Burial Equipment Research Articles

Tabasety, the Temple Singer in Aarhus

An Egyptian burial assemblage in the collection of the Museum of Ancient Art and Archaeology of the University of Aarhus, Denmark, comprises an anthropoid coffin, a mummy-cover and a mummy. Several analyses have been carried out on the human remains since their arrival to the Museum in 1950 but these results have never been published nor critically accessed from an Egyptological perspective. Notwithstanding the unique opportunity provided by this burial assemblage to carry out the integrated study of the funerary equipment and the human remains, only recently has the coffin set been thoroughly analysed, described and published. This paper presents the results obtained from former anthropological studies with an Egyptological assessment of the data, comparing them with the information provided by the burial equipment. The critical integration of this data reveals important clues regarding the special social status held by an elderly woman suffering from a severe and chronic disability within the priesthood of Amun during the Twenty-first Dynasty.

Thomas Belling, Antike Grabstörungen auf dem frühmittelalterlichen Gräberfeld Köln-Müngersdorf / Ancient Grave Manipulation at the Early Medieval Burial Site Köln-Müngersdorf

Ancient grave manipulations have been recorded continuously on early medieval burial sites. The Franconian necropolis Köln-Müngersdorf is no exception to the phenomenon. Already in 1955 Fritz Fremersdorf mentioned the manipulations in his publication, yet without widespread interpretation. This resulted in the opportunity to round the researches in Köln-Müngersdorf for another interesting aspect. The grave manipulations have been analyzed in detail for several aspects: burial depth, furniture, gender distribution, et cetera. In result, they were visualized in schemata as well as maps and afterwards interpreted by them. The aim of the research was, to attain information about the moment of manipulation, motivations and origin of the manipulants and what have been token from the burial equipment. Furthermore, if it is possible to obtain those information from the archaeological feature. The presented essay is an extraction from the authors graduation work to attain the Bachelor of Arts.

The Lost Throne of Queen Hetepheres from Giza: An Archaeological Experiment in Visualization and Fabrication

In 1925, one of the greatest discoveries made at Giza revealed a small, unfinished chamber (labeled “G 7000 X”) more than twenty-seven meters underground, just east of the Great Pyramid. The Harvard University–Boston Museum of Fine Arts Expedition found there the deteriorated burial equipment, sarcophagus, and other objects belonging to Queen Hetepheres I, presumed consort of Snefru and mother of Khufu. Since the discovery of this rare Old Kingdom royal assemblage, the thousands of small fragments have remained in storage in the Egyptian Museum, Cairo. Meticulous documentation allowed the excavators to reconstruct some of the queen’s furniture. However, the most exquisite piece, her “second” chair or throne, made of cedar with hundreds of faience inlays and completely gilded, was never reconstructed. This paper describes an interdisciplinary collaboration initiated by the Giza Project at Harvard University to create a full-scale reproduction of Hetepheres’s second chair in modern cedar, faience, gold, gesso, and copper. The goals for this visualization experiment were to reconstruct the excavation history, the iconography, and to document, insofar as possible, the ancient workflow the Egyptians used to construct this Old Kingdom masterpiece. The final results produced a new museum display object and research/teaching tool.

Social context of the Old Kingdom copper model tools

Copper model tools were usually part of the elite burial equipment during the Old Kingdom in the Ancient Egypt. Definition of tool types is based on the semiotic triangle and a correct reading and interpretation of the artefacts is approached here. Model tools present in the burial equipment were tools for stone- and wood-working, these being materials of conspicuous consumption in the period. Tools are examined as symbols of the patron–craftsman relationship, where the ownership of the copper tools was the patron’s. Copper model tools were standardized and a connection between the size and amount of copper model tools and social status of the buried persons is explored. Persons with higher status had access to larger amounts of copper; however, the rules of the access were changing and access to copper was widening during the Old Kingdom.

