Volume 6 Number3, Winter 1995
THf,OSTRASONJ
EGYPTIAN STUDY S OC IETY @ DHNHr9o9
COMMITTEE PUBLICATIONS FrankPettee Judy Greenfield Mary Pratchett Sandy Kerns CherylPreyer David Pepper J ill Tay lor
IN THIS ISSUE ARTICLE PAGE 1 The OldestPavedRoad 5
ESS STAFF LIAISON Dr. Robert Pickering
THE OSTRACOIVis published three times per year by members of the Egyptian Study Society. The ESS, a support group of the DENVERMUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY,is a non-profit organization whose purpose is to study ancient Egypt. Articles are contributed by members on a voluntary basis' Member participation is encouraged. Nothing may be printed in whole or in part without written permission. @19 95Egy pt ian St udY Soc iet y Publication of THE OSTRACON is supported by a grant from THE PETTY FOUNDATION
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by ThomasBown & JamesHarrell The lmpact of GeograPhY by Tim Pepper Tau, An Egyptian Board Game by GraemeDavis Lecture Notes: Egypt & Mesopotamia ln Search of a RoYal Tomb Egyptian Sacred Art Brewers, Bakers,and Builders The Flood Protection Plan Deir el Bahri and Temple of Mentuhotep House of Scrolls by Stuartweir
THE OLDESTPAVED ROAD EGYPT FAIYUM DEPRESSION, By Thomas M. Bown and James A. Harrell Ahout the Authors: Thomas Bown grew up in lowa and graduated from lowa State University where he studied earth science and ancient history. Bown received his Ph.D. in geology at the University of Wyoming in 1977. He served as expedition geologist for the Duke University/
Thirteen segments of an ancient stone-paved road are preservedin the desert of the northern F a iy u mDe p re s s io no f E g y p t . A lt h ou g h p a r t o f t h e ro a d wa s k n o wn a s e a rly a s 1 9 0 5 , i t h a s been largely ignored since then and its . hisarticle h a s g o n e u n re c o g n iz e d T s ig n if ic a n c e p r eservation, d is t rib u t io n , t h e focuses on c o n s t ru c t io n ,u s e , a n d a n t iq u it y o f t h e r o a d . More detailedtreatment of these topics, as well , u a rry me n ' sc a m p , q u a y , a s t h e b a s a ltq u a rrie s q and other associated sites, is presented e ls e wh e re(Ha rre lla n d B o wn ).
Cairo Geological Museum Paleontological to the Expeditions Depression Faiyum for l4 years, and has research projects in Utah, Egypt, Wyoming, Ethiopia, Argentina, and Uruguay. He is now employed at the U.S. Geological Denver Survey in he /s a where specialist in mammal evolution, paleosols, and trace fossils of social insects. /s Harrell James from originally California southern where he earned his B.A. in earth scifrom Calences
Figur e 1. Loc at ion of t h e p a v e d a n c i e n t q u a r r y r o a d i n t h e F a i y u m Pr ov inc e of Egy pt . The d e s t i n a t i o n o f t h e r o a d w a s t h e q u a y , s o u t h of the Qasr el Sagha escarpment, which formerly lay on the north s hor e of anc ient Lak e M o e r i s .
ifornia State University in Fullerton. He went on to receive his M.S. in geology at the University of Oklahomaand, in | 983, his Ph.D. in geology at the University of Cincinnati. Since then he has been a geology professor at the University of Toledo specializing in sedimentary petrology, archeological geology, geologic hazards, and geostatistics. For the last six Yearshe has been doing field research in Egypt on the sources and varieties of stone used in ancient Egyptian sculpturesand monuments. l Ed . Not e: 1 k m = 0. 6 m i . 1 c m : 0. 4 i n .
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= 3 .3 ft. 1m 1 k g = 2 .2 l b s .l
Earlier Investigations: pioneer In 1905, Faiyum geologist, H. J. L. Beadnell,recorded the approximate position of a 4.2 kilo"ancient meter-long quarry road" on a map accompanylng his reoort on the geology of the Faiyum Egypt Province of (Fig. 1, segments 35). His text made no mention of the road, but it is clear from the designation on his map that Beadnell presumed that it led to then undiscovered quarries in basalt el Gebel capping high the Oatrani, escarpment bordering
t h e n o rt h e rnp a rt o f t h e F a iy u mDe p r e s s i o n .I n c la s s ics t u d ie so f t h e p re h is t o rya n d g e o l o g yo f t h e n o rt h e rn F a iy u m, Ca t o n -T h o m p s o na n d G a rd n e ra d d e d a n o t h e r 0 . 6 k m t o t h e k n o w n le n g t ho f t h e ro a d { F ig . 1 , s e g me n t2) , a l t h o u g h t h e b e a rin ga n d lo c a t io no f t h is ro a d se g m e n to n t h e ir ma p d e p a rt s s ig n if ic a n t lyf rom i t s t r u e c o u rs e . T h e y s u g g e s t e dt h a t t h e o b j e c t i v eo f t h e a n c ie n t b a s a lt wo rk e rs wa s n o t q u a r r y i n g , b u t ra t h e rc o lle c t in glo o s eb lo c k so f ba s a l tf o u n d o n t h e s c re e s lo p e s o f G e b e l e l O a t r a n i . A lt h o u g h Ca t o n -T h o mp s o na n d G a r d n e rb r i e f l y d e s c rib e dt h e ro a d , n e it h e r t h e y no r B e a d n e l l we re a wa re o f it s t ru e a g e , a n d a s lat e a s 1 9 9 1 t h e ro a d wa s t h o u g h t t o b e a Mid d l e K i n g d o m Winter1995
construction because of its close geographic associ ation with the 12'h Dynasty Oasr el Sagha temple (Kemp, Arnold). New Discoveries: During reconnaissance geologic fieldwork on Gebel el Oatrani in 1987 by Bown, two new paved road segments and the smaller basalt quarry (with about 1 ,2OO cubic meters of rock removed) were discovered (Fig. 2l,. Seven additional paved road segments, one unpaved segment, the larger (east) basalt quarry (with more than 4O,OO0 cubic meters of rock removed), and the remains of the quarrymen's camp were located by Harrell and Bown in 1993. The new additions to the quarry road {the f irst since the study of Caton-Thompson and Gardner) collectively total more than 1.4 paved km of reaches and at least O.2B km of unpaved roao.
larger rock fragments have been swept to the side. From the basalt quarries to the quay on Lake Moeris over nine km away, the road descends 140 m in elevation but locally rises in elevation as it passes across the northwest-dipping (at up to 4') cuesta slopes of the el Ekhwat el Talata and Oasr el Sagha escarpments. Construction: The volume of paving material used in building the road is about 8,000-8,500 cubic meters. Combined with the total amount of basalt removed f rom both quarries (about 41,2OO cubic meters), the road construction and the operation of the quarries resulted in the acquisition and transportation of approximtely 50,000 cubic meters (about 1 .5 x 108 kilogams) of rock.
Distribution and Preservation: The ancient road trends northwest, between 32O" and 350". lt has a cumulative length of about 11 .7 km and spans the shortest d istance
The type of mat erial used in road constructron was determined by the closest outcrop of suitable rock. In areas close Figure 2. Detail of the Gebel el oatrani escarpment showing the branches of road to Gebel el se gm ent ' l , t he wes t and eas t ba s a l t q u a r r i e s , a n d t h e q u a r r y m e n 's c a m p d i s c o v e r e d Oatrani, this by t he aut hor s bet ween 1987- 19 9 3 . was basalt betweenthe basalt outcrop on Gebel el Oatrani taken from scree slopes or desert outwash flats. an d t h e n o r the r nshore of ancient Lake Moe ris . Farther away f rom the escarpment, slabs of T h i s l en g th i ncludes 13 segments (Fig . 1 calcite-cemented sandstone and coouinoid se g m en ts2 - 5 ; Fig . 2; segments1a-1i)in w h ic h limestone were pulled up and carried to the road 4 . 4 7 k m of p a ve m entis preserved;one O.28 k m site (sometimes from distances of more than a ( Fi g. s e g men t 2; 1j) that was never paved; a n d kilometer). Logs of silicified wood are common s e v e r ali nter ve n in gstretchesof about 6.77 k m locally where the road passes over upper Eocene wh e r e th e r o a d h a s been obliteratedby eros io n rocks on the cuesta below the el Ekhwat el ( F i g s . 1&2) . O f the paved segments (Fig . 3 ), Talata Escarpment (Bown and Kraus), and this s e v e n ( 0 .87 km ) w ere surfacedwith fragme n t s material was used for about 70 m of road o f b a sa lt, a n d si x (3.6 km) were paved w it h segment 3 (Fig. 3b). The basalt pieces are s a n d s to n eor co q u inoid[consistingof cemen t e d irregularfragments with maximum dim ensionsof (Figs. c o a r s eshe llde sig nsllimestoneflags 1 -3 ). about 25-50 cm. Sandstone slabs about 5-20 Th e u np a ve dse g ment (Fig. 2) is a simple p a t h , cm thick and O.3-1.0 m in diameter were orefer2. O - 2 . 2 m wid e , from which all pebbles a n d red in building the flagstone portion of the road.
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The best preservedparts of the road surface h a v e a r em a r ka b lyuniform width of 2'0-2' 2 m Q J m : 4 a n cient E gyptian cubits). Ro c k
possibility that the s le d g e s we re P u l l e d o v e r wooden planks that were laid across the road and advanced with t h e s le d g e . A s i m i l a rt e c h -
pieces were laid tightlY together in one laYer on the natural sandY surface of the desert without benefit of a roadbed. Larger slabs of rock were to generally utilized border the margins of the road, and these were placed with a straight edge to the outside to maintain parallel road Almargins (Fig.3a). though it appear s that Figure 3a. Section of well-preservedflagstone road some effort was made to along the southernpart of road segment 19, just south Note the of the quarrymen's camp (Fig. 2l' seek out and join rocks m at surveying of rcad l2'1 remarkably uniform width with more-or-less natcompassland the straightmargins' margins, urally f itting there is no evidence that any stones were shaPed prior to being set in place. Evidence is also lacking as to whether gaps between the slabs were filled with mud or other mortar. Neither is likely to have survived of millenni a several deflati on.
n iq u e wa s e mpl o Y e d f o r c o n s t ru c t io nra m P s a s s o c ia t e d wit h s o m e M i d d l e K in g d o mp y ra mi d s( K e m p ) . Wit h t h e u s e o f Pl a n k s t, h e f la g -s t o n ep a v e m e n tw o u l d s h o w n e it h e r w e a r n o r b re a k a g eb y t h e w e i g h t o f t h e la d e ns le d g e.
