Unas

Name of Unas
Fragments from the pyramid temple of Unas with its titulature
Horus name	Wadj-taui W3ḏ-t3.w (j) prosperity of the two lands
Sideline	Wadj-em-nebti W3ḏ-m-nb.tj That thrives through the two mistresses
Gold name	Bik-neb-wadj Bjk-nb.w-w3ḏ Thriving gold hawk
Throne name	Unis Wnjs Unas
Proper name	Unis / Wenis Wnjs Unas
Turin Royal Papyrus	Unis / Wenis Wnjs Unas
List of Kings of Abydos (Seti I) (No.33)	Unis / Wenis Wnjs Unas
List of Kings of Saqqara (No.32)	Unis / Wenis Wnjs Unas
Greek for  Manetho	Onnos

Unas was the ninth and last king ( pharaoh ) of the ancient Egyptian 5th dynasty in the Old Kingdom . He ruled approximately within the period from 2380 to 2350 BC. Chr.

Origin and family

In the pyramid texts Unas and his parents are referred to as Heliopolitans , whereby it is additionally noted for Unas that he “was born there too”. He probably did not come from a royal family, which was also true of his two wives, Nebet and Chenut . The name of his eldest son is not known, and his second son Unasanch also died before his father. His daughters were Hemetre Hemi , Seschseschet Idut , Chentkaus and the later wife of King Teti II , Iput I , possibly also Neferetkaus Iku and Neferut .

Domination

Term of office

There is great uncertainty about the exact duration of Unas' reign. After the New Kingdom resulting Turin King List , he has ruled for 30 years. In the 3rd century BC Egyptian priest Manetho living in BC gives 33 years. While some researchers such as Winfried Barta or Thomas Schneider found this information plausible, others assumed a significantly lower number of years. Jürgen von Beckerath , for example, only accepts 20. The contemporary dates provide little clarity, as very few have survived that can be clearly assigned to the reign of the Unas. The highest date that can be safely assigned is an “8. Times the count ”. This refers to the nationwide cattle count, originally introduced as the escort of Horus , for the purpose of tax collection. There is also the mention of an “11th Mals der Count ”, which can be assigned to either Unas or his predecessor Djedkare. Certain problems arise from the fact that these censuses originally took place every two years (that is, an “xth year of counting” was followed by a “year after the xth time of counting”), but later sometimes also annually could take place (an “xth year of counting” was followed by the “yth year of counting”). Even with a regular biennial count, the dates obtained would suggest a reign of about 20 years or less, but not 30 years or more. The investigations of the grave of the official Nikauisesi in Saqqara also fit in with this . He began his career under Unas' predecessor Djedkare and died during the reign of his successor Teti. An anthropological examination of his skeleton showed an age of 40 to 45 years to die, which also speaks against a thirty-year rule by Unas.

Campaigns

A campaign in the Retjenu region is documented.

State administration

Unas' viziers are also known by name: Nefer-sixem-sixat , Inefret , Ihi and possibly also Nianchba , Akhti-hotep and, at the end of his reign, Kagemni .

Other events

The fragment of a biography of an official seems to report on the transport of the granite columns for the pyramid temple of the ruler within four days from Elephantine .

Recently found seal impressions show that an expedition took place under Unas, which started from the port of Ain Suchna on the Gulf of Suez . The aim of this expedition is unknown, however.

Tomb

The Unas pyramid in Saqqara

Ground plan of the pyramid as well as the valley and mortuary temple

→ Main article : Unas pyramid

For his pyramid complex with the name “The sites of Unas are beautiful”, the king chose a location that clearly set him apart from his predecessors. Instead of the royal family cemetery of the middle 5th dynasty in Abusir , he chose, like his two immediate predecessors Menkauhor and Djedkare, Sakkara . However, Unas did not build his pyramid in the immediate vicinity of one of their graves, but instead placed his tomb directly south of the pyramid of Djoser from the 3rd dynasty and above two royal gallery tombs from the 2nd dynasty .

