A typological study of Egyptian wooden statues of the Old Kingdom

437 Pages·1995·17.448 MB·English

by  JC Harvey

1,
-,
A TYPOLOGICAL
STUDY OF EGYPTIAN WOODEN STATUES OF THE
OLD KINGDOM
by Julia Carol Harvey
Ph. D.
University College London
IBIBL
LUNIV IV
_JLONDON
ALL MISSING PAGES ARE BLANK
IN
ORIGINAL
Abstract:
A 217 dating from Egyptian Old Kingdom is
corpus of wooden statues the
examined
discussed in detail. 127 have been dated individual Old
and statues to the
reigns within
Kingdom in
(Catalogue A). They form basis
and are placed chronological order the of a
chronological feature list. Using the dating from the feature list, by drawing
criteria and
Catalogue
A, further 75 (Catalogue B) have been
parallels with a statues assigned to
individual
Old Kingdom. New features from Catalogue B
the
reigns within then
are
to the feature list. Catalogue C have
added chronological
comprises statues which no
in Catalogue
A, but do have in Catalogue B, in
parallels
sometimes a parallel and which,
far
the absence so of evidence to the contrary, may be assigned to the Old Kingdom.
Appendix I discusses
the texts inscribed on 51 of the statues. These consist of the names
and titles of the tomb owner. The texts inscribed the bases, but in two
are usually on
instances
in detail
they are on the skirt, and once on the sceptre. The titles are examined to
date is dates in
see whether their range consistent with the suggested the text.
Unfortunately inscriptions further dating The hr is
the
give no assistance. phrase un3hVI,
in detail it its
time.
examined and emerges that use changed over
Appendix 2 is discussion far is known. Only 8
the the this
a of material of statues, as as
have been further 4 have been identified
statues scientifically analysed, a visually, and
2 have From information it
this
another unconfirmed analyses. meagre emerges that
indigenous to imported The indiginous
woods were preferred woods. most popular
woods are sycamore and acacia.
Appendix 3 is dating features based Catalogue A
table the to
a of on which, when applied
in in date
the to them.
statues not corpus, can assist assigning a
3
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
3
Abstract
...........................
5
Table Contents
of
........................
7
Acknowledgments
.......................
9
Chapter 1: Introduction
.....
................
15
Chapter 2: The Feature List
.....
...............
15
Introduction
.....
................
17
Glossary
.....
..................
20
Coiffures Wigs
and
.....
..............
20
Male
.....
.................
27
Female
.....
................
32
Dress
.....
...................
32
Male
.....
.................
41
Female
.....
................
44
Arms
.....
...................
44
Male
.....
.................
56
Female
.....
................
59
Accessories
.....
.................
66
Jewellery
......
................
71
Stance
......
..................
71
Male
......
................
75
Female
......
...............
78
Chapter 3: The Dating Statues in Catalogue A.....
the
of
......
114
Chapter 4: The Dating Statues in Catalogue B.....
the
of
.....
136
Chapter 5: The Dating Statues in Catalogue C.....
the
of
.....
141
Chapter 6: The Catalogues
.............. .....
143
Catalogue A.............
.....
271
Catalogue B..;..........
.....
347
Catalogue C.............
.....
363
Chapter 7: Conclusions
............... .....
5
365
Appendix 1: The Inscriptions
.............. ....
hi 367
h0hu, ...............
....
369
Titles
....
................
383
Appendix 2: Wood Types
....
...............
Indigenous 383
.............. ....
Foreign 385
............... ....
386
Appendix 3: Feature Cross-References
........... ....
386
Male
................ ....
393
Female
............... .... .
395
Appendix 4. Concordance Museum Catalogue Nos
of and
....
.....
400
Indices
.. ..................... ....
400
1. Personal Names
....
.................
402
2. Titles
....
.....................
403
3. Sites
....
.....................
405
Concordance
Plates Catalogue Nos
of the the
and
....
........
412
List Sources
Plates
the the
of of
....
..............
419
Abbreviations
....
....................
421
Bibliography
....
.....................
430
Figures
....
.. .....................
430
Male
Fig. la Coiffures Wigs,
and ....
.......
431
)
Wigs, Male (cont.
Fig. lb Coiffures
and ....
.....
