Textual sources, Old Kingdom To Thebes, el-Khokha (Archaeology of Ancient Egypt)

Textual sources, Old Kingdom

The first substantial hieroglyphic inscription is the early 4th Dynasty text from the tomb of an official named Metjen, who served the last kings of the 3rd Dynasty. This text is the first example of what are called tomb biographies. At first these texts consisted only of the titles which the official held, and copies of legal documents which had been of particular significance to the deceased, such as decrees establishing his funerary foundation and estates. Around the middle of the 5th Dynasty, the information found in these texts becomes more varied, and includes events which occurred throughout the career of the deceased. Beginning with the inscriptions of the 6th Dynasty official Weni, we have the first lengthy narrative texts describing several events and accomplishments of the deceased. These events are centered around the king, however, and describe tasks which the officials performed for the king, such as the successful completion of military expeditions, the judging of important matters and so on. The main purpose of these biographies was to impress passers-by sufficiently that they would be moved to recite the offering formula, and thereby ensure that the deceased would be well-provisioned in the afterlife.

In connection with tomb biographies, copies of letters from the king to various officials are found carved on the walls of the tombs of their recipients. The majority of these letters date to the reign of Djedkare-Isesi and deal with expressions of royal favor and praise for the tomb owner. The one such text dating from the 6th Dynasty is a copy of a letter from Pepi II to an official named Harkhuf, which instructed him to take good care of a dwarf that he was bringing from Nubia.


A number of legal texts have also been preserved in stone copies. There are numerous examples of royal decrees which were issued by the king on behalf of particular temples or statue-cults, and which granted immunity to their beneficiaries from royal imposts and taxes. The extent to which such institutions were exempt, however, has been debated. Copies of private legal documents usually deal with matters related to the funerary needs of an individual, such as the organization of his funerary cult.

The Pyramid Texts, which are first found on the interior walls of the pyramid of Unas (the last king of the 5th Dynasty), and later in the pyramids of the 6th Dynasty kings (and some queens), are a major source of texts from this period. These texts are probably to be dated no earlier than roughly one hundred years before the earliest preserved copy, and many of the texts are contemporary with the pyramids in which they are found. These texts were intended to aid the deceased king in his transition to and continued well-being in the hereafter. They include magical spells, whose purpose is to protect the deceased from various dangers (for example, snakes and scorpions), texts which are related to various funerary rituals, and spells designed to allow the deceased to overcome any obstacles that he might encounter in the next life.

There are several examples of administrative texts preserved on papyri. An archive discovered at Abusir, believed to date to the reign of Djedkare-Isesi, contains records from a royal funerary temple which cover a period of twenty-four years. The Gebelein Papyri, also dated to the end of the 5th Dynasty, contain accounts of the production of grain and cloth.

In addition to these administrative texts, a number of letters have been preserved on papyri, the earliest dating again to the reign of Djedkare-Isesi. Most of these texts date to the 6th Dynasty; they deal with both affairs of the administration and purely private matters. There are also several examples of what are called "Letters to the Dead" preserved on linen and pottery. In these texts, Egyptians would write to their dead relatives in order to gain their help in righting wrongs which they felt they were suffering on earth. Frequently the deceased individual is asked to take another deceased person before the court of the after-world to obtain satisfaction for a living relative.

Several inscribed potsherds, known as ostraca, are preserved from the Old Kingdom. The eight so far published all seem to have functioned as labels which accompanied the body of an individual during transfer to its place of burial. There are also several examples of what are known as "execration texts" preserved from this period. The names of enemies of the king were recorded on clay figurines which were then smashed in a ritual intended to render the enemy powerless. Old Kingdom Egyptian officials who visited remote or foreign locations left graffiti at places like the Sinai, the quarries of Hatnub, the Wadi Hammamat and Abu Simbel. These texts usually contain the names of officials, the dates of their visits and the nature of their business for the king.

There are several texts, not preserved in copies dating to the Old Kingdom, which are thought to have originated at that time. The Palermo Stone, a fragmentary text which is thought to date to the 25th Dynasty, contains what appears to be a copy of an Old Kingdom document which recorded a list of kings from the Predynastic period to the end of the 5th Dynasty; it lists important events in each year of their reign. There are several "Instruction" texts preserved in later copies that have been traditionally dated to the Old Kingdom. These texts preserve aphoristic sayings which offer advice on the proper behavior essential to achieving success and prosperity in this life and the next. One text, attested no earlier than the New Kingdom, is attributed to Hardjedef, a son of Khufu. The author of the Instructions of Ptahhotep was thought to be a vizier who served under King Djedkare-Isesi of the 5th Dynasty, and the Instructions for Kagemni appears to have been addressed to a vizier who served under Huni and Seneferu. It should be noted that these last two works are preserved in the stage of the Egyptian language known as Middle Egyptian, rather than in the language of the Old Kingdom. Some scholars date these texts to periods considerably later than the authors to whom they are attributed, and their actual composition in the Old Kingdom is doubtful.

