Hierakonpolis

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Hierakonpolis in hieroglyphics
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Nechen
Nḫn
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Upper Egypt with Nekhen / Hierakonpolis in the center

Hierakonpolis ( Egyptian nḫn , "Nechen", probably a castle or similar; Greek  Ἱεράκων πόλις ( falcon town ); Arabic الكوم الأحمر, DMG Kōm el-Aḥmar  'The Red Hill') was the religious and political center of Upper Egypt at the end of the predynastic and possibly also during the early dynastic period (38th – 26th centuries BC).

The name is probably derived from an appellative of the same name , the translations of which vary between " enclosure, wall ", " type of building " and " royal administrative facility". It can also be interpreted as a “ branch, rest stop ”. The Greek name Hierakonpolis (" city ​​of the falcons ") can be traced back to the Egyptian god Horus , who among other things was nicknamed " Horus of Nechen ".

The place was also of special importance in the Old , Middle and New Kingdom , but the buildings of this time have been almost completely destroyed. There are some decorated rock tombs from the Old Kingdom, the Second Intermediate Period, and the New Kingdom.

Development of the city

Naqada and Hierakonpolis formed the two cultural centers in the predynastic period . At the beginning of the Naqada II period, however, Nechen gained importance and developed into the capital of Upper Egypt . The origins of the settlement go back to the late Badari culture or the Naqada-I culture (approx. Mid-5th millennium BC). At the height of its settlement, Hierakonpolis had about five to ten thousand inhabitants.

With the end of the Naqada period, Nechen lost its importance and was later the capital of the 3rd Upper Egyptian Gau . Nechen was one of the great Upper Egyptian trading centers , where ebony , gold and ivory were mainly traded.

The urban area of ​​Nechen covered approx. 145 km². Parts of the city ​​wall , the temple and parts of the cemeteries have been excavated. Craft workshops and the first traces of industrialization were found within the city wall . The oldest documented brewery was found in the excavation site called HK24A . The four still preserved brewing vats with a capacity of 390 liters each were dated to the Naqada Ib to IIa period. They are therefore the oldest known brewery in the ancient world.

The remains of a bakery were found under the name HK25D . Many ceramic shards were found on the red hill, indicating that a pottery failed to fire . In the Naqada II period, Nechen developed more and more into the main production site for ceramics in Upper Egypt.

Since most of the buildings were made of Nile mud bricks , it is difficult to reconstruct the buildings further due to the Sebbach dismantling. Nonetheless, ancient Nechen is one of the best-preserved ruins of the predynastic period. Hoffman has divided the city's development into six phases:

  1. Colonization (4000–3800 / 3700 BC): a settlement in the desert, manufacture of stone tools, agriculture and cattle breeding ;
  2. Growth (3800/3700–3500/3400 BC): Development into a city and beginning of the ceramic industry;
  3. Centralization (3500 / 3400–3200 BC): Hierakonpolis as the capital of Upper Egypt;
  4. Hegemony (3200-2900 BC): domination and superiority in the field of industry;
  5. Provincialization (2900–2800 / 2700 BC) and finally
  6. Decline (2800 / 2700-2600 / 2500 BC).

Research history

The exploration of the site began as early as the Egyptian expedition of Napoleon Bonaparte in 1798. During this expedition Vivant Denon carried out various studies on the fauna and flora. It was also he who made the first topographic map of Hierakonpolis.

From 1897 to 1900 it was James Edward Quibell and Frederick W. Green who carried out the first archaeological digs. Among other things, they found the Narmer pallet and the club head of King Scorpio II.

In 1905/06 excavations were carried out by the Service des Antiquites and the University of Liverpool by John Garstang and Harold Jones . In 1907/08 Henri de Morgan carried out excavations for the Brooklyn Museum . In 1934 Ambrose Lansing excavated around 100 graves for the Metropolitan Museum of Art . During his excavations he found a stele belonging to the priest Horemhauet, priest of Horus of Nechen. In the years from 1958 to 1961, the German archaeologist Werner Kaiser spent some time excavating.

Excavations were carried out by James O. Mills and Barbara Adams from University College London until 2002 and are currently under the direction of Renée Friedman of the British Museum .

The temple

Here the god Horus had one of the oldest temples in Egypt, which later remained an important place of worship after the city of Nechen itself had lost its importance. The original shrine of Horus Falcon stands on a bordered by sandstone sand hill ( High sand ) located within a 90 x 145 meters large enclosure is located. Some of the granite blocks still preserved show the oldest Egyptian temple reliefs, which date from the time of King Chasechemui . The gate of a palace or a god fortress from the 1st Dynasty was also excavated within the walls .

The temple developed into the center of Nechen as early as the Predynastic Period.