Mud-brick streets Age: we re in u s e in S u m e r i a n a n d I n d u s c it ie s a t l e a s t a s BCE 2500 e a rly a s (F o rb e s ); h o wev e r , c r e d i t f o r c o n s t ru c t in gt h e o l d e s t f la g s t o n e ro a d s h a s t r a d i t io n a lly b e e n g iv e n t o t h e Min o a n s (F o rbe s , P e n d l e b u ry , L " y ). T he s e p e o p l e b u ilt e x t e n s iv e n e t - w o r k s o f e x t ra -u rb a n" h i g h - w a y s " c o n n e c t in g s e ve r a l c r e t a n t o wn s a n d p o r t s ; a n d a s o p h is t ic a t e d p a v e d r o a d o f d re s s e ds t o n e s s u r v t v e s n e a r t h e ir c a p i t a l o f Knossos. At the earliest, t h e Min o a n roa d i s c o n t e mp o ra n e o u s w i t h t h e E g y p t ia n 1 1 ' n D y n a s t y Use: The ancient road (a b o u t 2 O 4 O -1 6 4 0 B C E ) . was clearly built to facilI t a p p e a rst o b e o f a b o u t itate the transport of t h e s a me a n t iqu i t y a s t h e basalt from the quarries My c e n a e a np o l y g o n a ls l a b to a basalt-surfacedquay ro a d s o n S k yr o s ( a b o u t on Lake Moeris where 21OO to 1600 BCE; see the blocks were loaded F o rb e s , Me rd i n g e r , C a s Most of onto barges. s o n ). P o t t e ryf r a g - m e n t si n this lake has since dried t h e b a s a lt q u a r r i e sa n d o n The modern remup. by - Birket F i g u re3 b . L o g s o f si l i ci fi edw ood maki ngup about 70 m t h e q u a y d a t e t h e F a i y u m nant, now of ancient quarry road near the middle of road q u a rry ro a d t o t h e O l d Oarun, lies 65 m below s e g m e n t3 (F i g . 1). The road vari esbetw een2.Q-2.2 K in g d o m (J o n e s ) a n d and 8 km south of the m in width. View to southeast. p a rt ic u la rlyt o t he F i f t h a n d quay. The largest sur(2465-2134 BCE; Baines and Sixth Dynasties v i v i n g tr an sp o r ted block (more than 1 c u b ic Ma le k ). T h e F a iy u m ro a d is , t h e r e f o r e ,t h e m e t e ran d we ig h ingmore than 3,000 Lg) lie s o n oldest known survivingflagstone-pavedroad in t h e q uay. The p aving stones show no sign s o f t h e wo rld a n d p re d a t e s t h o s e o n C r e t e a n d g r o o vi ngo r br e a kagesuch as would be e x p e c S k y ro sb y p o s s ib lya s mu c h a s 5 O Oy e a r s ' t e d i f sl ed g e sh a d been used. This sugges t st h e Winter1995 Page 3
Merdinger, C.J. ROADS THROUGH THE AGES' Yol. 44, 1952. MilitaryEngineer,
BIBLIOGRAPHY Arnold, D. BlllLDlNG lN EGYPT. Oxford Univ Press, London,1991.
Pendlebury,J. A HANDBOOK TO THE PALACE OF MINOS. Macmillan,New York, 1933.
Baines, J. and J. Malek. ATLAS OF ANCIENT New York, 198O. EGYPT. Facts-on-File, AND GEOLOGY Beadnell,H.J.L. THE TOPOGRAPHY OF THE FAYUM PROVINCE OF EGYPT. Cairo: SurveyDepartment,19O5. Bown, T.M. and M.J. Kraus. GEOLOGYAND PALEOENVIRONMENT OF THE OLIGOCENE JEBEL AATRANI FORMATION AND ADJACENT ROCKS. U.S. Geological FAYUM DEPRESSION, EGYPT. SurveyProf.Paper,No. 1452, 1988. Casson,L. TRAVELIN THEANCIENT WORLD.:Allen & Unwin, London,1974. E. Gardiner. and Caton-Thompson, G. EXPLORATIONS IN THE NORTHERN FAYUM. Antiquity,September,1927. G. and E. Gardiner. THE DESERT Caton-Thompson, FAYUM. Royal Anthropological Institute, London, 1934. Forbes. R.J. NOTES ON THE HISTORY OF ANCIENT ROADS AND THEIR CONSTRUCTION. N.V. NoordAmsterdam,1934. Uitgevers-Mij, Hollandsche BITUMEN AND PETROLEUM IN Forbes. R.J. ANTIAWTY. E.J. Brill,Leiden,1936. Harrell,J.A. and T.M. Bown. An Old KingdomBasalt Auarry At Widan el Faras and the Auarry Road To JOURNAL Lake Moeris ln the Faiyum, Egypt. AMERICAN RESEARCH CENTER lN EGYPT, Vol. 32, in press1995. POTTERY ANALYSIS, in Harrell and Jones, M. Bown's An Old Kingdom Basalt Quarry At Widan el Faras and the Auarry Road To Lake Moeris In the Faiyum, Egypt. JOURNAL AMERICAN RESEARCH CENTERlN EGYPT,Vol. 32, in press 1995. Kemp, B.J. ANCIENT EGYPT-ANATOMY Routledge,New York, 1989. CIVILIZATIOIV.
OF A
Lay, M.G, WAYS OF THE WORLD-A HISTORY OF THE WORLD'S ROADS AND OF THE VEHICLES THAT USED THEM. Rutgers Univ. Press, New Brunswick,N.J., 1992.
W;nter 1995
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THE IMPACTOF GEOGRAPHY ON ANCIENTEGYPTIANHISTORY By Tim Pepper PePPer, a senior at About the Author: Fairview High School in Boulder, visited Egypt in l99l with the Pyramid Study Group. This article was originally written for National HistorY Day, 1994, where it placed second in the State of Colorado, and earned him a trip to Washington DC for the national competition. lt received a special recognition award from the Arab World And lslamic Resources League also wrote another article for The Ostracon, about Nile River Pollution (May, 1992). Al t h o ug h the G r eek historian Herodotus s a id Egypt was "the gift of the river," other factors, s u c h as the su r r oundingdeserts and the Nile De l t a , si gn ifi can tlyinfluencedancient E gy p t ia n
P e rio d , t h e la n d t ilt e d s lig h t ly , a ll o w i n g t h e a n c ie n t b a y t o d ra in . Un lik e t o d a y , w a t e r drainageoff the African highlandsat that time wa s n e it h e r s e a s o n a ln o r t h e o n ly s o u r c e o f moisture to the land, for Egypt still received f re q u e n tra in f a ll(B u t z e r1 9 6 4 , p . 3 O 2 ) . G ra d u a llyd, u rin gt h e Mio c e n eE p o c h( 2 4 m i l l i o n t o 5 millio ny e a rs a g o ), v e rt ic a le ro s i o no n t h e Egyptianplain, in additionto a further rise in the le v e l o f t h e la n d , f o rme d a n e n o rm o u sg o r g e , b e t we e n s ix a n d n in e mile s wide , w h i c h c o n f in e d t h e Nile t o a p p ro x ima t e lyi t s p r e s e n t c o u rs e(Mu rn a n e p, . 1 6 ). Du rin gt h e P l e i s t o c e n e (2 . 5 millio n t o 1 6 , O O Oy e a rs a g o ), m a s s e so f loose debris were deposited by the river, f o rmin g t e rra c e so n t o p o f t h e h a rde rd e p o s i t s o n t h e s id e so f t h e g o rg e (B u t z e r1 9 6 4 , p . 1 8 0 ) .
Thirty-thousandyears ago the ma in tr i b u t a r yo f t h e E g y p t ia nNile , t h e Wh it e Nile , ha d n o t y e t jo in ed w i t h t h e history and suEGYPTIANTIME FRAME B lu e N i l e o r t h e bstantially conYEARS Riv e r A t b a r a . tributed to that H IS TOR IC A L DATE BEFORE GEOL OGICAT CU LTU R A L DYNASTY the Wh il e (circal P E R IOD ERA NUMEER EPOCH PRESENT civilization's Eo ce n e N ile, 5 8 m illio n Wh it e early develop3 7 m illio n Oliq o ce n e wh ich origiment. lt will be 2 4 m illio n M io ce n e n a t es from Plio ce n e 5 m illio n that shown m illio n Ple isto ce n e 2 Ce n t r a l A f r i c a , Egypti an comc o n tr i b u t e st h e Pal eol i thi c 700,ooo merce, culture, N eol i thi c 1 0 ,o o o Holocene most constant religion, archiPredvr 6,OO0 and steady tecture, and 3 15 0 B C E A rchai c D vnasti c lo w , t h e Blue f national even ill 2 6 8 6 B C E Ol d K i nqdom Nile a n d R i v e r vtl 2 1 8 1 B C E 1st Intermedi ateP d. unity were all 2040 BCE Mi ddl e K i nqdom xll carry Atbara inf luheavily 1782 BCE 2nd lntermediate Pd. xill runoff seasonal enced by its X V III 1570 BCE N ew K i nqdom water from the 1 0 6 9 B C E 3rd Intermediate Pd. XXI geography. XXVII 5 2 5 B C E Late Period ra in s o n t h e Ethiopian pla332 BCE Greek To gauge the 30 BCE R oman teau. Between impact of geo-' AD 323 Byzantine 25 and 30 graphy on the AD 642 l sl ami c thousand years Sources:Murnane,Hoffman, WORLDBOOK of civilization ago, the chanancient Egypt, n e ls c o n n e c t in gt h e ma in Nile t o t h e E t h i o p i a n i t i s n e ce ssa r yto understandhow the la n d ' s riv e rs we re f o rme d . A s a re s u lt , t he E g y p t i a n E gypt is commo n ly to p o g r a p h y evo lved. Nile f lo o d e d a n n u a lly ,le a v in ga n e w d e p o s i to f p i c t u r e d as a dr y and sandy desert with t h e f e rt ile t o p s o il wh ic h b e c a met h e f o un d a t i o nf o r r i b b o n o f the Nile running though it, but t h is E g y p t ' s la t e r a g ric u lt u rasl u c c e s s . T h e a d d i t i o n w a s n ot alwa ys so. A s recently as 5O m illio n o f t h e a n n u a l E t h io p ia n o ro g ra p h i c [ fr o m y e a r s ag o , all o f E gypt up to modern-dayL u x o r mo u n t a in s l ru n o f f, c o u p le d wit h a c o i n c i d i n g w a s s ub m e r g e d under the waters of t h e d ro p in ra in f a ll,ma d e t h e Nile t h e p r i m e s o u r c e Me d i t e r r a n e a Se n a (Murnane,p.15). How e v e r, o f wa t e r f o r Ne o lit h icE g y p t (Mu rn a n ep, . 1 8 ) . a b o u t 4 0 m illio n years ago, during the Eo c e n e Page5
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By the beginning of the Old Kingdom (c'2686 BCE), ancient Egypt was in fundamentally the same geological state as today's modern Egypt. Since that time, the course of the Nile has gradually migrated eastward, leaving alluvial deposits on the western side of the Nile valley (Figure 1a, a cross-sectional view of the Nile Valley). fdcofirrd Nile YollcA Crcu
Ancient Egyptians called thgir countrY the Tawy , "Two Lands". While this usually referred to the dif geographic f erent uplocations of (Upper) stream Egypt and down(Lower) stream Egypt, it might also two denote the contrasting lands of RA c-INg, Kemet
Due to the prevailingwinds and the flow of the Nile, a boat could be carriedby the currentone wa y d o wn t h e Nile ,o r it c o u ld ra is ea s a i la n d b e b lo wn b y t h e win d t h e o t h e r wa y u p s t r e a m . The speed of travel along the river northwards and southwards helped to keep Egypt united u n d e r o n e g o v e rn me n t f o r a lmo s t a l l o f i t s dynastichistory - a startlingresultof the Stction N?ot Tdhto g e o g ra p h i c f e a t u r e of wind patterns.
The regularityof the in u n d a t ion , c o u p l e d wit h s u nn y , c l o u d le s s s k ie s t h a t a r e c o mmo n t h r o u g h o u t the Egyptian year, Egyptian a llo we d a g ric u lt ur et o b e r e ma rk a b lyp r o d u c t i v e , e s p e c ia l l yc o m p a r e d other ancient to c iv iliz a t i o n s( J a m e s , a . C rossS ecti on,Mi ddl eE gypt. p.251. The high "the black land", productivity of the made fertile by the la n d c a n b e s h o w n the f rom silt by the fact that f looding Nile, and d u rin g t h e R o m a n 15tnA ':f" g P e rio d , m o s t o f Deshret E " t h e r ed la n d", Ro me ' s gr a i n c a m e f ro m Eg y p t , a n d n a medfor th e co lor Ro me c a m e t o r e l y o f t h e su r r o u n ding ( Jam es, h e a v ilyon E g y p t f o r d e s e r ts p . 1 7 t'. f o o d (T i m e L i f e , Bo th the p . 7 6 ). However, N i l e V alle y an d its e v e n t h o ug ht h e N i l e e n c i r cl i ng d e se rts g e n e ra ll y f l o o d e d a nd i n fl u en ce d wit h re lia b i l i t yt,h e r e the benefited we re t im e s w h e n a n c i en tEgyp ti an s. S ecti on,N i l e D el ta b . L o ngi tudi nal t h e in u n d a t i o nw a s a lso s ig n ific a n t l y l o w e r Nile The Figure1. Riverdepositsover time in the Nile Valley (B utzer1976, P P .15& 22l ' t h a n u s u a l ( F i g u r e provided an essent i a l m e a n s o f com2l'. Duringlow-floodyears life becameharshfor mu n i ca ti onan d transportation,for no pla c e in t h e p o p u la t io na n d f a min e o c c u rre d . A t t h e s e f ro m t h e v alle ywa s m ore than a few milesaway t ime s , t h e k in g wo u ld h a v e t o in c rea s et a x e s t o p u rc h a s ea d e q u a t ef o o d s u p p lie sf o r t h e n o b i l i t y . t h e r ive r an d , un til the New K ingdom,whe n t h e la n d E gypt , to h o r s ea n d wh e e l were introduced S u c h a s it u a t io n ma y h a v e e v e n l e d t o t h e d o wn f a ll o f t h e O ld K in g d o m,c re a t i n gt h e F i r s t t r a v e lwa s b y foo t or donkey. Duringthe an n u a l la n d the cultivate d of most ln t e rme d ia t eP e rio d@. 2 1 8 1 -2 O 4 OB C E ) ,w h e n i n u n da ti on ,w he n d ro u g h t s ig n if ic a n t lya f f e c t e d t h e en t i r e M i d d l e a n d r oa d swe r e fl ooded,the Nile was even mo re (James, p ' 2 1 ). travel of means as a E a s t (B e ll,p p . 1 -2 6 1 . A s t o ry writ t en a b o u t t h e i mp or tan t Itl,linter 1995
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lntermediate Period, First Admonitions of lpuwer states,
called
The
"...Lo, the river is blood, As one drinks of it, one shrinks from people And thirsts for water... The land is iniured... Lo, the desert claims the land..." (L ich theim , Vol. 1, p. 149) .
