The Sarcophagus of Hunefer and other New Kingdom Private Sarcophagi

By Wolfram Grajetzki and Christiane Müller-Hazenbos

This is the publication of the sarcophagus of the mayor of Thebes, Hunefer, in office under Ramses II. To date, the granite sarcophagus in the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge has received little research attention despite being a large scale monument. The book provides a presentation of the sarcophagus and its place in space and time.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Nicanor Books
• Release date: Nov 30, 2021
• ISBN: 9781838118051

Book preview

Kitab - Egyptology in Focus

Umbrella series

Material Culture of ancient Egypt and Nubia

Editor-in-chief

Gianluca Miniaci

Scientific committee

Miroslav Bárta, Manfred Bietak,

Julia Budka, Simon Connor,

Kenneth Griffin, Ahmed Mekawy,

Antonio Morales, Claudia Näser,

Rune Nyord, Campbell Price,

Yasmine El-Shazly, Angela Tooley,

Yann Tristant

This title is published by

Nicanor Books

© Wolfram Grajetzki (if not otherwise stated)

All rights reserved

Cover image: face of the sarcophagus of Hunefer, photo: author.

Cover design: Gianluca Miniaci

No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, digital, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the author.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

London 2021

by

Print2Demand Limited

1 Newlands Road

Westoning

Bedfordshire

MK45 5LD

London 2021

ISBN 978-1-8381180-4-4

ISBN 978-1-8381180-5-1 (ebook)

ISSN 2752-6259 (Kitab print)

ISSN 2752-6267 (Kitab online)

Kitab - Egyptology in Focus

Material Culture of ancient Egypt and Nubia

3

The Sarcophagus of Hunefer and other New Kingdom Private Sarcophagi

Wolfram Grajetzki, with the assistance of Christiane Müller-Hazenbos

Nicanor Books

For the workers in the quarries who cut the stones for the sarcophagi

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements and Introduction

List of figures

I. Sarcophagus of Hunefer

II. New Kingdom Sarcophagi

II.1 Chronological Overview

II.2 The Decoration

II.2.1 Wig

II.2.2 Beard

II.2.3 Shoulders

II.2.4 Chest

II.2.5 Arms

II.2.6 Vulture and Nut figure

II.2.7 Vignettes

II.2.8 Sons of Horus

II.2.9 Spell 161

II.2.10 Additional decoration

II.2.11 Short ends

II.3. Owners of the sarcophagi

II.4 Provenance

II.5 Material

II.6 List of datable New Kingdom private sarcophagi

III. Corpus of New Kingdom non-royal sarcophagi

IV. Abbreviations

V. Bibliography

Acknowledgements and Introduction

A very special thanks goes to Christiane Müller-Hazenbos who, in winter/spring 1994, spent three weeks with me copying all of the inscriptions on New Kingdom private sarcophagi that were on display in the Egyptian Museum at Cairo at that time. She has also been closely involved in the last stages of editing this book.

I am especially grateful to Paul Whelan and Stephen Quirke for reading my English. Any remaining mistakes are evidently my own. Many thanks also go to Sally-Ann Ashton, Helen Strudwick and Julie Dawson from the Fitzwilliam Museum, for providing me free access to the sarcophagus of Hunefer and supplying me with pictures. Special thanks goes to the peer reviewer who discovered some mistakes and inconsistencies in an earlier version of this text. Furthermore, many thanks to Lutz Franke, Gianluca Miniaci, Christian Langer, Georg Meurer, Gabriele Pieke, Andrea Fullér, Zsuzsanna Végh, Johannes Auenmüller and again to Paul Whelan for providing me with bibliographical references, especially in the times of lockdown due to Covid-19. Thanks also to Claudia Näser for discussions on various aspects and for pointing me to one sarcophagus I had overlooked. Gianluca Miniaci also provided me with some images and gave the permission to publish this work in his Kitab series. Finally I like to pay hommage tothe late Eberhard Holzhäuer. Working for eight years on his coffin project (DASS) gave me a deep insight into the world of Egyptian coffins and sarcophagi.

The main aim of this booklet is the publication of the sarcophagus of Hunefer, now in the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge. However, since about 1994 I was preparing a corpus of New Kingdom private sarcophagi. Publishing Hunefer’s sarcophagus now gave me the opportunity to combine both tasks. The present corpus of sarcophagi functions as reference catalogue for comparison. An in-depth study of New Kingdom sarcophagi is in preparation by Isa Böhme. My own study does not aim to investigate the religious world of the inscriptions and depictions on the coffins. Such broader analysis would need to take into account the wooden coffins of the New Kingdom as well.

