Lost Tombs

Manniche

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2014
• ISBN:
  9781317949671
• Edition: 1
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Egyptian Ancient History
• Index: History

First published in 1988. The Theban private tombs form a major source for our knowledge of Egyptian society. Ostensibly a great amount of work has been done in the necropolis over the past one hundred and sixty years of its modern history, and the bibliography for this area is among the most extensive in Egyptology. Many of the 415 or so decorated tombs have received a full publication, but for a great number only selected scenes have been made available, and a surprising amount remains to all intents and purposes unpublished. The present study is concerned with a number of painted tombs of the Eighteenth dynasty which were visited by the early travellers, but the exact location of which is now unknown. The careful drawings and tracings made by these pioneers are apparently all that remains to show the appearance of these tombs. Some of the scenes represented are not found elsewhere in the necropolis, and others have special points of interest or unique details, linguistic, iconographic and religious, to offer. This very important material has not previously been used by scholars, and it has not been recognized that fragments of some of these vanished tombs can actually be traced to collections in museums and elsewhere.

1 An Evaluation of the Number of Theban Private Tombs Now Lost

In order to estimate the full extent of the Theban necropolis during the New Kingdom and in particular during the Eighteenth dynasty a study of the extant tombs is by no means sufficient. Many tombs have not survived, and only a very small proportion of even these are dealt with in detail in our study of ‘lost tombs’.

It is possible to gain an approximate idea of the total amount of lost tombs by examining the so-called ‘funerary cones’. These are cone-shaped objects of baked clay which have at the circular, flat end a stamped impression including a name and title(s), and sometimes mentioning a relative, or short supplementary texts. Funerary cones are an essential element of New Kingdom tomb design at Thebes, and the presence of a cone is to all intents and purposes proof of the former existence of a tomb.

Purpose of the funerary cones

A great number (1) of cones with identical or varying stamps (2) were made for each tomb owner, and the cones were set as a frieze with the inscribed surface visible along the upper edge of the facade of the tomb, if possible extending round the corners, and sometimes also inserted under the pyramidion which covered the superstructure of the tomb. On the basis of some representations in Theban tombs and the presence in collections of ‘corner stones’ or wedges which bear impressions of the same stamp as the one used for the cones, Borchardt gave a full description of the cones as an element of funerary architecture. (3) Uninscribed cones of the Eleventh dynasty were found by Winlock in situ above the door of a tomb buried under the causeway leading to the temple at Deir el-Baḥri, (4) and there can be no doubt that this was how the cones were used from this early period and at least until Ramessid times. Most of the tombs in which an external view of the tomb is included in the wall-decoration are admittedly Ramessid, but there is nothing to indicate that the practise was in any way different during the Eighteenth dynasty, although the general appearance of the tombs was then slightly different. (5)

Few elements in Egyptian art are purely decorative, and a number of interpretations have been put forward as to the significance of these funerary cones. They were first mentioned by Champollion who thought that they might have served the same purpose as the Graeco-Roman wooden mummy labels. (6) Rhind saw some specimens apparently in situ, (7) and he suggested that their purpose was religious, memorial and ornamental. (8) Mariette thought that they were a kind of boundary stone, shaped like offering loaves, marking the territory of a prospective tomb owner. (9) Maspero, (10) later followed by Bruyère, (11) interpreted the cones as dummy offering loaves; others have preferred to regard them as imitations of pieces of meat. (12) Daressy viewed the cones as ‘visitors’ cards’, left by devoted relatives. (13) Winlock, who was the first person in recent times actually to find cones in situ, apparently realizing that the cone-shape was less important than the circular area, suggested that they might represent the ends of the poles used for the roofing of houses. (14) Davies seemed partly to follow Borchardt in viewing them mainly as a decorative feature. (15) Recently Eggebrecht has put forward the interesting suggestion that the circular end of the cones is a representation of the sun’s disc and that the presence of the cones enabled the deceased whose name they carried to partake in the solar cycle and thus gain eternal life. (16)

In the discussion emphasis has been laid either on the cone shape of the objects or on the visible, circular part, but little attention has been paid to their colour. A number of the cones show traces of red paint on the circular end, (17) but there is also evidence of blue (18) or white (19) having been applied. In Egyptian art it was generally established at an early date which colour any individual object represented was to have, and there are but few variations once colour conventions were laid down. (20) Loaves of bread are largely white, (21) meat is red, pottery is either red or blue, wood is most often red, though sometimes yellow, the sun’s disc is red, and so on. It seems therefore that the Ancient Egyptians themselves had varying ideas as to what the cones were actually meant to represent. The accompanying texts on the cones frequently have to do with the adoration of the sun, and it seems safe to assume that to some at least this was the raison d’être of the cones. It also corresponds to the general idea behind tomb decoration as a whole, being instrumental in assuring eternal life for the tomb owner. It is less straightforward to provide an explanation for the blue and white cones. The white colour seems to cover the entire cone, not just the visible, circular end, suggesting rather strongly that the cones were by no means just a decorative feature.

