Excavating the Old Kingdom. The Egyptian Archaeologists.

17 Pages·2009·10.21 MB·English

by  Zahi Hawass

EGYPTIAN ART
IN THE AGE OF
THE PYRAMIDS
THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART, NEW YORK
DISTRIBUTED BY HARRY N. ABRAMS, INC., NEW YORK
Thisvolume has been publishedinulIljunction 1\\1 ri~brs reserwd. No pari 01 Ibis pnhli":II;on 'I'Llnsl:lli,,,,,Iwnl tbe I:relll·b hy.I:III1l·Sp. Allen
withtheexhibition«Egyptian ArtintheAgeof Illayhereproducedor'T:lIlSlllilled hy any Ill"ans, ofessayshy NadineCIl<'rpionand.Iean-Philipl'"
thePyramids,"organizedbyTheMetropolitan electronicormechanical,indlldingphorocopyin~, I.ann;hy.Iobn McDonaldofessaysby Niu,las
MuseumofArt,NewYork;theReuniondes recording,orinformation retrievalsystem,with Crilllal,I\ndran I.abrollsse,.Ie'lIl I.edant,and
museesnationaux,Paris;andtheRoyalOntario outpermissionfrom thepublishers. ChristianeZiegler;byJane MarieToddand
Museum,Toronto,andheldattheGaieries CatharineH. Roehrigofentries
nationalesduGrandPalais,Paris,fromApril6 JohnP.O'Neill,EditorinChief
toJuly12,1999;TheMetropolitanMuseumof CarolFuerstein,Editor,withtheassistanceof MapsadaptedbyEmsworthDesign,Inc.,from
Art,NewYork,fromSeptember16,1999,to EllynChildsAllison,MargaretDonovan,and Ziegler1997a,PI'. 18,19
January9,2000;andtheRoyalOntarioMuseum, KathleenHoward
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ceptbyBruceCampbell KingMenkaureandaQueen
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The exhibition is made possible by
Lewis B. and Dorothy Cullman.
Siteandnewobjectphotographyby Bruce Hieroglyphicdedicationonpagevfrom
White;additional newobjectphotographyat TeachingsofPtah-hotep, 509-10.
Addironal support has been provided by theMetropolitan MuseumbyAnna-Marie
TheStarr Foundation. KellenandOi-CheongLee,thePhotographStu LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
dio,TheMetropolitanMuseumofArt,New Egyptianartintheageofthepyramids
An indemnity hasbeengrantedbytheFederal York.Foramorecompletelistingofphotograph p. em.
CouncilontheArtsandtheHumanities. credits,seep. 536. Catalogueofanexhibitionheldatthe
MetropolitanMuseumofArt,Sept.16,1999
Educationalprogramshavebeensupportedby SetinSabonandAdobeWeissbyProfessional Jan.9,2000.
theMalcolmHewittWienerFoundation. Graphics,Rockford,Illinois Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN0-87099-906-0(HC).- ISBN0-87099
ThepublicationismadepossiblebyTheAdelaide SeparationsbyProfessionalGraphics,Rockford, 907-9(pbk.)-ISBN0-8109-6543-7(Abrams)
MiltondeGrootFund,inmemoryofthedeGroot Illinois 1.Art,EgyptianExhibitions. 2.Art,
andHawleyfamilies. Ancient-EgyptExhibitions. 3.Egypt
Printedand bound by Arnoldo Mnndadori, AntiquitiesExhibitions. 4.Egypt-Architec
PublishedbyTheMetropolitanMuseumofArt, S.p.A.,Verona,It,tly tureExhibitions. I.MetropolitanMuseumof
NewYork Art(NewYork,N.Y.)
