The 1st Dynasty_Tombs of Saqqara in Egypt

The 1st Dynasty_Tombs of Saqqara in Egypt

 

Saqqara is one of the best known, as well as oldest, dynastic necropolis in Egypt. It is popular among tourists, but many of them may never visit, or even know about its oldest royal tombs. These are what were once believed to be the 1st Dynasty tombs of the largely legendary founders of Egypt, but their burials lack the grandeur of other monuments in the vicinity, and now many scholars believe that these tombs, while dating to the 1st Dynasty, were probably those of high officials rather than the kings themselves.

As early as 1912, a large, "archaic" cemetery was known to exist in north Saqqara, though it did not receive any serious attention until 1932, and it was still another twenty years before many of these results were published. The lack of enthusiasm for these excavations was probably due in no small part to the perception that they were poor "collector's sites". However, after some scholars came to believe that these were the tombs of Egypt's 1st Dynasty pharaohs, they received more attention, afterwards followed by much debate because the same rulers also had tombs at Abydos in Upper Egypt. One theory was that one of these sets of tombs, either at Saqqara or Abydos, were cenotaphs, or ceremonial tombs. All of these tombs in both locations were severely plundered during antiquity, most were at least somewhat destroyed by fire, and there were no bodies found belonging to any of the early kings. However, further research seems to indicate that those at Saqqara were not the tombs of kings, but rather their highest officials, irregardless of the fact that some of them were larger and more elaborate than the royal tombs at Abydos.

There is evidence for three distinct types of tombs in Egypt during the 1st Dynasty, largely distinguished by the class of people who built them. Those belonging to royalty or high ranking officials were large, shallow rectangular pits hewn out of the bedrock and divided by cross-walls into a series of chambers. There was a central chamber that was the actual burial chamber that housed the sarcophagus surrounded by provisions on pottery and alabaster dishes; chests and boxes containing clothing, jewelry and games; and funerary furniture. The surrounding chambers were storerooms for various reserve provisions for the afterlife. One was usually reserved entirely for the storage of food and another for wine jars stacked in rows and sealed with clay.

The whole trench was roofed over with wooden beams and planks and surmounted by a superstructure with recessed paneling. The superstructure was hollow and was also divided into a series of chambers which contained the less valuable funerary items. Most of these tombs also had boat-pits for funerary barges.

The second class of tomb was built by retainers and artisans. Constructed in long lines adjoining one another close to the royal tombs, their occupants were probably dependents in the household of the king, or craftsmen in the various arts and industries. It is very possible that they were buried near their kings in order to serve him in death as they did during his life. These tombs are oblong pits or chambers where the bodies, wrapped in linen, were placed. Around them dishes containing food and jars of wine, as well as the tools of their trade were also included in the burial. The pits would then be roofed over with timber and a low, rectangular superstructure was build of rubble.

The poorest of the lot, the working class and peasant people, had very simple graves not much different than those of the Predynastic Period. These tombs consisted of an oval or oblong pit where the body was placed, sometimes on a reed mat, in contracted position and surrounded by their earthly possessions. These pits were then roofed with branches and matting to hold the mound of sand and rubble that was piled above it.For the royalty and wealthier classes, the principal materials used in the tombs were wood and sun-dried brick The wood was mostly imported from Lebanon, while the bricks were a mixture of Nile River clay and chopped straw or sand. However, limestone and granite, even at this early stage, were sometimes used for flooring, roofing, retaining walls or doorways.

The 1st Dynasty royal monuments at Saqqara are, for the most part, nearly twice as large as those of Upper Egypt, measuring an average of 50 to 60 meters in length. They also seem to be more complex structures.