Issue No. 606
Heritage
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3 - 9 October 2002 Issue No. 606 Heritage |
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Saqqara finds laid bare
On a mound just a kilometre northwest of the Serapeum at Saqqara, a mission from the Japanese Institute of Egyptology at Waseda University has made two significant discoveries. Nevine El-Aref visits the site
The Japanese team working at Saqqara has made a major discovery -- the remains of a huge limestone stepped structure, about 4.5 metres in height and 33.5 metres in length. It has also found a deep shaft leading to two chambers containing a number of objects. These include a wooden statue of a well- endowed female which Zahi Hawass, secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) describes as "a magnificent piece". She is glazed with resin, while her eyes are inlaid with bronze. Together, the new discoveries reaffirm the wealth of objects that as yet lie undetected on the Saqqara plateau.
Wooden female statue with the left hand placed on the chest found in the north chamber of the newly-discovered shaft at Saqqara
The first discovery, a wall of an early stepped construction, reveals the structural technique used on the necropolis in early times. It is an example of the tiered, inward- sloping masonry of the earliest stone architectural forms in ancient Egypt. Unfortunately, in successive dynasties the structure was used as a stone quarry.
However Nozomu Kawai, field director of the Abusir and Saqqara project, described the remaining wall as comprising 15 rows of limestone blocks, each block approximately 30cms high. "The central trench of the structure was dug near the middle of the wall towards the south," Kawai said. "This was perpendicular to the main wall of the monument."
While layers of accumulated earth were being removed from the trench, revealing its stratigraphy, pottery was unearthed which can be dated with certainty to between the second and fourth dynasties. "It is similar to that described in the excavation report of the Step Pyramid of the Pharaoh Djoser written by Egyptologist Jean Philip Lauer," Kawai said. He added that the upper layer contained hundreds of miniature pieces of pottery of Middle Kingdom date. "It suggests some kind of offering activities at that time," he said
In addition, a T-shaped shaft was found leading to two chambers on the north and south respectively. "The north chamber was intact, with its sealing stone in place as on the day of completion," Hawass said. "It was inserted on the top of the shaft and was reminiscent of sealing stones common from the late Early Dynastic Period, before the beginning of the Old Kingdom."
However the sealing system of the south chamber, which had already been penetrated, proved to be dissimilar. It was made of rows of limestone blocks covered with gypsum and plaster. Sakuji Yoshimura, director-general of the Institute of Egyptology at Waseda University, said the chamber consisted of a long, rectangular room decorated with two niches. "One was empty while the other seems to have been decorated with an unfinished work of art," he said. "Some Middle Kingdom pottery in good condition was unearthed inside this chamber, and is similar to pottery previously found in the Middle Kingdom pyramid complex of Sesostris I at Lisht."
It was in the intact north chamber that the Japanese mission made important discoveries. When they entered the rectangular chamber, which has a doorway and a rectangular break at its north eastern end, they dug a small trench near the chamber's sealing stone and were delighted to come upon a number of small objects including an ivory statue of female figure which drew considerable attention. "The woman wears a sheath, her legs are carved together, and she wears an unusual wig similar to that worn by archaic royal female statues," Kawai said. He described the piece as proportionately well balanced. The statue was found nestled in a layer of sand beneath rock collapsed from the ceiling of the chamber. "It may have been brought to this location from somewhere else, since most of the other objects in the chamber date to a later period," Kawai said. The date of the statue has not been determined.
Other objects found in the northern chamber include fragments of a wooden statue and two faience plaques, one decorated with a depiction of Anubis and the second with geometrical drawings.
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