XXVIetudesettravaux.iksiopan.pl/images/etudtrav/EtudTrav...sites are usually dated to the Late,...

Two Mummies with Demotic Inscriptions from Saqqara

MAŁGORZATA RADOMSKA

INSTITUT DES CULTURES MÉDITERRANÉENNES ET ORIENTALESDE L’ACADÉMIE POLONAISE DES SCIENCES

ÉTUDES et TRAVAUXXXVI2013

548 MAŁGORZATA RADOMSKA

Fragmentary preservation of mummy shrouds and bandages often precludes the deciphering of the inscriptions found on some of these materials. Such fi nds often recovered from irregular excavations deprived of archaeological context are diffi cult to date.1

Polychrome fabrics as mummy shrouds were introduced in the New Kingdom.2 During the Third Intermediate Period those decorated with images of Osiris and relevant religious texts were standard elements in the mummifi cation process. The texts most frequently found on mummy linen are spells from the Book of the Dead, which fi rst appeared during the New Kingdom,3 and in the demotic version was still known in the fi rst century AD.4 It was used to decorate large shrouds covering the mummy in the fi rst half of the Eighteenth Dynasty; in the Late and Ptolemaic Periods long sequences of spells and vignettes were written on narrow strips of linen which were then wrapped around the body.5 Mummy bandages inscribed with an abridged version of the spells from the Book of the Dead show a text composition similar to the one on papyri, both in the sequence of spells and the arrangement of the vignettes;6 some contain fragments of chapters, others only separate sentences. The text itself is subject to a major evolution and is not canonical. Each copied formula leads to changes or alterations of the text, making them unique.7

1 An overview of the history of research into mummy bandages from the seventeenth to the twentieth cen-turies AD together with relevant references can be found in: M. VANDENBEUSCH, Catalogue des bandelettes de momies Musée d’art et d’histoire de Genève, CSEG 10, Genève 2010 [= Catalogue bandelettes], pp. 17–22.

2 S. IKRAM, A. DODSON, The Mummy in Ancient Egypt. Equipping the Dead for Eternity, London 1998 [= Mummy in Ancient Egypt], p. 153.

3 VANDENBEUSCH, Catalogue bandelettes, pp. 18–19. According to W. Grajetzki, the custom of inscribing the shrouds with fragments from the Book of the Dead was fi rst attested in the late Seventeenth Dynasty or early Eighteenth Dynasty: W. GRAJETZKI, Burial Customs in Ancient Egypt: Life in Death for Rich and Poor, London 2003 [= Burial Customs], p. 119. R. Lucarelli states that such procedure is typical of the Late and Graeco-Ro-man Periods because the earliest known fragment comes from the Thirtieth Dynasty, while most of the pre-served pieces are dated to the Ptolemaic Period despite the fact that the custom originated at the beginning of the New Kingdom and coincided with early history of the Book of the Dead itself: R. LUCARELLI, Two Fragments of a Ptolemaic Book of the Dead on Mummy Wrappings with Spells 32–38 (Leiden Inventory No/F 2008/1.1), [in:] B. Backes, M. Müller-Roth, S. Stöhr (Eds), Ausgestattet mit den Schriften des Thot, Festschrift für Irmtraut Munro zu ihrem 65. Geburstag, SAT 14, Wiesbaden 2009 [= Book of the Dead on Mummy Wrappings], pp. 105–106.

4 F. LEXA, Das demotische Totenbuch der Pariser Nationalbibliothek (Papyrus des Pa-Month), Leipzig 1910, pass.; M.A. STADLER, Der Totenpapyrus des Pa-Month (P. Bibl.Nat. 149), Wiesbaden 2003, pass.; CH. RIGGS, The Beautiful Burial in Roman Egypt: Art, Identity, and Funerary Religion, Oxford 2006 [= The Beautiful Burial], p. 29.

5 A. DE CALUWE, Un livre des Morts sur bandelette de momie (Bruxelles, Musées Royaux d’Art et d’Histoire E. 6179), BiAeg 18, Brussels 1991 [= Bandelette], pass.; H. KOCKELMANN, Untersuchungen zu den späten Totenbuch-Handschriften auf Mumienbinden: Bd. I. Die Mumienbinden und Leinenamulette des memphitisch-en Priesters Hor, Bd. II. Handbuch zu den Mumienbinden und Leinenamuletten, SAT 12, Wiesbaden 2008 [= Späte Tb-Handschriften], pass.; ID., It’s Not Always the Book of the Dead! On the Unusual Texts of Berlin P. 3071 and Other Mummy Wrappings from Graeco-Roman Egypt, [in:] K. Endreffy, A. Gulyás (Eds), Proceed-ings of the Fourth Central European Conference of Young Egyptologists 31 August – 2 September 2006, Buda-pest, StudAeg XVIII, Budapest 2007, p. 239.

6 For a new analysis of inscribed mummy bandages dated to the end of the Late Period and Ptolemaic Period, cf. KOCKELMANN, Späte Tb-Handschriften, passim.

