Wooden models from the Middle Kingdom in the Roemer and Pelizaeus Museum Hildesheim
The Egyptian collection of the Roemer and Pelizaeus Museum Hildesheim contains several wooden models from the Middle Kingdom , 11th Dynasty, approx. 2120 to 1980 BC. Chr. U. a. with the inventory numbers PM 1689, PM 1692, PM 1694 and PM 1697. Wilhelm Pelizaeus acquired the models between December 1910 and January 1911. According to his information, all objects come from Asyut and even from the same grave as the private collector Said Bey Khashaba there excavated. They were intended for the safe care of the unknown grave lord in the afterlife . Wilhelm Pelizaeus transferred the models to his home town of Hildesheim in the spring of 1911.
Description of a granary, inventory number: PM 1689
The model has a height of 30 cm, a width of 29 cm and a length of 44.5 cm. The partly still existing wood painting is done in the colors red, white, black and ocher. As in the Egyptian state, stocks also played an important role in private households. Storage facilities were therefore a necessary part of the houses. Models of granaries in this and a similar form often appear among the grave goods of the Middle Kingdom. They emphasize the importance of grain as a staple food for all sections of the population. The models of daily life should serve as a permanent substitute for the production and provision of food and guarantee the eternal care of the deceased. The model of the granary in the Roemer and Pelizaeus Museum has the shape of a rectangular box without a cover, a simple wall with a door that opens outwards surrounds the storage facility. From an inner courtyard a staircase leads up to the six actual silos, which could be filled from above. Four men carry the grain to the silos in sacks. One of them is about to pour out his sack. Two other workers are already carrying empty sacks. A man holds a grain measure in his hands. There is a supervisor who has tucked a stick and a writing implement under his arms as a sign of his authority. Another crouching man may act as a scribe . The men who work here are all dark, reddish-brown skin. They wear simple white, knee-length aprons, black wigs and - in contrast to the men of the upper social classes, who usually appear clean-shaven - a beard painted on.
Description of a plowing scene, inventory number: PM 1692
The model is made of sycamore wood, has a height of 27.8 cm, a width of 32 cm and a length of 44.5 cm and is painted in the colors red-brown, black and white, which are still in good condition. This scene, too, is one of the models of everyday life that were often found in large numbers in the grave equipment in the Middle Kingdom. They were supposed to guarantee the eternal supply of the deceased with all products of agriculture, animal husbandry and housekeeping using visual magic . A coffin board labeled with the beginning of a sacrificial formula was reused for the base. It comes from the upper narrow side section of a box coffin and the mitered left side with the mortises today forms the inner narrow side of the base plate. A team of black and colored spotted cattle stands in front of a wooden plow. The simple ploughshare has the shape of an elongated, isosceles triangle; it is drawn by a long beam on the straight yoke that rests on the shoulders of the draft animals. The painting should indicate the wood grain. Behind the plow stands a now naked man with straight, short hair, who holds the plow in the intended path with both hands. He probably originally owned an apron made of linen .
Description of a slaughterhouse scene, inventory number: PM 1694
The model is made of painted cedar wood, has a height of 23 cm, a width of 30 cm and a length of 33.5 cm. Slaughtering scenes played a major role in the grave decoration and in the models of everyday life, because they magically ensured the supply of the grave lord with the coveted food beef, which in real life could not be eaten every day. The painting on the wooden model in white, black, reddish brown and red is still in good condition. The almost square wooden board on which the figures of the model are mounted has a low border. The recess on one side shows the battle scene in an open courtyard. A tall, bald man stands in front of the cow, which lies in front of him on the ground on her left side, legs tied together. He is just putting the knife he is holding in his right hand to her throat to cut her throat. A red spot of color on the neck of the animal indicates that the butcher, leaning forward, has already hit the carotid artery with the knife. Another bald man kneels opposite the butcher in front of the cattle to collect the animal's blood in a bowl. At the edge, this scene is accompanied by three other people with short black wigs. In a corner of the courtyard, a standing man is tampering with a trough in which the blood may be collected. In the other corner crouches a person, wrapped in a long white cloak, who can be explained as a grave master or guardian. Between these two figures, a scribe with a writing board on his knees records the process.
Description of a sailing ship, inventory number: PM 1697
The model is made of sycamore and tamarisk, has a height of 69 cm, a width of 32 cm and a length of 86 cm. The painting of the ship in the colors light brown, yellow, reddish brown, white, black and ocher is well preserved. The custom of giving boats to the deceased goes back to the earliest times. On the one hand, this should enable the grave lord to have a boat at his disposal in the afterlife; on the other hand, the pilgrimage to Abydos to see the god of the dead Osiris, which was carried out in the burial ritual, could be followed with these ships . The type of ship shown here served as a travel ship and has a flat bow and stern zone as well as a high hull. The technical equipment of the ship includes a simple square sail on the mast and a powerful double rudder. The crew of several has a strong red-brown skin color. The people wear black wigs, simple, knee-length aprons painted on them, and on top of that a second apron made from a piece of linen. At the stern, the helmsman sits at the rudders. Behind the mast there are three men hoisting the sail. Another man is working on a rudder. The structure is a round hut-like painted cabin, which probably serves to hold luggage and gives the ship owner protection from the sun on his travels. In several cases, offerings are brought by the other crew members. However, it is questionable whether the victims were part of the ship's original crew. When the model was purchased at the turn of 1910/1911, there were also additional craftsmen on board, who have since been removed as not belonging to the original.
literature
- Albert Ippel, Günther Roeder : The monuments of the Pelizaeus Museum in Hildesheim. Curtius, Berlin 1921, pages 72, 73, 74, 75.
- Hans Kayser : The Egyptian antiquities in the Roemer-Pelizaeus-Museum in Hildesheim (= Pelizaeus-Museum .; Scientific publication. ). Gerstenberg, Hildesheim 1973, ISBN 3-8067-8002-1 , pp. 54, 55., Fig. 39
- Eva Martin-Pardey: grave goods, supplements and additions (= Corpus Antiquitatum Aegyptiacarum: Pelizaeus Museum Hildesheim. Delivery 6), Mainz 1991, pp. 76–79, 83–86.
- Renate Germer: The secret of the mummies. Eternal life on the Nile. Prestel, Munich / New York 1997, ISBN 3-7913-1782-2 , fig. 66.
- Alfred Grimm , Dietrich Wildung : Gods and Pharaohs. von Zabern, Hildesheim 1979, ISBN 3-8053-0422-6 , catalog number 181A, 181B.
- Martin von Falck, Katja Lembke , Britta Rabe: Life on the Nile and everyday life in ancient Egypt (= Ancient Egypt in Hildesheim. Volume 2). Roemer- und Pelizaeus-Museum, Hildesheim 2011, ISBN 978-3-8053-4330-5 , p. 20 (fig.), P. 44 and Fig. P. 45, p. 86 and Fig. P. 87.