Wednesday, 6 January 2010
Tomb of Amenhotep I
I have recently attended a lecture by David Rohl called ‘In search of the lost tomb of pharaoh Amenhotep I’. I am going to give an overview of the lecture in this topic and while I can’t write down everything he said I will try to cover as much of the basics as I can.
He started the lecture with the classic argument of who founded the valley of the kings, the two contenders being Amenhotep I and Thuthmose I although he did say possibly Ahmose but reckoned he was buried somewhere else.
First David looked at the evidence of why Thuthmose I is considered the founder of the valley and explains that there is (was) a wall around the 18th dynasty part of the workman’s village and Deir el-Medina with Thuthmose I cartouche stamped onto it.
It was thought this meant that Thuthmose built the village therefore founded the valley.
David explained that Thuthmose could of just built the wall around the already existing village.
He then talks about the tomb of Thuthmose I and which one was his original tomb.
It is believed that KV 38 was Thuthmose I tomb but Hatshepsut later had him removed to her tomb in KV 20 and later Thuthmose III had him removed back.
Yet David suggested that KV 20 was his original tomb and it was Tuthmose III that had KV 38 made for him.
The reason for this is the similarity in style of tomb; while Thuthmose III tomb is bigger they both have the cartouche shape burial chamber with the sarcophagus at the back.
I have found the same sort of plans for both tombs as David used so you can compare, the first picture is Thuthmose I.
http://www.narmer.pl/kv/im
http://www.narmer.pl/kv/ima/kv34_map.gif
David says perhaps Hatshepsut extended Thuthmose I tomb (KV 20) and had herself buried there. If you look on the plan of KV 20 below you will see a point where it says E, this he suggests could have been the end of the tomb before Hatshepsut finished her bit.
http://www.narmer.pl/kv/ima/kv20_iso.gif
Now as you probably know Hatshepsuts tomb is on the other side of the mountain behind her temple (sorry couldn't find a picture to show you) and have most likely heard it is that reason she had her tomb built there, yet David said that there is a shrine to Thuthmose I in Hatshepsuts temple and wondered if construction of the temple had actually not begun with him and later finished by Hatshepsut.
David then went on to talk about Thuthmose III erasing her name from the temple and replacing it with Thuthmose I, which suggests it was his temple to start with.
A inscription of the tomb of Thuthmose I is mentioned by his architect Ineni, which dose cause some trouble for David’s theory Ineni mentions that he supervised the plastering of the tomb and there is no evidence that KV 20 was plastered although it is too badly damaged to be a hundred percent certain it never was.
He now concentrates his search for the tomb of Amenhotep I and looks at Papyrus Abbott, which tells us the location of the tomb.
Papyrus Abbot gives details of an investigation during the reign of the pharaoh Ramesses IX into tomb robberies that occurred and on this papyrus it says (if it is not exactly correct I was trying to write and listen at the same time but I am sure its close enough) the tomb of Amenhotep I is 120 cubits down from its ahay on the high track north of (the temple) house of Amenhotep the garden.
David explained Amenhotep I had three temples House of Amenhotep the garden, House of Amenhotep of the court and the temple of Djeserkare on the West of Thebes.
So in a process of elimination he starts to find the location of the House of Amenhotep of the garden starting with the temple of Djeserkare on the West of Thebes, which he suggests is the temple at Deir el-bahri that has been destroyed and which Hatshepsut built over with her temple. .
The remains of a wall which surrounded his temple can be seen today disappearing under Hatshepsuts temple.
Just out of interest we are told when we go to Egypt that the holly of hollies in Hatshepsuts temple lines up exactly with Karnak; but when David put a straight line from the holy of hollies it didn’t, but using the remains of the temple wall of Amenhotep I to work out the direction the temple was facing he noticed that this temple did follow a straight line to Karnak.
He then looked at the next temple the House of Amenhotep of the court, which is also mentioned in papyrus Abbott.
The papyrus reads; the pyramid of the king, the son of Re, Nubkheperre Intef VII, which is on the north of the "House-of-Amenhotep of-the-Court.
Fortunately in 2001 Daniel Polz, the deputy director of the German Archaeological Institute, rediscovered his tomb and it is north of a ruined temple belonging to Amenhotep I.
