Sacrificial tablet of Iunu

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Sacrificial tablet of Iunu
Slab stela of Iunu.jpg
material limestone
Dimensions H. 39 cm; W. 54 cm; D. 9.3 cm;
origin Giza , Necropolis , Mastaba G 4150
time Old Kingdom , 4th Dynasty , around 2590 BC Chr.
place Hildesheim , Roemer and Pelizaeus Museum , PM 2145

The sacrificial tablet of Iunu from the Old Kingdom ( 4th Dynasty , around 2590 BC) belongs to the Egyptian collection of the Roemer and Pelizaeus Museum in Hildesheim . It belongs to the group of grave slabs with sacrificial table scenes ("sacrificial tables ").

Client

Like Hemiunu, Iunu was at the head of the administration under King Cheops . His titles were "Head of the workers' teams of Upper Egypt , greatest of the College of Ten of Upper Egypt, prince ". Accordingly, in one half of Egypt he was responsible for the organization, deployment and supply of the majority of the population, who were subject to a general duty to work. These people were used in building pyramids, but also in other government building projects, in the quarries and as soldiers. For this important and responsible work, which Iunu brought in connection with all major building projects in the state, he was given the rank of “prince” and a grave in the part of the West Cemetery where Cheops had tombs laid for his elite officials.

Location

The relief plate was found in its original place by Hermann Junker on January 25, 1913 . The colors could be retained, even if a little faded, because it was walled up until it was found. The grave of Iunu belongs to the oldest section of the official cemetery in the west of the Great Pyramid . There, the mastabas were basically only intended for one person, their superstructure consisted of a rectangular massif made of limestone blocks with sloping sides. The graves had no interior spaces in the superstructure, a deep shaft led far into the rocky underground to a coffin chamber. On the east facade, a rectangular relief plate was set into the outer wall of the mastaba, which depicts the grave lord seated at the dining table; it marked the place of the cult of the dead.

description

The sacrificial tablet is made of Tura limestone, its dimensions are 39 cm high, 54 cm wide and 9.3 cm deep. Stylistically and technically, the sublime, fine bas-relief is of the highest quality. It is characteristic of the first half of the reign of Cheops, from which the few surviving sacrificial tablets of this type come. The sacrificial plate was the only picture decoration of the grave, its representation should ensure Iunu a fully equipped life after death. Iunu is sitting on a backless chair, the legs of which are shaped like those of a cow. Above his head is his name as well as his position and rank. His supply, intended for eternity, consists of the bread shown on his dining table, beef thighs, poultry and a two-part washware in the first register. Incense, oil, figs and wine are depicted above it. Under the table there are more offerings of a thousand each. A line list follows on the right. The falcons and standards indicate the different fabric qualities in connection with the numerical information below. The five storages at the bottom right contain stocks of grain and fruit. Iunu wears a short, curly wig and is dressed in an ankle-length coat, the painting of which, when it was discovered in 1913, still clearly showed the spotted panther skin , which has now disappeared .

literature

  • Hermann Junker (Ed.): Gîza I. The mastabas of the 4th dynasty on the Westfriedhof . Report on the work carried out by the Academy of Sciences in Vienna at joint expense with Dr. Wilhelm Pelizaeus undertook excavations in the cemetery of the Old Kingdom near the pyramids of Gîza (=  Academy of Sciences in Vienna. Philosophical-historical class. Memoranda . Volume 69.1 ). Hölder-Pichler-Tempsky, Vienna / Leipzig 1929, p. 173–179 ( gizapyramids.org [PDF; 73.0 MB ] panels XXVI and XXVII).
  • Hans Kayser : The Egyptian antiquities in the Roemer-Pelizaeus-Museum in Hildesheim. Gerstenberg, Hildesheim 1973, ISBN 3-8067-8002-1 , pp. 38–39 (sacrificial plate from the grave of "... Onu") and Fig. 8 (sacrificial plate of Onu).
  • Karl Martin: Reliefs of the Old Kingdom. Part 1 (=  Corpus Antiquitatum Aegyptiacarum. Loose-leaf catalog of Egyptian antiquities. Pelizaeus Museum Hildesheim . Delivery 3). von Zabern, Mainz 1978, ISBN 3-8053-0293-2 , p. 64–68 ( gizapyramids.org [PDF; 50.2 MB ]).
  • Arne Eggebrecht : Prince Iunu at the dining table. In: Dietrich Wildung , Günter Grimm (ed.): Gods and Pharaohs. von Zabern, Mainz 1979, ISBN 3-8053-0422-6 , catalog number 177 (catalog for the exhibition in the Roemer and Pelizaeus Museum Hildesheim from May 29 to September 16, 1979).
  • Peter Der Manuelian : Slab Stelae of the Giza Necropolis . Ed .: William Kelly Simpson, David B. O'Connor (=  Publications of the Pennsylvania-Yale Expedition to Egypt . Volume 7 ). Peabody Museum of Natural History of Yale University, New Haven / Philadelphia 2003, ISBN 0-9740025-1-8 , pp. 98-103 ( gizapyramids.org [PDF; 59.4 MB ] Plate 25 and 26).
  • Bettina Schmitz : "... digging the pyramids, hopefully with success!" Giza, the Old Kingdom in Hildesheim . In: Katja Lembke (Hrsg.): Das Alte Reich. Egypt from the beginnings to high culture (=  Ancient Egypt in Hildesheim ). tape 1 . von Zabern, Mainz 2009, ISBN 978-3-8053-4073-1 , p. 17, 19 (catalog for the permanent exhibition).
  • Martin von Falck: Offering plate of Prince Iunu . In: Katja Lembke (Hrsg.): Das Alte Reich. Egypt from the beginnings to high culture . S. 54-55 .
  • Peter Jánosi : Giza - A city of the dead in the course of the Old Kingdom . In: Katja Lembke, Bettina Schmitz (Ed.): Giza. At the foot of the great pyramids . Hirmer, Munich 2011, ISBN 978-3-7774-3481-0 , pp. 67 (book accompanying the exhibition in the Roemer and Pelizaeus Museum Hildesheim April 16 - August 21, 2011).
  • Bettina Schmitz: Relief plate (»slab-stela«) of Prince Iunu . In: Katja Lembke, Bettina Schmitz (Ed.): Giza. At the foot of the great pyramids . S. 164-165 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Roemer and Pelizaeus Museum Hildesheim: Inventory number PM 2145