Mastaba of Hesire
The Mastaba des Hesire is an ancient Egyptian tomb complex in the great necropolis of Saqqara in Egypt . It is the final resting place of the high official Hesire , who held office during the 3rd dynasty under King ( Pharaoh ) Djoser (Netjerichet). His large mastaba became world-famous for its well-preserved wall paintings and relief-decorated panels made of imported cedar wood . The latter are now regarded as masterpieces of wood carving from the Old Kingdom . The mastaba itself is considered to be the earliest example of a painted grave complex from the Old Kingdom and so far the only example from the 3rd Dynasty. The tomb of Hesire was excavated by the Egyptologists Auguste Mariette and James Edward Quibell .
Excavations and research history
The mastaba des Hesire was first excavated around 1861 by Auguste Mariette and Jacques de Morgan . Mariette immediately discovered the famous niche gallery with its wooden panels and had the valuable artefacts immediately brought to the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. He also exposed the grave shafts. In his album , Mariette recorded his admiration for the murals and the wooden panels. However, he accidentally described the adobe bricks from which the grave monument was built as "yellowish", even though they are actually black. In the opinion of his excavation successor James Edward Quibell, he had not worked very carefully anyway and immediately filled up and left the Hesire mastaba after the objects had been recovered. He even neglected to have de Morgan draw the mastaba in the plans, or to note its position himself.
The excavations by James Edward Quibell began in 1910 and initially ended in 1911. A second excavation season lasted from 1911 to 1912. Quibell initially had difficulties to find Hesire's grave due to Mariette's failure. However, a former excavator remembered the site and led Quibell there. The first thing Quibell's team exposed was the niche gallery adorned with murals. The passage in between was filled in with reed mats , wooden boards and some rubble and covered over on the same day , since the applied paint immediately began to peel with the incidence of the sun's rays. Quibell also noticed that the corridor was so narrow that curious people and workers threatened to rub off the paint with their shoulders as they walked through it. It was therefore decided to fill in the painted passage after it had been fully explored, drawn and photographed. Quibell also reports that he had to commission a large number of security personnel to keep watch at the grave of Hesire day and night because of repeated thefts and damage to property by grave robbers and vandals who were either looking for valuable or simply quarreling.
Outstanding importance of the grave
The mastaba of the Hesire is of particular importance for archaeologists and Egyptologists alike, as decisive further developments in architecture and grave decoration compared to earlier mastabas can be seen here. At the same time there are innovations and suggestions for subsequent mastabas with regard to concept and execution, which concerns the ancient Egyptian cult of the dead and belief in the afterlife .
Earlier mastabas, especially those of the late 2nd dynasty , had sacrificial steles to which the representation of the deceased was limited. In the grave of Hesire there are for the first time so-called false door niches , in which the deceased is also portrayed walking / standing . Furthermore, Hesire's grave is the first of its kind in which an extensive list of offerings appears, which should become an integral part in subsequent generations (for example in the mastabas of Chabausokar , Rahotep and Metjen ). There the representations of the grave goods were supplemented by images of offerers. With the new form of grave decoration under Hesire, the deceased was given more options in a symbolic way: he could now leave his grave via the false doors and enter it again and he now had more offerings at his disposal. The figurative representations on the cedar wood panels also show a first high point in the art-historical development of the grave decoration: The deceased is no longer only indicated by an anthropomorphic silhouette , he is now represented much more naturally. Something comparable can only be found for Hesire's time in the underground galleries of the Djoser pyramid , in which the pharaoh is depicted during the Hebsed cult.
The burial place
 
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Geographical location: 29 ° 52 ′ 6.6 " N , 31 ° 13 ′ 7.1" E |
location
Hesires Mastaba ( S2405 ) is located in the northern district of Saqqara , about 260 meters northeast of the pyramid complex of King Djoser , in excavation sector G2-G3 . The grave monument is literally penned in between over a dozen other official graves, which for their part date to the 0th to 4th dynasties and were themselves built close together.
Dimensions and building materials
In its original state, Hesire's mastaba was around 43 meters long and at least 5 meters high; its geographical orientation deviates by only approx. + 11 ° from its north-south axis. Burned black mud bricks were used as building material. Both the interiors and corridors and the outer walls of the mastaba were originally carefully plastered with white lime . The outer wall was additionally decorated with a palace facade stucco. The entire monument is a solid adobe structure, gray granite was used for the locking stones and cedar wood was used for the door lintels and decorative panels.