N5350.E37 1999
Copyri~ht<D I\/\/\/ byThe Merropolitan 709'·32'0747471-----<!C2I 99-22246
MuseulllofI\rI, New York elP
CONTENTS
Lenders to the Exhibition VIII
Directors' Foreword Franfoise Cachin, Philippe de Montebello, Lindsay Sharp x
Acknowledgments DorotheaArnold, Krzyszto(Grzymski, Christiane Ziegler XI
Contributors to the Catalogue and Key to the Authors of the Entries XIV
Maps XVI
Notes to the Reader XVIII
Chronology
ANote on Egyptian Chronology Elisabeth David XIX
Dynastic andRegnal Dates James P. Allen XX
Introduction DorotheaArnold, Christiane Ziegler XXI
INTRODUCTORY ESSAYS
A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE OLD KINGDOM
3
Jean Leclant
THE STEP PYRAMID PRECINCT OF KING DJOSER
Jean-Philippe Lauer
PYRAMIDS AND THEIR TEMPLES 21
Audran Labrousse
THE TOMBS OF OFFICIALS: HOUSES OF ETERNITY 27
PeterJanosi
OLD KINGDOM STATUES IN THEIR ARCHITECTURAL SETTING 41
DieterArnold
ROYAL STATUARY 51
Krzyszto(Grzymski
NONROYAL STATUARY 57
Christiane Ziegler
RESERVE HEADS: AN ENIGMA OF OLD KINGDOM SCULPTURE 73
Catharine H. Roehrig
ROYAL RELIEFS 83
DorotheaArnold
THE HUMAN IMAGE IN OLD KINGDOM NONROYAL RELIEFS 103
Nadine Cherpion
FURNITURE OF THE OLD KINGDOM II7
Julie Anderson
STONE VESSELS: LUXURY ITEMS WITH MANIFOLD IMPLICATIONS 121
Dorothea Arnoldand Elena Pischikova
EXCAVATING THE OLD KINGDOM: FROM KHAFRE'S VALLEY 133
TEMPLE TO THE GOVERNOR'S CITY AT BALAT
Nicolas Grimal
EXCAVATING THE OLD KINGDOM: THE GIZA NECROPOLIS AND 139
OTHER MASTABA FIELDS
Peter Der Manuelian
EXCAVATING THE OLD KINGDOM: THE EGYPTIAN 155
ARCHAEOLOGISTS
Zahi Hawass
CATALOGUE
THIRD DYNASTY 168
FOURTH DYNASTY 194
FIFTH DYNASTY 314
SIXTH DYNASTY 434
Glossary 494
Bibliography 495
Indexes 517
Photograph Credits 536
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EXCAVATING THE
OLD KINGDOM
The Egyptian Archaeologists
ZAH I HAWASS
I
n Egypt today it is generally believed that most of tian kingship, in modern times it has come to stand for
the archaeological discoveries that have been made the Egyptian nation itself.4
inthecountrywereachieved byforeign expeditions. The Layer Pyramid, built by Khaba in the Third
Very little has been written about the efforts and Dynastyand characterized byasuperstructuretypical of
successes of native archaeologists, yet numerous Egyp the period, standsat Zawiyetel-Aryan,seven kilometers
tians have excavated at sites throughout the land and to the north ofSaqqara. And about one kilometer to the
havecontributed substantially to the field ofEgyptology northwestofthe LayerPyramidthe so-calledUnfinished
bymeans oftheir discoveries and research. Three gener Pyramid is found. This monument's ownership remains
ations of Egyptian scholars have worked in the Mem in dispute, with some Egyptologists maintaining that it
phiteregion, mostlyatsiteswithin thecemeteriesatGiza, belonged to Djedefre of the Fourth Dynasty and others
Saqqara, and Dahshur, and this essaytakes a number of attributing itto Nebka ofthe same dynasty.
their explorations as examples to shed light on native South of Zawiyet el-Aryan is Abusir, encompassing
contributions to the study ofthe Old Kingdom. thepyramids ofmostofthe kings and queensofthe Fifth
I
Dynasty, amongwhich the pyramidcomplexofSahureis
the bestpreserved.Theremains oftwo sun templesstand
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE nearAbusir,oneofthem atAbu Ghurab. Asinscriptions
MEMPHITE REGION reveal that six or more kings of the Fifth Dynasty had
suntemples, we knowthatatleastfour such monuments
Thecemeteries ofMemphisextend from Abu Rawash in have yet to be discovered.5
the north to Meidum in the south and house tombs of Saqqara, south of Abusir, one of the principal ceme
kings, queens, and officials from the time ofthe Archaic teriesofthe ArchaicPeriod,waschosen byDjoser,ofthe
Period to the end of the Old Kingdom.2 Abu Rawash, Third Dynasty, as his eternal home. It was in what later
which includes a large cemetery dating back to the First became the central section of this necropolis that the
Dynasty, is dominated by the unfinished pyramid com architect Imhotep constructed Djoser's imposing Step
plex of King Djedefre of the Fourth Dynasty.3 Farther Pyramid complex. A large step pyramid was begun
south is the necropolis ofGiza, site ofthe pyramid com nearbyfor Sekhemkhet,Djoser'ssuccessor;thisstructure,
plexes of Khufu, Khafre, and Menkaure of the Fourth whichwas neverfinished, liessouthwestofDjoser'scom
Dynasty and of many nonroyal tombs from the Old plex and is known as the Buried Pyramid. Userkaf and
Kingdom. Presiding over Giza is the Great Sphinx, the Unis, the first and last kings of the Fifth Dynasty, built
first colossal statue known from pharaonic Egypt. As an their own pyramid complexes near Djoser's Step Pyra
