Dagger handle K 3475

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The dagger handle K 3475 is the handle made of ivory of a magnificent dagger from the predynastic period ( Naqada IId, around 3200 BC) of Egyptian history . He was found in the late 1990s in the U cemetery in Umm el-Qaab near Abydos .

Finding circumstances

The fragment of this dagger hilt was found in the upper filling of grave U-181 on the western edge of the cemetery. Whether it actually comes from there or was moved here from an adjacent grave during earlier excavations cannot be determined with certainty, as grave U-181 is severely disturbed. Along with the dagger fragment, further ivory fragments and the ivory figure of a boy with a braid were found. All neighboring graves (U-170, 171, 173, 179, 180, 180a, 182 and 182a) are women and children. Grave U-181 also belonged to a woman who was buried here with her child.

description

Only a small fragment from one corner of the pommel remains of the original dagger grip. It is 1.47 cm long, 0.41 cm wide and has a diameter of 0.72 cm. The front is flat, the back is slightly arched and slightly longer than the front. Both sides and the edge are decorated. Due to the small size of the preserved fragment, more precise statements about the former overall decor are only possible to a very limited extent.

A little more of the image field has been preserved on the flat front than on the back. Here a human figure is shown looking to the right, with long hair and clad in a coat that may also have a belt. The person's head is very carefully crafted. The hairstyle consists of several strands hanging down smoothly. One eye and the mouth have been preserved from the face, a beard is not visible. The figure holds the right arm bent forward. The hand area is not preserved, however, so that it is unclear whether she is holding or offering something. The leg area is badly weathered, but a leg can still be seen, which means that the person is shown standing.

A similar picture can be seen on the back. Here, too, a person is shown, this time turned to the left, who also wears long hair and a belted coat. The face, arms and legs are not preserved here, but the posture suggests that she may be depicted sitting. Above and below the figure there are remains of other images that cannot be interpreted more precisely because they are too small to be preserved. No statement at all can be made about the figure below the person. The illustration above could be the hind leg of an ungulate, but this is ultimately speculation.

The representations on the front and back are very close to the fragments of the knife handle K 1103 from grave U-127. Here, too, people are shown with coats and long hair, who are on the one hand bound prisoners and on the other hand bring gifts. The assumption that a hoofed animal could have been depicted on the back of the fragment is also supported by images of animals on the fragments of the knife K 1103.

A motif that has so far not been used in any other decorated dagger or knife handle is on the edge of the fragment K 3475. Here, three identically executed, strongly stylized cattle heads are shown one above the other in a front view. The heads have the shape of trapezoids that are tapered upwards. A pair of ears and horns grow out of them laterally. Facial features are not worked out. Obviously it is a representation of the cow-headed goddess Bat . The depiction is part of a frieze that originally ran around the entire knob, possibly even around the entire edge of the handle. The motif probably had a chaos defensive function for the people depicted on the front and back, but was also supposed to protect the owner of the dagger. The same idea seems to be inherent in the later portrayal of Narmer on his famous palette , on which he wears a belt with bat heads on his apron.

literature

  • Günter Dreyer : Motifs and dating of the decorated predynastic knife handles. In: Christiane Ziegler (ed.): L'art de l'Ancien Empire égyptien. Actes du colloque organisé au musée du Louvre par le Service culturel les 3 et 4 avril 1998 . La Documentation française: Musée du Louvre, Paris 1999, pp. 195–226.
  • Günter Dreyer et al .: Umm el-Qaab. Follow-up examinations in the early royal cemetery. 11./12. Preliminary report. In: Communications from the German Archaeological Institute, Cairo Department. (MDAIK) Vol. 56, 2000, pp. 43-129.
  • Ulrich Hartung: A fragment of an ornate dagger handle from the U cemetery in Abydos (Umm el-Qaab). In: Eva-Maria Engel, Vera Müller, Ulrich Hartung (Ed.): Signs from the sand. Streiflichter from Egypt's history in honor of Günter Dreyer (= MENES. Studies on the culture and language of the early Egyptian times and the Old Kingdom. Volume 5). Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 2008, pp. 183-194 ( restricted online version ).

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Günter Dreyer: Motifs and dating of the decorated predynastic knife handles. Paris 1999, pp. 200-202.
  2. ^ Günter Dreyer et al .: Umm el-Qaab. Follow-up examinations in the early royal cemetery. 11./12. Preliminary report. 2000, p. 63.
  3. ↑ a b Ulrich Hartung: A fragment of an ornate dagger handle from the cemetery U in Abydos (Umm el-Qaab). P. 186
  4. ↑ Ulrich Hartung: A fragment of a decorated dagger handle from the cemetery U in Abydos (Umm el-Qaab). Wiesbaden 2008, p. 188.
  5. ↑ Ulrich Hartung: A fragment of a decorated dagger handle from the cemetery U in Abydos (Umm el-Qaab). Wiesbaden 2008, pp. 188-189.
  6. ↑ Ulrich Hartung: A fragment of a decorated dagger handle from the cemetery U in Abydos (Umm el-Qaab). Wiesbaden 2008, pp. 189-190.
  7. ^ Günter Dreyer: Motifs and dating of the decorated predynastic knife handles. Paris 1999, pp. 205-206.
  8. ↑ Ulrich Hartung: A fragment of a decorated dagger handle from the cemetery U in Abydos (Umm el-Qaab). Wiesbaden 2008, pp. 190–192.