Saff grave

Saff graves are graves with a pillar facade and a courtyard in front, which were laid out in the early 11th Dynasty in at-Tarif in the north of the West Theban necropolis and in Gebelein . The kings or princes buried in them were various Antefs (In-yotef) or Mentuhotep I. or Iti in Gabalain. The name is derived from the Arabic word for row (صف, DMG Ṣaff ). Behind the grave facade, corridors lead to the actual grave chambers.

The grave type comes from the local tradition and is no longer used later. The upstream courtyards are up to 300 m long. On their sides are some chamber graves of the court, the ranking corresponds to their rank at court. The rows of pillars have up to 24 pillars. In the vicinity of the at-Tarif graves there were around 250 graves of officials.

The undecorated Saff graves by at-Tarif were extensively examined in four excavation campaigns of the German Archaeological Institute in Cairo 1970–1974. Based on the ceramic finds , the graves could be assigned to their owners: Saff al-Dawaba belongs to Sehertaui Antef I , Saff al-Kisasiyya Wahanch Antef II. And Saff al-Baqar Nachtnebtepnefer Antef III. The grave finds include steles of the grave lords, such as the stele of the Gaufürsten (King) Antef with a dog under his chair in the presence of servants and the so-called dog stele ( Cairo Museum ).

Iti's grave was examined by Ernesto Schiaparelli in 1911 . The wall paintings are now in the Egyptian Museum in Turin .

literature

• Dieter Arnold : Graves of the Old and Middle Kingdom in el-Tarif , Mainz: Zabern, 1976, (Archaeological Publications; 17).
• Anna Maria Donadoni Roveri (ed.): The ancient Egypt , Milan: Electa, 1987–1989. - Volume 1: Das Alltagsleben , 1987, pp. 149, 164, figs. 52 f., 78 f., 178, 338. - Volume 2: The religious ideas , 1988, pp. 91–94, 119, fig. 124 –126, 128. - Volume 3: Kunst als Fest , 1989, pp. 208–210, 256, figs. 306–315, 319 f.

Coordinates: 25 ° 44 ′ 17 ″  N , 32 ° 37 ′ 53 ″  E