David pulled up a plan of the temple and using the remains that were found he was able to reconstruct the shape of the temple; what was most noticeable was that no remains had been found in the middle suggesting that it had a large court in the centre of the temple.
Given the clear evidence for a large court David concludes that this was the temple the House of Amenhotep of the court.
So with two temples down he now moves on to the temple House of Amenhotep the garden, which he suggests was at Deir el-Medina.
This ruined temple at Deir el-Medina has been built over by a Ptolemaic temple but the holy of hollies can still be found inside.
Amenhotep I had been the local deity of the village and since he had a temple there David thinks this gives good evidence to suggest that Amenhotep I founded the village and the valley of the kings.
There was also a festival where a statue of Amenhotep I was taken from the Deir el-Medina temple to the way station half way between the workers village and the valley.
With evidence of terraces around the temple that once would of contained beautiful gardens David suggests that this was House of Amenhotep the garden.
With the temple House of Amenhotep the garden found David then looks at the description of the tombs whereabouts from the Abbott papyrus, the tomb of Amenhotep I is 120 cubits down from its ahay on the high track north of (the temple) house of Amenhotep the garden.
He explains that the word Ahay is a difficult word to translate but could mean resting place or stopping place. The way station was thought to be where the workers rested at night during there working days and is reached by taking a high path/track so could Ahay mean ‘way station’?
The way station is north of the House of Amenhotep the garden and the tomb KV 39 is exactly 120 cubits from it, so far the evidence does seem to fit.
(I have no doubt it would be more convincing if I had pictures but I was unable to find any).
When the royal mummies were discovered in tomb DB-320 they had inscriptions on them giving details about the move from their original resting place, using the inscriptions on Ramesse II for an example David shows us what the inscription on docket A says.
‘Year 10 4 prt 17 of Siamun/Pinudjem II: Day of bringing king Usermaatre (Ramesse II) the great god out of this tomb of king Menmaatre (Seti I) that he might be taken into this high place of Inhapi which is a great place, by the prophet of Amon-Re king of the gods Ankhefenamun son of Baky, and the god’s father of Amon-Re king of the gods, third prophet of Khonsemwast-Neferhotep, scribe of offerings of the house of Amon-Re king of the gods, priest of the temple of king Usermaatre in the house of Amun, general of Tasetmerydjehuty, scribe of the chief agent Nespakashuty son of Bakenkhons. Afterwards Mut, the one having authority over the great place said: That which was in good condition in my care, there has been no injury to it in the bringing out from the tomb in which they were in order to take them into this high place of Inhapi which is a great place (royal tomb?) and in which Amenhotep I rests’.
What the docket basically says is that Ramesse II (who for some reason was in Seti I tomb) is now being moved into the tomb of Inhapi where Amenhotep I rests, which gives the impression that Amenhotep I has always rested there.
David said that Inhapi may have been Amenhotep I grandmother although no evidence is available to support this.
So why is Amenhotep I sharing a tomb with queen Inhapi? If you look on the picture below of KV 39 it may become clear that he isn’t exactly.
(Sorry its not the best picture but best I could find.)
http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/kv392.jpg
The bit on the plan marked eastern corridor David believes had to have been made first and was the tomb of queen Inhapi and the part that says chamber with pit was the tomb of Amenhotep I.
So what you are basically looking at here is two tombs for the price of one.
David explained that kings had tombs stairways at the entrance; while queens were buried in shaft tombs. Unfortunately I don’t have a picture of the entrance to KV39 but it looks like it may have once been a shaft tomb but there are also remains of stairs suggesting that when Amenhotep I moved in it was converted.
David said that KV 39 can be ‘identified’ as the tomb of Inhapi; where Ramesse and friends were briefly moved due to a number of objects found in the tomb with names of different pharaohs on.
We have labels from Thuthmose I and II, Amenhotep II, a gold ring of Thuthmose III and there are also two dockets with Amenhotep I name on.
Others may agree that KV 39 was Amenhotep I tomb but perhaps not that it once also contained queen Inhapi.
