Museum Pieces - Statuette of Imhotep

Statuette of Imhotep

Category: Sculpture in the round, figurines / statuettes, human / gods and goddesses figurines
Date: Ancient Egyptian period, Late Period (664-332 BCE)
Provenance: Upper Egypt, Giza, Saqqara
Material(s): Non-organic material, alloy, bronze
Height: 14.5 cm
Registration Number(s): BAAM Serial 0591, CG 38873

Description

A bronze statue of Imhotep sitting with his hands resting on his knees holding a papyrus roll.  This Late Period statue was found in Saqqara.



Imhotep

Imhotep was the famous architect and vizier of King Djoser of the Third Dynasty (Old Kingdom) who built the Saqqara complex and the step pyramid. Manetho ascribes to him the innovation of building in dressed stone. His name was found inscribed on a statue belonging to King Djoser in the Saqqara step-pyramid complex bearing his titles. He was 'the builder, sculptor and maker of stone vases'; the 'royal chancellor, first under the king, ruler of the great mansion, member of the Pat, greatest of seers, and overseer of masons and painters'.

During the New Kingdom, new titles were added to him, such as 'High Priest', the 'Sage', 'Chief Scribe' and 'Son of the god Ptah.

Imhotep, while honoured during his lifetime, was deified two thousand years after his death in the Late (Saite) Period and was considered the god of wisdom, writing and medicine. He was linked to the gods Ptah and Thoth. 

The Greeks associated him with their god of medicine, Asklepius.  His cult centre at Saqqara (the Asklepion) became a pilgrimage centre for those seeking healing.  He was also worshipped at temples of Deir El Medina, Karnak, Deir El Bahari and Philae.

It is believed that his tomb lies in the northern part of the Saqqara necropolis, however, it has not been found to date.

Bibliography

Corteggiani, Jean Pierre. L'Egypte des Pharaons au Musée du Caire. Paris: Hachette, Les Livres de France, 1986.
"Imhotep". In Dictionary of Egyptian civilization. By Posener, Georges, Serge Sauneron and Jean Yoyotte. Translated from the French by Alix Macfarlane. London: Methuen, 1962.

Source: http://antiquities.bibalex.org/Collection/Detail.aspx?collection=38&a=591&lang=en#

Photocredit: BA Antiquities Museum/C. Gerigk

Pyramid restoration restarts

Work on Djoser’s Step Pyramid in Saqqara is continuing despite a contracting controversy, writes Nevine El-Aref

When Minister of Antiquities Mamdouh Eldamaty announced the resumption of work at Djoser’s Step Pyramid in Saqqara this week, after some four years’ delay, the decision was generally applauded. But some archeologists are raising concerns about the company chosen to do the restoration.

They accused the ministry of negligence in awarding the work to the Al-Shorbagi Company, which, they say, was responsible for the earlier collapse of a block of the 4,600-year-old Step Pyramid.

Amir Gamal, representative of the Non-Stop Robberies pressure group, accused the company and the ministry of not following international restoration standards because they built a new wall around the pyramid. International rules prevent such new additions being made, he said.

Gamal added that the company, hired in 2006, had not finished the work by 2008, as specified in the contract. “Meanwhile, the condition of the pyramid has been going from bad to worse,” he said.

“The company does not specialise in restoration, and it has never carried out restoration work in Egypt,” Gamal said, adding that the Al-Shorbagy Company had previously only built cafeterias and other modern buildings at archaeological sites.

“If the ministry is confident in the restoration work that is being carried out, it should release a technical report for all to see,” he added.

Ahmed Shehab, an official of the Preserving Egypt Antiquities Organisation, an NGO, said that he was concerned because a 2011 UNESCO report had said that the pyramid was at risk and there was no proper restoration plan.

The sun in their eyes

In ancient Egypt the sun was revered as the giver of life and, in reflection of the waning and waxing of the sun, death and resurrection were the central theme of sun worship.
Jenny Jobbins continues her look at ancient beliefs and their relevance today

The late Christopher Hitchens is often quoted as saying: “Owners of dogs will have noticed that, if you provide them with food and water and shelter and affection, they will think you are god. Whereas owners of cats are compelled to realise that, if you provide them with food and water and shelter and affection, they draw the conclusion that they are gods.”

In regard to the beliefs of the ancient Egyptians, two corollaries may be drawn from this tongue-in-cheek observation. First, the ancient Egyptians were among several ancient civilisations who understood that the sun was the bringer of night and day and governor of the seasons that sustained the crops on which all living things depended, and so for much of their history they regarded it as their chief deity. Second, they lavished tributes and attention on the one they regarded as the deity’s representative on Earth, their king, and it was just as a matter of course that he (and his people) believed that he, too, was a god — indeed, a sun god.


It is all too easy, however, to draw a modern picture of events played out thousands of years ago, and archaeologists tread very cautiously when fitting together the jigsaw of the past. They are continuously questioning and updating evidence about our ancestors and their beliefs. In regards to Egypt, scientists are unable to say for certain how far back in time sun worship was adopted, or whether it developed separately there or was part of a cult spread more widely across North Africa that found its way to the Nile Valley with new settlers in predynastic times.

