Djedkare pyramid

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Djedkare pyramid
The Djedkare pyramid
The Djedkare pyramid
Egyptian name
Hiero Ca1.svg
M17 O34
O34 		M17
Hiero Ca2.svg
nfr O24
Nefer-Isesi
nfr-Jzzj
Schön ist (the pyramid of) Isesi (Asosi)
(with determinative for pyramid)
Data
place Saqqara -South
builder Djedkare
construction time ?
Base dimension 78.75 m
Height (originally) 52.5 m
Tilt 52 °
Cult pyramid 1
Queen pyramids 1

The pyramid of Djedkare (also pyramid of Djedkare-Asosi or pyramid of Djedkare-Isesi ), king ( pharaoh ) of the 5th dynasty (around 2405 to 2367 BC, Old Kingdom ), is in Saqqara south. Today it is known as el-Shawaf ("the guardian") because it stands on a rocky promontory just above the village of Saqqara.

After most of the rulers of the 5th dynasty were buried in Abusir , Djedkare built his pyramid in Saqqara-South, about six kilometers south of Abusir.

location

The pyramid of Djedkare-Isesi is located in Saqqara- South, near the grave complex of Sheepseskaf . Like his predecessor Menkauhor , Djedkare-Isesi no longer had his pyramid built in Abusir , where most of the other kings of the 5th dynasty were buried. One can only speculate about the reasons for the change of the necropolis : Possibly the place of the necropolis of Abusir was already occupied, so that Menkauhor had to look for a new place, or the kings buried in Saqqara came from a different branch of the family than the Abusir kings . It is possible that they deliberately sought proximity to other, older structures.

Even if Djedkare-Isesi did not allow himself to be buried in Abusir, he reorganized the royal cult of this necropolis. Most of the administrative documents found in Abusir, the so-called Abusir papyri , date from his reign. Close family members such as Prince Neserkauhor and Princess Chekeretnebti were also buried there.

exploration

Today the pyramid is poorly preserved and poorly examined. They were the first to visit John Shae Perring and Karl Richard Lepsius , whose works gave a first, superficial description of the exterior. In 1880 Gaston Maspero penetrated the pyramid 's chamber system in search of pyramid texts, but was not yet able to determine the owner of the grave. When he couldn't find any pyramid texts, he lost interest in the complex. In 1945 Abdel Salam Hussein and A. Varille began a systematic research into the facility, during which they could find the name of the king and thus clearly assign the facility to the 5th dynasty. The premature death of the two scientists made it impossible to publish their research results. Ahmed Fakhry continued the excavations in 1951, with whose consent Vito Maragioglio and Celeste Rinaldi published an initial inventory in 1977 and Mohamed Moursi published further results in 1987 from his estate.

From 1980 Mahmoud Abel Razeh cleaned the northern area of ​​the mortuary temple and discovered coffins made of clay and wood as well as the remains of snake figures that date back to the New Kingdom and the Late Period . From 2001, Bernard Mathieu headed two excavation campaigns for the Institut français d'archéologie orientale (IFAO) in Cairo, during which restoration work was carried out and parts of the relief decorations were recovered from the rubble of earlier excavations. Overall, large parts of the complex and finds are insufficiently documented and precise plans are missing.

architecture

pyramid

Plan of the pyramid district
Axonometric representation of the chamber system of the pyramid

As with the Niuserre pyramid , the core was built in six stages. The entrance is at ground level, 2.5 m east of the center of the north side. For the first time (since the bent pyramid ) there are traces of a small entrance chapel made of limestone, 6.71 × 4.69 m in size. According to: Rainer Stadelmann there was probably a false door on the south side of this chapel.

The 9.20 m long, granite-clad descending corridor is still blocked today with these stone blocks. It leads to an almost horizontal, limestone-lined passage chamber. Behind it there is another corridor and a falling stone device with three granite falling stones and a horizontal counterpart with a slight bend to the east. After a total of 24.5 m in length, the passage reaches the antechamber, which is exactly in the middle of the pyramid.

To the east of the antechamber is a room with three niches, which is relatively rough and not covered with fine limestone like the antechamber and coffin chamber. Mark Lehner speaks of three magazines and points out that the development of this feature can already be traced in the pyramid of Mykerinos , the grave complex of Schepseskaf and the Userkaf pyramid . This room does not appear in the direct predecessor systems, but remained a fixed base for the following pyramid systems. Rainer Stadelmann is also thinking of a kind of cellar or storage room, as the older pyramids of the 3rd dynasty had: It is at least interesting to observe how, despite the increasingly perfected aboveground cult facilities with their double storage facilities, the need for storage suddenly revived seems to come up right next to the funeral. According to Peter Jánosi, it could have served as a magazine for certain ritual implements of the afterlife . It was also referred to as a serdab , which means an inaccessible space to house statues, which is very debatable.

