QV44
|
QV44 |
|
|---|---|
| place | Valley of the Queens |
| Discovery date | 1903 |
| excavation | Ernesto Schiaparelli |
| Previous QV43 |
The following QV45 |
QV44 ( Queens Valley 44 ) is an ancient Egyptian tomb in the Valley of the Queens . It belongs to Prince Chaemwaset , a son of Ramses III. , and is dated to the 20th dynasty . During the Third Intermediate Period , it served as a non-royal family grave. It is best known for its well-preserved wall paintings and is one of the most important graves in the Queen's Valley.
Location and architecture
The grave is located on the southwestern slope of Hauptwadis , near the Prince graves QV42 and QV43 that Chaemwasets brothers Paraherwenemef and Sethherchepeschef belong. It is around 30 meters long and has a corridor width of 212 cm , which is roughly equivalent to four royal cells ( 210 cm ). The tomb has an elongated floor plan typical of the Ramesside period with two corridors and a coffin chamber. The orientation is from northeast to southwest with the northeast main entrance. Two laterally offset side chambers lead off from the first corridor. The second corridor has a vaulted ceiling and a small architectural feature at the rear. Two laterally offset niches point to a plan change that was not completed, which only took place after the completion of the grave. Since the tomb was otherwise very carefully designed and shows no signs of particular haste in execution, it seems, according to Friedrich Abitz , to have been completed by Chaemwaset during his lifetime.
Discovery and Finds
Ernesto Schiaparelli discovered the tomb, which is one of his most important finds, during his first excavation campaign in 1903. Francesco Ballerini , who worked closely with Schiaparelli on his expeditions to Egypt, reports on the discovery in a letter to his wife:
“Meanwhile, a group of workers has seen what could possibly be a grave. You don't see anything yet, except the beginning of a corridor that you have to descend, but it's long and seems to belong to a fairly large grave. At least that's what I think. I send someone to alert Carter (then Chief Inspector of Antiquities in Upper Egypt), and he and Schiaparelli arrive almost at the same time. I bring them the good news while the workers dig feverishly. The door frame begins to free itself, a hole is dug in the rubble and I, Carter and the Arab overseer crawl into it. At last! It is the unknown tomb of a Royal Prince: Chaemwaset, son of Ramses III, from the 20th Dynasty, and it is a beautiful, large and well-preserved tomb. When we come out happy with the result, the Arabs shout at us, as loud as their throats allow, all congratulations and flattery, as is their way, and demand the baksheesh . "
The interiors were initially filled with dozens of coffins and mummies dating from the 22nd to 26th dynasties :
“When the entrance is exposed for a slightly less uncomfortable entry, Schiaparelli and I go back inside and carefully explore everything long and wide. The grave has the shape as it appears on the roughly drawn sketch. It is completely carved into the rock and, together with the entrance corridor, has a length of about 30 meters. But you should have seen that: to fear! The whole large central aisle and the side chambers were full of mummies and coffins that had been thrown wildly into one another, many were broken and smashed, already broken into and robbed by Coptic and Arab looters, who all took the best pieces with them. And everywhere a lot of mummies, some of them in a deplorable condition: the cadavers torn, chest and face smashed, some with traces of hyenas who must have visited this mass grave in earlier times. I said mass grave , because the mummy of Prince Chaemwaset must have been brought to Deir el-Bahari in ancient times , and his grave was used as the final resting place for other deceased. "
The mummy of the grave owner, however, was missing, but remnants of the large granite sarcophagus and the associated coffin lid, which is currently in the Egyptian Museum in Turin , were found. The lid could be dated to the reign of Ramses IV due to a hieroglyphic inscription on the edge . Schiaparelli believes that the tomb was opened forcibly twice before its discovery in the 23rd Dynasty and the Coptic Period.
