BALTICA10

More documents

Recommendations

Info

From Umm Al Qab to Biban Al Muluk: the Orientation of Royal Tombs in Ancient Egypt Juan Antonio Belmonte, Antonio César González García, Mosalam Shaltout, Magdi Fekri, Noemi Miranda 232 tion. Yet we will demonstrate that we can find order in apparent chaos. Table 1 and Fig. 5(a) seem to indicate that in the first stages of the use of the Valley during the 18 th Dynasty, astronomical orientations were indeed intended. When construction began, the vast majority of the tombs were facing either sunrise or sunset, with three exceptions facing north that, surprisingly, correspond to the reigns of kings called Thutmosis. All these tombs followed a similar design that has been interpreted as an imitation of the journey of the sun through the underworld (Baqué and Costa 2007). This design was abruptly abandoned at the end of the dynasty by the “reformer” king Horemheb, who orientated his tomb with its extended axis almost S–N. This new longitudinal axis would be the norm for the remainder of the occupation of the Valley and most of the tombs, despite their real orientation, showed clear “cardinal” patterns in the design and decoration of their interiors (Wilkinson 1993). However, the tombs of the 19 th and 20 th Dynasties apparently lacked a commanding pattern and one would tend to suggest that the orientations were dictated by other practicalities (proximity, empty spaces) rather than by astronomical concerns. Nonetheless, there are a few examples that make us think that this was not always the case. First, there are a couple of tombs of the 19 th Dynasty, notably Merenptah’s and perhaps also Twosret’s, that were constructed in such a way that the light of the rising sun on a couple of particular days of the year could pass right through the burial chamber and strike the sarcophagus of the king. Whether or not this could be connected to any symbolic aspect of the burial ritual will be the subject of future studies. 3 Second, there are another two tombs, in this case of the 20 th Dynasty, Ramses IV´s and Ramses VI´s, whose orientation is so similar, despite the distance between them within the Valley, that it is difficult to attribute this to mere chance. When we first analyzed the data, using the information provided by the Theban Mapping Project (see Table 1), we were puzzled by the possibility that both tombs could have been orientated to Sirius (Sopdet), the brightest star of the sky and the leader of the decans. However, once more we were convinced of the necessity of performing actual fieldwork on site when detecting that this orientation was precluded by the presence of a nearby horizon, as demonstrated in Figure 6(a). Curiously, our corrected data (see Table 1) still showed that both tombs could have been oriented upon exactly the same celestial object: perhaps this was 3 A very prosaic interpretation is that this design would have permitted direct sunlight to enter the deep interior of the tomb to facilitate its decoration. the important constellation of Sah, often mentioned in Egyptian astronomical texts (Maravelia 2006; Lull and Belmonte 2006), and indeed featured in the astronomical ceilings of the tombs of both Ramses IV and Ramses VI (see for example Fig. 6(b)). Significantly, a majority of the royal tombs of the Valley of the Kings did show astronomical patterns of orientation as opposed to mere topographic dictates. Few royal burial monuments of the Late Period and none of the Ptolemaic Era have survived. Consequently, it is difficult to extend our analysis further in time. Perhaps we should just mention that, on the one hand, the tombs at the royal necropolis of Tanis apparently follow the