7 VANDENBEUSCH, Catalogue bandelettes, p. 23.

TWO MUMMIES WITH DEMOTIC INSCRIPTIONS FROM SAQQARA 549

The classifi cation of mummy shrouds and bandages decorated with the Book of the Dead has been undertaken twice, by A. de Caluwe8 and by H. Kockelmann.9 Items from the University College London, the British Museum, musée du Louvre and Rijks-museum van Oudheden in Leiden were examined. A. de Caluwe divides the items into four groups. The fi rst group consists of fragments which come from the Memphite area and are dated to the fourth to second centuries BC. It is the largest version of the Book of the Dead written in hieratic. The second group also includes bandages from Memphis, however their dating is uncertain. They contain the images similar to these on hieroglyphic papyri. The third group comes from the Theban area and includes texts in hieroglyphic and hieratic writing. The fourth group, together with the latter one, creates an abridged version of the Book of the Dead. According to A. de Caluwe, from the second century BC onwards, the texts on bandages and shrouds are usually written in Greek or demotic and contain only the name of the deceased.10 The fi rst example with the name of the deceased on a bandage was attested on the mummy from the Twenty-fi rst Dynasty, currently in Bristol.11

Based on the provenance of bandages, H. Kockelmann has supplemented the classi-fi cation made by A. de Caluwe by adding new categories, which now amount to seven.12 There is a group of bandages that comes from Memphis and dates either to the Thirtieth Dynasty and the beginning of the Ptolemaic Period (group 2), or to the third century BC (group 1) and later (group 3). The ones with Saqqara provenance are dated either to the Thirtieth Dynasty and the beginning of the Ptolemaic Period (groups 2 and 6), or to the third century BC (group 4) and later (group 3). Those copied in hieratic, dated to the end of the Ptolemaic Period, belong to groups 5 and 6.

Ptolemaic and Roman mummy shrouds and bandages display deities accompanying the deceased represented in the centre of the composition,13 which could be surrounded

8 DE CALUWE, Bandelette, pp. XVII–XIX. 9 KOCKELMANN, Späte Tb-Handschriften II, pp. 93–115.10 DE CALUWE, Bandelette, pp. XVII–XIX; cf. also: M. COENEN, On the demise of the Book of the Dead in

Ptolemaic Thebes, RdE 52, 2001, pp. 69–84.11 J.H. TAYLOR, Unwrapping a Mummy. The Life, Death and Embalming of Horemkenesi, London 1995,

pp. 77–78.12 KOCKELMANN, Späte Tb-Handschriften II, pp. 93–115. 13 E.g. linen from Saqqara dated to mid-fi rst century AD (Berlin, Ägyptisches Museum, 11652 (68),

11653 (69), 11651 (71)), on which the deceased occupies the central place, standing between Osiris and Anubis or Osiris and Hathor: RIGGS, The Beautiful Burial, pp. 168–171, Figs 80–82. Another shroud – in-scribed with the name of &A-Sr.t-Hr-wDA – bears a naturalistic image of the deceased and depictions of Isis, Nephtys, Osiris, Anubis and Horus. It comes from Asyut and is dated to the Roman Period (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, accession No. 54.993): CH. RIGGS, M.A. STADLER, A Roman Shroud and its Demotic In-scriptions in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, JARCE 40, 2003, pp. 69–70, 80. It is additionally decorat-ed with three demotic inscriptions mentioning the names of Serapis, Wep-wawet, the name of the deceased and the date of her funeral. A shroud from Panopolis (Akhmim) dated to the Roman Period inscribed in Greek and demotic, kept in Musée d’Art et d’Histoire, Geneva (Inv. No. D 957), is an example of a sym-biosis of Greek and Egyptian decorative elements. The central image here is the deceased in a naturalistic Graeco-Roman convention among Egyptian deities and symbols: VANDENBEUSCH, Catalogue bandelettes, pp. 97–98.


with the vignettes of the underworld books and religious texts,14 including fragments of late versions of the Book of the Dead;15 some of them bear only the name of a god16 or the name and titles of the deceased.

The bandages with spells from the Book of the Dead that were to magically protect the body of the defunct person form only a modest part of the whole corpus of the inscribed bandages.17 Among 16 fragments stored in Bonn and dated to the Ptolemaic Period there is one discovered in Saqqara.18

Several mummy bandages which contain sentences of the Opening of the Mouth Ritual are also known from the Late and Ptolemaic Periods.19

In some other cases, for instance in the plea for justice written in demotic on the Saqqara linen and addressed to a High Power, religious beliefs are used to infl uence the world of the living.20

Bandages inscribed with names of deceased persons which come from Saqqara or other sites are usually dated to the Late, Ptolemaic or Roman Periods.

An assemblage of such fi nds comes from the tomb of Padineit in Saqqara.21 Those that were found in a well-dated context have been attributed to the times of Nectanebo I, others – to the Ptolemaic Period on the basis of prosopographic studies.22

14 E.g. demotic and Greek inscriptions on 31 mummy bandages from Panopolis (Akhmim) and Hermopolis dated to the Twenty Sixth Dynasty to the Roman Period and kept in the Cairo Museum: H.O.M. ZAGHLOUL, Inscribed mummy linen from Egyptian museums, BCPS 1110–1155, 1990, v. 7.

15 Five inscribed bandages from the Nfr-Amyt mummy, decorated with the Book of the Dead come from Panopolis (Akhmim). They are dated to the late Thirtieth Dynasty and the Ptolemaic Period: VANDENBEUSCH, Catalogue bandelettes, pp. 27–43. Another two belong to Mn-kA-Ra, probably come from the Memphite necropolis and are dated to the end of the Late Period or Early Ptolemaic times (fourth to second century BC). The name of Mn-kA-Ra is attested several times and appears mainly in the Ptolemaic Period: ibid., pp. 45–66. The Memphite necropolis also yielded anonymous bandages which are dated similarly to the ones belonging to Mn-kA-Ra: ibid., pp. 67–78, 93–96. Two other fragments of the Ptolemaic Book of the Dead on mummy ban-dages with spells 32–38, kept in the Leiden Museum (Inv. No. F 2008/1.1), come from Thebes, the area of Gurnah: LUCARELLI, Book of the Dead on Mummy Wrappings, p. 105.

