Qahedjet
Qahedjet | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Huni ? | |||||||||||||||||||||
Pharaoh | |||||||||||||||||||||
Reign | unknown | ||||||||||||||||||||
Predecessor | unknown | ||||||||||||||||||||
Successor | Huni? Sneferu? | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Dynasty | 3rd Dynasty |
Qahedjet (also Hor-Qahedjet) could be the
The stela
Description
The stela of king Qahedjet is 50.5 cm high, 31.0 cm wide and 3.0 cm thick and made of finely polished limestone. It was bought in 1967 by the
Authenticity
The authenticity of Qahedjet's stela is questioned by Egyptologists such as Jean-Pierre Pätznik and Jacques Vandier. They point to several stylistic contradictions that can be found within the relief motif. Firstly, they stress that the earliest known depiction of an anthropomorphic Horus is found in the pyramid temple of Sahure, second pharaoh of the 5th Dynasty. Secondly, they argue that the motif of a king embracing a god (or a god embracing a king) would be highly unusual for the Old Kingdom, since the king was then seen as the living representation of Horus (and Seth), but not seen on a par with them in this way. Depictions showing a king in an intimate pose with a god would therefore be heretical and provocative at the same time.
Further arguments of Pätznik and Vandier concern the inscriptions right of Qahedjet's
Alternatively, the square face of Qahedjet, that reminds the viewer so much of that of king Djoser, makes them think that the stela could be an archaistic production from the much later Saite period. During this era reliefs with clear hommages to the art of the Old Kingdom were seen as “en vogue”. As an example, Pätznik and Vandier point to a naos of Djoser found at Heliopolis (now in fragments), that shows Djoser sitting on a Hebsed-throne. Djoser appears nearly identical in the reliefs of his necropolis at Saqqara, but a small guiding inscription reveals that the naos was built in the 7th-6th century BCE, during the Saitic period.[1]
Their last argument concerns the word Hut-a'a (meaning "great palace"), the place which Qahedjet is represented visiting. The way Hut-a'a is written on the stela is known not to be in use before the very end of the Old Kingdom and become common only from the time of king
Thus, the several contradictions in the relief's artistic program make Jaques Vandier and Jean-Pierre Pätznik wonder if the stela is authentic or just a modern fake. The uncertain origins of the stela, which was acquired by the Louvre in 1967 from a private antique dealer in Cairo [4] only lends more weight to this possibility.
Identity of Qahedjet
Assuming its authenticity, Jacques Vandier proposed in his first study of the stele in 1968 that it be dated to the 3rd Dynasty on stylistic grounds, suggesting that Qahedjet be identified with king Huni, the last ruler of the dynasty. Toby A.H. Wilkinson and Ian Shaw are of the same opinion: they think that "Hor-Qahedjet" was the serekh name of Huni, although this assumption is only based on that Huni is the only king of this dynasty whose Horus name is unknown (the name "Huni" is a cartouche name only). Thus, their theory is not commonly accepted.[6][7]
Similarly, Jürgen von Beckerath, Rainer Stadelmann and Dietrich Wildung considered Qahedjet to have ruled toward the end of the 3rd Dynasty. Again, their theory is based on the stylistic resemblances between Qahedjet's face and that of king Djoser on reliefs from his pyramid complex.[2][8]
Finally, one must mention that
References
- ^ a b c d Jean-Pierre Pätznik, Jacques Vandier: L’Horus Qahedjet: Souverain de la IIIe dynastie?. page 1455–1472.
- ^ ISBN 3-491-96053-3. page 315.
- ^ Jean-Pierre Pätznick: L'Horus Qahedjet: souverain de la 3eme dynasty ?, Proceedings of the Ninth Congress of Egyptologists, Orientalia Lovaniensa Analecta, Ch. 2.1, p. 1455, Online
- ^ a b Chr. Ziegler: Catalogue des steles, peintures et reliefs egyptiens de l'Ancien Empire et de la Premiere Periode Intermediaire, Musee du Louvre, Paris 1990, pp. 54-57
- ISBN 0-415-18633-1, page 104–105.
- ^ Ian Shaw: The Oxford history of ancient Egypt. page 88.
- ^ Jacques Vandier: Comptes Rendus de l’Académie des Inscriptions et des Belles-Lettres. 1968, page 16–22.
- ISBN 3-422-00832-2. page 52 & 117.
- ^ Peter Kaplony: Die Rollsiegel des Alten Reiches (= Monumenta Aegyptiaca, vol. 3). Fondation égyptologique Reine Elisabeth, Bruxelles 1981, p. 155, com. 271