On the way
An Aufweg is a connecting path between the valley temple on the edge of the fruit land and the pyramid temple on the desert plateau .
The first access routes were in the east-west oriented pyramid districts of King Sneferu . They consisted of a narrow, covered stone corridor and were dimly lit through slits in the ceiling. Due to their considerable length (181 to 1500 m) they formed a traffic obstacle and were often equipped with underpasses. The walls were given reliefs from the 5th dynasty . At the top, they showed tribute-bringers and secular scenes, and further down, the victory of the royal spoons over the enemy.
In the case of the Sesostris I pyramid , the pathway was equipped with royal statue pillars . These were rather elongated interiors that linked spatially separated but functionally closely related buildings. In the Middle Kingdom , the access road was protected on both sides by flanking brick walls, of which often only these have been preserved and simulated the “open” access roads. It was more about processional streets that were mainly used for amunfestivals . Such improper access was only found at the mortuary temples of Mentuhotep II , Hatshepsut and Thutmose III. in Deir el-Bahari . The latter was planted with a double row of trees at the lower end. In the sixth dynasty Aufwege were for nomarchs -Gräber in Aswan and Tjebu rebuilt.
Lengths of some routes
| Surname | length |
|---|---|
| Radjedef pyramid | 1500 m |
| Unas pyramid | 666 m |
| Cheops pyramid | 616 m |
| Mykerinos pyramid | 600 m |
| Pepi II pyramid | 515 m |
| Chephren pyramid | 494 m |
| Niuserre pyramid | 400 m |
| Meidum pyramid | 241 m |
| Sahure pyramid | 235 m |
| Amenemhet III pyramid | 181 m |
Picture gallery
On the way of the Djedefre
On the way to Djedefre (excerpt)
On the way of Mykerinos
On the way of Sneferu
On the way of the Sahure
On the way of the Unas
On the way of the Unas
Relief fragment from the wall cladding of the Aufweg des Unas
literature
- On the way. In: Dieter Arnold: Lexicon of Egyptian architecture. Albatros, Düsseldorf 2000, ISBN 3-491-96001-0 , p. 31.
- Ludwig Borchardt : The grave monument of the king Ne-user-Re. Leipzig 1907, pp. 42-49. (Reprint: Zeller, Osnabrück 1984, ISBN 3-535-00570-1 )
- R. Drenkhahn: On the way. In: Lexicon of Egyptology. Vol. I, Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1975, ISBN 3-447-01670-1 , S 555f.
- Oltri Egitto: Nubia. (= Exhibition catalog Milan 1985 ). Fig. 17.
- Selim Hassan : Excavations at Saqqara. In: Annales du service des antiquités de l'Égypte (ASAE). Vol. 38, 1938, pp. 519-520.