Sabu disk

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Line drawing of the "Sabu disk" in plan view (above) and corresponding side view (below); the side view is divided into an external view (left) and a cross section through the center (right); after Emery (1949)

The Sabu disk is an object from ancient Egypt ( 1st Dynasty , approx. 3000 to 2800 BC) that was found in 1936 in the Mastaba S3111 in the north of the Saqqara necropolis . This is the grave of the ancient Egyptian official Sabu , after whom the object found there is also named. The function and meaning of the carefully crafted natural stone vessel are still unclear.

Description, find history and classification

The artefact made of " slate " (a name previously used in Egyptology for weakly metamorphic siltstone ) has the shape of a flat bowl with a diameter of 61 centimeters and a maximum height of 10.6 centimeters. In the middle it has a hole with a diameter of about 8 centimeters, which is provided with a socket, the height of which corresponds approximately to the depth of the bowl. From the slightly raised outer edge, three “wings” or “lobes” are folded radially symmetrically inwards, towards the central hole, the outer edge being preserved in the form of narrow arches that connect the non-folded parts with one another. When viewed from above, it therefore resembles a steering wheel with three very wide spokes .

The tomb of Sabu was found on January 19, 1936 by the British archaeologist Walter Bryan Emery . It is a mastaba grave, which consists of a total of seven chambers. In “Room E”, the central burial chamber, the “Sabu disk” was found in a central location right next to the skeleton of the Sabu, which was originally buried in a wooden coffin. The slate object was broken into several fragments and was later restored. It is currently exhibited with the inventory number JE 71295 in a showcase in room 43 of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo . A copy of the artefact is on display in the Orient Pavilion of the Jungfraupark founded by Erich von Däniken .

Finds of large, flat, stone bowls from the 1st to 3rd dynasties are generally not uncommon. During this period of Ancient Egypt, the production of stone objects generally reached a peak, and in Saqqara several extremely high quality slate objects with a similar date of origin came to light. The “Sabu-Disk” with its eye-catching design is considered a unique piece in Egyptology.

interpretation

The discoverer Walter Bryan Emery carefully interpreted the artifact due to the central bore as a vessel that was placed on a stand - but no remains of one were found. However, it must be taken into account that Mastaba S3111 was not untouched when it was discovered by Emery, but, like many other ancient Egyptian graves, had been looted by grave robbers centuries before. Since the production of a metal object shaped like the "Sabu disk" would be easy, but very complex if it were made from easily splintering rock, it has been suggested that a metal object could have been imitated in slate. In early reports on the discovery, the find was dubbed a "puzzling vessel" and speculation that it might have been a "gigantic lamp". In popular and unscientific publications, an English engineer by the name of William Kay is quoted as having further developed this thesis (without specifying where it is supposed to have been published). According to him, the bowl was used as a three-flame oil lamp during ritual acts and was put on a holder for this purpose. Another hypothesis is that the bowl could only have been used for decorative purposes because of its fragility.

In Egyptology, apart from the brief mentions mentioned, there was no extensive discussion of the “Sabu disk” and its function, unlike in pre-astronautics . Their followers would like to see a so-called out-of-place artifact in the object , i.e. an object that was found in a place where it “doesn't belong”. According to this theory, in addition to its formal uniqueness, the importance of the object can also be recognized by the fact that it and not the bones of the buried person were placed in the center of the burial chamber. In addition, their appearance is similar to the symbol for radioactivity . Klaus Aschenbrenner would like to see a part in the object that is reminiscent of "the wings of a ship's propeller" that comes from a drive unit . According to him, it should be a steering wheel , a propeller or a ship's propeller . Zecharia Sitchin believes that it is a flywheel for flywheel storage .

