4. RESULTADOS
4.5. Categoría: Tarea educativa
A relatively large group of hieratic graffiti from the New Kingdom was found by Ludwig Borchardtís expedition in the pyramid complex of Sahure in Abusir. The graffiti are described in the publication as next to the sanctuary of Sakhmet of Sahure47, which was in the southern part of the funerary temple of Sahure. However, no exact plan of their disposition in the temple was provided.
Ludwig Borchardt wrote: ìDie zahlreich vorhandenen, auf die W‰nde geschriebenen Besucherinschriften, die sp‰ter noch in einem besonderen Bande zu behandeln sind, kann man noch kaum wie die unn¸tzen Verewigungen moderner Touristen betrachten, sie werden nach ihrem Inhalt, der gewˆhnlich auf ein Lob der Gˆttin und ihres Tempels hinausl‰uft, vielmehr von Frommen herr¸hren, die hierher gepilgert sind, und zur Síechmet zu beten. Die Reicheren unter ihnen begn¸gten sich nicht mit fl¸chtig mit Tinte hingeworfenen Wandinschriften, sie verewigten ihren Besuch durch besondere kleine oder grˆflere Denksteine, die in die Tempelw‰nde eingelassen wurden.î48
He further described the position of the stelae of Sakhmet, made of various materials. ìEs war ¸bri-gens nicht der ganze Totentempel zum Sechmet-Heiligtum umgewandelt worden, nur sein s¸dlicher Teil, in dem sich wohl jenes besonders heilige Bild der Gˆttin befunden hat. Namentlich der Gang mit dem Jagdbild (f, 6ñ9) war an seinen W‰nden wie gespickt mit Sechmet-Stelen aller Grˆflen, von kleinen blauen Fayencestelen ... bis zu recht umfangreichen steinernen Platten ...î.49
There were several Thutmoside Besucherinschriften, but their state of research is not clear.50They can be noted in the Hieratische Pal‰ographie by G. Mˆller51, where there are single signs taken from them, which allows us to confirm that these graffiti were written with ink and not scratched. The numbering of the graffiti by G. Mˆller also suggests that there were at least twelve ink inscriptions.
The signs in the Hieratische Pal‰ographie II include:
47 The cult of this goddess is treated in detail by Hoenes, S.-E., Untersuchungen zu Wesen und Kult der Gˆttin Sachmet, Bonn 1976, for the Memphite zone 113ñ115 and Sadek, A. I., Popular Religion in Egypt during the New Kingdom, Hildesheim 1987, 29ñ34.
48 Borchardt, Das Grabdenkmal des Kˆnigs S`a3-hu-rec, 120.
49 Borchardt, op. cit., 102ñ103.
50 Cf. Peden, Graffiti, 59; Borchardt, op. cit., 120f., PM III, 75.
51 Mˆller, Hieratische Pal‰ographie II, 1ñ2. Unpublished graffiti from the temple of Sahure mentioned as additional sources for the palaeography, and single signs can be found throughout the palaeography.
Gr. Abus. 3 Graff. Abus. N Graff. Abus. N
Graff. Abus. 5
Graff. Abus. 2 Graff. Abus. 6,2
Graff. 4 Graff. Abus. 1,1
Graff. Abus. 2
p. 6 p. 14 p. 14
p. 16 p. 17 p. 18
p. 23 p. 24 p. 24
It is not to be excluded ñ if we take as evidence the signs from Pal‰ographie ñ that there were graffiti containing the dating (rnpt sp), the name of King Thutmose III (Menkheperre), the name of King Sahure, the titles nswt bitj and Hm(.f), and the verbs gm and mAA. Also the name of goddess Sakhmet is likely to have been found in these inscriptions. The signs also allow us to say that there is a likely possibility that the graffiti near (or in) the sanctuary of Sakhmet of Sahure contained expressions known from other Thutmoside graffiti, including phrases like iw.t pw ir n X r mAA, the name of the owner of the pyramid (however, in which connection, if any, to the goddess Sakhmet, cannot be decided). A short annex at the end of this chapter attempts a reconstruction of what graffiti might have been providing the signs Mˆller eventually used.