Trenching of Pipelines for Protection in Ice Environments

Summary Subsea pipelines located in ice environments need to be protected from potential ice gouging (also known as ice scouring) created when a moving ice keel interacts with the seabed. The integrity and operability of the pipeline can be affected by direct contact between the ice keel and the pipeline, or from loading imposed on the pipeline through soil deformation caused by ice gouging. The typical method considered for protecting against the risk of damage caused by ice gouging is through pipeline burial. Conventional methods of pipeline burial use equipment such as ploughs, mechanical trenchers, and jetters, the majority of which have been designed to accomplish a maximum of 2 to 3 m of pipeline burial. Dredges can be used, but they have water depth limitations and limited productivity. Land-based equipment has been used for shore crossings, but is limited to shallow depths where temporary construction berms can be used as a working platform. The capabilities of existing technologies are based on current industry practice developed for pipeline burial in ice-free environments. Pipeline burial requirements have generally been for improved hydrodynamic stability, mechanical protection (e.g., from anchors), controlling pipeline movements (e.g., expansion and buckling) and/or for flow-assurance purposes (reducing heat loss). A 2- to 3-m burial depth has been generally adequate to satisfy these conventional requirements. As developments are proposed for areas that experience relatively deep ice gouging (up to 5 m), burial depth requirements will exceed the capabilities of current pipeline burial technologies. New technologies capable of working in deeper water, achieving greater burial depths, achieving reasonable trenching advance rates, operating in harsh environments, and trenching through variable and difficult seabed soils will be required. This paper highlights the issues and challenges surrounding pipeline trenching and burial in ice-gouge environments. The current state of practice is discussed along with the technology gaps that need to be addressed to prepare for future offshore developments in ice-covered waters where there is the potential for seabed ice gouging.

Funerary Spells at Saqqara South: Some Considerations about the Inscriptions of Anu’s Coffin (Sq20X) and their Date

Abstract This article concerns burial equipment found intact at Saqqara South in 1935. The owner, Anu, reused an annex of an Old Kingdom mastaba; his equipment included two inscribed coffins, one of which is no longer preserved. The case of this official is noteworthy, since it documents the mortuary traditions of the “spells of Nut”, derived from the Pyramid Texts and further manipulated after the end of the Old Kingdom. The detailed study of this inscription on Sq20X, Anu’s inner coffin, sheds light on the links with other Middle Kingdom sources (particularly S1C, Da1C, Da2–4X). Moreover, the archaeological, prosopographical and textual data have been integrated to propose a probable date for this official at the very end of the Eleventh or early Twelfth Dynasties.

The Shaft Tomb of Menekhibnekau at Abusir – Season of 2007

AbstractDuring the spring season of 2007, the burial chamber (built of large white limestone ashlars and vaulted inside) has been unearthed at the bottom of the main shaft in the Late Period tomb of Menekhibnekau. The inner sides of the chamber, as well as the sides of the outer and inner sarcophagi (made of white limestone and greywacke respectively) are largely decorated with texts and representations in sunk relief, among them personifications of the day and night hours, excerpts from the Book of the Dead, Pyramid Texts, etc. Although the burial chamber has been robbed already in Antiquity, a few items of the original burial equipment have been preserved. In a separate shaft, serving as an embalmers’ cache, a number of large storage vessels have been examined. On nineteen of them, late hieratic and early demotic inscriptions have been found that mention materials used during mummification.

The Saite-Persian Cemetery at Abusir in 2003

During the Spring 2003, a small shaft was examined to the south-west of the tomb of Udjahorresnet that most probably served for storing the vessels and materials used during the mummification. In the tomb of Iufaa,the reconstruction works continued, as well as the study of the texts on the sides of the chamber and sarcophagi. In the wider area of the tomb of Iufaa, to the south-west of it, the cleaning of the place continued where fragments of white limestome reliefs appeared in the surface layers. Here, a mouth of the main shaft of another shaft tomb was revealed that, according to fragments of reliefs and a single shabti, belonged to a dignitary Menekh-ib-Nekau, known previously from two statues only. During the Autumn, a small and intact burial chamber was opened in the tomb of Iufaa that adjoined the western lateral shaft of the whole structure. In this small chamber, the burial of a priest Nekau was disclosed. The mummy was laid in a wooden double coffin, decorated and inscribed. Around the coffin, pieces of the burial equipment were found, among them four inscribed canopic jars, 403 shabti figures, a wooden statue, etc. Inside the outer coffin, remains of wooden tablets were found that were inscribed with Book of the Dead chapters traced in black hieratic writing. In addition to that, pottery and anthropological finds were examined.

Zwei Bemerkungen zum Papyrus Insinger

Attention is re-drawn to the colophon of pInsinger through which it becomes apparent that this papyrus was part of a burial equipment. The implications for the general interpretation of the instruction are briefly discussed. The second part deals once again with the problem of pInsinger XVIII 5-12 and its understanding. The translation hne 'boat-trip' in XVIII 10 is being rejected, and the rendering 'friend' is being proposed instead. This ironical allusion to Anubis turns pInsinger XVIII 5-12 into a treatment of a judgement in the hereafter which Anubis presides.

The shaft tomb of Iufaa at Abusir in 2001

In Spring 2001, a rather vast complex of rooms, dug in the tafl bedrock and originally vaulted, was unearthed in front of the eastern facade of the main shaft in the tomb. Most probably, this complex served the funerary cult of the tomb owner. Thus, for the first time, the cult installations are archaeologically attested in any of the Late Period shaft tombs. In a corridor that partly surrounds the main shaft, two undisturbed burials in wooded coffins were found that belonged to the close relatives of Iufaa. In addition to that, documentary and restoration works continued in the tomb, as well as the study of the pottery and anthropological examination. East of the tomb of Iufaa, a small shaft tomb with a decorated burial chamber was excavated. The tomb has been robbed and only small remnants of the burial equipment were found.

Tlatilco sculptures, diprosopus, and the emergence of medical illustrations.

Tlatilco was a farming village on the outskirts of what is now Mexico City, and it has long been recognized as one of the earliest New World artistic centers [2]. It became a rich archeological site in 1942, after the discovery of innumerable enigmatic, anthropomorphic figurines and countless burials [3]. Dated to between 1200 and 700 BC,1 these sculptures are among the most ancient representations of the human figure in the Western Hemisphere, as well as the most aesthetically appealing [4–8].2 The majority of these objects, found in more than 500 tombs and trash pits cut into the earth, are solid, hand-modelled female figurines, many of which are designated informally as being in the “pretty lady” configuration (Fig. 1). The figurines are 6 to 30 cm high and are ceramic. Controlled excavations at Tlatilco (Nahuatl for “the place where things are hidden”) have turned up “pretty lady” terracottas in the open fields (and throughout various strata) as well, suggesting that in addition to acting as burial equipment these figurines were sown or ritually buried in the four corners of the cornfields.

The Mummy in Ancient Egypt: Equipping the Dead for Eternity

Mummies have gripped the popular imagination through highly publicized discoveries and macabre horror movies. But for the ancient Egyptians, mummification and a full set of magical machinery including a tomb, a sarcophagus, masks, amulets and canopic jars was essential to secure eternal life. This work comprises a survey of the entire panoply of Egyptian burial equipment over 3,000 years. Part 1 provides an overview of burial rites and tomb development, from the Giza pyramids to the Valley of the Kings and beyond. Great discoveries are documented, from Belzoni's early explorations to Tutankhamun's magnificent tomb and recent scientific detective-work using x-rays and CAT-scanners. Part 2 provides a detailed survey of changing burial practices during the pharonic era. The authors reveal the evolution of methods for treating the body. All important innovations are described, incorporating the latest research, some carried out by the authors themselves.

Grób podwójny z cmentarzyska Piaski, gm. Kleszczów, woj. piotrkowskie, a niektóre zagadnienia obrządku pogrzebowego kultury przeworskiej

