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Early Dynastic Egypt

Page 32

by Toby A H Wilkinson


  The adoption of niched mudbrick architecture by the ancient Egyptians seems to have occurred in the late Predynastic period. Although the earliest surviving examples of the style date to the early First Dynasty (the Naqada royal tomb and mastaba S3357 at Saqqara, both from the reign of Aha), royal buildings of this appearance must have been in existence several generations earlier, probably as early as Naqada IId (c. 3200 BC). Indeed, the two buildings from Aha’s reign show considerable sophistication in the decorative use of mudbrick, suggesting that the style was already long-established in Egypt (Frankfort 1941:334).

  Origins

  There is little doubt about the foreign origins of the palace-facade style (already noted by Balcz 1930; argued for strongly by Frankfort 1941; for a more cautious interpretation see W.S.Smith 1981:36; Kaiser 1985b: 32, proposes a Lower Egyptian origin). The similarity between Mesopotamian and Egyptian mudbrick architecture is so close as to make their independent development highly unlikely (Frankfort 1941:338; Kemp 1975a: 103). As with the adoption of Mesopotamian motifs into Egyptian royal iconography during

  Naqada II, the process is likely to have involved an imaginative borrowing by the Egyptians from another culture to suit their own purposes: in both cases, the formulation of a repertoire of symbols to embody the ideology of divine kingship. The construction of a large-scale building of exotic appearance must have spoken to its viewers of power and prestige. It must have conveyed not only the economic potential of the ruler, but also a certain amount of awe. None the less, niched mudbrick architecture is unlikely to have been adopted merely for its dramatic impact. As with other borrowings from foreign cultures during the period of state formation and later, the Egyptian attitude seems to have been essentially pragmatic. If a neighbouring civilisation had already developed something for which the Egyptians perceived a need, the Egyptians showed no reticence in adopting it, then modifying and adapting it to suit their own purposes, ultimately creating a distinctive ‘Egyptian’ tradition.

  An expression of élite status

  The extent to which the palace-façade style of architecture became closely associated with the king—and thus a symbol of the élite status which derived from access to the royal court—is highlighted by the large First Dynasty mastaba tombs at Saqqara (cf. Kemp 1989:55). In common with contemporary élite burials at other sites, including Abu Rawash, Tarkhan and Naqada, these large mortuary constructions are decorated with recessed niches on their exterior walls. The architectural style proclaimed the status of the tomb owner, by emphasising his proximity to the ultimate source of power, the king. The élite symbolism of niched architecture was so strong that it was even used for the internal walls of a First Dynasty infant burial at Minshat Abu Omar (Kroeper 1992). Although invisible once the tomb had been finished and covered, the power of the architectural style to represent status was clearly undiminished.

  The royal burial

  The major construction project of each reign in the Early Dynastic period seems to have been the royal mortuary complex. It not only served as the burial place of the ruler, but also ‘advertised and embodied the objectives of the…state’ (Hoffman 1980:267). A monumental tomb symbolised both political power and communal leadership (Hoffman 1980:335).

  The absolute authority of the ruler—his power over life and death – was given literal expression in a particularly chilling aspect of some First Dynasty royal burials at Abydos. The tombs on the Umm el-Qaab and the accompanying funerary enclosures nearer the cultivation were surrounded by smaller graves, belonging to members of the royal entourage. The household of King Aha—including his wives and other intimate attendants—was buried in a court cemetery, which stretched out from the royal tomb. From an analysis of the surviving skeletal remains, it appears that none of the individuals was older than 25 years, suggesting that the king’s retainers followed their royal master to the grave rather swiftly, whether voluntarily or by compulsion (Dreyer 1993b: 11). In subsequent reigns, the royal tomb was surrounded by a ring of subsidiary burials, the distribution of the graves echoing the situation in life. An altogether more absolutist form

  Figure 6.8 Palace-facade architecture, 1. The origins and symbolic applications of an architectural style: (1) early royal serekhs, incised on pottery vessels from (a) el-Beda and (b) Tura; the panelled frame represents a section of the façade of the royal palace, and was used to denote royal ownership of the storage jars thus marked (after Kaiser and Dreyer 1982:263, fig.

