anonymous Tomb LG 85 was positioned in front of the Khafra pyramid.1241 It had a single deep shaft with a burial chamber at the bottom, “above a fountain”.1242 The burial chamber contained a central pillar built to support the sarcophagus (Figure 79). The “fountain” would represent a clear Osirian feature, but no further detail is known.

SAQQARA Tomb cluster in the area of the Unas Pyramid. NESBANEBDJEDET. Date unknown. Slightly to the southwest of the tomb of Djanehibu, at the southwest corner of Unas’ pyramid, was the tomb of Nesbanebdjedet, also known as Smendes. This had a single shaft, 2.50m x 3.00m and 8.00m deep, at the bottom of which the sarcophagus lay directly on the bedrock and not in a burial chamber, centrally within the shaft.1248 The sarcophagus was of white limestone which was recessed to take an anthropoid wooden coffin, with the head to the west. A small offering table with a rapidly written Phoenician inscription was found in the corner of the shaft.1249 Nothing more is known of this tomb. It would seem that Nesbanebdjedet wanted to be buried in this important and sacred area but possibly lacked the economic clout to build a Saite-Persian Shaft Tomb.

Figure 79. Tomb LG 85. [From Lepsius (1897 [Reprinted 1975]) Vol. I, 101.)

1243

Yahoo! News, at http:///tinyurl.com/66fnz on 3rd September 2004. Ikram (2006): 8. 1245 Sadallah, "26th Dynasty Tomb Unearthed near Sphinx," The Egyptian Gazette, 25th September 2005. 1246 Hawass, personal communication, Cairo, September 2005. 1247 Spencer (2006a): 29. 1248 Barsanti (1900b): 189. 1249 Barsanti (1900b): 190.

Zahi Hawass discovered another shaft of an anonymous Twenty-sixth Dynasty tomb between the Sphinx and

1244

1240

Hawass (2000a) website. Lepsius (1897 [1975 Reprint]): Vol. I, 101. 1242 Lepsius (1895 [1975 Reprint]): Vol. I, 101. 1241

118

APPENDIX A: THE STRUCTURES Perhaps he chose his place of burial but simply died too soon. KANEFER. Date unknown.

Figure 82. The tomb of Irahor. [Based on Lepsius (1897a): III, 280]

PSAMTEK-NEBPEHTI. Date unknown. The Twenty-sixth Dynasty tomb (LS 19) of PsamtekNebpehti was to the southwest of the pyramid of Teti. This had a fifteen metre deep shaft leading to a chamber at the west, from which the burial chamber led further west via another shaft (Figure 83).1252 Without any evidence of superstructure, or any further detail, it is difficult to draw any conclusions as to the reasons for its architectural form.

Figure 81. The family tomb of Kanefer. [From Batrawi (1950): Figure 1]

The intact family tomb of Kanefer (Figure 81) was excavated by Ahmed el-Batrawi in 1949. It lay south of the Unas pyramid complex, southeast of the solar boat, and had undecorated, rock-cut underground chambers at the bottom of two shafts, each some twenty metres deep. This may have been conceived as two separate tombs. The chambers contained several cedar, or sycamore, coffins.1250 It seems likely that this family depended for the maintenance of their mortuary cult upon the decoration and inscriptions of the funerary chapel, which would have been above ground but of which no evidence remains, rather than upon magical texts on the walls of their burial chamber. Tomb cluster to the northeast of the Step Pyramid. IRAHOR. Date unknown.

Figure 83. Section through the tomb of Psamtek-Nebpehti. [From: Lepsius (1897a): III, 279]

Tomb LS 23 belonged to Irahor. The deep shaft opened on the west into an antechamber from which the burial chamber was entered through a door in the south wall (Figure 82).1251 There were two niches on each of the east, west and south walls of the burial chamber. These are clearly Osirian features, forming, with the entrance doorway, the seven ‘gates’. From Carl Lepsius’ report, it appears that the sarcophagus might have been recessed and therefore have formed an island.

1250 1251

Tomb in the vicinity of the Monastery of Apa Jeremias. ANKHWAHIBRASANEITH. Date unknown. The tomb of the General Ankhwahibrasaneith lay in the vicinity of the Monastery. None of the superstructure survives, but the substructure, which was on two levels, remains.1253 The first level was below shaft P1 (Figure 84), 1.90m x 1.40m, which reached, at a depth of 18.50m, a large hall to the south, from which two rectangular burial chambers led to each of the east and west. Each was 2.50m x 1.10m with carefully dressed walls. From 1252

Brinton (1949): 142. Lepsius (1897 [1975 Reprint]): 177.

1253

119

Lepsius (1897 [1975 Reprint]): 172. Chaban (1917): 178.

THE ELITE LATE PERIOD EGYPTIAN TOMBS OF MEMPHIS PTAHIRDIS and PADIBASTET. Dates unknown.

the centre of the hall another shaft, P2, 1.75m x 1.50m, led, at a depth of 23.00m, to burial chambers at the east, west and south of the shaft.

The tombs of Ptahirdis, Padibastet and another unnamed person were cut into the face of the quarry northwest of the Sphinx (Figure 85). They were discovered by Henry Salt in 1820, and Gardner Wilkinson drew what he found when he visited the site in 1821.1257 Ptahirdis’ tomb had a forecourt constructed with two columns and an altar; the inner, rock-cut chamber, which was undecorated, had a central shaft. Of the adjacent tomb of Padibastet, we know only that it has been dated between the Twentysixth and the Thirtieth Dynasties,1258 while the third, anonymous, tomb is merely a single room and a single shaft, of which no details are recorded.

The superstructure of this tomb was probably decorated, and the lack of decoration below ground suggests that Ankhwahibrasaneith relied upon the texts on his sarcophagus1254 to help him into the next life. He may also have died too early for the intended decoration to have been carried out to the walls.

Tomb cluster on the south Giza escarpment. HOR, UDJAHOR, NIWAHIBRA.

TAIRY,

PADISET

and

Figure 84. The two levels of the tomb of Ankhwahibrasaneith. Left. First level. Right. Second level. [From: Chaban (1917): 178]

3

ROCK CUT TOMBS

Tomb cluster in the vicinity of the Sphinx. Selim Hasan found Twenty-sixth Dynasty anthropoid coffins in rock-cut tombs in the central field at Giza1255 and excavated the rock-cut tombs to the northwest of the Sphinx in 1931. Some of the Old Kingdom tombs northwest of the Sphinx (Figure 85) were reused in the Late Period, but more usually their funerary chapels were converted during the New Kingdom into cult chapels for the Sphinx.1256

Figure 86. Plans and elevations of tombs LG 103, LG 104, LG 105 and LG 106. [From el-Naggar (1999): Doc. 299-A]

Situated on an escarpment to the south of the pyramid complex at Giza, looking over the plain, is a series of Late Period tombs, dominated by the mastaba tomb of Tjery, which will be described later. These are the tombs

Figure 85. The tombs northwest of the Sphinx. [From el-Sadeek (1984): 133, Plan X]

1254

1257

The whereabouts of the sarcophagus is not known. el-Sadeek (1984): 6. 1256 Hasan (1932): 12.

el-Sadeek (1984): 134. Zivie-Coche (1991): 289 considers this to be the date of the tomb on the basis of the style of clothing worn by the deceased in the reliefs.

1255

1258

120

APPENDIX A: THE STRUCTURES of Hor,1259 Udjahor (called Psamtek Sa-Sakhmet), Tairy, Padiset and Niwahibra.1260 Each of the tombs had a courtyard, with a vaulted, rock-cut chapel behind and a burial chamber at the bottom of a deep pit (Figures 86 and 87). The vaulted chambers were followed axially by two more square chambers. In the tomb of Tairy and Padiset, the shaft ended in a single burial chamber with niches for multiple burials.1261 In that of Niwahibra each of the square chambers had a square shaft but only the second led to a burial chamber, again divided for multiple burials; the first shaft connected with the second by means of a horizontal passage. The connection of the two burial shafts, of which only one was used for burial, is reminiscent of that feature of the Saite-Persian Shaft Tomb.

SAQQARA Tomb cluster on the eastern escarpment. BAKENRENEF. Psamtek I.

Figure 88. Plan of the tomb of Bakenrenef in Saite times. [From el-Naggar (1978): 54]

Beside the asphalt road into the archaeological site of Saqqara, to the north of the Valley Temple of Unas (Map 9), lies the huge rock-cut family tomb of the Vizier Bakenrenef1262, numbered LS 24. It would have been on the edge of the Nile flood plain at the time it was built and some twenty metres above it.1263 Saleh el-Naggar has studied the history and architecture of vaulting1264 and has concluded, from the style of vaulting in Bakenrenef’s tomb, that it would appear to date from about year 21 of Psamtek I, when a similar vaulted ceiling was built in the Serapeum.1265

Figure 87. Photographs of tombs LG 103, LG 104 and LG 105. (Reading from top to bottom). [From el-Naggar (1999): Doc. 289A]

The exterior court of this tomb [A], open to the sky, at 9.70m x 9.20m, was almost square with a small

1259 Hor’s tomb is LG 101; Udjahor’s is LG 102; of tombs LG 103 to LG 106, Lepsius gave only a section [1897 (1975 reprint): 125], while el-Sadeek [1984: 91] confirms that Lepsius recorded neither inscriptions nor decoration in any of these tombs and Zivie-Coche [1991: 298-300] again confirms this lack of evidence. The tomb of Niwahibra was discovered by A. Bey Kamal in 1907, and those of Padiset and Tairy by Abu Bakr in 1945-1946. 1260 el-Sadeek (1984): 91. 1261 Zivie-Coche (1991): 300.

1262

He was called ‘Bocchoris’ in Greek. el-Naggar (1978): 41. 1264 “Les Voûtes dans l’architecture de l’Égypte ancienne” (1999). IFAO, le Caire. 1265 el-Naggar (1986): 17. 1263

121

THE ELITE LATE PERIOD EGYPTIAN TOMBS OF MEMPHIS rectangular basin at its centre (Figures 88 and 89). It has been suggested that entry into the court, which was at the eastern end of the tomb complex, was through a pylon.1266

Figure 89. Section through the tomb of Bakenrenef, looking south. [From Bresciani, et al. (1983): Figure 4]

The rectangular entrance hall [B] was 4.80m x 6.20m and had a flat ceiling at the centre of which were cartouches of Psamtek I, confirming the dating of the tomb.1267 Two pits were cut into the floor. This hall gave way, via a short passage with two small side chambers, to a rectangular pillared hall [C], cleared by James Quibell in 1910.1268 This hall is 11.65m x 7.65m (Figure 91). The central part of the ceiling in the pillared hall was vaulted and lined with limestone, while the outer sections were flat (Figure 90).1269 There were two niches to each of the north, south and west walls of the pillared hall. Side chambers [H] and [I] from the innermost end of this hall contained shafts leading to the burial complex. These side chambers measured 2.67m x 3.40m and the shafts were 1.44m x 1.35m.1270

Figure 91. Sketch of Chamber C from the tomb of Bakenrenef. [From Wilkinson (1843): 382]

Figure 90. Section through Chamber C in Bakenrenef's tomb. [From el-Naggar (1986): Figure 10]

Figure 92. Plan of the tomb of Bakenrenef and the Twenty-sixth Dynasty galleries. [Based on Bresciani, et al. (1983): Figures 2 and 3]

1266

el-Naggar (1978): 43. el-Naggar (1978): 53. 1268 Quibell (1911): 275. 1269 el-Naggar (1986): 19. 1270 el-Naggar (1978): 47. 1267

122

APPENDIX A: THE STRUCTURES the existence of Twenty-seventh Dynasty shafts cut from this passage suggests an earlier date. Further burial chambers were added in the Twenty-seventh Dynasty (Figure 95) and the tomb was modified and repaired in the Thirtieth Dynasty.1278

A rectangular chamber [D in Figures 88 and 93] led from the west end of the pillared hall and contained the main burial shaft of the tomb (Figure 92). This room also had four niches in the walls and the central part of the ceiling was vaulted.1271 A further inner chamber [E] lay to the west and at the west side of this innermost room was a false door containing a statue.1272 By comparison with the rock cut tombs in Thebes, to which this tomb shows a close architectural relationship,1273 this was probably a statue of Osiris1274. The ceiling was flat. The small side chambers [F] and [G] opened from the sides of the innermost room and each of these had a vaulted ceiling (Figure 94).1275

Figure 93. Section through Chamber D in Bakenrenef's tomb. [From el-Naggar (1986): Figure 6]

Figure 95. The tomb of Bakenrenef and the Twenty-seventh Dynasty galleries. [Based on Bresciani, et al. (1983): Figures 2 and 3]

The tomb of Bakenrenef was used continually over an extended period. The main shaft – shaft 1 – led from the innermost chamber [D]. It was 1.52m x 1.30m and descended some thirteen metres to open on its north side (Figures 88 and 92) into a rectangular antechamber which led, in turn, to the sarcophagus chamber at the west.1279 The sarcophagus was orientated north-south at the western end of this chamber. A plinth at the western end of the sarcophagus chamber held several skulls and other bones.1280

Figure 94. Section through Chamber F in Bakenrenef's tomb. [From el-Naggar (1986): Figure 4]

A passage from the two side chambers [H] and [I] ran around the north, south and west sides of the two inner rooms and a further small room led from the northwest corner (Figure 97). Another shaft led from this room, and yet another from the western passage. In the west wall of the passage four small rough-cut chambers had been cut at high level. Saleh el-Naggar suggested, on the basis of reused blocks,1276 that these passages, and the constructions connected with them, were much later, probably dating from the Ptolemaic Period,1277 although 1271

el-Naggar (1978): 47. el-Naggar (1978): 47. 1273 See pages 40 ff. 1274 Harwa’s tomb, for example, had an Osiris statue in this position. [Tiradritti (2004): Figure 5]. 1275 el-Naggar (1978): 47. 1276 el-Naggar (1986): 19. 1277 el-Naggar (1978): 54. 1272

1278

el-Naggar (1978): 53. el-Naggar (1978): 49. 1280 el-Naggar (1978): 49. 1279

123

THE ELITE LATE PERIOD EGYPTIAN TOMBS OF MEMPHIS rectangular limestone sarcophagus bearing the name of Horiraa (II). The largest room was 3.37m x 3.10m and contained two limestone sarcophagi bearing the names of Horiraa (III) and Horiraa (IV). There were no niches to the walls of this room or within the sarcophagi found there.1287 All the sarcophagi in the eastern gallery were orientated north-south and had the head to the north. All the limestone sarcophagi were anthropoid inside, while the basalt ones were not.1288 The eastern gallery was used over an extended period, the dates suggested for the incumbents being: Horiraa (I) ca. 495 BC Horiraa (II) ca. 445 BC Horiraa (III) ca. 410 BC Horiraa (IV) ca. 370 BC Padineith ca. 420-365 BC.1289 The tomb is thus securely dated to the Twenty-seventh to Thirtieth Dynasties. Whether or not there was a direct relationship between these tomb occupants is not known.

