Bubasteion

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Bubasteion in hieroglyphics
D46
O4
N35 		X1 D1
N37 		S34
N35 		Aa1
N16
N16 		N25

Dehenet-anch-taui
Dhnt-ˁnḫ-t3.w (j)
rock face / steep slope of Anchtaui
Greek Bubasteion

The Bubasteion was a Ptolemaic - Roman temple district of the Bastet on the slope of the desert demolition of Saqqara . In Arabic , the site was called Abouab el-qotat ( "the gates of the cats" , "the (grave) entrances of the cats" ).

The temple area was surrounded by a 275 × 325 m wide perimeter wall and was located southeast of the Pyramid of Teti and south of the Anubieion . He had a large entrance gate on the south wall, a cat necropolis and remains of settlements. In the New Kingdom there was already a temple of Bastet at this point, who was venerated as the "Lady of Anchtaui" .

The exact exploration of the site only began in 1976 by Alain-Pierre Zivie , the first excavations took place from 1980. From 1986 the MAFB was founded , which since then has mainly devoted itself to investigating rock graves.

Cat cemetery

In the second half of the 18th dynasty , high dignitaries built rock graves here, which were later converted into catacombs . Several hundred cat mummies and thousands of cat bones have been found so far. The cat cemetery developed in the second half of the 1st millennium BC. According to Alain Zivie, it was just as significant as the Bubastis cat cemetery . Usually it was forbidden for the Egyptian population to kill cats in general. Radiological examinations showed, however, that the cats in the necropolis died prematurely as a result of a "ritual slaughter" which was only allowed to be carried out by an authorized person from the temple. Two-thirds of all cats have been shown to have been killed by strangulation , and many more by skull crushing. The cats killed included many young between six and twelve months of age.

Cat mummy of the second type

The cats were mummified in two different ways . With some, the paws and tail were wound tightly along the torso, with the others the limbs and tail were only partially wrapped, so that the living shape of the animal was preserved. Some carefully crafted mummies were in a sarcophagus made of wood or stone. Some of them were also buried with boxes, sculptures, jewelry and amulets . The mummification itself was quite simple, the body was only dried out, there was no evisceration . Among the mummies found were some “fakes” that were either empty or incomplete. They only contained some bones or inorganic materials. The priests probably sold mummies of various quality to the pilgrims .

A lion skeleton was found in the grave of Tutankhamun's wet nurse Maia in 2001, which may also have been mummified. The lion was considered to be an embodiment of the god Mahes (son of Bastet).

Graves

Mural from the tomb of Aperel

On the south side of the Bubasteion, near the excavation house of the French mission, there is a steep slope that has several grave openings on two levels. These were created mainly in the second half of the 18th and early 19th dynasties by high dignitaries and plundered in the later period . This was followed by a redesign and burial of cat mummies from the nearby sanctuary of Bastet. Two of these graves were discovered in the early 1980s, the rest of them only recently. Most of the graves are made of rock, but some are made of high-quality Tura limestone . The decorations are very diverse and sometimes even vary within the same grave. It is mainly about reliefs, as well as general and simple paintings in good to exceptional quality. Many of the pieces found, especially from the grave of Aperel , are now in the Imhotep Museum in Saqqara.

List of graves in the Bubasteion

The graves were numbered by the MAFB, with the graves on the upper level bearing a Roman I and those on the lower level a Roman II. There may be a third level, but it is buried under rubble. In addition to the Roman numbering, the individual graves were numbered with Arabic numerals in ascending order from east to west.

Grave no. Grave owner time
Boy. I. 01 Aperel Reign of Amenhotep III. and Amenhotep IV.
Boy. I. 03 Resch (officer) Reign of Thutmose IV and Amenhotep III.
Boy. I. 05 Merisachmet Late 18th dynasty
Boy. I. 06 Nehesi (treasurer) Reign of Hatshepsut
Boy. I.13 Seth (cupbearer) Reign of Amenhotep III.
Boy. I.16 Netjerwymes (Parichnawa) Reign of Ramses II.
Boy. I.19 Thutmose , Kenna
Boy. I.20 Maia (wet nurse) Reign of Tutankhamun and Eje II.
Boy. I.21 Penrenut Reign of Merenptah
Boy. I.27 Raia (Treasury Clerk) Reign of Amenhotep IV.
Boy. II.4 Merire Reign of Amenhotep III.
Boy. II.x Ptahmosis (cadastral recorder) Reign of Amenhotep III.

literature

Web links

Commons : Bubasteion  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Remarks

  1. ↑ Anchtaui was the name of the necropolis of Memphis .
  2. ↑ Also known as Hatiay.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Saqqara / 'Ankhtaouy . On: hypogees.org from 2009; last accessed on April 29, 2016.
  2. ^ La Mission Archéologique Française du Bubasteion . On: hypogees.org from 2009; last accessed on April 29, 2016.
  3. ↑ a b Le Bubasteion . On: hypogees.org from 2009; last accessed on April 29, 2016.
  4. ^ Lion mummy found in Egyptian tomb . On: msnbc.com ; last accessed on April 29, 2016.
  5. ↑ Under cats: lion mummy discovered in Egypt ( memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.vistaverde.de archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . On: vistaverde.de from January 14, 2004; last accessed on April 29, 2016.
  6. ↑ Les tombes . On: hypogees.org from 2009; last accessed on April 29, 2016.
  7. ↑ grave plan . On: hypogees.org from 2009; last accessed on April 29, 2016.

Coordinates: 29 ° 52 ′ 25.6 "  N , 31 ° 13 ′ 25.2"  E