User:ThomasWayne33/Umm El Qa'ab

Umm El Qa'ab Article Draft

Umm El Qaʻāb (sometimes romanised as Umm El Gaʻab, Arabic: أم القعاب) is an archaeological site located at Abydos, Egypt. Its modern name, meaning "Mother of Pots", is a description of the potshard littered landscape. Umm el Qa'ab contains evidence which supports the site having been the cemetery for Egypt's predynastic proto-kings along with rulers of the 1st and 2nd dynasties. In addition to early royal tombs, evidence also suggests a link between the site and the cult of Osiris.

By analyzing the pottery excavated from the site, it can be determined that its use as a cemetery began sometime during the Naqada I period (4,000 BCE), continued through to the First Dynasty (2,950-2,775 BCE), and ended with the burial of the last two kings of the Second Dynasty (2,650 BCE) (Kemp, 21).

The area was a site of veneration and worship in ancient Egypt, and by the time of the Middle Kingdom, at least one of the royal tombs was excavated and rebuilt for the priests of Osiris.

The tombs of this area were first excavated by Émile Amélineau in the 1890s and more systematically by Flinders Petrie between 1899 and 1901. Since then the area has been excavated repeatedly by the German Archaeological Institute since the 1970s, which has allowed for a thorough reconstruction of the original layout and appearance of these tombs.

***perhaps include O'Connor's maps of site***

Pre-dynastic tombs

Cemetery U

The earliest cemetery developments found at Umm el-Qa'ab are located in the northern edge of the site. It is in this location that Gunter Dreyer suggest the proto-kings of predynastic Egypt were buried during Naqada III (O'Connor, 141). Containing the most evidence to support the royal nature of the site is Tomb U-j.

• Tomb U-j: ***O'Connor, 143. image of excavated tomb. sketch of tomb layout and location of artifacts. see if possible to include***

Dated to Naqada IIIA2, tomb U-j is the largest of the multichambered tombs found at Cemetery U. In addition to the 12 chambers of the tomb, there is also evidence supporting that it was outlined by a mud-brick wall and contained a roof with beams made of wood (Stevenson, 445). Although the tomb had been subject to plundering, about 2000 clay vessels were recovered. Within these clay vessels, traces of tree-resin-infused wine were found. The analysis of this pottery has produced the "earliest confirmation of wine in Egypt." (Stevenson, 446).

Additionally, other funerary objects were recovered from tomb U-j. Objects like an "expertly carved obsidian bowl and wooden chests made of cedar" were found in the tomb revealing the presence of "substantial quantities of imported material." (Stevenson, 446). Small ivory tags were also recovered from the tomb which provide the "first known examples of hieroglyphic writing" (Stevenson, 446).

Evidence Suggesting Unification

Analysis of Tomb U-j has led some scholars to believe that the origins of Egyptian unification can be found in the artifacts recovered from the site and the associated burial practices. The ivory tags inscribed with hieroglyphic writing excavated from the tomb have led to the interpretation that there existed "elaborate administrative structures and bureaucratic control" (Stevenson, 446). In addition to the evidence of writing found at Tomb U-j, the burials themselves have been interpreted as evidence of there being a centralized form of government during this time. Outside the cemeteries of Abydos, the contemporary tombs found in Egypt at this time were becoming less complex. This has been interpreted as evidence of there being an "active restriction in materials, craft expertise, and possibly ritual specialist." isolated to the burials at Umm el-Qa'ab (Stevenson, 446).

Both the evidence of writing along with the possible isolated instances of more complex burial practices at Tomb U-j suggest that governmental control, or at least the tombs of those controlling a unified Egypt, could have its origins preserved at Umm el-Qa'ab. However, this interpretation is not universally accepted.

First Dynasty tombs

Known as Cemetery B, this area contains the Early Dynastic tombs of the pharaohs of the First Dynasty of Egypt and the last two kings of the Second Dynasty.

• B17/B18: Narmer
• B10/B15/B19: Aha
• O: Djer
• Z: Djet
• Y: Merneith
• T: Den
• X: Anedjib
• U: Semerkhet
• Q: Qa'a

• 
  Tombs of the Egyptian 1st dynasty
• 
  Pottery sherd, from stump base of a jug. 1st Dynasty. From the Royal Tomb of Semerkhet at Umm el-Qa'ab, Abydos, Egypt. Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, London

Second Dynasty tombs

The site of Khasekhemwy's tomb, filled with sand

The last two kings of the Second Dynasty returned to be buried near to their ancestors—they also revived the practice of building mud-brick funerary enclosures nearby.

• P: Peribsen. A seal found in this tomb contains the first full sentence written in hieroglyphs.
• V: Khasekhemwy. This tomb was on a massive scale, with several interconnecting mud-brick chambers, and the actual burial chamber being constructed of dressed limestone blocks. When excavated by Petrie in 1901 it contained a scepter made from sard and banded with gold, limestone vases with golden covers, and a ewer and basin of bronze.

Cult Practices

Middle Kingdom

Beginning in the Middle Kingdom, "Umm el-Qa'ab was identified with Poker, the mythical region in which Osiris' tomb lay" (O'Connor, 91). This belief most likely resulted in the excavation and refurbishing of the early tombs found at the site. One tomb in particular, that of King Djer, "was reroofed and provided with an access stairway, being evidently regarded as Osiris' own 'tomb'." (O'Conoor, 89). The connection between king Djer's tomb and the cult practices surrounding Osiris were made evident by the recovery of a 13th Dynasty statue of Osiris in the tomb itself. (O'Connor, 90).

***Include primary source evidence from Naville Part I, 36. Figures of Osiris lining the road between Umm el-Qa'ab and temple.*** (Look for photographic evidence).

Human sacrifice and 1st Dynasty tombs

Human sacrifice was practiced as part of the funerary rituals associated with the First Dynasty. The tomb of Djer is associated with the burials of 338 individuals thought to have been sacrificed. The people and animals sacrificed, such as asses, were expected to assist the pharaoh in the afterlife. It appears that Djer's courtiers were strangled and their tombs all closed at the same time. For unknown reasons, this practice ended with the conclusion of the dynasty, with shabtis taking the place of actual people to aid the pharaohs with the work expected of them in the afterlife.