With a side length of 57.75 m and an original height of 43 m, the Unas pyramid is the smallest royal tomb of the Old Kingdom. The pyramid core was built in six stages. Local limestone was used as building material . The cladding was done in finer white limestone.

Despite the severe destruction of the pyramid superstructure, the interior of the pyramid is well preserved. The entrance is on the north side. The descending passage first leads into a chamber and then continues horizontally. There is a blocking device made of three granite blocks in the corridor. The corridor finally opens into an antechamber, from which a chamber with three niches branches off to the east and the burial chamber to the west. The vestibule and burial chamber have a gable roof. The well-preserved sarcophagus made of greywacke stands on the west wall of the burial chamber . Both the grave and the antechamber are provided for the first time with pyramid texts , which consist of sayings and incantations for the afterlife . They are considered to be the oldest religious ancient Egyptian texts. Later dynasties adopted the texts in differentiated forms, some of them were adopted in the later coffin texts and in the Book of the Dead .

The valley temple, located at what was once a harbor, has three columned entrances: a main entrance on the east side and two side entrances on the narrow sides. A 720 m long path leads to the pyramid. This has numerous reliefs with different themes, such as hunting, the transport of granite columns or processions of prisoners. Two 45 m long ship graves made of limestone were built near the upper part of the access road.

The mortuary temple is similar to that of the Djedkare pyramid, but two towers on the eastern facade are a special feature. The front part of the temple forms an entrance hall and an open courtyard surrounded by columns, to which storage rooms are connected to the north and south. A transverse hall separates the outer from the inner, intimate temple area. This consists of a five-niche chapel, an antichambre carrée , a sacrificial hall and other storage rooms. South of the transverse hall is the access to a small cult pyramid. The king pyramid, the cult pyramid and the inner part of the temple are enclosed by a wall.

To the northeast of the Unas pyramid are the mastaba tombs of the royal wives Nebet and Chenut.

The possible mummy of Unas

In 1946, Ahmed M. Batrawi discovered a box in the magazine of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo which, according to the inscription, should contain parts of the body of King Unas. It was the left forearm and a skull fragment that still had scalp and hair. However, none of the excavation reports on the Unas pyramid report the discovery of human remains. It is therefore questionable where the finds actually come from and whether they really can be dated to the 5th Dynasty or not to a later period.

Special finds

• 

  Alabaster vessel, Louvre

• 

  Alabaster vase, Florence

Numerous alabaster vessels with names of the Unas are known. A spherical vessel that is now in the Louvre in Paris (inv.no.E 32372) is of unknown origin . It has a height of 17 cm and a diameter of 13.2 cm. It shows the name and title of Unas on one side, flanked by two ankh characters and two uraeus snakes, and on the other side a falcon spreading its wings. A cylindrical vase is in the National Archaeological Museum in Florence (Inv.-No. 3253). The Petrie Museum in London houses the edge shard of another vase (Inv.-No. UC13258). A vase and fragments of another vessel come from Byblos. The pieces are now in the National Museum in Beirut . Another alabaster vessel was found on Elephantine in the 1990s.

Unas in the memory of ancient Egypt

Old empire

The cult of the dead established after Unas' death lasted at least until the end of the Old Kingdom. This is testified by seven graves from Saqqara, in which priests and lower officials were buried, who had served in the mortuary temple of the Unas pyramid. Three of these graves can be dated to the time shortly after the death of Pepi I , three more to the reign of Pepi II and the most recent to the end of the Old Kingdom.

In addition, the veneration of Unas in the late Old Kingdom is also attested by a number of basilophore names, such as Unasanch, Unashaischetef, Nianchunas and Seenunas.

Middle realm

In the Middle Kingdom , too , several names are attested that have the royal name Unas as a component, including Unasemsaef, Unasergesptah, Unasiiuemheb and Unas.

