By Nevine El-Aref , Tuesday 31 Jan 2017
A Japanese mission from Waseda University discovered a private tomb in the Theban necropolis in Luxor, Mahmoud Afifi, the head of the antiquities ministry's Ancient Egypt Department, said on Tuesday.
Afifi says that the tomb, located at the El-Khokha area on the west bank of the Nile, is beautifully decorated and likely dates to the Ramesside period, based on its style. Early inspection of the tomb suggests that it belonged to a royal scribe named Khonsu .
Jiro Kondo, the head of the Japanese mission, told Ahram Online that the tomb was discovered while excavators were cleaning the area to the east of the forecourt of the tomb of Userhat, a high official under king Amenhotep III.
He added that the team aslso stumbled upon a hole hewn connected to the south wall of the transverse hall of the previously unknown tomb of Khonsu.
The tomb is built on a T-shape on an east-west axis, with the main entrance, currently covered in debris, facing the east.
The tomb measures approximately 4.6m in length from the entrance to the rear wall of the inner chamber, while the transverse hall measures approximately 5.5 m in width.
Kondo explains that on the north wall of the entrance doorway, a scene shows the solar boat of the god Ra-Atum being worshipped by four baboons in a pose of adoration.
On the adjacent wall, hieroglyphic texts are inscribed vertically describing Khonsu as a “true renowned scribe.”
Showing posts with label Ramesside Period. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ramesside Period. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 1, 2017
Saturday, July 18, 2015
Ramesside period storerooms excavated at Sais
Antiquities Minister, Dr. Mamdouh Eldamaty declared the The
Durham/Egypt Exploration Society /Ministry of Antiquities team working
at Sais - Nile Delta, excavated part of the magazine storerooms of the
late Ramesside period.
They discovered a complete assemblage of pottery food storage and preparation vessels within a large magazine of around 6m by 6m and a similar set of vessels in a neighbouring magazine, which still remain to be excavated.
Eldamaty added that outside this domestic area a series of circular mud features were noted, perhaps the bases of storage silos for grain or perhaps tree-pits for special kinds of fruit tree or plants.
On the other hand, Head of Ancient Egyptian Archaeology Sector Dr. Mahmoud Afify said that the discovered pottery jars were all in fragments but included globular cooking vessels, Canaanite amphora, ‘meat-jars’ and large Red Egyptian amphorae dating to the late 20th Dynasty.
Mission’s Director, Penny Wilson elaborated that The ceiling of the magazine had collapsed on top of the magazine in a catastrophic event which may have affected the whole Ramesside city, burying it under rubble. Late in the Third Intermediate Period a large walled structure was built upon the rubble and several phases of domestic activity were recorded either within or outside this large mud-brick wall. Large hearths associated with the houses were used for some time, being refurbished and reused when they became too full of ash.
Throughout the material, some earlier broken fragments from the Old Kingdom can be found in the rubble attesting to the long time period of settlement at Sais.
Adding that, although the glorious city of Dynasty 26 is almost completely destroyed, the finds in the northern part of the Sais site confirm that there are two earlier cities preserved, complete but in many fragments. They could represent the powerful New Kingdom temple centre and the early Third Intermediate settlement of the Great Kingdom of the West. Further work on the pottery will enable more precise dating to be confirmed.
Press Office - Ministry of Antiquities
They discovered a complete assemblage of pottery food storage and preparation vessels within a large magazine of around 6m by 6m and a similar set of vessels in a neighbouring magazine, which still remain to be excavated.
Eldamaty added that outside this domestic area a series of circular mud features were noted, perhaps the bases of storage silos for grain or perhaps tree-pits for special kinds of fruit tree or plants.
On the other hand, Head of Ancient Egyptian Archaeology Sector Dr. Mahmoud Afify said that the discovered pottery jars were all in fragments but included globular cooking vessels, Canaanite amphora, ‘meat-jars’ and large Red Egyptian amphorae dating to the late 20th Dynasty.