D u r i n g the M i dd le K ingdom (c. 2O4O-1 7 8 2 BCE), the priest Heqanakht wrote a series of lettershome that describeddifficult times: "-..Now, the inundation is not very high, is it? Look, our rations are fixed for us in measure with the inundation. Endure this, each one of You! Look, I've managed to keep you alive up to todaY...A message: 'Being half alive is better than death altogether. Look, one should say "hunger" onlY about real hunger. Look, they are starting to eat people here. Look, theY haven't been given such rations in any place here..."' ( P ar k i n s o np. p .10 1 -1O7 ).
E g y p t (J a me s ,p . 9 2 1 . T h e a n c ie n tE g y p t i a n sh a d many uses for this plant and wasted little. lts s t e ms we re u s e d a s a p rimit iv eb u ild in gm a t e r i a l , or when separatedinto rind and pith, they were sometimesturned into a fiber used for boxes, mats, ropes, cord, and the writing material papyrus. Furthermore,the flowers of the plant were used for decorative purposes,making it one of the most useful plants to any civilization Religious in h is t o ry (J a me s , p p . 3 1 -3 2 1 . architecturewas also influencedby the marshes where papyrus grew. The reeds and plants wh ic h g re w a ro u n d t h e b a n k s o f t h e r i v e r in s p ire dt e mp le a rc h it e c t u re ,wh ic h o f t e n h a d columnscarvedto resemblereed stalks (Montet, p p . 3 O O -3 0 2 ).
T h e d e s e rta ro u n dt h e Nile V a lle yp rov i d e do t h e r a d v a n t a g e st o a n c ie n t E g y p t ia n c iv i l i z a t i o ni n a d d it io nt o t h e ric h " g if t s " o f t h e riv e r . N e a rt h e valley,from Lower Egypt to south of Luxor, are limestone deposits which provided a strong, Th e Nile inundat ion n o t o n l y i n f l u e n c e d food la s t in g , a n d re a d ily a v a ila b leb u ild i n g m a t e r i a l pro d u ct ion, but it a l s o d e p o s i te d mu d , th e mai n t h a t ma d e mo n u me n t a l E g y p t ia n a r c h i t e c t u r e in g r e die n ti n ad o be bricks. These require dle s s p o s s ib le (Mu rn a n e ,p . 15 ). Wit h o ut t h e l a r g e s k i l lt o m ake an d were much easierto trans p o rt lime s t o n ed e p o s it s ,s u c h s t ru c t u re sas t h e m a n y a n d h an d le i n bu lk than was stone. The wo rd p y ra mid so f E g y p t wo u ld n e v e r h a v e b e e n b u i l t , " a d o b e" i tse lf comes from the ancient E gy p t ia n s in c e o t h e r b u ild in gma t e ria lswo u ld h a v e b e e n signifying 'brick.' This word Djebet, SJ3, e it h e r t o o f ra g ile o r t o o e x p e n s iv e . S a n d s t o n e word passed into Arabic and was transferred d e p o s it s , f o u n d p rima rily b e t we e n L u x o r a n d i n t o Sp a n ishdu r ing the Moorish occupat io no f A s wa n, r e p l a c e d ( Jam e s, Spain alibratedCtaDates [s&eVolunesandfor Stean Dischorye lor lncreosed lime s t o n e i n t h e 1 9 9 4 ). Th e r a w in the iaharc sndEostAltiio rincc5000 8.C. Ne w K i n g d o m( c . fo r m a t e r i als 1070 1570 m u d - br i cks l ay B CE ). B e c a u s e pr o f u se lyat ha n d , t h is s t o n e w a s f o r N i le m u d w as e a s ie r t o q u a r r y , a l mo s t un lim ited l8S0l-UItftt0UtflCY (p.. 250yrr.) the great temples and was replaced later the of e a c h yea r du r in g periodswere built 20'ncentury levels. Figure2. Recordedflood heights(meters) t h e a nn u a l fl oo d . (B utzer1976, p.31) f ro m i t ( J a m e s , Ad o b e b u ild in g s 1994). providedample protectionin Egypt, since storms were rare, and the houses of the people - from The Western Desert had little to offer the p e a s an tsto kin g s were built out of bric k . ancient Egyptiansexcept for the large oases of T h e s eho u se sco u ld be easily enlarged,div id e d , e l K h a rg a ,e l Da k h la ,a n d e l B a h riy a( F i g u r e3 ) . o r m o difi edto suit the owner's needs (Jame s , T h e s eo a s e s ,wh ic h we re s p o ra d ic a l lcyu l t i v a t e d , p . 2 0 6) . we re u s e d f o r p la c e so f b a n is h me not f p r i s o n e r s a n d a s wa y p o in t sf o r t h e t ra c k s wh ich l i n k e dt h e fn ancient times, the plant Cyperus papYrus NileV a lle yt o c o a s t a lL ib y aa n d T h e S u d a n ' gr e w i n ab u n d a n cein the marshesand poo ls o f
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The EasternDesert, however, was heavily used in antiquity. With its wealth of hard volcanic rocks, it provided many semi-preciousstones used for jewelrY, of w@ were agate, amethYst, | ,.ii, c a r n elia n , ch a lcedonY , feldspar, garnet, jasper, onyx, rock crYstal, a n d tu r q u o ise . The Eastern Desert also Meditenanean Sea providedlarge deposits o f g old , g r a n ite, and c o p pe r ( Ja m e s, P .32; also see Figure 3 for l o c a tio n so f r e so urces).
Late Period. The Tale of the Shipwrecked Sailor,written during the Middle Kingdom,gives evidencethat the Egyptiansactivelytradedwith les; the story is about a merchant s a ilo r wh o i s s h i P wrecked on a far-off is la n dd u rin g a t r a d i n g (Lichtheim, mis s io n p p . 2 11 -2 1 5 1 . Not content to merely c o p e wit h t h e i r g e o g ra p h ic a l l i m i t s , t h e Egyptians a n c ie n t massive u n d e rt o o k projectsto improvethe la n d a ro u n d t h e m . 12'h the Du rin g Dy n a s t yo f t h e M i d d l e K in g d o m ( c . 19 9 11 7 8 2 B CE ) , p o w e r f u l p h a ra o h s , s u c h a s S e n u s e rt l l l f 8 7 8 ' 1841 BCE), diverted vast amounts of the annual Nile flood Lake into waters Mo e ris in t h e F a i y u m They De p re s s io n . l a k e a s a u s e d t h is s t o ra g ep on d f o r i r r i g a tion water long after t h e in u nd a t i o n h a d re c e d e d , s i g n i f i c a n t l y in c re a s in gt h e i r a r a b l e c ro p la n d a n d f o o d p ro d u c t ion ( B r e a s t e d , p p . 1 9 2 -1 9 3 ) . O t h e r e x a mp le s o f a n c i e n t E g y p t ia n pu b l i c w o r k projects include drainage and irrigation of t h e De lt a a n d c a n a l s b u ilt t o c ir c u m v e n t h e rapids at the First Ca t a ra c tof t h e N i l e .
Th e g e o g r a p h icalbarr i e r s of Eg yp t allowed trade to take place but m a d e in va sio ndifficult. T h e no r the r n co astline had very few good h a r bo r s, sin ce marshl a n d sur r o u n d e dall of &E^::!:" t h e m o u ths o f the Nile a t t he De lta. T o the Mâ‚ŹSrONt iiiJu"ligffiPmamat east and west were Kha!ga a! Kh. ()rs6 ?5'5 extensivedeserts, and t o the sou th the c a t a r a cts of th e Nile prevented easy pass a g e to a n d fr o m inner Af r i c a ( Br ea sted,pP .6Wh ile these 71. b a r r ie r sd id n 't co nstrict t r a d e - for th e ancient Egyptiansoften traded f o r such com modities as incense f rom Punt ( p e r hap s Ethiopia), NubianDesert f rom la zu li lapis ccro ivory A f g h a n istan , f r o m ce n tr al A f rica, w o o d f r om L e banon, :g pottery f rom and they Cyprus ;l '.preventedlarge armies Figure3. A map of the natural resourcesof ancient Egypt (H arri s,P .131 A n c ie n t E g y p t i a n r e e n ter in g the from lig io u s b e l i esf w e r e c o u n tr y ( Er m an, P P . c e n t e re d a ro u n d f a milia r g e o g ra p h ya n d w e r e Similarly, E gyptian goods we re 4 9 4 -5 19 ) . g re a t ly a f f e c t e d b y it . T h e a n n u a lf l o o d i n go f es p e c ia lly t r a d edthr o u g h outthe Mediterranean, t h e Nile a n d it s d e p o s ito f t h e ric h so i l g a v et h e b y Gr e e k a n d Phoenicianmerchantsdurin g t h e Page 8 Winter | 995 L!M!S
wf'
t:^
Egyptianstheir characteristicidea of rebirth,for e v e r y ye a r th e land would replenish it s e lf t h r o u ghthe flo o d . A nother notion of rebirt hf o r t h e Egyp ti an scame from the sun and the s t a rs , for both disappearedand reappearedat regular i n t e r v als. Th e y comparedthe duration of d a y w i t h t he du r a ti onof life, and at the end of e a c h life ( day), the person's spirit would join the sun whose barque sailed into the Amduat, or Netherworld; thus, since the sun set in the west, the ancient Egyptians came to equate the west with the realm of the dead. Next to their pyramids, the kings of the Old Kingdom buried f ull-sized sailing ships (Figure 4), to allow them to journey up to join the sun god, Ra, and to accompany him towards the west as the sun set into the Underworld. The realm of the dead even had a similar layout to the land of Egypt: a main river valley, cataracts and other hazar ds in the ri ver, agricultural f ields, and cycles The of day and night.