archetype of antiquity, the image of the Sphinx has mid, and in the Sixth Dynasty otherswere erected in the
stirred the imagination of poets, writers, adventurers, northern and southern parts ofthe necropolis, the most
and tourists for centuries. Originally a symbol ofEgyp- important being those ofTeti, Pepi I, and Pepi II. Most
Detail, StelaofRa-wer (cat. no. 144) 155
Fig. 93. Zakaria Ghoneim,(left),SelimHassan (fourth from left),and ZakiSaad (third from right), Saqqara,January 16, 1927
ofthese Fifthand SixthDynastypyramidsareassociated HagAhmedYoussef; HakiemAbouSeif;AbdelSalam
with cemeteries for officials and nobles of the same Hussein; Ahmed Fakhry; Abdel Moneim Abu Bakr;
period, some of whose tombs have beautifully carved Mounir Basta; Abdel Aziz Saleh; Mohamed Zaki
or painted chapels. Nour; Abdel Taweb el-Heta; Rizkall Makra-Malla
South of Saqqara are two other Old Kingdom ceme Second Generation: Ali Radwan; Gaballa Ali Gaballa;
teries, thefields ofDahshurand Meidum. Snefru,thefirst Said Tawfik; AhmedMoussa; Sami Farag; Mahmoud
kingofthe FourthDynasty, builtthree pyramidsatthese Abdel Razik; Ali el-Khouli; Abdallah el-Sayed
sites, the first at Meidum, the second and third at Third Generation: Zahi Hawass; Said el-Fikey; Holeil
Dahshur.6Importantofficialsandrelativesofthepharaohs Ghali; Khaled Daoud; Mohammed Hagrass; Magdy
of the early Fourth Dynasty were buried in cemeteries el-Ghandour; OrbanE. Abu el-Hassan;Ahmed Abdel
not far from these pyramids. Hamied
The collective achievements ofthese men form a rich
THREE GENERATIONS OF EGYPTIAN
corpus ofmaterial that would be an appropriate subject
ARCHAEOLOGISTS
for a future book. Here, however, space permits refer
The following list records some of the most important enceto onlythe few Egyptologistswhose namesare ital
scholarsamongthethreegenerationsofEgyptianarchae icized, together with a brief discussion of some of the
ologists who have conducted excavations in Memphite importantdiscoveries they had thegoodfortune to make
cemeteries between Abu Rawash and Meidum from the over the past eighty years.
late 1920S to the present day. The names are arranged
according to the chronology oftheir activity.
The First Generation
First Generation: Selim Hassan; Zaki Saad; Zakaria Selim Hassan (1886-1961) (fig. 93) wasappointed assis
Ghoneim; Abdel Hafiz Abdel-al; Kamal el-Mallakh; tantcuratoratthe EgyptianMuseum, Cairo, in 1921 and
later studied Egyptology in Paris. He was the first Egyp
tian appointed professorofEgyptologyin the Faculty of
Arts at Cairo University. Well into his career as an
archaeologist he read for his doctorate in Vienna, com
pleting his studies there in 1939.7
In 1928 Hassan commenced his archaeological activ
ities, working with the German Egyptologist Hermann
Junker,whowasexcavatingwestofthe GreatPyramidat
Giza. Within a year Hassan was leading his own team
from Cairo University, which undertook important and ;..,~~'\
.......
extensive explorations at both Giza and Saqqara that ~
lasted until 1939. It is estimated that Hassan discovered
more than two hundred tombs and thousands ofrelated
artifacts. Among his most important finds at Giza were
the tomb ofQueenKhent-kawes Iand its associatedtem
ples and pyramid city. He also uncovered the tombs of
Khafre'ssons and courtiers, as well as the solar boatpits
ofKhafre himself.8 In addition Hassan pursued excava
tions around the Great Sphinx, where he unearthed the
temple ofAmenhotep IJ.9
At Saqqara, Hassan excavated the Fifth Dynasty
valley temple and causeway ofKing Unis.Io In the vicin
ity he uncovered many Old Kingdom tombs, as well as
two large tombs that are of particular interest because Fig. 94. Gamal Abdel Nasser visitingthe pyramid ofSekhemkhet
atSaqqara,June 30, 1954
they date much earlier, to the Second Dynasty. Toward
the end of his career as an active archaeologist, at age
sixty-eight, Hassan participated in the campaign to sal
vage monuments in Nubia, a project whose success he
lived to see. contents.I2 It yielded much valuable material, including
Without doubt Hassan ranks as one of the most a seemingly intact sarcophagus made of alabaster dis
important ofall Egyptian archaeologists by virtue ofhis covered within the king's burial chamber. Once opened,
numerous discoveries at Giza and Saqqara as well as his however, itwasfound to beempty, and in fact notatrace
many scholarly publications. The rare and beautiful of Sekhemkhet's mummy was ever located. Three
IT
stela of Ra-wer (cat. no. 144), which he found at Giza, bracelets belonging to Sekhemkhet (cat. no. 19) exem
appropriately represents this greatEgyptologist'scontri plify Ghoneim's finds in the presentexhibition.
