Dendara

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Submitted on 12 Feb 2021

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Dendara

Pierre Zignani

To cite this version:

Pierre Zignani. Dendara. FRENCH ARCHAEOLOGY IN EGYPT (L. Coulon et M. Cressent ed), 2020. �hal-03123261�

FRENCH

ARCHAEOLOGY

IN

EGYPT

RESEARCH, COOPERATION, INNOVATION

EDITED BY

LAURENT COULON AND MÉLANIE CRESSENT

BIBLIOTHÈQUE GÉNÉRALE 62 – 2020

I N S T I T U T F R A N Ç A I S

FRENCHARCHAEOLOGYINEGYPT

Frencharchaeologyin

Egypt

Wadi Abu Subeira p. 182-185 Abbad p. 178-181 Bi’r Samut p. 178-181 Samut North p. 178-181 Dush p. 160-161 Balat p. 162-163 Ganub Qasr el-Aguz

p. 164-167 Armant p. 140-143 Deir el-Medina p. 144-147 Ramesseum p. 26-29 /Asasif p. 152-155 TT 33 p. 148-151 Medamud p. 132-135 Dendara p. 112-115 Coptos p. 116-119 Qus p. 120-123 Kom Ombo p. 124-129 Bawit p. 106-109 Hatnub p. 102-105 Tebtynis p. 96-99 Gurob p. 88-91 Philadelphia p. 92-95 Kom Abu Bellu

p. 62-65 Tell el-Iswid p. 70-73 Tell el-Samara p. 74-77 Tanis p. 66-69 Tell el-Herr p. 78-81 Buto p. 58-61 Taposiris Magna p. 82-85 Plinthine p. 82-85 Abu Rawash p. 46-48 Alexandria Cairo Ifao p. 10-17 Aswan Luxor Middle Egypt Upper Egypt Fayum Bahariya oasis Eastern Desert Western Desert

Dakhla oasis _{Kharga oasis}

100 km 0 N MEDITERRANEAN SEA RE D S EA Delta Sinai

© Ifao/O. Onézime/Adapted by B. Boileau

Karnak

CFEETK/Osirian Sanctuaries p. 22-25 p.136-139 Saqqara (MafS)/Tabbet el-Guesh p. 49-52 p. 53-55 Wadi Ara ba P. 170-1 73 CEALex p. 18-21

Maps v

Foreword ix

Preface xi

Chronological table xii

THE MAJOR CONTRIBUTORS IN FRENCH ARCHAEOLOGY IN EGYPT

1

The Institutional Framework and Franco-Egyptian Cooperation in Archaeology 2

The French Institute for Oriental Archaeology (IFAO) 10

The Centre for Alexandrian Studies (CEAlex) 18

The Franco-Egyptian Centre for the Study of the Temples of Karnak (CFEETK) 22

The French Archaeological Mission of Thebes-West (MAFTO) and the Ramesseum 26

The Louvre Museum 30

The French Research Institute for Development (IRD) 34

The French National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research (INRAP) 36

Sponsorship 38

OVERVIEW OF FRENCH ARCHAEOLOGICAL MISSIONS IN EGYPT

43

CAIRO AND ITS SURROUNDINGS 45

Abu Rawash, Early Dynastic Cemetery M 46

Saqqara (MafS) 49

Tabbet el-Guesh 53

THE DELTA AND THE NORTHERN MARGINS 57

Buto (Tell el-Fara‘in) 58

Kom Abu Bellu 62

Tanis (Tell San el-Hagar) 66

Tell el-Iswid 70

Tell el-Samara 74

Tell el-Herr 78

Taposiris Magna and Plinthine (Abusir and Kom el-Nogus) 82

THE FAYUM 87

Gurob 88

Philadelphia (Kom el-Kharaba el-Kabir Girza) 92

Tebtynis (Umm-el-Breigât) 96

MIDDLE EGYPT 101

Hatnub 102 Bawit 106

VIII FRENCHARCHAEOLOGYINEGYPT VIII UPPER EGYPT 111 Dendara 112 Coptos (Qift/Quft) 116 Qus 120 Kom Ombo 124

THE THEBAN REGION 131

Medamud 132

Karnak, Osirian Sanctuaries 136

Armant 140

Deir el-Medina 144

Tomb of Padiamenope (TT 33) 148

Asasif 152

THE WESTERN DESERT 157

The Western Oases: Introduction 158

Dush (Kharga Oasis) 160

Balat (Dakhla Oasis) 162

Ganub Qasr el-Aguz (Bahariya Oasis) 164

THE EASTERN DESERT AND THE RED SEA COAST 169

Wadi Araba 170

Wadi Sannur 174

The Eastern Desert: Samut North, Bi’r Samut and Abbad 178

Wadi Abu Subeira 182

Ayn Soukhna 186

Wadi el-Jarf 190

APPENDIXES 195

Site Directors, collaborators, partner institutions and sponsors 197

Dendara

Dendara is particularly associated with its main temple whose walls and ceilings present an

extraordinary religious knowledge dating to the twilight of pharaonic Egypt. A recent study

of the construction process of this monument has shown it to be the culmination of erudite

architecture, being an intellectual and abstract game aiming to achieve an overarching work

relating to the sacred. Beyond the magnificence of the temple of Hathor itself, there exists a

well-preserved area consisting of a regional settlement (about 200 ha) dating from the origins

of pharaonic civilization to medieval times. Conscious of the exceptional potential for study

regarding the environment, the development and the modifications at this sacred location, the

French Institute for Oriental Archaeology (IFAO) developed a multi-disciplinary and diachronic

approach concerning the site’s archaeology. It has conducted work on the temples, the sound

landscape, civil buildings, geo-archaeology, the animal necropolis and the huge cemetery

which includes burials from all periods.

