Tomb of the Night (Assyut No. 7)
The grave of the night treasurer was found in 1903 during excavations in Assiut . It dates to the beginning of the Middle Kingdom and was largely intact.
Grave details
The grave of the night is a simple shaft grave with an antechamber and burial chamber. Nothing is left of the superstructure. It is uncertain whether the grave ever had one. The burial chamber contained the two box coffins placed one inside the other, as well as a number of wooden figures. The coffins that are in the Louvre today are decorated with coffin texts , object friezes and other texts common at the time. A mummy mask was on the corpse of the night . The wooden figures are remarkable as some of them are life-size. A female figure, typical of many graves of this time, is perhaps a kind of co- sleeper and should also enable sexual activities in the afterlife at night . But it may also have been a symbol of fertility in general, which made birth and rebirth in the hereafter possible. The finds from the tomb are now in the Louvre and in Cairo . Although the tomb was published after the excavation, this publication is not complete in all details and it is even uncertain how many figures were found in the tomb.
The statues from the tomb by night
| museum | height | reference | comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Louvre E 12029 | 57.7 cm | Offering bearer | |
| Cairo JE 36288 | 59 cm | Figure of Henu, wife of the night | |
| Cairo JE 36289 | 77 cm | Offering bearer | |
| Cairo JE 36290 | 57.5 cm | Offering bearer | |
| unsure | ? | Offering bearer | |
| unsure | Offering bearer | ||
| Louvre E11937 | 179 cm | ||
| Louvre E 12002 | 45 cm | ||
| Louvre E 12028 | 28.5 cm | ||
| Cairo JE 36283 | 165 cm | ||
| Cairo JE 36292 | 48 cm | ||
| Boston MFA 04.1775, | 29 cm | ||
| Boston MFA 04.1776 | 41 cm | ||
| Cairo JE 36281 | 28 cm | ||
| Cairo JE 36282 | 13 cm | ||
| Brussels E. 5596 | Stone figure (seated) |
To person
Night was treasurer and royal sealer . He was therefore a high official. It is not certain whether he was at the court of a local Gaufür prince of Assiut or at the court of the king.
literature
- É. Chassinat , Ch. Palanque: Une campagne de fouilles dans la nécropole d'Assiout (= Institut français d'archéologie orientale du Caire. Mémoires. Vol. 24, ISSN 0257-411X ). Institut Français d'Archéologie Orientale du Caire, Cairo 1911, pp. 34–110.
- Elisabeth Delange: Catalog des statues égyptiennes du moyen empire 2060 - 1560 avant J.-C. Musee du Louvre. Editions de la Réunion des Musées Nationaux, Paris 1987, ISBN 2-7118-2161-7 .
- Julia Harvey: Some Notes on the Wooden Statues from the Tomb of Nakht at Assiut. In: Göttinger Miscellen . (GM). No. 116, 1990, pp. 45-50
Individual evidence
- ↑ Emily Teeter: How Many Statues of Nakhti? In: Göttinger Miscellen. No. 114, 1990, pp. 101-106.
- ^ Harvey: Some Notes on the Wooden Statues from the Tomb of Nakht at Assiut. 1990, p. 45.
- ↑ a b c d Harvey: Some Notes on the Wooden Statues from the Tomb of Nakht at Assiut. 1990, p. 46.
- ↑ a b c Harvey: Some Notes on the Wooden Statues from the Tomb of Nakht at Assiut. 1990, p. 47.
- ^ Harvey: Some Notes on the Wooden Statues from the Tomb of Nakht at Assiut. 1990, pp. 46-47.
- ^ Delange: Catalog des statues égyptiennes du moyen empire. 1987, pp. 151-153.
- ^ Delange: Catalog des statues égyptiennes du moyen empire. 1987, pp. 154-155.
- ^ Delange: Catalog des statues égyptiennes du moyen empire. 1987, pp. 158-159.
- ↑ a b Harvey, In: Göttinger Miszellen 116 , p. 46.
- ↑ Boston MFA 04.1775 , Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
- ↑ Boston MFA 04.1776 , Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
- ↑ a b Harvey: Some Notes on the Wooden Statues from the Tomb of Nakht at Assiut. 1990, p. 48.