Tenth International Congress of Egyptologists Abstracts of Papers

XICE – Abstract of Papers
momies. Mais les résultats les plus significatifs proviennent des fouilles dans la
nécropole saïte. Des tombes découvertes jusqu’aujourd’hui, au minimum cinq d’entre
elles correspondent à l’époque saïte et présentent diverses structures souterraines et
monumentales aux formes très variées. Sans doute, ces tombes ont été des vrais modèls
pour la construction des tombes postérieures lesquelles, parfois, se construisaient au
dessus des tombes plus anciennes.
Bien qu’elles ont été saccagées, on a pu récupérer une partie du mobilier funéraire
parmi lequel il y avait des vases canopes de pierre inscrits, des ouchebtis, des perles
tubulaires en faïence, des amulettes et matériaux votive. En outre du trousseau
funéraire, on a mis à jour plusieurs sarcophages en pierre avec des inscriptions qui
nous permettront de connaître mieux les habitants d’Oxyrhynchos en époque
pharaonique.
The solar journey in the funerary chapel of Neferhotep (TT49)
Maria-Silvana Catania
The path of the sun constituted a central element in interpretating the passage to the
beyond. The different phases of the solar journey in the bark were understood as the
sun’s birth, its way across the sky, its setting, and its entrance into the underworld,
where the sun had to face dangers and overcome obstacles in order to reborn every
morning. In the funerary iconography, these stages were expressed trough different
motifs that help us to understand the mythical content of the journey. Inside this
architectonic and magic complex of the tomb, the space configuration and its
decoration had some elements that were common to structures of its type, while others
were characteristic of the owner’s social context and of each period. In this sense, we
are interested in analizing the funerary-symbolic function of certain iconographic
motifs which are present in the chapel of Neferhotep tomb (TT49), dated at the end of
the Eighteenth Dynasty. Most of the selected motifs correspond to offering scenes
performed by the tomb’s owner and they were placed at the eastern wall —on both
sides of the entrance— at the south of the western wall, and upon the four pillars of
the chapel. The offerings in the eastern wall were devoted to the rising sun. The one in
the western wall was dedicated to the offering of Neferhotep to Osiris, and the three
decorated sides of the pillars were respectively consecrated to Ra Harakhty (SE
pillar), Amenofis I and Ahmes Nefertary (NE pillar), Anubis (NW pillar) and Osiris
(SW pillar). Lastly, the scene of the north side pilaster represents the owner with the
western goddess.
The perspective of this study comprises an architectonic approach that includes:
the analysis of the circulation between the different spaces inside the funerary chapel
of Neferhotep, the orientation of figures and scenes, and the interpretation of their
functionality based upon the north-south and east-west axes. Similarly, by means of a
semiotic approach to the decorative program of TT49, we analyze the individual
organization of the selected motifs and their conceptual value in relation with other
scenes of the chapel and the religious context of that time. Taking into account these
approaches, the studied iconographic motifs will be considered in correlation with the
phases of the solar journey. Studying of this subject in TT49 becomes particularly
relevant because the tomb belongs to the reign of Ay (1327-1323 BC), a transition
period in which important political and social changes took place. In this context, we
are interested in analyzing the idea of the sun’s path in the funerary beliefs after its
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