Djoser’s dilemma

Archaeologists are worried that renovations may cause the Djoser pyramid to collapse while the Antiquities Authority has assured the public that the pyramid is in safe hands

by Sara Abou Bakr

For the last six months the pyramid of Djoser has witnessed much controversy over its renovation. Fears that the oldest pyramid may soon fall have been spread by Egyptian archaeologists, professors and antiquities enthusiasts. The six-stepped layered structure stands 62 metres high and was built under the reign of Pharaoh Djoser in 2611 BCE, as his final resting place.

The plan of the pyramid has been attributed to the engineering master of the time, Imhotep, and it was constructed using 11.6 million cubic feet of stone and clay. The pyramid is a world-heritage site listed by UNESCO.

The renovations started late 2006 after a report was filed by Hassan Fahmy, professor of architecture at Cairo University and the Antiquities Authority’s representative currently overseeing the renovations. “The Antiquities Authority hired me to write a report on the conditions of the pyramid after the 1992 earthquake,” he said. “I filed a report recommending immediate intervention to be followed by a renovation process because I saw severe damage; what I’d call critical equilibrium. In 1998 the report was finally given due attention.”

The authority’s projects sector then issued a limited bid, offering possible renovation scenarios. Three universities, a national agency and Fahmy’s consultation office competed over the bid which the latter won, spending three years from 1998 developing their architectural plan.

Dynasties Of Egypt Part II: Old Kingdom and First Intermediate Period

The Old Kingdom is the name commonly given to the period in the 3rd millennium BC when Egypt attained its first continuous peak of civilization in complexity and achievement – the first of three so-called "Kingdom" periods, which mark the high points of civilization in the lower Nile Valley (the others being Middle Kingdom and the New Kingdom).

The term Old Kingdom, coined during the nineteenth century, is somewhat arbitrary. Egyptians at that time would have seen no distinction between the Old Kingdom and the preceding Early Dynastic Period, since the last Early Dynastic king was related by blood to the first two kings of the Old Kingdom, and the Early Dynastic royal residence at Ineb-Hedj (translated as "The White Walls" for its majestic fortifications) remained unchanged except for the name. During the Old Kingdom, the capital was renamed Memphis. 

The basic justification for a separation between the Early Dynastic Period and the Old Kingdom is the revolutionary change in architecture accompanied and the effects that large-scale building projects had on Egyptian society and economy..

The Old Kingdom spanned the period from the Third Dynasty to the Sixth Dynasty (2,686 BC – 2,134 BC). Many Egyptologists also include the Memphite Seventh and Eighth Dynasties in the Old Kingdom as a continuation of the administration that had been firmly established at Memphis. Thereafter, the Old Kingdom was followed by a period of disunity and relative cultural decline (a "dark period that spanned the Seventh, Eighth, Ninth, Tenth, and part of the Eleventh Dynasties) referred to by Egyptologists as the First Intermediate Period.

Airbag engineering helps save world's first pyramid

A Welsh engineering firm that has been involved in restoration work at Buckingham Palace and the White House is helping to save the world’s first pyramid in Egypt.

Enlisted to restore the ceiling of the burial chamber of the Pyramid of Djoser, also known as the Step Pyramid, which was at risk of collapse following an earthquake in 1994, Cintec International, the British structural engineering company behind the works, is now in the second stage of the advanced process which began in January 2011.

Other contracts in Egypt include 13 historic mosques and buildings in Cairo, a temple in the Western Desert and the Red Pyramid near Giza.

The company, based in Newport, Wales, has maintained structures such as Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle, Ironbridge Gorge and countless castles and churches in the UK. It has also worked on the White House and the Chicago Board of Trade Building in the USA and the Canadian Parliament Building using its highly advanced and innovative engineering systems.

The latest stage of the pyramid work, which is worth £1.8m, follows the stabilisation of the ceiling using specialist Cintec airbags, and involves testing a lime grout mixture compatible with the interior of the pyramid and pointing this around the jagged stones in the ceiling to stabilise individual stones.

These stones are then drilled and a specialist anchor inserted 4m or more into the structure to knit the stones together, thus preventing further collapse and protecting the structure for hundreds of years.

Step Pyramid of Djoser: Egypt's First Pyramid

by Owen Jarus, LiveScience Contributor

Constructed at Saqqara about 4,700 years ago, the Step Pyramid of Djoser was the first pyramid the Egyptians built.

Djoser, sometimes spelled Zoser (though he was actually called Netjerykhet), was a king of Egypt’s third dynasty. The planning of the pyramid has been attributed to Imhotep, a vizier who would later be deified for his accomplishments.

