Manchester University Press
2 The Sacred Animal Necropolis at North Saqqara
Abstract
This paper attempts to give a narrative overview of how North Saqqara might have looked and functioned at the time the Sacred Animal Cults were at their height. It will attempt to look at the monuments within their landscape and consider where the sacred animals, buried in great numbers, came from, how they were processed and by whom. The paper reviews what an observer might have seen at North Saqqara during the Late Period/Ptolemaic periods from the Late Period (747-332 BC) into Ptolemaic times (332-30 BC). Today the landscape of North Saqqara is a sandy plateau, dominated by the Step Pyramid, and pock-marked by numerous tomb shafts from many different periods. Amongst and around these are the remains of other structures – tombs, temples, processional ways and the like. It is clear to the archaeologist, but not to the casual visitor, that North Saqqara was once a very different place to the quiet and desolate plateau it now is. The term ‘narrative archaeology’ is used in a variety of ways, all share in common the desire to arrange facts about a place or period into meaningful statements which help to explain the events or place which they describe. This sometimes serves to provide an accessible view of their subject and provide a valuable ‘snapshot’ of their thinking at a given moment in time. Rosalie David has a distinguished record in making her subject accessible and it is hoped that this paper will be of interest to her.
Abstract
This paper attempts to give a narrative overview of how North Saqqara might have looked and functioned at the time the Sacred Animal Cults were at their height. It will attempt to look at the monuments within their landscape and consider where the sacred animals, buried in great numbers, came from, how they were processed and by whom. The paper reviews what an observer might have seen at North Saqqara during the Late Period/Ptolemaic periods from the Late Period (747-332 BC) into Ptolemaic times (332-30 BC). Today the landscape of North Saqqara is a sandy plateau, dominated by the Step Pyramid, and pock-marked by numerous tomb shafts from many different periods. Amongst and around these are the remains of other structures – tombs, temples, processional ways and the like. It is clear to the archaeologist, but not to the casual visitor, that North Saqqara was once a very different place to the quiet and desolate plateau it now is. The term ‘narrative archaeology’ is used in a variety of ways, all share in common the desire to arrange facts about a place or period into meaningful statements which help to explain the events or place which they describe. This sometimes serves to provide an accessible view of their subject and provide a valuable ‘snapshot’ of their thinking at a given moment in time. Rosalie David has a distinguished record in making her subject accessible and it is hoped that this paper will be of interest to her.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Front matter i
- Dedication v
- Contents vii
- List of figures x
- List of plates xviii
- List of tables xx
- Notes on contributors xxii
- Preface xxxi
- Rosalie David xxxiii
- My first meeting with Rosalie David xxxvi
-
Part I Pharaonic sacred landscapes
- 1 Go west 3
- 2 The Sacred Animal Necropolis at North Saqqara 19
- 3 The Manchester ‘funeral’ ostracon 32
- 4 The tomb of the ‘Two Brothers’ revisited 48
- 5 A review of the monuments of Unnefer, High Priest of Osiris at Abydos in the reign of Ramesses II 56
- 6 Thoughts on Seth the con-man 69
- 7 A Psamtek ushabti and a granite block from Sais (Sa el-Hager) 75
-
Part II Magico-medical practices in ancient Egypt
- 8 A most uncommon amulet 95
- 9 The sting of the scorpion 102
- 10 Magico-medical aspects of the mythology of Osiris 115
- 11 Trauma care, surgery and remedies in ancient Egypt 124
- 12 One and the same? 142
- 13 Bread and beer in ancient Egyptian medicine 157
- 14 On the function of ‘healing’ statues 169
- 15 Writings for good health in social context 183
- 16 Schistosomiasis, ancient and modern 197
- 17 An unusual funerary figurine of the early 18th Dynasty 210
-
Part III Understanding Egyptian mummies
- 18 The biology of ancient Egyptians and Nubians 245
- 19 Further thoughts on Tutankhamun’s death and embalming 256
- 20 Proving Herodotus and Diodorus? 265
- 21 Science in Egyptology 279
- 22 Slices of mummy 292
- 23 Life and death in the desert 302
- 24 An investigation into the evidence of age-related osteoporosis in three Egyptian mummies 321
- 25 The International Ancient Egyptian Mummy Tissue Bank 333
- 26 The enigma of the Red Shroud mummies 344
- 27 The evolution of imaging ancient Egyptian animal mummies at the University of Manchester, 1972–2014 361
- 28 Eaten by maggots 371
-
Part IV Science and experimental approaches in Egyptology
- 29 Scientific studies of pharaonic remains 387
- 30 Education, innovation and preservation 403
- 31 Making an ancient Egyptian contraceptive 416
- 32 Iron from the sky 424
- 33 A bag-style tunic found on the Manchester Museum mummy 1770 440
- 34 ‘Palmiform’ columns 451
- 35 Scientific evaluation of experiments in Egyptian archaeology 462
- 36 Snake busters 477
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Front matter i
- Dedication v
- Contents vii
- List of figures x
- List of plates xviii
- List of tables xx
- Notes on contributors xxii
- Preface xxxi
- Rosalie David xxxiii
- My first meeting with Rosalie David xxxvi
-
Part I Pharaonic sacred landscapes
- 1 Go west 3
- 2 The Sacred Animal Necropolis at North Saqqara 19
- 3 The Manchester ‘funeral’ ostracon 32
- 4 The tomb of the ‘Two Brothers’ revisited 48
- 5 A review of the monuments of Unnefer, High Priest of Osiris at Abydos in the reign of Ramesses II 56
- 6 Thoughts on Seth the con-man 69
- 7 A Psamtek ushabti and a granite block from Sais (Sa el-Hager) 75
-
Part II Magico-medical practices in ancient Egypt
- 8 A most uncommon amulet 95
- 9 The sting of the scorpion 102
- 10 Magico-medical aspects of the mythology of Osiris 115
- 11 Trauma care, surgery and remedies in ancient Egypt 124
- 12 One and the same? 142
- 13 Bread and beer in ancient Egyptian medicine 157
- 14 On the function of ‘healing’ statues 169
- 15 Writings for good health in social context 183
- 16 Schistosomiasis, ancient and modern 197
- 17 An unusual funerary figurine of the early 18th Dynasty 210
-
Part III Understanding Egyptian mummies
- 18 The biology of ancient Egyptians and Nubians 245
- 19 Further thoughts on Tutankhamun’s death and embalming 256
- 20 Proving Herodotus and Diodorus? 265
- 21 Science in Egyptology 279
- 22 Slices of mummy 292
- 23 Life and death in the desert 302
- 24 An investigation into the evidence of age-related osteoporosis in three Egyptian mummies 321
- 25 The International Ancient Egyptian Mummy Tissue Bank 333
- 26 The enigma of the Red Shroud mummies 344
- 27 The evolution of imaging ancient Egyptian animal mummies at the University of Manchester, 1972–2014 361
- 28 Eaten by maggots 371
-
Part IV Science and experimental approaches in Egyptology
- 29 Scientific studies of pharaonic remains 387
- 30 Education, innovation and preservation 403
- 31 Making an ancient Egyptian contraceptive 416
- 32 Iron from the sky 424
- 33 A bag-style tunic found on the Manchester Museum mummy 1770 440
- 34 ‘Palmiform’ columns 451
- 35 Scientific evaluation of experiments in Egyptian archaeology 462
- 36 Snake busters 477