David then looks at docket B on Ramesse II that says:
‘Year 10 4 prt 20 of Pinudjem II: Day of taking the god into his place in order to rest in the mansion of eternity in which Amenhotep I is (now), by the god’s father of Amun, overseer of the treasury Djedkhonsiufankh; the god’s father of Amun, his third prophet Iufenamun son of Nespakashuty; the god’s father of Amun Wennufer son of Mentemwast; the god’s father of Amun.’
The docket basically says Ramesse II is moved again a couple of days later to a tomb where Amenhotep I now is.
So it seems clear that Amenhotep I was removed from his resting place along with everyone else to tomb DB-320 but why move the rest to KV 39 in the first place to only move them again a few days later?
David answers this question with two possible answers, which could either be used on their own or together.
First, the distance from the valley to tomb DB-320 is quite long and think of what they would be carrying, KV 39 is around half way and would make a good place to rest.
Second, the same officials that are described on docket B on Ramesse II buried the high priest of Amun Pinudjem on the same date. David suggested that they used Pinudjem’s burial as cover to move all the mummies into DB-320 without anyone realising, as far as the rest of the world was concerned they were just burying Pinudjem.
(If anyone else went to David’s talk either at Manchester or Chesterfield and wants to add anything I have left out or correct an error that I may of made please do so, I tried to take as many notes as possible but it was very dark so some of my notes looked like bad hieroglyphs. So using my scruffy notes and memory I have tried to cover as much of the talk as possible.
He started the lecture with the classic argument of who founded the valley of the kings, the two contenders being Amenhotep I and Thuthmose I although he did say possibly Ahmose but reckoned he was buried somewhere else.
First David looked at the evidence of why Thuthmose I is considered the founder of the valley and explains that there is (was) a wall around the 18th dynasty part of the workman’s village and Deir el-Medina with Thuthmose I cartouche stamped onto it.
It was thought this meant that Thuthmose built the village therefore founded the valley.
David explained that Thuthmose could of just built the wall around the already existing village.
He then talks about the tomb of Thuthmose I and which one was his original tomb.
It is believed that KV 38 was Thuthmose I tomb but Hatshepsut later had him removed to her tomb in KV 20 and later Thuthmose III had him removed back.
Yet David suggested that KV 20 was his original tomb and it was Tuthmose III that had KV 38 made for him.
The reason for this is the similarity in style of tomb; while Thuthmose III tomb is bigger they both have the cartouche shape burial chamber with the sarcophagus at the back.
I have found the same sort of plans for both tombs as David used so you can compare, the first picture is Thuthmose I.
http://www.narmer.pl/kv/im
http://www.narmer.pl/kv/im
David says perhaps Hatshepsut extended Thuthmose I tomb (KV 20) and had herself buried there. If you look on the plan of KV 20 below you will see a point where it says E, this he suggests could have been the end of the tomb before Hatshepsut finished her bit.
http://www.narmer.pl/kv/im
Now as you probably know Hatshepsuts tomb is on the other side of the mountain behind her temple (sorry couldn't find a picture to show you) and have most likely heard it is that reason she had her tomb built there, yet David said that there is a shrine to Thuthmose I in Hatshepsuts temple and wondered if construction of the temple had actually not begun with him and later finished by Hatshepsut.
David then went on to talk about Thuthmose III erasing her name from the temple and replacing it with Thuthmose I, which suggests it was his temple to start with.
A inscription of the tomb of Thuthmose I is mentioned by his architect Ineni, which dose cause some trouble for David’s theory Ineni mentions that he supervised the plastering of the tomb and there is no evidence that KV 20 was plastered although it is too badly damaged to be a hundred percent certain it never was.
He now concentrates his search for the tomb of Amenhotep I and looks at Papyrus Abbott, which tells us the location of the tomb.
Papyrus Abbot gives details of an investigation during the reign of the pharaoh Ramesses IX into tomb robberies that occurred and on this papyrus it says (if it is not exactly correct I was trying to write and listen at the same time but I am sure its close enough) the tomb of Amenhotep I is 120 cubits down from its ahay on the high track north of (the temple) house of Amenhotep the garden.
David explained Amenhotep I had three temples House of Amenhotep the garden, House of Amenhotep of the court and the temple of Djeserkare on the West of Thebes.
So in a process of elimination he starts to find the location of the House of Amenhotep of the garden starting with the temple of Djeserkare on the West of Thebes, which he suggests is the temple at Deir el-bahri that has been destroyed and which Hatshepsut built over with her temple. .
