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The Ensemble of Djed-Hor (Coffin, Cartonnage and Hypocephalus) in the Egyptian Museum of Cairo1

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The Ensemble of Djed-Hor (Coffin, Cartonnage and Hypocephalus) in the Egyptian Museum of Cairo1 THE ENSEMBLE OF DJED-HOR (COFFIN, CARTONNAGE AND HYPOCEPHALUS) IN THE EGYPTIAN MUSEUM OF CAIRO1 [PLANCHE XX / CAHIER COUL. PL. 7-9] PAR TAMÁS MEKIS / TAKWA SAYED & KHOLOUD ABDALLA Department of Egyptology, ELTE, H-1088 BUDAPEST, Múzeum krt. 4/B / Egyptian Museum of Cairo – Midan el-Tahrir, 11557 LE CAIRE Dedicated to Dr. Edith Varga Introduction While examining and cleaning the coffins, curators Takwa Sayed and her assistant Kholoud Abdalla opened an Akhmimic one.2 Inside, they found a mummy with cartonnage trappings and a hypocephalus under the head (see plates).3 In the spring of 2009, I made contact with Madam Takwa and she recalled that three years ago, she saw such a mummy, which had a magical disc under the head. On 4th of May, 2009 we re-opened the coffin. When we moved the lid there was a four-part-carton- nage with fine gilding on its surface. And indeed, under the head appeared to us 1/3 part of a hypocephalus of the type yellow on black style.4 1 We would like to thank for their precious help Dr. Edith Varga, Prof. Herman De Meulenaere ✝ and Dr. Gábor Schreiber. We would like to express our thank for the revision of the text to Angela Murock Hussein and Laetitia Gallet. 2 Inv. number T.r.6.9.16.1. The PM does not mention the coffin. 3 The hypocephalus was ealier identified by Dr. Jonathan Elias and his colleague Dr. Carter Lupton, directors of the Akhmim Mummy Studies Consortium (AMSC) on 21st of February, 2006, when they made CT scans from the Akhmimic mummies of the Egyptian Museum of Cairo. The mummy was registered under the inventory AMSC-10 and AMSC File listing no 350. For the information we are thankful to Dr. Jonathan Elias. 4 This is the first hypocephalus known in situ from Akhmim (we do not mention here the hypocephalus integrated into the mask of Di-Ptah, Leiden AES 14-15). We know only of three other written accounts on such a discovery under the head of Theban mummies: from 1827, a procès-verbal description of the find of hypocephalus Florence nr. 5704: C.H. Cottrell [A.M. Migliarini], Archeologia: or, Miscellaneous Tracts Relating to Antiquity 36 (1855), p. 165, pl. XV, fig. F; from 1982, an archeological report on hypocephalus in the coffin, Grabungs-Reg.-Nr. 865 (Asasif TT414, Grab X, Raum 10.2): M. Bietak – E. Reiser-Haslauer (ed.), Das Grab des Anch-Hor. Obersthofmeister der Gottesgemahlin Nitokris, II (uZK V), 1982, p. 203, Taf. 137/B; from 1989, a report of Niwinski on the discovery of hypocephalus Warsawa MN 238102: A. Niwinski, Atti del VI Congresso Internazionale di Egittologia, II, 1993, p. 353- 361. Revue d’égyptologie 62, 89-103. doi∞∞: 10.2143/RE.62.0.2136931 Tous droits réservés © Revue d’égyptologie, 2011. 994781_RdE_62_05_Mekis.indd4781_RdE_62_05_Mekis.indd 8899 222/12/112/12/11 115:585:58 90 T. MEKIS / T. SAYED & KH. ABDALLA The coffin, T.r. 6.9.16.1, was opened for the first time on the 6th of September, 1916 at the Museum. The catalogue entry stated that the coffin had long been in the Museum, but had not been opened until that time. Georges Daressy noted in the catalogue that the coffin came from Akhmim, and that information is confirmed by the style of the cartonnage and the coffin. The necropolis of Akhmim was discovered in 1884 by Gaston Maspero. Coffin T.r. 6.9.16.1 surely came to the Museum from his excavation,5 before the later systematic pil- laging of the site.6 The coffin and mummy were surely found together; there can be no doubt, as the inscription on the cartonnage found on the mummy mentions the same family that appears on the cover of the coffin. Daressy described briefly the gilded cartonnage trappings together with a scarab of a ram’s head made of hematite, which was found beside the ankles. It is relevant to note that the amulet had certainly fallen down from the breast. We were not able to ascertain the current location of the amulet. The note in the Temporary register mentions that the amulet was taken to room 22, showcase W2, shelf no. 2, but does not mention its registry number. The old description does not mention the hypocephalus. The coffin was examined again briefly in 2007, when Ruth Brech gave a description of it in her study of the typology of Akhmimic coffins.7 1. The owner’s identity The owner of the coffin is Δd-Ìr8 (PN I, p. 411,12; PP IX, 5837) / Wsjr-wr (PN I, 84, 23),9 whose titles are: sm.ty10 Ìm-n†r wÌm n Mnw-Îr-s.t,11 Ìry-zst mw.t n†r(.y), Ìm-k n 5 G. Maspero, BIE Deuxième série 6 (1886), p. 88-90. 