432
Male (cont. )
Wigs,
Fig. Ic Coiffures
and ....
.....
432
Female
Wigs,
Fig. 2a Coiffures
and
....
.......
(cont. ) 433
Female
Wigs,
Fig. 2b Coiffures
and
.... ....
434
Male
Fig. 3 Dress,
....
............
435
Female
Dress,
Fig. 4
....
............
435
Male
Stance,
Fig. 5
............ ....
Male 436
Standing
Arms,
Fig. 6a
......... ....
Arrns, Standing Male (cont. ) 437
Fig. 6b
...... ....
.
Arms, Seated Male 437
Fig. 7
..... ..... ....
Plates
6
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The data for help
compilation of the this study was only possible thanks to the and
individually, but
assistance of many museum curators, too numerous to mention none
less As far in by
the warmly appreciated. as possible, the statues this study were viewed
I Cairo Museum in 1986-7 Petrie
to the thanks to
me personally. was able visit a
Fellowship, I in United States in
to twenty-three the two
and was able visit museums
in 1988 EES Centenary Studentship. Most European
months thanks to the of the
institutions individually by five The few
were visited me over a period of years.
institutions I kind in information
to
was unable visit were most supplying about, and
in I
the their to thanks to
sometimes photographs of, pieces possession. wish extend my
did best facilitate
all the museum curators and assistants who welcomed me and their to
This
to take
my researches, and who without exception permitted me study photographs.
for Several display
was not always easy them. museums were unable to open their cases,
lighting
and the subsequent photographs are not always top quality,, conditions varied
dramatically, did locations The for
as the of the statues within the cases. responsibility the
illustrations is I deeply Erik Tack
quality of the mine alone, and am grateful to who
into his in best
thus the
scanned my photographs computer and assisted me attaining
quality possible.
Of have in in
the many people who encouraged me my work, two particular
deserve heartfelt Dr David Dixon, for hours
thanks:
my my supervisor, many of
discussion, husband, Dr Jacobus Dijk,
and my van who offered constant support and
The beautiful handcopies figures drawn by him
encouragement. of the texts and the are
-
inkpot daubs
the natural reaction of an artist to the spider and which were my own
he ill from his
took time
attempts and which up valuable could spare own researches.
-
7
CHAPTER1.
Introduction
The Old Kingdom is
this the to
aim of study of private wooden statuaryl of
for dating have dating
establish criteria statues which no external criteria or provenance.
The basis is hundred
of the study a catalogue of one and twenty-seven statues which can
be dated by dating (Catalogue A). A feature list, i. list
external criteria chronological e. a
features has been drawn from from Catalogue A,
of the present on the statues, up and
is basis for dating dating (Catalogue
this used as the statues with no external criteria
C,
2
B). It is Catalogue A, feature list, be
that therefore the
of course obvious and cannot
for The it destruction
comprehensive the period. nature of wood makes susceptible to
from have It however, be
and many of the statues the period not survived. may, regarded
3
On basis
as reasonably representative. the of a comparison of three mainfeatures,
Coiffure, Dress, Arms, Catalogue B in
and the seventy-five statues of are placed a
features be dated
relative chronological order, enabling the additional to relatively as well.
Where there is no match for three features, two are used. It has not proved possible to
date basis feature A Catalogue C, fifteen
on the of one only. third catalogue, comprises
have Catalogue A, but in be
statues which no parallels with which can, some cases,
by in Catalogue B. Statues be date Old
to to the
paralleled statues which must supposed
Kingdom but do from Catalogue A Catalogue B
not parallel any statue either or are also
in Catalogue C.
The followed throughout the is that by Baines Malek
chronology study given and
in The Atlas Ancient Egypt, 36-37. More divisions in is,
time, that
of p. precise within
follow Harpur, Decoration, 34. The 'the End Old
the
specific reigns, p. phrase of
1
Under is female,
private wooden statuary understood any statue of the tomb owner, male or and
husband It does include from
the wife or of the same. not royal statues of wood this period, statues
domestic began burials
of gods, or statues of servants which to accompany the towards the end of
Dynasty VI.
2
This has been by Old Kingdom
achieved comparing the results of a number of studies of
Eaton-Krauss, Representations; Harpur, Decoration; Seidlmayer, Graberfelder;
material:
Strudwick, Administration; Vandier, Manuel; and Wood, Sculpture are the most frequently cited.
Cherpion, Mastabas, has been it has
used with caution as emerged that ordinary representations of
follow different features (see
the tomb owner a progression of to statues or representations of statues
below, ý).
p.
3
The feature is by from
sequence supported examples the repertory of representations of statues
listed by Eaton-Krauss, Representations, by from
as and examples the repertory of stone statues.
9
Kingdom' is describe death Pepi 11, Baines Malek's
to the the
used period after of and
7th/8th Dynasty.
It has been intention
the this to the the
not of study examine question of actual
4
function in This has been discussed by James P. Allen
the the tomb.
of statues others.
in his 'Funerary Mummies & Magic The Funerary
texts their
article and meaning'in
Arts Egypt, 38-49, 43-44, discussion
the
ofAncient especially gives a very succinct of
ka ba, function in The ka is
nature of the and the and the of statues the tomb. an
individual's life-force, ba individual's The ka belongs
the
an personality or character. to
the body during the life-time the individual, death it to the
of and after goes next world.
The deceased then travels to join his ka, but travels is his ba. The body is
what actually
part of the entire human being, so there is a need to preserve it. "The body serves as an
'anchor'for the ba in this be by it in the tomb. So
world, and can revisited
essential was
this 'anchor' that, in the Old Kingdom, 'spare' bodies in the form
of statues were often
in -5
placed the tomb the
along with mummy.
In Old Kingdom, inscriptions
the the the in Catalogue A
on wooden statues are
exclusively the names and titles of the deceased, and not the offering formula which
became
in Middle Kingdom (See Appendix 1). Until
popular the
to the
evidence contrary
it
be in Old Kingdoin
appears, must that the designed
assumed wooden statues were not
to receive offerings (n A3 n) and are therefore not ka statues. They are, in the words of
Wood, "potential
for body in its
substitutes the physical two aspects of eternal
"6 The
existence. two by
aspects are passive and active, represented a seated and a
figure
striding respectively. The "stone, being impervious than
nature of more wood,
better function for
was suited to the of tomb statues as enduring substitutes physical
bodies",
but tomb had be "enduring forever,
a statue not only to capable of which
impervious inanimate form, but it had be life
required and to capable of which
also
fon-n. Sculptors, in
required animate realizing that wood could not compete with stone
...
durability, form
chose to emphasize by lifelike effects the animate
means of naturalistic,
7
that "
tomb
a statue also required.
Wood draws
The figure in
the a contrast
seated represents a passive state afterlife.
between have
for "Among the wooden statues that
wood and stone seated statues:
4
For Scharff, JEA 26 (1941), 41-50; Shoukhry, SASAE 15; Vandier, Manuel;
example,
Hornemann, 7: Eaton-Krauss, Representations; LA IV, Privatplastik, 1112-1119; etc.
ypes;
5
44.
p.
6
Wood, Sculpture, 65.
7
14,17.
op cit.,
10
from Fifth Sixth Dynasties, is This
the the
survived and seated pose extremely rare.
be due however, for is ideal
to the the type the
might compatibility of with stone, stone
in form form
to the the
material which render compact cubical of a seat and static of a
figure., '8 This is borne by Seated
the
seated statement out evidence. statues are very
in for in Tjeteti,
the tomb
rare, and some cases, example of a seated stone statue
the
accompanies striding wooden ones.
The figure9 in in
the the
striding represents an active state afterlife which
deceased he in life. This is by
to the the
continues exercise offices attained supported
bases (See Appendix 1).
evidence of the names and titles sometimes present on the
The for burial, in
the
provision of several statues something particularly common
Unas Pepi 11, be linked by
to to the
the reigns of and appears several offices performed
deceased during his lifetime. More burials have inscriptions bases
the elaborate on the of
list does
the statues, and these often separate titles, although the present evidence not
10
The ba is
confine particular titles to particular costumes. therefore able to choose
its
which persona to occupy on return visits to the tomb.