  , 7); (2) the lower part of the serekhcarved in relief on the funerary stela of

  Djet, from Abydos (after Kemp 1989:38, fig. 10); (3) a monumental gateway of mudbrick, excavated within the early town of Nekhen (Hierakonpolis); the gate is thought to have marked the entrance to an Early Dynastic royal palace, hence confirming the appropriateness of the term ‘palace façade’ to describe the characteristic niched style of architecture (after Kemp 1989:40, fig. 11); (4) grave 2275 from the Early Dynastic cemetery at Minshat Abu Omar, north-eastern Delta; three of the internal walls of the grave had been decorated with buttresses and niches in the ‘palace facade’ style, indicating the symbolic potency of this type of architecture to express status, even when hidden from view (after Kroeper 1992:135, fig. 7). Not to same scale.

  feature can only be interpreted as an indication of retainer sacrifice: the members of the king’s household were killed (or committed suicide) when their of rule is expressed in several First Dynasty royal burials, where the mound over the king’s tomb also covers the subsidiary burials surrounding the main chamber. Such a sovereign himself died, so that they might accompany him in death as in life (Hoffman 1980:275–9). This practice, which—no doubt for practical and economic reasons—was discontinued after the late First Dynasty, must have been a graphic illustration of the ultimate authority of the king, not only during his earthly life but in the hereafter as well. The ideological constraints of the time may have required suicide on the part of retainers. Only the king, as a member of the divine sphere, was guaranteed an afterlife in the company of the gods; others might hope for some share in an afterlife, by ‘hanging onto the king’s coat-tails’ and following him directly to the next world. (Compare the practice in Japan, once widespread, whereby devoted followers of the emperor would commit ritual suicide at his death, in order to follow him into the next world. A number of individuals made this ultimate expression of loyalty as recently as 1991, on the death of Emperor Hirohito.) Be that as it may, the impetus for such a practice in Early Dynastic Egypt is likely to have come from the top downwards: the king required an entourage in the afterlife, and individual servants may have had little or no choice about following him thence.

  The funerary enclosures at Abydos and Hierakonpolis were impressive constructions, consciously resembling the royal palace (Plate 6.2). Their visibility was an important aspect of their function. By contrast, the king’s actual burial place (the royal tomb) fulfilled a rather different purpose, providing an eternal resting place for the king and the wherewithal for his afterlife. Hence, two conflicting factors affected the appearance and

  location of the royal tomb, remoteness and visibility. Unlike their Predynastic forebears, whose tombs were located side-by-side with non-royal burials (in Abydos Cemetery U), the kings of the First Dynasty chose to emphasise their unique status, and their separateness from the

  Plate 6.2 Palace-facade architecture, 2. The characteristic niched style as applied to the enclosure walls of royal mortuary complexes: (top) the eastern wall of the

  Shunet ez-Zebib, Khasekhemwy’s mudbrick funerary enclosure at Abydos (author’s photograph); (bottom) the eastern wall of the step pyramid complex from the following reign (author’s photograph).

  rest of humanity, by building their tombs in an isolated spot, surrounded in death only by their closest retainers. Whilst the highest officials of the administration were granted the privilege of tombs on the escarpment at North Saqqara, overlooking the Early Dynastic city of Memphis, the First and late Second Dynasty
kings chose to be buried in the ancestral royal necropolis of Abydos. Not only did the location of the royal tombs reinforce the legitimacy of the ruling line—by emphasising descent from the Predynastic rulers of This—it also expressed the unique, unrivalled position of the king at the head of Egyptian society.

  As ‘the principal public statement on the nature of kingship’ (Kemp 1989:53), the royal mortuary complex is of key importance for our understanding of Early Dynastic Egypt. The development of the royal tomb and the sophisticated symbolism of mortuary architecture form the subject of the next chapter.

