In the 80s and 90s the research on monumental architecture and art of the earliest periods of Egyptian history was increased and constantly stimulated by impressive discoveries made at Abu Roash, Giza, Saqqara, Abusir, Dahshur, Seila, Abydos, Hierakonpolis and Elephantine (among others).29 These resulted in (and were augmented by) important syntheses concerning the royal mortuary complexes, to mention the works by J. Brinks,30 N. Swelim,31 R. Stadelmann,32 P. Janosi,33 D. Arnold,34 M. Lehner35 and M. Verner.36 However, in evident contrast with new works concerning non-royal tombs, like those by Y. Harpur37 and N. Cherpion,38 where the authors analysed relief decoration in aspects of its relation to architecture, ideology of representations, art history and chronology, the aforementioned books and articles were concentrated mostly on the development of the royal architecture and its connections with political history, chronology and
29 A limited space does not allow the extensive literature on these discoveries to be cited
here. Summaries are provided annually by J. Leclant and G. Clerc, Fouilles et travaux en Égypte et au Soudan, Orientalia; cf. also L.Giddy, Digging Diary, Egyptian Archaeology, and S. Ikram, Nile Currents, KMT. One has to stress, however, that apart from scanty preliminary reports, we still lack basic informations on many sites. Moreover, the work at some of them is far from being accomplished and new important data can be expected. In this respect Abu Roash (Djedefra's complex), Saqqara (French and Polish missions' working areas at South Saqqara and west from Netjerykhet's precinct respectively), Dahshur (valley temple of the Red Pyramid), as well as Abydos and Hierakonpolis are especially promising.
30 Brinks, Entwicklung.
31 Swelim, Third Dynasty, cf. id., The Brick Pyramid at Abu Rawash. Number I by Lepsius, Alexandria 1987.
32 Stadelmann, Pyramiden; id. Grossen Pyramiden von Giza. 33 Janosi, Grabanlagen der Königinnen.
34 Arnold, in: Temples of Ancient Egypt, pp. 31-85, cf. also: id. Building in Egypt, passim;
id., Lexikon der ägyptischen Baukunst, passim.
35 Lehner, Complete Pyramids. 36 Verner, Pyramidy.
37 Harpur, Decoration.
religion. There existed no complex analysis of the reliefs decorating walls of the buildings in the royal tomb complexes. W. S. Smith’s monumental
History of Egyptian Sculpture and Painting in the Old Kingdom (Boston
1946) still remained the latest attempt to cover the subject. Since then, however, many discoveries were made, and the body of evidence available to scholars has been multiplied, to mention e.g. the reliefs of Sneferu from A. Fakhry's excavations at the Bent Pyramid, R. Stadelmann's at the Red Pyramid at Dahshur, and N. Swelim's at Seila;39 a large group of decorated blocks re-used in the pyramid of Amenemhet I at Lisht, among which those coming from the monuments of Khufu, Khafra, Userkaf, Unis, and Pepy II were identified (and in great part published by H. Goedicke);40 reliefs of Khasekhemui from Hierakonpolis "Fort" (re-discovered and published by N. Alexanian).41 To these one should add the reliefs discovered during last sixty years in the pyramid temples of Userkaf, Djedkara, Unis, Teti, Pepy I and Merenra at Saqqara. Decoration of the funerary temples of Teti and Unis was published in the 70s.42 A large part of the remaining material, including the blocks from Unis’ causeway, has been published recently thanks to A. Labrousse.43 Moreover, still new fragments are being discovered at sites (as it happened in Spring 1996, when several blocks, including some decorated with an unique subject of transporting a pyramidion, were uncovered during the conservation work at the causeway of Sahura's complex),44 and others are
39 Fakhry, Sneferu, vol.II, The Valley Temple, Cairo 1961; R. Stadelmann et al.,
Pyramiden und Nekropole des Snofru in Dahschur, MDAIK 49 (1993), pp.259-94; N. Swelim, The Pyramid of Sneferu at Seila, forthcoming.