The remains of a wall which surrounded his temple can be seen today disappearing under Hatshepsuts temple.
Just out of interest we are told when we go to Egypt that the holly of hollies in Hatshepsuts temple lines up exactly with Karnak; but when David put a straight line from the holy of hollies it didn’t, but using the remains of the temple wall of Amenhotep I to work out the direction the temple was facing he noticed that this temple did follow a straight line to Karnak.
He then looked at the next temple the House of Amenhotep of the court, which is also mentioned in papyrus Abbott.
The papyrus reads; the pyramid of the king, the son of Re, Nubkheperre Intef VII, which is on the north of the "House-of-Amenhotep of-the-Court.
Fortunately in 2001 Daniel Polz, the deputy director of the German Archaeological Institute, rediscovered his tomb and it is north of a ruined temple belonging to Amenhotep I.
David pulled up a plan of the temple and using the remains that were found he was able to reconstruct the shape of the temple; what was most noticeable was that no remains had been found in the middle suggesting that it had a large court in the centre of the temple.
Given the clear evidence for a large court David concludes that this was the temple the House of Amenhotep of the court.
So with two temples down he now moves on to the temple House of Amenhotep the garden, which he suggests was at Deir el-Medina.
This ruined temple at Deir el-Medina has been built over by a Ptolemaic temple but the holy of hollies can still be found inside.
Amenhotep I had been the local deity of the village and since he had a temple there David thinks this gives good evidence to suggest that Amenhotep I founded the village and the valley of the kings.
There was also a festival where a statue of Amenhotep I was taken from the Deir el-Medina temple to the way station half way between the workers village and the valley.
With evidence of terraces around the temple that once would of contained beautiful gardens David suggests that this was House of Amenhotep the garden.
With the temple House of Amenhotep the garden found David then looks at the description of the tombs whereabouts from the Abbott papyrus, the tomb of Amenhotep I is 120 cubits down from its ahay on the high track north of (the temple) house of Amenhotep the garden.
He explains that the word Ahay is a difficult word to translate but could mean resting place or stopping place. The way station was thought to be where the workers rested at night during there working days and is reached by taking a high path/track so could Ahay mean ‘way station’?
The way station is north of the House of Amenhotep the garden and the tomb KV 39 is exactly 120 cubits from it, so far the evidence does seem to fit.
(I have no doubt it would be more convincing if I had pictures but I was unable to find any).
When the royal mummies were discovered in tomb DB-320 they had inscriptions on them giving details about the move from their original resting place, using the inscriptions on Ramesse II for an example David shows us what the inscription on docket A says.
‘Year 10 4 prt 17 of Siamun/Pinudjem II: Day of bringing king Usermaatre (Ramesse II) the great god out of this tomb of king Menmaatre (Seti I) that he might be taken into this high place of Inhapi which is a great place, by the prophet of Amon-Re king of the gods Ankhefenamun son of Baky, and the god’s father of Amon-Re king of the gods, third prophet of Khonsemwast-Neferhotep, scribe of offerings of the house of Amon-Re king of the gods, priest of the temple of king Usermaatre in the house of Amun, general of Tasetmerydjehuty, scribe of the chief agent Nespakashuty son of Bakenkhons. Afterwards Mut, the one having authority over the great place said: That which was in good condition in my care, there has been no injury to it in the bringing out from the tomb in which they were in order to take them into this high place of Inhapi which is a great place (royal tomb?) and in which Amenhotep I rests’.
What the docket basically says is that Ramesse II (who for some reason was in Seti I tomb) is now being moved into the tomb of Inhapi where Amenhotep I rests, which gives the impression that Amenhotep I has always rested there.
David said that Inhapi may have been Amenhotep I grandmother although no evidence is available to support this.
So why is Amenhotep I sharing a tomb with queen Inhapi? If you look on the picture below of KV 39 it may become clear that he isn’t exactly.
(Sorry its not the best picture but best I could find.)
http://www.touregypt.net/f
The bit on the plan marked eastern corridor David believes had to have been made first and was the tomb of queen Inhapi and the part that says chamber with pit was the tomb of Amenhotep I.
So what you are basically looking at here is two tombs for the price of one.
