Tenth International Congress of Egyptologists Abstracts of Papers

XICE – Abstract of Papers
Unas Causeway, in the northern sector of the area excavated by the mission. Like
numerous tombs previously discovered, they are accessed via a shaft hewn into the
structure of an older Old Kingdom mastaba. The sand fill contained animal bones and
numerous ceramic vessels, some of which were practically complete. 172 These vessel
forms are found in relation to burials. The shafts also contained several hundred of
faience amulets, blue turquoise or pale green in colour. Some chambers contained a
few grave goods of great quality: limestone sarcophagi still covered with their lids and
wooden painted coffins, small chests, and statuettes of Ptah-Sokar-Osiris. 173 No titles
are given, which is not infrequent with coffins discovered in this area of the Saqqara
necropolis. We are therefore left in the dark regarding the men’s socio-professional
status.The mummies were examined by X rays. After this non-intrusive examination,
every mummy was placed once again in its coffin and the lid closed.
Several chambers having been discovered intact, with objects in their original
position, this corpus reveals itself particularly interesting. The small number of
objects, which is a constant in our excavation area, is striking and we must revise our
idea of Late Period funerary goods. Our excavations have revealed the frequency of
the coffin/Ptah-Sokar-Osiris statuette/chest combination. 174 In general, the shawabtis,
the net, and the amulets placed upon the mummy are absent. Cartonnages, present in
numerous tombs in the area, are absent from the decorated coffins. This may be the
result of a selection based on the financial resources of the deceased and their
family.The discovery of objects in situ is extremely important. Of such objects now in
museum collections, few have a secure archaeological context and many have been
separated from their contents, notably chests and coffins. With the exception of the
tomb of individuals with well-documented careers, 175 the precise dating of these
assemblages generally causes problems. Using several criteria some of them are from
the Twenty-sixth Dynasty and the Persian Périod, other clearly from the Thiertieth
Dynasty.
Comments on the Egyptian term wHyt wHyt: wHyt family quasi-village?
Andrea Paula Zingarelli
During the New Kingdom the Egyptian word wHyt, written with the niwt sign, was
associated with a “village” (FAULKNER 1962, 66; AEO, II, 205; Wilbour Papyrus, II,
172 Detailed study by G. LECUYOT in: C. ZIEGLER et al., Fouilles du Louvre à Saqqara, vol. 2, Les
tombeaux de Basse Époque (Leuven, expected early 2009).
173 For this type of object, see: H.-C. LOFFET, 'Une statuette de Sokar-Osiris au musée Charles-Léandre
de Domfront', La Revue des Musées de France. Revue du Louvre, 2 (2007), 22-8; J. BUDKA, 'Einige
Bemerkungen zu Ptah-Sokar-Osiris-Statuetten', GM 193 (2003), 99-101; C. ZIEGLER, 'Un Ptah-Sokar-
Osiris au nom d’Ankhpakhered, fils de Nesmin', Hommages à Fayza Haikal, BdE 138 (2003), 315-24;
D.A. ASTON, 'Two Osiris figures of the Third Intermediate Period', JEA 77 (1991), 95-107; U.
HÜBNER, 'Eine Osiris-Statuette aus Schweizer Privatbesitz', GM 74 (1984), 31-41; M.J. RAVEN,
'Papyrus-Sheaths and Ptah-Sokar-Osiris statues', OMRO LIX-LX, Leyden, 1978-1979, 251-296; J.
LIPINSKA-BOLDOK, 'Some problems of the funerary figures of Egyptian God Ptah-Sokar-Osiris',
Bulletin du Musée National de Varsovie 3 (1961), 75-84.
174 Shaft F 17, shaft H, and shaft N. See: C. BRIDONNEAU, G. LECUYOT, 'Saqqara à la Basse Époque—
Étonnantes coutumes funéraires des Vè-IVè siècles av. J.-C.', Archéologia, n°445 (June 2007), 34-46.
175 For example, in the area of the Complex of Unas, that of Tjanenhebu, PM III, 2, 1979, 648 and
Hekaemsaef, id. ibid., 650; also see: Di. ARNOLD, 'The Late Period tombs of Hor-Khebit, Wennefer
and Wereshnefer at Saqqâra', Études sur l’Ancien Empire et la nécropole de Saqqâra dédiées à Jean-
Philippe Lauer, OrMonsp XI, 1997.
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