Chentkaus II pyramid
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The Chentkaus II pyramid is an independent queen pyramid in the necropolis of Abusir in Egypt , which was built in the 5th dynasty . It is attributed to the ancient Egyptian queen Chentkaus II , who may have ruled Egypt as the ruling queen after the death of her husband Neferirkare . Today the pyramid is only a badly damaged, 4 m high ruin.
exploration
The area of the Chentkaus II pyramid, located directly south of the Neferirkare pyramid complex, was explored by Ludwig Borchardt at the beginning of the 20th century , who also noticed the remains of the complex, but after some exploratory excavations wrongly classified it as a double mastaba .
Inspired by the discovery of a papyrus fragment from the 5th dynasty, the Czech Egyptologist Miroslav Verner and his team examined the previously unexplored structure during excavations in Abusir between 1975 and 1980, and it turned out that it was by no means a mastaba, but around acted in a small pyramid complex.
Through his investigations, Verner was able to clearly assign the building to a queen named Chentkaus. At first it was not clear whether this was identical to Chentkaus I from the 4th Dynasty, whose grave is located in Giza. Both queens had a peculiar title which suggests that they themselves ruled Egypt. However, based on the circumstances of the find, the pyramid in Abusir could be dated to the 5th dynasty and the owner of the tomb identified as the wife of Neferirkare.
Construction circumstances
The construction of the pyramid of Chentkaus II began under the rule of her husband Neferirkare and initially appears to have been planned as a queen pyramid integrated into the Neferirkare complex. From inscriptions that are dated to this construction phase, the name Chentkaus II is given with the title " royal wife ". Between the 10th and 11th year of the king's reign, construction work ceased, which by then had reached the height of the burial chamber ceiling. The cause was probably the death of the king.
Even if a continuation during the following, short reign of Raneferef cannot be ruled out, there is no evidence for this.
It was only under Niuserre that work was resumed and the complex was completed. The title as “Queen Mother” is now given on inscriptions. In this construction phase, the pyramid was completed, the temple was built in two construction phases and the rest of the complex was built.
From this period there are also inscriptions that indicate the title as Mw.t-nsw-bj.tj-nsw-bj.tj , which means both as King of Upper and Lower Egypt and mother of the King of Upper and Lower Egypt and as mother two kings of Upper and Lower Egypt can be interpreted. The first interpretation suggests that Chentkaus II ruled as an independent ruler for at least a certain time, which is also supported by depictions with royal insignia.
The pyramid
The pyramid structure had a height of 17 m with a base dimension of 25 m and an inclination angle of 52 ° typical for the 5th dynasty. The core of the pyramid was made of small limestone blocks in three steps, which were held together with clay mortar. This building material was leftover remnants of the building material of the neighboring Neferirkare pyramid. The core itself was clad in fine Tura limestone. A pyramidion made of gray-black granite , fragments of which were found in the ruins, formed the end.
In the first construction phase under Neferirkare the core area of the pyramid was built, but the cladding and the mortuary temple were still missing. Archaeological findings show that the facing layer could only have been attached together with the limestone temple completed under Niuserre.
The pyramid body was badly damaged by stone robbery, so that the ruins are only about 4 m high today. The construction of not very careful masonry and the use of inferior material on the one hand facilitated the destruction by stone robbers and on the other hand offered other eroding factors additional attack surface.
Substructure
The substructure of the pyramid, built in a shallow, open trench, is very simple. A sloping corridor leads down from the north, which merges into the horizontal about halfway and bends slightly to the east. In the horizontal part of the corridor there was a simple granite fall barrier shortly before the confluence with the chamber. The burial chamber itself was oriented in an east-west direction. Small blocks of fine limestone were used as building material for both the corridor and the burial chamber. The ceiling of the burial chamber was flat and consisted of massive limestone blocks.
The chamber itself is badly damaged, but the fragments were from rose granite -made sarcophagus found. There were also ties from the feathered mummy and fragments of alabaster vessels from the grave equipment. From the remains it can be concluded that the pyramid was used for the queen's burial.
The pyramid complex
The Chentkaus II pyramid has its own pyramid complex and is not incorporated into the pyramid complex of her husband Neferirkare. This complex contains all the important elements that are necessary to practice the ruler's cult. An access path and a valley temple have not yet been identified.
North chapel
In the middle of the north side there is a small sacrificial chapel, which presumably contained an altar. This small structure was located at the entrance to the base of the pyramid, which was slightly to the east. Only rudimentary remains of the north chapel have survived.