Figure 96. Detail of the eastern gallery (lower level) from Shaft 2 in Bakenrenef's tomb. [From Bresciani (1978): Fig. 2]

Shaft 2, 1.44m x 1.55m, descended 16.10m from the southern side chamber [H] off the pillared hall to end in two chambers, one to the east and one to the west, each 2.50m x 1.45m.1281 Another two galleries, to east and west, were cut at a later date at 6.60m from the top of the shaft. The limestone blocks used for the walls of the eastern gallery were less finely cut than those of the walls of the main tomb, suggesting a later date for this gallery.1282 Five side chambers led from the eastern gallery (Figures 95 and 96).1283 The first of these, 3.10m x 1.60m, had two large niches in the east wall. This room contained a limestone sarcophagus with the name of Horiraa (I), which had two small niches on each long side within it.1284 There was a small niche on each of the three walls of this room, probably for magic bricks,1285 making the room itself into an outer sarcophagus. The second chamber, 2.65m x 1.30m, had similar large and small niches in the walls and contained the black basalt sarcophagus of Padineith, which again had four small internal niches, this time presumed to be for canopic jars.1286 Here again, the limestone room became the outer sarcophagus within which the basalt inner sarcophagus rested. The third room, 2.20m x 1.30m, had the same large niches but no small ones and no sarcophagus. The fourth room was wedge-shaped with a

Figure 97. Final plan of the tomb of Bakenrenef. [Based on Bresciani, et al. (1983): Figure 2]

1287

Bresciani, el-Naggar and Pernigotti (1983): 44. Bresciani, el-Naggar and Pernigotti (1983): 48. The dating of the burials was from inscriptions in the sarcophagi, demotic and hieratic texts and other archaeological material [Bresciani (1981): 18]. Padineith is known to have been vizier in the Thirtieth Dynasty [Bresciani (1981): 18]. The dates are from Bresciani, elNaggar, and Pernigotti (1983): 32.

1281

1288

el-Naggar (1978): 51. 1282 el-Naggar (1978): 51. 1283 el-Naggar (1978): 51. 1284 Bresciani, el-Naggar and Pernigotti (1983): 44. 1285 Bresciani, el-Naggar and Pernigotti (1983): 44. 1286 Leclant (1982): Plate XLV, Figure 19.

1289

124

APPENDIX A: THE STRUCTURES Shaft 3, 1.89m x 1.80m, descended 12.75m from the northern side chamber [I] off the pillared hall. At the bottom this opened into a north and a south chamber, each 3.60m x 1.05m. Here again, two galleries were later cut 6.00m from the top. The eastern gallery had eight side chambers and the western has fourteen. No traces were found of the occupants of this section of the tomb.1290 TOMB BN 1. Probably Thirtieth Dynasty. Immediately to the north of the tomb of Bakenrenef is Tomb BN 1, thought to be of Hapimen of the Thirtieth Dynasty.1291 Two staircases, built of limestone, descended to two in-line chambers parallel to the earlier tomb of Bakenrenef and shaped so as to avoid breaking into that earlier tomb (Map 9 and Figure 97).1292 PASHERINTAIHET. Late Thirtieth Dynasty. The tomb [BN 2] of Pasherintaihet, dating from the end of the Thirtieth Dynasty, lies to the north of the tomb BN 1 (Map 9 and Figure 97).1293 His tomb consisted of four rooms leading from a monumental limestone entrance door. These rooms were in line on an east-west axis, with a further four rooms leading from these to the north: one from the first room, two from the second and one from the third. This asymmetrical shape is due to the existence of the earlier tomb of Bakenrenef to the south. The rooms had vaulted ceilings.1294 4

Figure 98. The three tombs at Matareya, of which the central is that of Wahibra-Tjeset. [From Gauthier (1927): Figure 2]

VAULTED CHAMBER TOMBS.

HELIOPOLIS WAHIBRA-TJESET. Date unknown. Henri Gauthier found three adjacent tombs in Matareya, of which the central, decorated tomb was said to be of Late Period date (Figure 98).1295 This was the tomb of Wahibra-Tjeset. It was 2.20m x 1.05m internally and 2.85m x 1.50m externally and orientated north-south. It was, in effect, a sarcophagus in itself. It had a vaulted ceiling and was entered from the south. It had a canopic niche in each wall.1296 His tomb was cut far away from the town of Heliopolis, whereas others were built right against the enclosure walls of the Sun Temple, suggesting that his title of ‘Divine Father’ was of only medium importance and did not give him sufficient status to build in a more prestigious area.

Figure 99. Tomb 2 at Heliopolis. [From Gauthier (1933): Fig. 2]

TOMB 2. Date unknown. The anonymous Tomb 2 had a 7.50m x 8.50m chamber (Figure 99), from the northwest corner of which a 1.00m square brick-lined shaft descended 4.80m to open on the east into a vaulted burial chamber 3.35m x 2.40m, containing six uninscribed sarcophagi.1297

1290

el-Naggar (1978): 51. Bresciani (1978): 10. Bresciani (1978): 10. 1293 Bresciani (1982): 191. 1294 Bresciani (1978): 12. 1295 Gauthier (1927): 4. 1296 Gauthier (1927): 4. 1291 1292

1297

125

Gauthier (1933): 35.

THE ELITE LATE PERIOD EGYPTIAN TOMBS OF MEMPHIS HOR-NEFERIBRASANEITH. Date unknown. The tomb of Hor Neferibrasaneith [Tomb 9] also had an empty white limestone sarcophagus, 5.00m x 3.00m x 2.50m, placed off-centre within a north-south chamber 17.00m x 13.00m and about three metres deep,1299 surrounded by a brick wall. Within this was a limestone inner sarcophagus. This tomb contained ushebtis bearing the names of five other people, which, together with the eccentric positioning of the sarcophagus, led Henri Gauthier to consider this to have been a multiple burial, probably of Hor Neferibrasaneith’s family. The positioning of the sarcophagus may well suggest that others had been removed before excavation and the multiple names on the ushebtis would then support Henri Gauthier’s view that there had been multiple burials.

Figure 100. Tomb 3 at Heliopolis. [From Gauthier (1933): Fig. 3]

TOMB 3. Date unknown

UDJAHORMEHNET. Date unknown.

Tomb 3 was 21.50m x 15.00m, orientated north-south and contained four limestone sarcophagi in a chamber 10.50m below ground (Figure 100).1298

Udjahormehnet’s tomb had a rectangular shaft 1.22m x 0.98m and 5.80m deep, leading to a vaulted burial chamber, 2.65m x 1.15m x 1.38m to the interior top of the vault, which was 0.48m high. The chamber walls were lined with limestone. The burial chamber appears to have been divided by a false floor (Figure 102), a structure found in Tomb D 57 at el-Amra and in the Saite-Persian Shaft Tomb of Pakap in Giza.

TOMBS 4 and 5. Dates unknown. Tomb 4, which was 17.50m x 14.00m, was orientated in an east-west direction with a central paved burial chamber 9.50m x 6.50m, while Tomb 5 was 14.15m square and contained three anthropoid stone sarcophagi. NESU-KHEDU. Date unknown.

Figure 102. Vertical section through the tomb of Udjahormehnet (I). [From Kamal (1896): Page 189]

INEFERI. Date unknown. The tomb of Ineferi seems to have had a vaulted limestone chamber containing an anthropoid sarcophagus, now in the Cairo Museum.1300 Nothing more is known.

Figure 101. The tomb of Nesu-Khedu at Heliopolis. [From Gauthier (1933): Fig. 4]

Nesu-Khedu’s tomb [Tomb 6] was surrounded by two brick walls some two metres apart, giving an internal space of 10.25m x 7.25m on an east-west axis (Figure 101). The whole tomb formed a white limestone sarcophagus within which there was a black inner one. 1299

Bickel and Tallet (1997): 83. Bickel and Tallet (1997): 80. The sarcophagus is Cairo Museum JE 89662. 1300

1298

el-Sadeek (1984): 184.

126

APPENDIX A: THE STRUCTURES PANEHSY. Psamtek II.1301

5

Panehsy’s tomb had a rectangular shaft six metres deep, ending in an antechamber east of the vaulted burial chamber, which was 3.40m x 2.00m x 1.90m high (Figure 103).1302

GIZA

THE MASTABA TOMB.

TJERY Tjery’s tomb was aligned roughly north-south, with the entrance at the south.1304 The chapel above ground was in the shape of a cross, with the burial shaft cut into the centre of the southern end of the south room. The north, east and west rooms of the superstructure had vaulted limestone roofs and there are indications that the large south room was open to the sky.1305 The walls were of Tura limestone skins with rubble infill. The exterior of the northern part of the tomb had ‘palace façade’ decoration (Figure 105). The 1.35m x 2.50m shaft of Tjery’s tomb descended 12.00m to a northern and a southern chamber: the northern chamber had a burial niche cut into the north wall, into which a trench was cut for the body. This was covered with a limestone slab, and the recess had an arched ceiling. The southern chamber had three niches cut into each side for subsequent burials. It is possible that there was another shaft cut into the floor of the southern burial chamber but, for reasons of safety, it has not been possible to investigate this.1306

Figure 104. Plan and section through the tomb of Tjery. [From el-Sadeek (1984): 18]

Figure 103. The tomb of Panehsy in Matareya. [From el-Sawi and Gomaa (1993): Abb. 1] Below: Section through the burial chamber. [From el-Naggar (1999): Doc. 297]

RAJAA. Date unknown. Rajaa had a small vaulted tomb, 2.71m x 1.00m, some 6 metres below ground, surmounted by a chapel. Rajaa’s sarcophagus is in Cairo Museum.1303 This tomb was flanked by two others, both undecorated.

1301 Dated by epigraphic means to the time of Psamtek II. [el-Sawi and Gomaa (1993): 7]. 1302 Bickel and Tallet (1987): 80. 1303 Sarcophagus: JE 89504; Blocks: JE 89503.

1304

el-Sadeek (1984): 8. el-Sadeek (1984): 17. 1306 el-Sadeek (1984): 21. 1305

127

THE ELITE LATE PERIOD EGYPTIAN TOMBS OF MEMPHIS NESDJHOUTY. Date unknown. Close to the Monastery of Apa Jeremias (Area 5 on Map 5), south of the Valley Temple of Unas, was the tomb of Nesdjhouty, which was orientated east-west. James Quibell thought that the tomb would have presented a ‘commanding view’ to those going to the Saqqara plateau.1311 The tomb chapel consisted of a pylon leading into a rectangular first court, in which a single column base was found (Figure 107).1312 The inner court had six columns.1313 To the west of the inner court were five small chapels, each containing a statue: the remains of a statue of Apis with a human body were found near the centre. In the centre of the pavement of the inner court there was a shaft, over twenty metres deep and lined with masonry, which led to a chamber 9.70m x 3.50m, on a north-south axis. Three smaller chambers led from the west and one from the north of the large chamber. Nesdjhouty’s rectangular limestone sarcophagus1314 was found in the southernmost chamber in the west wall. There had been a wooden coffin inside.1315

Figure 105. Petrie's plan of the tomb of Tjery, showing ‘palace façade’ panelling. [From Petrie (1907, Reprinted 1977): Plate Xxxvii]

On the ‘Mastaba Mount’, 200 metres south of the Sphinx, lies ‘Covington’s Tomb’. Jean Yoyotte excavated there in 1972, discovering evidence of Late Period mastaba tombs, including titles suggesting elite ownership, in the recovery of a ushebti belonging to an anonymous Prince, Mayor, Royal Chancellor, servant of Horus and ‘wr wADty’.1307 6

THE TEMPLE-COURT TOMB.

SAQQARA WENNEFER. Thirtieth Dynasty. To the south of the Avenue of Sphinxes in northern Saqqara, and therefore close to the sacred animal temples in that area, lay the tomb of Wennefer, who died in the Thirtieth Dynasty.1308 His tomb chapel was orientated north-south and had its entrance at the north, via a vestibule and a short passage, into a hall with four pillars (Figure 106).1309 Three chapels led off this hall to the south. The shaft, which was outside the northern face of the tomb chapel, to the east of the entrance, contained Wennefer’s granite sarcophagus.1310

Figure 107. The tomb chapel of Nesdjhouty. [From: Kitchen (1979): 284]

Figure 106. The tomb chapel of Wennefer. [From Grajetzki (2003): Figure 148]

1311

Quibell (1912): 31. Quibell (1912): 31. 1313 Gestermann (2006): 197 says that this court probably had eight columns. 1314 Cairo Museum CG 29312. 1315 Quibell (1912): 32. 1312

1307

Zivie-Coche (1991): 301. The titles are not detailed. Grajetzki (2003): 118. Grajetzki (2003): 118. 1310 Porter and Moss (1978-1981): Vol. III, part 2, 504. 1308 1309

128

APPENDIX A: THE STRUCTURES 7 BURIALS IN OTHER SACRED STRUCTURES.

8

TOMB IN THE OLD KINGDOM STYLE.

HELIOPOLIS GIZA RAMES Tomb cluster in and around the Temple of Isis. A staircase of five mudbrick steps led down to a corridor 1.05m long, which served as a funerary chapel for Rames. This led to a low doorway into the burial chamber, blocked by a dressed stone door sitting on a limestone sill. Stone jambs and lintel surrounded the door.1316 Behind this was the brick-lined transverse burial chamber, 4.00m x 1.90m, on an east-west axis (Figure 110). A niche was cut into the south wall, which may have been for canopic jars and ushebtis.1317

Figure 110. The tomb of Rames at Heliopolis. [From Gauthier (1921a): 198] Figure 108. The Temple of Isis.

THE TOMB OF PSAMTEK-SENEBU Psamtek-Senebu’s tomb had an oval ditch, 21.50m x 11.50m, surmounted by a tumulus. It was divided into equal halves by a transverse brick wall and other brick walls had probably supported a vaulted roof.1318 In the middle of the ditch was a chamber 16.00m x 6.00m on an east-west axis, itself divided into three rooms.1319 Nothing more is known.

Figure 109. The funerary apartments below Chapel 26 in the Temple of Isis. [From Zivie-Coche (1991): 204]

Several tombs were cut into the structure of the Temple of Isis (Figure 109), including those of Bepeshes and Ankhpakhered. Five generations of the family of Shepensenwt and Pami were buried in Tomb S at the bottom of a ten metre deep pit in the nearby Chapel 26 (Figure 108).

1316

These are in Cairo Museum JE 47120. el-Sadeek (1984): 184. Gauthier (1933): 30. The orientation of the tomb was not stated. 1319 Gauthier (1933): 33. 1317 1318

129

Padinisis.1326 The south wall has the offering prayers of Pyramid Text Utterances 25, 32 and 223, together with Coffin Text Spells 1511327 (for going out from the tomb) and 625 (for being among the Great Tribunal in the sky)1328 and the offering table formula.1329 The east wall contains a prayer to Isis to give breath to the deceased, followed by a series of spells against snakes1330 and Text ‘A’ as in the tomb of Padinisis. The west wall has a series of offering prayers and the spells of Nut protecting the deceased,1331 with Padinisis Text ‘B’.

APPENDIX B THE DECORATIONS AND INSCRIPTIONS FROM THE ELITE LATE PERIOD TOMBS OF THE MEMPHITE NECROPOLEIS. Where possible the tombs are listed in chronological order within each category; the tomb categories follow that set out in Chapter 3. 1

THE SAITE-PERSIAN SHAFT TOMB. NEFERIBRA-SA-NEITH Saqqara. Apries – Amasis.

HOR. Saqqara. Psamtek I – II

and

WAHIBRAMEN.

The north wall has Coffin Text Spells 179 and 215.1332 The south and east walls carry Coffin Text Spell 151 (for going out of the tomb); the east wall continues with Coffin Text Spells 179 (for gifts), 208 (for becoming the Bull of On), 625 and 716 (progression towards the Great Tribunal and for birth),1333 and Padinisis Texts ‘L’ and ‘M’, which run onto the north and west walls. These texts concern the deceased’s passage to rebirth in the next world, supported by offering gifts. The west wall concludes with Pyramid Text Utterance 226 (against snakes)1334 and Coffin Text Spell 215 (for not eating faeces or drinking urine in the Realm of the Dead),1335 both of which will assist the deceased’s happy existence when he arrives in the next world.