To the west of the antechamber is the elongated burial chamber. The antechamber and coffin were badly damaged by grave robbers. A gable roof made of three layers of huge limestone rafters covered both chambers. The passage between the antechamber and the main chamber is protected by a stone relief arch , which is the oldest known, real stone vault in Egypt, but not free-standing, but in a wall bond . In front of the west wall of the burial chamber there was a basalt sarcophagus in a 12 cm deep recess, which can be reconstructed from the fragments lying in the rubble. There was also a hidden niche next to it for the canopic chest. The remains of a mummified man around 50 years old have been found, believed to be the remains of the ruler. Because of his long reign, that would mean he must have come to the throne very young. Furthermore, fragments of alabaster and a faience bead on gold fabric were found in the burial chamber.

  • Reconstruction of the pyramid district

  • Pyramid of Djedkare-Isesi (right) and an "anonymous queen" (left)

  • Access to the pyramid on its north side

Mortuary temple

Reconstruction of the open courtyard with palm columns

The (not excavated) path leads to the only incompletely excavated mortuary temple . The mostly unpublished relief fragments were as rich and beautiful as the temples of the Abusir kings in their decoration . Among them are depictions of the king with gods and goddesses, for example how Hathor gives him the sign of life and Wadjet and Seth standing behind them . There were inlaid eyes on the representations.

The entrance facade of the mortuary temple is dominated by two mighty, square towers , Lehner already speaks of wall pylons , at least they could be forerunners of the later pylons. A long vestibule leads into an open courtyard with a palm column colonnade made of rose granite. Small remains are evidence of an alabaster paving of the vestibule and courtyard. The associated magazines are located symmetrically on both sides. A door and a small staircase led to a room with five statue niches. This was followed by a square antechamber with a single palm column ("antichambre carrée") made of rose granite and the sacrificial hall. There were magazines on either side of these rooms. There were four large open-air courtyards between the mortuary temple and the surrounding wall of the pyramid complex. In the south there was a cult pyramid with a T-shaped substructure, another, according to Lehner and Stadelmann, was perhaps used for slaughtering animals or for purification rites, as indicated by grooves in the pavement.

  • Access to the funerary temple of Djedkare-Isesi with the remains of the pylons / tower massifs

  • Lower end of the ascent and the village of Saqqara behind it (2011)

  • Pillar from the mortuary temple

  • Fragments of palm columns from the open courtyard of the funerary temple of the Djedkare pyramid

Setibhor pyramid complex

The pyramid of Queen Setibhor is located north-east of the king's pyramid in its own surrounding wall . This “queen pyramid” has many standard elements of a king pyramid, albeit on a smaller scale: its own surrounding wall, sacrificial hall, magazines, a square antechamber with individual pillars, colonnaded courtyard, a room at the point where the five statue niches usually lie, and found it there are even traces that point to a small cult pyramid. Remarkably, this queen district, like the later queen districts, does not have its own access road and valley temple. According to Peter Jánosi, there is no evidence from the existing relief fragments of the complex that the complex was clearly assigned to a queen. His examination of the architectural features speaks against the identification as a royal complex, but also not in favor of a queen complex. The entire complex thus occupies a special position in the architecture of the pyramid complexes. In addition, for historical and chronological reasons the complex cannot be assigned to a king of the 5th dynasty. On the other hand, if one wants to assign the complex to a queen, the problem arises that at the end of the 5th dynasty a royal wife must have played such an important role that one can admit monumental architecture to her. But even the rooms that are thematically oriented towards the royal office are difficult to explain in a queen complex.

  • The pyramid of an "anonymous queen"

  • Mortuary temple of the pyramid of an "anonymous queen"