David explained that kings had tombs stairways at the entrance; while queens were buried in shaft tombs. Unfortunately I don’t have a picture of the entrance to KV39 but it looks like it may have once been a shaft tomb but there are also remains of stairs suggesting that when Amenhotep I moved in it was converted.
David said that KV 39 can be ‘identified’ as the tomb of Inhapi; where Ramesse and friends were briefly moved due to a number of objects found in the tomb with names of different pharaohs on.
We have labels from Thuthmose I and II, Amenhotep II, a gold ring of Thuthmose III and there are also two dockets with Amenhotep I name on.
Others may agree that KV 39 was Amenhotep I tomb but perhaps not that it once also contained queen Inhapi.
David then looks at docket B on Ramesse II that says:
‘Year 10 4 prt 20 of Pinudjem II: Day of taking the god into his place in order to rest in the mansion of eternity in which Amenhotep I is (now), by the god’s father of Amun, overseer of the treasury Djedkhonsiufankh; the god’s father of Amun, his third prophet Iufenamun son of Nespakashuty; the god’s father of Amun Wennufer son of Mentemwast; the god’s father of Amun.’
The docket basically says Ramesse II is moved again a couple of days later to a tomb where Amenhotep I now is.
So it seems clear that Amenhotep I was removed from his resting place along with everyone else to tomb DB-320 but why move the rest to KV 39 in the first place to only move them again a few days later?
David answers this question with two possible answers, which could either be used on their own or together.
First, the distance from the valley to tomb DB-320 is quite long and think of what they would be carrying, KV 39 is around half way and would make a good place to rest.
Second, the same officials that are described on docket B on Ramesse II buried the high priest of Amun Pinudjem on the same date. David suggested that they used Pinudjem’s burial as cover to move all the mummies into DB-320 without anyone realising, as far as the rest of the world was concerned they were just burying Pinudjem.
(If anyone else went to David’s talk either at Manchester or Chesterfield and wants to add anything I have left out or correct an error that I may of made please do so, I tried to take as many notes as possible but it was very dark so some of my notes looked like bad hieroglyphs. So using my scruffy notes and memory I have tried to cover as much of the talk as possible.
Thursday, 15 October 2009
Sex in ancient Egypt
I was at a lecture in 2008 by Karen Exell, who is the curator of the Egyptian and the Sudan collections at Manchester museum (U.K).
She gave a talk on art and sex in ancient Egypt, which was a good and fun talk, and it is that reason I started this topic to look at some of the thing's she spoke about.
She started with Hathor and things associated with birth and rebirth that can be seen through the major festivals celebrating her cult. She then went on to look at some of the things that maybe had a sexual meaning, which I have included below.
She showed us some pictures of ladies wearing wigs and explained how having big hair were seen as way to show one’s attractiveness. She quoted a saying from ancient Egypt from a lady who would not make love to her husband until she had her wig on.
We were shown some of the paintings from the tomb chapel of Nebamun, now in the British museum as an example of the symbolic sexual meaning.
First the fishing and fowling scene which can also be seen in other tombs, are depictions of rebirth, procreation and impregnation. The tilapea fish, which is often seen, was venerated as it raised it’s young in its mouth.
Then we looked at the banquet scene, have you noticed how there is not much food about however there is lot’s of beer and wine, are there are semi-naked girls with big hairdos and notice people sniffing the mandrake fruit or the lotus flower.The Lotus flower is an emblem of cyclical regeneration; it is also thought to be a narcotic when it is mixed in to drink. If you look above the heads of the girls you will often see a lotus, this could mean they were under the influence.
The mandrake fruit was also a narcotic if you sniffed the root and like the lotus these could be symbolic meanings for loosen inhibitions.
Other sexual references in ancient Egypt that weren't on the lecture were...
In the Ashmolean museum in Oxford is a Min colossi which was excavated by Petrie 1820 from Koptos.
There appears to have bean multiple examples of these Min statues at Koptos, which could mean that they marked the boundary between the scared temple and the town itself.
In one hand Min holds an erect phallus and in the other a flail; indicative of separating the 'wheat from the chaff' - of agricultural fertility.
Any one who wishes to see the Min colossi at Oxford should know that they removed the penis due to the large amount of visitors who for some reason touch it, as far as I know they have not put it back on the statue.