Exterior and interior design
The 'official' entrance is on the east side. A strong wall rises up in front of the east wall of the mastaba, forming a narrow corridor. This corridor leads south and after 16 meters bends to the west, so that it now extends into the mastaba. There it widens into a kind of vestibule that was originally carefully blocked off. At the time of the excavation, the northern side of the vestibule was decorated with a frieze depicting people, grazing cattle and a crocodile ; today the frieze is in the Cairo Museum. Small traces indicate that the south side of the anteroom could also have been decorated. The anteroom leads on to the Serdab , which in turn faces south and contains the stone base of a statue that is now lost. After the Serdab, the corridor initially continues in a westerly direction and bends a first time after 6 meters to the right, to the north, where it ends in an approximately 23-meter-long corridor. This was originally sealed with six blocking stones made of hewn granite, but grave robbers had already destroyed them in antiquity . After this first junction, the entrance corridor leads another 4 meters to the west, where it bends a second time to the north and ends in a niche gallery about 37 meters long. The niches were painted and contained eleven wooden decorative panels.
In the middle of the mastaba is an isolated room decorated with niches that was surprisingly walled up with adobe bricks; JE Quibell suspected religious-magical practices as the reason for this on the one hand, and a simple change in the building plan on the other.
Close to the western flank of the mastaba, an isolated, formerly blocked and vertical shaft leads down to a depth of 21 meters to the underground tombs. These face south and are divided into three floors . The top floor is divided into two main passages. These in turn lead to several rooms and magazines. The western main corridor is divided in the shape of a tuning fork and has a staircase at one end that leads further down to the other two floors and into unfinished passages. The actual burial chamber was found plundered during the investigation.
Wooden panels
The most famous objects from the grave of Hesire include the wooden decorative panels made from Lebanese cedar. The mere fact that cedar wood was imported and processed in such quantities allows the assumption that Hesire was not only of high rank and influence, but must also have been very wealthy. Typical Egyptian woods such as palm or sycamore wood are only suitable for processing to a limited extent because they are very soft. However, easy-to-work wood was required for steles, ship planks and architectural supports. And for that, Lebanon cedar was mostly used.
The panels of the Hesire were originally 1.14 m high and 0.57 m wide, six of the eleven wooden panels found were almost intact, while only fragments of the remaining five could be recovered. They were set into the niches of a palace facade and attached to small rectangular openings using square-shaped dowels . Today the panels are exhibited in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo .
All wooden panels are decorated with high-quality reliefs. They contain figurative representations of Hesire, which present him standing in official costume or sitting at sacrificial tables. While his face is shown in profile, his body takes a 3/4 pose so that every part of the body can be seen. This perspective composition is quite typical of the relief art of the Old Kingdom, as is the fact that Hesire's angular face with mustache is modeled on his king, Djoser. It is also interesting that Hesire seems to age with every portrait: On the first panel, Hesire is depicted as a young, proudly upright man, he already has the court rank of “royal scribe” as well as that of “royal confidante”. On the last relief, Hesire is shown as a very old man sitting at a sacrificial table. Here he has apparently reached the peak of his career, he is now among other things "Elder of the Qed-Hetep" and "Great of Peh ".
The inscriptions surrounding the portraits name the high official and functional titles that Hesire held. In addition, the usual numerous offerings are listed, for example bread (ägypt. Ta ), beer ( henket ), incense ( senetjer ) and meat ( kau ).
These panels have so far been seen almost without parallels in Egyptian art. The next example is the stele of the high official Merka from Saqqara, which dates to the end of the 1st Dynasty . In his grave, a single stele was found in a niche in the facade of the grave, on which Merka is seated. His titles are above him. The main difference to Hesire's panels is on the one hand the number (Merka only had one stele), on the other hand Merka's stele is also made of stone.
The individual panels
CG 1426
The relief "Cairo Museum CG 1426" is well preserved. It shows Hesire seated in front of an offering table. All other panels show him standing against it (at least the better preserved ones). Here he also wears a long, tight-fitting robe that covers one shoulder but leaves the right shoulder free. There is something like a knot on the left shoulder. The robe goes down to the ankles. In his left hand, Hesire holds two staffs. Writing utensils are hung over his right shoulder. It is an inkwell with two openings for red and black ink, a stick that probably held the rushes for writing and a pouch. Hesire's right arm is stretched out towards the offering table. The offering table stands on one leg. Eight loaves of bread can be seen on the actual table top. Directly above the table is a short list of victims that names wine, frankincense, cool water, as well as beef (?) Meat and antelope meat. In the upper field of the relief there is an extensive list of the Hesire's titles: chief dentist , Heka priest of the Mehyt , elder of ked-hetep who sees Min , king's acquaintance , overseer of the king's craftsmen , great man of the headscarf (?), Father des Min , overseer of the cult image of Mehyt , great man of Buto , foremost of the couriers (?), great man of the ten from Upper Egypt , priest of Horus of the Harpunirplatz of Buto (?) .
