Chronology of the Governors of Deir El-Gebrawi Revisited | ||
| International Journal of Tourism and Hospitality Management | ||
| Article 5, Volume 4, Issue 1, June 2021, Pages 95-108 PDF (747.39 K) | ||
| DOI: 10.21608/ijthm.2021.177911 | ||
| Author | ||
| Sameh Shafik | ||
| Higher Institute for Tourism and Hotel Management (EGOTH), Luxor, Egypt | ||
| Abstract | ||
| Two groups of nomarchs/governors are known to have ruled the Twelfth province of Upper Egypt and to have been buried on the northern and southern cliffs of Deir el-Gebrawi. While the succession of the governors in each group is well established, the order in which the two cliffs were used is highly disputed. The officials buried on the southern cliff are precisely dated by biographical inscriptions to the reigns of Merenre to the end of that of Pepy II. If the officials buried on the northern cliff preceded them, they should then be dated to the reigns of Teti and Pepy I, but if they succeeded them, they should be dated to the Eighth Dynasty and the First Intermediate Period. The relative dating of these two groups is of utmost importance, since it can influence the dating of officials in other provinces through stylistic comparison of palaeography, art and architecture, and can accordingly lead to wrong understanding of the development of various aspects of the civilisation in this period. This article examines all the distinctive architectural, artistic and inscriptional features of all the tombs on both cliffs and compare them with the same features found in tombs at various provinces as well as in those at the capital cemeteries of Giza and Saqqara. The evidence consistently suggests that the Northern cliff was the first to be used, and accordingly the following order is proposed for the nomarchs of Deir el-Gebrawi: (Northern cliff): Henqu I, Hemre/ Izi I, Henqu II, Hemre/ Izi II; (Southern cliff): Ibi, Djau/Shemai, Djau. These nomarchs governed throughout the Sixth Dynasty, with the inauguration of the Northern cliff taking place late under Teti and that of the Southern cliff under Merenre. | ||
| Keywords | ||
| Old Kingdom; art and architecture; palaeography; chronology; administration | ||
|
Statistics Article View: 285 PDF Download: 293 |
||
