Report for the Supreme Council of Antiquities of the Expedition of the Australian Centre for Egyptology (Macquarie University)

Report for the Supreme Council of Antiquities of the

Expedition of the Australian Centre for Egyptology (Macquarie University)
at the Early Old Kingdom Cemetery at Tehna in Middle Egypt

(Inspectorate of Minya):

November-December 2007 Season

Director: Elizabeth Thompson

Left: the rock-cut mastabas can be seen in the centre of the picture. Right: detail from the relief carving of the north wall at Tehna. Click on the pictures for a better copy…

Following the first season in January-February, a second season in November-December 2007 continued the recording of tombs in the Old Kingdom cemetery at Tehna near El-Minya in Middle Egypt.

The cemetery is referred to as the ‘Fraser tombs’ after the original excavator George W. Fraser who spent four months in 1893 restoring and cleaning the tombs, making a survey of the site and hand copies of the inscriptions and scenes. Fraser published a brief description of all the then-known tombs (14) in the Annales du Service des Antiquités de l’Égypte in 1902 with plans of two of them and a hand copy of the decoration on the east and west walls of the tomb of Nika-ankh to which he gave the number, 13.[1]

Work in the November-December season concentrated on completing the recording of this tomb and the neighbouring one, the tomb of another Nika-ankh, which was not mentioned in Fraser’s report but which was described in an article by Lefebre and Moret in Revue Égyptologique in 1919. [2]

The tombs in the cemetery are among the earliest burials of provincial officials in the Old Kingdom being dated to the end of Dynasty 4 and the beginning of Dynasty 5. Inscriptions in the chapel of Nika-ankh 1 (Fraser’s tomb 13) state that he was appointed by Userkaf to administer this province - the 16^th Upper Egyptian province called the Oryx nome - in both a civil and priestly capacity. His position as ‘Overseer of the new towns’ is the senior administrative post held by provincial nomarchs in the Fifth Dynasty. Nika-ankh’s religious duties were specifically tied to the local cult temple of Hathor who is consistently given the epithet in these tombs of nbt RA-jnt usually translated as ‘Lady of the mouth of the valley’. The site of this temple is not known.

A remarkable text on the east wall of Nika-ankh’s tomb is a legal document organising the income from the temple of Hathor and dividing it among the members of his family who were responsible for periodic service in the temple after Nika-ankh’s death. At the south end of this east wall Nika-ankh and his wife Hedjet-hekenu sit together facing registers of figures – Hedjet-hekenu herself and 8 males, most probably sons, and 3 ka-priests. A calendar below these figures lists the months of the year, beneath which are the 3 seasons and then the allotment of fields for each person. The text concludes with the information that a certain area of land had been earlier endowed by Menkaure in the 4^th Dynasty to an official named Henuka for the maintenance of the temple of Hathor.

This text is an important document for the understanding of the administration of the economy in the religious institutions of the period and is one of the few legal documents of the Old Kingdom.

The architecture and the tomb decoration

The architectural form of most of the tombs in this cemetery is remarkable being an attempt by the ancient architects to reproduce the stone and brick mastabas of the cemeteries of the capital at Giza and Saqqara. This is clearly seen in the tomb of Nika-ankh 1 and the neighbouring one of Nika-ankh 2. Both are made by cutting passages around a mass of rock at the base of the cliff face and shaping this rock into a mastaba form. At Tehna the passage behind the tombs next to the cliff face is incompletely cut but as the tombs are approached from the cultivation fields the appearance is of free-standing mastabas. This type of tomb is extremely rare in the provinces and similar architecture, for example in the 5^th Dynasty tombs of the two Kai-khents (A2) and (A3) at El-Hammamiya and Min-ankh (G84) at El-Hawawish [3] support a similar date for the Tehna tombs. Within the rock-cut mastabas are narrow chapels oriented north-south.

Engaged statues are a dominating feature of the Tehna tombs with the greatest number,16, being found in the chapel of Nika-ankh 1. Among provincial tombs of the Old Kingdom this number of statues is second only to an early 5^th Dynasty tomb at El-Hawawish which contains 24[4]. The statues in the tomb of Nika-ankh 1 are cut in niches in every wall and depict the tomb owner with his wife and young children in both standing and seated positions. On the north wall the statues of 2 adult children, a daughter and a son, stand with the tomb owner, with the accompanying text stating that they/or, the son, had made the statue group for him.

Fine, low relief covers the west wall and part of the east wall (the northern section is lost).

Two false doors, an offering table scene with an extensive offering list and a palace façade panel are carved on the west wall while the legal document and figures of the seated tomb owner and his wife are carved on the east wall.

The tomb of Nika-ankh 2 consists of a narrow corridor leading to a small almost-square chapel. The long corridor contains two false doors, the southern one carved with name, titles and figure of the tomb owner and his attendants, and a northern undecorated one. The offering chapel, like that of Nika-ankh 1, contains an extensive offering list on the south wall and standing and seated statues on the east and west walls. Two engaged statues on the east wall standing with clasped hands are particularly interesting: accompanying texts state that they are the father, Heti, and the mother, Debet, of the tomb owner. The woman’s name is known from the earlier tomb of Henuka. A damaged area next to this couple originally held the figure of her eldest son identified by texts but neither his name nor his figure remain.

A panel with columns of inscriptions next to the standing statue of the tomb owner on the west wall is also a will addressed to the owner’s eldest son, Meref-ankh, giving him authority over Hm-kA priests in their duties regarding the mortuary cult of his father, Nika-ankh 2.

Work on site during November-December saw the completion of the recording of the wall scenes and inscriptions in the two tombs of Nika-ankh 1 and Nika-ankh 2, especially of the legal wills in both tombs. The measurements of the architectural plans and sections were checked and corrections noted. Every engaged statue was measured for height, length and width of face, width at shoulder and waist, length of arms and feet and a description written of the colour and its application remaining on each of the statues. Notes were made on the type of wigs and kilts worn. The unusual and varied appearance of the kilts was noted, particularly the manner in which Nika-ankh 1 holds the tail of his leopard skin robe (west wall, north end), a detail rarely seen in sculpture.

Further investigation needs to be done on the relationship of the family members in both tombs and it is hoped with the continuation of the recording of other tombs within the cemetery in the coming year this will be clarified.

I would like to offer my thanks and appreciation to the Supreme Council of Antiquities and to the Antiquities Inspectorate at El-Minya for granting me the privilege of working at Tehna and for their generous assistance in every way during my season of work, especially to my accompanying inspector, Mr. Gamal Ahmed Mohammed.

Elizabeth Thompson, Director of the Tehna Expedition