3/16/2023 0 Comments Kingdom of the dead tombs17), 5 and wall decorations, all features demonstrating that the accessible part of the tomb has gained importance. 3 The tomb of Hesi-re (Saqqara 2405), from the later part of the Third Dynasty, 4 shows a substructure that retains a complex of rooms (even disposed on a number of different floor levels) as well as a superstructure that has become more complicated, with corridors, an offering chamber, a serdab, or statue chamber, delicately carved wood panels set into the false doors (cat. 2 The superstructure, built of mud bricks and adorned with elaborate Palace Facade paneling since the First Dynasty, gradually became simplified in this period, until the paneling was relegated to a single side. A number of mastabas of the period surmount complex substructures comprising a multiplicity of chambers, some of which duplicated installations the deceased would have used in earthly life. It was in the Second and Third Dynasties that the idea of the dead living in their tombs was most evidently manifested in funerary architecture. The parts form a unit but developed separately and in different ways in the course of history. In general, Old Kingdom tombs, regardless of their size and the status of the owner, consist of two parts: a substructure situated below ground level containing the interment, and a superstructure, the mastaba, 1 erected above the burial place, which is the monument of the deceased. A survey of the development of funerary architecture during the Pyramid Age does not contradict this idea yet it also demonstrates that this concept represents an oversimplification that leaves unexplored a number of crucial features or phenomena that are vital to the understanding of Egyptian concerns about the afterlife. Inscriptional as well as archaeological evidence seems to support the idea that the Egyptians regarded their tombs as houses or dwelling places for eternity. This must be stressed to make clear that in studying Egyptian tombs and their extraordinary reliefs, statues, and burial equipment, we are concerned with the art, architecture, and funerary practices and beliefs of only a small portion of the society, the upper class. The tombs and burial customs of ordinary men and women for the most part remain unknown, for throughout pharaonic history the majority of Egyptians were interred simply, in shallow pits with a few necessary items. Only the elite of Egyptian society had enough means to create and support an eternal abode. Certainly, preparing for life after death involved one of the largest investments Egyptians had to make. Providing for the afterlife meant not only building a tomb and equipping it with the necessities but also establishing a mortuary cult maintained by individuals who would provide for the requisite offerings and perform the essential rituals after the tomb owner was buried. While our attitude toward the transitoriness of life often is primarily negative and tends to avoid contemplating death, ancient Egyptians regarded the preparation for their welfare after death as a major task to be undertaken during life. Make good your dwelling in the graveyard,įrom the "Instruction of Prince Har-djedef" Scores were killed last year during clashes between security forces and Baganda people.Detail, Slab Stela of Prince Wep-em-nefret Peter Mayiga, a spokesman for the Buganda Kingdom, claimed the fire was “an attack on Buganda”. “Faced with this hostility and in an effort to stop the fire from destroying the tombs, the officer fired some shots in the air to disperse the crowd but no one was hurt,” he said. “When the fire broke out, police were called in and got there in time but the fire brigade was obstructed by a hostile crowd, three trucks were damaged and a fireman injured,” Uganda’s police chief Major General Kale Kayihura told French news agency AFP. The army confirmed that at least two people were shot as protestors tried to prevent President Yoweri Museveni from visiting the site. The Unesco-listed, straw-thatched tombs were built 128 years ago as a burial site for kings of the Buganda kingdom. Authorities said it was not yet clear what started the blaze, which destroyed much of the Kasubi graves south of Kampala.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |