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The Journal of Ancient Egyptian Architecture The Journal of Ancient Egyptian Architecture 2017 Volume 2 JAEA www.egyptian-architecture.com Editors: DAVID IAN LIGHTBODY FRANCK MONNIER Design and webmastering: PAUL FRANÇOIS Committee members: FELIX ARNOLD (German Archaeological Institute, Cairo Department), EDWARD BROVARSKI (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston), MARIA CORREAS AMADOR (Department of Archaeology, Auto- nomous University of Madrid), GLEN DASH (Independent MIT trained Giza surveyor, Connecticut), DELPHINE DRIAUX («Mondes pharaoniques», Paris-Sorbonne, Paris IV, UMR 8167 Orient et Méditerranée CNRS), ULRIKE FAUERBACH (Fakultät Architektur, OTH Regensburg), PIERRE GRUSSENMEYER (National Institute of Applied Science, Strasbourg),JAMES A. HARRELL (Uni- versity of Toledo, Department of Environmental Sciences), STEPHEN HARVEY (Department of History, Stony Brook University, New York), STAN HENDRICKX (MAD faculty of Hasselt, Fine arts), ALEJANDRO JIMÉNEZ-SERRANO (University of Jaén), PETER LACOVARA (Director of The Ancient Egyptian Archaeology and Heritage Fund), FRANÇOIS LARCHÉ (CNRS, UMR8167 Orient et Méditerranée), DIMITRI MEEKS (Honorary Director of Research, CNRS), NICHOLAS PICARDO (Harvard University, Near Eastern languages and Civilizations), THIERRY VERDEL (University of Lorraine, CNRS, École nationale supérieure des Mines de Nancy) Please send manuscripts by email to [email protected] Guidelines for contributors: http://www.egyptian-architecture.com/ressources/Formatting_Guidelines_for_ JAEA_Contributors.pdf ISSN 2472-999X Published under Creative Commons CC-BY-NC 2.0 The Journal of Ancient Egyptian Architecture is a peer-reviewed, scientific, open access, and annual periodical. Its purpose is to promote the publication of research devoted to ancient Egyptian architecture (domestic, civil, military, ritual/religious, elite, and funerary), from the Predynastic Period to the Roman imperial era, whatever the modern geographical context (Egypt, Sudan, Near East, etc.). The subject scope includes all things relating to construction, regardless of its original importance or purpose. The journal publishes fieldwork reports and studies undertaken in the Egyptological tradition, including discussions of epigraphy and iconography, and also research that utilizes specific skills such as structural and materials sciences, and modern investigative techniques. In this way,JAEA seeks to encourage the development of detailed technical descriptions, and deeply theorized understanding (of architectural symbolism, propaganda, climatic and geological influences, etc.). This interdisciplinary approach will help connect adjacent areas of expertise which, alone, could not reflect the richness and complexity of the ancient Egyptian built heritage. The periodical welcomes studies that meets any one of these goals, only on the condition that the formatting and content of articles are subject to JAEA scientific publication requirements. http://www.egyptian-architecture.com/ Front cover: photo credit by Valery Androsov The Journal of Ancient Egyptian Architecture 2017 Volume 2 Contents G. DASH Occam’s Egyptian razor: the equinox and the alignment of the pyramids .........................................1 The builders of the Old Kingdom pyramids oriented the monuments to the cardinal points with great accuracy. How they managed to achieve this has long been debated. Several candidate methods have been proposed, tested, and found workable, yet there is one straightforward method that scholars have largely ignored, perhaps because it was thought to be incapable of achieving the requisite accuracy. This is the ‘equinoctial solar gnomon method’ which uses a vertical rod to track the movement of the sun on the equinox. In this article, the author describes an experiment carried out to evaluate the method, and compares the results with archaeological survey data from the Memphite Necropolis in Egypt. C. READER A potentially significant dimension recorded on an Old Kingdom papyrus from Saqqara .............. 9 An analysis of texts on a fragmentary Old Kingdom papyrus from Saqqara suggests that they record the construction of the pyramid complex of pharaoh Teti. Amongst the information obtained from the papyrus was a dimension – 441 cubits. This paper discusses the possible significance of this dimension in the context of Old Kingdom pyramid building. D. MAZZONE The dark side of a model community: The ‘ghetto’ of el-Lahun .......................................................19 Studies of the earliest urban settlements in the Nile Valley often neglect to address the significance of built environments for the ‘poor’ and their relationship with social organization. The western workers’ quarter at el- Lahun; the xnrt mentioned in hieratic papyri, has