bution to Old Kingdom studies. Ghoneim's life ended tragically when, in a state of
Zakaria Ghoneim (I9II-I959) (fig. 93) wasawarded acute depression after he had been held responsible for
a Diploma inEgyptologyatCairoUniversityin 1934.At the disappearance of an artifact, he drowned himselfin
the age oftwenty-six he became Hassan's assistant dur theNile. Barelyaweeklaterthe objectinquestion, which
ing the excavations of 1937 in and around the pyramid had been accidentally misplaced, was located.
complex of Unis at Saqqara. In 1939 Ghoneim was Kamal el-Mallakh (1918-1987) (fig. 95) unearthed
appointed Inspector of Antiquities at Aswan; he spent the boat of Khufu south of the Great Pyramid. His
more than a decade working in southern Egypt and remarkable find, made in 1954 when boat pits were
became ChiefInspectorofUpperEgyptin 1946.He held revealed below the surface of debris that was being
this post until 1951,when he was made ChiefInspector removed from the area, ranks as one ofthe greatest dis
at Saqqara, where he discovered the unfinished pyramid coveries inEgyptian archaeology. Itsimplications involve
of Sekhemkhet (fig. 94). Undoubtedly Ghoneim's great notonlythe burials ofkings and the cultofKhufuI3 but
estdiscovery, the king's pyramidwas an important land practical issues as well: the bark excavated by el-Mal
mark in thestudyofOldKingdom royal tombsand their lakh and another that still remains in a second pit
157
Fig. 95. Kamal el-Mallakh
Fig. 96. HagAhmed Youssef
provide direct information relating to the construction entire volume should be devoted to the life and accom
oflarge-scalewood boatsinantiquity,a subjectformerly plishments ofthis extraordinary man.
understood primarily from depictions in tombs.14 AhmedFakhry (19°5-1973) graduated from the Fac
Other Egyptian archaeologists, including Mohamed ulty of Arts at Cairo University in 1928 and continued
Zaki Nour, Zaki Iskander, and Salah Osman, played hiseducation in Belgium, England, and Germanyfor the
roles in the discovery of Khufu's bark, and we cannot nextfour years. On his returnto Egyptin 1932he joined
speakofel-Mallakh'saccomplishmentsinthisrealm with the DepartmentofAntiquities, initiallyasan inspectorat
out mentioning our great restorer and conservator, Hag Giza,then atLuxor,and,finally, startingin 1938,asChief
Ahmed Youssef. Inspector ofMiddle Egypt, the oases, and the Delta. He
Hag Ahmed Yousse((1912-1999) (fig. 96) started his also worked for a periodin the EgyptianMuseum, Cairo.
career as a restorer with American Egyptologist George In 1952 Fakhrywas appointed ProfessorofAncientHis
Reisner during the excavation of the tomb of Queen tory in the Faculty ofArts at Cairo University.J5During
Hetep-heresI(seecat. nos. 31-33)andsubsequentlypur his tenure he served as a visiting professor at many for
sued his extraordinary craft at the Egyptian Museum., eign institutions and became well known abroad.
Cairo. As the individualchiefly responsible for the resto Fakhryexcavatedextensively,conductinghis mostsig
ration ofKhufu's boat,Hag Ahmedspentalmosttwenty nificant work at the oases, Giza, and Dahshur.16In 1951
eightyears working on its 650 parts and fitting together Gamal Mokhtar, then head of the Egyptian Antiquities
some 1,224 pieces of cedarwood. During the course of Organization, appointed him Director of the Pyramid
these labors he lived in a rest house near the tomb of Studies Project, with Giza as its center. Dahshur, how
Debhen and produced many beautiful photographs ever, became the site of Fakhry's greatest discoveries.
of the boat as it underwent reconstruction. His work There, in October 1952, he found the so-called valley
saw its culmination in the display of the reassembled temple, or statue-cult temple, of the Bent Pyramid, in
barkatthe Cheops [Khufu] BoatMuseum, whichopened which he uncoveredsome 1,400inscribed blocks, statues,
in Giza on March 6, 1982. The present essay can offer and stelae.17 Fakhry's Dahshurfinds are his mostimpor
only aglimpse ofHagAhmed's achievements; indeed, an tant legacy, bothfor irrevocablyestablishingSnefru asthe