16 Twelve bandages from Panopolis (Akhmim) dated to the Roman Period bear the name of Osiris–Sokar: A. MIGAHID, Fünfunddreißig demotisch beschriftete Mumienleinen aus dem British Museum, BIFAO 105, 2005, pp. 142, 144–145, 148, 150, 152–154, 156. The phrase found on bandages from the Graeco-Roman Period which referred to Osiris–Sokar became popular, especially as a plea for an eternal life (e.g. bandage D 974: &A-Srt-(n)-@r dated to the Roman Period, probably from Akhmim): VANDENBEUSCH, Catalogue bandelettes, pp. 98, 106.

17 LUCARELLI, Book of the Dead on Mummy Wrappings, pp. 105–118; e.g. inscribed mummy bandage of Djedher from Saqqara (British Museum EA 6644); BD 101 which bears the instruction that the spell must be written on a band of royal linen: DE CALUWE, Bandelette, p. XVI.

18 Saqqara R. 414, containing BD 32–33: S. PERNIGOTTI, Il Libro dei Morti su bende di mummia, Saqqara II, Tomba di Boccori, EVO Suppl. Serie archaeologica 3, Pisa 1985, p. 55, Pl. 35, n. 5; LUCARELLI, Book of the Dead on Mummy Wrappings, p. 110, n. 30.

19 E.g. fragments in the Musée des Beaux-Arts (Inv. No. 3633): G. KUENY, J. YOYOTTE, Grenoble, Musée des Beaux-Arts. Collection égyptienne, Paris 1979, p. 115, No. 132.

20 J.D. RAY, An Inscribed Linen Plea from the Sacred Animal Necropolis, North Saqqara, JEA 91, 2005, p. 179.

21 E. BRESCIANI, S. EL-NAGGAR, S. PERNIGOTTI, F. SILVANO, Galeria di Padineit, Visir di Nectanebo I, Saqqara I, Tomba di Boccori, Pisa 1983, passim.

22 GRAJETZKI, Burial Customs, p. 119.


Three mummy bandages from Panopolis (Akhmim) seems to be associated with the Memphite necropolis as well. The name in the case of D 968 (PA-di-ii-m-Htp), written on the bandage in demotic and dated to the Roman Period, was considered typical of the Memphite area.23 Two other examples from the same period are inscriptions (D 970 and D 972: Nyn)24 with the name of Osiris. Nyn is described there as the son of GlgyA, whose name could be associated with GrgA, found on a bilingual stele from the Memphite Sera-peum, currently in Louvre (IM 3713).25

The Leiden Papyrological Institute is in possession of a mummy linen which, just like the Saqqara sheets, lists the name and basic information about the deceased person. The collection consists of eleven fragments in the form of strips cut out of longer bands and square bits of larger pieces of fabric.26 All of them are inscribed with short texts in Greek or in demotic and Greek.

Another mummy in Munich, dated to the Roman Period27, contains a demotic inscription written on the outer layer of the wrappings, which lists the names of the female deceased, her ancestors and the god Osiris-Onnophris.

A fragment of inscribed linen, that served as a mummy shroud, and a mummy label attached to the body comes from the mummy of a tailor called Diogenes (Hawara).28 A part of the inscription lists the name and profession of the deceased, and the text on the label indicates the place where the body should be delivered. Most probably, it was an instruc-tion for the carrier. The burial is dated to the Roman Period on the basis of the mummy portrait discovered in the same grave.29

Another three bandages from Panapolis (Akhmim), dated to the Roman Period, bore only the names of the deceased.30

ARCHAEOLOGICAL CONTEXT OF BURIALS 581 AND 590 FROM SAQQARA

To date, over 500 burials have been discovered in the upper stratum of the Saqqara necropolis extending west of the pyramid of Netjerykhet (the so-called Upper Necropolis), excavated by the Polish Archaeological Mission (Fig. 1).31

23 VANDENBEUSCH, Catalogue bandelettes, pp. 101–102. 24 Ibid., pp. 103–105.25 D. DEVAUCHELLE, Une stèle hiératico-démotique provenant du Sérapéum de Memphis (Louvre IM 3713),

[in:] F. Hoffmann, H.J. Thissen (Eds), Res Severa Verum Gaudium. Festschrift für Karl-Theodor Zauzich zum 65. Geburtstag am 8. Juni 2004, StudDem VI, Louvain 2004, pp. 95–108.

26 E. Boswinkel, P.W. Pestman (Eds), Textes grecs, démotiques et bilingues, P.L.Bat. XIX, Leiden 1978 [= P.L.Bat. XIX], p. 225.

27 W. SPIEGELBERG, Die demotische Inschrift einer Mumienbinde der Münchener ägyptischen Sammlung, Demotica I, SBAW, Philos.-phil. und hist. Klasse, 1925/6, pp. 31–32; P.L.Bat. XIX, p. 227.

28 Mummy label: London, British Museum Eg. Dept. 1888-9-20: 22: W.M.F. PETRIE, Hawara, Biahmu and Arsinoe, London 1889, p. 37, Pl. VIII, 1 and 2.

29 P.L.Bat. XIX, pp. 229–230.30 Bandage No. 4 – belonged to the deceased from Panopolis called PA-nA-sn, son of PA-hb; bandage No 22

– belonged to the deceased called &A-wsir, daughter of PA-tA-rnnt; bandage No 23 – to the deceased called &A –SpSy, daughter of PA-Sr-tA-msy-aA.t: MIGAHID, BIFAO 105, pp. 141, 151.

31 K. MYŚLIWIEC, The Ptolemaic Period Cemetery in West Saqqara, [in:] T.A. Bács (Ed.), “A Tribute to Excel-lence”. Studies in Honor of Ernö Gaál, Ulrich Luft, Lászlo Török, StudAeg XVII, Budapest 2002 [= Ptolemaic

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Two of the inhumations, Burials 581 and 590, were mummies wrapped in shrouds bearing demotic inscriptions. Bodies were discovered in the area located between Old Kingdom tombs: that of Nyankhnefertem32 and an anonymous Chapel No. 7/8 (Fig. 2). The mummies were uncovered below a shallow surface layer of sand, in the so-called dakka33 which covered a quarry from the time of construction of the Netjerykhet’s pyramid.34 The layer of dakka was much thicker in the eastern part of the area where it contained over a dozen mummies in the vicinity of Burial 581 (Figs 3–4).

BURIAL 581 (IN GRID SQUARES 1808/1908)

The mummy was deposited without a burial pit, shallow in the dakka layer, just below the surface stratum of sand, to the south-west of the Old Kingdom Shaft No. 116 (Fig. 5). A double child burial (Burials 601 and 602) was discovered at the same level but slightly to the north of Burial 581 during the subsequent campaign in 2010. Another mummy – Burial 597 – was found to the south of both burials. It would seem that Burial 581 could belong to a collective burial of four bodies: two adults (Burials 581 and 582) and two children (Burials 601 and 602). It might have been a family burial. If so, it would be only the third case of a burial containing four bodies deposited together.35

THE BODY

The body that measured 1.70m in length in situ belonged to a male aged 25–35 years at the time of death.36 The inhumation was orientated east-west with the mummy’s head towards the west. The body was uncovered intact, swathed in multiple layers of elaborate

Cemetery], pp. 349–359; ID. with contributions by K. KURASZKIEWICZ, D. CZERWIK, Z. GODZIEJEWSKI, M. KACZ-MAREK, A. KOWALSKA, M. RADOMSKA, T. RZEUSKA, The tomb of Merefnebef, Saqqara I, Varsovie 2004 [= Saqqara I], pp. 38–39; M. RADOMSKA, A. KOWALSKA, M. KACZMAREK and T.I. RZEUSKA, with contributions by E. KOPP, K.O. KURASZKIEWICZ, J.K. WINNICKI, The Upper Necropolis I: The Catalogue with drawings, K. Myśliwiec (Ed.), Saqqara III, Varsovie 2008 [= Saqqara III.1], pp. 68, 79, 85, 86, 172, 174–180, 182, 254–265, 267–268, 287, 291–292, 297, 299, 301, 321, 348, 350; K. MYŚLIWIEC, K.O. KURASZKIEWICZ with contributions by A. KOWAL SKA, M. RADOMSKA, T.I. RZEUSKA, M. KACZMAREK, I. KOZIERADZKA, Z. GODZIEJEWSKI, A. ZATORSKA and S. IKRAM, The funerary complex of Nyankhnefertem, Saqqara IV, Varsovie 2010 [= Saqqara IV], pp. 25–79.

32 MYŚLIWIEC, [in:] Saqqara IV, pp. 280–281.33 Over the centuries, mix of mud brick, stone fragments, sand and pottery was compacted into a solid,

practically petrifi ed agglomerate referred to as dakka in archaeological parlance.34 F. WELC, The Third Dynasty open quarry west of the Netjerykhet pyramid complex (Saqqara),

EtudTrav XXIII, 2011, p. 257; K. MYŚLIWIEC, Une nécropole dans une carrière, DossArch 20, avril 2011, pp. 40–45; recently cf. K. MYŚLIWIEC, F. WELC, J. TRZCIŃSKI, Geoarchaeological and Palaeoclimatic Research by the Polish Archaeological Mission in Saqqara. An Updated Overview, EtudTrav XXV, 2012, p. 279.

35 Cf. RADOMSKA, [in:] Saqqara III.1, p. 231: Burials 317, 319, 320 and 321 found in the sand stratum against the western façade of the ‘Dry Moat’ (two males, one child and one body of indeterminable sex); second exam-ple of such multiple burial cf. ibid., pp. 236–237: Burials 329, 330, 331 and 332 found in the sand stratum in front of the rock-cut Chapels 13 and 14; Burials 626, 627, 628, 629, 630 found in 2012 – not yet published.

36 Detailed external and osteological examination of the mummy was conducted by I. Kozieradzka- Ogunmakin, and will be published in Saqqara VI.


3. Late and Ptolemaic Period burials in the dakka layer (grid squares 1808, 1809, 1908 and 1909). View from the west (Phot. W. Wojciechowski).

4. The thickness of the dakka stratum visible in the north profi le of the area (Phot. W. Wojciechowski).


wrappings (Fig. 6). Layers of horizontally arranged overlapping strips were alternated with single sheets of shrouding, and linen scraps were additionally applied as fi llers to give the mummy-in-making a more lifelike appearance. The most external layers comprised two pieces of shrouding that encased the body, fastened with widely interspaced horizontal strips of linen. The top sheet covered the front of the body, including the head. The bottom sheet extended to the back of the head, its upper edge was folded and the corners were tucked in between the underlying wrappings over the deceased’s shoulders. The piece of the shroud that covered the mummy’s left shoulder borne a demotic inscription. The removal of the wrappings revealed that the external body was coated in resin which was also applied internally to the cranial and abdominal cavities following the extraction of the internal organs. The deceased’s fi ngers and toes were tied together using very narrow strips of linen cloth and string, most likely to prevent these delicate body parts from breaking off after becoming brittle due to the exposure to desiccant agent.

THE INSCRIPTION

The shroud (length: 1.24m, width: 0.465m) bears a demotic inscription (Fig. 7).37 The text (length: 8.6cm) written in black ink in one line reads: Hry-Imn sA(?)©d-Hr (Fig. 8).

If the reading is correct (uncertain because of sA), it almost looks as Heramounis Hna [and] Teos. As to the date M. Depauw suggests late sixth or fi fth century BC. But he would

37 Reading, translation and suggestion of dating by Mark Depauw, whom the author expresses gratitude.

5. The context of Burials 581 and 582 (Phot. W. Wojciechowski).


6. Burials 581 and 582 in situ (Phot. W. Wojciechowski, drawing: B. Błaszczuk).

B.581

B.582

48.5048.50

b

a

7. Fragment of inscribed linen shroud from Burial 581 (Phot. W. Wojciechowski).

0,5 m0


8. Demotic inscription from Burial 581 (Phot. W. Wojciechowski, drawing: M. Radomska).

5 cm

not exclude, neither, the possibility that the handwriting ‘might be just somewhat more archaic’ and that the piece actually comes from the early fourth century BC.

BURIAL 590 (IN GRID SQUARE 1908)

The inhumation was discovered approximately 2.70m to the east of the brick wall of the anonymous Chapel No. 7/8. The mummy was buried in an oval pit (1.70m by 0.53m) dug 0.13m below the surface of the dakka (Fig. 9). Another mummy (Burial 564) was uncovered approximately 2.70m west from Burial 590, in the same stratum, but some 0.50m deeper than the latter. Its diagonal position at an angle of 45°, in a similar pit, was probably the result of the activity of ancient robbers. Fragments of the cartonnage, wooden fi gurine of Ptah-Sokar-Osiris and canopic chest were discovered in the context of Burial 564.38 Another two mummies (Burials 75 and 76) were uncovered approximately 2.12m to the south of Burial 590 and 0.80m above the burial in the layer of dakka.39 The burials

38 Analogical canopic chests and fi gurines of Ptah-Sokar-Osiris (dated to the Late Period up to Early Ptole-maic Period) were discovered at the site in the context of Burials 406, 483 and 529: KOWALSKA, [in:] Saqqara III.1, pp. 268–287, 325–348, Pls CCXXXIXb, CCXLI–CCXLVII; EAD., [in:] Saqqara IV, pp. 36–53, Pls XXIII–XXIX; for dating of similar objects to the Ptolemaic Period cf. IKRAM, DODSON, Mummy in Ancient Egypt, pp. 292, 306.

39 KOWALSKA, [in:] Saqqara III.1, pp. 116–125; M. KACZMAREK, A. SCHWEITZER, Z. GODZIEJEWSKI, I. PAN-NENKO, The Upper Necropolis II: Studies, K. Myśliwiec (Ed.), Saqqara III, Varsovie 2008 [= Saqqara III.2], Pls LI, LIIa, CCVIII.

a

b0


were orientated north-south and decorated with cartonnages different from the one in Burial 564. The cartonnages in Burials 75 and 76 were dated to the Ptolemaic Period.40

THE BODY

The body belonged to a male aged 30–40 years at the time of death.41 The inhumation was orientated east-west, with the head towards the west. The position of the body was extended and supine (face-up) and measured 1.68m in situ. The arms were placed alongside the body with the hands resting fl at below the pelvis. The mummy was wrapped externally with regularly interspaced linen strips that ran transversely across the head and lower body, but crisscrossed from the shoulders to the pelvis forming a rhomboid pattern (Fig. 9). All the linen strips were neatly folded on both sides. Underneath the strips was a shroud

40 SCHWEITZER, [in:] Saqqara III.2, p. 538.41 Detailed external and osteological examination of the mummy was conducted by I. Kozieradzka-

Ogunmakin, and will be published in Saqqara VI.

9. Burial 590 in situ (Phot. W. Wojciechowski, drawing: B. Błaszczuk).

a

b

47.4247.42


10. Fragment of inscribed linen shroud on the head of Burial 590 (Phot. J. Dąbrowski).

(preserved length: 1.55m, width around the head: 0.25m, width around the body: 0.40m) that covered the front of the body. The part that covered the head was split to form two strips that fastened a folded piece of the shroud at the back of the head. The folded piece comprised a demotic inscription written on the interior side of the fabric (Fig. 10). The shroud was secured on the lateral sides of the body with individual wide strips that were formed by splitting a wide piece of linen fabric along its midline, but were still held together at one of the ends that was placed over the deceased’s head. Underneath the shroud were neat overlapping wrappings. The next layer of wrappings had the same pattern as the most external ones. There were multiple inner layers of overlapping wrappings but very blackened and brittle. Each leg was wrapped individually. Both excerebration and evisceration were performed but no internal packages were inserted in place of the internal organs removed.

THE INSCRIPTION

The inscription (length: 10.5cm) on the shroud written in black ink in one line reads42 (Fig. 11):

it-nTr PA-di-Imn-nsw-tA.wy sA @r-sA-Is.tThe god’s father Peteamounis, son of Harsiesis

42 Cf. supra, n. 37.


The male’s names and the writing are symptomatic of the early demotic (before Ptole-maic Period).43 According to M. Depauw the inscription reminds of the handwriting of the demotic texts on the ceiling of the Deir el-Bersha quarry, and these are exactly dated to the reign of Nectanebo I. Therefore, he suggests dating of this inscription ‘possibly to the early fourth century BC, or even ‘somewhat earlier’.

DISCUSSION

Neither the stratigraphy of the burials, nor the names written on the mummy shrouds could be the ultimate criteria for the dating of the bodies. Nevertheless, the data together with the analysis of the archaeological context encourage conjectures on the subject.

DATING

ARCHAEOLOGICAL CONTEXTThe place of discovery of the burials does not help to date them, even though it is clear that the necropolis developed progressively from the pyramid wall towards the west.44

43 LÜDDECKENS, Demotisches Namenbuch, p. 834.44 MYŚLIWIEC, [in:] Saqqara III, p. 13.

11. Demotic inscription from Burial 590 (Phot. J. Dąbrowski, drawing: M. Radomska).

a

b5 cm0


The mutual stratigraphic position of the bodies encourages the supposition that Burial 581 was more recent, since it layed 1.10m higher than Burial 590. But it seems that it is not the case. Important is also the stratigraphy of Burial 590 in relation to the other two mummies – Burials 75 and 76 as these were dated to the Ptolemaic Period.45 As far as the stratigraphic location of Burial 590 is concerned, about 0.80m deeper than the other two bodies, it is essential to notice that the thickness of the dakka layer, decreasing westwards, caused the difference in the absolute level of deposition with respect to various mummies belonging to the same chronological context. However, Burials 590, 75 and 76 lie along the same north–south line and have the same eastern coordinate, which means that the layer could have been equally thick. This fact could lead to the supposition that Burial 590 was earlierthan the other two.