In addition, the veneration of Unas in the Middle Kingdom is also attested by two consecration offerings that were found on the way up the Unas pyramid. The first is a stele by the official Unasemsaef, on which the god Ptah and the deified King Unas are invoked in a sacrificial formula . The second is a statue of an official, on whose belt a sacrificial formula is also attached, in which Ptah- Sokar and Unas are called.

At the beginning of the 12th dynasty , King Amenemhet I had parts of Userkaf's pyramid complex torn down and used the stones to build his own pyramid in El Lisht .

New kingdom

In the 19th dynasty , Chaemwaset , a son of Ramses II, carried out restoration projects across the country. This also included numerous pyramids, among them that of Unas, as is known from inscriptions on facing stones.

literature

General

• Darrell D. Baker: The Encyclopedia of the Egyptian Pharaohs. Volume I: Predynastic to the Twentieth Dynasty (3300-1069 BC). Bannerstone Press, Oakville 2008, ISBN 978-0977409440 , pp. 482-484.
• Peter A. Clayton: The Pharaohs . Bechtermünz, Augsburg 1995, ISBN 3-8289-0661-3 , p. 63.
• Martin von Falck, Susanne Martinssen-von Falck: The great pharaohs. From the early days to the Middle Kingdom. Marix, Wiesbaden 2015, ISBN 978-3737409766 , pp. 151–154.
• Thomas Schneider : Lexicon of the Pharaohs . Albatros, Düsseldorf 2002, ISBN 3-491-96053-3 , pp. 303-304.

About the name

• Annales du Service des Antiquités de l´Egypt, Le Caire . 1900ff., Volume II, p. 254.
• Jürgen von Beckerath : Handbook of the Egyptian king names . Deutscher Kunstverlag, Munich / Berlin 1984, ISBN 3-422-00832-2 , pp. 55, 183.
• Kurt Sethe : Documents of the Old Kingdom . Hinrichs, Leipzig 1903, 1913, p. 81.

To the pyramid

• Zahi Hawass : The Treasures of the Pyramids . Weltbild, Augsburg 2004, ISBN 3-8289-0809-8 , pp. 258-259.
• Jean-Philippe Lauer : The royal tombs of Memphis. Excavations in Saqqara. Lübbe, Bergisch Gladbach 1988, ISBN 3-7857-0528-X .
• Mark Lehner : The Secret of the Pyramids . Econ, Düsseldorf 1997, ISBN 3-572-01039-X , pp. 154-155.
• Rainer Stadelmann : The Egyptian pyramids. From brick construction to the wonder of the world (= cultural history of the ancient world . Volume 30). 2nd, revised and expanded edition. Philipp von Zabern, Mainz 1991, ISBN 3-8053-1142-7 , pp. 184-188.
• Miroslav Verner : The pyramids (= rororo non-fiction book. Volume 60890). Rowohlt, Reinbek bei Hamburg 1999, ISBN 3-499-60890-1 , pp. 369-377.

Further literature on the pyramid under Unas pyramid .