general pattern of orientation of the city and likely follow similar rules (see Paper 3, Part II). On the other hand, in Fig. 7 we show the scant remains of the royal necropolis of the pharaohs of the 29 th Dynasty at Mendes, in the Delta. An astronomical intention could perhaps be inferred from our data, but at the present state of our knowledge, it would be unwise to carry our conclusions any further. Acknowledgements We wish to express our thanks to our colleague Dr Zahi Hawass for his support of the Archaeoastronomy Mission as Director of the Supreme Council of Antiquities. We also express our gratitude to the various inspectors, guides and escorts who joined us during the fieldwork; they were very kind and helpful. This work is partially financed under the framework of the projects P310793 “Arqueoastronomía” of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, and AYA2004-01010 “Orientatio ad Sidera” of the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science. References AUFRÈRE, S. and GOLVIN, J. CL., 1997. L’Égypte restituée, Tome 3, Sites, temples et pyramides de Moyenne et Basse Égypte. Paris: Errance. BAQUÉ MANZANO, L. and COSTA LLERDA, S., 2007. El sistema de orientación de las tumbas reales de la Dinastía XVIII en el Valle de los Reyes. In: J. CERVELLÓ AUTOURI, ed. Proc. II Congreso Ibérico de Egiptología. Barcelona, 33-40. BELMONTE, J. A., 2001. On the orientation of the Old Kingdom pyramids. Archaeoastronomy, 26, 1-20. BELMONTE, J. A., 2003. Some open questions on the Egyptian calendar: an astronomer´s view. TdE, 2, 7-56. BELMONTE, J. A., SHALTOUT, M. and FEKRI, M., 2005. Astronomy and landscape in ancient Egypt: challenging the enigma of the minor step pyramids. TdE (Papers on ancient Egypt), 4, 7-18. BELMONTE, J. A. and SHALTOUT, M., 2006. On the orientation of ancient Egyptian temples: (2) New experiments at the oases of the Western Desert. Journal for the History of Astronomy, 37, Part 2, No. 127, 173-192.
BELMONTE, J. A., SHALTOUT, M. and FEKRI, M., 2008. On the orientation of ancient Egyptian temples: (4) epilogue in Serabit el Khadim and overview, Journal for the History of Astronomy 39, Part. 2, No. 135, 181-211. FAULKNER, R. O., 1969. The Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts. Oxford University Press. HAACK, S. C., 1984. The Astronomical orientation of the Egyptian Pyramids. Archaeoastronomy 7, 119-122. HAWKINS, G. S., 1973. Beyond Stonehenge. New York: Harper & Row. ISLER, M., 1989. An ancient method of finding and extending direction. JARCE 26, 191-206. JEFFREYS, D., 1998. The topography of Heliopolis and Memphis: some cognitive aspects. In: Stationen Beitrage zur Kulturgeschichte Ägyptens, Rainer Stadelman gewidmet, Mainz, 63-71. KRAUSS, R., 1997. Astronomische konzepte und jenseitsvorstellungen in den pyramidentexten. Ägyptologische Abhandlung, Band 59, Wiesbaben. KRUPP, E. C., 1988. Light in the temples. In: C.L.N. RUG- GLES, ed. Records in Stone: Papers in memory of Alexander Thom, Cambridge, New York, New Rochelle, Melbourne, Sydney: Cambridge University Press, 473-99. LEHNER, M., 1997. The Complete Pyramids. London: Thames and Hudson. LOCKYER, J. N., 1993. The Dawn of Astronomy. New York: Kessinger Co. LULL, J., 2004. La astronomía en el antiguo Egipto. Valencia: Polytechnic University of Valencia. LULL, J. AND BELMONTE J. A., 2006. A firmament above Thebes: uncovering the constellations of ancient Egyptians. Journal for the History of Astronomy, 37, 373-392. MARAVELIA, A. A., 2006. Les Astres dans les Textes Religieux en Égypte Antique et dans les Hymnes Orphiques. BAR Interna tional Series, 1527, Oxford. MIRANDA, N., BELMONTE, J. A. and MOLINERO M. A., 2008. Uncovering Seshat: new insights