Eg y pti an co n ce pt of paradise, the Field o f R e e ds,wa s m e r ely an extension of daily lif e , w i t h ea ch wo r ke r performingthe tasks of t h e ir f o r me r pr o fession,though their eternal wo rk w a s ne ve r sup p osed to be harsh, and t h e ir e n d e avo r sw ou ld always be successful. T h e Eg y p ti an se ve n stocked their tombs with t o o ls a n d eve r ythin gth ey could possiblyneed in t h e a f t e r li fe( Spe n ce r,pp.139-164). The Pre-Dynastic Egyptians probably located t h e i r gr ave sin th e desertbecausethey had mo re p e r ma n e n ce tha n graves in the moist soil o f t h e r i v e r valle y. Si nce little or no provisio n wa s made to keep sand out, it often entered the g r a v es a n d le a ched all the moisture out o f a b o d y , savin gth e corP sefrom decaY '
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Many samples of these types of burials have b e e n f o u n d wit h t h e h a ir a n d s k in s ti l l a d h e r i n g t o t h e b o n e s . E x p o s e db y a n ima ls ,e r o s i o n ,o r t h e a c c id e n t acl u t t in g o f a n e w g ra v ei n t o a n o l d o n e , t h e s e n a t u ra llyp re s e rv e db o d i e s p r o b a b l y in f lu e n c e dt h e a n c ie n tE g y p t ia np ro ce s so f b o d y p re s e rv a t io (S n p e n c e r,P . 3 0 ). natron however, Later, supplies from several oases provided another alternative: mummification, an elaborate process which involved perishable removing all the desiccating the organs, in a bed of natron corpse salts, and wrapping it in This greatly enlinen. hanced the preservation of the body whic h was so essential to the ancient They Egyptian religion. believed the image, or the "genius" of a person, the ka, could only survive if it could rest in a recognizable body of the deceased during the day (Erman, pp.306308). In the Old Kingdom, desert graves were replaced by mastabas (f unerary build-
in g s ) a n d p y ra mid s ,wh ic h p ro t e c te dt h e b o d y f ro m t h e s u rro u n d in gs a n d s . T h e s e t o m b s p ro v e dt o b e e a s y t o ro b a n d t h e y , in t u r n , w e r e re p la c e db y ro c k -c u tt o mb s , wh ic h i n t h e N e w Kingdom, were secretly made by the kings to p ro t e c t t h e ir b u ria ls . E a c h s e p u lc he rw a s o f t e n d iv id e d in t o ro o ms a n d f u rn is h e dli k e a h o u s e . T h e s et o mb s c o u ld n o t h a v e b e e n m a d e w i t h o u t , ' re a t s k ill in su r v e y i n g a t h e a n c ie n tE g y p t ia n s g redraw to grew need of the out science that b o u n d a rie sa f t e r t h e a n n u a l in u n da t i o n . T h e n e e d t o q u ic k ly a n d a c c u ra t e ly r e e s t a b l i s h b o u n d a rie sp la y e da f a c t o r, la t e r, in t h e s u c c e s s a n d t h e s h o rt b u ild in gt ime o f t h e va s t f u n e r a r y c o mp le x e s o f t h e Ne w K in g d o m . S u r v e y i n g re a c h e d it s p e a k in d y n a s t ic t imes ( S p e n c e r , p p . 7 4 -8 5 ).
Winter 1995
l n c o nclu sio n ,ancient E gypt's national un it y , stability, commerce, architecture, and religion were strongly influenced by its natural geography. Furthermore,the changesin climate and topographysubstantiallycontributedto the d e v e lo p m e n t of dynastic civilization. T h e Egyptiansadapted to their environment, took advantageof its naturalbenefits,and carriedout irrigation and other improvement projects to e n h a nceth e ir civilization. These characte ris t ic s led Egypt to become a major world power as a d va n ced. Militarygeniuses,suc h a s c i v i l i za ti on Al e x a n d e r the Great, Julius Caesar, a n d Napoleon Bonaparte, were all motivated to c o n q uerEg yp t so that they, too, could be n e f it from her strategic location and advantageous g e o g ra p h y.
ANCIENT EGYPTIAN Lichtheim. Miriam. LITERATURE. VOLUME 1. THE OLD AND MIDDLE KINGDOMS.Univ.of CaliforniaPress,1975. Montet, Pierre. EVERYDAYLIFEIN EGYPT. Univ. of 1958. Press:Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Murnane, W.J. THE PENGUINGUIDE TO ANCIENT EGYPT. PenguinBooks:N.Y., 1983. Parkinson, R.B. VOICES FROM ANCIENT EGYPT. BritishMuseumPress.1991. Spencer,A.J. DEATH lN ANCIENTEGYPT. Penguin Books:N.Y.. 1982. Time-Life Ed. EMPIRES ASCENDANT, TIME FRAME SEA/ES4OOBC--AD2OO, AlexandriaVirginia,1987. Wilson. John A. THE CULTUREOF ANCIENTEGYPT. Univ. of ChicagoPress:Chicago,1956.
BIBLIOGRAPHY Baines, John and Jaromir Malek. ATLAS OF 1984. ANCIENTEGYPT. Factson FilePublications, Bell, Barbara. The First Dark Age in Egypt, AMERICAN JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGY,Vol. 75, 1975, pp. 1-26. Breasted.James H. A HISTORYOF EGYPT. Charles Scribner'sSons:N.Y., 1912. Butzer, Karl W. EARLY HYDRAULIC CIVILIZATIONlN STUDY IN CULTURAL ANCIENT EGYPT: A ECOLOGY.Univ. of ChicagoPress:Chicago,1976. ENVIRONMENT AND W Butzer, Karl ARCHAEOLOGY: AN INTRODUCTION TO PLEISTOCENEGEOGRAPHY.AldinePub.: Chicago, 1964. Dixon, Dougal, Ed. THE PLANET EARTH. World Book,Inc.: Chicago,1989. Erman, Adolf. N.Y., 1971.
LIFE IN ANCIENT EGYPT. Dover:
Harris, Geraldine. ANCIENT EGYPT, CULTURAL ATLAS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE. Facts on File: N.Y., 1990. EGYPT BEFORE THE Hoffman. Michael A. 1990. N.Y., Press: PHARAOHS.Dorsett James, T.G.H. AN INTRODUCTIONTO ANCIENT EGYPT. Harper& Row: N.Y., 1979. James,T.G.H.Personalinterviewof March 27 '1994' Winter 1995
Wooden cosmetic spoon with lid. The British Museum, 5966, 18th DYnastY.
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TAU AN ANCIENTEGYPTIANBOARD GAME by Graeme Davis Graeme Davis was an About the Author: Ostracon editor until he left Denver. However, he has kept in touch and has been our reporter and 'ambassador' at large. Davis is now living in Washington DC. He now works for Magnet lnte-ractive Studios, designing CD-ROM games and nonfiction products and lnternt Web services. tA slightly different version of this article first appearedin KMT, A MODERNJOURNAL OF ANCIENTEGYPT,Vol. 4, No. 2, entitled "Reconstructing Rules for the Ancient EgyptianGame of Twenty Squares (Tau was renamedthe g a meof 20 s quar es ) ."U s e d w i th p e rmi s s i o no f K M T.I
Most readersare familiar with senet, or senat, t h e Eg yp ti anb o a rd game found in the to mb o f and T u t a nkh a m u n Several elsewhere. modern versions of t h i s gam e ha ve been II p u b l i she dco m m ercially with varioussets of r u l e s.
il ilt X
In trying to deduce a set of rulesfor tau, I have tried to draw as much informationas possible from the actual boards and pieces and avoided t h e in f lu e n c eo f o t h e r p e o p le ' s re c o n s t r u c t i o n s a n d ru le sf ro m g a me swh ic h s e e m t o b e s i m i l a r . At least one set of rules for the Ur game is commercially produced (and protected by c o p y rig h t ! ),b u t t h is ma y n o t b e m u c h h e l p i n In the first place, the reconstructingtau. differences in board layout will affect play s ig n if ic a n t ly ;s e c o n d ly , t h e d ic e w i t h t h e U r game seem to have been two-sided ratherthan t h e f o u r-s id e d" lo n g d ie " . B e s ide s ,a s i m i l a r b o a rda n d p ie c e sd o n o t n e c e s s a riliym p l y s i m i l a r ru le s . J u s t t h in k o f t h e n u mb e r o f g a m e st h a t can be played with a conventional set of c h e c k e rs ! The GamingSet: Like senet, tau seemsto have been played with ten "men" to a side. They were even the same pieces on some occasions, f or it is not uncommon for a gaming set to have a senet board on one side, a tau board on the other and a drawer t o hold the pieces and dice. The dice were "long dice" (Fig. 1): short wooden
Tau, although a less f a m ou s ga m e , seems t o h a ve be e n j ust as F i g u re1 . Longdi e w i th expl odedvi ew p o p ul ar i n a ncient Egypt. In fact, more , r k e dl , l l , l l l , s t ic k s o f s q u a rec ro s s -s e c t io nma than one senet board has been found to have a f o u nd o n t h e l a s t a re ma rk in g s a n d X . T h e s a me tau board on the back. The layout of the board four squaresof the senet board, so there is little h a s so m e i ntr i guingsimilaritiesto the famo u s d o u b t t h a t t h e d ic e we re in t e n d edt o g i v e a game boards found in the royal tombs at Ur of scorefrom 1 to 4 ratherthan O to 3. t h e Ch a ld e e s,which date some 1,500 y e a rs g a me e a r l i er . Tau m ay also be the same as the T h e p la y in g p ie c e s ra n g e d f ro m p l a i n , p a w n of polis mentioned in Plato's Republic. All in all, shaped objects to miniature works of art, tau seems to have a pedigreewhich is at least s o me t h in g lik e t h e c h e s s k n ig h t b u t w i t h t h e a s d istin g u ish e das that of senet, and doe s n o t , en rather h e a d so f d o g s , lio n s ,o r o c c a s io n a l l ym deserveto be overlooked. than horses. Although senet was probably played with ten piecesto a side, tau may have As wi th a lm o st a ny ancientgame which h a s n o t from Ur. ln used only seven,like its predecessor s u r v ivedin to the present day, it is diffi c u lt t o p re c is e a n d t he number ru le s a ll lik e lih o o d t, h e This a rt ic le r e c o nstr u ct th e rules of tau. of piecesmay have variedfrom time to time and representsone person's attempt at this, but p la c e t o p la c e - t h is wa s v e ry c o m m o n i n t h e readers are warmly encouragedto experiment time beforewritten rulesbecamethe norm. a n d a d a p t a n d use whatever rules the y f in d best. Page | 1
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The Board: The tau board {Fig. 2) was roughly banjo-shaped,with a central file of 12 squares and two side files of four squareseach. lt is similar to a board f r o m U r ( Fig . 3 ) but the side-squares of the short-er end are straight-enedout into a s i n glefi l e. Figure2. S o me bu t n o t all of the tau boards found have marked s q u a r es. The m ost strikingis an ivory ex a mp le from Enkomi in Cyprus which has rosettes placedin every fourth square-- an arrangement which is almost identicalto the placementof the f l o w er de sig n s o n one of the boards fro m Ur. Other boardsare markeddifferentlyor not at all.
The Rules: The first questionwhich needsto be answeredis whether tau is a race game or a war g a m e. The elo n gatedshape of the board , a n d t h e f act tha t th e r e is a singletrack for mu c h o f the way, stronglysuggestsa race game. Most games from the ancient Mediterranean a r e a we r e r a ce games; and war game s d r a u g h ts, che ss and its ancestors,the Vik in g hnefatafl, and the Roman ludus latrunculorum were nearlyalways playedon squareboards. At t h e t i me ta u w as played,most of the class icwa r gameshad not yet been invented.
Thirdly, and most difficult, it is necessaryto d e c id e o n t h e me a n in go f t h e ma rke ds q u a r e s . The flowers on the board from Ur and the later o n e f ro m E n k o m i d o Sta rt t. not suggest anything; n e it h e rd o t h e b i r d sd i f ferently placed on a board f rom Ak-hor. Some playersmay dec id e , lik e th e a n c i e n t Tau Board Start / o wn e rs o f u n m a r k e d boards, to do without special squares a lt o g e t h e r. T h e p o s s ib ilit ieas re a lm o s te n d l e s s . T h e s p e c ia ls q u a re smig h t g iv e t h e p l a y e rw h o la n d e do n t h e m a n o t h e rmo v e o r s om e p e n a l t y s u c h a s a mo v e b a c k wa rd s . A p i e c e o n a marked square might be safe from capture or might cost its player a fine if the game was p la y e df o r mo n e y . Some possibilitiescan be discounted. For example, it is unlikely that a marked square gives immunityfrom capturesince three marked squares- at the bottom of each side-fileand at the end of the center file - are squareswhere c a p t u re b y s u rro u n d in gis imp o s s ibl e( r u l e sf o r c a p t u re a re d is c u s s e d la t e r). ln t h e e n d , s o me wh a ts u b je c t iv e lyI, d e c id e dt h at l a n d i n ga p ie c e o n a ma rk e ds q u a reg iv e s a pl a y e ra f r e e turn. This makes players concentrate their tactics on reachingas many markedsquaresas possible;and means that no matter how far a p la y e r ma y b e in t h e le a d , h is o p p o n e n t c a n a lwa y s c o me b a c k t h ro u g h a c o m b i n a t i o no f lucky throws and shrewd moves.
H a v i ng de cid e dthat we're dealingwith a ra c e g a me , n o w w e must decide the direct io n o f m o v em e n tar o u n dthe board. This comes d o wn Ca p t u remig h t b e b y d is p la c e me n(t i . e . m o v i n g t o a s i m plecho ice: do piecesenterthe boa rdo n onto a square currently occupiedby an enemy t h e e nd squ a r eof the center file, or on the e n d piece will knock it off the board). However, a squaresof the side files? The latter seemsmore referenceby Platoto the game of polis suggests l i k e l y,a s this g ives each playera chancet o " s e t pie ce s that capture in this in the u p " his g a me is by sursafety of the side file ro u n d in g . T h e n a m eo f before battle is joined t h e g a me m e a n s" c i t y , " o n th e ce n ter f ile. a n d P la t o u s e d t h e P l a y i n the other g a me a s a m e t a p h o fr o r direction results in a Greek city-state polif e e l i n gof an ti cl i max-"flower" spacesmarked with from Ur, Figure 3, Game board t ic s . T h e on l y r e a lc l u e p ie ce has once a h e g a v e a bo u t p l a y i n g turned the corner into g a me wa s a s u g g e s t io nt h a t a p l a y e rs h o u l d t h e to f in is h , it is certain the safety of a side-file, (i. e . d o g -h e a d e dp la y i n gp i e c e s ) k e e pa ll h is d o g s instead of the tension of battle maintainedto together so that none is captured. This t h e l ast m o ve . Page12 Winter | 995
suggeststhat piecescould be capturedby being cut off and surrounded' Since dog-headed pieces were popular for both senet and tau (some distinguished Egyptologists have suggestedthat the pieces representthe jackalh e a d e d g o d An ubis), it c o u l d b e tha t the Greek g a m e of po lis is d escended f r o m t au .
more than one piece. A piece may move over an occupiedsquare into a free square,but may not move into an occupiedsquare'
The object of the game is t o mov e a l l y o u r pieces off the board square the f rom ma rk e dE N Do n F i g u r e 2. An exact roll is required to move a piece off the board Reconstructed Rules for f o r e x a mpl e ,a p i e c e Ta u : H avin gm a d e various on the END square deductions, conjectures, Figure4. Capture. PieceA is captured, needs a roll of 1 to a n d i nsp ir e dg u e ssesfrom but piecesB and C are not. move off the board. t h e a va ila b leevid ence,it's p A p la y e r mu s t mo v e , if o s s ib le ,ev e n i f t h i s t i m e to se t do wn some rules and see if t h e y re s u lt sin t h e imme d ia t ec a p t u reo f t h e m o v i n g w o r k ! As I've already said, I make no c la ims p ie c e . lf a p la y e r c a n n o t mo v e a ny p i e c e t h e a b o u t a u the n ti ci ty,since no trace of E gy p t ia n n u mb e ro f s q u a re sin d ic a t e db y t h e d i e r o l l , t h e rulesfor tau has yet been found' Differentideas t u rn is lo s t a n d p la y p a s s e st o t h e o t he r p l a y e r . o f h o w the ga m e might be played are fou n d in the referencescited below, and readersshould P ie c e so n t h e c e n t e r f ile ma y b e c a p t u r e db y feel free to experimentwith rules until they have enemy pieces. A piece is capturedif there is an s o me thin gth a t suits their own preference s .My e n e my p ie c e o n b o t h s id e s o f it (s e e F i g u r e4 ) . o n l y cl aim is th at the following rules fit t h e Ca p t u re dp ie c e sa re re t u rn e dt o t h e ir p l a y e r ,a n d c o mp o n e n ts,ar e playable, and provide e n t e raddedto the stock of pieceswhich have not yet t a i n i ngan d m od e ratelychallenginggames' e n t e re dt h e b o a rd . the e n o u g h disclaimers-on with But (seve n pieces A p ie c ewh ic h la n d so n a ma rk e ds qu a r ee n t i t l e s if a p la yer has ten r u l e s ...Each pla c e d it s p la y e r t o t h ro w a g a in a n d mak e a n o t h e r s h o r t e rg a m e i s p referred). The board is mo v e . T h e reis n o limit t o t h e n u mbe ro f m o v e s b e t w ee nth e p la yersso that each player h a s a wh ic h ma y b e ma d e in a s in g le t u r n b y t h i s game uses a four -s id e d s i d e - filene a r h im . The me a n s . A p la y e rma y c h o o s et o d ec l i n ea f r e e d i e , which ca n be obtained from most ho b b y mo v e . game stores. A six-sided die may be used if preferred, but given the placement of the T h e win n e r is t h e f irs t p la y e r t o m o v e a l l h i s m a r k e d spa ce s (every fourth square), t h is piecesoff the board. c h a n ge sth e tacti calaspectsof the game' Play begins with all pieces off the board' Each p l a y er r o lls th e die, and the player with t h e h i g h ersco r e m o ves first. The die is re-rolle din t h e e v en t of a ti e. The playersthen take t u rn s r o l l i ngthe die an d moving. A p l aye rm ove s by rollingthe die and mo v in g a p i e c e th e i nd ica ted number of squares . T h e p l a y er m a y ch o o se to move a piece whic h is a l r e adyon the b oard or to move a new p ie c e o n t o th e bo a r d . P ieces are moved onto t h e board at the squares marked START on Figure 2 . A p la ye rm ay have any numberof piec e so n t h e bo a r d at a time, but no square may h o ld Page| 3
REFERENCES Bell, R. C. BOARD AND TABLE GAMES FROM MANY CIVILIZATIONS. Dover Publications, Inc.: New York, 1979. Falkener, E. GAMES ANCIENT AND ORIENTAL. lnc.: New York, 1961. DoverPublications, Ridgeway, William. The Game of Polis and Plato's Rep. 422 E, JOaLRNALOF HELLENICSTUDIES 1898, p.288-290. Woolley, Sir Leonard. EXCAVATIONSAT UR: A RECORD OF TWELVE YEARS WORK. Thomas Y. CroywellCo,: New York, 1954. Winter | 995
LECTURE NOTES
Blue glazed hippo. Tomb ot Senbi, Meir. Metrcpolitan Musaum of Art, NY
EGYPTAND MESOPOTAMIA: ANCIENTRIVALS.ANCIENTFRIENDS Presentedby Robert Chadwick ESSMeeting,May 1995 Notes by David Pepper& Jill Taylor R o b e rt Ch a d wick, a dual US /Canadiancit iz e n , t e a c he sa t Jo h n A bbott Collegein Ouebec . He h a s a P h .D .fr o m the Universityof Montrea l. A n Assyriologist and archeo-astronomer,he has p u b l i sh e da bo o k in the First CivilizationS e rie s called ANCIENT EGYPT AND ANCIENT MESOPOTAMIA. Originally from Denver, he c r e d i ts the be g inningsof his interest in t h e ancientWorld as havingstartedwith his visits to t h e D en ve r M u seum of Natural History a s a child. C h a d wick'sl ecturewas well received,and t h is popular speaker compared these two civilizationsby putting side-by-sideslideson the s c r e en :an cie n t Egypt on the left, and an c ie n t M e s o po tam iaon the right. He maintainst h a t , a l t h o ug hthe y a r e both far away in distanc ea n d t i me , the y h a ve a relationshipto our civiliz a t io n , due to their impact on pre-classicaltimes. Eg y p t, fo r exa m ple has given us the 365 d a y c a l e n d a r , th e 24 hour duy, and pa p e r. Monotheismwas also first experimentedwith in Egypt. Writing and the wheel came from Sumer the f irst se rio u s a r o u n d 3 5 0 0 BCE , and astrology were done attemptsat astronomyand i n Me s op o tam ia . Su r p ri si ng ly, the r e never was a group of p e o p le nor was there a lan g u a g e c a l l e dM e so p o tamians, c a l l e d M e so p o tamian.The word Mesopot a mia m e a ns "be tw ee n the rivers." lt is essent ia llya g e o g r a p h icate l r m. The Tigris and E uph ra t e s rivers both start in the Zagros mountains and Winter1995
ru n s o me 1 , 5 0 0 k m t o t h e s e a . T h e y r a n p a s t cities like Babylon (which means the "gate of t h e g o d s " ), d o wn t o t h e ma rs h lan d so f t h e Persian Gulf. This area was home to the S u me ria n sin t h e t h ird mille n n iu m B C E , t h e B a b y lo n ia n sin t h e s e c o n d mille n n iu mB C E ,a n d t h e A s s y ria n s in t h e f irs t mille nn i u m B C E . Cradled by the rivers, the inhabitants of Me s o p o t a miawe re wid e ly in f lu e nc e db y t h e d iv e rs ee t h n ic p e o p le so f t h e s u rro un d i n gl a n d s . Me s o p o t a mia wa s , a n d is , a mu lt i-c u l t u r am l, ultilinguisticpart of the world. When the Tigrisand Euphratesriversflood, they brought renewed soil, and renewed life to this area. But what made this area different from Egypt was that these rivers flood in the spring, ju s t a b o u t t h e t ime t h e h a rv e s t c a m e i n . A n early f lood actually endangered or even destroyedthe harvest, and in some years left t h e p e o p lewit h o u t a n y f o o d . A b o u t 2 9 0 0 B C E there was a story in Sumer about a man who b u ilt a b o a t a n d t o o k h is f rie n d sa n d h i s f a m i l y and rode out a violent storm and its resulting cataclysmicflood that lastedfor sevendays and s ix n ig h t s . ln E g y p t ,t h e Nilewa s p e r c e i v e da s a peacefuland benevolentriver, so there was no f lo o d s t o ry . Un lik et h e Nile , t h e Mes o p o t a m i a n riv e rs ' c u rre n t a n d win d g o in t h e s a m e d ire c t io n . He n c e ,la rg ec a n a ls y s t e m sw e r e b u i l t next to the rivers to pull the boats up against t h e win d s a n d c u rre n t u s in g h u man o r a n i m a l p o we r. The term, Egypt, however, refers not only to a p a rt ic u la ra re a , b u t a ls o t o a s in g l e g r o u p o f p e o p le wit h a c o mmo n la n g u a g e. l t w a s , therefore, a uni-lingual, uni-cultural society. Egypt's surroundingdesertsalso helpedto keep it isolated f or most of its history. Like its Mesopotamiancounterparts,the Nile was a lifegiving river, bringingwater and soil nutrientsto the people. The Nile, however,floodedafter the harvest was completed,and before new crops n e e d e dt o b e s o wn . T h e o p p o s ingw i n d a n d water currentsof this river also made travel by b o a t mu c h e a s ie rt h a n it wa s in Me s op o t a m i a . The fact that Egypt's borderswere more secure, meant that her peoplehad more time and energy to devote to large-scalebuilding projects, and h e r ru le rsc o u ld mo re e a s ilymo v e la r g en u m b e r s Page l4
o f p eo p lefor l ongerdistancesup and down t h e r i v e r i nto an ar ea as temporary labor. Du rin g t h i s sa m etim e i n Mesopotamia,her peop lewe re b u i l di ngde fen siveworks and city walls, f o r n o t only did they have to contend with outside invaders more often, their city-state system meant they fought each other more often than not. influencedE gy p t in a M e so p o tam ia 's civilizations Writing appears to have number of ways. d e v elo p e di n M esopotamiain the middle o f t h e t h i r d m i l l en n iu mBCE from picto-grams,a n d t h e i d e a o f wr iti ng was quickly picked up b y t h e E g y p ti an sw i th in a few hundred years . T h e Me s o p o tam ia n salso used clay tablet s a n d stamped them with a cylinder seal to identify t h e o wn e r of the document. These cy lin d e r seals were also adopted by the Egyptianswho p u t t h e ir o wn e n gravingson them. C h a d wicksp o ke of the story of Gilgames ha, n d lo re , h i s qu e stfo r im mortality. In Mesopotamia n to die, only th e g o d s h u m a n swe r e p r e-destined h a d im m o r tality,and when a person di e d , h e l o s t h is status upon entering the Unde rwo rld , w h i c h w as no t a pleasantplaceto go. lt wa s a very pessimisticvidw of life-after-death.So the motto was "live for today. " M e sop o tam ia n As we kno w, th e E gyptianshad a very dif f e re n t view of death. They anticipateda wonderful afterlife, and prepared f or it by constructing e l a bor a tetom b s and mummifying the b o d y . Th e ir two ba sic options for the afterlif e we re t h e Gen tl em a nFarmer, and the Hunte r' s a n d Fi s her m a n 'sPa r adise. Hencethe E gypti a nv ie w was very optimistic. of life-after-death W h i le Eg yp t h a d its pyramids,Mesopota miah a d i t z i gg u r a ts. So me peoplehave claimedt h a t t h e p y r am idi nfl ue n cedthe ziggurat,but they h a v e been proven to have been built later than the Step Pyramid in Egypt, and both serve entirely d i f f er e n t fu n cti ons. Made of mud bric k s , a z i g gu r a tco u ld r each 150 feet in height, a n d it h a d a sta ir wa yup the outside. lt was me a n t t o b e c lim b e dan d had a temple on top. Th is wa s the place the priestswent to be elevatedabove t h e p r o fan e w orld. They were templ e s , n o t t o mb s. Page15