Thebes, el-Asasif

There are two regions in the Theban necropolis called el-Asasif. Both are plains at the beginning of wadis (valleys) leading to the west. Commonly, the northern site (25°44′ N, 32°37′ E), east of Deir el-Bahri between the regions of Dra’ Abu el-Naga and el-Khokha, is connected with the name el-Asasif. The southern counterpart at the end of the valley leading to one of the unfinished royal tombs of the early Middle Kingdom and next to the south-ern slope of Sheikh Abd el-Qurna, is almost neglected. As far as the southern Asasif has been investigated, only six tombs of the Late period are known. Their architecture, plans and sections have been published by Dieter Eigner.

The history of the cemetery in the northern Asasif starts with the second half of the 11th Dynasty, when some saff-tombs were hewn out at the bottom and on the southern side of the valley (for example, the tombs of Antef and Zar). In connection with the construction of the causeway leading to the royal tomb and mortuary temple of King Nebhepetre Mentuhotep II at Deir el-Bahri, the plain of the Asasif was no longer used for private tombs of that period. Most of the contemporary corridor-shaped Middle Kingdom tombs were situated on the upper parts of the hillsides surrounding Deir el-Bahri. The position of those tombs, namely of the cemeteries 500, 600 and 800 (numbers after H.E.Winlock), underlines in an impressive way the importance of orientation and the connection between private tombs and royal mortuary buildings.

The same tradition and purpose is again to be realized in the position of the tomb of Puiemre, which is oriented to the causeways of Hatshepsut and Tuthmose III. Although this tomb is hewn out in the northern slope of the hillock of el-Khokha, the context assigns it to the Asasif. The same connection must be attributed to the tomb of Parennefer, dating from the period of Amenhotep III and Akhenaten. During the time of Amenhotep III the northern Asasif again becomes popular. A new type of huge private tomb, reminiscent of temples rather than of private tomb-chapels, was begun but never finished in the plain of the Asasif. The tomb of Kheruef is one of these tombs, consisting of an entrance building, a pathway leading to a sunken courtyard surrounded by a colonnade, followed by an enlarged inner room scheme with a long sloping passage leading down to the sarcophagus chamber.

In Ramesside times, by the reign of Ramesses II, the walls and colonnades of the courtyards of the 18th Dynasty tombs served as new places for many small tombs, mostly belonging to middle-rank employees of the temple of Amen at Karnak. With the beginning of the 21st Dynasty the earlier rock-cut tombs frequently were reused for simple burials, consisting only of the sarcophagus and the absolutely essential funeral equipment.

During the Late period, the Asasif achieved for the last time an era of great importance. The chief stewards of the Divine Votaresses and the prophets of Amen began to erect their huge tombs, or mortuary palaces, in this region. As Manfried Bietak has pointed out in the publication of the tomb of Ankh-Hor, several of these buildings are radially oriented by their main pylons to one of the bark shrines along the causeway of Queen Hatshepsut. Their main entrances, framed by smaller pylons, are directly and at right angles connected to this causeway. An exhaustive investigation of the tombs of the Late period with an excellent map of the region has been published by Eigner.

The most important tombs of the el-Asasif are listed below in chronological order, according to their numbers (TT=Theban Tomb), their owners and their professions.

11th

Dynasty:

TT 366

Zar, Custodian of the King’s Harim

TT 386

Antef, Chancellor of the King of Lower Egypt, Overseer of Soldiers,

Hatshepsut/Tuthmose III: TT 39

Puiemre, Second Prophet of Amen

Amenhotep III/Akhenaten: TT 188

Parennefer, Royal Butler and Steward

TT 192

Kheruef, Steward of the Great Royal Wife Tiye

Ramesses II:

TT 194

1). -v..!.-:- i.::–Overseer of the Marsh-land-dwellers of the Estate of Amen

TT 409

Samut, called Kyky, Scribe, Counter of the Cattle of the Estate of Amen

Late period:

TT 27 TT 33

Sheshonk, Chief Steward of the Divine Votaress Pedamenopet, Prophet, Chief Lector Priest

