Djoser
Djoser | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Netjerikhet, Tosorthros, Sesorthos | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sanakhte | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Consort | 3rd Dynasty |
Djoser (also read as Djeser and Zoser) was an
Identity
The painted limestone statue of Djoser, now in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, is the oldest known life-sized Egyptian statue.[8] Today, at the site in Saqqara where it was found, a plaster copy of it stands in place of the original. The statue was discovered during the Antiquities Service Excavations of 1924–1925.
In contemporary inscriptions, he is called by his Horus name Netjerikhet, meaning "divine of body". Later sources, which include a New Kingdom reference to his construction, help confirm that Netjerikhet and Djoser are the same person.
While Manetho names Necherophes and the Turin King List names
Family
Djoser is linked to
Her cult seems to have still been active in the later reign of Sneferu.
Hetephernebti is identified as one of Djoser's queens "on a series of boundary stela from the Step Pyramid enclosure (now in various museums) and a fragment of relief from a building at Hermopolis" currently in the Egyptian museum of Turin.[12]
Reign
Third Dynasty
The lands of Upper and Lower Egypt were united into a single kingdom sometime around 2686 BC. The period following the unification of the crowns was one of prosperity, marked by the start of the
Egyptologist Toby Wilkinson believes that the weight of archeological evidence favours Djoser (Netjerikhet) as Khasekhemwy's successor and therefore founder of the Third Dynasty. A seal from Khasekhemwy's tomb at Abydos, in combination with a seal from mastaba K1 at Beit Khallaf dated to Djoser's reign, links the two pharaohs together as father and son respectively. The seal at Abydos names a 'Nimaat-hap' as the mother of Khasekhemwy's children, while the other seal at Beit Khallaf names the same person as the 'mother of the dual-king'. Further archaeological evidence linking the reigns of the two pharaohs together are found at Shunet et-Zebib, which suggest that Djoser oversaw the burial of his predecessor. Ritual stone vessels found at the sites of the tombs – Khasekhemwy's tomb at Abydos and Djoser's tomb at Saqqara – of the two pharaohs also appear to have come from the same collection, as samples from both sites contain identical imagery of the god Min. This archeological evidence is supplemented by at least one historical source, the Saqqara king list, which names Djoser as the immediate successor of Beby – a misreading of Khasekhemwy.[14]
Length of reign
Manetho states Djoser ruled Egypt for twenty-nine years, while the Turin King List states it was only nineteen years. Because of his many substantial building projects, particularly at Saqqara, some scholars argue Djoser must have enjoyed a reign of nearly three decades. Manetho's figure appears to be more accurate, according to Wilkinson's analysis and reconstruction of the Royal Annals. Wilkinson reconstructs the Annals as giving Djoser "28 complete or partial years", noting that the
Period of reign
Various sources provide various dates for Djoser's reign. Professor of Ancient Near East history
Military expeditions
Djoser dispatched several military expeditions to the
Construction projects
His most famous monument was his
Some fragmentary reliefs found at
Although he seems to have started an unfinished tomb at Abydos (Upper Egypt), Djoser was eventually buried in his famous pyramid at Saqqara in Lower Egypt. Since Khasekhemwy, a pharaoh from the 2nd dynasty, was the last pharaoh to be buried at Abydos, some Egyptologists infer that the shift to a more northerly capital was completed during Djoser's time.
Djoser and Imhotep
One of the most famous contemporaries of king Djoser was his
Medieval tradition
Egyptian historian Al-Nuwayri (1279–1333) described Djoser as "a king who was a wise ruler of Egypt" and claimed that the Copts had a feast in honour of him called the "vine festival".[20] Al-Nuwayri also visited the South tomb of the pyramid complex of Djoser in Saqqara, identifying it as the tomb of "Zosara" and describing a vault decorated with lapis lazuli, as well as a large court with a large granite door inscribed with 30 lines of hieroglyphs.[20]
Egyptologist Okasha El-Daly noted that "Demotic romances of ancient Egyptian rulers such as Zoser, Inaros and Nectanebo also became popular in the medieval Arabic sources, which show them as heroes, with their names and deeds well recognised by the writers".[21]
Tomb
Djoser was buried in his famous step pyramid at Saqqara. This pyramid was originally built as a nearly square mastaba, but then five further mastabas were literally piled one upon another, each smaller than the previous one, until the monument became Egypt's first step pyramid. Supervisor of the building constructions was the high lector priest Imhotep.