Image program
A recurring motif in the well-preserved grave scenes is the depiction of Prince Chaemwaset behind Ramses III. who leads him to the gods of the dead . Ramses III. is identified with Osiris himself and appears as the deified ruler of the underworld . Chaemwaset, on the other hand, is always shown as a young prince with a shaved head or a wig and a youthful curl on the side . He wears a tunic with a see-through, wide-sleeved shirt that is held together by a belt at the waist. He wears sandals with pointed tips on his feet . In the hands there is either a large fan made of ostrich feathers , a flagellum or the Heqa scepter . The prince is equated with one of the sons of Horus and is even shown alone in the side chambers. The second corridor mainly contains scenes from the Book of the Dead. A special feature is the image program in the coffin chamber, in which only the king appears without the prince.
First corridor and side chambers
The entrance, which is located in the ritual north of the tomb, is lined with the winged goddess Maat , who appears as the daughter of Re . The prince is shown for the first time with a ḫw- frond. Various deities appear in the first corridor, which are conspicuously arranged in pairs. The first pair is formed by " Ptah on his shrine" and Ptah- Sokar - Osiris , who follow the entrance to the left and right. Schu and Geb as cosmic gods of creation can be found on the right side of the corridor, while Anubis and Thoth as gods of the dead guard the entrance to the left side chamber. As the fourth couple, Re-Harachte and Atum follow as manifestations of the sun god , with Re-Harachte occupying the ritual east wall and Atum the west wall.
At the entrance to the adjoining room on the right, the king and prince appear separately, with the prince stepping in front of the entrance without a king and then being depicted in the side chamber without a king. The side chamber shows Chaemwaset without fronds and with raised arms in adoration before the sons of Horus and canopic goddesses . On the back wall, two figures of Osiris sit back to back on a throne , flanked by the goddesses Isis and Nephthys . Osiris appears with uraeus on his head and lotus flowers on his foot. The image program of the left side chamber is very similar to that of the right, with a few minor differences: Anubis appears as an additional deity, but this time Osiris is shown without insignia .
Second corridor
The passage to the second corridor is lined with Nephthys and Isis, with Isis occupying the west wall. As can also be seen in the right side chamber, the “west side” takes priority in the ritual. On the right side, the gate counting alternating on both sides begins with the ninth gate from Book of the Dead 145A and ends with the sixteenth gate on the east side. The gates provide access to the Osiris realm and are guarded by various guardian deities. In order to pass the gates, the dead man has to name the gates and the gods. The guards of the fifteenth and sixteenth doors seem to be guarding the entrance to the sarcophagus at the same time . In front of each pair of gates, the prince alternately wears either the šwt -Wedel, the ḫw -Wedel or the Heqa-Scepter. The Heqa scepter is actually considered a ruler's insignia and normally highlights the prince as the “eldest son of the king”, i.e. as heir to the throne, but this depiction only appears at this point and, according to Abitz, is therefore purely religious.
Sarcophagus Hall
The passage to the sarcophagus hall has Djed pillars on both sides and vertical hieroglyphic columns with the inscription:
"King of both Egypt, Lord of both countries, son of Re, Lord of the diadems, who is blessed, loved by Osiris- Chontamenti (left), by Meresger , mistress of the West (right)"
From here on the king only appears alone. The sarcophagus hall is the only room with a yellow base color. The entrance walls show guardian deities: on the left "Anubis and lion on the shrine", on the right Nebneri and Herimaat . It is followed by Thoth and Harsiesis as well as Horus- Chenti-irti and Schepsi . In between there is always the king with his titulatures. The back wall is designed as in the side chambers and shows Osiris sitting back to back on the throne twice. In addition to Isis and Nephthys, the protective goddesses Neith and Selket are added. As in the right side room before, lotus blossoms and buds well up at the foot of Osiris and this time show small images of the sons of Horus.
literature
- Francesco Ballerini : Notia sommaria degli scavi della Missione Archeologica Italiana in Egitto. Anno 1903 . 1903, p. 12-21 .
- Collin Campbell: Two Theban Princes, Kha-em-Uast and Amen-khepshef, sons of Rameses III. Menna, a country steward, and their tombs . London 1910, p. 25-61 .