A f t e r a b o u t 1 , 0 0 0 y e a rs o f is o l a t i o n , t h e Egyptians broke out of the Nile valley and s t a rt e dt o b u ilda n e mp ire . A b o u t 1 5 5 0 B C Et h e EgyptiansconqueredPalestineand reachedthe b o rd e rs o f t h e Mit a n n i, wh o l i v e d i n Mesopotamia.The internationalcorrespondence o f t h a t t ime wa s in A k k a d ia n ,a n d a c a c h e o f tablets written in that languagehas been found at Amarna [known as the "Amarnaletters"]. For e x a mp le ,t h e k in g o f t h e Mit a n n i r e c o r d e dt h a t he sent a statue to king Amenhotep lll to heal h im o f a s ic k n e s s . About 8OO years later, the Assyrians f rom n o rt h e rn Me s o p o t a miac o n q u e re dm o s t o f t h e mid -e a s t , p u s h in g t h ro u g h E g y pt a s ' fa r a s A s wa n , b u t t h e y d id n o t h o ld t h e c o u n t r y f o r v e ry lo n g . Us in g s ie g e e n g in e san d b a t t e r i n g ra ms , t h e y we re c a lle d t h e P ru ss i a n so f t h e T h e y c o n q u e re d t h e 2 s t h a n c ie n t wo rld . Dy n a s t y o f E g y p t , t h e K u s h it e ru l e r s o f t h e T h e A s s y ria n s a l s o c a p t u r e d E g y p t ia n s . prisoners for slave labor, deporting them en masseback to Mesopotamia.One recordshows 2 0 0 , 0 0 0 E g y p t ia n sliv in gin Me s o p o t a m i a lna n d s b e in g a s s imila t e din t o A s s y ria nc ul t u r e . T h e r e wa s n o s u c h mig ra t io nin t h e o t h e rdi r e c t i o n . S o me b o o k s c la im t h a t t h e E g y p t i a n sw e r e a d e p t a s t ro n o me rs ,b u t Ch a d wic k f e e l s t h e y we re n o t . Wh ilet h e O ld K in g d o mk i n g sb e l i e v e d that part of their soul, the akh, would fly off to jo in t h e e t e rn a ls t a rs ,t h e y o n ly h a d n a m e sf o r a and about 40 stars. few constellations, A s Ch a d wic k ' s le c t u re d re w t o a c l o s e , t h e a u d ie n c ewa s s o rry t h a t it wa s e n d i n g . H e concludedby pointing out that he had provided evidence that while at times these two civilizationswere ancient rivals,there were also p e rio d s o f e x t e n s iv e b o rro win g a n d c o p y i n g wh e n t h e y we re a n c ie n tf rie n d s .
Winter 1995
IN SEARCHOF A ROYALTOMB Presentedby Daniel C. Polz ESSM eeting,June 1995 Notes by Richard Harwood
Followingthe growing tradition of outstanding lectures by equally outstanding professional the June 1995 ESS programwas Egyptologists, presentedby Dr. Daniel C. Polz. Trainedin his native Germanyand a graduateof the University of Heidelberg,Polz has been AssistantProfessor o f E gyp tolo g ya t UCLA since 1991. He is currentlythe Directorof the UCLA Excavationat Thebes,which, in conjunctionwith the German Instituteof Archaeology,has been excavatingthe necropolisat Dra' Abu el Naga to the immediate northeastof the Valleyof the Kings. This lecture outlined the project's attempt to locate and identify the lost tomb of Amenhotep I and summarizedthe project's results through the 19 9 5 sea so n .
'
AmenhotepI was the secondpharaohof the 18'n Dynasty(1525-1504BCE),some 50 yearsbefore t h e j o in t r eig n sof Hatshepsutand Tuthmo s islll. F o l l o wi ngth e expulsionof the Hyksos (15 5 0 BCE) by his father, Ahmose, Amenhotep reorganized the government and extended Egypt's holdingsfrom Palestinewell into Nubia. He is regardedas the founder of the workmen's villageat Deir el Medina and by the end of the 18'h Dynastywas deified as the founder of the Valleyof the Kings. Interestingly,however, AmenhotepI's tomb has never been positivelyidentified,although he is known to have been buried somewhere in the Thebannecropolisbased on the discoveryof his mummy and sarcophagusin the area. Three tombs to date have been proposedas that of Amenhotepl. Most current Egyptologistsaccept a tomb near Dra' Abu el Naga, identified by H o w ar d Ca r ter i n 1916, as the true b u ria l location. Polz disagrees. For the past two seasons,he has been excavatinganother tomb he believes may be the actual tomb of Amenhotepl. One of the many problems encountered in identifyingany tomb of this period is that royal Winter | 995
tombs were uninscribedand undecorateduntil that of Tuthmosislll (KV 34), nearly 75 years afterthe deathof Amenhotepl. During this fascinating lecture, which was accompaniedby excellentslides,Polztraced his questfor the "real"tomb. His primaryguidewas the Abbott Papyrusin the British Museum which detailsthe inspectionof numeroustombs by high officials during the time of Ramses lX. This documentliststhe tomb of AmenhotepI as being intact at that time (c. 1 125 BCE);measuresit at " 1 2 0 c u b it sI 1 9 7 f t . l in d e p t h [ o r wid th ] f r o m t h e stele"; and locates it "north of the Temple of many Amenhotepof the Garden". Unfortunately, key words in the papyrusare subjectto several interpretations. Polz and his team obtained a concessionto excavatein the northeasthalf of the villageof Dra' Abu el Naga and in the cliffs above the village. Following their interpretationof the Abbott Papyrus,the group soon locatedtwo large forecourtsand a nearlyhiddentomb entrancein the cliffs above the village. The tomb was not unknown, having been documented by Sir in s o nin 1 8 2 O . G a rd n eWilk r The forecourtswere buried under four to five meters of debris,and the project's most recent season was spent clearing this area. The entranceto the tomb turned out to be a vertical shaft with a passagebranchingoff from it. At the end of the passagewas a small chamberin recess the wall and a separateanthropomorphic in the f loor which may have served as the locationof a burial. There were no clues in the shaft, the passage,the chamber,or in the recess as to whom the tomb originallybelonged. Polzbelievesthis tomb may be that Nevertheless, of Amenhotep I for a number of intriguing reasons: 1 . I n a d d it io nt o t h e t o mb o f A me n h o t e pl , t h e Abbott Papyrus records the inspection of severalother tombs, none of which lie within the Valley of the Kings. lt is, therefore, reasonableto assumethat, despitethe fact that Amenhotep was consideredto be the founder of the Valley, his tomb does not lie wit h in it . Page 76
2. The two forecourts contain artifacts from a long periodof time followingthe actualburial. Most notableare the objectsfrom the tomb of RamsesNakht, High Priest of Amun during the reignsof RamseslV lhrough RamseslX: a mud brick with a broken royal cartouche containingtwo glyphsthat may be part of the prenomenof Amenhotep l; the remainsof a mud brick pyramid in front of the tomb of RamsesNakht; and the sandstonefragments of stelae,chapels,etc. dating from the reigns of Ramsesll through RamseslX. lt is well documentedthat AmenhotepI was deifiedby the end of the 18'h Dynastyas the founderof the Valleyof the Kings,therefore,it would be appropriatefor the officials of succeeding p har a o h sto build monumentsnear the b u ria l o f Am e n h o tep'stomb. 3. The forecourts continuedto attract religious attention for at least two millennia, as evidencedby their use by CopticChristians. 4 . T he to m b Polz found measures120 c u b it s from the front of the forecourt (where stelae traditionallywould have been erected)to the back of the wall of the tomb, as recordedby the Abbott Papyrus. In order to arrive at the same measurement,Howard Carter had to include the depth of the so-called "graverobbers shaft" of the tomb he proposed,a measurementthat would probably not have been made by the tomb inspectorsduringthe reignof RamseslX. 5. The tomb is directlynorth of a known temple of Amenhotep I as opposed to the tomb identifiedby Howard Carter, which is only vaguelynorth of the sametemple. The spring 1996 seasonof the UCLA Excavation at Thebeswill be spent in the final clearanceof the two forecourtsof the tomb. Dr. Polz has graciouslyoffered to return to Denverto update the ESS on further developments in this importantand excitingproject,
VVVVV Page 17
EGYPTIANSACREDART: THE POWERAND THE GLORYOF THE TEMPLE Presentedby Floyd Chapman E S SMe e t in g J, u ly 1 9 9 5 Notes by Jill Taylor Still another perspectiveof ancient Egypt was presentedto ESS members by fellow member and extremely talented historical artist, Floyd Chapman. The audience was primed for the forthcominglecturewith a previewof Chapman's extraordinarypaintingsset up in the back of the auditorium: an historicaldepictionof Tutankhamun in the sacred sanctuary, a mystical portrayalof Nefertitibeing touched by the onegod, Aten, and finallyand the most remarkable, a detailed, archeologically accurate, full-color reconstructionof a paintedwall relief locatedin the Templeof Ramseslll at MedinetHabu.This magnificentscene depicts Ramses lll kneeling beforethe Thebantriad [Amun, Mut, and Khons]. This temple was the only significantbuilding project producedduring the reign of Ramseslll (1 1 9 4 -1 1 6 3 B CE ), a n d t h e la s t ma j o r w o r k o f Egypt'sDynasticPeriod. Ch a p ma n ' s e n t h u s ia s m f o r h is w o r k c a m e through clearlyas he discussedthe resultsof his in-depth research on temple paintings and decoration as well as the mythological significanceof their imagery. He explainedthat we cannot truly appreciateor understandthe sacred art of the ancient Egyptians without knowing the fundamentalconcepts and beliefs which shapedtheir world view. Organizinghis lectureinto three parts, Chapman first explained the mythological origin and function of the temple and the role of its decorationin fulfilling that function. Next, he discussedthe role of the pharaohin the Egyptian world view, and then he explained his methodology for producing his authoritative Medinet reconstructionof the above-mentioned Habuscene. It was explainedthat the Egyptianshad elaborate mythology which told how the creation was The produced through several phases. emergenceof the temple was an integralpart of Winter 1995
each phase of creation. The temple provided shelter for the deities and acted as a defense againstthe forces of chaos which threatenedto reabsorball vestiges of the phenomenalworld back into the Realmof the N9nexistent' To the Egyptians,every temple was a necessityto assist the gods in their eternal work of sustainingthe physicaland spiritualcreation-- in other words' the divineorder,Ma'at'
paintingiust as the ancientEgyptianswould have seenit beforetime and man took their effects' From his great attention to details, it was apparentthat Chapman'spaintingswere truly the resultof a laborof love of this fascinatingculture known as ancientEgYPt.