METHOD OF MUMMIFICATION Both the method of mummifi cation and the characteristic elements of the body wrapping pattern could assist in dating of the burial.

In the Graeco-Roman Period an elaborate pattern of external wrappings was more important than the preservation of the body. The outer layers of bandages were often crisscrossed to form rhomboid patterns, or were placed horizontally on the mummy’s surface.46 The use of liquid resin, both externally and to fi ll the body cavities, seems to be typical of that period.47

POSSIBLE SECONDARY USE OF THE SHROUDSMost of the bandages were pieces of clothing that found such a secondary use48 or frag-ments of fabric which were purposefully crafted to wrap the body. Some torn pieces were sewn together. According to S. Ikram, bandages produced especially for mummies fi rst appeared in the late Eighteenth Dynasty.49 M. Vandenbeusch believes that the narrow strips of linen were not produced separately but were made of wider pieces of fabric.50 Some of these were woven at the looms. In the cases where old clothing was used its wear was recognized thanks to the traces of repairs.51 This observation is essential for the dating of the material and for the identifi cation of the deceased based on the written name. The fabric could have come from the owner’s wardrobe or could have belonged to another person,52 or else was another mummy’s wrapping.

45 SCHWEITZER, [in:] Saqqara III.2, p. 538.46 IKRAM, DODSON, Mummy in Ancient Egypt, pp. 51, 164–165.47 Ibid., p. 129.48 There is an inscription in a tomb dated to the New Kingdom which describes such a case: He who had so

much fi ne linen, sleeps now in the cast-off garments of yesterday, cf. A. ERMAN, A Handbook of Egyptian Reli-gion, London 1907, p. 137; J. GARDNER WILKINSON, Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians, London 1841, Pl. 67.

49 IKRAM, DODSON, Mummy in Ancient Egypt, p. 153.50 VANDENBEUSCH, Catalogue bandelettes, pp. 18–19.51 Linen in Musée d’Art et d’Histoire, Geneva (Inv. No. D 957): ibid., p. 20, n. 83.52 RAY, JEA 91, 2005, p. 179.


In the case of the shroud in Burial 581, traces of sewing are visible. It cannot be excluded that it was the deceased’s clothing which was mended during his life and used to wrap the body after his death, as well as that it was a piece of clothing that had belonged to another person.

THE NAMESAlthough the name of @r-sA-Is.t, discovered in Burial 590, was attested in demotic writing as early as in the Late Period,53 it seems to have been more common in the Ptolemaic and Roman Periods.54 It is known from statues,55 stelae,56 papyri,57 ostraca,58

53 E.g. Papyrus 2122 from Museo Egizio Turin (25th Nov.–24th Dec. 517 BC): P.W. PESTMAN, Les Papyrus démotiques de Tsenhor. Les archives privées d’une femme égyptienne du temps de Darius Ier. II. Paléographie et Planches, Leuven 1994 [= Papyrus de Tsenhor II], p. 61, Pl. VIIIa (text 7, v 8); Papyrus Louvre E 10.935 (10th Mar.–8th Apr. 556 BC): ibid., p. 38, Pl. II (text 1, v 14); Papyrus BN 216 (29th Feb.–29th Mar. 517 BC): ibid., p. 55, Pl. VIa (text 5, v 3).

54 According to H. Ranke the name @r-sA-Is.t is frequently attested in the Late Period, and several times in the Ptolemaic Period, cf. PN I, p. 250.13.

55 Fragment of the statue of scribe from Tehne(?), (309/308(?) BC): W. SPIEGELBERG, Die demotischen Papy-ri Loeb, München 1931, pp. 38–39, Taf. 9.

56 E.g. Stela from Panopolis (Akhmim) dated to the Roman Period: W. SPIEGELBERG, Die demotischen Denk-mäler 30601–31166. I: Die demotischen Inschriften, CGC, Leipzig 1904 [= Demotische Inschriften], p. 26, Taf. V (31095, 6).