The top of the vaulted roof carries the name and titles of Hor, together with a prayer that he be purified by the Ennead. Nut and the sky are inscribed on the ceiling of the burial chamber – here on the outside of the roof.1320 The north side of the tomb has a Htp di nsw formula to Anubis above Pyramid Text Utterance 267. This text, an address to Osiris and Ra, forms the beginning of the series Utterances 267 – 269 – 270 that occur in several other Saite-Persian Shaft Tombs; here it is alone, although Etienne Drioton pointed out that only five of twenty-seven intended columns of text had been executed.1321 The south side has a Htp di nsw formula to Osiris, Lord of Djedu, below which is a list of offerings; the east side has Hor’s name and titles above the offering spells of Pyramid Text Utterances 72 to 81 and the protective spell of Utterance 368.1322

The associated tomb of Wahibramen is unfinished and uninscribed. PSAMTEK and SETAIRBINT. Saqqara. Amasis. The ceiling of Psamtek’s burial chamber is star-studded in imitation of the night sky. The walls to one side of his burial chamber have a frieze of offering depictions above the offering formula.1336 The north wall has Chapter 72 of the Book of the Dead, for going out into the day, a list of eight sacred oils and the formulae for their magical application to the deceased,1337 and Padinisis Texts ‘A’, ‘L’ and ‘M’.1338 The text on the south wall contains the spells against ‘noxious creatures’, for protection and for Psamtek to be recognised – an important matter if he is to

The walls inside the burial chamber are poorly dressed and uninscribed, but the offering scene, which one would expect to see associated with the offering spells, is depicted in black ink on the inside of the eastern wall of the tomb, where the deceased is in front of an offering table.1323 AMENTEFNAKHT. Saqqara. Apries – Amasis. The north wall of Amentefnakht’s tomb has a prayer to Anubis for proper burial and a series of texts, addressed to Osiris and Ra, the censing prayer and the summons to the celestial ferryman that form the sequence of Pyramid Text Utterances 267, 269 and 270 that has been found in the tomb of Hor, above. Also on this wall is the series of Coffin Text Spells: 179 (for bread and gifts, and for not eating faeces), 2081324 (to become the scribe of Hathor and the Bull of On) and 716 (a rebirth text),1325 together with Texts ‘L’ and ‘M’ also found in the tomb of

1326 Drioton (1953): 121 and Maspero (1900a): 256. Padinisis lines 496501, also found in the tomb of Horhotep. 1327 Coffin Texts II, 255-9. 1328 Gestermann (2005): 391. 1329 Drioton (1953): 117 and Maspero (1900a): 255. 1330 Pyramid Text Utterances 226, 228, 229, 233, 234, 235 and 237 to 242. 1331 Pyramid Text Utterances 35, 72 to 81, 368 and 588. Drioton (1953): 113. 1332 For receiving bread and for not eating faeces in the Realm of the Dead. Gestermann (2005): 391. 1333 Gestermann (2005): 391. 1334 §225b-§226a. 1335 Gestermann (2005): 391. 1336 I am grateful to Alan Fildes for making available to me his 1984 photographs of this tomb, now closed. 1337 Pyramid Text Utterances 72 to 81. Maspero (1900): 180 and Soukiassian (1982): 58. 1338 Gestermann (2005): 386.

1320

Bresciani, Pernigotti, and Giangeri Silvis (1977): 20. Drioton (1953): 125. 1322 Drioton (1953): 124. Saad (1947): 393 gives Pyramid Texts 506-51: this would seem to be an error of transcription from his notes as Pyramid Texts 50b-51 would seem more likely and would agree with Drioton’s reading. 1323 Saad (1947): 392. 1324 Coffin Texts III, 161. 1325 Gestermann (2005): 391. 1321

130

APPENDIX B: DECORATION AND INCRIPTIONS be admitted to the Field of Reeds.1339 Coffin Text Spells 363 and 4291340 and Chapter 44 of the Book of the Dead1341 acknowledge Psamtek’s arrival and pray that he will not die again, and the south wall ends with Padinisis Texts ‘B’ and ‘J’.1342 The east wall has a Htp di nsw formula to Anubis Imiut for a good burial, below which are addresses to Osiris and Ra, the censing prayer and the summons to the ferryman, all of which have been found in Amentefnakht’s tomb,1343 together with Chapter 148 of the Book of the Dead.1344 On the west wall, below a Htp di nsw formula to Osiris, Lord of Djedu, is the list of offerings and offering prayers,1345 accompanied by Padinisis Texts ‘H’ and ‘K’.1346

similar to those from the tomb of Pepi II, are also on this wall. Under a second Htp di nsw formula, this time to Ptah-Sokar, is another offering list. The west wall reproduces the east wall symmetrically under a Htp di nsw formula to Ptah-Sokar. It begins with the table of offerings and has the same classes of texts on the remainder of the wall, with slightly differing spells.1356 PADINEITH. Saqqara. Amasis. The vaulting in the burial chamber is painted blue to become the sky. The inscriptions of Padineith are similar to those of Neferibra-Sa-Neith, whose tomb is in the Userkaf complex.

The associated tomb of Setairbint was rough cut and contained only an offering inscription, with a list of ritual oils and powders on the north wall, together with instructions for their application.1347

The north wall has a depiction of the deceased adoring a seated Osiris, who is behind an offering table with a lotus upon it, as part of the vignette of Chapter 125 of the Book of the Dead (Figure 111). Above the canopic niches on the east and west walls there is a low relief of Anubis on his shrine, protecting the canopic jars, in each case facing south (Figure 111).1357

PADINISIS. Saqqara. Amasis. Stars are cut into the ceiling of the vaulted burial chamber of Padinisis and painted white on a blue background, again in imitation of the sky, as in the burial chamber of Unas.1348 The walls of his tomb are covered with incised and painted inscriptions, separated from the vaulting of the ceiling by an offering formula running from north to south at the top of the walls.1349 On the north wall of the burial chamber there are general prayers for bracelets, collars and other adornments that Padinisis had while he lived,1350 ascension spells and texts to consecrate the thirteen sacred oils,1351 together with Text ‘D’. This is the tomb from which the ‘Lettered Texts’ were first identified, although they had actually appeared in earlier tombs. On the south wall are spells summoning the ferryman and dealing with Padinisis’ travel to, and arrival in, the Field of Reeds,1352 together with texts ‘C’, ‘E’, ’L’ and ‘M’. The east wall has offering lists, with a Htp di nsw formula to Osiris, Lord of Djedu above spells for offerings,1353 for Padinisis to be identified with Osiris,1354 and against ‘noxious creatures’.1355 Offering formulae, 1339 Pyramid Text Utterances 226, 228 to 231, 233, 234, 239, 242, 262 and 368 (some twice). 1340 Gestermann (2005): 391. 1341 Maspero (1900): 167-170. 1342 Gestermann (2005): 386. 1343 Pyramid Text Utterances 267, 269 and 270. 1344 For Making Provision for the Spirit in the Realm of the Dead. Maspero (1900): 175-178. 1345 Pyramid Text Utterances 25 and 32. Maspero (1900): 170-174. 1346 Gestermann (2005): 386. 1347 Barsanti (1900): 161. 1348 Barsanti (1900a): 232. 1349 Maspero (1900a): 234. 1350 Barsanti (1900a): 232. 1351 Pyramid Text Utterances 25, 36, 72 to 79, 81, 213, 214, 414, 634 and 635. Maspero (1900a): 251. 1352 Coffin Text Spells 151, 179, 208, 227, 301, 352, 363, 429, 529, 625 and 716 and Pyramid Text Utterance 270. Barsanti (1900a): 257. Gestermann (2005): 391. 1353 Pyramid Text Utterances 25, 32, 62, 64 to 70, 71 (twice), 106, 107 and 223. 1354 Pyramid Text Utterances 218 and 219 (twice each). 1355 Pyramid Text Utterances 226 (thrice), 227 and 228 (thrice each), and 239 (twice). Barsanti (1900a): 239 and Soukiassian (1982): 58.

Figure 111. The relief paintings from the north and west walls of Padineith's tomb. [From Barsanti (1901): 99 and 100) 1356 Parts of Pyramid Text Utterances 25, 32, 62 to 71, 106, 215 (twice), 216 (twice), 217 (thrice), 219, 229 (twice), 232 to 234, and 242. Barsanti (1900a): 239. 1357 Barsanti (1901): 99.

131

THE ELITE LATE PERIOD EGYPTIAN TOMBS OF MEMPHIS The north wall of Padineith’s tomb is headed by a line of text which is the first part of Utterance 368 of the Pyramid Texts, for protection, below which is a niche, offering texts, the list of thirteen sacred oils and instructions for their application to the deceased, together with the ‘Negative Confession’.1358 The south wall has a horizontal line of text in which Isis would make the deceased’s legs walk and give breath to his nose that he might live and never die. Below this are Pyramid Text Utterances 226 to 229, 236 and 241 – all spells against snakes and other ‘noxious creatures’, sensibly placed near the ground. The upper part of the east wall has a prayer to Anubis that he might provide a good sepulchre in the west. Beside a niche on the east wall there are the addresses to Osiris and Ra, the censing prayer and the summons to the celestial ferryman that have been encountered before in Amentefnakht’s and Padinisis’ tombs.1359 The upper part of the west wall, above the niche and a low relief of Anubis, has a prayer to Osiris, Lord of Mendes, that he might provide offerings at the New Year, at the festivals of Thoth and of Sokar and at all other festivals. These themes were mirrored on the east wall. An offering list and offering spells fill the west wall.1360 DJANEHIBU. Saqqara. Amasis. Figure 113. The south wall of the burial chamber of Djanehibu. [From Bresciani et al (1977): Tav VII]

This tomb is also to the south of the pyramid of Unas. The burial chamber has an undecorated vaulted ceiling. There are two small niches on each of the east and west sides that held the alabaster canopic jars but, whereas the tomb of Padineith, above, has depictions of Anubis drawn on its walls, here an actual model of Anubis sits upon each canopic chest.1361 The decoration of the tomb was unfinished.1362 The north wall of his burial chamber (Figure 112) is similar to that of the nearby tomb of Padinisis and has the names and titles of the deceased, beloved of Geb,1363 with the lists of offerings in eleven columns1364 and the prayer for their consecration embodied in Pyramid Text Utterances 72 to 79, 81 and 368.1365 The south wall (Figure 113) has the titles of the deceased, spells and prayers to enable Djanehibu to thrive in the Field of Reeds in Coffin Text Spells 151 and 625,1366 Padinisis Texts ‘A’ and ‘C’1367 and Chapters 46 and 47 of the Book of the Dead,1368 and the now familiar Pyramid Text Utterances against snakes.1369 The east wall has an offering formula addressed to Anubis and prayers to Nut. Anubis will lead Djanehibu safely into his tomb and thence into the next world, while Nut will afford him

Figure 112. The north wall of the burial chamber of Djanehibu. [From Bresciani et al (1977): Tav IX]

1361

Barsanti (1900): 267. Barsanti (1900): 265. 1363 Barsanti (1900c): 266. 1364 Maspero (1900b): 279. 1365 Soukiassian (1982): 58; Bresciani, Pernigotti, and Giangeri Silvis (1977): 33-34. 1366 Gestermann (2005): 391. 1367 Bresciani, Pernigotti, and Giangeri Silvis (1977): 31. Maspero (1900b): 277 said that these texts were copied from the tomb of Padinisis, but also considers the tomb of Padinisis to be later. 1368 Utterance numbers are taken from Faulkner (1998). 1369 Pyramid Texts Utterances 226, 227, 228, 233, 234 and 236. 1362

1358 Book of the Dead Chapter 125 and Pyramid Text Utterances 72 to 81. Maspero (1901): 109 and Soukiassian (1982): 58. 1359 Pyramid Text Utterances 267, 269 and 270. 1360 Pyramid Text Utterances 25, 32 and 223.

132

APPENDIX B: DECORATION AND INCRIPTIONS Texts, both ascension texts, in 15 irregular columns, starting from the northwest corner.

constant protection. There follows the further sequence of an address to Osiris and Ra, a censing prayer, a summons to the ferryman and a prayer to become a star.1370 The west wall has an offering formula addressed to Osiris, Lord of Mendes and Abydos,1371 offering spells and the offering list in twenty-two columns of four gifts, together with a spell against snakes and invocations for water and rebirth1372 and Text ‘L’,1373 again as in the tomb of Padinisis.1374

IUFAA. Abusir. Darius I. Of the superstructure of Iufaa’s tomb, fragments of the four stelae from the sides of the enclosure wall have been found, and these show offering scenes, offering lists, water and stars. The walls of Iufaa’s burial chamber are the most completely decorated of their kind, with some one thousand one hundred and fifty columns of text of Utterances of the Pyramid Texts, Coffin Texts and Chapters of the Book of the Dead. The decoration on the walls and sarcophagus covers about one hundred square metres.1383 The walls and the outside of his sarcophagus are covered in fine relief decoration (Figure 114), including standing figures of lector priests (Figure 114, bottom) and vignettes of the Pyramid Texts and Book of the Dead. For reasons of space, most of the vignettes are on the tympanums of the end walls, the lower side walls being reserved for inscriptions.1384 The north wall has scenes depicting libation and purifying Iufaa, with many accompanying gods and demons in the shape of snakes and hippopotami, together with Pyramid Text Utterances 356 and 455.1385 A vignette on this wall (Figure 116) shows two protective hippopotamus goddesses1386 with the uroboros ― the symbol for eternity1387 ― but this has the head of a hippopotamus in place of that of a snake. The south wall holds an offering list and the vignette shown in Figure 116, which depicts three Apis bulls, with cobras in place of feet, each of which has a different tail: one has that of a falcon, the other two are unclear. Also on the south wall are a libation scene and a depiction of Iufaa before an offering table, Coffin Text Spell 607, part of Chapter 148 of the Book of the Dead and Pyramid Text Utterances 204 to 210, which continues on the west wall. Other decoration within the text on the other walls (Figure 114) shows him in varying attitudes of adoration in a decorative style that is of Late Period design. These vignettes probably represent Chapters from the Book of the Dead, but many of them are as yet unidentified.1388 The east wall has, in its upper part, the Litany of Ra and part of the Book of the Day, while the lower part has Pyramid Text Utterances 81, 414, 592, 634, 635 and 670, some of which are quoted twice; it carries a resurrection scene, an astronomical scene, a scene of Iufaa receiving a presentation of garments1389 and a depiction of the god Tutu, together with Horus and Thoth (Figure 118). The west wall is crowned with a depiction of the sun on the primordial mound, a vulture and depictions of various gods, including at least nine forms of Ptah.1390 A detail from the west wall (Figure 118) shows Iufaa kneeling; it

HEKAEMSAF. Saqqara. Amasis. The vaulting of Hekaemsaf’s burial chamber is undecorated.1375 The north wall has a Htp di nsw text to Anubis on his mountain, below which are the offering spells of Pyramid Text Utterances 62 to 71,1376 although the offering formula itself is on the south wall, which is dedicated to Osiris, Lord of Mendes. The east and west walls also have offering spells, while, in addition, the east wall has the ‘snake’ spell of Pyramid Text Utterance 226.1377 PAKAP. Giza. Amasis. This tomb is inscribed but undecorated. A text, which formed part of Pyramid Text Utterances 356, 368 and 588 and Chapter 178 of the Book of the Dead, is written in a groove round the burial chamber.1378 This text is designed to give the deceased protection during his passage into the next life.1379 UDJAHORRESNET. Abusir. Darius I. The walls of Udjahorresnet’s burial chamber were unfinished and bore no decoration other than inscriptions; these were unfinished, painted hieroglyphic texts outlined in red and later improved in black.1380 The north wall has a single line of Utterance 25,1381 while the south wall has a single line of Utterance 226 and part of Utterance 242 of the Pyramid Texts, both texts dealing with gifts and the repulsion of snakes. The east wall has a list of offerings, and on the west wall are his names and titles and those of his father and mother,1382 as well as Utterance 213 and part of Utterance 214 of the Pyramid 1370 This is the sequence Pyramid Text Utterances 267, 269, 270, already met, with the addition of Utterance 320. Bresciani, Pernigotti, and Giangeri Silvis (1977): 34-36; Barsanti (1900c): 274-276. 1371 Barsanti (1900c): 266. 1372 Pyramid Text Utterances 25, 32, 34, 223 and 716 and Coffin Text Spells 353 and 710. 1373 Gestermann (2005): 391. 1374 Maspero (1900b):273-4; Bresciani, Pernigotti, and Giangeri Silvis (1977): 37-40. 1375 Barsanti (1904): 73. 1376 Barsanti (1904): 74 1377 The east wall has Pyramid Text Utterances 26 to 29 and 32, while the west wall has Pyramid Text Utterances 25, 72 to 77 and 81. Soukiassian (1982): 51. 1378 Vyse (1840a): 133. 1379 In Pyramid Text Utterance 356, Horus and Geb support the deceased against Seth; Pyramid Text Utterance 368 is a general spell for protection and Utterance 588 is for assistance by Nut. 1380 Bareš (1992): 111. 1381 Bareš (1992): 112. 1382 Verner (1986): 166.