TT 34

Mentuemhet, Fourth Prophet of Amen

TT 36

Ibi, Chief Steward of the Divine Votaress

TT 37

Harwa, Chief Steward of the God’s Wife

Thebes, Dra’ Abu el-Naga

One of the most important parts of the Theban necropolis, called Dra’ Abu el-Naga (25°44′ N, 32°27′ E), stretches from the mouth of the Valley of the Kings on the north to the entrance of the valley leading to el-Asasif and Deir el-Bahri in the south. In general, the area is divided into Dra’ Abu el-Naga North and South, with a transitional area between the two. More detailed and precise designations of specific points are as follows from north to south: (1) Khawi el-Alamat, a wadi (or valley) leading to one of the supposed early royal 18th Dynasty tombs; (2) the so-called "main hill"; (3) the region around and below the Coptic monastery of Deir el-Bakhit; (4) the wadi called "Shig el-Ateyat"; and (5) the hillside and plain of "el-Mandara."

The history of Dra’ Abu el-Naga starts with the beginning of the 17th Dynasty. Since the excavations of Auguste Mariette, Giuseppe Passalaqua, Flinders Petrie, the Marquis of Northampton and Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon beginning in the nineteenth century, it has been known that royal and private cemeteries of the 17th Dynasty were situated at Dra’ Abu el-Naga. Numerous and important artifacts of private and royal burials went to various museums, but the unpublished notes and manuscripts of the excavators gave no precise description of the location of the important royal tombs. Studying these notes in comparison with the pharaonic description of the site in the famous Tomb Robbery Papyri of the 20th Dynasty, H.E.Winlock published a noteworthy article in 1924. His results suggest that the royal tombs were situated more or less at the foot of the Dra’ Abu el-Naga hills, in the close vicinity of the private tombs and arranged like the itinerary order of the ancient papyri.

After conducting a survey of the area in 1989, Friederike Kampp pointed out that the royal tombs would be more likely located in the upper regions of the site. She offers the following reasons for this: (1) there should be some distance between the royal and the private cemeteries, and it is unlikely that private tombs would be situated "behind" royal tombs of the same period, which would be the case in Winlock’s proposal; (2) in the regions of Khawi el-Alamat and the "main hill" rock-cut tombs resembling the corridor saff-tombs of the Middle Kingdom were recorded, but show such architectural modifications as to be interpreted as a consequent development of the former shape of the Middle Kingdom type; and (3) almost at the top of the "main hill," near the Coptic monastery of Deir el-Bakhit, there are three extraordinary huge tombs, which most likely are 17th Dynasty royal tombs. These latter consist of a large courtyard with a boundary wall at the front, followed by a kind of vestibule, and then by one single-pillared room, in whose middle opens an enormous deep shaft. At about the same time as Kampp, Daniel Polz came to similar conclusions; he now hopes to find further proof from excavations at the site.

Polz has excavated part of a cemetery in front of Khawi el-Alamat, where he discovered tomb structures comparable to the lost tomb of Tetiky (TT 15) in the plain of el-Mandara. The basic layout of these tombs consists of a trapezoidal courtyard, surrounded by a mudbrick wall, with a shaft in the middle of the court and a mudbrick building serving as cult chapel west of the shaft, but inside the courtyard.

The cemeteries of Dra’ Abu el-Naga lost most of their importance from the reign of Hatshepsut until the end of the 18th Dynasty. Nevertheless, some officials were buried in Dra’ Abu el-Naga and hundreds of minor tombs have been constructed so that this part of the necroplis shows one of the densest concentrations of tombs in the whole Theban area. Recent excavations on the "main hill" proved that beside the tomb of Huy (TT 40) and the one of Nay (TT 271) at Qurnet Murai, one of the earliest tombs after the Amarna interim was erected in Dra’ Abu el-Naga. This tomb, belonging to a high priest of Amen called Parennefer, lies within a small group of tombs dating to the end of the 18th and the beginning of the 19th Dynasty.

Important Rammesside tombs (19th-20th Dynasties) are to be found in the upper regions of Dra’ Abu el-Naga South at the hill of el-Mandara. Here most of the high priests of Amen, a viceroy of Nubia and high military officials mostly connected to the southern territories of Egypt constructed their large, elaborate tombs. Most of these tombs have mudbrick pyramids as superstructures and courtyards with pylons in front. Smaller Ramesside tombs are scattered all over Dra’ Abu el-Naga as in the other parts of the Theban necropolis. After the 20th Dynasty, a time of usurpation and reusing of tombs flourished in Dra’ Abu el-Naga as well as in the other regions of the necropolis.