Questions of detail

• Hartwig Altenmüller: On the deification of King Unas in the Old Kingdom. In: Studies on Ancient Egyptian Culture . Volume 1, 1974, pp. 1-18. ( online )
• Jürgen von Beckerath: Chronology of the pharaonic Egypt. von Zabern, Mainz 1994, ISBN 3-8053-2310-7 , pp. 27, 99, 149, 154-155, 188.
• Manfred Bietak in: Festschrift IES Edwards. 1988, pp. 35-40.
• Aidan Dodson , Dyan Hilton: The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt. Thames & Hudson, London 2004, ISBN 0-500-05128-3 , pp. 62-69 ( PDF file; 67.9 MB ); retrieved from the Internet Archive .
• Georges Goyon: Les navires de transport de la chaussée monumentale d'Ounas. In: Bulletin de l´Institut Francaise d´archéologie orientale. Volume 69, Cairo 1971, pp. 11-41.
• Peter Kaplony: The cylinder seals of the Old Kingdom. Fondation Egyptologique, Brussels 1981.
• Audran Labrousse, Jean-Philippe Lauer, Jean Leclant: Mission archéologique de Saqqarah. II, Le temple haut du complexe funéraire du roi Ounas. (= Bibliothèque d'étude. Cairo. (BdE) No. 73). Institut français d'archéologie orientale du Caire, Le Caire 1977.
• Ahmed Mahmoud Moussa: A stela from Saqqara of a family devoted to the cult of king Unis. In: Communications from the German Archaeological Institute Cairo Department (MDAIK). Volume 27, 1971 (1972), pp. 81-84.
• Ahmed Mahmoud Moussa, Hartwig Altenmüller: A monument to the cult of King Unas at the end of the 12th dynasty. In: Communications from the German Archaeological Institute Cairo Department (MDAIK). Volume 31, 1975 (1976), pp. 93-97.
• Peter Munro : The Unas cemetery northwest. Volume I: Topographical-historical introduction. von Zabern, Mainz 1993, ISBN 3-8053-1353-5 , pp. 8-25: The double grave of the queens Nebet and Kehnut.
• Jürgen Ossing: On the disposition of the pyramid texts of the Unas. In: Communications from the German Archaeological Institute, Cairo Department. Vol. 42, von Zabern, Mainz 1986, pp. 131-144.
• Jean Vercoutter : Les "Affamés" d'Ounas et le changement climatique de la fin de l'Ancien Empire. In: Mélanges Mokhtar II. Institut français d'archéologie orientale du Caire, Le Caire 1985, ISBN 2-7247-0019-8 , pp. 327–337.
• Miroslav Verner: Archaeological Remarks on the 4th and 5th Dynasty Chronology. In: Archives Orientální. Vol. 69, Prague 2001, pp. 363-418 ( PDF; 31 MB ).

Web links

Commons : Unas  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• The Ancient Egypt Site
• Unas on Digital Egypt