Mission’s Director, Penny Wilson elaborated that The ceiling of the magazine had collapsed on top of the magazine in a catastrophic event which may have affected the whole Ramesside city, burying it under rubble. Late in the Third Intermediate Period a large walled structure was built upon the rubble and several phases of domestic activity were recorded either within or outside this large mud-brick wall. Large hearths associated with the houses were used for some time, being refurbished and reused when they became too full of ash.
Throughout the material, some earlier broken fragments from the Old Kingdom can be found in the rubble attesting to the long time period of settlement at Sais.
Adding that, although the glorious city of Dynasty 26 is almost completely destroyed, the finds in the northern part of the Sais site confirm that there are two earlier cities preserved, complete but in many fragments. They could represent the powerful New Kingdom temple centre and the early Third Intermediate settlement of the Great Kingdom of the West. Further work on the pottery will enable more precise dating to be confirmed.
Press Office - Ministry of Antiquities
Sunday, September 21, 2014
Museum Pieces - Vase dedicated to Osiris
Vase dedicated to Osiris
This vessel of red terracotta was found in the tomb of king Djer of the 1st Dynasty at Abydos; it dates from the Ramesside Period and its shape, that of the hieroglyph for 'heart', is very striking. In the centre a mummiform figure of the god Osiris, squatting on a platform, is shown. He wears the white crown, and holds the sign for 'life' (ankh) on his knees. The vertical inscriptions on either side of the god give the names and titles of the two members of the Abydos priesthood who dedicated this vase to Osiris.
Present location: BRUSSELS
Inventory number: E.0579
Dating: 19TH DYNASTY
Archaeological Site: UMM EL-GA`AB/UMM EL-QA`AB
Category: VASE
Material: POTTERY
Technique: FORMED BY HAND; ENGRAVED; ENGRAVED
Height: 34 cm
Translation:
High priest of Osiris, Sawypaankh
Osiris, lord of the necropolis
Godsfather, priest of Osiris and scribe of the army, Wenennefer.
Bibliography:
L. Speleers, Recueil des inscriptions égyptiennes des Musées Royaux du Cinquantenaire à Bruxelles, Bruxelles 1923, 60 nº 251
L. Limme, in Schrijfkunst uit het Oude Egypte - Écritures de l'Égypte ancienne, Bruxelles 1992, 34-35
The tomb of "Osiris"
It is sometimes difficult for us to completely comprehend the great antiquity of Egypt. Consider the fact that by Egypt's 12th Dynasty, some of the tombs of the 1st Dynasty (and earlier) kings of Egypt at Abydos were already over one thousand years old. Yet the Egyptians of that later period in the Middle Kingdom knew that Umm el Ga'ab held the gravesites of Egypt's first kings and thus, they believed, of Osiris himself. These Egyptians investigated this necropolis around the 11th Dynasty, and though we do not know what sort of evidence they used to make their selection, chose the Tomb of Djer as that of Osiris.
At first, the attention given to the tomb was limited, though we see some limited dedications such as an offering table attributable to the 11th Dynasty king Montuhotep III, and a stela fragment we believe may have been contributed by Amenemhet II. However, by the 13th Dynasty, actually as Egypt sank into the Second Intermediate Period, the site began to receive monumental attention, and even as early as the end of the 12th Dynasty, many Egyptians desired to be buried at Umm el Ga'ab. Those who could not be buried there at least wanted to leave some memorial at the site, from a simple votive stela to a full scale cenotaph tomb.
So predominant was the desire to build in this area that eventually, a King Wagaf who presumably was the founder of the 13th Dynasty, erected four stelae in order to mark the sacred area, which was the key part of the wadi leading towards the Tomb of Djer (now the Tomb of Osiris). These stelae, of which one was preserved and placed in the Egyptian Antiquity Museum in Cairo, warned against trespassing and any attempt to build in the area under penalty of death by burning. Hence, we know that people were encroaching on the sacred ground itself with their building projects. Many people came to watch an enactment of a play surrounding Osiris which is referred to as the "Passion Play", and while visiting for this purpose, attempted to obtain preferable lots of land.