Apart from the signs known from the Hieratische Pal‰ographie II, only a small part of what might have been a large documentation of above mentioned graffiti has been preserved. Documentation
Graff. Ab. 6,3 Graff. Abus. 6,3 Graff. Abus. 5,1
Graff. Abus. 4
Graff. Abus. 3,3 Graff. Abus. 6,4
Graff. Abus. 4f Graff. Abus. 1,2
Graff. Abus. 6,5
p. 25 p. 26 p. 27
p. 30 p. 31 p. 34
p. 34 p. 36 p. 40
Graff. Abus. 6,7 Graff. Abus. 6,2 Graff. Abus. 1,1
Graff. Abus. 6,7
Graff. Abus. 12,3 Graff. Abus. 6,4
Graff. Abus. N Graff. Abus. N
Graff. Abus. N
p. 41 p. 42 p. 43
p. 45 p. 51 p. 53
p. 64 p. 67 p. 70
on three of these 18thdynasty graffiti is kept in the Griffith Institute Archives. All three are published by Mounir Megally52and two speak about scribal visits to the temple of Sahure. M. Megally published hieratic originals, hieroglyphic transcriptions and translations of these graffiti. Megally also tried to map Mˆllerís graffiti activities in the temple of Sahure, which was rather difficult. He also introduced an analysis of graffiti text types and noted specific formulae of the graffiti and pointed out a comparison with other period texts.53Megally noted too that there was a third graffito sketched over the second but of this third hardly anything is left.54The publication of the three graffiti in this volume is in debt to Megallyís, though original materials in the Gardiner papers were also consulted.
None of the three graffiti mentions the cult of the Sakhmet of Sahure. Nonetheless, the worship of Sakhmet of Sahure was an important cultic activity in the place that covers the discussed period of 18thand 19thdynasty. Its presence in the zone could have been a reason for frequent visits, and thus could have fostered the appearance of the Besucherinschriften too, depriving them of a certain level of independent antiquarian interest, which might otherwise have been supposed to be their main raison díÈtre.
Besides ink-written graffiti there was also an engraved inscription, dated to the 19th dynasty. Its author is the royal scribe Djehutiherhesef of the Ramesseum, and the short text ñ or its preserved parts; contains no direct information on the monument or the Sakhmet cult. Scribe Djehutiherhesef, differently from the texts of other stelae, which are in the neighbourhood and are dedicated to Sakhmet, is speaking to and about Thoth, like the scribes in Ramesside scribal miscellanies.55
The inscription of Djehutiherhesef was photographed and text published by Borchardt and its hieroglyphic transcription is available in Kitchenís Ramesside Inscriptions.56
The Ramesside officials were otherwise assiduous in their attentions to the Sakhmet cult, as the finds and smaller fragments indicate, which come from the area of the Sakhmet worship57Material cultural evidence, known since Borchardtís excavation, is rich for both the 18thand 19thdynasty. The preservation of the cult of Sakhmet of Sahure is maybe the reason why Sahureís temple remained in a relatively well-preserved state.58Sakhmet (originally Hathor or Bastet59) portrayed in the original temple decoration attracted pilgrims ñ or visitors ñ who then made the ancient royal temple a place of worship of a deity, who was at that time rooted within the cultic service in Memphis, for Sakhmet was the divine wife of Ptah, the tutelary god of Memphis. The goddess possessed thus in Abusir a place of worship, active at least from the times of Thutmose III onwards, throughout the 18th dy-nasty. The south part of the funerary temple of Sahure was, as said, lined with stelae dedicated to Sakhmet, and even rebuilding must have occurred, as Borchardt discovered e.g. parts of architectural elements dated under Horemheb60. This does pass well into the development of Memphis and its necropolis in that period. The cult of Sakhmet had further development during the 19thdynasty, as the Ramesside texts and stelae confirm.