1383

Bareš (2006): 2. Callender (1998): 22. 1385 These have close parallels with scenes on the ceiling of Esna temple. Bareš (2006): 3. 1386 Probably Tawaret, who was associated with childbirth and hence resurrection. Hart (1986): 212. 1387 The snake swallowing its own tail symbolised eternity and was shown surrounding the newly born sun god. [Quirke (1992): 120]. 1388 Ladislav Bareš, personal communication. 1389 Bareš (2006): 2. 1390 Bareš (2006): 3. 1384

133

THE ELITE LATE PERIOD EGYPTIAN TOMBS OF MEMPHIS carries Pyramid Text Utterances 210 to 212 and, possibly, a litany to the setting sun.1391 The south side of the lower part of the west wall has inscriptions merely outlined in red paint and the north side of this wall is completely blank: this was probably the last part of the chamber to be worked on and was incomplete when Iufaa was buried.1392 The ceiling is undecorated. Figure 116. Detail of a vignette from Iufaa's burial chamber. [From Verner (2002): 200]

Figure 117. Part of the wall decoration of Iufaa’s burial chamber, showing Tutu. [From Vachala (2002): 101]

Figure 114. Part of the wall decoration of Iufaa’s burial chamber. [From Bareš (2000): Tafel II (Top) and Verner (1999): 21 (bottom)]

Figure 115. Detail of a vignette from Iufaa’s burial chamber. [From Verner (2002): 203] Figure 118. Iufaa kneeling, from the west wall of his burial chamber. [From Verner (2002): 197] 1391 1392

Ladislav Bareš, personal communication. Callender (1998): 22.

134

APPENDIX B: DECORATION AND INCRIPTIONS ‘B’, Coffin Text Spells 179 and 2151401 and prayers for food and for a contented eternity. The south wall had spells for protection and resurrection texts.1402 The east wall had Coffin Text Spells 352, 457 and 529 (for departure from this life and entry into the next) with, to the south of the entrance, spells for the Opening of the Mouth. The west wall bore spells against the ‘noxious creatures’,1403 those which would see the deceased safely out of his tomb and into the next life with the Great Tribunal in the sky,1404 and Chapter 44 of the Book of the Dead, for not dying again. The secondary tomb1405 had Coffin Text Spells 352 (for departure) on the south wall and 457 (for entry to the gods) on the east wall.

NECHO (Secondary burial within Iufaa’s tomb). The walls of Necho’s chamber, cut within Iufaa’s tomb, carry two Htp di nsw formulae: addressed to Osiris on the south and to Ptah-Sokar on the north, each starting from the entrance to the tomb.1393 MENEKHIBNEKO. Abusir. Darius I. Decorated fragments of the superstructure have scenes of fishing in the papyrus thicket, flax harvesting and offering scenes,1394 together with Khekher frieze fragments and incised stars, which were part of a vaulted ceiling, presumably from the tomb chapel.1395 His burial chamber is decorated with finely cut reliefs. The vaulted ceiling of his burial chamber has a starry sky, across which the solar barque sails. The north wall has Chapter 148 of the Book of the Dead, while the south wall, in which the entrance into the burial chamber is cut, bears Chapter 144. The two side walls each have depictions of twelve standing female figures representing the hours of the day (on the east wall) and the night (on the west wall); this statement of the Book of the Hours is in a shortened form and other, as yet unspecified, texts appear on the east and west walls.1396

The tombs of UDJAHOR, near the pyramid of Unas, and of HARKHEBI, northeast of the Step Pyramid, are unfinished. 2

SHAFT TOMBS.

GIZA TOMB LG 81 (Probably Thirtieth Dynasty). The walls of the main room of this tomb were covered with white mortar and decorated with inscriptions that have now disappeared.1406 The west wall (Figure 119) showed the tomb owner and his wife watching the netting of fish, and fish were shown being brought to them as offerings; the north wall showed a continuation of the fishing scenes, offering tables and a butchery scene (Figure 120).

PADIHOR. Abusir. Darius I. The inside of the burial chamber of Padihor has Pyramid Text Utterances 268 and 269 on the north wall and Coffin Text Spells 151, 625, 208, 716 and 352, starting from the west, for attending the Tribunal, for rebirth and for going out of the tomb on the south wall. On the east wall an offering list is above the entrance, while on the west wall, starting from the north, are Pyramid Text Utterance 77, 78, 81 and 25. The ceiling carries Pyramid Text Utterances 251, 249 and 252,1397 which is the only instance so far discovered of the ceiling of a Saite-Persian Shaft Tomb in Abusir having texts.1398 All the texts are beautifully executed but with errors: these scribal errors have been corrected in black ink.1399

The south wall showed offerings being dedicated by five kneeling men (Figure 121);1407 it also gave the names of two sacred oils — sfb and Hknw – although three were represented on the wall.1408 There was an interior room, which was roughly cut and undecorated.1409

TOMB R3. Abusir. Darius I? Tomb R3 in Abusir was completely undecorated and uninscribed. KHEDHEBNEITH-YERBONI and two people called PSAMTEK. Saqqara. Date unknown. Figure 119. The west wall of tomb LG 81. [Based on Lepsius (1897): 97]

The north wall of the tomb of Khedhebneith-Yerboni, and of two people called Psamtek, had offering spells, a spell for protection and a resurrection text,1400 Padinisis Text

1401 For bread and for not eating faeces or drinking urine in the Realm of the Dead. 1402 Pyramid Text Utterances 356, 357, 364, 365, 366, 373, 593 and 677. 1403 Pyramid Text Utterances 226 to 231, 233, 239 and 242. 1404 Coffin Text Spells 151, 301, 363, 429, 457 and 625. Gestermann (2005): 391. 1405 To which of the secondary tombs of Psamtek this relates is not clear. 1406 el-Sadeek (1984): 116. 1407 Lepsius (1897a): Vol. III, 278. 1408 Lepsius (1897a): Vol. III, 278. 1409 Lepsius (1897a): Vol. I, 27.

1393

Bareš, Smolarikova, and Strouhal (2005): 98. Bareš et al. (2003): 152. 1395 Bareš et al. (2003): 152. 1396 Ladislav Bareš, personal communication. 1397 Ladislav Bareš, personal communication. 1398 Bareš (2006): 6. 1399 Bareš et al. (2002): 105. 1400 Pyramid Text Utterances 25, 32, 35, 77, 78, 81, 368 and 670. 1394

135

THE ELITE LATE PERIOD EGYPTIAN TOMBS OF MEMPHIS becoming a symbol of resurrection.1413 The barque is being pulled by a rope held by seven Ba birds. In front of the seven Ba birds is another barque in which Khepri is at the centre being adored by two more Ba birds; the morning sun, in the form of a child, sits on the prow.1414 Beneath the main barque is another solar disc from which the rays descend. These are representations of the Book of the Earth, which is found in the tomb of Ramesses VI in the Valley of the Kings.1415 Irahor’s burial chamber has Book of the Dead texts and scenes, here on the south, east and west walls. The east wall is headed by twenty unidentified deities, of whom four are ram-headed and four are hawk-headed, together with eight seated goddesses, each holding a star. This represents the twelfth hour of the Book of Gates, just before dawn and resurrection.1416 The west wall is headed by twenty-four deities. Gods, including the four Sons of Horus, Maat and Thoth, are represented on the main area of the east and west walls, between the niches. On the south wall Irahor adores a line of gods, including Amun, Horus, Neith and Geb, while a solar barque, containing Amun-Ra, is behind him.1417 The ceiling of the burial chamber has depictions of vultures, who give protection, and the name and titles of the deceased.

Figure 120. The north wall of tomb LG 81. [From el-Sadeek (1984): Figure 15]

PSAMTEK-NEBPEHTI (LS 19). There were badly damaged texts on the north, south and west walls of the burial chamber of Psamtek-Nebpehti .1418 Among these are Text ‘D’, which includes parts of Pyramid Text Utterances 593, 356, 364, 677, 365, 373 and 721B;1419 which later became Coffin Text Spell 516.1420 The tombs of PAWEN-HATEF, in Old Cairo, and of KHEPERRA and tombs LG 82, LG 83 and LG 85 in Giza, and those of NESBANEBDJEDET, KANEFER and ANKHWAHIBRASANEITH in Saqqara are undecorated and uninscribed.1421 In these tombs the decoration would have been in the superstructure and on the sarcophagi.

Figure 121. The south wall of tomb LG 81. [From el-Sadeek (1984): Figure 16]

SAQQARA IRAHOR (LS 23).

3

The antechamber of Irahor’s tomb has unspecified Book of the Dead texts and scenes on the north, south and west walls.1410 The north wall shows him standing, with a staff, before a solar disc, as an Aten, from which the sun’s rays are shown descending.1411 The south wall has a series of offering prayers. Around the door in the south wall is a Xkr frieze and a cobra above the door spits protectively, which device is representative of the protection given at the Gates in the Book of Gates.1412 The west wall depicts a solar barque, with lotus flowers at stem and stern, in the centre of which stands Amun, attended by Khepri and two goddesses; Horus is at the steering oar. The lotus blooms by day and mimics the cosmic rebirth of the sun,

ROCK CUT TOMBS.

GIZA PTAHIRDIS. The west wall of Ptahirdis’ tomb was decorated with depictions of the deceased sitting before an offering

1413

Harer (2001): 305. Lepsius (1897a): 280-281. 1415 Weeks (2001): 256; Hornung (1999): 101. 1416 Hornung (1999): 65. 1417 Lepsius (1897a): 282. 1418 Lepsius (1897 [1975 Reprint]): 172. 1419 Kahl and Falck (2000): 218. 1420 This was also in the pyramids of Pepi I, Merenre, Pepi II, Neit, Iput and Aba, as well as the Late Period tomb of Khedhebneith-Yerboni and the two Psamteks [Kahl and Falck (2000): 219]. 1421 Chaban (1917): 178. 1414

1410

Lepsius (1897 [1975 Reprint]): Vol. I, 175 and 177. This is the vignette of the Sun Hymn. 1412 Hornung (1999): figures 31-41. 1411

136

APPENDIX B: DECORATION AND INCRIPTIONS table,1422 while on the north wall servants brought animals and offerings to him, made clear by the hieroglyphic sign Hm-kA, or Ka-servant, written beside each person (Figure 122).1423 The inner, rock-cut chamber was undecorated. The south wall of Ptahirdis’ tomb held a text which is thought to have been part of a Pyramid Text Utterance.1424

Djedhor,1425 which he called a “Temple of Osiris”1426 because the deceased was shown with Osiris, who was seated and holding crook and flail. Above the tomb entrance he was called “Osiris, foremost of the Westerners, Lord of Busiris, Great God, Lord of Abydos”1427 to one side, and “Osiris, foremost of the Westerners, Great God, Lord of Rosetau”1428 to the other. Padibastet’s titles were also above the entrance in an inscription that read: “Words to be spoken by the Prince, the Royal Treasurer, the Sole Companion, who does that which the local god loves, and that which is useful for the temple of mAi-Has, who appears as one of great strength, the great God, Lord of the Desert.”1429 To each side of the door Padibastet stood, welcoming visitors to his tomb. To the right of the doorway the inscription read: “The revered before Osiris, Foremost of the Westerners, Lord of Busiris, the great God, Lord of Abydos, the Prince, the Royal Treasurer, the Sole Companion, he who does what the gods of Foreign Countries like, servant of Bastet, he who tied the red ribbon, Padibastet, justified, son of Hor, justified, born of the Lady of the House Zeho, justified. He says: ‘O guardians of the netherworld, … of the Weary-hearted One, open for me the beautiful way in the presence of Osiris, I am a praised one of his Ka, I do what my local god loves, being pure in this water of life and happiness; I shall reach the holy land in peace as an eminent spirit … his companion, who enters and goes out without being hindered, among the praised ones of the great God’.” 1430

Figure 122. Decorations from the north wall (above) and the west wall (below) of the tomb of Ptahirdis. [From el-Sadeek (1984): 135]

PADIBASTET.

The inscription to the left of the door was basically similar except that it addressed Osiris as the Lord of Rosetau and the prayer by Padibastet read: “O you door-keeper of the door … of the House of Osiris, may you keep all evil away from me, do not let them enter in need (?) into the House of Osiris, me being pure in the presence of Ra-Horakhte; I shall not … in the presence of Thoth, … in the presence of Ptah; no god will hate me when an offering is made for me, I being pure.” 1431 Nothing is described from within the tomb.

Figure 123. The façade of the tomb of Padibastet in Giza. [From el-Sadeek (1984): Fig.20]

Gardner Wilkinson described only the façade (Figure 123) of the tomb of Padibastet, son of Hor and

1425

Zivie-Coche (1991): 289. el-Sadeek (1984): 136. 1427 Wsir xnty imntyw nb Ddw nTr aA nb AbDw. 1428 Wsir xnty imntyw nTr aA nb r-stAw. 1429 el-Sadeek (1984): 137. 1430 el-Sadeek (1984): 138. 1431 el-Sadeek (1984): 139. 1426

1422

Porter and Moss (1978-1981): Vol. III, part 1, Plan XXXV. Zivie-Coche (1991): 288 said that there had apparently been Pyramid Texts on the walls, but no evidence exists of these. 1424 Zivie-Coche (1991): 288. 1423

137

THE ELITE LATE PERIOD EGYPTIAN TOMBS OF MEMPHIS SAQQARA BAKENRENEF (Psamtek I).

Figure 125. The Tympanum from the west wall of the passage from Chamber B to Chamber C in Bakenrenef’s tomb. [From el-Sadeek (1984):157]

The east wall of the pillared hall [C] is headed by depictions of the deceased adoring Osiris, who sits behind an offering table; behind him Nut is bending over in a pose typically seen on astronomical ceilings,1434 with the newborn Khepri beneath her body and an arm stretched out towards a crouching lion who extends a paw to her (Figure 126), representing the vignette of Chapter 17 of the Book of the Dead which says: “He is Ra when he arises in the eastern horizon of the sky. To me belongs yesterday, I know tomorrow” .1435

Figure 124. Plan of the tomb of Bakenrenef, showing chamber numbers. [From el-Naggar (1978): 54]

The external parts of Bakenrenef’s tomb [A] are no longer extant and there are no indications of any decoration. However, the underground sections of the tomb are better preserved. A plan showing the arrangement of the tomb is at Figure 124.