into the stretching of the cord ceremony. This volume. SHALTOUT, M. and BELMONTE, J. A., 2005. On the orientation of ancient Egyptian temples: (1) Upper Egypt and Lower Nubia. Journal for the History of Astronomy, 36, Part 1, 273-298. SHALTOUT, M., BELMONTE, J. A. and FEKRI, M., 2007. On the orientation of ancient Egyptian temples: (3) key points in Lower Egypt and Siwa Oasis. (Part I). Journal for the History of Astronomy, 38, Part 2, No. 131, 141- 60; and On the orientation of ancient Egyptian temples: (3) key points in Lower Egypt and Siwa Oasis. (Part II). Journal for the History of Astronomy, 38, Part 4, No. 133, 413-442. SPENCE, K., 2000. Ancient Egyptian chronology and the astronomical orientation of pyramids. Nature, 408, 320-324. WEEKS, K. R., ed., 2003. Atlas of the Valley of the Kings. Cairo: The American University of Cairo Press. WILKINSON, R. H., 1993. The paths of Re, symbolism in the royal tombs of wadi Biban el Moluk, KMT, 4, 42-51. Received: 26 October 2007; Revised: 29 Jun 2008 NUO UMM AL QAB IKI BIBAN AL MULUK: SENOVĖS EGIPTO KARALIŠKŲJŲ KAPŲ ORIENTAVIMAS Juan Antonio Belmonte, Antonio César González García, Mosalam Shaltout, Magdi Fekri, Noemi Miranda Santrauka Nuo 2003 m. lapkričio mėn. vykdoma Egipto–Ispanijos archeoastronomijos misija Senovės Egipte, globojama Vyriausiosios senienų tarybos ir finansuojama Ispanijos švietimo ir mokslo ministerijos pagal Orientatio ad Sidera projektą. Iki šiol visoje šalyje įgyvendinamos keturios kampanijos, kurių metu buvo vykdomos sistemingos, statistiškai reikšmingos Egipto archeoastronomijos studijos. Tai pirmas tokio pobūdžio tyrimas Egipte. Vienas pagrindinių projekto tikslų – pateikti galutinį atsakymą į klausimą, ar Senovės Egipto kulto pastatai buvo astronomiškai orientuoti. Ši tema egiptologų ilgą laiką buvo traktuojama labai prieštaringai. Daugelis jų palaikė nuomonę, kad kulto pastatai, ypač šventyklos, buvo topografiškai orientuotos pagal Nilo tėkmę, tačiau tai nebuvo įrodyta. Mūsų preliminarūs šventyklų tyrimų rezultatai (Shaltout, Belmonte 2005, p. 273– 298; Belmonte, Shaltout 2006, p. 173–192) statistiškai tai įrodė. Taip pat tyrimas parodė, kad Senovės Egipto šventyklų statytojai kreipė dėmesį ir į tam tikrus astronominius reiškinius. Mes atskleidėme, kad kraštovaizdis plačiąja prasme, apimant žemės ir dangaus aspektus, vaidino ypač svarbų vaidmenį parenkant Senovės Egipto kulto pastatų vietą ir orientavimą. Viena įdomiausių mūsų tyrinėtų paminklų grupių – Senovės Egipto karališkieji nekropoliai. Kasinėjimai buvo vykdomi Umm al Qab vietovėje, netoli Abydos, kur yra karališkasis ikidinastinio periodo kapinynas, didelė teritorija netoli Kairo, kurioje stovi Senosios ir Vidurinės karalystės piramidės, ir Biban el Muluk (Karalių slėnis) Tebuose, kur buvo tyrinėjami požeminiai Naujosios karalystės karalių kapai. Straipsnyje pristatomi preliminarūs šių vietovių tyrimų rezultatai. Paaiškėjo, kad teisingas statinių orientavimas nuo ankstyvųjų mastabų iki vėlyvųjų hypogėjų buvo būtinas, ir dangus čia vaidino labai svarbų vaidmenį. Nuodugni šių rezultatų analizė padės geriau suprasti Senovės Egipto pasaulį. Vertė Jurgita Žukauskaitė ARCHAEOLOGIA BALTICA 10 VI VI. LANDSCAPE ARCHAEOLOGY AND ARCHAEO- ASTRONOMY 233
Page 1:
ARCHAEOLOGIA BALTICA10 Astronomy an
Page 4 and 5:
UDK 902/904 Ar 46 Volume 10 Editori
Page 6 and 7:
Vytautas Tumėnas. The visual and t
Page 8 and 9:
PREFACE Jonas VaiškūnaS Preface T
Page 10 and 11:
Jonas VaiškūnaS Preface cists, ma
Page 12 and 13:
LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS List of Contri
Page 14 and 15:
List of Contributors Dimitar Kolev
Page 16 and 17:
List of Contributors 16 Dainius Raz
Page 18 and 19:
Second Parts can always be better!