- Bernard Bruyère : Un jeune prince ramesside trouvé à Deir el-Médineh (= Bulletin de l'Institut français d'archéologie Orientale (BIFAO) . Volume 25 ). 1924, p. 160-161 .
- Ernesto Schiaparelli : Explorazione della “valla della regine” nella Necropoli di Tebe (= Relazione sui lavori della Missione Archeologica Italiana in Egitto . Volume 1 ). Turin 1924, p. 124-142, 183-206 .
- Bernard Bruyère: Report sur les fouilles de Deir el-Médineh (1924–1925) (= Fouilles de l'Institut français d'archéologie orientale du Caire (FIFAO) . Volume: III, 3). nstitut français d'archéologie orientale, Le Caire 1926, OCLC 490293506 , p. 102 .
- Maurice Pillet: Thebes, palais et nécropoles . Paris 1930, p. 109-110 .
- Bertha Porter, Rosalind LB Moss: The Theban necropolis. Part 2: Royal tombs and smaller cemeteries (= Topographical bibliography of ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic texts, reliefs, and paintings. ). Clarendon Press, Oxford 1964, pp. 750, 754-755 .
- Kenneth Anderson Kitchen : Ramesses VII and the Twentieth Dynasty (= Journal of Egyptian Archeology (JEA) . Volume 58 ). Oxford 1972, p. 186-189 .
- Friedrich Abitz: Ramses III. in the graves of his sons (= Orbis Biblicus et Orientalis . Volume 72 ). Universitätsverlag, Freiburg 1986, ISBN 3-525-53701-8 , p. 10-18 .
- Fathy Hassanein, Monique Nelson, Guy Lecuyot: La Tombe de Prince Khaemouaset. [VdR no 44] (= Center d'Étude et de Documentation sur l'Ancienne Égypte; Collection Scientifique . Volume 72 ). Conseil Supérieur des Antiquités, Cairo 1997, ISBN 977-235-784-4 .
- Christian Leblanc, Alberto Siliotti: Nefertari - excavations in the valley of the queens . Bechtermünz, Augsburg 1998, ISBN 3-8289-0705-9 , pp. 76-81 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Elizabeth Thomas: The royal necropoleis of Thebes. Thomas, Princeton NJ 1966, p. 219.
- ↑ F. Abitz: Ramses III. in the graves of his sons. Freiburg 1986, p. 101.
- ↑ C. Leblanc, A. Siliotti: Nefertari - excavations in the valley of the queens. Augsburg 1998, p. 185.
- ↑ pp. 76-78.
- ↑ C. Leblanc, A. Siliotti: Nefertari - excavations in the valley of the queens. Augsburg 1998, p. 78.
- ↑ C. Leblanc, A. Siliotti: Nefertari - excavations in the valley of the queens. Augsburg 1998, p. 79.
- ↑ F. Abitz: Ramses III. in the graves of his sons. Freiburg 1986, pp. 10-11.
- ↑ C. Leblanc, A. Siliotti: Nefertari - excavations in the valley of the queens. Augsburg 1998, pp. 54-55.
- ↑ F. Abitz: Ramses III. in the graves of his sons. Freiburg 1986, pp. 10-18.
- ↑ F. Abitz: Ramses III. in the graves of his sons. Freiburg 1986, pp. 12-14.
- ↑ F. Abitz: Ramses III. in the graves of his sons. Freiburg 1986, pp. 14-16.
- ↑ F. Abitz: Ramses III. in the graves of his sons. Freiburg 1986, pp. 16-17.
- ↑ F. Abitz: Ramses III. in the graves of his sons. Freiburg 1986, p. 17.
- ↑ F. Abitz: Ramses III. in the graves of his sons. Freiburg 1986, pp. 17-18.
Coordinates: 25 ° 43 ′ 37.1 ″ N , 32 ° 35 ′ 32.2 ″ E