DENDARA 113

1. ViewfromthewestoftheHathortemple.

©P.Zignani.

Dendara is incomparable with regard to the monumental heritage pro-vided by the last great Egyptian temples. The principal temple was begun in July 54 BC during the reign of Ptolemy XII (80-58 BC and 55-51 BC). Its programme was never totally accomplished, following the example of the temple of Horus at Edfu, since it lacks architectural elements which precede the most sacred areas of a great temple of that period, namely a pylon and a court. These features occur at the site at foundational level, with the exception of the rear part of the peribolos wall which had been dismantled during another period. The other components, the naos (at the heart of which the divinity resided) and the pronaos, are almost intact. They comprise a layout of more than fifty rooms over several levels.

This temple, whose walls and ceilings abound with texts and images, was dedicated to the goddess Hathor, patron of the city. A feminine deity with cosmic origin, she can also be represented in the form of a lioness, a female falcon and a cow. In the temples her attributes vary, though she frequently bears lyre-shaped horns enclosing a solar disk. The modern visitor is greeted, at the pronaos level, by her most iconic representation in monumental architecture: the sistrum column with a capital which bears the image of the radiant face of a young woman adorned with cows’ ears which protrude over her wig. This is mounted on an architectural façade in the form of a sistrum, an attribute associated with the goddess.

The last testimony of national importance to be constructed, the architecture of the temple of Hathor has benefited from the evolution over many millennia of an understanding relating to the resistance of, as well as mastery of, construction materials, in addition to the excel-lence of the management of spatial design and geometry. Such a structure was at the heart of a regional metropolis, the name of whose divinity, Hathor, was appended to the toponym Heliopolis. Dendara was thus called “Heliopolis of the Goddess”, to distinguish it from Heliopolis of the North (modern-day Ain Shams on the periphery of Cairo) and the Heliopolis of the South (the city of Armant, south of Luxor).

IFAO’s focus at the site of Dendara comprises one of its major under-takings: the publication of the Graeco-Roman temple inscriptions. Under the direction of Émile Chassinat, a complete hieroglyphic font was created to print and publish the texts which cover the walls of these remarkably well-preserved temples. Between 1892 and 1934, É. Chassinat published 14 volumes regarding the temple of Edfu, then began the publication series relating to the texts in the temple of Dendara. His work was carried on by François Daumas, and then by Sylvie Cauville. Serge Sauneron, director of the IFAO from 1969 to 1976, similarly published the temple of Esna.

The study of texts and decoration could not, however, be sufficient for understanding the complexity of these religious buildings, in addition to the evolution of the environment in which they were constructed, then being modified throughout the Pharaonic period.

Archaeological excavations were, until very recently, limited to the necropolis, carrying on those earlier excavations which had been con-ducted by William M. Flinders Petrie in 1898, then, from 1915 to 1918, by Clarence Stanley Fisher. Clearance of the temple by the sebakhin led to fortuitous discoveries, but which lacked stratigraphic context. Among these are the monolithic limestone walls of a chapel of Montuhotep II,

2. TempleofHathor,ambulatoryaround

thecella,theimpactoflightatthesummer solstice.©P.Zignani.

uPPEREGYPT 114

reused by Merenptah, which is exhibited in the great central hall of the Egyptian Museum of Cairo in Tahrir.

Some archaeological remains show that the city was already a regional capital under Khufu in the 4th century (c. 2757-2450 BC). At the heart of a region known for its predynastic sites between Naqada and Abydos, settlement has existed from the start of the Pharaonic era. Sondages to the south and west of the main temple revealed occupation dating to the Naqada II period (3400-3200 BC). Human visitation to the locality is also attested for much more ancient times since the most ancient human skeleton in the Nile Valley, belonging to the Middle Palaeolithic period (more than 50 000 years ago) was discovered at Taramsa Hill, 2 km from the main sanctuary. Dendara as a significant region continued well beyond the time of pharaonic gods up to the Medieval period. Thus, the visitor can observe important remains of a church with the plan of a basilica which, from first analysis, may date to the 6th century AD. The site there-fore offers the chance to study more than five millennia of development of a provincial metropolis, its population and its environment.

The establishment of a settlement on the desert fringes of the Nile Valley sheltered it from the annual flood. Two great religious

3. Ongoingarchaeologicalresearchin thewesternpartoftheHathortemenos. AreaAisassociatedwiththefoundations ofthechapelofMontuhotepII (11thDynasty,c.2055–2004BC);AreaBis aLatePeriodplatformwithThutmoseIII blocks.©P.Zignani.

DENDARA 115

complexes delineate the residential areas. The first (the one which one can visit) includes the temple of the principal divinity, but also additional, well-preserved monuments. Little information is available concerning the second sacred area, situated more than 400 m to the west, which, for the most part, is now cultivated land. It was dedicated, probably, to the paired divinity, Horus of Edfu, but has never been the subject of investi-gation. This area is identifiable by a magnificent monumental gateway of the Roman period. Its temenos walls have been erased. Some scattered limestone blocks of a temple extension survive.

During the last two decades, developing partnerships with French and foreign institutions, the IFAO has broaden its investigations to include the architectural study of the monument as well as the archaeological excavation of residential quarters and cemeteries.

The resumption of work with a modern approach concerning the various aspects of a metropolis within its environment will enable pre-cise documentation to be conducted. It is already revealing the immense potential of fresh investigations and of huge unexplored areas.