Figure 126. Vignette of Chapter 17 of the Book of the Dead of Hor. [From Mosher (2001): Plate 211436]

Isis and Nephthys are behind the lion. This wall is, again, facing the rising sun, to whom the major text is addressed; the offering table suggests that this was the room in which the mortuary cult was practised. The south wall of Chamber C had Book of the Dead Chapters 18 (a prayer to Thoth), 50 (for not entering into the shambles of the god), 54 and 55 (for breath), 71 (for going out into the day), 93 (for not returning by ferry to the east bank once the west has been reached) and 99B (for providing a boat to cross the celestial water).1437 On the west wall, above five lines of offering formulae, the deceased adores Osiris, who is in a small barque.1438 In the southern niche on this wall is the vignette of crocodiles, which is Chapter 31 of the Book of the Dead (for driving off a crocodile);1439 the west wall also has Book of the Dead

The rectangular vestibule [B] has a flat ceiling on which yellow stars on a blue ground are flanked by gods navigating the day and night barques.1432 The centre of the ceiling contains the cartouches of Psamtek I and texts that Saleh el-Naggar thought may be Chapter 15 of the Book of the Dead, a hymn to Ra when he rises.1433 The hymn is placed here where it is in full view of the rising sun. The tympanum of the west wall in the passage leading from the vestibule [B] into the pillared hall [C] has depictions of Anubis, nwb signs, wadjet eyes and water signs (Figure 125) reminiscent of the north wall of the east room of Tjery’s tomb (Figure 161, page 151) and based on New Kingdom models.

1432 1433

1434 For instance in the tombs of Seti I and Ramesses IV. [Neugebauer and Parker (1960): Figs. 20 and 21]. 1435 Faulkner (1972): 44. 1436 Mosher (2001): 6. The Papyrus of Hor is from Late Period Akhmim. 1437 Gestermann (2005): 381. 1438 Lepsius (1897a): 260. 1439 Gestermann (2005): 381; Faulkner (1972): 56.

el-Naggar (1986): 15. el-Naggar (1986): 15, note 7.

138

APPENDIX B: DECORATION AND INCRIPTIONS Chapters 32 to 35 (against crocodiles and snakes), 57 (for breath), 60 and 125 (the negative confession), while the pillars in this chamber have Book of the Dead Chapters 28 and 30 (for keeping one’s heart), 107 (for going in and out of the tomb), 108, 109, 112 and 113 (for knowing the souls of the Westerners, the Easterners and those of Pe and Nekhen, respectively) and 115 (for ascension).1440

Figure 129. Details of the decoration of the flat ceilings in Chamber C of Bakenrenef's tomb. [From el-Naggar (1986): Figure 2]

Figure 127. The vaulted ceiling of Chamber C in Bakenrenef's tomb. [From el-Naggar (1986): Figure 11]

The walls of Chamber [D] are headed with a kheker frieze at the level of the springing point of the vault.1442 The entrance into this chamber has Book of the Dead Chapter 15 (a prayer to Ra). The north wall has offering texts, the deceased seated between two Osiris figures and Book of the Dead Chapters 68 and 69 (for going out into the day and being the successor to Osiris).1443 In the niche on the north wall the deceased is shown killing a scorpion and two serpents, one of which is on the back of an ass1444 representing Chapter 40 of the Book of the Dead.1445 The south wall has Book of the Dead Chapters 39 (against snakes) and 70, as well as Text ‘C’, Coffin Text Spell 353 (for having power over water)1446 and a depiction in the niche of the deceased killing a serpent,1447 the vignette of Chapter 41 (for preventing the slaughter which is carried out in the realm of the dead).1448 The east wall of this rectangular chamber is headed by three depictions of the deceased before five seated figures of Osiris, each behind an offering table.1449 The west wall has the deceased before a seated Osiris, which is the vignette of Chapter 125 of the Book of the Dead, as well as other Book of the Dead texts, offering formulae and Pyramid Text Utterances,1450 including Pyramid Text Utterances 226 to 243 (against the usual ‘noxious creatures’) and 319 (in which Bakenrenef is identified with the sun god), together with Coffin Text Spells 151, 179, 208, 215, 625 and 716. This sequence of texts has been identified, at least in part, in the tombs of Panehsy in Heliopolis, Padihor in Abusir, Tjery in Giza and Djanehibu, Amentefnakht, Neferibra-Sa-Neith and Khedhebneith-Yerboni in Saqqara. With this are Texts ‘L’ and ‘M’ as in the tomb of Padinisis and Book of the Dead Chapters 36, 37, 40, 41 and 42 (for repelling snakes and stopping slaughter) and 71 (for going out into the day).1451 Niches on the west wall1452 show the deceased killing a gazelle and depictions of the celestial cow Mekhweret with a falcon with raised wings, the vignette

Figure 128. Detail of the vaulted ceiling of Chamber C of Bakenrenef's tomb. [From el-Naggar (1986): Figure 13]

The central part of the ceiling in the pillared hall [C] is vaulted and decorated with a painted low relief of a blue sky studded with yellow ochre stars, to either side of which is the deceased with twelve goddesses, representing the twelve hours of the day and the night (Figures 127 and 128).1441 In each tableau Bakenrenef is shown standing, in an attitude of adoration, dressed as a sm-priest; a goddess with a star crown is before him, on the opposite side of the text of the hour. He is always facing east, with the hours of the day to the south and those of the night to the north. The side parts of the ceiling in this chamber are flat and decorated with four different geometric and floral designs (Figure 129).

1442

el-Naggar (1986): 16. Porter and Moss (1978-1981): Vol. III, Part 2, 590. 1444 Lepsius (1897a): 265. 1445 Faulkner (1972): 62. 1446 Porter and Moss (1978-1981): Vol. III, Part 2, 590. 1447 Lepsius (1897a): 266. 1448 Faulkner (1972): 61. 1449 Lepsius (1897a): 260. 1450 Porter and Moss (1978-1981): Vol. III, Part 2, 590-591. 1451 Gestermann (2005): 382. 1452 Lepsius (1897a): 266. 1443

1440 1441

Gestermann (2005): 381. el-Naggar (1986): 16.

139

THE ELITE LATE PERIOD EGYPTIAN TOMBS OF MEMPHIS A small side chamber opens from each side of the innermost room. These are Chambers [F] and [G]. The south wall of Chamber F has Book of the Dead Chapter 52 (for not eating faeces), while the east wall has Chapters 51 and 53 (for not walking upside down or eating faeces) and the west wall is inscribed with Chapters 44 (for not dying again) and 57 (for breathing air).1455 Chamber G has a single text, recorded as being Book of the Dead Chapter 105 (for the appeasement of Bakenrenef’s soul) on its west wall.1456

of Chapter 71 of the Book of the Dead (for going out into the day).1453 This chamber continues the theme started in Chamber C, of progression westwards. The limestone vaulted ceiling of chamber D is painted blue with yellow stars and a central line of text gives the name and titles of Bakenrenef (Figure 130). It also held Padinisis Text ‘A’.

Figure 132. The text on the ceiling of Chambers F and G in the tomb of Bakenrenef. [From el-Naggar (1986): Figure 5]

Chambers F and G both have a shallow vaulted, starstudded ceiling with a central line of text (Figure 132), which reads: “It is I whose name is Amun Hapi, before the Great Gods and the Great Ones of Pe, Dep and Heliopolis, the Vizier, Bakenrenef”.1457

Figure 130. The ceiling of Chamber D in Bakenrenef’s tomb. [From el-Naggar (1999): Doc. 301-C]

PASHERINTAIHET (BN 2). Tomb BN 2 had a monumental gateway, on the lintel of which the deceased was depicted in two symmetrical and identical scenes, seated before an offering table and standing, adoring an incense burner and, in consequence, the god to whom the incense was being burned: in this case the sun (Figure 133). It gave the name and titles of Pasherintaihet. The two identical texts, central on each panel, read: “The Divine Father, Beloved of God, Sem-Priest, Prophet of Ptah (Lord of Craftsmen), Assistant in the Palace, Prophet of Sakhmet, Pasherintaihet.” 1458

Figure 131. The decoration of the ceiling of Chamber E in Bakenrenef's tomb. [From el-Naggar (1986): Figure 2]

A further inner chamber [E] houses a false door. The north wall has Book of the Dead Chapters 9 (for going out into the day), 89 and 91 (for the soul to regain its corpse); the east has Chapters 22 (for a mouth), and 129 (that he may embark in the Barque of Ra); and the west wall has Chapters 103 (for being in the presence of Hathor), 104 (for sitting among the great gods), 106 (for gifts), and 123 (for sitting with the gods and entering the Great Mansion).1454 A row of vultures, each holding a Sn, fly against a starry sky on the flat ceiling (Figure 131).

Figure 133. Entrance to tomb BN 2. [From Bresciani (1978): Figure 8]

1455

Gestermann (2005): 382. Gestermann (2005): 382. 1457 (ink pw Imn Hp rn.f r nTrw Aaw wrw xnty p dp Iwnw TAty BAk-n-rn.f) Author’s transliteration and translation. 1458 Bresciani (1978): 10. 1456

1453 1454

Faulkner (1972): 71. Gestermann (2005): 382.

140

APPENDIX B: DECORATION AND INCRIPTIONS of Anubis.1466 These are clearly Osirian in nature and, given that these deities appear in embalming scenes, they presumably show the mummification of the deceased; they will have come from his burial chamber, of which this is all that is known.

To the inside of this lintel there was an almost illegible Htp di nsw formula. An offering list adorned the walls of the first room. 4

VAULTED CHAMBER TOMBS.

HELIOPOLIS

PATHENFY.

WAHIBRA-TJESET.

A lintel from the tomb of Pathenfy gives the names and titles of thirteen generations of his ancestors. A second block shows Pathenfy seated before a procession of cattle herders, and cutting papyrus in the marshes.1467 The lintel of Pathenfy will have come from the entrance to his tomb chapel.

The north wall of Wahibra-Tjeset’s tomb had two texts, each occupying half of the wall and facing outwards: to the east was Pyramid Text Utterance 593, for support from Geb and Seth, while to the west was Utterance 213, in which Wahibra-Tjeset is identified with Atum.1459 The south wall had an offering list; the east wall had Pyramid Text Utterances 225, 226 and 228 in a band, below which were Chapters 67 (with supplement) and 76 of the Book of the Dead,1460 together with Coffin Text Spells 151, 352, 529 and 625:1461 these are spells against ‘noxious creatures’1462 and welcome Wahibra-Tjeset to the Great Tribunal. The west wall was a mirror image of the east, except that Pyramid Text Utterance 227 was substituted for Utterance 228; below this was Chapter 60 of the Book of the Dead, Coffin Text Spells 215, 179 and 353,1463 and Texts ‘L’ and ‘M’, which are Saite additions, before and after Coffin Text Spell 179, for bringing gifts, as well as other, damaged, text.1464

MUTSHENET. Another block, one of two from the tomb of Mutshenet, shows a person playing sistra before an unidentifiable deity.1468 HARBES.

The ceiling of Wahibra-Tjeset’s tomb contained one band of hieroglyphs reading: “An offering that the King gives to Anubis on his mountain, Lord of the august land, that he might provide a beautiful tomb in the eternal, great mountain of Heliopolis as an imAx before the great god, true of virtue, excellent of merit, praised by his Lord daily, Divine Father, Wahibra-Tjeset, son of Nakht-Hor, born of Tes-Bastet-Perou, true of voice, master of the imAxw before all the gods” .1465 NESU-KHEDU. The eastern and western limestone walls of NesuKhedu’s tomb had Pyramid Text Utterances ‘against noxious creatures’. The other tomb walls were not decorated. PETOSIRIS NEFERIBRASENEB.

Figure 134. Reconstructed end wall of the tomb of Harbes at Matareya. [From Bickel and Tallet (1997): 74

Blocks from the tomb of Petosiris Neferibraseneb show Osiris, flanked by Isis and Nephthys, and representations

A block from Harbes’ tomb contains parts of Pyramid Text Utterances 29, 32, 42, 74 to 76 and 80,1469 all spells for gifts to be given to Harbes. Utterance 29 is positioned on the block in about the same position as the identical text at the feet of Hekaemsaf in his tomb at Saqqara,

1459

§1627-1629 and §134-135. Gauthier (1927): 8-9. Book of the Dead Chapter 67 is equivalent to Coffin Text Spell 151 and Book of the Dead Chapter 76 is equivalent to Coffin Text Spell 301. 1461 Gestermann (2005): 391. 1462 This term was used by Faulkner in his edition of the Pyramid Texts. The creatures are serpents, scorpions and beetles. 1463 Gestermann (2005): 391. 1464 el-Sadeek (1984): 183. 1465 Gauthier (1927): 4. 1460

1466 Bickel and Tallet (1997): 79. This block is reputed to be in the magazine of the Matareya Antiquities Service, numbered 240. 1467 The whereabouts of the block and lintel is not known. 1468 Bickel and Tallet (1997): 78. The second block had only funerary texts. The whereabouts of the blocks is unknown. 1469 §21a, §22a, §32b, §51a-c and §55a-c respectively.

141

THE ELITE LATE PERIOD EGYPTIAN TOMBS OF MEMPHIS while the libation formula of Utterance 32, which is probably at Harbes’ head, is found on other walls in tombs in Saqqara.1470 The end wall of this tomb, from which the block comes, has been tentatively reconstructed by Susanne Bickel and Pierre Tallet (Figure 134). UDJAHORMEHNET. The walls of the tomb of Udjahormehnet were lined with limestone blocks and “covered with funerary texts”,1471 each having three horizontal lines of inscription above twenty-eight vertical columns of Pyramid Texts, including the usual invocations against ‘noxious creatures’ and spells to enable Udjahormehnet to reach the Field of Reeds and the Portals of the House of Osiris1472 (Figure 135).