Identification of funerary cones with known tombs

The elements available for an identification of funerary cones consists of 1) the name of the owner; 2) a nickname; 3) one or more titles; 4) name of father; 5) name of mother; 6) name of wife; 7) name of son (rare); 8) name of daughter (even more rare (22)). To a certain extent an excavation record may provide valuable information for an identification, as for example when the titles on cone and in tomb differ, but the presence of the cone in or near the tomb suggests the link. (23) On the other hand cones have sometimes been found at a considerable distance from where they presumably belonged. (24)

Some cones give only a name, others give two or more details which can be of use in an identification. In order to relate a cone to a known tomb a minimum of two common denominators must be required. The considerable number of titles often borne by each person and apparently used at random makes it no simple task. Furthermore each person sometimes had his cones impressed with two or more different stamps, giving variant titles and even different orthography of the name. (25)

For the New Kingdom it has been possible to link about 80 different cones with as many tombs (cf. Table I at the end of this chapter). For 325 New Kingdom tombs no cones seem to have been found, but a substantial number of tombs remain anonymous, or only the title of the tomb owner is left: 27 tombs of the Eighteenth dynasty (26) and 16 Ramessid tombs (27) are unaccounted for, and it remains a possibility that some of the cones came from one or more of these tombs. A careful scrutiny of the title of tomb owners which are not among those listed in the Topographical Bibliography may establish a few more links between cones and tombs. (28)

The date of funerary cones

The earliest funerary cones have been found in the Eleventh dynasty tombs mentioned above and in a tomb presumably belonging to Inyotef 111. (29) These early cones are uninscribed and large, up to 52cm long. The size of the cones tends to decrease through the ages. In the Eighteenth dynasty the cones become very frequent. The earliest tomb for which a corresponding inscribed cone has been found is TT 345 belonging to a ‘son’ of Tuthmosis 1. (30) Other cones can be linked with TT 67, (31) 71/353, (32) 179, (33) and TT 252 (34) from the reign of Hatshepsut. Of early Eighteenth dynasty date are the cones belonging to TT 59, (35), 251, (36) 297, (37) 343 (38) and 349. (39)

Among the as yet unprovenanced cones are some pertaining to officials of Tuthmosis I during his lifetime: a carrier of weapons (ḫ‘w), (40) a senior steward, (41) and a steward and overseer of cattle. (42) Yet another cone-owner has been demonstrated to have functioned during the reign of this king. (43)

Cones from the mid-Eighteenth dynasty abound (cf. Table I), and among unprovenanced specimens there are many which can be dated to this period by the titles they carry, combined with a typically Eighteenth dynasty name as well as the size and style of the cone. After the reign of Amenophis III few cones are dated with certainty, except those belonging to TT 55 (44) and 192 (45) covering the reigns of Amenophis III-IV, TT 383 of Merymosi, viceroy of Kush and son of Amenophis III, (46) and TT 49 probably executed during the reign of Ay. (47) These figures must be seen against the amount of tombs prepared during the various reigns.

Some early authorities maintained that funerary cones were exclusive to the Eighteenth dynasty, (48) but this is by no means the case. Cones can be identified with known Ramessid tombs, other cones bear names and titles common in the Nineteenth and Twentieth dynasties, and wall-paintings of the tombs frequently show the cones in position as a frieze. (49) Nevertheless a surprisingly small number of cones can be related to existing, Ramessid tombs. It is evident from the figures given in Table II that the number of tombs had not declined during the Ramessid period. Yet only seven of these tombs yielded matching cones: TT 58, (50) 137, (51) 207, (52) 275, (53) 324, (54) 346, (55) and TT A6, (56) two of these being of the Twentieth dynasty.

Funerary cones dating from the Twenty-first dynasty have not been identified, but a few are connected with officials of rulers of the Twenty-second dynasty. (57) From the Twenty-fifth dynasty cones of M...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
• INTRODUCTION
• CHAPTER 1 An evaluation of the number of Theban private tombs now lost
• CHAPTER 2 Decorated fragments: problems of attribution
• CHAPTER 3 Theban private tombs of the Eighteenth dynasty: general lay-out and distribution of scenes
• CHAPTER 4 Lost tombs visited by the early travellers: miscellaneous tombs
• CHAPTER 5 Tomb No. A4
• CHAPTER 6 Tomb No. A6
• CHAPTER 7 Tomb No. A13
• CHAPTER 8 Tomb No. A24
• CHAPTER 9 Tomb No. C4
• CHAPTER 10 Tomb No. C6
• CHAPTER 11 The tomb of a scribe and counter of grain
• CHAPTER 12 The ‘Bankes’ tomb
• APPENDIX I Fragments of painted decoration from known tombs
• APPENDIX II The Turin tomb
• APPENDIX III Painted fragments of unknown provenance
• NOTES
• LIST OF WORKS ABBREVIATED IN THE TEXT
• INDICES
• LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
• ADDENDA