The cachette (main treasure chamber ), called " Main Deposit " by James Edward Quibell , contained a number of votive offerings . Stone vessels of King Scorpio II and his ornate club head were found. The sumptuous make-up palette and a club head, various ceramics, faience objects and some ivory sculptures were assigned to King Narmer . Most of the artifacts date from the 1st to 3rd Dynasties .

The Fort"

A “fort” stands out beneath the architecture: a brick-walled district from the time of King Chasechemui , which is comparable to massive structures near Abydos . This facility bears the scientific name HK29A and is 3705 m² in size. The area is covered with a brick wall, which has a wall thickness of five meters and a preserved height of twelve meters. A labeled granite post at the entrance indicates King Chasechemui (last king of the 2nd dynasty ).

This is the oldest known cult site in Egypt. The complex was built in the Naqada II period and was used for royal ceremonies. Some finds of pottery from the Naqada III period and from Lower Egypt and Palestine indicate that the facility was used until the end of the 2nd dynasty. Quibell found there in 1905 a fragment of a statue made of lapis lazuli depicting King Chasechemui. According to Renée Friedman, it is probably the Upper Egyptian Crown Shrine ( pr-wr ), the original form of the Egyptian shrine. This was first handed down in wall representations in the time of King Narmer and King Aha .

The necropolis

In the cemetery areas , including the necropolis of an upper class, evidence of the mummification of humans and animals has been preserved. These and mask and figure finds point to the long tradition of ancient Egyptian burial rites.

Fort Cemetery : In 1905/06 John Garstang excavated 188 graves in the "Fort". The graves of the Naqada II period are on the eastern edge and behind the entrance to the complex. The graves of the Naqada III period are mainly in the northern part of the complex. Those graves that date to the 1st Dynasty are in the west. Due to the proximity of the fort to the city of Nechen and the great distance to the cemetery of the upper class, it can be concluded that it is the cemetery of the residents of the city.

Upper class cemetery in Wadi Abul Suffian : The cemetery is located about 2.5 kilometers southwest of the city. It includes around 200 tombs from the Naqada I period. Objects made of ivory, lapis lazuli ceramic and obsidian were found. In addition to people, animals were also buried in the cemetery. Dogs were buried in grave 13 and even an African elephant in grave 14. During the Naqada II period, the upper class cemetery moved closer to the Nile. This is where grave 100, known as the " Painted Tomb of Hierakonpolis ", is located. It probably belonged to a king; the beautifully painted walls of the complex are unique. The painted pottery found helped date the tomb to the Naqada II period.

At Hierakonpolis there are also decorated rock tombs from the Pharaonic times:

Tomb of Nianchpepi (Middle Kingdom)
Tomb of Horemchauef , 13th Dynasty
Tomb of Hormose , New Kingdom
Tomb of Rawebenef , New Kingdom
Tomb of Hormeni , New Kingdom
Tomb of Djehuty , New Kingdom

literature

(sorted chronologically)

General

  • Werner Kaiser : On the prehistoric importance of Hierakonpolis . In: Communications of the German Archaeological Institute, Cairo Department (MDAIK) Volume 16, 1958, ISSN  0342-1279 , pp. 183–192.
  • Michael Allen Hoffman: Egypt before the Pharaohs. The prehistoric foundations of Egyptian Civilization . Routledge and Kegan Paul, London 1979, ISBN 0-7100-0495-8 .
  • AJ Spencer: Early Egypt. The Rise of Civilization in the Nile Valley . Press, London 1993, ISBN 0-7141-0974-6 .
  • Dieter Arnold : The temples of Egypt. The temples of Egypt. Apartments for gods, places of worship, architectural monuments . License issue. Bechtermünz, Augsburg 1996, ISBN 3-86047-215-1 , pp. 204-06.
  • Barbara Adams: Hierakonpolis. In: Kathryn A. Bard (Ed.): Encyclopedia of the Archeology of Ancient Egypt. Routledge, London 1999, ISBN 0-415-18589-0 , pp. 371-74.
  • Toby AH Wilkinson: Early Dynastic Egypt . Routledge, New York NY 1999, ISBN 0-415-18633-1 .