It started off as a mastaba tomb — a flat-roofed structure with sloping sides — and, through a series of expansions, evolved into a 197-foot-high (60 meters) pyramid, with six layers, one built on top of the other. The pyramid was constructed using 11.6 million cubic feet (330,400 cubic meters) of stone and clay. The tunnels beneath the pyramid form a labyrinth about 3.5 miles (5.5 kilometers) long.

The complex

The pyramid is at the center of a complex 37 acres (15 hectares) in size. This complex is surrounded by a recessed limestone wall that contains 13 fake doorways as well as the real colonnade entrance on the southeast side.

A temple lies on the north side of the pyramid along with a statue of the king. The statue is surrounded by a small stone structure known as a “serdab,” his eyes peeking out through a hole. To the south of the pyramid lies a great court, with an altar and stones identified as boundary markers.

Egypt's iconic archeological sites prepare for the second phase of restoration

Minister of state for antiquities visits the Sphinx and Mit-Rahina monuments as the Giza Plateau Development Project moves to the next stage

by Nevine El-Aref , Sunday 1 Jan 2012

Earlier today the Minister of State for Antiquities Mohamed Ibrahim led a tour around the Giza plateau to monitor work being done on the Sphinx’s Valley Temple and Mit-Rahina archaeological site, as part of the lead up to the second phase of the Giza Plateau Development Project due to be launched in March.

At the Sphinx’s Valley Temple, workers have been draining the subterranean water that has accumulated under the iconic statue. Ibrahim maintained that they only periodically pumped the water as part of the planned schedule designed to prevent further damage of the Sphinx. At Mit-Rahina, Ibrahim announced an immediate draining project to ensure the subterranean water levels were reduced to their original levels at this historical site.

Ibrahim forged an agreement with the local vendors to rebuild their stalls at a lower level to maintain a clear panoramic view of the historic monuments, as well as promising to build a market for tourists selling replicas and souvenirs at the open air museum.

Ibrahim also visited the Saqqara archaeological site where he inspected the restoration work carried out in the Djoser pyramid area. There Ibrahim announced that the Djoser pyramid restoration work is being carried out according to schedule. To date six of the pyramid's mastabas (flat-roofed tombs) have been archaeologically restored and cleaned. Damaged blocks on Djoser have also either been restored and returned to their original position or replaced with new replicas.

Source: http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/9/40/30671/Heritage/Ancient-Egypt/Egypts-iconic-archeological-sites-prepare-for-the-.aspx

Royal Statuary through Old and Middle Kingdom Egypt

This article covers the trends through Egyptian royal statuary through the Old and Middle Kingdoms. It shows how the changes in society, in attitude and structure, drove these artistic trends.

by Lorna Phillips

Many changes occurred in the Old and Middle Kingdoms in Egypt, especially in relation to the attitude of the people towards the king. The trends in royal statuary during this time reflect these fluctuations in society, both physically and in their purpose. One of the main physical changes in royal statues was the development of portraiture. The sculptors had to try and accomplish a sense of naturalism yet still show the magnificence of the king.

Throughout Egyptian history, the statuary of royals has had a firm funerary grounding. This is definitely true for the Old Kingdom, as it was still strongly believed that the statue could hold divine power and was a place for the king’s ka (spirit) whilst he was in the afterlife. As they were sacred items, most were hidden away, often in a serdab, and were the focus for the cults of the dead kings as a link between the living and the dead. Although they could not see the statue, it gave them something solid upon which to focus their worship. According to Cyril Aldred, the statues were purely practical, not aiming to be emotional for the viewer, as the viewer was not for whom the statue was made. The statuary of this time was focussed only on the deceased and their needs.

Even though the statues continued to be associated with the king after his death, during the Middle Kingdom they also began to represent the king while he was still alive. The kings of the Middle Kingdom had not emerged from the unrest of the First Intermediate Period with full support. Statues were therefore placed in temples around Egypt as monuments, aiming to remind the people of the king’s dominance. Through this worship, the bonds between the king and the local communities strengthened.

Heb Sed, The Ritual Jubilee

Introduction

Off all the many ancient Egyptian festivals, local as well as nationwide, there was one which differed quite a bit from the rest. While they all were aimed at the relationship between the gods, the king and the people, the Heb Sed was more directly focussed around the kingship as such and its complete renewal.

The name Heb Sed, also known as The Sed festival or Feast of the Tail, derives from the name of an Egyptian wolf god, one of whose names was Wepwawet or Sed. The less formal feast name, the Feast of the Tail, is derived from the name of the animal's tail that typically was attached to the back of the pharaoh's garment in the early periods of Egyptian history. This suggests that the tail was the vestige of a previous ceremonial robe made out of a complete animal skin.

A Heb Sed was first held during the 30th regnal year of a pharaoh, and from then on, every three years, but several pharaohs however, held their first Heb Sed at a much earlier date: Hatshepsut held her first jubilee during her 16th regnal year, while Amenhotep IV/Akhenaten chose to dedicate his festival to his solar-god Aten at the early beginnings of his reign. Ramesses II often left two instead of three years between his Heb Seds, he was able to celebrate 14 such jubilees during his 67 years of reign.