The pyramid
The step pyramid is made of limestone. It is massive and contains only one tight corridor leading to the close midst of the monument, ending in a rough chamber where the entrance to the tomb shaft was hidden. This inner construction was later filled with rubble, for it was of no use anymore. The pyramid was once 62 metres high and had a base measurement of c. 125 × 109 metres. It was tightly covered in finely polished, white limestone.[22]
Subterranean structure
Under the step pyramid, a large maze of long corridors and chambers was dug. The burial chamber lies in the midst of the subterranean complex; a 28 meter deep shaft that leads directly from the surface down to the burial chamber. The shaft entrance was sealed by a plug stone with a weight of 3.5 tons. The subterranean burial maze contains four magazine galleries, each pointing straight to one cardinal direction. The eastern gallery contained three limestone reliefs depicting king Djoser during the celebration of the Heb-Sed (rejuvenation feast). The walls around and between these reliefs were decorated with bluish faience tiles. They were thought to imitate reed mats, as an allusion to the mythological underworld waters. The other galleries remained unfinished.
At the eastern side of the pyramid, very close to the blue chambers, eleven tomb shafts lead straight down for 30–32 metres, and then deviate in a right angle to the west. Shafts I–V were used for the burials of royal family members; shafts VI–XI were used as symbolic tombs for the grave goods of royal ancestors from dynasties I–II. More than 40,000 vessels, bowls and vases made of various kinds of stone were found in these galleries. Royal names such as of kings
Serdab statue of Djoser
The statue of Djoser is walled into the serdab. The main purpose of the statue was to allow the king to manifest himself and be able to see the rituals performed in and out the serdab. This painted statue is plastered and made out of limestone. Each characteristic of the statue represents something, the striated tripartite wig he is wearing assimilates him to the living world as a dead king. The striped head cloth that covers the wig was used to cover all of his hair. This was a ritual that began to be used by kings in the fourth dynasty. The body is wrapped under a long robe, his hands are placed in a specific way. His right arm is horizontally displayed on his chest while his left arm is resting on his thigh. The placement of his arms are a resemblance to Khasekhem seat.[23][24] One of the oldest representations of the Nine bows, and the first representation of the nine bows fully developed, is on the seated statue of Pharaoh Djoser. His feet rest upon part of the nine bows, which may have referred to Nubians during his reign because of their use of bows and arrows.[25]
Funerary complex
The funerary complex is the first architectural project to be built entirely out of stone. This complex had fourteen entrances but only one was functional. It is made up of the Great South Court, and the Heb-sed north court with Djoser's step pyramid in the center. The complex is enclosed by a 10.5 meters high stone wall, referred to as the enclosure wall. Along with the main courts there is a Roofed Colonnade Entrance located within the south court and a Serdab chamber that holds the seated statue of the king Djoser.[26]
See also
Notes
- ^ For unknown reasons, the first sign was deliberately removed.
References
- ^ a b Mieroop 2010, p. 55.
- ^ a b El-Shahawy & Al-Masri 2005, p. 39.
- ^ a b Atiya 2006, pp. 30 & 103.
- ^ a b Fletcher 2015, p. 7.
- ^ a b Rice 1999, p. 50.
- ^ a b Bunson 2014, p. 103.
- ISBN 0-07-027293-X.
- ^ Berrett 1996, p. 265.
- ^ Wilkinson 2001, pp. 83 & 95.
- ^ Wilkinson 2001, p. 79.
- ^ Bard 2015, p. 140.
- ^ Dodson & Hilton 2004, p. 48.
- ^ Baker & Baker 2001, p. 15.
- ^ Wilkinson 2001, pp. 79 & 81.
- ^ Wilkinson 2000, pp. 79 & 258.
- ^ Baker & Baker 2001, p. 17.
- ^ Bunson 2014, pp. 105 & 264.
- ^ Bunson 2014, p. 264.
- ^ Atiya 2006, p. 103.
- ^ a b Okasha El-Daly (2005). Egyptology: The Missing Millennium. London: UCL Press. p. 93.
