Département des sciences historiques

Article de Roger PINON, retranscrit sous format pdf, faisant partie d'un collectif intitulé « Le culte de saint Hubert au Pays de Liège », recueil édité par Alain DIERKENS et Jean-Marie DUVOSQUEL, Bruxelles, Crédit Communal et Saint-Hubert, Centre Pierre-Joseph Redouté, 1990, tome 1 de la série Saint-Hubert et son culte, p. 103-110, publié à l'occasion de l'exposition organisée au Centre Pierre-Joseph Redouté à Saint-Hubert du 1er juillet au 9 septembre 1990 et au Musée de la Vie Wallonne du 23 mars au 28 avril 1991.

1 Het reservehoofd van Iabtet (mastaba g 4650) uit Giza. Foto gizapyramids.org. Ta-Mery 2011 88 Nico Staring De zogenaamde reservehoofden uit het Oude Rijk spreken al lange tijd tot de verbeelding. Een zoektocht naar hun functie vanuit de archeologische context.

Catalogue entries:
Cat. 14: Horus-Stele (Leiden H.III.GGG 3);
Cat. 65: Udjat-Auge (Leiden EG-ZM2880);
Cat. 72: Kanope von Ipy (Leiden AAL 4d);
Cat. 73: Kanope von Amenwahsu (Leiden AT 5);
Cat. 74: Kanope (Leiden AAL 9b);
Cat. 103: Uschebti für Chebeny (Leiden AST 43);
Cat. 122: Seelenhäuschen (Leiden F 1939/1.19);
Cat. 133: Pyramidion von Ptahemwia (Leiden AM 7bis);
Cat. 158: Stele des Horu (Leiden AP 50);
Cat. 188: Zylindrischer Krug (Leiden F 1960/12.209);
Cat. 279: Fischmumie (Leiden L.XII.6);
Cat. 284: Mumie einer Schlange (Leiden AMM 16r)

The New Kingdom (c.1400-1100 BC) necropolis at Saqqara (Egypt) contains the tomb structures of the highest officials resident in Memphis. Some of the superstructures that were accessible during the 19th century CE are now “lost”. One such tomb belongs to the Mayor of Memphis, Ptahmose, who held office during the early 19th Dynasty (temp. Ramesses II). A photograph taken by French Egyptologist Théodule Devéria in 1859 –recently acquired by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York– captures a doorway with relief decoration and inscriptions. Ptahmose is already well-known because a series of monuments from his tomb were taken to (initially) European museums in the early 19th century. The relief visible on the Devéria photograph however presents a new addition to the corpus: it has not been seen ever since 1859. After a thorough analysis of the iconography of this relief and the study of the texts, it is argued that a reconsideration of the position of Ptahmose in the early 19th Dynasty is necessary. The architectural setting suggests that this tomb represents a transitional stage in the development of monumental tombs between the 18th and 19th Dynasty at Saqqara. This lecture presents the results of the study of the tomb’s iconography and of this official’s titles. It will be demonstrated that the relief contains some rare iconographic features that necessitate the re-dating of the tomb-owner. As a result, the sequence of Mayors of Memphis at the beginning of the 19th Dynasty needs to be revised. This reconsideration is substantiated by the analysis of Ptahmose’s titles. These also present new insights into the duties of the Mayor of the country’s capital, Memphis. The study of the tomb’s architecture proves to have consequences for a neighbouring tomb.

[French:] Publication d'une photographie (MMA 2005.100.321) prise pas l'égyptologue Théodule Devéria (1841-1871) en 1859. Cette photo montre une porte dans le tombeau du grand gouverneur de Memphis et grand intendant du temple de Ptah, Ptahmès. Ce tombeau a été redécouvert en 2010 pas la mission archéologique de l'université du Caire (dir. Ola el-Aguizy).
Cette étude commence par une discussion sur les précédentes fouilles de la tombe, et offerte des observations sur la vie de Théodule Devéria et ses activités en tant qu'assistant d'Auguste Mariette à Saqqâra. Une liste actualisée des découvertes attribuables au tombeau memphite de Ptahmès est ensuite livrée. Suivent la présentation et une discussion autour des images et des textes visibles sur cette « nouvelle » photographie. Une nouvelle datation de la tombe est proposé au début de la XIXe dynastie, du règne de Séthi Ier à la deuxième dizaine du règne de Ramsès II. La contribution se conclut par une note sur la famille de Ptahmès et une analyse préliminaire de ses titres.

Mots-clés : Saqqâra – Ptahmès – temple de Ptah – Memphis – gouverneur – Nouvel Empire – période Ramesside – tombeau – iconographie – architecture – Théodule Devéria – photographie


[English:] Publication of a photograph (MMA 2005.100.321) taken by Egyptologist Théodule Devéria (1841-1871) in 1859. The photograph captures a doorway in the tomb of the Mayor of Memphis and Great steward of the temple of Ptah, Ptahmose. This tomb was rediscovered in 2010 by an archaeological mission of Cairo University (dir. Ola el-Aguizy). This paper starts with a discussion of the tomb's (previous) excavations, and notes on Théodule Devéria's life and his work as an assistant to Auguste Mariette at Saqqara. This is followed by an updated list of finds that can be attributed to Ptahmose's Memphite tomb. The article contunues with a presentation and discussion of the reliefs and texts visible on this "new" photograph. A new date is proposed for this tomb: early 19th Dynasty, reign of Seti I to the second decade of Ramesses II. The article concludes with a reconstruction of Ptahmose's family tree, and a preliminary analysis of his titles.

Keywords: Saqqara – Ptahmose – temple of Ptah – Memphis – Mayor – New Kingdom – Ramesside Period – tomb – iconography – architecture – Théodule Devéria – photography.

This article presents for the first time a complete description and discussion of a relief-decorated block from the tomb of Ptahmose currently housed in the collection of the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University (Durham, North Carolina). It addresses the question of how the object got to the Nasher Museum: starting at Saqqara and then being passed on through the hands of art dealers, collectors and middlemen in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries. While the block first came to the attention of scholars in the 1920s, its authenticity has long been doubted. Research on the block’s provenance leads to the conclusion that both the texts and image are genuinely ancient. It is suggested that its physical appearance was altered in order to make it more attractive to potential buyers. Some of the art dealers highlighted in this study at one time also had other elements from the same tomb in their possession. The histories of these objects are also traced back to Saqqara and to their present owners.