Hesire

Hesirs in hieroglyphics
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	Relief with the portrait of Hesire, above it parts of the name and the title

Hesire or Hesi-Re (short form Hesi ) was a high ancient Egyptian official and healer under King ( Pharaoh ) Djoser at the beginning of the 3rd Dynasty (around 2620 to 2600 BC). He became known for the splendid paintings in his grave and wooden panels decorated in relief, which depict his portrait and his official title and were in good condition when they were discovered. In addition, he would be the first “doctor” in world history known by name, provided the interpretation of his title wr-jbḥ-swnw as “the great dentist” is correct and this title was not only symbolically awarded.

Archaeological importance

Hesy-Ra was primarily for his relief-and inscription decorated panels of cedar known that about 1866 by Auguste Mariette and 1912 by James Quibell were excavated and a masterpiece of wood carving of the Old Kingdom apply, especially since the relief panels are well-preserved for her age. In addition, cedar is a type of wood that was rare and expensive in ancient Egypt and had to be imported from Lebanon . The sheer volume of luxury goods processed suggests that Hesire must have been an eminent figure of high rank and with considerable wealth.

identity

Bone cylinder part from Hesire's grave with black ink inscription

About the name

Hesire's name is of particular interest to Egyptology as it provides evidence that the sun cult gained a new status in his day. The name of the sun god Re was written out in full phonemically , the usual spelling with the sun symbol ( Gardiner symbol N5) was reserved for kings and sanctuaries.

Titulatures

Hesire carried high titles such as “confidante of the king” and “great man of Buto ”, but also “brother of Min ”, “governor”, “master of the royal scribes”, “great of the ten of Upper Egypt”, “elder of the Qed-hetep "And" Heka priests of Mehit ". They are listed on the wooden plaques that were in turn found in Hesire's grave. He also bore the honorary title of “great dentist” ( wr-jbḥ-swnw ) and is thus the oldest documented doctor to date. A basalt statue of Psammetich-Seneb (around 600 BC) in the Vatican Museum also names him as the “chief physician of the dentists at court”. However, his title as a doctor is one of many and may have been symbolic rather than practical. The translation of the title is also not certain, alternatives such as “the great ivory and arrow carver” have been suggested.

Grave complex

Saqqara

Geographical location

→ Main article: Mastaba of Hesire

Location and architecture

His adobe mastaba is in the northern district of Saqqara . It was originally around 43 meters long and at least 5 meters high, and its north-south axis deviates only minimally from its orientation. The "official" entrance was on the east side. Behind it, a narrow corridor on the ground floor leads to the decorated niches and the serdab . Near the western flank of the mastaba, a previously blocked, vertical shaft led to the underground tombs. The actual burial chamber was found plundered during the investigation.

The wooden panels

Hesire's wooden panels

The corridors already mentioned contained figurative representations of Hesire on various panels made of cedar wood, which present him standing in official costume or sitting at sacrificial tables. While his face is shown in side profile, his body assumes a 3/4 pose so that every part of the body can be seen. This perspective composition is quite typical of the relief art of the Old Kingdom, as is the fact that Hesire's angular face with mustache is modeled on his king, Djoser. The inscriptions surrounding the portrait name the numerous high titles that Hesire held. The panels were set into the niches of a palace facade and are now on display in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo .

The portraits of Hesire
from the different
Ages

Paintings

The niches themselves were plastered and painted with various geometric designs. At the time of the excavations, the colors were still very clearly recognizable: red, green, black, yellow and white. The above-mentioned palace facade did not form the outer wall of the mastaba, it was, opposite, a surrounding wall. The inside of this wall was originally completely decorated with paint. The painting on the west wall can be divided into three registers : The lowest consisted of a simple, red, continuous band with a black frame on top and bottom. Above it was a series of reed mat motifs with different patterns in green and yellow. Again a red ribbon was emblazoned above this. On the east wall, on the other hand, the lowest register was made up of diamond patterns in green and yellow . Above was the painted representation of the grave equipment of Hesire, which included offerings such as bread, poultry, dates and wine; in addition, images of oil and decorative vessels as well as writing and hunting implements. Various types and models of beds and loungers, as well as a table top with a base, the top of which was decorated with a representation of a curled up snake ("snake table"), adorned the west wall. Each of these objects was accompanied by short inscriptions that were also painted on and described the contents of the vessels and the objects depicted.

Clay seal fragment with the name "Netjerichet" (Djoser).

A pattern of tent-like ornaments in red, white and black followed the representations of the grave furnishings . To protect the precious wall paintings, the mastaba was filled in again after the excavation. Unfortunately, large areas of the decorations had already been destroyed by the weather , arson and grave robbers .