There were two types of temples in ancient Egypt: the cult and the mortuary' The cult temple was the home of a specific god or goddess,and the mortuarytemple was dedicated to the worship of the deified pharaoh' Each temple was structuredas a symbolicmicrocosm of the world just after creation. The basic elements consisted of a pylon, forecourt, hypostylehall, barqueroom, and sanctuarywith adjacentsubsidiaryrooms' Since any and all of these componentscould be multiplied,and often were by successivepharaohs,no two temples were exactlYalike. The Egyptiansbeliev"i ,n universalforce called " hike (what we might call magic). This force was the agency through which the creator produced and sustainedall of creation,and all supernatural acts were producedboth both by gods and men' The Egyptiansbelievedthat once the ritualof the openingof the mouth was performedupon the carvedand paintedimagesdecoratingevery inch of the templewalls,these same imagesbecamea living realityby means of hike, thereby, insuring the perpetuationof the divine order of Ma'at, while chaoswas kePtat bay. Chapman's methodology in reconstructinghis temple wall scene included studying in great detail (sometimeswith a magnifyingglass!)the remarkable scenes throughout this beautiful temple, which still retain much of their original polychromedecoration. Much researchwent into determiningthe "rules" for decoratingtemples' The "cannon of proportions"which set up the grid system for the wall paintingswas followed from the time of Narmer through the 25'n Dynasty. The Egyptianpalette had only six or seven colors: red, blue, yellow, green, white' black, and (in the New Kingdom)a light-blueor turquoise. Chapmansought out the tiniesttraces of patterns and colors in order to produce a Winter1995
Cosmetic S7oon, Petrie Museum (uc 14365)
Page 18
BREWERS,BAKERS,AND BUILDERS Presentedby Dr. Mark Lehner DMNH Lecture,September1995 Notes by Judy Greenfield
D r . Ma r k Le h n e r , perhaps best known as t h e w o r l d 's for e m o st expert on the S phinx, be g a n his career in Egyptologyas a graduatestudent a t t h e Am er ica n University in Cairo. He s u b s eq u e n tl yea r ned his P h.D. in E gypt o lo g y from Yale University. Lehnerhas been featured i n n um er o u s m agazines and appeare d in NATIONALGEOGRAPHICpublicationsand films. W h e n h e 's no t overseeing the Giza P la t e a u M a p p i ngPr o je ct,of which he is director, Le h n e r is working on three pending books: THE COMPLETE PYRAMIDS. ARCHEOLOGY OF AN IMAGE: THE SPHINX, and GIZA REPORTS. T h e Gr ea t Pyr a mids,with their grandeur a n d sheer massiveness,have intoxicated explorers, Eg y p to lo g ists,Egyptophiles,and visitors a lik e s i n c eth e r e d isco veryof these monumentsi n t h e last few centuries. But who were the "little guys" who toiled to build these great structures? Where were their towns located in relation to the Great Pyramids? How were the armies of workmen fed? And, most importantly,How did they bake their bread? T h e la st q u e sti on was one that our g u e s t lecturer,Lehner,set out to answer. Some other insights about the life of these workmen e m e r gedfr o m th is quest. The lecture focused on the time period 3OO to 500 years after the first unification of Egypt, du r i n g th e g lo r y days of the Old K ing d o m. Mo n um e n ts an d f ine sculpture, includin g t h e b a r q ueof Kh u fu and, of course, the pyramid s , attest to the technicalsophisticationand artistry o f t h e er a . M u ch is known about the u p p e r echelon of society from this period but little a b o u t the com m o n folk who formed the bas e o f the economrcpyramid. L e h n erw as p e r p lexed:somethingimportantwa s missingfrom the Giza Plateau. Where were the t o w n s be lo n g in gto the many people who b u ilt t h e p yr a r n id s,this "missingsilent majority " ? He Pagel9
scrutinizedmaps of the Giza Plateauas well its g e o lo g ya n d t o p o g ra p h y . A c o n e o f m u d , u s e d to seal a jar, held the tantalizingclue: "Overseer of Bakeries." Towns to accommodate the laborershad to be in the vicinity. Lehnerchose to excavate an area south of a massivestone wall near the pyramids, 200 yards long, with c o lo s s a lg a t e s 2 1 f e e t h ig h . He h i t p a y d i r t when a worker accidentallygouged the desert r ud f lo o r wit h a b a c k h o e , re v e a lin gre c t i l i n e am p o t s wa lls , t h ic k , b e l l s h aped and stone B re a d v e s s e ls- c a me t o lig h t . L e h n e r,wit h t h e h e l p o f the backhoeoperator,had discoveredtwo intact b a k e rie ss, id e b y s id e . A lt h o u g hs c e n e sf ro m a n c ie n tt o mb s ( n o t a b l yo f T i, in S a q q a ra )d e p ic t t h e b re a d b a k i n gp r o c e s s in great detail, some of the featuresuncovered c o u ld n o t a d e q u a t e ly b e e x p la in e d . T h e s e mysterious features include a series of semic irc u la rc ra t e rsin t h e la y e rso f a s h o n t h e f l o o r a n d f o u r c e ra mic v a t s . P lu s , a p al e o b o t a n i s t , u s in g f lo t a t io n me t h o d s , re c o v e re do n l y b a r l e y a n d e mme r wh e a t s e e d s , n e it h e ro f w h i c h h a s t h e g lu t e n c o n t e n t o f t h e wh e a t we u s e t o d a y . G lu t e n e n a b le sb re a d t o ris e a n d len d s a l i g h t , spongytexture. At this point, the lecture became part mystery, p a rt c o me d y , a n d u t t e rly f a s c in a t i n g .L e h n e r d e c id e d t o re p lic a t e a n O ld K in g d o m b a k e r y b a s e d o n h is f in d in g s , wit h f u n d in g f r o m t h e Na t io n a l G e o g ra p h icS o c ie t y wh ic h f i l m e d t h e process. lt took the Egyptianworkers a mere three hours to create an exact replica of the a n c ie n t b a k e ry - wh ic h h a d t a k e n t h e c r e w months to excavate! Lehnerenlistedthe help of Ed Wood from Utah, an ancient yeast specialist and author of WORLD SOURDOUGH BREADS OF ANTIAUffY Yeast was the way to circumvent the "gluten p ro b le m. " E d Wo o d s u c c e s s f u llyc a p t u r e dw i l d yeast in Egypt by "baiting" it with potato water and this was used to leaven the experimental b re a d . T h e b a k e : o f f c o mme n c e du s i n g e m m e r a n d b a rle y (in a 1 O -2 O o /too 8 0 -9 0 % m i x t u r e ) . A f t e r in n u me ra b le mo d ific a t io n s a n d m a n y in e d ib let ria ls a n d e rro rs , a " s u c c es s f u l "l o a f , a lb e it d e n s e a n d c o a rs e , wa s p r o d u c e d . Mysteries were solved in the process. The archeological"craters" were f ormed by the Winter 1995
rounded bottoms of the bread baking vessels, nestled in hot ash to cook. And the need for four vats becameapparent: one each for yeast, w a t e r , flo u r a n d m ixing. B aking bread, Leh n e r learned,was performedon a massive scale (to fuel workers)and was not undertakenfor special o c c a s ion s,a s o n ce thought. Last winter, Lehnerand his team discoveredthat t he b a k er ie swe r e only part of a huge mudb ric k b u i l d i ng . An o the r area containeddishes,pla t e s , v e r y l o n g a n d l ow benches, jar stands, f lin t bl a d e s,an d fish bones. This, in effect, wa s what remainedof a very large mess hall for the workers. Th e l ectur e en d e d on a sobering note. T h e e n c r o achin gci ty of Cairo threatensto oblite ra t e t he s e r em a r ka b ler uins which have so muc h t o tell us about everyday life of the "Little Guys" w h o b ui l t th e Gr e a tP yramids.
RRRRR THE VALLEYOF THE KINGS PLAN FLOODPROTECTION Presentedby John Rutherford ESSM e eting,Octoberl995 Notes by Judy Greenfield D r . J ohn R uthe r ford is currently involved in co n s e r vati oneffo r ts in the V alley of the Kin g s . H e h a s w or ke d extensivelyin the V alley as a co n s u l tin gen g in e erand was involvedin part ia lly cl e a r i ngan d su r veyingthe tomb of Rams e sll (KV- 7 ) . problem with the Va lle y T h e g e o m o r p h o logical o f t h e Ki ng s ca n be explained,according t o R u t h e r for d ,by im aginingthe V alley as a gia n t b a t h t u b . R ain water pours down the st e e p s i d e d v alle y an d d rains out through the V a lle y entrance. Typically, the area receivesa mere centimeterof rainfalleach year. Yet, every 200 flash fl o o d t o 4 O Oye a r s,th e V alleyexperiences in g d u r in gwh ich r ainwaterand rock debrisp o u r into the warren of tombs, causinga multitudeof problems. The most recent f lash f lood rMinter1995
in u n d a t e dt h e V a lle y a y e a r a g o , in O c t o b e r 19 9 4 . The Valley tombs are cut into cliffs formed of T h e b a n lime s t o n e , a s e mi-h a rd s t o n e . T h e q u a lit y o f t h e lime s t o n ed e c re a s e sw i t h d e p t h , Shale, a n d is u n d e rla in b y E s n a s h a le . c o mp o s e d o f c la y min e ra ls , is n o t o r i o u s f o r swellingupon contact with water. Water enters tombs through the opened entrancesto tombs a n d t h ro u g h f is s u re s t h ro u g h t h e l i m e s t o n e o v e rb u rd e n . Da ma g ema y b e d ire c t lyo r in d ire c t lyca u s e db y floodwater as was illustratedby Rutherford's d ra ma t ics lid e s . Dire c td a ma g ein c lu d e sl o s s o f p a in t a n d s u rf a c e la y e rs o f t h e t o m b w h e n mo is t u red ra ws s a lt in s o lu t io nt o t h e s u r f a c e . When it crystallizesbeneaththe surfacelayer,it c a u s e s ro c k a n d s u rf a c e (s o me t imesp a i n t ! )t o s p a ll o f f . F lo o d wa t e rs ,la d e n wit h s a n d a n d d e b ris , s wirlin g t h ro u g h t h e s t ru c t u r e s ,c a u s e d a ma g e b y a b ra s io n . T h e wa t e r i t s e l f c a n d is s o lv e p a in t wh ic h is b o u n d wi t h w a t e r s e n s it iv eme d ia . I n d ire c t ly ,f lo o d wa t e r ss w e l l s h a le c o lu mn s a b u t t in g t h e lime s t o n e . U p o n d ry in g , t h e s h a le s h rin k s , c a u s ing t e n s i o n f ra c t u re s a n d e v e n t u a lly c o lla p s e . A n o t h e r in d ire c t re s u lt o f in u n d a t io n is s li p p a g e o f ma s s iv eb lo c k so f s t o n e a lo n gjo in t s . Ru t h e rf o rdp ro p o s e ds o me wa y s o f m i t i g a t i n g f lo o d wa t e rd a ma g e . T h e E g y p t ia no rg a n i z a t i o n , t h e S u p re me Co u n c il o f A n t iq u i t i e s , h a s imp le me n t e dit s o wn me a s u re s s, o me o f w h i c h h e lp e dt h e V a lle yo f t h e K in g t o mb s w e a t h e rt h e 1 9 9 4 f lo o d s . Ho we v e r, s o me p ro v e d i n e f f e c t iv e . P o s s ib leme t h o d s o f min im i z i n gf l o o d d a ma g ein c lu d elo we rin gp a t h wa y st h r o u g ht h e V a lle y t o c re a t e d e e p e r c h a n n e ls f o r r u n o f ,f s e a lin g ro c k jo in t s , ra is in g a n d r e i n f o r c i n g e n t ry wa y s , re mo v in g t a ilin g s a n d d e b r i s f r o m t h e v ic in it y o f t o mb s , a n d s e a lin g do o r w a y s . Such efforts may extend the life of the tombs 5 O O o r, p e rh a p s , 1, O O O y e a rs . l n e v i t a b l y , d e s p it e a ll me a s u re s , t h e s e mo n u m e n t s w i l l return to the elements from which they were c re a t e d . Rutherfordalso discussedthe ethics governing conservationof the tombs as set forth by three o rg a n iz a t io nas n d a ls o a c k n o wle d g edp a r a d o x e s Page2O
i n h e r en ti n the se guidelines(for example,d o n ' t reconstructoriginalartifacts but do make certain your reconstructions are distinct f rom the o r i g i na ls!) . Tom b preservation,we learn e d ,is no black and white matter. At t h e con clu sion of his very well-orga n iz e d lecture,Rutherforddistributedan opinion poll of sorts. The ARCE Egyptian Antiquities Project, t h r o u ghfu n d in gby the UnitedS tatesA gen c yf o r I n t e r nati on aDe l velopment(US A ID),will spo n s o r a t e a m of Egyp ti anand A mericanenginee rsa n d s c i e nti ststo sur vey the V alley of the K in g s t o mb s. U l tim a tely,the team will preparea lis t o f m easu r e sto help protect the tombs ag a in s t f l o o d s a n d o the r naturalagents of deteriora t io n . T h e au d ie n ce was asked to rate the t o mb s a c c o rdin gto th e ir artistic,architectural,his t o ric , e c o n om i c, r e lig ious, and overall signific a n c e . The resultsof the survey will be relayedto the t e a m who w i l l d e cide which endangeredt o mb s receivetop priority for preservationmeasures. I t ' s e x ci tin gtha t ES S memberscan particip a t ein t h i s stud y by p r oviding input on their fav o rit e V a l l e yto m b s. Perhapsthe E S S membersh ipwill b e t r ea ted to a s equel to this lecture in t h e f u t u r e.an d we will learnthe resultsof the t o mb s u r v ev.