  CHAPTER SEVEN‌

  ROYAL MORTUARY ARCHITECTURE

  The most enduring monuments from Early Dynastic Egypt are not the temples of national or provincial deities but the funerary constructions of kings, their relatives and high officials. During the course of the first three dynasties, Egypt’s ruling class developed mortuary architecture as a potent expression of authority. Royal building projects necessitated the development of a sophisticated administrative apparatus to organise the human and material resources required. The construction of the king’s tomb also fulfilled a number of practical functions, offering the king and his officials an arena in which to demonstrate leadership, providing a focus for the conspicuous consumption of prestige and imported materials, and confirming the legitimacy of the heir to the throne by his participation in the burial of his predecessor (Hoffman 1980:327–8).

  The various elements of a mortuary complex represent a sophisticated symbolic vocabulary, proclaiming the owner’s status, embodying the ideology of divine kingship and reflecting contemporary conceptions of the afterlife. Mortuary architecture— especially royal mortuary architecture, which was both more visible and more durable than the burials of ordinary people—is thus a rich source of evidence for Early Dynastic society. This chapter follows the chronological development of royal mortuary architecture, discussing both the changes to the royal tomb over the course of the Early Dynastic period and the symbolism embodied in royal mortuary complexes.

  THE MORTUARY COMPLEXES OF THE EARLY DYNASTIC KINGS

  Royal funerary monuments of the first three dynasties cluster at two principal sites and comprise two main types of structure. The ancient royal necropolis of Abydos—more specifically, the area known by its modern Arabic name Umm el-Qaab (literally ‘mother of pots’, from the vast quantities of offering pottery littering the site)—was the focus of royal burials throughout the First Dynasty, and again at the end of the Second Dynasty (Figure 7.1). The necropolis of Saqqara, overlooking the capital city of Memphis, was the favoured location for royal interments during the early part of the Second Dynasty, and became the primary royal burial ground from the beginning of the Third Dynasty (Figure 7.2). There was, thus, an alternation between Abydos and Saqqara during the course of the Early Dynastic period, probably depending upon the political and religious currents of the time. At both sites, but more obviously at Abydos, royal mortuary provision comprised two distinct elements: the tomb itself and an accompanying rectangular enclosure for the celebration of funerary ceremonies and/or the king’s mortuary cult. During the First and Second Dynasties, these two elements were geographically separate,

  but were fused at the beginning of the Third Dynasty, as exemplified in the Step Pyramid complex of Netjerikhet.

  The development of the royal tomb reflects both technological and theological advances; the design of the royal mortuary complex has been said to highlight the multiple role of the king as ruler and representative of the gods (Brinks 1979:157–62). Both symbolic and practical considerations will have affected the planning and construction of the royal tomb, including such factors as axial alignment, symmetry, parallelism, centrality and duality (on the symbolic side), topography, astronomical alignment and technology (on the practical side). Royal mortuary architecture also serves as an index of political change, and not only through the choice of location for the king’s tomb. From the reign of Aha onwards, there appears to have been a marked increase in mortuary elaboration, attested by the large mastaba at North Saqqara (S3357), the royal tomb at Naqada, and the greater size of the king’s own burial complex at Abydos. This development has been interpreted as reflecting the greater economic and political security brought about by the consolidation of the Egyptian state at the beginning of the First Dynasty (Brinks 1979:61). Against a background of increased prosperity and more efficient central control of resources, the Early Dynastic kings sought to emphasise their unique position at the head of Egyptian society, above all through the ‘monumental scale and distinctive architectural symbolism’ of their mortuary constructions (Kemp 1989:53).

