Ancient Egyptian Mayor's House Discovered at
Abydos, Egypt
Abydos,
in southern Egypt, served as the religious center of ancient Egypt's principal
funerary god, Osiris. Osiris was venerated as a deceased king and ruler
of the netherworld, and during the Middle Kingdom period many people--from
kings to commoners--dedicated monuments to the god in an attempt to associate
themselves with him in the next life.
The pharoah Senwosret
III (ca. 1878-1841 B.C.), who reigned during the 12th Dynasty of Egypt's
Middle Kingdom (ca. 2050-1750 B.C.), built a large burial complex of his
own at South Abydos. The complex stretches over a distance of one kilometer
between the edge of the Nile floodplain and the foot of the high desert
cliffs that form the western boundary of the Nile valley. It includes
a massive underground tomb--the largest in Egypt--which appears to have
been intended to be the burial place of the king: a tomb where his eternal
association with Osiris could become a reality. Associated with the tomb
is a funerary temple at the edge of the cultivated fields of the Nile
valley. To the south are the remains of a large planned town. In 1997,
archaeologists
discovered that the ancient name for Senwosret III's funerary complex
was Enduring-are-the-Places-of-Khakaure-justified-in-Abydos.
The
Temple
Statue of king, Temple of Senwosret
III
Nearly a kilometer east of the tomb, the temple was built for the
cult of the deceased Senwosret III. Recent excavations revealed this
temple to be one of the best preserved temples from Egypt's Middle
Kingdom, a period for which very few well-preserved sites exist. Although
it was destroyed in antiquity, the ongoing work permits detailed
reconstruction
of the building and the way it functioned. The temple consisted
of a limestone cult building situated at the center of a larger rectangular
mudbrick building. The walls of the stone building were decorated
with painted relief scenes depicting Senwosret III showing his eternal
association with Osiris. Numerous statues in alabaster and red quartzite
decorated the temple. Within the temple building were houses for priests
who maintained a cult of Senwosret III and storage magazines where
the wealth of the temple (cloth, wood, precious oils, ritual objects)
were stored. |
The
Town
Excavations in the Senwosret III
Temple
The excavations
at South Abydos revealed parts of a large planned town located 250
meters to the south of the Senwosret III mortuary temple. This town
was built contemporary to the tomb and temple in order to support
the vast array of officials, priests, and workers and their families
who were responsible for running the cult of Senwosret III. Covering
a length of some 300 meters from north to south on the edge of the
desert, the town appears to have extended this same distance down
into the Nile floodplain (an area now covered by modern houses and
fields). The population of a town of this size can be estimated
at perhaps 1000 or more. The town was planned and constructed in
one phase employing a rigid street plan with houses arranged in
blocks and rows and separated into different areas depending on
house size and social status of their occupants. To date, the excavations
have examined parts of 6 different buildings. By far the largest
of these structures is an immense residence that belonged to the
town's h3ty-' (meaning "foremost one" in Egyptian)
or mayor.
|
| In
order to maintain Senwosret III's temple in perpetuity, a foundation
consisting of extensive land holdings and other sources of income
would have been given to the temple and town. The livelihood of Senwosret
III's temple and town depended on the proper handling of the economic
wealth of the foundation. The official at the head of administration
of town and temple was the mayor. Excavations exposed significant
parts of a building that clearly belonged to a very important official;
in 1999, archaeologists
confirmed evidence suggesting the building was in fact the residence
of the h3ty-' or mayor himself. |
Discovery
of the Mayor's Mansion
The mayor's residence is an exciting discovery because it is the first
positively identified mayor's mansion in ancient Egypt. The building,
which covers an area of 52 x 80 meters, is suprisingly well preserved
considering its age: nearly 4000 years. The mansion's large size makes
it the biggest non-royal residence ever discovered from ancient Egypt.
Remains of a columned court at the
Mayor's house
|
Like
other buildings in the town of Enduring-are-the-Places-of-Khakaure-justified-in-Abydos,
the mayor's mansion was built of mudbrick, originally beautifully
plastered in white, black, and other colors. The walls are extremely
thick and parts of the building may have had a second story as well.
The building had stone thresholds, doors fitted with wooden frames,
and door leaves made of costly cedar wood (a precious commodity that
was imported to southern Egypt from coastal Syria, a thousand miles
away). The mayor's mansion included a wide range of rooms extending
from the private apartments of the mayor and his family to wide, spacious
columned walls and courts in which much of the daily business of the
mayor's residence occurred. |
The ongoing excavations
are providing detailed information on the myriad activities that went
on in the building on a daily basis. During previous seasons, a central
group of nine rooms was excavated. This area was used as the actual residence
of the mayor and his immediate family. Other parts of the building were
used for food storage and preparation, administration (indicated by the
thousands of administrative seal impressions discarded in the vicinity),
granaries, and other functions. The mayoral residence appears to have
been a beehive of activity and the central place where both town and temple
of Senwosret III were administered. It worked not only as the personal
residence of the mayor but as a place where he conducted his day-to-day
business. During a normal day, the mayoral residence must've been filled
with the sounds of scribes, officials, and priests coming and going. In
and around the building men responsible for administering the grain resources
would be at work counting and distributing the town's main agricultural
product: wheat used in production of bread and beer. Amongst all this
activity were the children and family and servants of the mayor. While
the number of permanent occupants of the building may have been relatively
small (perhaps two dozen or so), the number of people present during the
day was probably much greater as people came and went on business.
The Mayor's house, Summer
1999
Clay stamp-seal impression bearing
the name of the town's third mayor, Nefer-her
|
Many small objects
indicate a household of considerable wealth. Jewelry of carnelian
and amethyst, cosmetic vessels of alabaster, pieces of inlaid boxes
and mirror handles of ebony and ivory, fragments of stone statuettes,
and a host of other objects occur in the ruins of the building.
The most important information for us in reconstructing the community
of people in the town are clay seal impressions. Many were impressed
by seals that bore the name and titles in hieroglyphs of the officials
at the top of town administration. From these, the evidence permits
identification of a sequence of four main mayors: Nakht son of Khentikhety;
Amenysoneb; Nefer-her; and Sehetepib. These mayors probably inherited
the office of mayor from father to son after the initial appointment
of the first mayor at the time the town and temple were established.
Evidence found
to date also suggests the mayors of Enduring-are-the-Places-of-Khakaure-justified-in-Abydos
were in close contact with their contemporary kings. Many seal impressions
from sealed papyrus documents have the royal seal indicating correspondence
between the royal court and the mayor's house. And from a discovery
in Summer 1999, archaeologists
think that one of the mayors may have even been married to a princess.
Many seal impressions belonging to a "king's daughter Renyseneb"
were found, suggesting that one of the mayors may have even been
married to a lady of royal blood.
|
For the future, the
archaeologists
plan to complete excavation of the mayor's mansion as well as continuing
research on the town of Enduring-are-the-Places-of-Khakaure-justified-in-Abydos
as a whole.
|
