After reading an article published on Osirisnet (2007) regarding two Officials from the Old Kingdom, Ptahhotep and Akhethotep, I started an investigation on their family and reported the data on a table. My question: the burial place of the youngest Akhethotep mentioned as such in D64 is almost certainly the mastaba (E17), as proposed by Norman de Garis Davies?? or the mastaba on display at Louvre Museum [E 10958 (A)] ?? The dignitaries shared the mastaba designated D64 located in the north-west part of the necropolis of Saqqara, to the west of the step pyramid of Djoser. It constitutes the most important element of a much vaster domestic funerary complex and was the common burial of two high commissioners from the end of the Vth Dynasty, vizier Akhethotep and his son Ptahhotep who bears his grandfathers name and for this reason he is usually referred to as Ptahhotep II. The Tomb of the elder Ptahhotep was designated D62 . The monument was discovered by Mariette at the time of the excavations which he had undertaken in 1850. The only detailed documentation is that produced by Norman de Garis Davies, at the beginning of the 20th century, but since then the mastaba has undergone a great degree of reconstruction. The family of these two tomb owners is dominated by their two names, those of Akhethotep and Ptahhotep. Several high officials named Ptahhotep were buried at Saqqara, at least three predate those of D64 and D62. Only those of these two mastabas can, with reasonable certainty, be shown to be related; the family therefore being as follows : • Ptahhotep (D62) is the eldest, and usually referred to as Ptahhotep I. • Akhethotep (D64) was the son of the above. • Ptahhotep (D64) shares the mastaba with his father and is usually referred to as Phtahotep II • Akethotep and Ptahhotep, sons of Ptahhotep II, are mentioned as such in D64. The burial place of the youngest Akhethotep was almost certainly the mastaba (E17) ?? located to the south-east of the pyramid of Djoser, but north of the causeway of Unas. The whereabouts of the youngest Ptahhotep is unknown. The mastaba E 17 represents one of the rare well-dated monuments in the Saqqara necropolis. As Mariette already noticed it, the presence of King Unas’ cartouche in the titles of its owner constitutes a terminus ante quem: it is contemporary or posterior to this king who ruled around 2350 BC. The mastaba E 17 is posterior to the Louvre mastaba on which it rests: its north structures are built against the north wall of the great Louvre mastaba. The Louvre chapel can be dated, after several criteria, of Unas’ predecessor, King Djedkara Isesi, around 2400–2380 BC.. It seems that the mastaba E 17 owner was the grandson of Louvre mastaba owner, as each other’s location of the tombs and their names Akhethetep, prove it. Today we know that the Louvre mastaba is part of a large Old Kingdom complex with numerous parallel streets running North/South, along which stone or mud-brick mastabas have been built. In the eastern area, many small intact shafts have been dug into the gebel. Apart the mastaba E 17, which must have been spared because of this smallness, these mastabas have been reused during the first millennium BC. The mastaba of Akhethotep was discovered during excavations conducted by the Louvre. It was located in the Saqqara necropolis, between the funerary complex of King Djoser (3rd Dynasty) and that of King Wenas (5th Dynasty).This excavation campaign, which began in 1991, unearthed a massive, solid building, preserved to a height of almost 6 meters and covered with a facing of fine limestone; it was 32 meters long from north to south, and 16 from east to west. This building was in the center of a funerary complex which also contained a chapel, a courtyard, and a small mastaba in the name of another Akhethotep (doubtless a member of the same family). The chapel in the Louvre occupied only a small section to the south of the huge building, the only decorated parts of which were this room and a tall false door in the east side of the building. The funerary shaft led to an underground vault, about 20 meters deep in the rock, which was pillaged in antiquity. It still contained the sarcophagus and a few items of funerary furniture. Three painted limestone statues – one standing, one seated, and one in the cross-legged position of the scribe – were also discovered; two of these are inscribed with the name of Akhethotep. Unfortunately, their heads are missing.
Posted on: Thu, 11 Sep 2014 10:24:15 +0000
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