literature

  • Dieter Arnold : Lexicon of Egyptian architecture. Albatros, Düsseldorf 2000, ISBN 3-491-96001-0 , p. 67.
  • Peter Jánosi : The pyramid complex of the "anonymous queen" of the Djed-kare-Ises. In: Communications from the German Archaeological Institute, Cairo Department. (MDAIK). 45, 1989, ISSN  0342-1279 , pp. 187-202.
  • Peter Jánosi: The pyramids. Myth and Archeology (= Beck'sche Reihe. C.-H.-Beck-Wissen 2331). Beck, Munich 2004, ISBN 3-406-50831-6 , pp. 85-87.
  • Mark Lehner : The Secret of the Pyramids. Approved special edition. Orbis, Munich 1999, ISBN 3-572-01039-X , pp. 153-154.
  • Vito Maragioglio , Celeste Rinaldi : L'architettura delle piramidi menfite. Volume 8: La piramide di Neuserrâ, la "Small Pyramid" di Abu Sir, la "Piramide distrutta" di Saqqara ed il Complesso di Zedkarâ Isesi e della sua Regina. 2 volumes (Testo, Tavole). Artale et al., Turin et al. 1975 (1977), pp. 64-116.
  • Mohamed Megahed: New research in the grave district of Djedkare-Isesi. In: Sokar. Volume 22, 2011, ISSN  1438-7956 , pp. 24-35.
  • Mohamed Megahed: The Pyramid Complex of Djedkare's Queen in South Saqqara. Preliminary Report 2010. In: Miroslav Bárta; Filip Coppens, Jaromír Krejčí (Eds.): Abusir and Saqqara in the Year 2010. Czech Institute of Egyptology, Faculty of Arts, Charles University in Prague, Prague 2011, ISBN 978-80-7308-384-7 , p. 616– 634.
  • Mohamed Megahed: The rediscovery of the pyramid district of Djedkare-Isesi in Saqqara-South. In: Sokar. Volume 28, 2014, pp. 6-19.
  • Mohamed Megahed: The Pyramid Complex of Djedkare-Isesi at South Saqqara and Its Decorative Program. PhD, Charles University Prague, Prague 2016.
  • Mohamed Megahed et al .: Djedkare-Isesis pyramid complex. Excavation campaigns 2018. In: Sokar. Volume 38, 2019, pp. 24-49.
  • Mohamed Megahed, Peter Jánosi: The Pyramid Complex of Djedkare at Saqqara-South. Recent Results and Future Prospects. In: Miroslav Bárta; Filip Coppens, Jaromír Krejčí (Eds.): Abusir and Saqqara in the Year 2015. Czech Institute of Egyptology, Faculty of Arts, Charles University in Prague, Prague 2017, ISBN 978-80-7308-758-6 , p. 237– 256.
  • Mohamed Megahed, Peter Jánosi, Hana Vymazalová : Djedkare's Pyramid Complex: Preliminary Report of the 2016-Season. In: Prague Egyptological Studies. Volume 19, 2017, pp. 37-52.
  • Mohamed Megahed, Peter Jánosi, Hana Vymazalová: News from the pyramid complex of Djedkare-Isesi. Excavation and research results 2015–2016. In: Sokar. Volume 34, 2017, pp. 36-63.
  • Mohamed Megahed, Peter Jánosi, Hana Vymazalová: The pyramid district of Djedkare-Isesi. Consolidation, excavations and documentation 2017. In: Sokar. Volume 37, 2019, pp. 50-69.
  • Mohamed Moursi: The excavations in the area around the pyramid of Ḏd-k3-Re "Jssj" near Saqqara. In: Annales du service des antiquités de l'Égypte. (ASAE) 71, 1987, ISSN  1687-1510 , pp. 185-193.
  • Bertha Porter, Rosalind Moss : Topographical Bibliography of Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphic Texts, Reliefs and Paintings. Volume 3: Memphis. Part 2: Ṣaqqara to Dahshûr. 2nd edition, revised and augmented by Jaromír Málek. Griffith Institute et al., Oxford 1981, ISBN 0-9000416-23-8 , p. 424.
  • Rainer Stadelmann : The Egyptian pyramids. From brick construction to the wonder of the world (= cultural history of the ancient world . Volume 30). 2nd, revised and expanded edition. von Zabern, Mainz 1991, ISBN 3-8053-1142-7 , pp. 180-184.
  • Miroslav Verner : The pyramids (= rororo non-fiction book. Volume 60890). Rowohlt, Reinbek bei Hamburg 1999, ISBN 3-499-60890-1 , pp. 361-369.

Web links

Commons : Djedkare pyramid  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Translation from: Stadelmann: The Egyptian pyramids. P. 180; Hieroglyphs from: Porter, Moss: Topographical Bibliography. P. 424.
  2. ↑ Megahed: New research in the grave district of Djedkare-Isesi. P. 25 and: Stadelmann: The Egyptian pyramids. P. 180.
  3. ↑ Megahed: New research in the grave district of Djedkare-Isesi. P. 26.
  4. ↑ Rinaldi Maragioglio: L'architettura delle piramidi menfite. P. 64.
  5. ↑ Moursi: The excavations in the area around the pyramid of Ḏd-k3-Re "Jssj" near Saqqara. Pp. 185-193.
  6. ↑ Megahed: New research in the grave district of Djedkare-Isesi. P. 29.
  7. ↑ a b c d e f g h Lehner: The secret of the pyramids. Pp. 153-154.
  8. ↑ a b c d e f g Stadelmann: The Egyptian pyramids. P. 180.
  9. ↑ a b Jánosi: The pyramids. Myth and Archeology. P. 85.
  10. ↑ Jánosi: The pyramids. Myth and Archeology. P. 86.
  11. ^ Arnold: Lexicon of Egyptian Architecture. P. 67.
  12. ↑ a b c d e Stadelmann: The Egyptian pyramids. P. 182.
  13. ↑ Georges Goyon: La chaussée monumentale et le temple de la vallée de la pyramide de Khéops. In: Bulletin de l'Institut français d'archéologie Orientale. (BIFAO) Volume 67, 1969, ISSN  0255-0962 , pp. 49-69, online (PDF; 2.72 MB) ( Memento from December 25, 2014 in the Internet Archive ).
  14. ↑ Discovery of a unique tomb and the name of an ancient Egyptian queen in south Saqqara Fig. 14
  15. ↑ Stadelmann: The Egyptian pyramids. P. 184.
  16. ↑ Jánosi: The pyramid complex of the "anonymous queen" of the Djed-kare-Ises. P. 187.
  17. ↑ Jánosi: The pyramid complex of the "anonymous queen" of the Djed-kare-Ises. Pp. 201-202.

Coordinates: 29 ° 51 ′ 3.9 ″  N , 31 ° 13 ′ 14.6 ″  E