The article contains a presentation of the burial from Przeworsk-culture cemetery of Piaski near Bełchatów, which is interesting due to its form. The burial in question was richly equipped with objects, which for their most part can be easily dated (Tabl. III, IV, V, VI). They were submitted to careful typological and chronological analysis the result of which was presented in Table I. The burial equipment was fully of the so called male-sex indicator character while the analysis of bone material would rather point that a woman and a man were buried in it. Such a situation is know from other Przeworsk-culture cemeteries in which similar burials containing fragments of both men and women were discovered. Many scholars would account for it as a form of offering from the life of widows for their diseased husbands. In turn, burials containings remains of adults and children were supposed to testify to offerings of children for their parents. The author, analyzing extensive data sources provided by burials from Przeworsk-culture cemeteries analyzed anthropologically (Tab. II), tries to prove that genesis of collective burials including double burials as the discussed grave at Piaski should not be sought in human offerings. An argument in this case may be among others, the type of eqipment having characteristics of the archeological sex indicator. Oftentime in burials with remains of women and men the equipment in its character points exclusively that a woman was buried there. That is also confirmed by the burial from. It was also discovered that in graves of adults and children the equipment is not connected with an adult at all. These and other arguments, such as e.g. differentiated combination of sexes and age of persons buried in collective graves (Tabl. III) make it necessary to seek for other causes than human offerings which led to development of collective burials.

Offshore Pipeline Burial

This note provides a brief review of the state-of-the-art of offshore pipeline burial, which will be limited to the burial of offshore steel pipelines. Additionally, a brief review of existing burial equipment is presented.

Research Items

Ancient Egypt and Medieval Europe.—Interesting parallels are drawn between certain customs of ancient Egypt and those of medieval and even modern Europe by Mr. L. B. Ellis in Ancient Egypt, 1931, pt. 4. The ‘rearing feast’ given to workmen in Westphalia by the owner of a newly erected house, finds its counterpart in the sacrifice offered in ancient Egypt for the workmen who had built a tomb. The splendour of the burial equipment of Tut-Ankh Amen is not far removed in spirit from that which was responsible for the burial of Henry II. of England, according to Matthew Paris, in royal robes, crown, ring, gloves, boots of gold-work, gilt spurs, and sceptre and sword; while a bishop or abbot was buried in full vestments, and a bishop of the eleventh century had with him his liturgical comb, with which he had smoothed his beard as he approached the altar. The use of the canopic jars for the storing of the viscera is paralleled by the separate burial of the heart and of the viscera of Eleanor of Castile, and of the heart of Prince Arthur, son of Henry VII. The desire of the medieval devout to be buried, or to have a tomb, in Palestine, takes the form in Egypt of burial at Abydos, or failing that, the erection of a tomb or stele. The concern for burial in both instances is shown in the arrangement for the tomb during lifetime as Henry VIII. contracted with Torrigiano for his tomb in Westminster Abbey. The effigies on Egyptian tombs show grandparents, parents, children, grandchildren, friends, and even a favourite dog. On Elizabethan and Jacobean tombs, married couples appear with their progeny, even those who have died in infancy. Similarities in funerary inscriptions are very close, even when the Egyptians compare themselves with their gods. Rekhmara was “Thoth in judgment, the image of Ptah, the equal of Khnum”; while Lady Cope D'Oyley, ob. 1633, was “Rebecca in grace, in heart an Abigail, in works a Dorcas, for the church a Hanna, and to her spouse Susanna; prudently simple, providently wary, to the world a Martha and to Heaven a Mary”.

Excavations in Macedonia—II

The excavations of 1921 in Macedonia recorded in Vol. XXIV. of the Annual (p. 1 ff.) were completed in 1922. The site known as Chauchitsa was completely examined and the cemetery on the two rocky mounds was sufficiently excavated to make it possible to establish the main features of the burial methods and equipment. The high mound at the back of the cemetery on the edge of the plateau was also excavated and found to be an undisturbed stratified site. The strata revealed were of the fourth century B.C., of the Early Iron Age, and below that of the Bronze Age. The objects found in the Bronze Age strata and the nature of these strata have been fully dealt with elsewhere: the purpose of this report is to describe the cemetery, the Iron Age deposit which overlay the Bronze Age settlement, the Historic strata which overlay the Iron Age settlement, and, finally, to shew the connection between the Iron Age settlement and the cemetery at the foot of the plateau.The East Mound (Figs. 1 and 2).—Fourteen graves in all were opened in the first season and have been duly recorded. In the second season a further twenty-two graves were opened, and all alike shewed the same general character as the first fourteen.