in be
The location the the tomb to to the
of statues appears more closely related
In Old Kingdom,
accident of survival than to any religious purpose. the early statues
first in (Dynasty IV), in (Dynasty V
the then
were placed chapels and serdabs
II
They began be in by
to the too, the
onwards). slowly placed main chambers, and end
Old Kingdom in the burial itself. Throughout this
the were even chamber period,
of
however, to be found in the locations. The
statues continued all various possible priority
have been base ba Most
must to preserve the statues as a to which the could return. of
in being
the statues the corpus were excavated without an accurate record made of their
location in the tomb. The the have had their location
exact majority of statues which
found in if from first Old Kingdom, in
recorded were serdabs they are the part of the and
burial if date Old Kingdom.
the chambers or shafts they to the end of the
In is known (see Appendix 2).
most cases the exact material of the statues not
8
22.
op. cit.,
Y
13: 'The description "striding" is itself
op. cit., of the conventional male stance as a convention.
A figure in does for his is distributed his
this stance not actually appear to stride, weight equally on
feet. "Striding" is however, distinguish from "standing"
a convenient term, to the stance that of
figures legs feet. The is is
with straight and parallel pose static, yet the power to move conveyed
...
by left leg. The is both immobile, '
the extension of the stance active and temporal and eternal.
10
See for from Tjeteti, Catalo(-, Nos. A83 102
example the statues the tomb of ue
-A
II
For detailed discussion Shoukhry, SASAE 15,19 1 ff.
a of the serdab see
II
12
Eaton-Krauss, lists five is known:
representations of wooden statues whose material
13 14
§pnn-wood,
No. 99 is No. 98 is (Ind), No. 43 is No. 44 is ksbt-
ebony, acacia
15
No. 83 is imported (ht h3s(vv)), It
wood, and an wood as yet unidentified. seems
likely imported
that the the timbers16
majority of statues were made of native and not of
17 l 8
Five fig,
three
woods. statues are made of sycomore of acacia, and one of
19 20
Four be identification
tamarisk. to
are said ebony, an which, although not
by be "on its
supported any analysis, may provisionally accepted since account of
it be "recognized
characteristic colour and appearance" can readily without microscopical
22
i -21 One is Where
exam nati on. statue supposedly cedar. possible the statues were
from but if dowelled
made one single piece, necessary several pieces were together, or
limbs
joints. The joins
the tenon
attached with mortise and are usually at the shoulders,
the fronts the feet, left forearm. The
of and sometimes the statues were then covered with
layer
joins, by linen
a of paint or of painted plaster, which concealed the and occasionally
The layer
detail
garments as well. painted was the medium on which much additional
for
The deterioration disappearance
was added, example, sporrans and neck-laces. and of
this layer due to the ravages of time has meant the loss of much information about the
ongin ecoration of most of the statues. This is particularly inconvenient when trying to
establish the variety of a skirt such as the half-goffered kilt.
Discussion involved in lies
of the techniques the these outside
making of statues
23
the this Although from
scope of study. the style of several statues one tomb can vary
12
55-56.
op. cit.,
13
See Wood, Sculpture, 10 for discussion
the
a of properties of ebony.
14
Kcimer, Gartenpflanzen 11,31-32 1pnn is but Eaton-Krauss.
suggests that poppy, as
Representations, 133 n. 701, points out, it must be the material of the statue which is meant, not
the pigment used to paint it. That is, a type of tree and not a flower.
15
1,166-7 (A 11).
Posener-Kri6ger, Les Archives du Temple Funiraire de Niferirkar;
-Kak-aY
16
fig because its
Wood, Sculpture, of
says that the most common wood used was sycamore
Hildesheim,
associations with the cult of Hathor (pp. 25-7). On pp. 73-4 she states that the statue
is
Roemer- Pelizaeus-Museum Inv. Nr. 1572 is fig, but there no confirmation
und made of sycamore
for is.
of this in the recent CAA publication and I do not know what her source this statement
17
Catalogue Nos. A3, B 13, B54, B59 A78.
and
18
Catalogue Nos. A126, BIO B33.
and
19
Catalogue No. A 103.
20
Catalogue Nos. A43, A46-48.
21
Lucas,
Materials, 434.
22
Catalogue No. B75.
23
Sliwa, Studies
For discussion the techniques of wood-working see in Ancient Egyptian
a of
Handicraft Wood-working, (Krakow, 1975), and Drenkhahn, Die Handwerker ih" Tdtigkeit im
und
12