52 Megally, Two Visitorsí Graffiti from Abusir, CdE 56, Fasc. 112, 1981, 218ñ240. They were mentioned as early as in 1973 by Baines, J., The destruction of the pyramid temple of Sahure, GM 4, 1973, 9ñ13, in particular on p. 12, coming from the Griffith Institute Archives, Gardiner MSS, AHG/29.60 AñB, where then Megally took them from.
53 His work deserves full attention as his ideas of comparing graffiti to other graffiti and to other period texts (school exercises, which would correspond very well to the apprentice scribes who signed some of the graffiti in Djoserís complex, and with presupposed ìschool excursionî in the Sun Temple of Userkaf, cf. above) are very fruitful (cf. p. 40).
In addition, he tried to indicate possible varying views on kings of old, as expressed in various visitorsí graffiti.
Compare Megally, M., Two Visitorsí Graffiti from Abusir, CdE 56, 1981, 218, 225, 234, 240.
54 Megally, op. cit., 234.
55 Papyrus Anastasi III, 4.9ñ4.11, Anastasi V, 8.4ñ9.3; Caminos, Late Egyptian Miscellanies, London 1954, 86 and 232ñ233.
56 Borchardt, Das Grabdenkmal des Kˆnigs S`a3-hu-rec, 124, and Abb. 170, plus KRI III, 378.
57 Borchardt, op. cit., 120, 124 etc.
58 Cf. discussion by Baines, The destruction of the pyramid temple of Sahure, GM 4, 1973, 9ff.
59 Borchardt supposed it might have been a picture of Bastet. Borchardt, 120. See also, Hoenes, Sachmet, 114ñ115.
About Sahure veneration, ibid., and also Sadek, Popular Religion in Egypt, 29ñ34.
60 Borchardt, op. cit., I, 101.
New Kingdom materials found on the spot include votive inscriptions, stelae, including the so-cal-led Ohrenstelen, where Sachmet is being asked for various benefits including a nice old age, good buri-al61, mercy etc., similar wishes can be found at other places in the visitorsí graffiti too (see pp. 60, 114 or 119, and 78 and 128). There is also an inscription of Tutankhamun, and a stela of Ay.62Further finds are the well-known bowl of Hui and rich finds of pottery and faience, scarabaeus from the era of Amenhotep III63, remains of a Hathoric frieze and new stairs to the roof of the temple, starting from the south court. Other mudbrick additions made in the temple might too have been possibly connected with the Sakhmet cult.
The 19th dynasty monuments include also a restoration inscription of Sethi I and a fragment of a text by prince Khaemwaset from the era of Ramesses II.64Another reason for visits to the area could have been equally well quarrying, or better the re-using of stone, as is known from the complex of Niuserre.65The stoneworkers were probably active inside the nearby located mastaba of Ptahshepses as well.66 This could be in no contradiction to the pious reverence for some of the ancient royal monuments. In addition, the archaeological setting of the re-use of the temple of Sahure may be soon seen in new light of the discoveries of SCA in the area.67Evidence for the cult of Sakhmet con-tinues until the Greek period and the temple later included also a chapel built in the Coptic period.
61 Borchardt, Das Grabdenkmal des Kˆnigs S`a3-hu-rec, I, 122ñ123.
62 Borchardt, op. cit., I, 121ñ122.
63 Borchardt, op. cit., I, 130ñ135.
64 See Borchardt, op. cit., I, 104. Further uses of the temple included copying its reliefs, as it is clear from the plaster models taken from reliefs, and a net over one scene. These things can be of a later date, Borchardt suggested Late Period.
65 Borchardt, Das Grabdenkmal des Kˆnigs Ne-user-re, 160ñ161. A 19thor 20thdynasty stone working group ñ or a small workshop seems to be active in the temple of this king.
66 Charv·t, P., Czechoslovak Excavations at Abusir. The mastaba of Ptahshepses. The pottery, Praha 1981.
67 The work of the SCA team is still in progress. I am very grateful to Mr Tarek el-Awadi for information on his work.