From this point onward, the "Tomb of Osiris" grew in importance. Hence, King Khendjer, who ruled soon after King Wagaf, adorned the tomb with the fine basalt image of the recumbent god discovered by Emile Amelineau and Neferhotep I, who was Khendjer's fourth successor to the throne and a fairly prominent ruler for the 13th Dynasty, usurped the four Stelae erected by King Wagaf. He also left behind a sandstone stela that was unearthed by Auguste Mariette near the entrance of the Osiris temple. It describes how Neferhotep I went to the Temple of Re-Atum at Iunu (Heliopolis) to research the correct forms due to Osiris, and afterwards, made renovations deemed necessary and exhorted the Osiris priesthood to maintain them.
The popularity of Umm el Ga'ab and the "Tomb of Osiris" continued into Egypt's late antiquity, only ending with the Persian invasion, though some offerings continued to be placed here even as late as the Roman period.
Sources:
http://www.globalegyptianmuseum.org/detail.aspx?id=133
http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/djertomb.htm
This vessel of red terracotta was found in the tomb of king Djer of the 1st Dynasty at Abydos; it dates from the Ramesside Period and its shape, that of the hieroglyph for 'heart', is very striking. In the centre a mummiform figure of the god Osiris, squatting on a platform, is shown. He wears the white crown, and holds the sign for 'life' (ankh) on his knees. The vertical inscriptions on either side of the god give the names and titles of the two members of the Abydos priesthood who dedicated this vase to Osiris.
.jpg) |
| Photocredit: The Global Egyptian Museum |
Inventory number: E.0579
Dating: 19TH DYNASTY
Archaeological Site: UMM EL-GA`AB/UMM EL-QA`AB
Category: VASE
Material: POTTERY
Technique: FORMED BY HAND; ENGRAVED; ENGRAVED
Height: 34 cm
Translation:
High priest of Osiris, Sawypaankh
Osiris, lord of the necropolis
Godsfather, priest of Osiris and scribe of the army, Wenennefer.
Bibliography:
L. Speleers, Recueil des inscriptions égyptiennes des Musées Royaux du Cinquantenaire à Bruxelles, Bruxelles 1923, 60 nº 251
L. Limme, in Schrijfkunst uit het Oude Egypte - Écritures de l'Égypte ancienne, Bruxelles 1992, 34-35
The tomb of "Osiris"
It is sometimes difficult for us to completely comprehend the great antiquity of Egypt. Consider the fact that by Egypt's 12th Dynasty, some of the tombs of the 1st Dynasty (and earlier) kings of Egypt at Abydos were already over one thousand years old. Yet the Egyptians of that later period in the Middle Kingdom knew that Umm el Ga'ab held the gravesites of Egypt's first kings and thus, they believed, of Osiris himself. These Egyptians investigated this necropolis around the 11th Dynasty, and though we do not know what sort of evidence they used to make their selection, chose the Tomb of Djer as that of Osiris.
At first, the attention given to the tomb was limited, though we see some limited dedications such as an offering table attributable to the 11th Dynasty king Montuhotep III, and a stela fragment we believe may have been contributed by Amenemhet II. However, by the 13th Dynasty, actually as Egypt sank into the Second Intermediate Period, the site began to receive monumental attention, and even as early as the end of the 12th Dynasty, many Egyptians desired to be buried at Umm el Ga'ab. Those who could not be buried there at least wanted to leave some memorial at the site, from a simple votive stela to a full scale cenotaph tomb.
So predominant was the desire to build in this area that eventually, a King Wagaf who presumably was the founder of the 13th Dynasty, erected four stelae in order to mark the sacred area, which was the key part of the wadi leading towards the Tomb of Djer (now the Tomb of Osiris). These stelae, of which one was preserved and placed in the Egyptian Antiquity Museum in Cairo, warned against trespassing and any attempt to build in the area under penalty of death by burning. Hence, we know that people were encroaching on the sacred ground itself with their building projects. Many people came to watch an enactment of a play surrounding Osiris which is referred to as the "Passion Play", and while visiting for this purpose, attempted to obtain preferable lots of land.