40 Goedicke, Re-used Blocks.
41 N. Alexanian, Die Reliefdekoration des Chasechemui aus dem sogenannten Fort in
Hierakonpolis, in: Critères de datation à l'Ancien Empire, pp. 1-30.
42 Lauer, Leclant, Teti; Labrousse, Lauer, Leclant, Ounas.
43 Labrousse, Moussa, Ounas; Labrousse, Pyramides à texts I-II; Labrousse, Lauer, Userkaf et Néferhétepès, Labrousse, Moussa, La chaussée du roi Ounas.
44 Z.Hawass, M.Verner, Newly Discovered Blocks from the Causeway of Sahure, MDAIK
being found in storerooms or acquired by the museums (e.g. the stela of Raneb in the MMA, or the stela of Qahedjet in Louvre).45
The work by W. S. Smith, covering much wider subject of the Archaic and Old Kingdom art, but in the parts concerning royal reliefs confined to the then available material, with some important additions made by the same scholar in his later books46, remained the only overall study of the Old Kingdom royal reliefs for over a half of a century. Only recently the subject was treated in a much synthetic way by Z. Hawass in his PhD thesis,47 and by Do. Arnold in the great exhibition catalogue of the Old Kingdom art.48
Remarkably few recent studies were confined to detailed problems, the articles by F.D. Friedman and E. Edel being outstanding exceptions.49 Strange as it is, but at the conferences on the Old Kingdom art held in the 80s and 90s almost no one of the contributors discussed the royal reliefs.50
45 Stela of Raneb: H. G. Fischer, An Egyptian Royal Stela of the Second Dynasty, Artibus
Asiae 24,1 (1961), pp. 45-56; stela of Qahedjet (Huni?): J. Vandier, Une stèle égyptienne portant un nouveau nom royal de la Troisième Dynastie, CRAIBL 1968, pp.16-22; Ziegler, Stèles, peintures et reliefs, pp.54-57.
46 W.S. Smith, Interconnections, pp.141-153; id., Art and Architecture, pp.30-33, 37, 50-
52, 64-69, 74.
47 Hawass, Khufu, Khafra and Menkaura, pp.502-536.
48 Do. Arnold, Royal Reliefs, in: Egyptian Art in the Age of the Pyramids, pp.83-101. On
the other hand, another recent catalogue (Ch. Ziegler (ed.), The Pharaohs, Milano 2002, exhibition at Palazzo Grassi in Venice), an enormous work with many contributors, is a typical example of a completely different approach. The only Old Kingdom royal relief included is the stela of Qahedjet from the Louvre (cat.8) and in an article on the Old Kingdom written by A. Roccati (pp.29-39, esp.35-39, ‘The Monuments’) the relief decoration of the mortuary complexes is even not mentioned.
49 F.D.Friedman, The Underground Relief Panels of King Djoser at the Step Pyramid
Complex, JARCE 32 (1995), pp.1-42; E. Edel, Studien zu den Relieffragmenten aus dem Taltempel des Königs Snofru, in: Studies Simpson, pp.199-208.
50 See tables of content in: R. Stadelmann, H. Sourouzian, Kunst des Alten Reiches: Symposium im Deutschen Archäologischen Institut Kairo am 29. und 30. Oktober 1991,
SDAIK 28, Cairo 1997; N. Grimal (ed.), Les critères de datation à l'Ancien Empire, BdÉ 120, Le Caire 1997 (the only article concerning the royal reliefs is the one by N. Alexanian on the material from the ‘Fort’ of Khasekhemui at Hierakonpolis); C. Ziegler (ed.), L'art de l'Ancien Empire égyptien. Actes du colloque organisé au Musée du Louvre
par le service culturel les 3 et 4 avril 1998, Paris 1999. An article by R. Stadelmann
published in the latter book (Representations de la famille royale dans l’Ancien Empire, pp.169-194) considers, beside the reliefs of Netjerykhet, only sculpture in round.