In the myth of Osiris, Osiris gets his penis eaten by a fish, but at Abydos in the chapel of Sokar there are wall reliefs suggesting that Horus had not been born before the death of Oisris.One wall relief shows Osiris lying on an embalming table and manually stimulating his penis and on another wall we see Isis has a sparrowhawk hovering over Osiris's penis so he could impregnate her.
She gave a talk on art and sex in ancient Egypt, which was a good and fun talk, and it is that reason I started this topic to look at some of the thing's she spoke about.
She started with Hathor and things associated with birth and rebirth that can be seen through the major festivals celebrating her cult. She then went on to look at some of the things that maybe had a sexual meaning, which I have included below.
She showed us some pictures of ladies wearing wigs and explained how having big hair were seen as way to show one’s attractiveness. She quoted a saying from ancient Egypt from a lady who would not make love to her husband until she had her wig on.
We were shown some of the paintings from the tomb chapel of Nebamun, now in the British museum as an example of the symbolic sexual meaning.
First the fishing and fowling scene which can also be seen in other tombs, are depictions of rebirth, procreation and impregnation. The tilapea fish, which is often seen, was venerated as it raised it’s young in its mouth.
Then we looked at the banquet scene, have you noticed how there is not much food about however there is lot’s of beer and wine, are there are semi-naked girls with big hairdos and notice people sniffing the mandrake fruit or the lotus flower.The Lotus flower is an emblem of cyclical regeneration; it is also thought to be a narcotic when it is mixed in to drink. If you look above the heads of the girls you will often see a lotus, this could mean they were under the influence.
The mandrake fruit was also a narcotic if you sniffed the root and like the lotus these could be symbolic meanings for loosen inhibitions.
Other sexual references in ancient Egypt that weren't on the lecture were...
In the Ashmolean museum in Oxford is a Min colossi which was excavated by Petrie 1820 from Koptos.
There appears to have bean multiple examples of these Min statues at Koptos, which could mean that they marked the boundary between the scared temple and the town itself.
In one hand Min holds an erect phallus and in the other a flail; indicative of separating the 'wheat from the chaff' - of agricultural fertility.
Any one who wishes to see the Min colossi at Oxford should know that they removed the penis due to the large amount of visitors who for some reason touch it, as far as I know they have not put it back on the statue.
In the myth of Osiris, Osiris gets his penis eaten by a fish, but at Abydos in the chapel of Sokar there are wall reliefs suggesting that Horus had not been born before the death of Oisris.One wall relief shows Osiris lying on an embalming table and manually stimulating his penis and on another wall we see Isis has a sparrowhawk hovering over Osiris's penis so he could impregnate her.
Medicine and Magic
The ancient Egyptians believed that to be cured from an illness you needed medicine and magic. There is an example somewhere of somebody with a runny nose who took his medicine and said in the name of Ptah runny nose go away.
The ancient Egyptians had some funny ways of curing illness but the best one I have ever heard is, if you went to the doctor with a migraine he would sit you down and ask what side your migraine was on. When you told him what side it was, the doctor would then hit you on the other side with a dead fish. Did it work? You try it and let me know.
They also had a pregnancy test, they would insert garlic into a woman's body and if they could smell garlic a week later it meant she was pregnant.You are also free to try that to see if it is true.
There was even away to find out if a woman was having a boy or a girl, they would get the woman to urinate on two different types of grain, a masculine and a feminine. Which ever one grew quicker was the answer to the question.
I have heard that they were also right about 80% of the time but I am not sure if that is true or not.
The ancient Egyptians had some funny ways of curing illness but the best one I have ever heard is, if you went to the doctor with a migraine he would sit you down and ask what side your migraine was on. When you told him what side it was, the doctor would then hit you on the other side with a dead fish. Did it work? You try it and let me know.
They also had a pregnancy test, they would insert garlic into a woman's body and if they could smell garlic a week later it meant she was pregnant.You are also free to try that to see if it is true.
There was even away to find out if a woman was having a boy or a girl, they would get the woman to urinate on two different types of grain, a masculine and a feminine. Which ever one grew quicker was the answer to the question.
I have heard that they were also right about 80% of the time but I am not sure if that is true or not.
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