The Pyramid Builders of Ancient Egypt: A Modern Investigation of Pharaoh’s Workforce

256 Pages·1997·3.54 MB·English

by  Rosalie David

The Pyramid Builders of Ancient
Egypt
By the same author
The Ancient Egyptians: religious beliefs and practices
THE PYRAMID BUILDERS OF
ANCIENT EGYPT
A Modern Investigation of Pharaoh’s Workforce
A.R.DAVID
LONDON AND NEW YORK
First published 1986
by Routledge & Kegan Paul plc
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2003.
First published in paperback 1996
by Routledge
11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001
© 1986, 1996 A.R.David
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any
information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the
publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of
Congress Cataloguing in Publication Data
David, A.Rosalie (Ann Rosalie)
The pyramid builders of ancient Egypt.
Bibliography: p.
Includes index.
1. Kahun (Ancient city) 2. Egypt—Social life and customs—To 332 B.C. 3.
Egypt—antiquities. 4. Pyramid of Sesostris II (Egypt) 5. Fayyum (Egypt)—
Antiquities. I. Title.
DT73.K28D38 1986 932 85–10775
ISBN 0-203-44261-X Master e-book ISBN
ISBN 0-203-75085-3 (Adobe eReader Format)
ISBN 0-415-15292-5 (Print Edition)
Illustrations
Plates
1 Dr Jesse Haworth
2 Sir William Flinders Petrie
3 The first Egyptology gallery at Manchester Museum, 1913
4 Flinders Petrie, his wife Hilda, and C.T.Campion at Kahun, 1914
5 Artist’s reconstruction drawing of the town of Kahun
6 Part of a group of objects found in a house in the workmen’s western quarter at
Kahun
7 Stone and faience jars used to hold perfumed ointments and oils
8 A selection of jewellery
9 A dancer’s mask
10 A curious stone stand used in a house in Kahun
11 Examples of basket-making and rush-work
12 Domestic pottery
13 An oblong wooden stool
14 Impression of a carpenter making a wooden stool at Kahun
15 Small wooden cosmetic boxes
16 Larger wooden boxes
17 Firesticks from Kahun
18 Builders’ tools
19 A selection of stone, copper and bronze knives
20 Cast metal tools
21 A selection of carpenters’ tools
22 Agricultural tools
23 A wooden sickle with flint saws
24 Children’s toys
25 Clay figurines
26 An early example of a sling
27 Examples of ‘foreign’ pottery found at Kahun
28 Scene from the tomb of the Vizier Rekhmire at Thebes (18th Dynasty)
29 The remains of the village of Deir el-Medina at Thebes
30 The pyramid of Lahun built for Sesostris II
31 Reproductions of the wig ornaments and crown of Princess Sit-Hathor-Iunut
32 Model of a weavers’ workshop from the tomb of Mekhet-Re (12th Dynasty)
Figures
1 Map of Egypt
2 Map of the Fayoum oasis, showing location of Kahun, Lahun pyramid and
Gurob
3 Plan showing town of Kahun in relation to pyramid of Lahun
4 Plan of Kahun town
5 a) & b) Foreigners shown in the Tomb of Khnumhotep at Beni Hasan
6 An impression of the type of smelting hearth in use at the time of Kahun
7 A hole drilled in one of the Kahun axes
8 The Universities Research Reactor at Risley
9 The gamma spectrum of an irradiated sample from a Kahun knife
10 a) & b) Weaving sequence. Tomb of Khnumhotep, Beni Hasan
11 Weaving sequence. Tomb of Khnumhotep, Beni Hasan
12 Horizontal loom. Tomb of Khnumhotep, Beni Hasan
Acknowledgments
Preparation for this book has been in hand for several years, and has drawn
upon the help, skills and advice of many people. I would like to express my
gratitude to those who made the initial studies possible: the Director of the
Manchester Museum, for enabling me to publish the Kahun material in the
collection; the Petrie Museum at University College London, for granting
permission both to study their Kahun artefacts and to examine the diaries and
excavation reports of Sir William Flinders Petrie, from which several extracts are
quoted in this book. I would like to thank my colleagues, Mrs Joan Allgrove
McDowell, Dr G. Gilmore and Dr G.W.A. Newton, for their contributions to the
book, and for their co-operation and substantial endeavours on behalf of the
Kahun Project.
Many people have contributed to the production of the book. For the
illustrative material, I am indebted to Mr W. Thomas of the Manchester Museum
for the photographs of the Kahun collection, and to Mr P.A. Clayton for the
photographs of the Lahun treasure, the scenes in the tomb of Rekhmire, the
Lahun pyramid, and the village of Deir el-Medina. I would like to thank Dr M.
Saleh, Director of the Cairo Museum, for granting permission to include the
photograph of the model of the weavers’ shop from the tomb of Meket-Rec,
which has been kindly supplied by the Cairo Museum. I am grateful to Mr E.G.
Yong Wong for enabling us to use his reconstruction drawings of Kahun town
and the Kahun carpenter.
The publishers have given me every encouragement and support, and I am
particularly grateful to Ms Elizabeth Fidlon for her enthusiastic reception of the
idea of a book on this theme, to Mr A. Wheatcroft who, as editor, has guided it
through to its conclusion, and to Ms Victoria Peters for initiating this particular
edition.
Finally, my special thanks and appreciation are due to Mrs Carole
Higginbottom who typed the manuscript, and to my husband for his continuing
support.