57 E.g. Papyrus from the Memphite area (Saqqara?) (Nov./Dec. 201 BC): P.W. PESTMAN, J. QUAGEBEUR, R.L. VOS, Recueil de textes démotiques et bilingues I–III, Leiden 1977 [= Recueil], p. 19, Pl. V (P. Brooklyn 37.1839, 2, v 7); papyrus from the Memphite area (Saqqara?) (Nov./Dec. 201 BC): ibid., p. 27, Pl. V (P. Brook-lyn 37.1839B, 3, v 7); papyrus from Saqqara (109/108 BC): ibid., p. 46, Pl. VIII (P. Brooklyn 37.1803, 5, r 25); papyrus from Saqqara (14th Feb. 108 BC): ibid., p. 32, Pl. VII (P. Brooklyn 37.1802, r 26); papyrus from Mag-dola (reign of Ptolemy III): F. DE CENIVAL, Papirus démotiques de Lille (III), MIFAO CX, Paris 1984, pp. 34, 39, Pls VI, VIII (Inv. Sorb. 225, r col. VI, 22); papyrus from Tebtunis (157/6 BC): W. SPIEGELBERG, Die demotischen Denkmäler 30601–31270, 50001–50022. II: Die Demotischen Papyrus, CGC, Strassburg 1908 [= Dem. Pap.], p. 25, Taf. XII (30605, II, 27); papyrus from Tebtunis (97/96 BC): ibid., p. 40, Taf. XXI–XXII (30612, 5); cf. also: papyri from the Theban area in the British Museum collection: P. BM 10726 sub (176 BC): C.A.R. ANDREWS, Catalogue of Demotic Papyri in the British Museum. Ptolemaic Legal Texts from the Theban Area IV, London 1990 [= Cat. Dem. Pap.], pp. 96–97, Pl. 83 (Harsiesis as a scribe); P. BM 10782, r 16 (119 BC): ibid., pp. 62–63, Pl. 48 (Harsiesis as a scribe); P. BM 10830, v 15 (198 BC): ibid., p. 26, Pl. 13; P. BM 10839, v 5 (198–186 BC): ibid., p. 28, Pl. 14; P. BM 10614, v 12 (175 BC): ibid., p. 30, Pl. 19; P. BM 10615, v 12 (175 BC): ibid., p. 32, Pl. 19; P. BM 10613, v 15 (160 BC): ibid., p. 35, Pl. 22; P. BM 10832, r 2 (185–170 BC): ibid., p. 36, Pl. 20; P. BM 10679A, v 1 (216–170 BC): ibid., p. 40, Pl. 31; P. BM 10721, r sub. I (216–170 BC): ibid., p. 38, Pl. 24; P. BM 10722, r 3 (181 BC): ibid., p. 41, Pl. 29; P. BM 10223, r 1 (171 BC): ibid., p. 45, Pl. 33; P. BM 10828, v 3 (212 BC): ibid., p. 54, Pl. 45; P. BM 10396, r 10 (146 BC): ibid., p. 63, Pl. 50; P. BM 10392, v 6 (208 BC): ibid., p. 71, Pl. 64; P. BM 10407, v 2 (224 BC): ibid., p. 82, Pl. 70; P. BM 10410, r 9 (224 BC): ibid., p. 83, Pl. 69; P. BM 10726, r sub., 2, v 8 (176 BC): ibid., pp. 96, 97, Pls 83, 93; papyrus from the Theban area (Aug./Sept. 226 BC): PESTMAN, QUAGEBEUR, VOS, Recueil, p. 72, Pl. XI (P. BM 10.394, r 8); papyrus from Djeme (2nd Mar. 119 BC): ibid., pp. 96–97, Pl. XIV (P. Varsovie 148.288, 10, r 3, 5, 6, 7); demotic papyrus from Pathyris (Ge-belein) (Ptolemaic Period): SPIEGELBERG, Dem. Pap., p. 149, Pl. LIX (30760, 1); demotic papyrus from Pathyris (Gebelein) (246/5 BC): ibid., p. 89, Taf. XLVIII (30647, 4.16); demotic papyrus from Pathyris (Gebelein) (158/7 BC): ibid., p. 125, Taf. LVI (30704, II, 5, 6); cf. also a bill from Pathyris (Gebelein), dated to the Ptolemaic Period: SPIEGELBERG, Demotische Inschriften, p. 78, Taf. XXV (30641a, 16).

58 E.g. ostracon from the Archive of Hor (172–162 BC) in Saqqara: J.D. RAY, The Archive of Hor, London 1976, pp. 59, 176, Pl. XVIa (text 15, r 7); ten ostraca from Thebes dated to Ptolemaic and Roman Periods, kept


pottery59 and mummy bandages uncovered at Saqqara, Memphis, Magdola, Tebtunis, Panapolis (Akhmim), Dendera, Thebes and Pathyris (Gebelein).

In the demotic texts coming from two signifi cant Ptolemaic papyri archives which belonged to the funerary workers from the Memphite necropolis (‘God’s Seal-bearers’ Archive’ and ‘Choachytes’ Archive’),60 the name of @r-sA-Is.t is mentioned several times in the context of a well-known family of scribes whose data are traced from 204 BC to 64 BC.61 This name is attested, for example, as the name of a scribe,62 and the name of the scribe’s father.63

In the course of his study on the demotic papyri from the John Rylands Library collec-tion, F.Ll. Griffi th recorded the graphic form of the name @r-sA-Is.t. He distinguished its spelling for the Early and Late Ptolemaic Periods.64

The bandage of the Arsy mummy, the son of @r-sA-Is.t from Panopolis (Akhmim), dated to the Roman Period, belongs to the collection of 35 bandages inscribed with demotic writing and stored at the British Museum.65 This example attests the existence of the name in Roman times as well.

In all texts mentioned above the spelling of the name @r-sA-Is.t differs from the one found on the shroud from Burial 590. Its graphic form is similar, almost identical with the one observed on various objects dated to the Late Period.66

The name of @r-sA-Is.t appears in fi ve demotic papyri from the Tsenhor archive in Thebes.67 In two cases, the spelling is almost identical to the one on the shroud from Burial 590.68

in Leiden: M.A.A. NUR EL-DIN, The Demotic Ostraca in the National Museum of Antiquities at Leiden, Leiden 1974, p. 538; ostracon from Thebes, the British Museum collection (216 BC): ANDREWS, Cat. Dem. Pap., p. 46, Pl. 35 (BM 66383, r 1).

59 E.g. a vessel from Dendera dated to Ptolemaic Period: W. SPIEGELBERG, Die demotischen Denkmäler. III: Demotischen Inschriften und Papyri 50023–50165, CGC, Berlin 1932 [= Dem. Inschr. u. Pap.], p. 35 (50056).

60 C.J. MARTIN, Demotic Papyri from the Memphite Necropolis in the Collections of the National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden, The British Museum and the Hermitage Museum, Turnhout 2009 [= P. Dem. Mem-phis], pass.; cf. also: D. THOMPSON, Memphis under the Ptolemies, Princeton 1988, pp. 280–282.