archeology

  • JE Quibell : Plates of discoveries in 1898 . With notes by WMFP Bernard Quaritch, London 1900, (= Hierakonpolis. Volume 1), (= Egyptian Research Account. Memoir 4), (Reprint: Histories and Mysteries of Man, London 1989).
  • JE Quibell / FW Green: Plates of discoveries, 1898-99. With description of the site in detail . Bernard Quaritch, London 1902, (= Hierakonpolis. Volume 2), (= Egyptian Research Account. Memoir 5), (Reprint: Histories and Mysteries of Man, London 1989).
  • John Garstang : Excavations at Hierakonpolis, at Esna and in Nubia . In: ASAE. Annales du service des antiquites de l'Égypte. Volume 8, 1907, ISSN  1687-1510 , pp. 132-148.
  • Guy Brunton: The Predynastic Town-site at Hierakonpolis . In: SRK Glanville (ed.): Studies presented to F. Ll. Griffith . Oxford University Press, London et al. 1932, pp. 272-276.
  • Werner Kaiser: Report on an archaeological-geological field investigation in Upper Egypt and Middle Egypt . In: Communications from the German Archaeological Institute, Cairo Department. (MDAIK) Vol. 17, 1961, ISSN  0342-1279 , pp. 1-53.
  • Walter A. Fairservis: Excavations of the Temple Area on the Kom el-Gemuwia (= The Hierakonpolis Project, season January to March 1978. ), (= Occasional papers in Anthropology. Volume 1). Vassar College, Poughkeepsie NY 1983.
  • Michael Allen Hoffman: The Predynastic of Hierakonpolis. An Interim Report (= Egyptian Studies Association. Publication 1). Cairo University Herbarium, Faculty of Science et al., Giza et al. 1982, ISBN 9-77V-21653-X .
  • Barbara Adams: The Fort Cemetery at Hierakonpolis. (Excavated by John Garstang) . KPI, London 1987, ISBN 0-7103-0275-4 , ( Studies in Egyptology ).

Questions of detail

  • Renée Friedman , Barbara Adams (Eds.): The followers of Horus. Studies dedicated to Michael Allen Hoffman. 1944-1990 (= Egyptian Studies Association. Publication 2), (= Oxbow monograph. Volume 20). Oxbow Books, Oxford et al. 1992, ISBN 0-946897-44-1 .
  • John Coleman Darnell: Hathor Returns to Medamûd . In: Studies on Ancient Egyptian Culture. Volume 22, 1995, ISSN  0340-2215 , pp. 47-94.
  • Frank J. Yurco: Narmer. The First King of Upper and Lower Egypt. A Reconsideration of his Palette and Macehead . In: Journal of the Society for the Study of Egyptian Antiquities. (JSSEA) Volume 25, 1995, ISSN  0383-9753 , Figure 1.

Web links

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

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Rainer Hannig: The language of the pharaohs. Large concise dictionary of Egyptian and German (= cultural history of the ancient world, Volume 64; Hannig-Lexica. Volume 1). 4th edition, von Zabern, Mainz 2006, ISBN 3-8053-1771-9 , p. 450, no. 16258.
  2. ^ Adolf Erman , Hermann Grapow : Dictionary of the Egyptian language . Volume II , Leipzig 1930, p. 310, no. 4-7.
  3. ↑ Jochem Kahl: Early Egyptian Dictionary. Delivery 2, Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 2003 ISBN 3-447-04595-7 , p. 247.
  4. ^ John A. Wilson: Buto and Hierakonpolis in the Geography of Egypt. In: Journal of Near Eastern Studies Volume 14, 1955, pp. 234 ff .; Karola Zibelius: Egyptian settlements based on texts from the Old Kingdom (= supplements to the Tübingen Atlas of the Middle East. Series B, No. 19). Reichert, Wiesbaden 1978, p. 122.
  5. ^ J. Geller: From Prehistory to History. Beer in Egypt. 1992, pp. 15-18.
  6. ↑ Michael Allen Hoffman: The Predynastic of Hierakonpolis. An interim report. In: Egyptian Studies Association, Publication No. 1. Oxford 1982.
  7. ↑ Michael Allen Hoffman, RO Allen Hamrroush: A Model of urban development fort he Hierakonpolis region from the Predynastic through Old Kingdom time. 1986, pp. 175-187.
  8. ^ Dieter Arnold : Lexicon of Egyptian architecture. Albatros, 2000, ISBN 3-491-96001-0 , p. 107, → Hierakonpolis.
  9. ↑ Günther Dreyer: Elephantine VIII. The Temple of Satet. The finds from the early days and the Old Kingdom. In: Archaeological Publications, German Archaeological Institute, Cairo Department. (AV) Volume 39, Mainz 1986, p. 46.
  10. ^ Renée Friedmann: The Ceremonial Center at Hierakonpolis Locality HK29A. London 1996, pp. 16-35.
  11. ↑ Barbara Adams : The Fort cemetery at Hierakonpolis: excavated by John Gerstang. KPI, London 1987, ISBN 0-7103-0275-4 .
  12. ↑ W. Needler: Predynastic and Archaic Egypt in the Brooklyn Museum, New York. 1984, p. 27.

Coordinates: 25 ° 5 ′ 50 ″  N , 32 ° 46 ′ 46 ″  E