Semerchet's grave

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Plan of the grave of Semerchet
Ivory tablets from the grave of Semerchet

The tomb of Semerchet (Tomb U) is in Abydos ( Egypt ) in the part of the necropolis called Umm el-Qaab . Semerchet was the penultimate ruler of the 1st Dynasty and ruled around 2850 BC. Chr.

The grave was first uncovered by the French archaeologist Émile Amélineau in the year 1895 to 1896; further investigations took place from 1899 to 1900 by Flinders Petrie and most recently from 1998 to 2005 by the German Archaeological Institute (Cairo).

The tomb measures 26 × 18 m and is made of adobe bricks. The entrance to the tomb is in the east. The burial chamber in the middle of the building is 16.5 × 7.5 m in size. 69 small chambers are arranged around these, of which 67 burial chambers probably represented secondary burials. The two remaining chambers are probably magazines. Here the series of secondary burials is interrupted.

In the secondary burials there were seven steles that could be assigned to individual graves. Other steles could not be ascribed to a specific grave. Two steles belonged to a dwarf named Nefer . In fact, the skeleton of a dwarf was found in one of the side burials.

The ruler's burial chamber was found to be in poor condition and, according to Amélineau, was completely burned out. The floor of the burial chamber was once covered with wood, as few remains show. Only small remains of the former grave equipment were found, including legs from furniture, inlays, perhaps from chests and elaborate wood carvings, which probably also come from furniture. Various ivory tablets with inscriptions and numerous fragments of vessels with incised inscriptions were found. They almost exclusively mention the king's name of Horus . At the grave there was also a stele of the ruler.

There are indications that the tomb was being completed in a hurry. Numerous side graves are not plastered and the entrance to the grave is not a staircase (as has been the case with the other royal tombs since Den), but a simple ramp.

The grave complex was restored in the Middle Kingdom (approx. 2000 to 1800 BC).

The royal tombs in Abydos usually also included a valley district. However, that of Semerchet has not yet been identified with certainty.

literature

  • Émile Amélineau: Les nouvelles fouilles d'Abydos - Mission Amélineau: compte rendu in extenso des fouilles, description des monuments et objets découverts. Volume 1: 1895 - 1896. Leroux, Paris 1899, p 11, 127-129.
  • Günter Dreyer, Angela von den Driesch , Eva-Maria Engel, Rita Hartmann, Ulrich Hartung, Thomas Hikade, Vera Müller, Joris Petres: Umm el-Qaab. Follow-up examinations in the early royal cemetery. 11/12. Preliminary report. In: Communications from the German Archaeological Institute, Cairo Department. No. 56, 2000, pp. 119-122.
  • Eva-Maria Engel: The Royal Tombs at Umm el-Qa'ab . In: Archeo-Nile. No. 18, 2008, p. 39.
  • William Matthew Flinders Petrie , Francis Llewellyn Griffith : The Royal Tombs of the first dynasty. 1900. Part I. (= Memoir of the Egypt Exploration Fund. Vol. 18, ISSN  0307-5109 ). Egypt Exploration Fund, London 1900, digitized , pp. 13-14.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Flinders Petrie, Francis L. Griffith: The Royal Tombs of the first dynasty. 1900. Part I. Plate XXXV, 29, 30, 31, 32, 35, 36; XXXXVI, 46.
  2. ↑ Flinders Petrie, Francis L. Griffith: The Royal Tombs of the first dynasty. 1900. Part I. Plate XVII.
  3. ↑ Flinders Petrie, Francis L. Griffith: The Royal Tombs of the first dynasty. 1900. Part I. Plate XLV-XLVI, 42-110.
  4. ↑ picture of the stele
  5. ↑ LD be stock: The Early Dynastic Funerary Encloures of Abydos . In: Archaeo-Nil 18, 2008, pp. 54-56.