61 MARTIN, P. Dem. Memphis, pp. 78, 82, 93, 111f., 120f., 156, 167. For the name Harsiesis as a scribe from the Theban region cf. H. DE MEULENAERE, W. CLARYSSE, Notes de prosopographie thébaine, CdE LIII/106, 1978, pp. 234–236; ANDREWS, Cat. Dem. Pap., pp. 62–63, Pl. 48 (P. BM 10782, r 16 (119 BC)), pp. 96–97, Pl. 83 (P. BM 10726 sub (176 BC)).

62 Mentioned in the text No. 3: P. Leiden I 378, dated to 160 BC: MARTIN, P. Dem. Memphis, p. 93.63 Mentioned in the text No. 2A + B: P. Leiden I 373C i 373B, dated to 204/203 BC., in the text No. 5A + B:

P. Malcolm: P. BM EA 10384, dated to 132 BC, in the text No. 8A + B: P. Leiden I 380A i 380B, dated to 64 BC: ibid., pp. 78, 82, 111, 112, 120, 121, 156, 167.

64 Papyrus No. XVII (118 BC), Pl. LXVI, witnesses on v 16; Papyrus No. XI (284 BC), Pl. LX, witnesses on v, cf. F.LL. GRIFFITH, Catalogue of the demotic papyri in the John Rylands Library III, Hildesheim-New York 1972, p. 457.

65 BM EA 73745: MIGAHID, BIFAO 105, 2005, p. 142.66 E.g. the bill from Saqqara dated to the Persian Period, discovered near the Fara’un mastaba: SPIEGELBERG,

Dem. Inschr. u. Pap., p. 63, Taf. 35 (50080, r 6). 67 P.W. PESTMAN, Les Papyrus démotiques de Tsenhor. Les archives privées d’une femme égyptienne du

temps de Darius Ier, I. Textes, Leuven 1994, p. 194.68 Pap. BN 217 (29th Feb.–29th Mar. 517 BC): PESTMAN, Papyrus de Tsenhor II, p. 58, Pl. VIIa (text 6, v 3);

Papyrus 2125 from Museo Egizio Turin (27th May–25th Jun. 506 BC): ibid., p. 78, Pl. XIII (text 12, r 5).


In the monograph on palaeography of demotic papyri from the Cairo Museum, O. El-Aguizy records the word @r written in the same way as on the mummy linen from Burial 590 and describes this form as Early Demotic (663–332 BC) forLower Egypt.69

The whole inscription on the mummy shroud suggests the early demotic palaeo-graphy (before the Ptolemaic Period). As dated by M. Depauw it could be the early fourth century BC. One cannot exclude that the name on the mummy shroud belongs to one of the ancestors of a well-known family of scribes who worked at the Memphitenecropolis.70

THE PURPOSE OF INSCRIPTIONS ON THE SHROUDS AND BANDAGES

Workshops which provided the fabrics for mummy wrappings sometimes marked the goods with their signs and listed the name of the supervisor or the temple and on other occasions inscribed a dedication to a god. The marks might have also referred to the quality of the material, its manufacturer or owner.71

Some of the inscribed fragments of fabric served as amulets for the mummy.72 The Egyptians believed that the preservation of the deceased’s name would grant him the eternal life. It would seem that the name on the bandages in the Late, Ptolemaic and Roman Periods might have had a prosaic function: information necessary for the identifi cation of the person. That was the case with mummy labels that were attached to the body with a string, frequently around the neck, and were only used to identify the deceased when the body was transported to another city or another cemetery.73 The label bore the name and age of the deceased, and the date of death, written in Greek or demotic.74 Some labels included permission for a burial, addressed to a particular person.75

In the case of both mummies in question (Burials 581 and 590) the names on the shrouds were certainly not the information for the carrier. Neither did they serve the embalmers or the dead person’s family for identifi cation. The names were not a part of an expres-sion of the last farewell, even though there is a lot of space left for additional text. Their placement – on the inner sheets with the inscription facing the body, invisible from the

69 O. EL-AGUIZY, A Palaeographical Study of Demotic Papyri in the Cairo Museum from the Reign of King Taharka to the End of the Ptolemaic Period (684–30 BC), MIFAO 113, Le Caire 1998, p. 318 (XCIIIa b1); cf. PESTMAN, Papyrus de Tsenhor II, p. 19, who places @r in such a form in the group G5b.

70 MARTIN, P. Dem. Memphis, pp. 78, 82, 93, 111f., 120f, 156, 167. 71 VANDENBEUSCH, Catalogue bandelettes, p. 11.72 Ibid., pp. 11, 22. 73 Cf. mummies from the area of Panopolis: E.A.W. BUDGE, The Mummy. A Handbook of Egyptian Fune-

rary Archaeology, London 1987, pp. 224–225; also: IKRAM, DODSON, Mummy in Ancient Egypt, p. 52.74 Cf. J. QUAEGEBEUR, Mummy Labels: an Orientation, [in:] P.L.Bat. XIX, pp. 232–259; B. BOYAVAL, Conclu-

sions provisoires sur les étiquettes de momies en langue grecque, BIFAO 86, 1986, pp. 37–89; M. CHAUVEAU, F. KAYSER, Cinq étiquettes de momies, BIFAO 91, 1991, pp. 155–159; M. CHAUVEAU, Autour des étiquettes de momies de la Bibliothèque nationale de Vienne, BIFAO 92, 1992, pp. 101–109.

75 Cf. e.g. Totoes in Hermonthis: P.L.Bat. XIX, pp. 260–267.


outside – seems to indicate that they were supposed to serve the dead, not the living, and possibly perform a magical function. Perhaps their purpose was to help gods identify the dead person?

Małgorzata Radomska Instytut Kultur Śródziemnomorskichi Orientalnych PAN, [email protected]

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