The main fragment, engraved with the name of Den, is by far larger than the other two secondary pieces. 6 – Stela of king Djet (Musée du Louvre, inv. Visions du monde dans l’Égypte ancienne (cat. E 11007 BAUD (Michel), « Du complexe enterré au mastaba révélé : l’invention de l’architecture funéraire et des dispositifs cultuels », in M. This paper first presents the observations that led to the reidentification of this piece it then reviews the royal stelae from Abydos on the basis of an updated inventory.įig. However, it soon became clear that it is most unlikely to be a royal funerary stela. Our primary goal was to give to this object the place it deserves within Egyptological documentation. For example, in Porter and Moss' Topographical Bibliography, the text mistakenly refers to the "mortar" of Mariemont while describing, in fact, the Brussels "stela" (10). Fischer was the first to point out the inconsistencies surrounding Den’s “stela” (9). While listing the royal stelae of the first two dynasties (8), H.G. Their apparent resemblance, combined with the lack of archaeological documentation, led to a series of unfortunate and persistent confusions. This object and the "stela" fragments acquired by J. Capart belonged to the same sale lot (7), and bear obvious similarities: both are carved in the same stone and the signs on their surface were created with the same technique. Known as the "mortar of Den" (5) since its discovery, it was recently described as a "basin" (6) but its true nature remains mysterious. About two thirds of this object are preserved, and the name of King Den is inscribed on its surface. ![]() R. Warocqué, the wealthy owner of the estate of Mariemont and famous collector of antiquities, also acquired some of the objects put on sale, including an imposing fragment of a greywacke (4) artefact ( (fig. 02). Amélineau in the necropolis of Umm el-Qa’ab in 1895/1896, the stone fragment remained in France for almost a decade, until the Egyptologist sold a large part of his discoveries at auction in Paris in 1904 where it was bought by J. Capart, the assistant curator of the Egyptian collection of the Royal Museums of Art and History. 2 – The “mortar” of Den (Musée royal de Mariemont, inv. This led to the unfortunate omission of the "stela" in most studies dedicated to the royal necropolis of Abydos.įig. Little information about this fragment before its arrival in Belgium is known, and this piece has often been confused with a "mortar", now in the Royal Museum of Mariemont (Morlanwelz, Belgium). In its current form, it is mostly a modern reconstruction based on better preserved royal stelae. The so-called "stela of King Den" (2) ( (fig. 01), has been on display for over a century in the Royal Museums of Art and History in Brussels (inv. However, a comprehensive analysis of the data at our disposal demonstrates that such general assumptions should be considered with caution. ![]() ![]() Petrie’s interpretation, it has generally been assumed that the stelae were produced in pairs and that they flanked the main entrance of each royal tomb (1). ![]() At least one funerary stela survives for most pharaohs of the first two dynasties. They were later distributed to several museums’ collections around the world, but have not been the focus of a detailed study. Amélineau at Abydos at the end of the 19th century. A number of Early Dynastic (3100-2600 BC) royal funerary stelae were discovered by É.
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