6 K.P. Kuhlmann, Materialien Archäeologie und geschichte des Raumes von Akhmim (SDAIK 11), 1983, p. 51. 7 R. Brech, Spätägyptische Särge aus Akhmim. Eine typologische und chronologische Studie (AegHam 3), 2008, p. 219-221. 8 On the meaning of the name see P. Gaboda, BMHBA 88/89 (1989), p. 21, n. 84. 9 Dr. Jonathan Elias pointed out the occurrence of the name Wsjr-wr appearing on the place of the name Δd-Ìr on the right side of the coffin. This strange feature inspired him to attribute pHildesheim 5248 to this same person, although the name of the mother does not appear on the papyrus, the titles and the strange variation of the two names Δd-Ìr versus Wsjr-wr are present. For the description of the papyrus see: B. Lüscher, Das Totenbuch pBerlin P. 10477 aus Achmim [mit Photographien des verwandten pHildesheim 5248] (HAT 6), 2000, p. 47-49, Taf. 21-35 recto, 36-39 verso. M. Mosher, The Papyrus of Hor (BM EA 10479) with Papyrus MacGregor: The Late Period Tradition at Akhmim (CBDBM 2), 2001, p. 6, n. 8. 10 H. Gauthier, Les fêtes du dieu Min (RAPH 2), 1931, p. 39-51. 11 The PP IX gives the title as Ìm-n†r wÌm n Mnw-Îr-z-s.t (id., p. 24-25). For details of the problem of reading see note “a” at notes of the text of the coffin. RdE 62 (2011) 994781_RdE_62_05_Mekis.indd4781_RdE_62_05_Mekis.indd 9900 222/12/112/12/11 115:585:58 THE ENSEMBLE OF DJED-HOR 91 Mnw Ìn¨ ps∂.wt=f 12. The owner’s father is given as Ns-Mnw (PN I, p. 176, 12; PP IX, 5576), whose titles are sm.ty Ìm-n†r wÌm Mnw-Îr-s.t,13 Ìry-zst mw.t n†r(.y), the owner’s mother is Mw.t-Ìtp,14 (PN I, p.148, 14; PP IX, 7148), and her titles are nb.t pr, jÌy.t n Mnw. This family is known to Egyptologists. In 1959, Herman De Meulenaere had already mentioned this coffin, though without making reference to its inventory number.15 De Meulenaere corrected the data of PP III by uniting the numbers 5837 and 5838, as both entries for the same person. The earlier confu- sion was caused by an offering table, two parts of the same table were registered in the PP III under two numbers (CG 23166 + 23172),16 although the two fragments belonged a single slab belonging to Djed-hor. 2. The coffin (pl. XX, fig. 1 and colour pls. 7-9) The mummiform coffin of Djed-hor is 193 cm long and is made of painted wood (col- our pls. 7-8). Under the feet there is a rectangular-shaped pedestal symbolizing a palace façade. The wig, eyebrows and cosmetic lines of the eyes of the coffin are painted a dark blue, while the face and ears are richly gilded, the pupils are painted black. The gold and dark blue recalls chapter 172 of the Book of the Dead, which refers to the deified form of the deceased. On the chest there is an wsÌ-n-bjk-collar made up of rows of beads decorated with a rosette motif. The wide collar terminates in a falcon’s head above each shoulder. On the head of each hawk there is a sun disc and on both sides at each of the shoulders there is a praying goddess. Below the collar is a register (Brech D1) in which is depicted a kneeling figure of the goddess Nut. Her wings are spread to embrace her son, the divine Osiris-Djed-hor. In her half-bent hands are w∂.t-eyes. Below this scene is a second register (D2), in the middle lies the mummy of the deceased on a lion-shaped bier. Above the deceased there is a pair of wings representing the deceased’s ba-form. Under the bier we can see five trapezoid-shaped vessels. On each side of the bier is a kneeling figure of a goddess with arms raised to her forehead in the attitude of mourning. They are accom- panied by five standing mummiform deities whose heads are human-, baboon-, or 12 Id., p. 69. 13 See n. 10. 14 Brech erraneously reads the name T-Ìtp. 15 H. De Meulenaere, CdE XXXIV/68, 1959, p. 246. 16 A. Kamal, Catalogue Général des Antiquités Égyptiennes du Musée du Caire (Nr. 23001-23256). Tables d’Offrandes, I (CGC), 1909, p. 124-125, 129-130; PM V, p. 25. RdE 62 (2011) 994781_RdE_62_05_Mekis.indd4781_RdE_62_05_Mekis.indd 9911 222/12/112/12/11 115:585:58 92 T. MEKIS / T. SAYED & KH. ABDALLA snake-shaped. Registers D1 and D2 are framed on each side by the sons of Horus in a naos (D3).
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