The final research was carried out under the project PRIN 2017, PROCESS – Pharaonic Rescission: Objects as Crucibles of ancient Egyptian Societies, University of Pisa (PI: Prof. Dr. Gianluca Miniaci).

List of Figures

Fig. 1: Layout of decoration and inscription on the sarcophagus

Fig. 2: The sarcophagus of Hunefer, left side (photo: Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge)

Fig. 3: The sarcophagus of Hunefer, right side (photo: Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge)

Fig. 4: The sarcophagus of Hunefer, hair band (photo: author)

Fig. 5: The face (photo: author)

Fig. 6: Right ear (photo: author)

Fig. 7: Left ear (photo: author)

Fig. 8: Back of head (photo: author)

Fig. 9: Anubis, right side near head, lid (photo: author)

Fig. 10: Anubis, left side near head, lid (photo: author)

Fig. 11: Standing figure, right side, lid (photo: author)

Fig. 12: Hapy, left side, lid (photo: author)

Fig. 13: Qebehsenuef, left side, lid (photo: author)

Fig. 14: Anubis, left side, lid (photo: author)

Fig. 15: Duamutef, right side, lid (photo: author)

Fig. 16: Anubis, right side, lid (photo: author)

Fig. 17: Isis on foot end, lid (photo: author)

Fig. 18: Nephthys on head end, box (photo: author)

Fig. 19: Foot end, box (photo: author)

Fig. 20: Thot, right side on box, head end (photo: author)

Fig. 21: Hapy right side on box (photo: author)

Fig. 22: Qebehsenuef, left side, lid (photo: author)

Fig. 23: Writing of Hapy on lid (photo: author)

Fig. 24: Duamutef on Box, right side (photo: author)

Fig. 25-28: Examples of hieroglyphs, from left to right: text 22, text 13, text 34, text 11 (photos: author)

Fig. 29: Writing of Ra on box, left side (text 21), (photo: author)

Fig. 30: Dunanuy (text 17), (photo: author)

Fig. 31: Sarcophagus of Nehy (I.2), Berlin Egyptian Museum (Wikimedia, photo: ArchaiOptix)

Fig. 32: Sarcophagus of woman, British Museum EA39 (X.1); image: Sharpe, Egyptian antiquities in the British Museum, 100.

Fig. 33: Sarcophagus of Iniuia (II.1), sketch of lid

Fig. 34: Sarophagus of high priest of Ptah, Hori (VI.9) Berlin, Ägyptisches Museum 57, lid with side lock (photo: author)

Figs 35-38: Top: the wig of Takhat (IV.9), below: sarcophagus head of Hat (IV.6) and Pahemnetjer (IV.6), (photos: top: Miniaci, below: author).

Fig. 39: The head and beard on Suty’s sarcophagus (V.6), (photo: author)

Fig. 40: The head and beard on Paramessu’s sarcophagus (II.5), (photo: Miniaci)

Fig. 41: Isis on the foot end of Takhat’s (IV.9) sarcophagus (photo: author)

Fig. 42: Isis and Neith on the foot end on Suty’s inner sarcophagus (V.6), (photo: author)

Fig. 43: Sarcophagus of Nehy (photo: author)

Fig. 44: Sarcophagus of Amenhotep (I.7) (Wikimedia, photo: Daniel Mayer)

Fig. 45: Sarcophagus of Iniuia (Wikimedia, photo: Kurohito)

Fig. 46: Sarcophagus of Khay (photo: author)

Figs 47-48: Two views of the sarcophagus of Senqed (photo: Miniaci)

Fig. 49: The inner sarcophagus of Paramessu (II.5), (photos: Miniaci)

Fig. 50: Sarcophagus of Djehutyhotep (II.6), (Wikimedia, photo: Vania Teofilo)

Fig. 51: Cairo, Egyptian Museum JdE 36433 (III.3), (photo: Miniaci)

Fig. 52: Cairo, Egyptian Museum JdE 36433, (III.3), detail (photo: author)

Fig. 53: The inner sarcophagus of Merymes (IV.4), (Wikimedia, photo: Captmondo)

Figs 54-55: Inner sarcophagus of Merymes (IV.4), details: head, Nephthys on back of head, foot on the left side (photos: author)

Figs 56-57: Sarcophagus of Hat, details (photo: author)

Fig. 58: Sarcophagus of Takhat (IV.9), (photo: Miniaci)