From this point onward, the "Tomb of Osiris" grew in importance. Hence, King Khendjer, who ruled soon after King Wagaf, adorned the tomb with the fine basalt image of the recumbent god discovered by Emile Amelineau and Neferhotep I, who was Khendjer's fourth successor to the throne and a fairly prominent ruler for the 13th Dynasty, usurped the four Stelae erected by King Wagaf. He also left behind a sandstone stela that was unearthed by Auguste Mariette near the entrance of the Osiris temple. It describes how Neferhotep I went to the Temple of Re-Atum at Iunu (Heliopolis) to research the correct forms due to Osiris, and afterwards, made renovations deemed necessary and exhorted the Osiris priesthood to maintain them.
The popularity of Umm el Ga'ab and the "Tomb of Osiris" continued into Egypt's late antiquity, only ending with the Persian invasion, though some offerings continued to be placed here even as late as the Roman period.
Sources:
http://www.globalegyptianmuseum.org/detail.aspx?id=133
http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/djertomb.htm
Sunday, February 2, 2014
Writing historical fiction in New Kingdom Egypt
By Colleen Manassa
The origins of Egyptian literary fiction can be found in the rollicking adventure tales and sober instructional texts of the early second millennium BCE. Tales such as the Story of Sinuhe, one of the classics of Egyptian literature, enjoyed a robust readership throughout the second millennium BCE as Egypt transitioned politically from the strongly centralized state of the Middle Kingdom and through the political changes, population movements, and strife of the Second Intermediate Period into the imperial glories of the New Kingdom (1550-1070 BCE). During the New Kingdom, particularly the Nineteenth and Twentieth Dynasties, the “Ramesside Period,” another literary efflorescence occurred. Among the genres of this new corpus of literary productions are stories that can be most properly described as works of “historical fiction.” Set in the past with attested historical characters, these works of historical fiction are an ancient Egyptian counterpart, albeit ultimately unrelated, to the mammoth corpus of modern historical fiction from Sir Walter Scott, Patrick O’Brien, and George McDonald Frasier to Ken Follett and Philippa Gregory.
Historical fiction in New Kingdom Egypt has never been identified as its own genre, but in identifying it as such, stories that represent this period in history are brought to life. Ancient evidence used to resurrect the plots and characters range from straightforward archaeological excavation to a diverse array of historical texts to an actual royal mummy, whose violent death portends the ending of one tale.
The origins of Egyptian literary fiction can be found in the rollicking adventure tales and sober instructional texts of the early second millennium BCE. Tales such as the Story of Sinuhe, one of the classics of Egyptian literature, enjoyed a robust readership throughout the second millennium BCE as Egypt transitioned politically from the strongly centralized state of the Middle Kingdom and through the political changes, population movements, and strife of the Second Intermediate Period into the imperial glories of the New Kingdom (1550-1070 BCE). During the New Kingdom, particularly the Nineteenth and Twentieth Dynasties, the “Ramesside Period,” another literary efflorescence occurred. Among the genres of this new corpus of literary productions are stories that can be most properly described as works of “historical fiction.” Set in the past with attested historical characters, these works of historical fiction are an ancient Egyptian counterpart, albeit ultimately unrelated, to the mammoth corpus of modern historical fiction from Sir Walter Scott, Patrick O’Brien, and George McDonald Frasier to Ken Follett and Philippa Gregory.
Historical fiction in New Kingdom Egypt has never been identified as its own genre, but in identifying it as such, stories that represent this period in history are brought to life. Ancient evidence used to resurrect the plots and characters range from straightforward archaeological excavation to a diverse array of historical texts to an actual royal mummy, whose violent death portends the ending of one tale.
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