Traces of early Egyptian burial rituals in Proto- and Early Dynastic graves from Tell el-Farkha

• Authors: Joanna Dębowska-Ludwin
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

The widely unplundered cemetery at Tell el-Farkha has preserved some elements of burials, such as the presence of ochre, pure sand and liquid mud. This can be best explained as ritually motivated. Funerary feasts, food offerings and deposits of granary models and so-called ‘granary’ jars seem also to have represented some beliefs connected to the afterlife. More difficult to interpret are the examples of subsidiary and incomplete burials also registered at the site. Finally, it is worth mentioning niche decorated façades that evolved into cult niches and later into the false doors well-known from the Pharaonic period, which were tightly connected to sepulchral beliefs. The presented material offers a rare and unique insight into the process of establishing burial rituals during the early stages of Egyptian civilization.

Keywords

EN

Tell el-Farkha necropolis; Protodynastic and Early Dynastic graves; burial rituals

• Publisher: Księgarnia Akademicka
• Journal: Studies in Ancient Art and Civilization
• Year: 2012
• Volume: 16
• Pages: 39-48

Contributors

author

Joanna Dębowska-Ludwin

• Jagiellonian University

References

• Adams B. 2000. Excavations in the Locality 6 Cemetery at Hierakonpolis 1979-1985. (BAR-IS 903). London.
• Boessneck J., Driesch A. von den and Eissa A. 1992. Eine Eselsbestattung der 1. Dynastie in Abusir. MDAIK 48, 1-10.
• Chłodnicki M., Ciałowicz K. M. and Mączyńska A. (eds) 2012. Tell el-Farkha 1. Excavations 1998-2011. Poznań, Krakow.
• Daressy G. 1905. Un édifice archaïque à Nezlet Batran. ASAE 6, 99-106.
• Dębowska-Ludwin J. 2011. Sepulchral architecture in detail: new data from Tell el-Farkha. In R. F. Friedman and P. N. Fiske (eds), Egypt at its Origins 3. Proceedings of the Third International Conference ‘Origin of the State. Predynastic and Early Dynastic Egypt’, London, 27th July-1st August 2008, 257-268. (Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta 205). Leuven.
• Dębowska-Ludwin J., Jucha M. A., Pryc G. and Kołodziejczyk P. 2010. Tell el-Farkha (2009 season): grave no. 100. SAAC 14, 23-42.
• Emery W. B. 1938. Excavations at Saqqara. The Tomb of Hemaka. Cairo.
• Emery W. B. 1939. Excavations at Saqqara 1937-1938. Hor-Aha. Cairo.
• Emery W. B. 1949. Excavations at Saqqara. Great Tombs of the First Dynasty 1. Cairo.
• Emery W. B. 1954. Excavations at Sakkara. Great Tombs of the First Dynasty 2. (EES 46). London.
• Emery W. B. 1958. Excavations at Sakkara. Great Tombs of the First Dynasty 3. (EES 47). London.
• Jeffreys D. 1999. Helwan. In K. A. Bard (ed.), Encyclopedia of the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt, 367-368. London, New York.
• Junker H. 1912. Bericht über die Grabungen des Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften in Wien auf dem Friedhof in Turah. Winter 1909-1910. Vienna.
• Klasens A. 1960. The excavations of the Leiden Museum of Antiquities at Abu-Roash. Report of the third season: 1959, part 2. OMRO 41, 108-128.
• Kołodziejczyk P. 2009. Tell el-Farkha 2006. Granary models. SAAC 13, 49-54.
• Kroeper K. and Wildung D. 1985. Minshat Abu Omar. Münchner Ostdelta Expedition. Vorbericht 1978-1984. Munich.
• Kroeper K. and Wildung D. 2000. Minshat Abu Omar 2. Ein vor- und frühgeschichtlicher Friedhof im Nildelta. Gräber 115-204. Mainz.
• Montet P. 1938. Tombeaux de la Iere et de la IV e dynasties à Abou-Roach. KÊMI 7, 11-69.
• Pawlikowski M. and Dębowska-Ludwin J. 2011. Bone material and mineralogical processes of its destruction at the site of Tell el-Farkha. SAAC 15, 37-47.
• Petrie W. M. F. 1900. Royal Tombs of the First Dynasty 1. London.
• Petrie W. M. F. 1901. Royal Tombs of the First Dynasty 2. London.
• Petrie W. M. F. 1907. Gizeh and Rifeh. (BSAE 13). London.
• Petrie W. M. F. 1914. Tarkhan 2. (BSAE 26). London.
• Petrie W. M. F. 1925. Tombs of the Courtiers and Oxyrhinkhos. (BSAE 37). London.
• Petrie W. M. F., Wainwright G. A. and Gardiner A. H. 1913. Tarkhan 1 and Memphis 5. (BSAE 23). London.
• Quibell J. E. 1923. Excavations at Saqqara (1912-1914). Archaic Mastabas. Cairo.
• Radwan A. 1991. Ein Treppengrab der 1. Dynastie aus Abusir. MDAIK 47, 305-308.
• Radwan A. 1995. Recent excavations of the Cairo University at Abusir „A cemetery of the 1st Dynasty”. In D. Kessler and R. Schulz (eds), Gedenkschrift für Winfried Barta, 311-314. Frankfurt.
• Radwan A. 2000. Mastaba XVII at Abusir (First Dynasty) preliminary results and general remarks. In M. Bárta and J. Krejčí (eds), Abusir and Saqqara in the Year 2000, 509-514. (Archiv Orientalni Supplementa 9). Prague.
• R adwan A. 2003. Some remarks concerning the superstructure of some mastabas at Abusir. In Z. Hawass (ed.), Egyptology at the Dawn of the Twenty-first Century. Proceedings of the Eighth International Congress of Egyptologists, Cairo 2000. 1. Archaeology, 377-379. Cairo, New York.
• Saad Z. Y. 1969. The Excavations at Helwan. Art and Civilization in the First and Second Dynasties. Norman OK.
• Vandrier J. 1952. Manuel d’archéologie égyptienne 1. Les époques de formation 1: La préhistoire. Paris.