Fig. 59: Sarcophagus of Takhat, head (IV.9), (photo: author)

Fig. 60: Sarcophagus of Nakhy (Wikimedia, photo: Netelo)

Fig. 61: Sarcophagus of Khnumis (V.5), (photo: Miniaci)

Fig. 62: Sarcophagus of Khnumis (V.5), (photo: Miniaci)

Figs 63-64: Sarcophagus of Suty (V.6), Sons of Horus on lid (photo: author)

Figs 65-66: Sarcophagus of Suty (V.6), deities on lid, foot end (photo: author)

Fig. 67: Sarcophagus of Suty (V.6), details on lid (photo: author)

Figs 68-69: Sarcophagus of Setau (V.8), details, head and vignette on lid (photo: author)

Fig. 70: Sarcophagus of Aset (VI.1), (Wikimedia, photo: Gianni Careddu)

Fig. 71: Sarcophagus of Amenhotep (VI.2), (Wikimedia, photo: Einsamer Schütze)

Fig. 72: Sarcophagus of Amenhotep (VI.3), mayor of Memphis (photo: Miniaci)

Fig. 73: Sarcophagus of Benetanet (VI.6), (photo: Miniaci)

Fig. 74: Sarcophagus of Benetanet, shoulder region (VI.6), (photo: Miniaci)

Fig. 75-76: Sarcophagus of Benetanet, details (VI.6), (photo: author)

Fig. 77: Sarcophagus of Djehutymes (VI.10) , (Wikimedia, photo: Gianni Careddu)

Fig. 78: Sarcophagus of Merytre, lid (VIII.3), (photo: author)

Figs 79-81: Sarcophagus of Merytre, right side (VIII.3), (photos: author)

Fig. 82: Sarcophagus of Merytre, left side (VIII.3), (photo: author)

Fig. 83: Sarcophagus of Djehutymes (VIII.4), head end (photo: author)

Figs 84-85: Sarcophagus of Djehutymes (VIII.4), vignettes on lid (photo: author)

Fig. 86: Sarcophagus of Djehutymes (VIII.4), foot end (photo: author)

Fig. 87: Sarcophagus of Usermonth (IX.2), (photo: Metropolitan Museum of Art)

Figs 88-89: Sarcophagus of Huy (XI.13), (photos: author)

Fig. 90: Sarcophagus of Djehutymes (XI.18), fragments (Spiegelberg, Ausgewählte Kunst-Denkmäler, pl. VIII)

I. Sarcophagus of Hunefer

To date, the granite sarcophagus of the mayor of Thebes, Hunefer in the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge has received little research attention despite being a large scale monument. Anthropoid sarcophagi are common in the Ramesside Period for members of the ruling class and the textual and pictorial programme on them is very restricted and standardized.

Due to the heavy weight of these monuments, their publication presents logistical challenges. This is especially true for the inside, which is only accessible by lifting the lid, an operation that requires special equipment. It seems that most sarcophagi are not decorated on the inside, but there are exceptions. Since it was not possible to lift the lid of Hunefer’s sarcophagus, in the following publication of his monument this aspect of it remains unresolved.

Museum inv. no. E.1.1835

Date: Ramses II after year 543

Provenance: most likely from the tomb of Hunefer at Thebes (TT 385)4

Material: red granite

Dimensions: 223.5 cm x 122 cm x 78.75 cm

Bibliography:

B

UDGE

, Catalogue of the Egyptian Collection in the Fitzwilliam Museum, 4-7 (2)

K

ITCHEN

, Ramesside Inscriptions, III, 164 (2)

A virtual 3D model is available online: https://sketchfab.com/fitzwilliammuseum/collections/virtual-egypt (retrieved 21/10/2020)

Given to the museum by Barnard Hanbury (1793–1833) and George Waddington (1793–1869).5 They accompanied the army of Muhammad Ali in its conquest of the Sudan in 1820 and brought back several objects from Egypt.6

II.1 Description

The sarcophagus is well preserved, apart from some surface damage to the chest area. The lid at the head and foot end is heavily worn, as are the inscriptions in the lower parts on all sides of the box. The inscriptions and representations are carved in sunk relief. Both were originally painted red and much of the colour is still preserved. It is not fully certain whether the colour is ancient.

In its overall shape, the lid is rather rectangular than mummy shaped, albeit showing a mummy. Nevertheless, the foot end is slightly smaller, the sarcophagus box is widest at the shoulder and becomes smaller again around the head. The head