Figure 136. The north wall of the tomb of Panehsy. [From el-Sawi and Gomaa (1993): Abb.4]

The horizontal texts contain the ninth hour of the Amduat and text ‘I’, for Atum to provide fresh air and for Osiris to provide a secure place in the Hall of the Gods. The columns are Chapter 62 of the Book of the Dead, for drinking water in the next life, followed by text ‘C’, a speech for Osiris to welcome the deceased, and Coffin Text Spells 227 and 301, in which Panehsy has become assimilated into Osiris.1475 The south wall of Panehsy’s tomb (Figures 137 and 138) is headed by a procession of twelve goddesses of the hours, whose names are spelled out.1476 Two horizontal lines of text above the goddesses are the seventh hour of the Amduat and Chapter 169 of the Book of the Dead. It is during the seventh hour of the Amduat that Osiris triumphs over his enemies.1477 Below the goddesses are another horizontal line of text and thirty columns which contain the title of Chapter 39 of the Book of the Dead, followed by Pyramid Text Utterances 226 to 234 and finally Chapter 13 of the Book of the Dead. These texts are largely those against snakes that have been found in other tombs, to which are added spells for erecting a bier and for going out of the tomb. The initial text1478 is also found in the tombs of Wahibra-Tjeset, and Nesu-Khedu in Heliopolis, as well as in those of Padinisis, Psamtek, Bakenrenef, Amentefnakht and Neferibra-Sa-Neith in Saqqara. The following text1479 is not found in other tombs in Memphis, while the next text1480 is in the tombs of Nesu-Khedu, Bakenrenef, Amentefnakht, Psamtek and Padineith. The text from columns 9 to 211481 is found in the tombs of Psamtek and Bakenrenef, while Pyramid Text Utterance 2311482 is unrepresented in other tombs. Utterance 2321483 can be found in the tomb of Padinisis, and Utterance 2331484 in those of Padinisis, Psamtek and Djanehibu, while Utterance 2341485 is in the tombs of

Figure 135. Details of the two long walls of the tomb of Udjahormehnet [I]. [From Kamal (1896): Drawing Between Pages 180 and 181]

PANEHSY. Dated to Psamtek Wahibra.1473 The north wall of Panehsy’s tomb is headed by twelve fire-spitting cobras, whose names are set out in the text.1474 Above and below the cobras are three horizontal lines of finely executed text above thirty columns (Figure 136)

1475

Gestermann (2005): 379ff. el-Sawi and Gomaa (1993): 41 and 74.These are: Hknw.t, nb(.t)mAa.t, nb(.t)-nbw, dAti(.t), Hri(.t)-tp-kAw, wnmit.t, jry.t-iAxw, tAi.t, waHsDb, jry.t-irw, anx.t and iny.t [el-Sawi and Gomaa (1993): 75. 1477 Hornung (1999): 38. 1478 Columns 1-4: Pyramid Text Utterance 226. 1479 Columns 4-7: Pyramid Text Utterances 227 and 228. 1480 Columns 7-9: Pyramid Text Utterance 229. 1481 Pyramid Text Utterance 230. 1482 Columns 21-23. 1483 Columns 23-24. 1484 Columns 24-25. 1485 Columns 25-26. 1476

1470

Bickel and Tallet (1997): 69-71. Bickel and Tallet (1997): 78. 1472 Pyramid Text Utterances 226, 227 and Book of the Dead Chapter 146. 1473 Awadalla (1989): 493. 1474 These are : mr(.t)-nsrt, nb(.t)-wAwAt, tkii.t, nb(i).t,xwi(.t)-nTrw, dr(.t)nS(ni), wpS(.t)-sbAw, anx(.t)-Hr, tni(.t)-irw, nb(.t)-irw, nfr(.t)-xaw and rkHt. [el-Sawi and Gomaa (1993): 41-42.] 1471

142

APPENDIX B: DECORATION AND INCRIPTIONS Padinisis and Djanehibu. The final text1486 is not found elsewhere.1487

and Maat and Thoth are in the bows. The barque sails on a hieroglyphic pt-sign, representing the sky. Panehsy adores the barque, on which the stem and stern posts take the form of lotus flowers: this represents the vignette of Chapter 17 of the Book of the Dead (for going in and out in the realm of the dead). The lotus is the flower from which Nefertum is born and is seen as an emblem of rebirth. Below the tympanum of the east wall are Panehsy’s name and titles together with an admonition to praise god four times (Figure 139), and two prayers: that to the left of the door is for benefits from Nephthys and constitutes Text ‘F’, while that to the right is to Isis and constitutes Text ‘A’.1489

Figure 137. The upper part of the south wall of the tomb of Panehsy, right half. [From el-Sawi and Gomaa (1993): Tafel IX]

The tympanum on the west wall holds the name and titles of Panehsy and another admonition to praise god four times (Figure 140). This is headed by a winged scarab with Panehsy and four baboons worshipping the solar barque below it. The number four represents completeness.1490 Baboons chatter just before dawn and are seen as heralding the daily birth of the sun. Ra sits in the barque, which sails on the sky once more; the steering oar is not held by Horus on this occasion, but its top is shaped as Horus and this will, by the process of heka, act in the same way. This is another form of the vignette to Chapter 17 of the Book of the Dead, in which Khepri is seated in the msktt solar night barque1491 with Isis and Nephthys.1492 This common vignette is shown in the Papyrus of Hor (Figure 141).1493

Figure 138. The south wall of the tomb of Panehsy. [From el-Sawi and Gomaa (1993): Abb.5]

Figure 139. The east wall of the tomb of Panehsy. [From el-Sawi and Gomaa (1993): Abb.2]

Figure 140. The west wall of the tomb of Panehsy. [From el-Sawi and Gomaa (1993): Abb.2]

The tympanum of the east wall (Figure 139) has a depiction of the manDt solar day barque,1488 with Khepri in a solar disc amidships; Horus holds the steering oar

1489

Gestermann (2005): 385. Wilkinson (1994): 133. 1491 el-Sawi and Gomaa (1993): 20. 1492 Mosher (2001): 98. 1493 BM EA 10479. Mosher (2001): 98. 1490

1486

Columns 26-30: Chapter 13 of the Book of the Dead. el-Sawi and Gomaa (1993): 94. 1488 el-Sawi and Gomaa (1993): 9. 1487

143

THE ELITE LATE PERIOD EGYPTIAN TOMBS OF MEMPHIS Below the tympanum (Figure 140) are horizontal lines of prayers to Osiris that constitute Text ‘G’ and sixteen columns of text which are Coffin Text Spells 1511494 (for going forth from the tomb), 208 (for bread) and 625 (addressed to the ‘Great DADA.t’ of Heaven).1495 Coffin Text Spell 151 is to be found in the tombs of WahibraTjeset in Heliopolis and of Djanehibu, Psamtek, Padinisis, Bakenrenef, Neferibra-Sa-Neith and Amentefnakht in Saqqara.1496 Spell 625 is also to be found in the tomb of Tjery and Spell 208 in those of Amentefnakht, Padinisis, Bakenrenef and Neferibra-SaNeith.1497

5

THE MASTABA TOMB.

GIZA TJERY.

Figure 143. The tomb of Tjery. Plan, with chamber numbers and decoration key. [From el-Sadeek (1984): 18]

The position of the chambers and the decoration therein is shown on Figure 143. The exterior of Chamber 1, east side [A], although badly damaged, probably depicted Osiris seated on a throne with Isis standing behind him, holding a wAs-sceptre and an anx, behind an offering table with a lotus flower (Figure 144).1500 The right-hand side of panel ‘A’ had the text,1501 translated as “The Chief of Police Tjery, son of Gemefiskapet”. The west side of Chamber 1 [B] has seven vignettes showing Tjery, or members of his family, worshipping an enthroned Osiris, who faces south (Figure 145). The south side of Chamber 4 [C] has two registers: in the upper, Tjery stands before three depictions of Osiris, dressed as Ptah, facing east (that is into the tomb), each behind an offering table; the lower register shows Tjery and his mother adoring a seated Osiris, behind an offering table, again facing east, behind whom stands an unidentifiable female deity (Figure 146).1502 Between the two registers of panel ‘C’ are written “Words to be spoken by Osiris, Foremost of the Divine Hall”, “The Revered with Osiris, Foremost of the Divine Hall, Tjery, Justified’, and “Born of the Lady of the House, Tadihor”.1503

Figure 141. Vignettes of Chapter 17 of the Book of the Dead from the papyrus of Hor. [From Mosher (2001): Plate 21]

The ceiling of the burial chamber of Panehsy shows Nut, with arms outstretched, her head to the west, and a prayer (Figure 142) which comes from Pyramid Text Utterance 356, 368 or 5881498 and Chapter 178 of the Book of the Dead,1499 all for protection and raising the corpse. Nut’s name is written above her head.

Figure 142. The ceiling of the tomb of Panehsy. [From el-Sawi and Gomaa (1993): Abb.6]

Chamber 5, south side [D] shows Tjery and his wife (?) adoring Osiris and Nephthys, both of whom are again facing into the tomb (Figure 147). Both Tjery and his wife have two left hands.1504 Panel ‘D’ carries only the name of Nephthys below “Dd mdw”. There is no other surviving exterior decoration and it is probable that there 1494 Coffin Text Spell 151 is equivalent to Chapter 67 of the Book of the Dead. 1495 el-Sawi and Gomaa (1993): 23. 1496 el-Sawi and Gomaa (1993): 28. 1497 el-Sawi and Gomaa (1993): 30. 1498 §580c, §638a-b and §1607a-b respectively. 1499 el-Sawi and Gomaa (1993): 126.

1500

el-Sadeek (1984): 23. “imy-r sA pr Try sA n gm.f-st-kApt” el-Sadeek (1984): 23. 1502 el-Sadeek (1984): 28. 1503 el-Sadeek (1984): 30-31. 1504 el-Sadeek (1984): 22. 1501

144

APPENDIX B: DECORATION AND INCRIPTIONS was none on the other walls as they had ‘palace façade’ panelling.

Figure 147. The exterior of Chamber 5 of Tjery’s tomb, south side [D]. [From el-Sadeek (1984): Fig. 1]

Figure 144. The exterior of Chamber 1 of Tjery’s tomb, east side [A]. [From el-Sadeek (1984): Fig. 2]

The interior of the south chamber (Chamber 1) is badly damaged. The north wall [F] is wholly textual and has Coffin Text spell 625 in brightly coloured hieroglyphs to the eastern part, and Chapter 67 of the Book of the Dead, which is equivalent to Coffin Text Spells 301 and 309, to the western part.1505 The east wall [E] depicts Tjery and his wife, seated, with a jar below their chair (Figure 148).1506 The west wall [G] also shows Tjery and his wife seated on an animal-legged chair on a dais (Figure 149), with a jar beneath their chair; a lotus flower is at the rear of the seat. They sit before an offering table, with harpists, singers and a man making offerings in front of them;1507 in a symbol of superiority, Tjery and his wife are much larger than the musicians and adorer, who would have occupied a single register while Tjery and his wife occupied at least two. The remaining parts of the west wall of Chamber 1 contain several short texts: a list of offerings is shown beside the offering table, while the man making offerings to Tjery and his wife has the text: “Tjery, son of the coachyte Osorkon, born of Hemset” in front of him.1508 Traces of hieroglyphic signs point to there once having been longer texts on these walls, but between the harpists and the singers there remains a text that reads: “The revered before Horus Khentekhay, the Great God, Nes-Hor-Pakhered, son of Ankh-HorPakhered.”1509

Figure 145. Part of the exterior of Chamber 1 of Tjery's tomb, west side [B]. [From el-Sadeek (1984): Fig. 3]

Figure 146. The exterior of Chamber 4 of Tjery’s tomb, south side [C]. [From el-Sadeek (1984): Figs. 4-5]

1505

el-Sadeek (1984): 34. el-Sadeek (1984): 32. The heads of the two people in this depiction have been cut out and removed by antiquities thieves. 1507 Porter and Moss (1978-1981): Vol. III, Part 1, 296. Petrie (1907 reprinted 1977): Plate XXXVIA. 1508 el-Sadeek (1984): 36. 1509 el-Sadeek (1984): 37. 1506

145

THE ELITE LATE PERIOD EGYPTIAN TOMBS OF MEMPHIS adoration, before an offering table1510. The lower register shows Tjery facing south and holding a staff in his left hand and a piece of fine linen in his right, welcoming visitors into the tomb. The central hallway [Chamber 2] is devoted in the main to funerary prayers for offerings, with Coffin Text Spells 151, 301, 352 and 625 to the north wall, which also contains prayers to Khepri, Osiris and Isis, a Htp di nsw text to Osiris Khenty-Imentiu and a statement that Tjery “had given bread to the hungry, let the children live and given burials to the old”.1511 Figure 148. The interior east wall of Chamber 1 of Tjery’s tomb [E]. [From Petrie (1907, reprinted 1977): Plate XXXVI C]

The south wall of Chamber 2 has a Htp di nsw text that Osiris may give funerary offerings and “every good thing on which a god lives”.1512 Some vignettes remain on the east wall (Figure 151) of the hall [H] which show, in the upper register, Tjery adoring the Sokar barque, which is on a pedestal above an offering table, as the vignette of Chapter 74 of the Book of the Dead;1513 below this he adores an enthroned Osiris and an enthroned Isis, Lord and Lady of Rosetau, in each case behind an offering table topped with a resurrective lotus.

Figure 149. The interior west wall of Chamber 1 of Tjery’s tomb [G]. [From el-Sadeek (1984): Fig. 6]

Figure 150. The doorway from Chamber 1 into the central hall of Tjery’s tomb. [From Petrie (1907, reprinted 1977): Plate XXXVI G]

Figure 151. The central hall of Tjery's tomb, east wall [H]. [From Petrie (1907, reprinted 1977): Plate XXXVI G]

On the doorway leading from the southern to the central hallway are the name and titles of Tjery. The east jamb of this doorway carries two depictions of Tjery (Figure 150). In the upper register he faces north, hands raised in

1510

The style of offering table is not depicted in Vandier (1964) and is presumed to be of Late Period design. 1511 el-Sadeek (1984): 43. 1512 el-Sadeek (1984): 42. 1513 Faulkner (1972): 74.

146

APPENDIX B: DECORATION AND INCRIPTIONS

The west wall (Figure 152) [I] has vignettes showing the balance and the ‘eater of the heart’, the vignette of Chapter 125 of the Book of the Dead, the Weighing of the Heart ceremony ,1514 below which Tjery adores Geb, ‘the mouth of the gods’ and, in the bottom register, seated in the prow of a boat sailing on water, he adores Hathor, lady of the Sycamore Tree, in her shrine.1515 It possibly also held Chapter 76 of the Book of the Dead (for taking on any shape) and has prayers to Hathor and to Osiris Khenty-Imentiu for “offerings of the South and food of the North to the Ka of Tjery”.1516 These vignettes all have to do with Tjery’s progression to the west, where he will be reborn; but they are also connected with his funerary offerings, so the position in the central chamber, where the funerary rites and the receipt of the mortuary cult meet, is most appropriate.

Figure 153. The north wall of the North Chamber of Tjery's tomb [J]. [From el-Sadeek (1984): Fig. 7]

The doorway into the north room [Chamber 3] bears the name and titles of Tjery and he is shown in an attitude of adoration. The north chamber itself has scenes of adoration: Osiris is enthroned on the north wall [J]; Isis, wearing a Hathor crown, is before him and behind him is an unspecified goddess, both giving him fine linen (Figure 153). Between the pictures of Osiris and Isis on the north wall [J] there are Htp di nsw formulae. A small figure, possibly Tjery’s wife, stands behind the left-hand goddess and a frieze of interwoven lotus flowers, a symbol of resurrection, is on the side of the plinth below the Osiris scene. Above this scene is a protective winged sun disc. On the east wall [K] Tjery, before an offering table on which there is a lotus, adores a standing Osiris, who has Maat standing behind him (Figure 154). This wall also has Htp di nsw texts to Osiris, Osiris Onnophoris and the Lord of Rosetau, while a text on the south wall also addresses Osiris, Lord of Rosetau.1517 The south wall [L] has a large Djed pillar, the symbolic backbone of Osiris, above a kneeling Tjery in priestly dress1518 (Figure 155).

Figure 152. The central hall of Tjery's tomb, west wall [I]. [From Petrie (1907, reprinted 1977): Plate XXXVI G]

1514

Faulkner (1974): 14. el-Sadeek (1984): 47. 1516 el-Sadeek (1984): 46. 1515

1517 1518

147

el-Sadeek (1984): 56. el-Sadeek (1984): 56.

THE ELITE LATE PERIOD EGYPTIAN TOMBS OF MEMPHIS now severely damaged; the fifth to tenth portals are on the west wall (Figure 158), the eleventh to fourteenth portals are on the south wall (Figure 159) and the fifteenth portal is on the east wall (Figure 160). The sixteenth to twenty-first are not shown. The Guardians, as part of the Book of the Amduat, are on the north and south walls of the fourth and fifth corridors in the tomb of Ramesses VI in Thebes, positioned before the burial chamber;1522 in Tjery’s tomb the west room is again before his burial chamber. On the tympanum of the north and south walls (Figures 157 and 159) [N] of this room scenes of mummification are depicted, with Isis at the foot and Nephthys at the head of the embalming couch. On the north wall both bring fine linen to the attendant Anubis, and a fragmentary text beside the mummification scene on the north wall says that Isis gives linen to Tjery. On the south wall Isis and Nephthys kneel down, each holding a protective Sn symbol. The four canopic jars are shown under the couch on the south wall, all facing west, with Amset at the west, followed by Hapi, Duamutef and Kebhsenuf.