Page 20 and 21:
Conference Summary: A Historian’s
Page 22 and 23:
THE MILKY WAY AND ITS STRUCTURING F
Page 24 and 25:
THE MILKY WAY AND ITS STRUCTURING F
Page 26 and 27:
CECILIA PAULA GÓMEZ Venus And The
Page 28 and 29:
CECILIA PAULA GÓMEZ Venus And The
Page 30 and 31:
Astronyms in Belarussian Folk Belie
Page 32 and 33:
Page 34 and 35:
Page 36 and 37:
Traditional Astronomical Knowledge
Page 38 and 39:
Traditional Astronomical Knowledge
Page 40 and 41:
A Solar Calendar from Latvian Daina
Page 42 and 43:
A Solar Calendar from Latvian Daina
Page 44 and 45:
SAULĖS KALENDORIUS PAGAL LATVIŲ D
Page 46 and 47:
Mesopotamian Influences on Persian
Page 48 and 49:
Page 50 and 51:
Page 52 and 53:
THE BIRTHDAY OF ASAKKU ARKADIUSZ SO
Page 54 and 55:
ARKADIUSZ SOŁTYSIAK The Birthday o
Page 56 and 57:
ARKADIUSZ SOŁTYSIAK The Birthday o
Page 58 and 59:
NOEMI MIRANDA, JUAN A. BELMONTE, MI
Page 60 and 61:
NOEMI MIRANDA, JUAN A. BELMONTE, MI
Page 62 and 63:
Tracing the Celestial Deer - an Anc
Page 64 and 65:
Tracing the Celestial Deer - an Anc
Page 66 and 67:
Calendrical Deer, Time-Reckoning an
Page 68 and 69:
Page 70 and 71:
Page 72 and 73:
The Mythological Moon Horse as Refl
Page 74 and 75:
Page 76 and 77:
Page 78 and 79:
The Visual and the Mythical- Poetic
Page 80 and 81:
VYTAUTAS TUMĖNAS The Visual and th
Page 82 and 83:
Page 84 and 85:
Page 86 and 87:
Some Peripheral Forms of the Medite
Page 88 and 89:
JONAS VAIŠKŪNAS Some Peripheral F
Page 90 and 91:
Page 92 and 93:
Page 94 and 95:
Were the 185 A.D. and 369 A.D. “G
Page 96 and 97:
Page 98 and 99:
Page 100 and 101:
Indigenous Astronomical Traditions
Page 102 and 103:
Page 104 and 105:
Page 106 and 107:
A new attempt to date the Xia, Shan
Page 108 and 109:
GÖRAN HENRIKSSON A new attempt to
Page 110 and 111:
Eleventh-Century Supernovae: Anothe
Page 112 and 113:
Eleventh-Century Supernovae: Anothe
Page 114 and 115:
The Date of Purim and Calendars in
Page 116 and 117:
Page 118 and 119:
Page 120 and 121:
L’abbé Jean Lebeuf, (1687- 1760)
Page 122 and 123:
Page 124 and 125:
Page 126 and 127:
Orientations at the Minoan Peak San
Page 128 and 129:
Page 130 and 131:
Page 132 and 133:
GREGORY E. MUNSON, BRYAN C. BATES,
Page 134 and 135:
Reading, Writing, and Recording the
Page 136 and 137:
Page 138 and 139:
Page 140 and 141:
Reading, Writing, and Recording the
Page 142 and 143:
David W. Pankenier, Ciyuan Y. Liu,
Page 144 and 145:
The Xiangfen, Taosi site: a Chinese
Page 146 and 147:
Page 148 and 149:
Page 150 and 151:
On the Origin of the Roman Idea of
Page 152 and 153:
GIULIO MAGLI On the Origin of the R
Page 154 and 155:
On the Origin of the Roman Idea of
Page 156 and 157:
