titles of functions performed in the state, facts of everyday life, descriptions of ceremonies - this is the type of information that can be found on the stones used by ancient Egyptians to decorate their tombs and estates. Such inscriptions are one of the basic sources of knowledge in research. Dr Kamil Omar Kuraszkiewicz from Warsaw University Institute of Archaeology discussed the finds of the Polish archaeological mission in recent years during a conference "Poles on the Nile".
Sakkara is located south of Cairo and west of Memphis. It is the oldest part of the ancient cemetery in Memphis, the capital of Egypt in the times of the Old Kingdom. The best known object in Sakkara is the pyramid of Djosser, the founder of the 3rd Dynasty (27th century B.C.). Polish archaeologists are working in the western part of the complex.
"In our part of the metropolis in Sakkara, we are dealing with graves from two periods - the Old Kingdom (Lower Cemetery) and the 2,000 years younger burials in the Upper Cemetery. All this in the shadow of Djosser's pyramid" - Dr Kamil Kuraszkiewicz explained. The Lower Cemetery consists of mastabas and rock tombs belonging to officials who lived at the close of the Old Kingdom, including Merefnebef and Nianchnefertum.
Dr Kuraszkiewicz noted that the archaeologists are constantly reminded of the presence of Djosser, as they frequently find tiles from the interior of his tomb complex. In 1999 and last year, archaeologists found stone steles with his name inscribed in them. Their function is still unknown - maybe they marked the boundaries of the complex. Kuraszkiewicz noted that one thing was certain - that at one point they stopped being needed and were re-used as building material.
The archaeologist explained that approximately 400 years after Djosser's death, a private cemetery operated on the western wall of the complex. It was the burial site of middle-ranking officials. They are mainly brick mastabas decorated with lime architectural elements, primarily blind gates as well as sacrificial tables and pools. Most of the tomb constructions above surface are preserved poorly or not at all. This has meant that many of the lime elements of the tombs have been moved, which affects the identification of the tomb's owner.
Dr Kuraszkiewicz explained that the first inscribed artefact from the times of the Old Kingdom they discovered was the lower part of a stele from the eastern chapel of Merefneber found in 1997. It contains the names and titles of the owner, including the highest titles in the kingdom.
The archaeologist also noted that few steles remained in their original location. For example, a stele found in a chapel belonging to Pehenptah, Pehi for short. This stele contained information about the official himself. However, in 2003 and 2004, archaeologists discovered a few fragments from the upper part of the stele. These fragments not only enabled researchers to establish Pehi's full title, but it also emerged that this was inscribed on the reverse of an older stone table, on which a list of sacrifices had been made. "This is a much higher class relief than that offered to Pehi" - Kuraszkiewicz noted.
Dr Kuraszkiewicz explained that one of their most interesting finds came in 2001, when fragments of a door jamb inscribed with highly original texts was found. This object, smashed into small pieces and fixed in the chapel's floor, contained biographical inscriptions relating to a person whose name has not been preserved; all that remains is a fragment of one of his titles, which indicates that this was a person responsible in some way for the royal estate" - Dr Kamil Kuraszkiewicz explained. The inscription notes that the man performed missions given to him by the king. The inscription asserts that the king valued him highly and was pleased with his work, for which he rewarded the official with gold.
In 2002, archaeologists uncovered two chapels, one of which had blind gates dedicated to a man named Ichi, the "bearer of god's seal", a type of royal political commissioner. Fragments of door jambs also listed this man's son, who inherited his father's names and duties. 500 km away in Wadi Hammamat, by a route leading to the Red Sea, there is to be found graffiti linked to Pepi I's expeditions. A few of them bear the name of the "bearer of god's seal" Ichi and his son.
An interesting find in Merefenebef's tomb was a relief depicting the official's dog. It is accompanied by one of the few ancient Egyptian dog's names to survive to our times: Iru-em-shech, which means "like a shech", which probably means a honey badger (a mammal from the mustelidae family).
"The inscribed material from the times of the Old Kingdom turned out to be very useful almost 2,000 years later, when the area was once again used as a cemetery and the lime architectural elements were used to cover new graves" - Kuraszkiewicz explained. "The tombs from this period contained little inscribed material and the mummies had few fittings, though some coffins had interesting inscriptions" - Kuraszkiewicz explained. BSZ/ESZ
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