Figure 154. The east wall of the North Chamber of Tjery’s tomb [K]. [From el-Sadeek (1984): Fig. 8]

Figure 155. Tjery and the Djed Pillar [L]. [From Petrie (1907, reprinted 1977): Plate XXXVI B]

On the south reveal of the doorway [M] from Chamber 2 into Chamber 4, Tjery’s wife Tadihor, who confusingly has the same name as his mother, is shown in an attitude of adoration before an offering table (Figure 156).1519 The west room [Chamber 4] has a frieze with a Htp di nsw formula in the name of Osiris, Lord of Rosetau, that he might “grant splendour in heaven, might on earth, justification in the necropolis”.1520 The room was decorated with Chapter 146 of the Book of the Dead, the spells for entering the Mysterious Portals of the House of Osiris, with each guardian having the appropriate text. Of the Guardians of the eighteen portals of the journey to the Field of Reeds that forms Chapter 146 of the Book of the Dead,1521 the fourth portal is on the north wall (Figure 157), and the first, second and third portals were probably depicted on that part of the north wall which is

Figure 156. The south reveal of the door into the West Chamber of Tjery’s tomb [M]. [From Petrie (1907 reprinted 1977): Plate XXXVI G]

1519 el-Sadeek (1984): 58. This style of offering table is not shown in Vandier (1964) and it is therefore probably of Late Period design. 1520 el-Sadeek (1984): 58. 1521 Faulkner (1972): 135-137.

1522

148

Brock (2001): 248.

APPENDIX B: DECORATION AND INCRIPTIONS

Figure 159. The south wall of the West Chamber of Tjery’s tomb [N]. [From Petrie (1907, reprinted 1977): Plate XXXVI F]

Figure 157. The north wall of the West Chamber of Tjery's tomb [N]. [From Petrie (1907, reprinted 1977): Plate XXXVI D]

Figure 158. The west wall of the West Chamber of Tjery’s tomb [N]. [From Petrie (1907, reprinted 1977): Plate XXXVI E] Figure 160. The east wall of the West Chamber of Tjery’s tomb [N]. [From Petrie (1907, reprinted 1977): Plate XXXVI F]

149

THE ELITE LATE PERIOD EGYPTIAN TOMBS OF MEMPHIS

Figure 162. Tjery being embraced by Anubis (left) and by Hathor (right). [From Petrie (1907, reprinted 1977) Plate XXXIII]

6

THE TEMPLE-COURT TOMB.

SAQQARA NESDJHOUTY.

Figure 161. The north wall of the East Room of Tjery’s tomb [P]. [From el-Sadeek (1984): Fig. 10]

From fragments of blocks originating from the walls of Nesdjhouty’s tomb chapel it is clear that these contained depictions of fowling, papyrus harvesting and hunting in the desert (Figure 163).1525 Some fragments from the west wall of the inner court show depictions of offerings being brought to the deceased. On the north wall of this chapel was a large depiction of Nesdjhouty and his daughter. The east wall of the northern chamber showed the deceased seated before a green table.

The reveals of the doorway from Chamber 2 into Chamber 5 show Tjery’s mother and his grandfather, also called Tjery. Chamber 5 had a frieze with a Htp di nsw formula which mirrored that in the west room, but this is in the name of Ptah-Sokar-Osiris. Texts in this room give the genealogy of Tjery.1523 The south wall of Chamber 5 [O] shows Tjery and his son Psamtek making offerings and libations to Tjery’s father, who sits behind an offering table, while the north wall [P] has Tjery seated behind an offering table at which his two sons Gemefiskapat and Psamtek make offerings beneath a depiction of two Anubis figures, two wadjet eyes and groups of nfr, nwb and mw signs (Figure 161). This has close parallels in the decoration on the tympanum of the interior walls of the tombs of Dhutnufer (TT 104), from the time of Amenhotep II, and of Ankh-Hor (TT 414) of the Twentysixth Dynasty in Thebes1524 and to the tomb of Bakenrenef, already described in this chapter. The east wall [Q] shows the seven ram-headed gods of the seven gates welcoming Tjery through. The west wall [R], which includes the door, has Tjery’s mummy being embraced by Hathor and Anubis (Figure 162). Prayers in this room mention Hathor, Sobek, Horus, Ptah-Sokar-Osiris and Anubis-Imiut. 1523 el-Sadeek (1984): 85. His great-grandmother was Tashepennet, his grandfather was Tjery and his parents were Gemefiskapet and Tadihor. Tjery had two wives, Tadihor and Taremenbastet; by Tadihor he had a son Gemefiskapet and by Taremenbastet he had a son Psamtek, who, we are told in the text, also became Chief of Police. 1524 Eigner (1984): Abb. 96.

Figure 163. Blocks from the tomb of Nesdjhouty. [From Quibell (1912): Pl. LXII] 1525

150

Quibell (1912): 32.

APPENDIX B: DECORATION AND INCRIPTIONS

Nesdjhouty’s tomb chapel also provided tantalising glimpses of text. Some blocks, covered with text, were recovered from the two western end chapels; the rear wall of the southernmost chapel produced the ends of four columns of inscriptions, of which two ended with the name of Nesdjhouty; in the north chamber, there were the ends of nine columns of text, with four signs in each. Parts of Chapters 141 and 142 of the Book of the Dead were recovered.1526 7 BURIALS IN OTHER SACRED STRUCTURES. GIZA No decoration is described from the tombs in the vicinity of the Temple to Isis, which were all built within other structures: many are within the Isis Temple itself. 8

THE TOMB OF RAMES.

Rames’ tomb had inscribed lintel and door jambs, now in the Cairo Museum,1527 but the remainder of his tomb was undecorated, or, if decorated, has not been described. The lintel bears the inscription “The imAx, lector priest, Divine Father, Head of Food and Drink of Heliopolis, Rames” to the exterior face and “The imAx, lector priest, Royal Acquaintance, Divine Father, Head of Food and Drink of Heliopolis, Rames” to the internal face. The exterior of the left jamb states “An offering that the king gives to Atum, of the interior of the Divine Pavilion, Master of good burials. The imAx, of Osiris, Master of sarcophagi in the necropolis, Divine Father, Head of Food and Drink of Heliopolis, lector priest, soft of arms, Royal Acquaintance, Rames”, while the right jamb states “[An offering that the king gives] to Osiris in all his pure places, that he may give voice offerings for him every day and at every festival … lector priest, soft of arms, Head of Food and Drink in the Great Residence, Divine Father, Head of Food and Drink of Heliopolis, Rames”.1528 These are standard texts and teach little about the tombs of Late Period Memphis.

1526

Quibell (1912): 143. Cairo Museum JE 47120. 1528 Gauthier (1921a): 200-201. 1527

151

Head of Food and Drink in the Great Residence

APPENDIXC The NAMES, GENEALOGY and TITLES of the occupants of the EliteLate Period tombs of the Memphite necropoleis - 'nb-t3wy 1 529 - and details of their funerary goods.

�yyy�ifn

Cellarmaster of On

eigg

bry-b3wt m pr-'3

wdpwlwnw

MEMPHIS

Hemi Gauthier considered Rames' main function was to provision the Temple of Heliopolis with livestock and drink.1536

Hena

Wahibra-Tjeset

1.

THE TOMBS OF THE EAST BANK.

Ranke1530 Vol. I, page 229, no.18. Position and provenance unknown. Block in the Cairo Museum.1531 Not known. Genealogy: Tomb type: Not known. Titles: 1532 Commander of the Domains of Upper andLower�

Y WW Ul b ?1 o

bry-sst3 n pt

Commander of the two Seats

t�l@J

Chief Officiant �IL]� B��

g

HELIOPOLIS SHAMS) Q

brp ggb gb bry-tp hn3

(including MATAREYA and AIN 7wnw1s33

rm

Ranke Vol. I, page 218, no. 6. Found in Matareya, the tomb was transported to Cairo Museum, where it was reconstructed.1534 Genealogy: Not known. Tomb type: Vaulted tomb 'in Old Kingdom style'. Titles: 1535

Lector Priest

O

that reads = tst was a title meaning 'bearer of the statue of Atum-Ra in that god's festivals at Heliopolis'. Funerary goods: It had a canopic niche in each wall, the northerly one containing a jar of Hapi, the southerly Amset, the easterly Duamutef and the westerly Kebhsenuf. 1540 Alabaster canopic jars and several ushebtis were recovered from the tomb. There was no sign of an inner sarcophagus but traces of a wooden coffin were found.

Psamtek-Senebu [Tomb 1]

(_:_�:;:)l1 J

Rames

Divine Father

l Jl¾ @

Royal Acquaintance

T

=

01

Genealogy: Tomb type:

Titles: 1541

Ranke Vol. I, page 137, no. 2. Not known. Vaulted chamber under a tumulus. 1

Chief Physician

t tt ��Jl��::: 1

O

t�

/Jry-bb rb-nswt

Sole Companion

0 r10� 1 � \\

I

Director of the Palace 1536

wr swnw

�

Commander of the Battle Fleet

Hannig (2001): 1321. Ranke (1935): 1531 Gauthier (1921): 34. The Cairo Museum number is not given: although the block bore the inscription 'Mit Rahina 1897 ', Gauthier said that it had not been entered in the Journal d 'entree. 1532 Gauthier (1921): 34. 1533 Porter and Moss (1978-1981): Vol. IV, 59; Hannig (2001): 1301. 1534 Gauthier (1927): 3. The Journal d'entree number was 50246. 1535 Gauthier (1921a): 201

�= )i,

c%%& brp srfct 1 Healer1542 Chief of Pharaoh's Dentists

it-ntr

1529

I

Titles: 1 5 3 8 Divine Father it-ntr Hem1· Gauthier153 9 cons1.dered that the part of his name

l

brp bwtw nt sbmty

Official of the Heavenly Mysteries

= r1 9 DZ = I oD r===1

1 )I= l

0 0 , Ranke Vol. I, page 73, no. 14. ( \J Genealogy: Father: Nakht-Hor; Mother: Tes-Bastet­ perou. Hemi Gauthier considered that Wahibra­ Tjeset's mother's name suggests she may have come from the Bubastite nome.1 53 7 Tomb type: Vaulted Chamber Tomb.

t�

wr ibfzpr '3 brp kk(w)t smr-w'ty

[7 brp-'b

Gauthier (1921a): 202. Gauthier (1927): 4-5. Gauthier (1927): 5. 1539 Gauthier (1927): 7. 1540 Gauthier (1927): 4. 1541 Chevereau (1985): 134. 1542 Gauthier (1933): 33. Press! (1998): 217. Hannig (2001) translates this as a healer. Tbis title dates from the Old Kingdom and was revised in Saite times.

1530

153

7 1538

152

APPENDIX C: NAMES,GENEALOGY AND TITLES � � Overseer of Interpreters= ([J1 Ji' One who Stands Before the Throne

rWVl:: �6)7�

Divine Father of Ptah

,� �g��o,;

imy-r cw

itntr n Pth nb Inb- hd

bnty nst

Chancellor to the God

0 [iJ King's Valet= I T � !:try tp nswt Administrator ofthe Two Thrones ® [iJ o \\ bry nsty Prophet of the King's Two Daughters

�m

� 1 � � \\

bm ntr s 5ty bity Keeper of the Celestial Secrets !:try sst5 n pt Director of the Palaces of the Red Crown F=1

brp bwwtNt Funerary goods: Fine grey schist sarcophagus carrying Pyramid Text Utterances 266 and 1607, followed by Chapter 174 ofthe Book ofthe Dead. 1543 All anonymous. 1544

Nesu-Khedu [Tomb 6]

Ranke. Genealogy: Tomb type: Titles: 1546

�=

Hor Neferibrasaneitb. [Tomb 9]

= �� 9 Ir1 o LJ � =

Tombs 2, 3, 4, 5, 7 and 8.

name has not been found

r1l \�� =: v o A�1

ss mb ib bntms' Trusted Man at the Head ofthe Troops � '"\Mi� V IUUUl�1 I I mb ib bntmnfyt

Prince

111

=2)

srf,5wty

+ ��

imy-r ss(w) nswti'w-d at God of Heliopolis1547 � ; � �°!,�

r1 m � T �

=1 � Ji'

im 5bw br ntr '5 nb Iwnw Priest ofIsis,Mother ofGods o � bm-ntr is.twr.tmw.tntr

111

bity

I

0

� �

�\\��

rs w'ty n nb t-?wy

+¾

Royal Acquaintance rb nswt Funerary goods: His outer sarcophagus carries Pyramid Text Utterance 4681551 around the exterior, while inside,Nephthys is at the head, Isis is at the foot and to each side is a depiction of Anubis with two of the sons of Horus. This tomb contained ushebtis bearing the names of Ankhefu-Sakhmet, Psamtek, Hor, Psamtek-Senebu and Udjahormehnet.

�,4b- ��rr� i@

Priest of Osiris,Lord ofDjedu

bm-ntr wsir nb ddw

@i�J T? ,� ���gg

Divine Father of Atum

rp'

Royal Scribe ss n swt Devoted Confidant ofhis Lord � '"\ V � @9�� � � mb ib mnb n nbf Sole Watcher for the Lord ofthe Two Lands

f

0

�

�@,

�+6���i 2

Chief Lector Priest

= D

� b1ty-' Mayor Chancellor ofthe King ofLower Egypt

V

�1���

1

061

� [l1rl]� , h l=L-' zmy-r =D ssw�nrtwr Overseer of Scribes ofthe R�al Repast

One

(o&v )[� ::Q,

and Ranke Vol. I, page 194,no. 20. Father: Inefer. Genealogy: Vaulted Chamber Tomb. Tomb type: Trusted Titles: 1550 '" Scribe at the head of the Army

Mother: Mery-ityesNeith. 1545 Vaulted Chamber Tomb. Overseer of Scribes of the Great Prison 6

.s{} 5wty ntr-

Shaven One o fkt.j Funerary goods: Black inner sarcophagus, now in the Cairo Museum. 1548 It bears Chapter 72 of the Book of the Dead on its lid. 1549 The coffin carries Pyramid Text Utterances 640,641,642 and 643.

=

twJ£

1 @,

Udjab.ormehnet [I]

bry-bb bry-tp

itntr n Itm nb Iwnw 1548

Cairo Museum JE 57478. Buhl (1959): 21. el-Sadeek (1984): 184. Gauthier (1933): 50 gives Royal Scribe, Bickel and Tallet (1997): 82 and Royal Acquaintance. Tirn remainder are from Chevereau (1985): 138. 1551 §894-895. 1549

1543

Gauthier (1933): 32. 1544 Gauthier (1933): 47. 1545 Press! (1998): 308, from the sarcophagus in Cairo, JE 57 478. 1546 Gauthier (1933): 44-46; Chevereau (1985): 134. 1547 Press! (1998): 308.