The Nuraghic Well of Santa Cristina
Page 158 and 159:
ARNOLD LEBEUF The Nuraghic Well of
Page 160 and 161:
Page 162 and 163:
Page 164 and 165:
ANDREI PROKHOROV Images on the Ston
Page 166 and 167:
Images on the Stones at Scebiaraky
Page 168 and 169:
Images on the Stones at Scebiaraky
Page 170 and 171:
Thracian Dolmens and their Orientat
Page 172 and 173:
Antonio César González García, V
Page 174 and 175:
Thracian Dolmens and their Orientat
Page 176 and 177:
JOHN MCKIM MALVILLE, MICHAEL ZAWASK
Page 178 and 179:
JOHN MCKIM MALVILLE, MICHAEL ZAWASK
Page 180 and 181:
Cosmological Motifs of Peruvian Hua
Page 182 and 183: Cosmological Motifs of Peruvian Hua
Page 184 and 185: MARCELLO RANIERI A Geometrical Anal
Page 194 and 195: A Geometrical Analysis of Mesoameri
Page 196 and 197: LUCILLA LABIANCA, IDA SCIORTINO, SI
Page 198 and 199: An Archaeoastronomical Study of the
Page 200 and 201: Some Cosmological Aspects оf Catho
Page 204 and 205: RIMVYDAS LAUŽIKAS Some Cosmologica
Page 208 and 209: Fig. 1. Distribution of the graves
Page 210 and 211: Basatanya revisited: two periods of
Page 212 and 213: The Pythagorean Geometry of the Atr
Page 214 and 215: The Pythagorean Geometry of the Atr
Page 216 and 217: Measurement Systems for Mathematics
Page 218 and 219: Measurement Systems for Mathematics
Page 220 and 221: Integrating Archaeoastronomy with L
Page 222 and 223: LIONEL SIMS Integrating Archaeoastr
Page 224 and 225: Integrating Archaeoastronomy with L
Page 226 and 227: From Umm Al Qab to Biban Al Muluk:
Page 228 and 229: Juan Antonio Belmonte, Antonio Cés
Page 230 and 231: Juan Antonio Belmonte, Antonio Cés
Page 234 and 235: The Orientations of Central Alentej
Page 242 and 243: Cardinal and Lunisolar Alignments a
Page 244 and 245: Cardinal and Lunisolar Alignments a
Page 246 and 247: Searching for the Astronomy of Abor
Page 254 and 255: Alternative Archaeoastronomies - An
Page 256 and 257: Alternative Archaeoastronomies - An
Page 258 and 259: THE CASE STUDY OF THE BOORONG The C
Page 260 and 261: The Case Study of the Boorong JOHN
Page 262 and 263: The Case Study of the Boorong JOHN
Page 264 and 265: Nationalism and Politics in the Rec
Page 266 and 267: Nationalism and Politics in the Rec
Page 268 and 269: Cosmic Catastrophes and Cultural Di
Page 274 and 275: In Memoriam Izold’s interests wer
Page 276 and 277: Klaipėdos universiteto leidykla AR
Page 278 and 279: Plates 2 6 1 3 Plate II. Antonio C
Page 280 and 281: Plates 12 11 10 9 8 7 Plate IV. IV
Page 282 and 283:
Plates 1 11 Plate VI. VI Antonio C
Page 284:
Plates 2 3 Plate VIII. VIII Lucilla
show all

BALTICA10

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?