In the Late period, only one tomb was hewn out of the hillside at el-Mandara; the owner of this tomb used the already existing courtyard and fagade of the famous tomb of Baken-khonsu (TT 35). In Ptolemaic times some tombs in the plain at the foot of the "main hill" were used to house ibis burials. From Coptic times on, the region of Dra’ Abu el-Naga was populated and the impressive ruins of the monastery at Deir el-Bakhit demonstrate its prosperity.

A selection of the most important tombs of Dra’ Abu el-Naga are listed below in chronological order, according to their numbers (TT =Theban Tomb), giving the name and title of the tomb owners.

Late 17th-early 18th Dynasty:

TT 12

, Overseer of the Granary of the King’s Wife and King’s Mother AEhotep

TT 15

Tetiky, King’s son, Mayor of the Southern City

Hatshepsut-Tuthmose III:

TT 11

Overseer of the Treasury

TT 155

Antef, Great Herald of the King

Tutankhamen-Horemheb: No official TT no.

Parennefer, High Priest of Amen

TT 255

Roy, Royal Scribe and Steward of the Estates of Horemheb and of Amen

Ramesses II:

TT 35

Bekenkhonsu, High Priest of Amen

TT 156

Pennesuttaui, Captain of Troops, Governor of the Southern Lands

TT 157

Nebwenenef, High Priest of Amen

TT 288 and TT 289

Setau, Viceroy of Kush, Overseer of the Southern Lands

Late 19th Dynasty-Ramesses III:

TT 148

Amenemopet, Prophet of Amen

TT 158

Thonefer, Third Prophet of Amen

Late period: TT 160

Besenmut, True Royal Acquaintance

TT 11 and TT 12

Ibis burials

Thebes, el-Khokha

One of the minor parts of the Theban necropolis, called el-Khokha (25°44′ N, 32°37′ E), consists of a hillock and an adjacent little valley to the south, which separates the region of el-Asasif in the north from Sheikh Abd el-Qurna in the south. This location, next to the causeways leading to the mortuary temples of Deir el-Bahri, seems to be one of the main reasons for the popularity of this part of the necropolis, especially for persons of middle rank in the New Kingdom. Other reasons may be its proximity to the funerary temple of Tuthmose III and the fact that one of the two access roads leading to the hillside of Sheikh Abd el-Qurna runs along the southern slope of the hillock of el-Khokha. In all parts of the necropolis, easy access and orientation to processional roads are basic motives for the position of tombs. The honeycombed hill of el-Khokha should be counted among the most intensively occupied parts of the Theban necropolis, along with the northern region of Dra’ Abu el-Naga.

The earliest rock-cut tombs of Thebes are situated at el-Khokha. The area had such prestige at the end of the Old Kingdom and the First Intermediate Period that even nomarchs erected their tombs in this part of the necropolis; the reason for this is still unknown. In addition to the four decorated and officially numbered tombs of this period, there may be a number of undecorated and unexcavated tombs, likewise dating to the First Intermediate Period or the Middle Kingdom.

Most of the tombs at el-Khokha date from the New Kingdom, both to the 18th Dynasty and the Ramesside period (19th-20th Dynasaties). New results of a survey done by Friederike Kampp in 1989 and 1990 indicate that numerous undecorated or little-decorated tombs exist in the area. Sketch maps of her work show how dense the original tomb occupation of the area had been. Aside from two tombs, one usurped from a Ramesside tomb and the other inaccessible, the Late period is not represented at el-Khokha.

The most important tombs of el-Khokha are listed below in chronological order, according to their numbers (TT=Theban Tomb), their owners and their professions.

Old Kingdom and First Intermediate Period:

TT 185

Seni-iker, Hereditary Prince

TT 186

Ihy, Nomarch

TT 405

Khenty, Nomarch

TT 413

Unas-ankh, Nomarch, Overseer of Upper Egypt

Hatshepsut-Tuthmose III: TT 294

Amenhotep, Overseer of the Granary of Amen

Tuthmose III-Amenhotep II:

TT 200

Dedi, Governor of the Desert on the West of Thebes

Amenhotep III:

TT 47

Userhat, Overseer of the Royal Harim

TT 48

Amenemhat, Chief Steward, Overseer of the Cattle of Amen

TT 181

Nebamen and Ipuky, Head Sculptor and Sculptor of the Lord of the Two Lands

Tutankhamen-Ay:

TT 49

Neferhotep, Chief Scribe of Amen

TT 254

Mosi, Scribe of the Treasury

Ramesses II:

TT 32

Tuthmose, Chief Steward of Amen

TT 183

Nebsumenu, Chief Steward, Steward in the House of Ramesses II

Late period:

TT 392

Usurped Ramesside tomb, name unknown

B.3

Hauf, Head of the Kitchen of the Estate of Amen (inaccessible)

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