Individual evidence

1. ^ Alan H. Gardiner: The royal canon of Turin. Griffith Institute, Oxford 1997, ISBN 0-900416-48-3 , illustration 2; The presentation of the entry in the Turin papyrus, which differs from the usual syntax for hieroboxes, is based on the fact that open cartridges were used in the hieratic . The alternating time-missing-time presence of certain name elements is due to material damage in the papyrus.
2. ↑ Year numbers according to Schneider: Lexicon of the Pharaohs. Albatros, Düsseldorf 2002, ISBN 3-491-96053-3 .
3. ↑ A Heliopolitan is Unas, oh Re, a Heliopolitan like you is Unas, oh Re, the mother of Unas is a Heliopolitan, the father of Unas is a Heliopolitan. Unas himself is a Heliopolitan who was born in Heliopolis (translation from: Raymond Faulkner: The ancient Egyptian pyramid texts . Aris & Phillips, Warminster 1969, ISBN 0-85668-297-7 , p. 95 In: Susanne Voß: Investigations on the Sun sanctuaries of the 5th dynasty. Significance and function of a singular type of temple in the Old Kingdom. Hamburg 2004 (also: Dissertation, University of Hamburg 2000) ( PDF; 2.5 MB ), p. 166); see also PT 482a-483b .
4. ↑ see M. Verner: Archaeological Remarks. Prague 2001.
5. ^ HG Fischer: A Speedy return from Elepantine. In: Journal of Egyptian Archeology. No. 61, 1975, pp. 33-35, Plate XVI, 1.
6. ^ Pierre Tallet: Les "ports intermittents" de la mer Rouge à l'époque pharaonique: caractéristiques et chronologie. In: Bruno Argémi and Pierre Tallet (eds.): Entre Nil et mers. La navigation en Égypte ancienne (= Nehet. Revue numérique d'Égyptologie Volume 3). Université de Paris-Sorbonne / Université libre de Bruxelles, Paris / Brussels 2015, p. 60, tab. 1 ( online ).
7. ↑ Miroslav Verner: The pyramids. Reinbek 1998, pp. 369-370.
8. ↑ Miroslav Verner: The pyramids. Reinbek 1998, pp. 370-371.
9. ↑ Jan Assmann: Libraries in the old world, especially in ancient Egypt . In: Susanne Bieri, Walther Fuchs (Hrsg.): Building libraries. Tradition and vision . Basel, Boston, Berlin 2001, pp. 32 ( core.ac.uk [PDF]).
10. ↑ Miroslav Verner: The pyramids. Reinbek 1998, pp. 371-372.
11. ↑ Miroslav Verner: The pyramids. Reinbek 1998, pp. 374-376.
12. ↑ Miroslav Verner: The pyramids. Reinbek 1998, pp. 372-374.
13. ↑ Miroslav Verner: The pyramids. Reinbek 1998, p. 377.
14. ↑ Renate Germer: Remains of royal mummies from pyramids of the Old Kingdom - do they really exist? In: Sokar. Volume 7, 2003, pp. 39-40.
15. ↑ Christiane Ziegler: Jar Inscribed with the Name of King Unis. In: Metropolitan Museum of Art (Ed.): Egyptian Art in the Age of the Pyramids. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York 1999, ISBN 0-87099-906-0 , pp. 361-362.
16. ^ Italian Touring Club: Firenze e provincia. Touring Editore, 1993 ISBN 978-8836505333 , p. 352 ( limited online version ).
17. ^ UCL Petrie Collection Online Catalog
18. ^ Bertha Porter, Rosalind LB Moss: Topographical Bibliography of Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphic Texts, Reliefs and Paintings. VII. Nubia, the Deserts, and Outside Egypt. Griffith Institute, Oxford 1952, Reprint 1975, ISBN 0-900416-23-8 , p. 390 ( PDF; 21.6 MB ).
19. ^ Werner Kaiser et al .: City and Temple of Elephantine . 25th / 26th / 27th excavation report. In: Communications from the German Archaeological Institute Cairo Department (MDAIK). Volume 55, 1999, p. 88.
20. ↑ Hartwig Altenmüller: On the deification of King Unas in the Old Kingdom. In: Studies on Ancient Egyptian Culture. Volume 1, 1974, pp. 4-10 ( online ).
21. ↑ Hartwig Altenmüller: On the deification of King Unas in the Old Kingdom. In: Studies on Ancient Egyptian Culture. Vol. 1, 1974, pp. 3-4, 18 ( online ).
22. ↑ Hartwig Altenmüller: On the deification of King Unas in the Old Kingdom. In: Studies on Ancient Egyptian Culture. Volume 1, 1974, p. 3 ( online ).
23. ↑ Ahmed Mahmoud Moussa: A stela from Saqqara of a family devoted to the cult of king Unis. In: Communications from the German Archaeological Institute Cairo Department (MDAIK). Volume 27, 1971 (1972), pp. 81-84.
24. ↑ Ahmed Mahmoud Moussa, Hartwig Altenmüller: A monument to the cult of King Unas at the end of the 12th dynasty. In: Communications from the German Archaeological Institute Cairo Department (MDAIK). Volume 31, 1975 (1976), pp. 93-97.
25. ^ Hans Goedicke : Re-Used Blocks from the Pyramid of Amenemhet I at Lisht (= The Metropolitan Museum of Art Egyptian Expedition. Volume 20). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York 1971, pp. 24-26 ( online ).
26. ↑ Dietrich Wildung : The role of Egyptian kings in the consciousness of their posterity. Part I. Posthumous sources on the kings of the first four dynasties . Munich Egyptological Studies, Vol. 17, Deutscher Kunstverlag, Munich / Berlin, 1969, p. 170.

predecessor	Office	successor
Djedkare	Pharaoh of Egypt 5th Dynasty (end)	Teti II.