received little scholarly attention in comparison to the eastern area containing the ‘élite residences’. In 1889 Flinders Petrie noted that the western streets of the town showed signs of a greater degree of poverty. Later examinations indicated the presence of a type of corrective labor camp; what might be described today as a ‘ghetto’. Convicts may have been forced to live in such places of confinement as a form of punishment. Life for a multitude of people in the ancient town of el-Lahun might, in fact, have been radically different from previously held views. Rather than a quiet township community, this article uncovers a social order built upon racial discrimination and cultural intolerance, marked by seclusion, coercion, and possibly violence. D. I. LIGHTBODY & FR. MONNIER An elegant vault design principle identified in Old and New Kingdom architecture ......................55 Architectural sketches showing profiles most likely used for constructing arched mudbrick and stone roofs and rock-cut vaulted chambers have been recovered from ancient Egyptian archaeological contexts. The procedures and/or mathematical principles used to construct the profiles and the data sets recorded on the relevant artifacts have been discussed for over a century. Certain interpretations seem to have attained the status of established fact, despite the lack of a solid rational basis. Catenary, elliptical, and circular arcs can often have similar pro- files, so it has proved difficult to reach firm conclusions regarding the geometric construction methods, using the limited evidence available. This article revisits two of the major sources of evidence: ostracon JE50036, now in the Imhotep Museum at Saqqara, and a sketched form drawn out by tomb KV9, which is now, unfortunately, almost completely lost. The authors present a new combined analysis and propose that both of these arcs may have been constructed using the same elegant geometric procedure, which is based on a 3-4-5 triangle. M. CORREAS AMADOR An interactive tool for the recording, analysis and interpretation of ancient Egyptian domestic mudbrick architecture .................................................................................................................................71 This article presents an interpretive digital tool designed to facilitate the study of Egyptian domestic mudbrick archaeological sites. Ancient Egyptian domestic architecture is comparatively less well known than funerary or religious architecture. Traditionally, the discourse regarding ancient Egyptian houses has been built upon artistic sources such as tomb wall representations and models recovered from tombs and domestic spaces. These sources were generally produced by certain social groups and during certain periods, which limits their use to those contexts. In response to this situation, this article outlines a practical way in which an ethnoarchaeological study of Egyptian domestic architecture has been translated into the development of a digital tool for the recording, analysis and interpretation of Ancient Egyptian houses. Reviews Gilles Dormion et Jean-Yves Verd’hurt, La chambre de Snéfrou, Actes Sud, 2016, reviewed by Franck Monnier ...............................................................................................................83 Errata ............................................................................................................................................................91 JAEA 2, 2017, pp. 1-8. www.egyptian-architecture.com Occam’s Egyptian razor: the equinox and the alignment of the pyramids Glen Dash The builders of the Great Pyramid of Khufu aligned the great monument to the cardinal points with an accuracy of better than four minutes of arc, or one-fifteenth of one degree.1 The Great Pyramid’s neighbor, the Pyramid of Khafre, is aligned with an error of approximately 6 minutes, one tenth of one degree.2 The builders of Snefru’s Red Pyramid at Dahshur achieved an accuracy of 8.7 minutes.3 All three pyramids exhibit the same manner of error; they are rotated slightly counterclockwise from the cardinal points. How the Egyptians managed to achieve such accuracy has long been debated. In recent years, four of the candidate methods have been tested and found workable.4 These include the pole star method proposed by Flinders Petrie,5 the circumpolar star method tested by Joseph Dorner,6 the simultaneous transit method proposed by Kate Spence,7 and the solar gnomon shadow method suggested by Martin Isler.8 Yet there is one straightforward method that scholars have largely ig- nored, perhaps because it was thought to lack any hope of achieving the requisite accuracy.9 This is the ‘equinoctial solar gnomon method’. It uses a vertical rod to track the movement of the sun
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