1550

153

THE ELITE LATE PERIOD EGYPTIAN TOMBS OF MEMPHIS

� il

�� ,RankeVol. I,page 88,no.27. Genealogy: Father: Padionuris; Mother: Mistress of the House.1552 Tomb type: Vaulted Chamber Tomb. Titles: 1553

Divine Father

01

Titles: Tairet,

Seankh-Wahibra

11..Qo Yv I ! X . This name has not been found in Ranke. Genealogy: Tomb type: Titles: 1561

it-ntr

Udjahormehnet [II]

�il � =::: 0nJfil � il

� .&:::c,._] I, Ranke Vol. I, page 123, no. 1 , with iv,

O RankeVol. I,page 194 ,no.13 and 'seneb'. Not known. Genealogy: Not known. Known only from several Tomb type: decorated blocks,reputed to be in the Matareya store of the Antiquities Service.1562 Not known. Titles:

wr swnw sm' m/:tw Funerary goods: His sarcophagus and decorated blocks were taken to Cairo Museum in 1959.1555 They have not been published other than to state that they were painted.1556

Ineferi

� � i �,

Two tombs are recorded which bear the name of Udjahormehnet and it has been suggested that they are one and the same person and that the two conjectured tombs are but one.1557

RankeVol. I,page 10,no. 6. Genealogy: Not known. Not known. This was discovered m Tomb type: 1957 but not published.1563 Priest of Heliopolis Titles: 1564

��+ ����

Padipep RankeVo . I, a e123,no.12 . � His rn.nfr was Wahibra ... -�- I .155g Genealogy: Not known. Tomb type: Probably a Vaulted Chamber Tomb, but known only from two fragments found immediately north of the tomb ofUdjahormehnet. Titles: 1559 Great of the Office ==90\\ � ck [7 CJ 11 fp]t

.

/:tm imy-is Funerary goods: His sarcophagus, on which five generations of his antecedents are listed, is in the museum in Cairo.1565 It is covered with religious texts identifying different parts of the body with deities, and gave details of five generations of Ineferi's ancestors.

01 v

Mutshenet

imy-r !Jtmt

Petosiris Neferibraseneb

��ti�

.

Not known. PossiblyVaulted Chamber Tomb. Overseer of the Treasury

�:��

or

�� ,RankeVol. I,page 88,no.27. Genealogy: Not known. Tomb type: Vaulted Chamber Tomb. Titles: 1554 Chief Physician of Upper and Lower Egypt

DD� �On,

Not known.

Panehsy His rn.nfr was Neferibrameryre.

fl,

D

� 0 �

b o,RankeVol. I,page 420,no.23. Genealogy: Not known. Tomb type: Not known. Known only from a block which shows a person playing sistra before a deity_ 1560

RankeVol. I,page 113,no.13. Genealogy: Father: Mother: Nebwyhotep; Disnebwt.1566 Vaulted Chamber Tomb. Tomb type: Chancellor of the King of Lower Egypt Titles: 1567

�@, 110�0 Sole Companion I 1 � \\

1552

Bickel and Tallet (1997): 77 . Bickel and Tallet (1997): 77, where no transliteration is given. Bickel and Tallet (1997): 77. 1555 Bickel and Tallet (1997): 77. The sarcophagus is in the museum courtyard, the whereabouts of the blocks is unknown. 1556 Leclant (1975): 202. 1557 Bickel and Tallet (1997): 78. 1558 De Meulenaere (1966): number 30. 1559 Bickel and Tallet (1997): 78. 1560 Bickel and Tallet (1997): 78. The whereabouts of the block is unknown.

s{!3wty bity smr-w'ty l568

1553

1554

154

1561

Bickel and Tallet (1997): 79. Inventory number No. 240. 1563 Bakry (1972): 66. 1564 Bakry (1972): 66. Bickel and Tallet (1997): 80 also give the titles hrn nwbt. i 565 Cairo Museum JE 89662. 1566 Bickel and Tallet (1997): 80. Below the tympanum of the west wall of his tomb, his father's name is given as 's!Jnw'. 1567 Bickel and Tallet (1997): 80. 1562

APPENDIX C: NAMES, GENEALOGY AND TITLES God's Father of Heliopolis

O

f¾

Royal Acquaintance

IQ

generations of ancestors of Pathenfy, and one shows the deceased before a procession of cattle and in a papyrus thicket. 1580

it-ntr lwnw

rb nswt1569

Wadj-Hor1581

Rajaa

il �, RankeNotVol.!mown. I, page 88, no. 26. � Q � �, a name not found in Ranke, although J. i Genealogy: il f.

Tomb type: Vaulted Chamber Tomb with three vaulted chambers. Not known. Titles: Funerary goods: The south chamber contained three limestone sarcophagi and one hundred and forty-nine ushebtis. 1582

Lieblein1570 gives= Genealogy: Not Known Tomb type: Vaulted Chamber Tomb? Titles: 1571 High Priest of Heliopolis

�>

,

=

1572

1my-rm33

Funerary goods: His sarcophagus and some decorated blocks are in Cairo Museum1573 and their style was evidently inspired by the Middle Kingdom.1574 Harbes

f ]Anthony This name has not been found in Ranke, but Leahy is of the opinion that the name is of

Libyan origin and developed into Harwa. 1575 Genealogy: Not known. Tomb type: Not known, but probably a Vaulted Chamber Tomb; known only from a block. 1576 Wab Priest

Titles: 1577

7�

Royal Acquaintance T ""'

{j �

w'b

rb nswt

Pathenfy �

� O\\

��7 '-"===-

Ranke Vol. I, page 121, no. 14. Not known. Genealogy: Tomb type: Probably a Vaulted Chamber Tomb. Titles: 1578 Head of the Altar in the Great Residence of the Northern On

9

T�ifg I

Ankhkhonsu1583

1" � f,

Genealogy: Tomb type: Titles:

Ranke Vol. I, page 66, no. 7. Father: Hurr. Probably Vaulted Chamber Tomb. Chancellor of the King of Lower Egypt

�@,

sr}3wty bity

Funerary goods: His burial chamber, which was liried with limestone blocks, contained an anthropoid basalt sarcophagus, more than four hundred ushebtis,1584 four canopic jars with stoppers iri the shape of the Sons of Horus and amulets depicting Horus saving his father. 1585 The tombs of Panehsy, Ankhkhonsu and Hurr are now in the Am Shams open-air museum, where they are being reconstructed. 1586 Evidence has been found of other tombs in this area.1587 OLD CAIRO - al-Fustat.

=

Wj LJ_,.___J_ (U\ � �

© bri-'l:t'J1588

Pawen-Hatef ��O

l:try ft3wtm l:twt-'3t lwnw

i �'

Ranke Vol. I, page 103, no. 27.

O

Divine Father it-ntr Known only from blocks from the tomb which are in Cairo Museum. 1579 One block lists thirteen

1580

Bickel and Tallet (1997): 84. Hawass (2001) webpage. Discovered in December 2001. 1582 Hawass (2003): 179. 1583 Hawass (2005d) webpage. And the Egyptian State Information Service, at http://www.sis.gov.eg/online/html l l /o26824j.htm on 26th August 2004. 1584 Spencer (2005): 28. 1585 Lecture, Dr. Sabri Abdel Aziz, Luxor, 28th September 2004. 1586 Connolly (2004): 1. 1587 The sarcophagus of Nesshutefnut, son of Tjanefer, was excavated in 1942 and is now in Cairo Museum [Bickel and Tallet (1997): 83. JE 87086]. That ofNyhor was excavated in 1969 and is now in the garden of Cairo museum [Bickel and Tallet (1997): 84]. Blocks from the tombs of Hor-Sematawyemhat are in the Cairo Museum [Bickel and Tallet (1997): 85. Cairo Museum JE88213 and JE88215 or JE 88212 and JE88216]. Hurr's tomb was adjacent to that of Akhkhonsu: he was a priest of Horus and the tomb held his intact sarcophagus [el-Aref, "Horus Priest Surfaces," Al-Ahram Weekly, 5th - 11th August 2004.] The tombs of Wejahfur and Banassi have also been discovered by the Antiquities Service [Hawass (2004a) webpage.]. 1588 Hannig (2001): 1378. 1581

1568

el-Sawi and Gomaa (1993): 21. el-Sawi and Gomaa (1993): 125. 1570 Lieblein (1871): 30. 1571 Bickel and Tallet (1997): 81. 1572 Bickel and Tallet (1997): 81 state that the Old Kingdom style ofwr m,, was reused dming the Late Period. 1573 Sarcophagus: JE 89504; Blocks: JE 89503. 1574 Bickel and Tallet (1997): 81. 1575 Leahy (1980): 43-63. 1576 The whereabouts of this is not !mown. 1577 Bickel and Tallet (1987): 69 gives w'b; the reconstruction of the tomb wall (Appendix B, page 141) gives rb nswt. 1578 Porter and Moss (1978-1981): Vol. IV, 59. Bickel and Tallet (1997): 85. 1579 Bickel and Tallet (1997): 84. Cairo Museum JE 38824 and JE 36194. 1569

155

THE ELITE LATE PERIOD EGYPTIAN TOMBS OF MEMPHIS Genealogy: Hesset.15 89 Tomb type: Titles: 1 590

Padiamun

Father:

Paihy;

Mother:

.-J f:i5ty-' Mayor Chancellor of the King of Lower Egypt 11M@, � SQ5Wtybif.!_,

Shaft Tomb. Chancellor to the King of Lower Egypt

1 1 � \\

�Q btmty bity Great Chieftain of the Heliopolitan Nome 96)?=::iJ

, Ranke Vol. I, page 136, no. 8. 1679

Kamal (1908): 85. Porter and Moss (1978-1981): Vol. ill, Part 2, 648. 1681 Bresciani, Pernigotti, and Giangeri Silvis (1977): 17, Chevereau (1958): 133 and Press! (1998): 317. 1682 Cairo Museum JE 35156. Buhl (1959): 22. 1683 Bresciani, Pemigotti, and Giangeri Silvis (1977): 20. 1684 Barsanti (I 900c): 269. 1685 Barsanti (1900c): 265. 1680

1686

Jonkheere (1958): 39 (No. 28), Gestermann (2001), Press! (1998): 263 and Chevereau (1985): 130. Gestermann (2001): 140. 1688 Barsanti (1900): 161. 1687

162

APPENDIX C: NAMES, GENEALOGY AND TITLES second, anthropoid basalt sarcophagus was placed. Inside this would have been a further wooden coffin, also anthropoid in shape. Two canopic jars were recovered.

Father: Ankhpakhered; Genealogy: Hetepbastet. 1695 Tomb type: Saite-Persian Shaft Tomb. Titles: 1696 Overseer of the Horse

Mother:

O �=� fj}

imy-r ssmt Overseer of Scribes of the Royal Repast

Padinisis

�6�:+:::r��

=

D ]o o , Ranke Vol. I, page 124, no. 5. Genealogy: Father: Psamtek; Mother: Desnub. 1689 Tomb type: Saite-Persian Shaft Tomb. Titles: 169° Chancellor of the King of Lower Egypt �'�

Sole Companion

srJ3wty b

9 � � o �fj� =

/iry mdt Funerary goods: The alabaster canopic jars1698 were found in situ. Two hundred and two ushebtis were found to the left of the door and one hundred and ninety-eight were to the right. Four libation vases separated the two groups. 1699 Padineith's body was covered by a bead net. 1700

tg

1 I� \\ 1

imy-r ssw nswt 'b He who is in charge of Cattle Grounds1697

t�n

Director of the Palace1691 One honoured by Ptah-Sokar

smr-w'ty brp-'/:t

��D��;l���� im5bw hr Pt/:t-skr

Hekaemsaf

Keeper of his lord's secrets

= q � = I LJ 5

9

j J,J � � ,

Ranke Vol. I, page 256, no. 24. Not known. Genealogy: Saite-Persian Shaft Tomb. Tomb type: Titles: 1701 Overseer of the Boats of the King1702

/iry sst5 n nbf

O

Great Priest ofBastet

�,� rr:

/:tm ntr wr B5stt

� = +::i���

Keeper of the secrets of the king's Menchet-Festival 9 r1 7 o E':'.:"j ® =I oLIT��o /:try sst5 mnb.t nswt

=

Overseer of the Treasury

il

�@, = )l � = lJ LJ I

I

I

0

Overseer of the Throne Overseer of the House of Silver

imy-r f:,'ww nswt

J)

Mayor1703 � f:,3ty-' Chancellor to the King of Lower Egypt

@, �

imy-r btmt imy-r s.t

Sole Companion

sr)5wty btg

1 I� \\ 1

t�n

Director of the Palace Overseer of the Place of Purification

�Co] ='

imy-r pr-M Funerary goods: Two groups of ushebtis, with one hundred and ninety-eight to the right of the door but only a few, mostly uninscribed, to the left. A pot to the left of the sarcophagus contained embalming material; to the right there were eleven small vases and another four were within a box. 1692 Padinisis had a rectangular limestone sarcophagus1693 carrying Chapter 72 of the Book of the Dead and Utterance 226 of the Pyramid Texts. 1694 Within this a second, anthropoid basalt sarcophagus was placed.

�]IILJ J/\{

smr-w'ty brp-'/:t

imy-r st-skb Overseer of the Scribes who are at the Head of the Great House

�6�:�n�

imy-r ssw bnty pr wr Overseer of the Two Treasuries of the Royal Residence

�cpr�lpo��� imy-r prwy-nbw nw !:_mw.

Padineitl:J. Dr70

&o X o, Ranke Vol. I, page 124, no. 6.

1695

Porter and Moss (1978-1981): Vol. III,Part 2,649. Barsanti (1901): 101 and Chevereau (I 985): 128. 1697 Press] (1998): 297. 1698 Cairo Museum JE 34679. 1699 Barsanti (1901): 99. 1700 Malek (2003): 301. 1701 Bresciani, Pernigotti, and Giangeri Silvis (1977): 19, Press! (1998): 276 and Chevereau (1985): 100. 1702 Hekaemsafwas the third,with Psamtek-Meryptah and Djanehibu,to have shared this title. 1703 Barsanti (1904): 73-74. 1696

1689

Porter and Moss (1978-1981): Vol. III,Part 2,649. Barsanti (1900): 232. Press! (1998): 261. 1692 Barsanti (1900a): 233. 1693 Cairo Musewn JE 34648. Buhl (1959): 20. 1694 Barsanti (1900a): 261. 1690 1691

163

THE ELITE LATE PERIOD EGYPTIAN TOMBS OF MEMPHIS Funerary goods: Four hundred and one blue enamelled ushebtis were to the sides of the entrance;1704 the alabaster canopic jars1705 of Amset and Duamutef were found to the south and those of Hapi and Kebhsenuf were to the north,standing next to niches in the walls. Clay statues of Anubis1706 (to the north) and Osiris1707 (to the south) were close to each canopic jar. Four small boats of clay1708 or alabaster and a model loaf of bread were found on the floor of the tomb. The lid of the limestone sarcophagus was inscribed with Ch apter 72 of the Book of the Dead1709 and a granite inner sarcophagus contained a wooden coffin. His body was covered in a fine gold mask and bead shroud.1 710 Amentefnakht His rn. n is Haaibrameriptah

o ��o

[�l

��� 1 111 -

� n t'::'.::'.:'.:: o. ����,Ranke Vol. I,page 31,no. 7. Mother: Irteru.1712 Genealogy: Tomb type: Saite-Persian Shaft Tomb. Titles: 1713 Overseer of the Life Guard

�",�: .fil'1

= v

+ � LJ =:

imy-r mbw-ib

about the body,which was wrapped but appeared not to have been munnnified.1715 Nesbanebdjedet [Also known as Smendes]

7 ��IT IT;,

Genealogy: Tomb type: Titles: 1 717

Ranke Vol. I,page 174,no. 17. Father: Horemhat; Mother: Tares.1716 Shaft Tomb. Overseer of the Two Granaries

� =n

� JJ1JJ1

snwtwy

0.

imy-r

�o.� Shorn Priest "C:;;