Through the Eras

Architecture and Designthe Lycopolite Nome built their tombs in their hometownsfrom the end of the Sixth Dynasty until the middleof the Twelfth Dynasty. Hepdjefa I lived in the timeof King Senwosret I and was also a contemporary ofAmenemhet of Beni Hasan. Hepdjefa, who lived thefarthest away from the seat of central power in Itj-tawy,built for himself the largest tomb known from the MiddleKingdom. It contains seven rooms cut into themountain along a central axis. A wide passageway leadsfrom a forecourt to a wide rectangular chamber. Therectangular chamber has three doors on the back wall.Two of the doors, located on the sides, lead to smallrectangular rooms. The third door, located in the centerof the back wall at the top of two steps, leads to anotherlong hall that splits into a U-shaped room. Finallya smaller hallway located in the center of the “U” leadsto a small square room. The front rooms contain inscriptions,notably the contract Hepdjefa made with hispriests to continue his cult for eternity. The only scenesare in the back shrine. Here low reliefs depict scenes ofsacrifice.LOCAL TRADITIONS AND CENTRAL POWER. In thegenerations following these three nomarchs, high officialswere once again buried around the king’s pyramid.The tombs at a central location were once again uniformin plan. This contrast with the earlier period is very suggestivefor historians. The plans and decorations at thetombs of Amenemhet, Djeheutyhotep and Hepdjefa Iclearly developed independently. Amenemhet and Djeheutyhotepdeveloped tombs with a small number ofrooms. Amenemhet’s tomb utilized a colonnade in thefront and four columns in the interior room. Djeheutyhotepused only two columns in the front, but they werecarved to resemble palms while Amenemhet’s columnswere carved with geometric facets. Hepdjefa’s tomb waseven more elaborate with seven rooms, but no columnsat all. Decoration also differed. Amenemhet gave muchspace to depicting military training. Djeheutyhotep emphasizedhis colossal statue. Hepdjefa recorded an inscription.This variety, especially when it disappears inthe reign of Senwosret III, suggests that the nomarchswere also much more independent politically. Thus architecturecan be extremely informative about the politicalhistory of Egypt.SOURCESAlexander Badawy, A History of Egyptian Architecture: TheFirst Intermediate Period, the Middle Kingdom, and theSecond Intermediate Period (Berkeley: University of CaliforniaPress, 1966).A PLANNED TOWN OF THE MIDDLEKINGDOM: KAHUNPYRAMID TOWN FOR SENWOSRET II’S CULT. In1889 the English archaeologist W. M. F. Petrie, thefounder of scientific archaeology in Egypt, excavated thepyramid town he called Kahun. The town was locatedjust over one kilometer from the valley temple of SenwosretII’s pyramid complex at Lahun. The Egyptiansbuilt the town to house the priests, administrative personnel,and workers who maintained the cult of SenwosretII at the pyramid after his death. The texts foundhere reveal that the town’s name was originally Hotep-Senwosret, “Senwosret is Satisfied.” The town’s urbanplanning reveals the extent of social stratification in thisperiod and the failure of planning to meet everyone’sneeds.THE TOWN’S FUNCTION. Beyond proximity to thepyramid complex of Senwosret II, the texts found in thetown reveal its function. One group of texts deals almostexclusively with the administration of the pyramid complex.A second group, which has never fully been published,deals with a wider circle of people. Some of thedocuments deal with places outside Kahun, even includingconstruction at a project in the reign of AmenemhetIII, 50-75 years after the town’s founding.DESCRIPTION OF THE TOWN. The town wassquare, roughly 384 meters by 335 meters. The streetsrun north/south and east/west in a grid pattern, alignedboth with the cardinal points of the compass and thepyramid complex of Senwosret II. Such a grid patterncould only be the result of advance planning. One mainstreet on the north side of the town runs east/west withten large houses on it that Petrie called mansions. Oneof the mansions is located on the highest point in town,an area Petrie called the acropolis. On the west side ofthe town, closest to the pyramid complex, there were220 small houses. The small houses were located onstreets that ran east/west. Each of these streets ran intoa wider north/south street that led to the gate nearestthe valley temple. The town’s plan clearly reveals two socialclasses living in separate quarters.ELITE HOUSES. The large houses built for the elitewere 2,520 square meters (27,125 square feet)—hugehouses in any time or place. A staircase carved into thebedrock led from street level to the house on the acropolis.The house itself appears similar to the other largehouses on the street, but Petrie believed this house belongedto the mayor because of its position. All the elitehouses were rectangular in shape with internal divisions44 Arts and Humanities Through the Eras: Ancient Egypt (2675 B.C.E.–332 B.C.E.)