CG 1427
The relief "Cairo Museum CG 1427" is almost completely preserved. Hesire is shown standing. He's wearing a long wig. He is holding writing utensils in his left hand: an inkwell with two openings for red and black ink, and a stick containing the rushes for writing. He is also holding a long staff in this hand. In the other hand, which hangs down, Hesire holds a Cherep scepter, which is a symbol of power. In the field above Hesire there is a selection of his titles: elder of ked-hetep , father of Min , overseer of the cult image of Mehyt , acquaintance of the king , overseer of the king's craftsmen and great of the ten of Upper Egypt. Above the title field there is a free field that was perhaps originally set into the niche of the mastaba and was therefore not visible. Here you can also see a slot through which the panel may have been attached to the wall.
CG 1428
The relief "Cairo Museum CG 1428" is almost completely preserved, although it shows some damage in the lower area and in the upper area. Hesire is shown standing. He wears a short, curly wig. Writing utensils hang over the right shoulder. It is an inkwell with two openings for red and black inks, a pouch and a long stick that held the rushes for writing. Both arms hang down and Hesire doesn't seem to be holding anything in his hands, although the right hand is largely destroyed. In front of Hesire there is a short list of victims, which names cattle, poultry, drinks (e.g. wine), but also incense. In the upper part of the field one finds the titles of Hesire: Great of the Ten of Upper Egypt , Heka priest of Mehyt , father of Min who sees Min , overseer of the royal scribes , and overseer of the king's craftsmen .
CG 1429
Most of the relief "Cairo Museum CG 1429" has been preserved. Hesire is shown standing. He holds a long staff in his left hand and a Cherep scepter in his right. Hesire wears a shoulder-length wig and a short loincloth. The lower part of the image field has largely passed. Some of his titles can be found above his character. The title sequence is identical to that on panel CG 1427.
CG 1430
The relief "Cairo Museum CG 1430" is still 86 cm high and 41 cm wide. The lower part is lost. Hesire is shown standing. He wears a short, curly wig. In his left hand he holds a staff over his chest. Writing utensils hang over the right shoulder. You can still see the inkwell with two openings for red and black ink. In front of Hesire is a short list of victims. Above that are some titles Hesires. The titles are identical to those on panel CG 1427.
- The individual panels
Cairo Museum CG 1426
Cairo Museum CG 1427
Cairo Museum CG 1428
Cairo Museum CG 1429
Cairo Museum CG 1430
Murals
The niches in which the panels were located had themselves been plastered and painted with various geometric patterns. At the time of the excavations, the colors were still very clearly recognizable: red, green, black, yellow and white. The above-mentioned palace facade did not form the outer wall of the mastaba, it was, opposite, a surrounding wall. The inside of this wall was originally completely decorated with paint. The painting on the west wall can be divided into three registers : The lowest consisted of a simple, red, continuous band with a black frame on top and bottom.
Above it was a series of reed mat motifs with different patterns in green and yellow. Again a red ribbon was emblazoned above this. On the east wall, on the other hand, the lowest register was made up of diamond patterns in green and yellow . Above was the painted representation of the grave equipment of Hesire, which included offerings such as bread, poultry, dates and wine; in addition, images of oil and decorative vessels as well as writing and hunting implements. Various types and models of beds and loungers, as well as a table top with a base, the top of which was decorated with a representation of a curled up snake ("snake table"), adorned the west wall. Each of these objects was accompanied by short inscriptions that were also painted on and described the contents of the vessels and the objects depicted.
A pattern of tent-like ornaments in red, white and black followed the representations of the grave furnishings . To protect the precious wall paintings, the mastaba has been filled in again after each excavation. Unfortunately, large areas of the decorations had already been destroyed by the weather and arson by grave robbers .
Found objects
Numerous decorative and storage vessels were found smashed. Most were made of alabaster , breccia, or clay and labeled with black ink . Broken jar seals were also discovered. Among them were two unrolled seals with the name of Horus of King Djoser, " Hor-Netjerichet ", which allowed the tomb to be dated. The few clay pots that remained intact contained, among other things, remnants of the coveted “ Seti-schemai ” oil . Bones from two skulls and other body parts were also found that JE Quibell believes could have come from two different people. However, since the skeletal remains have been lost in the meantime, a more detailed investigation with final assignment is still pending.
literature
- James Edward Quibell : Excavations at Saqqara 1911–1912. The Tomb of Hesy. Institut Français d'Archéologie Orientale, Cairo 1913 (English, online version ).