Found objects

Numerous stone and clay vessels were found smashed. In between there were fragments of unrolled seals with the Horus name of King Djoser, which allowed the tomb to be dated. The few clay pots that remained intact contained, among other things, remnants of the coveted “ Seti-schemai ” oil .

literature

Whitney Davis: Archaism and Modernism in the Reliefs of Hesy-Ra. In: John Tait (Ed.): "Never had the like occurred". Egypt's View of Its Past. UCL Press, London a. a. 2003, ISBN 1-84472-007-1 , pp. 31-60 [1] .
Rainer Hannig : The language of the pharaohs. Large hand-held Egyptian-German dictionary. (2800 - 950 BC) (= cultural history of the ancient world . Vol. 64 = Hannig-Lexica. Vol. 1). 4th revised edition. von Zabern, Mainz 2006, ISBN 3-8053-1771-9 .
Dilwyn Jones: An Index of ancient Egyptian titles, epithets and phrases of the Old Kingdom. Volume 1 (= BAR international Series. Vol. 866, 1). Archaeopress, Oxford 2000, ISBN 1-84171-069-5 .
Jochem Kahl , Nicole Kloth, Ulrike Zimmermann: The inscriptions of the 3rd dynasty. An inventory (= Egyptological treatises. Vol. 56). Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1995, ISBN 3-447-03733-4 .
John F. Nunn: Ancient Egyptian Medicine. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman OK 2002, ISBN 0-8061-3504-2 .
James Edward Quibell : Excavations at Saqqara, 1911–1912. The Tomb of Hesy. Imprimerie de Institut Français d'Archéologie Orientale, Cairo 1913.
Hermann Ranke : The Egyptian personal names. Volume 1-3. Augustin, Glückstadt u. a. 1935, 1952, 1977, online as PDF .
Michael Rice: Who's who in Ancient Egypt. Routledge, London a. a. 1999, ISBN 0-415-15448-0 .
Hermann A. Schlögl : Ancient Egypt. History and culture from the early days to Cleopatra. Beck, Munich 2006, ISBN 3-406-54988-8 .

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Hieros, transcription and translation after Hermann Ranke : Die ägyptischen personal names. 1935–1977, p. 254, no. 29 & page 255, no. 3.
↑ James Edward Quibell: Excavations at Saqqara 1911–1912. The Tomb of Hesy. Cairo 1913, plate 29b.
↑ James Edward Quibell: Excavations at Saqqara 1911–1912. The Tomb of Hesy. Cairo 1913, plate 28, object no.12.
^ W. Helck : History of ancient Egypt (= Handbook of Oriental Studies. Department 1: The Near and Middle East. Volume 1: Egyptology. Section 3). Brill, Leiden u. a. 1968, p. 47.
↑ Kamal Sabri Kolta: Hesi-Re. In: Werner E. Gerabek , Bernhard D. Haage, Gundolf Keil , Wolfgang Wegner (eds.): Enzyklopädie Medizingeschichte. de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 2005, ISBN 3-11-015714-4 , p. 586.
↑ John F. Nunn: Ancient Egyptian Medicine. Norman OK 2002, p. 124.
^ Dilwyn Jones: An Index of Ancient Egyptian Titles, Epithets and Phrases of the Old Kingdom. Volume 1, Oxford 2000, p. 381, No. 1412.
↑ James Edward Quibell: Excavations at Saqqara 1911–1912. The Tomb of Hesy. Cairo 1913, plate 28; Object No. 23.

This version was added to the list of articles worth reading on June 24, 2010 .

personal data
SURNAME	Hesire
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Hesi
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	ancient Egyptian official
DATE OF BIRTH	28th century BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH	27th century BC Chr.

[HeRa-1] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Hieros, transcription and translation after Hermann Ranke : Die ägyptischen personal names. 1935–1977, p. 254, no. 29 & page 255, no. 3.

[2] James Edward Quibell: Excavations at Saqqara 1911–1912. The Tomb of Hesy. Cairo 1913, plate 29b.

[3] James Edward Quibell: Excavations at Saqqara 1911–1912. The Tomb of Hesy. Cairo 1913, plate 28, object no.12.

[4] W. Helck : History of ancient Egypt (= Handbook of Oriental Studies. Department 1: The Near and Middle East. Volume 1: Egyptology. Section 3). Brill, Leiden u. a. 1968, p. 47.

[5] Kamal Sabri Kolta: Hesi-Re. In: Werner E. Gerabek , Bernhard D. Haage, Gundolf Keil , Wolfgang Wegner (eds.): Enzyklopädie Medizingeschichte. de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 2005, ISBN 3-11-015714-4 , p. 586.

[6] John F. Nunn: Ancient Egyptian Medicine. Norman OK 2002, p. 124.

[7] Dilwyn Jones: An Index of Ancient Egyptian Titles, Epithets and Phrases of the Old Kingdom. Volume 1, Oxford 2000, p. 381, No. 1412.

[8] James Edward Quibell: Excavations at Saqqara 1911–1912. The Tomb of Hesy. Cairo 1913, plate 28; Object No. 23.