ffiffiffiffiffi II AND MORTUARYTEMPLEOF MENTUHOTEP AN OVERVIEWOF DEIREL BAHRI Presentedby Richard Harwood ESSMeeting,November Notes by David Pepper
Harwoodis a graduateof DartmouthUniversity, a n d D uke Un ive r sityLaw S chool. He has v is it e d Eg y p tthr e e ti m es, this past year with the Va lle y o f t h e Kin g s M o tif A lignment P roject,a g ro u p w o r k ingun d e rthe directionof RichardW ilk in s o n o f t h e Un ive r sityof A rizona. He has also s p e n t s o m e tim e r ese a rchingMentuhotep ll's T e mp le a t t h e M e tr op o litanMuseum's archivesin Ne w York City. Harwood recently retired from his position as head of the Trust Department at Ba n kOn e i n C olo radoS P rings. Pa g e 2 1
Ha rwo o d b e g a n h is t a lk b y d e s c rib i n gh i s f i r s t v is it t o De ir e l B a h ri. His t o u r g ro u p s p e n t t i m e looking around Hatshepsut's mortuary temple and then started up on the overlandtrail to the V a lle yo f t h e K in g s . lt wa s o n t h e an c i e n tt r a i l , ju s t a b o v e De ir e l B a h ri, t h a t h e no t i c e d t h a t there was another large structure just to the s o u t h o f t h e T e mp le o f Ha t s h e p su t . O u i c k l y le a v in gt h e o v e rla n dh ik e , h e ru s h e db a c k d o w n t o t h e s it e o f t h is o t h e r mo n u me n t,o n l y t o b e t u rn e d a wa y b y g u a rd sf ro m t h e P o l i s hM i s s i o n , wh o we re wo rk in go n a n o t h e rs ma llt e m p l e ,t h a t o f T u t h mo s islll, n e s t le din b e t we e nt h e T e m p l e o f Ha t s h e p s u t a, n d t h e o t h e r la rg e s t r u c t u r eh e h a d n o t ic e d . O n a s u b s e q u e n tv is i t h e f i n a l l y g o t t o e x p lo re t h is ru in : t h e Mid dl e K i n g d o m t e mp leo f Ne b h e p e t reMe n t u h o t e pll. Me n t u h o t e p ' s t e mp le h a d b e e n st a n d i n g f o r s o me 6 0 0 y e a rs wh e n t h e a rc h it e c tS e n e n m u t b e g a n e re c t in g Ha t s h e p s u t ' sf u n e r a r y t e m p l e b e s id eit . Ha t s h e p s u t ' smo n u me n tw a s s i m i l a r in d e s ig n t o t h e o ld e r t e mp le , a s it w a s t i e r e d wit h s lo p in g ra mp s le a d in g f ro m o n e l e v e l t o a n o t h e r. L a t e r u s e d a s a q u a rry ,a n d s u b j e c t e d t o ro c k s lid e s ,t h e e a rlie rt e mp le o f M e n t u h o t e p q u ic k lyf e ll o u t o f u s e a n d b e c a mef o r g o t t e n . Harwood traced the history of the f irst in t e rme d ia t ep e rio d . He e x p la in i e dh o w t h e I n y o t e ff a mily d y n a s t y b e c a mep o we r f u le n o u g h t o b e p ro c la ime dru le rs , f irs t o f U p p e r E g y p t , a n d t h e n o f a ll E g y p t it s e lf , u n d e r o n e o f t h e , n t u h o t e pll. I n y o t e fd e s c e n d a n t sMe MentuhotepNebhepetrebroke with the tradition of his ancestors,who were buried at el Tariff, a n d lo c a t e d h is t o mb o p p o s it et h e a n c i e n tc i t y o f Wa s e t (T h e b e s )in t h e b a y a t D e i r e l B a h r i . B u ilt in t h e s h a p e o f a " T " , it s e rv e d a s b o t h mo rt u a ry c u lt c e n t e r a n d h is bu r i a l p l a c e . lmp re s s iv e lyd e s ig n e dwit h t re e s an d g a r d e n s , t h e c o mp le x f e a t u re d a u n iqu e l a y e r e d a p p e a ra n c ewh ic h wa s c o p ie d in H a t s h e p s u t ' s later structure. lts courtyardswere surrounded b y ma n y ro u n d a n d o c t a g o n a l c o l u m n s , a n d Harwood took us step-by-step through the ruined front gates, passed the now deserted g a rd e n s ,a n d o n t o t h e p la t f o rm o f t h e t e m p l e itself.
Winter 1995
Investigatedin the early years of this century by the Metropolitan Museum, intact tombs for Mentuhotep's many wives, and some nearby tombs of his courtiers were found. Howard Carter himself even discovered a main burial chamber in the oft-used serendipitousway of h a v i n g his ho r se stumble into a hole in t h e ground! Another shaft tomb, nestled into the cliffs behind the temple, was probablyused for the royal burialitself, but Mentuhotep'smummy has neverbeen located. F o r a dd iti on a l i nformation on this fascina t in g site, see the two-part articlewritten by Harwood i n t h e S um m e r /Winter1994 & S ummer 19 9 5 issuesof the Ostracon.
HOUSEOF SCROLLS
MUSEUMREVIEW MUSEUMOF ART THE NELSON-ATKINS IN KANSASCITY Reviewedby Stu Wier About the Reviewer: Stu Wier has degrees in geophysical sciences. He currently works at NOAA in Boulder developing new waYs to improve weather forecasts for the National Wier also worked on the Weather Service. Winchester Excavations in England in | 969, and /'s the compiler of the "Reader's Guide to Ancient Egypt" published bV the ESS. His visit to Kansas City was occasioned by a wedding. "The artifacts were more interesting than the wedding," he said.
T h e N elso n - AtkinsMuseum has a small b u t good collectionof sculpture and artifacts from the ancientMediterraneanarea. Thereare about two dozen sculptures, sculpture f ragments, reliefs,and artifacts from ancient Egypt, all of hi g h q ua lity. Ne a rly half of them are from t h e Winter1995
O ld K in g d o m. Old Kingdom Most imposingis a larger-than-life limestone sculpture of a standing man, unfortunately missing the head. I did not know such monumentalsculpturewas made in the Old Kingdom,still less for anyone below the status of king. lt may have been part of a family g ro u p , s imila rt o o t h e r g ro u p s o f t wo o r m o r e figures from royal and noble tombs and chapels at Giza. These groups frequently show the women with an arm around the waists of their male relatives,in a gesture which may indicate a f f e c t io n , s u p p o rt , a p p ro v a l, o r s om e o t h e r t e n d e rq u a lit y . T h e wo rk ma n s h ipo f t h i s p i e c ei s excellent, f ar superior to the poor surviving imagesof severalimportantkingsfrom the same p e rio d . We c a n s u p p o s et h e k in g s h a d e v e n finer statues and regret that they are lost. A few fine royal figures do exist, such as the statue of Khafre in Cairo and the figures of r u rie din M e n k a u r e ' s Me n k a u ref o u n d b y Re is n e b t e mp lea t G iz a ,a n d n o w in B o s t o n . There is also a statue of the official, Rawer, f ro m t h e s a me p e rio d , c a rv e d in woo d . l t ' s about two feet high, and very well preserved, in c lu d in gt h e p a in t . I f o u n d t h e lik e n es se n t i r e l y b e lie v a b le a s a re p re s e n t a t io no f a u n i q u e p e rs o n ,t h o u g h t h e mu s e u m la b e l c lai m si t i s a t y p ic a lf o rma l p o rt ra ito f n o p a rt ic u lari n d i v i d u a l . Of course, it does follow the formal style. De c id ef o r y o u rs e lf ,if y o u g o . T h e re a re t h re e lo w-re lie fp a n e lsf ro m t h e O l d K in g d o m:t wo a s mirro r ima g e sf la n k i n ga t o m b door and another with registersshowing boat work. I was surprisedto find that the Old K in g d o m b o a t me n wo re n o t h in g b ut a b e l t . There is a nice stele from Abydos, about two feet high, with a typical offeringscene. Part of the surfacewas protectedfrom damagein some wa y in t h e p a s t , a n d t h e p a in t is f a i r l y w e l l preserved. One can see an elaboratepatternof colored circles painted on the offering table s o me t h in gwh ic h wo u ld n e v e r b e p e r c e i v e di f t h e p a in twe re mis s in g . Other sculpturesincludea fine head of Sesostris lll, wit h h is n o rma lwe a ry lo o k , a n d a f i n e b l a c k b a s a lth a wk f ro m t h e P t o le ma ico r L at e P e r i o d . T h e re a re s e v e ra lb ro n z e f ig u re s o f g o d s f r o m Page22
the Late Period, pretty typical, which is to say not reallyhigh quality. However,there are some other Late Periodpiecesof superbworkmanship, notablya relief showing the pharaohoffering to An u b is. For New Kingdom fans there is a surprise:two g o l d b u tto n s or s equins said to be from K in g T u t ' s to m b . Th ere is no explanationof h o w they got to Kansas City. There is also a c o m moni ncise dr eliefof young Ramsesll. Th e sea r e on ly some of the objects on di s p la y . lf you love Egyptianart and are in KansasCity f o r a d a y, th is is well worth a visit. lf you h a v e not seen high-qualityEgyptianartifacts before, I w o u l d e sp e cia llyrecommend it. Y ou ma y b e d e l i gh tedto fi nd yourself in the presenceo f t h e r e a l th in g an d s urprised by the qual it y o f
wo rk ma n s h ip . Locatedat 45th and Oak Streets,the museumis o p e n 1 0 A M - 4 P M T u e s d a y -T h u r s d a y1,0 - 9 P M F rid a y& S a t u rd a y ,1 -5 P M S u n d a y ,a n d i s closed Mondaysand major holidays. Admission is $ 4 f o r a d u lt s ; $ 2 f o r a d u lt s t u d en t s ,a n d $ 1 f o r c h ild re n a g e 6 -1 8 (u n d e r 6 i s f r e e ) . the permanent Saturdays, admission to c o lle c t io n is f re e . L u n c h is a v a i l a b l ei n t h e Rozelle Court, a beautiful ltalian Renaissance setting; dinner is served only on Fridays.Call (8 1 6 ) 7 5 1 -1 2 7 8 f o r in f o rma t io n .
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T HE D EN V E RM US E U MOF NATURALHISTORY 2 0 0 1 C o l o r a d oBl vd . Denve r ,C O 8 0 2 0 5
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Winter 1995