Cult pyramid
A small cult pyramid was erected in the southeast corner , which, with a base length of 5.2 m and a height of around 4.5 m, was significantly steeper than the main pyramid. The side slope here was about 60 °. This cult pyramid was built from the same material as the surrounding wall and is therefore likely to have been implemented as a late addition to the complex together with the second construction phase of the mortuary temple. The cult pyramid has been largely destroyed and only rudimentary remains are still visible. A substructure has not yet been proven.
Mortuary temple
The mortuary temple on the east side of the pyramid was built in the last building phase of the complex under Niuserre when the pyramid was already completed. The construction of the temple can be divided into two phases, whereby first a small temple was built from limestone, which was later supplemented by an extension made of adobe bricks .
The original limestone temple could be entered from the east through a column portico . Inside there was an open pillar courtyard with eight columns, a statue hall which, according to a papyrus fragment found in the temple archives, contained 16 cult statues of the queen, a sacrificial hall with a false door made of rose granite as well as an altar and magazine chambers. In addition, a staircase led to the roof terrace. The sacrificial hall and possibly other rooms were provided with images and inscriptions in bas-relief . The pillars in the courtyard also had similar decorations. One of them shows a representation of the queen with the ruler's insignia of the Uraeus serpent on her forehead, which supports the interpretation of Chentkaus II as a ruling ruler. Other depictions show sacrificial scenes, a funeral meal, agricultural depictions, processions and family scenes.
In the expansion of the second phase, a new entrance portico, five storage rooms and a priest's quarters were added on the east side. Instead of limestone, masonry made of easier-to-work clay bricks was used. In the course of the expansion, an enclosure wall, also made of adobe bricks, was drawn around the complex, separating it from the Neferirkare complex.
The cult of the dead of Chentkaus II can be traced back over 300 years until the end of the 6th dynasty.
Enclosure wall
The pyramid district was surrounded by a massive mud brick wall, which is clearly demarcated from the border wall of the neighboring Neferirkare pyramid. Some remains of an earlier limestone wall from the first phase of construction suggest that the complex was originally intended to be attached to her husband's pyramid complex. The independence of the complex was only realized during the expansion of the mortuary temple.
Pillage and destruction
For the first time the pyramid was robbed in the first interim period . In the Middle Kingdom , the pyramid was reopened and the sarcophagus was reused for the burial of a child. The pyramid complex suffered massive destruction by stone robbery towards the end of the new empire . The removed material was reused in new structures.
literature
- Miroslav Verner : Abusir. Realm of Osiris. American University in Cairo Press, Cairo et al. 2002, ISBN 977-424-723-X .
- Miroslav Verner: The pyramids (= rororo non-fiction book. Volume 60890). Rowohlt, Reinbek bei Hamburg 1999, ISBN 3-499-60890-1 , pp. 332–336.
- Miroslav Verner: Forgotten Pharaohs, lost Pyramids. Abúsír. Academia et al., Prague 1994, ISBN 80-200-0022-4 .
- Miroslav Verner: Further Thoughts on the Khentkaus Problem. In: Discussions in Egyptology. Vol. 38, 1997, ISSN 0268-3083 , pp. 109-117 online (PDF; 2.8 MB).
- Miroslav Verner: The Pyramid Complex of Khentkaus (= Abusir. Vol. 3). Reprinted edition. Universitas Carolina Pragensis, Prague 2001, ISBN 80-200-0874-8 .
- Bretislav Vachala: Guide des sites d'Abousir (= Institut Français d'Archéologie Orientale. Bibliothèque générale. Vol. 24). Institut français d'archéologie orientale du Caire (IFAO), Cairo 2002, ISBN 2-7247-0326-X .
Web links
- Alan Winston: The Pyramid of Khentkaues II at Abusir
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l Miroslav Verner: The pyramids. 1999, p. 332ff .: The pyramid of Chentkaus II.
- ↑ a b c Miroslav Verner: Further Thoughts on the Khentkaus Problem. 1997, p. 109ff.
- ↑ a b c Rainer Stadelmann : The Egyptian pyramids. From brick construction to the wonder of the world (= cultural history of the ancient world . Volume 30). 3rd, updated and expanded edition. Philipp von Zabern, Mainz 1997, ISBN 3-8053-1142-7 , p. 174.
- ↑ a b Mark Lehner : Secret of the pyramids. Approved special edition. Bassermann, Munich 2004, ISBN 3-8094-1722-X , pp. 145f .: The pyramid of the queen mother.
- ↑ a b Miroslav Verner: The Pyramid Complex of Khentkaus. Reprinted dition. 2001.
Coordinates: 29 ° 53 ′ 38.9 ″ N , 31 ° 12 ′ 9 ″ E