In the research center of the Airbus company , copies of the "Sabu disk" were made with the help of a 3D printer and the physical properties of the shape were examined. Basically, the copies showed aerodynamic properties, which is why they could also serve as throwing discs. However, due to their radial symmetry (or also non- chirality ), use as a propeller or turbine is excluded. It could also be shown that it was possible to use the "Sabu disk" as an oil lamp.

literature

  • George R. Hughes: The Oriental Institute Archeological Report on the Near East. First Quarter, 1937: Egypt and Nubia. In: The American Journal of Semitic Languages ​​and Literatures. Volume 53, number 4, 1937, pp. 257-262, here p. 259 f. (preliminary excavation report; English).
  • Walter B. Emery: Great Tombs of the First Dynasty (Excavations at Saqqara) . Volume 1, Cairo Government Press, Kairo 1949, p. 101 and plate 40 (concluding excavation report; English).
  • Ali El-Khouli: Egyptian Stone Vessels: Predynastic Period to Dynasty III. 3 volumes, Philipp von Zabern, Mainz 1978, ISBN 3-8053-0318-1 : Volume 2, p. 730, no. 5586 (very brief catalog entry); Volume 3, Plate 135 (drawing); Volume 3, Plate 158 (photography); all volumes in English.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Walter B. Emery: Great Tombs of the First Dynasty. Volume 1, Cairo Government Press, Cairo 1949, p. 101 (English).
  2. ↑ a b c d e The Tomb of Sabu and The Tri-lobed "Schist" Bowl. www.bibliotecapleyades.net, August 25, 2003, accessed on April 6, 2018 (English, archive version of the original article with more precise references).
  3. ^ A b George R. Hughes: The Oriental Institute Archeological Report on the Near East. First Quarter, 1937: Egypt and Nubia. In: The American Journal of Semitic Languages ​​and Literatures. Volume 53, number 4, 1937, pp. 257-262, here p. 259 (English).
  4. ^ Walter B. Emery: Great Tombs of the First Dynasty. Volume 1, Cairo Government Press, Cairo 1949, pp. 98 f. (with a map of the grave findings on p. 98; English).
  5. ^ Walter B. Emery: Great Tombs of the First Dynasty. Volume 1, Cairo Government Press, Cairo 1949, p. 99 (English).
  6. ↑ a b Reinhard Habeck: Unsolved riddles: miracles that shouldn't exist. Pichler, Vienna 2015, ISBN 978-3-854-31709-8 , pp. 37-40 ( online ).
  7. ↑ Cyril Aldred : Egypt to the End of the Old Kingdom. Thames and Hudson, London 1965, p. 56 (English).
  8. ↑ Erwin Zippert: Saqqara. In: Archive for Orient Research . Volume 12, 1937-1939, pp. 93 f.
  9. ↑ Compare also the extensive catalog by Ali El-Khouli: Egyptian Stone Vessels: Predynastic Period to Dynasty III. 3 volumes, Philipp von Zabern, Mainz 1978, ISBN 3-8053-0318-1 (English), in which no reference can be found.
  10. ↑ Cyril Aldred : Egypt to the End of the Old Kingdom. Thames and Hudson, London 1965, p. 57 (English).
  11. ^ Walter B. Emery: Egypt. Early history and culture 3200-2800 BC Chr. Goldmann Verlag , Munich 1964, p.180.
  12. ^ "Ce vase énigmatique pourrait être une lampe gigantesque": Report in La Bourse égyptienne of February 11, 1937. Quoted in: Chronique d'Égypte. Volume 12, 1937, number 24, p. 163 (French).
  13. ↑ The Mysterious Egyptian Tri-Lobed Disc. The Ooparts Collection, accessed on May 22, 2018.
  14. ↑ Prince Sabu's secret. atlantisforschung.de, July 28, 2016, accessed April 6, 2018 .
  15. ^ Zecharia Sitchin: The Stairway to Heaven. The Second Book of the Earth Chronicles. Bear & Co., Santa Fe 1992, ISBN 0-06-137920-4 (English).
  16. ↑ Unsolved cases of archeology (2/2): explosive finds. ZDF , April 1, 2018, accessed April 6, 2018 .