  First dynasty

  The royal tombs on the Umm el-Qaab

  Abydos had been a burial ground for royalty since early Predynastic times, serving the rulers of the Thinite region from at least the Naqada I period (c. 3800 BC). According to Manetho, the rulers of the First Dynasty originated from This (Thinis), and their decision to be buried at Abydos, in the ancestral royal necropolis, probably reflects their family ties. The choice of Abydos may have been made for other, equally compelling reasons (Kemp 1966:19). The site was of great antiquity, and its ‘ancient sanctity’ would doubtless have conferred an added supernatural legitimacy upon those buried there (cf. Kemp 1967:25). (This may have been the primary reason for the re-adoption of the cemetery by two kings at the end of the Second Dynasty.) Moreover, the site’s impressive natural setting—at the foot of a dramatic ridge, and directly aligned with a prominent cleft in the line of hills—may have increased the visual impact of the tombs. Before we look at aspects of individual complexes, and the chronological development over the course of the First Dynasty, it will be useful to describe the general features of a royal tomb on the Umm el-Qaab.

  Figure 7.1 The royal cemetery at Abydos. The plan shows the contiguity of the three cemetery areas designated by modern archaeologists as Cemetery U (Predynastic), Cemetery B (late Predynastic to early First Dynasty), and the Umm el-Qaab (First Dynasty) (after Spencer 1993:76, fig. 53; Dreyer et al 1996: fig.l).

  GENERAL FEATURES

  At its most basic, each tomb consists of ‘a large square pit lined with brickwork’ (Petrie 1900:4). The surrounding chambers—which served as subsidiary burials in late First Dynasty tombs—are often at a higher level than the main burial chamber. In the tombs of Djer and Djet the surrounding rooms open off the central chamber; from the time of Merneith onwards, they surround the burial chamber but do not interconnect. The tombs of the kings from Aha to Anedjib inclusive are accompanied by ranges of smaller, subsidiary burials. These are arranged in rows or blocks, either adjacent to the royal tomb or surrounding it.

  Unlike the contemporary mastabas at North Saqqara which emphasised the superstructure, the First Dynasty royal tombs at Abydos seem to have concentrated on the subterranean element. During the early First Dynasty the burial chamber was dug progressively deeper, culminating with the tomb of Den in which the burial chamber is 6 metres below ground level. None the less, the superstructure of the tomb was a symbolically important component. Few, if any, traces of superstructure have survived from the Predynastic royal tombs at Abydos, Hierakonpolis and Naqada; but it has been argued that the superstructure of the First Dynasty royal tombs is likely to have evolved from these earlier burials (Kemp 1989:53). The appearance of the early First Dynasty tombs remains uncertain, although a simple mound of earth covering the burial chamber seems likely. The existence of any visible superstructure has been doubted (O’Connor 1991:7, contra Dreyer 1991), although it seems improbable that the tomb would have been entirely unmarked on the surface (cf. Dreyer 1991:102). The superstructures of the mid- and later First Dynasty tombs (from the reign of Djet onwards) apparently comprised two elements: a hidden tumulus over the burial chamber and a larger mound covering the whole tomb (Dreyer 1991). The hidden tumulus was entirely contained within the grave pit, and was itself covered by the large grave mound. Consequently, it can have fulfilled no architect
ural purpose and must, therefore, have had a symbolic function. The provision of not one but two tumuli suggests that the symbol of a mound had great importance for the deceased; it may eventually have been regarded as essential for the resurrection of the dead in the grave (Dreyer 1991:101). As a highly symbolic feature, the hidden tumulus also found its way into the contemporary mastabas at North Saqqara. Several mastabas (for example, S3507 from the reign of Den) were found to contain the remains of a concealed sand and rubble mound covering the burial chamber, completely hidden from view by the rest of the superstructure. As we have seen in Chapter 3, the mound inside Saqqara mastaba S3038, from the reign of Anedjib, had a stepped appearance, foreshadowing the form of the Third Dynasty step pyramids. If the architecture of the élite tombs at North Saqqara kept pace with, and indeed mimicked, the architecture of the royal tombs at Abydos, then the superstructures of the late First Dynasty tombs on the Umm el-Qaab may also have been stepped. This hypothesis receives some support from the iconographic evidence, including the depiction of stepped structures—identified by some as the royal tomb—on inscribed stone bowls of the late First Dynasty. One scholar has gone so far as to suggest that the superstructures of all royal tombs until the beginning of the Fourth Dynasty ‘can reasonably be assumed to have been stepped’ (Roth 1993:43–4).

 

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