- ^ Okasha El-Daly (2005). Egyptology: The Missing Millennium. London: UCL Press. p. 125.
- ^ Adès 2007, p. 48.
- ^ Robins 2014, p. 44.
- ^ Baker & Baker 2001, pp. 17–19.
- ^ Poo 2012, p. 43; Bestock 2017, p. 149.
- ^ Robins 2014, pp. 40–44.
Bibliography
- Adès, Harry (2007). A Traveller's History of Egypt. Interlink Books. ISBN 978-1-566-56654-4.
- Atiya, Farid (2006). Ancient Egypt. American University in Cairo Press. pp. 104–11. ISBN 977-17-3634-5.
- Baker, Rosalie; Baker, Charles (2001). Ancient Egyptians: People of the Pyramids. USA: Oxford University Press. pp. 15–19. ISBN 0-195-12221-6.
- Bard, Kathryn (2015). An Introduction to the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt (2 ed.). John Wiley & Sons. pp. 140–145. ISBN 978-1-118-89611-2.
- Berrett, LaMar C. (1 April 1996). Discovering the World of the Bible. Cedar Fort. ISBN 978-0-910523-52-3.
- Bestock, Laurel (2017). Violence and power in ancient Egypt : Image and Ideology Before the New Kingdom. Abingdon, United Kingdom: Routledge. ISBN 9780367878542.
- Brock, Lyla Pinch (2003). Egyptology at the Dawn of the Twenty-first Century: Proceedings of the Eight International Congress of Egyptologists, Volume 2. American University in Cairo Press. pp. 215–220. ISBN 9-774-24714-0.
- Bunson, Margaret (2014). Encyclopaedia of Ancient Egypt. Infobase Publishing. p. 103. ISBN 978-1-438-10997-8.
- Dieter, Arnold (2005). Temples of Ancient Egypt. I.B.Tauris. pp. 40–47. ISBN 1-850-43945-1.
- Dodson, Aiden; Hilton, Dyan (2004). The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt. Thames & Hudson. ISBN 0-500-05128-3.
- Edwards, Iorwerth Eiddon Stephen; ISBN 0-521-07791-5.
- El-Shahawy, Abeer; Al-Masri, Mathaf (2005). The Egyptian Museum in Cairo. American University in Cairo Press. p. 39. ISBN 9-771-72183-6.
- Fletcher, Joann (2015). The Story of Egypt. Hachette UK. ISBN 978-1-444-78515-9.
- Kleiner, Fred; Mamiya, Christin (2009). Gardner's Art Through The Ages: A Global History. Cengage Learning. pp. 57–59. ISBN 978-0-495-41058-4.
- Kleiner, Fred (2015). Gardner's Art Through The Ages: A Global History. Cengage Learning. pp. 59–61. ISBN 978-1-305-54484-0.
- Mieroop, Marc van der (2010). A History of Ancient Egypt. John Wiley & Sons. pp. 56–57. ISBN 978-1-405-16070-4.
- Poo, Mu-chou (1 February 2012). Enemies of Civilization: Attitudes toward Foreigners in Ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, and China. SUNY Press. ISBN 978-0-7914-8370-1.
- Rice, Michael (1999). Who's who in Ancient Egypt. Psychology Press. pp. 50–51. ISBN 0-415-15448-0.
- Robins, Gay (2014). The Art of Ancient Egypt. British Museum Press. p. 44.
- Romer, John (2007). The Great Pyramid: Ancient Egypt Revisited. Cambridge University Press. p. 251. ISBN 978-0-521-87166-2.
- Wilkinson, Toby (2001). Early Dynastic Egypt. London: Routledge. ISBN 0415260116.
- Wilkinson, Toby (2000). Royal Annals of Ancient Egypt: the Palermo Stone and Its Associated Fragments. London: Kegan Paul International. ISBN 0710306679.
Further reading
- Rosanna Pirelli, "Statue of Djoser" in Francesco Tiradritti (editor): The Treasures of the Egyptian Museum. American University in Cairo Press, Cairo 1999, p. 47.
- Iorwerth Eiddon Stephen Edwards: The Pyramids of Egypt. West Drayton 1947; Rev. ed. Harmondsworth 1961; Rev. ed. Harmondsworth 1985 (deutsche Ausgabe: Die ägyptischen Pyramiden, 1967)