- Henriette Antonia Groenewegen-Frankfort: Arrest and movement. An essay on space and time in the representational art of the ancient Near East. Harvard University Press, Cambridge (Massachusetts) 1987, ISBN 0-674-04656-0 , pp. 29-31 (English).
- Emad El-Metwally: Development of the grave decoration in the ancient Egyptian private graves. Iconographic analysis of depictions of the cult of the dead from prehistory to the end of the 4th dynasty (= Göttingen Orient Research , Series 4: Egypt , Volume 24). Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1992, ISBN 3-447-03270-7 (also dissertation, University of Göttingen 1991).
- Jochem Kahl , Nicole Kloth, Ulrike Zimmermann: The inscriptions of the 3rd dynasty. An inventory (= Egyptological treatises , Volume 56). Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1995, ISBN 3-447-03733-4 .
- William Stevenson Smith, William Kelly Simpson: The art and architecture of ancient Egypt. 3rd, revised and expanded edition. Yale University Press, New Haven (Connecticut) 1998, ISBN 0-300-07747-5 (English).
- Michael Rice: Who's who in Ancient Egypt. Routledge, London a. a. 1999, ISBN 0-415-15448-0 , p. 67 (English).
- Whitney Davis: Archaism and Modernism in the Reliefs of Hesy-Ra. In: John Tait (Ed.): Never had the like occurred. Egypt's View of Its Past (= Encounters with ancient Egypt ). UCL Press, London 2003, ISBN 1-84472-007-1 , pp. 31-60 (English; excerpt from Google Books ).
- Hermann A. Schlögl : Ancient Egypt. History and culture from the early days to Cleopatra. Beck, Munich 2006, ISBN 3-406-54988-8 ; Pp. 85, 380.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ JE Quibell: Excavations at Saqqara 1911–1912. The Tomb of Hesy . Cairo 1913, plate 28; Object no.28.
- ^ Emad El-Metwally: Development of the grave decoration in the ancient Egyptian private graves . Pp. 21-23 & 81
- ^ WS Smith, WK Simpson: The art and architecture of ancient Egypt . Haven 1998, p. 33.
- ^ JE Quibell: Excavations at Saqqara 1911–1912. The Tomb of Hesy . Cairo 1913, plate 29; Object no. 2.
- ↑ Stan Hendricks: Les grands mastabas de la Ire dynastie a Saqqara. In: Archeo-Nil 19 (2008), fig. 5 on p. 65
- ^ Dilwyn Jones: An Index of Ancient Egyptian Titles, Epithets and Phrases of the Old Kingdom, I. (= BAR international series. Vol. 866). Archaeopress, Oxford 2000, ISBN 1-84171-069-5 , p. 318, no. 1412 (the translation and reading of the title is not certain, although it has been accepted by a large part of the research; also: Großer der Ivbein- und Pfeilschautern ) .
- ↑ D. Jones: An Index of Ancient Egyptian Titles, Epithets and Phrases of the Old Kingdom, II. Oxford 2000, p. 905, NR. 3320.
- ^ D. Jones: An Index of Ancient Egyptian Titles, Epithets and Phrases of the Old Kingdom, I. Oxford 2000, p. 423, NR. 1566.
- ^ D. Jones: An Index of Ancient Egyptian Titles, Epithets and Phrases of the Old Kingdom, I. Oxford 2000, p. 384, NR. 1421 (the translation of the title is very uncertain).
- ^ D. Jones: An Index of Ancient Egyptian Titles, Epithets and Phrases of the Old Kingdom, I. Oxford 2000, p. 385, NR. 1424
- ^ D. Jones: An Index of Ancient Egyptian Titles, Epithets and Phrases of the Old Kingdom, I. Oxford 2000, p. 495, NR. 1853 (the translation of the title is very uncertain).
- ^ D. Jones: An Index of Ancient Egyptian Titles, Epithets and Phrases of the Old Kingdom, II. Oxford 2000, p. 556, NR. 2059 (the translation of the title is very uncertain).
- ^ D. Jones: An Index of Ancient Egyptian Titles, Epithets and Phrases of the Old Kingdom, I. Oxford 2000, pp. 467-68, NR. 1739.
- ^ JE Quibell: Excavations at Saqqara 1911–1912. The Tomb of Hesy . Cairo 1913, plate 28; Object no.23.