Vol. 1 No.3

Second quarterMay, 1990

EGYPTIANSTUDYSOCIETY

O DMNH l9o9

DenverMuseumof NaturalHistory

This Issue.... Osracon/Deir el-Medin. Sciences. Journey to the past. Calendar/Asronomy' House of scrolls. Stone column

The

STRACONA collection of research papers written by Egyptian Study Society members.v

Ostracon provides a wealth ofinformation by ordinary people

Lirn"rron. flakes and potteryfragments, when written or drawnupon, are called ostraca (plural) orostracon (singular) and provide arecorded history of and by theordinary people. Ostraca werereguiar ly used by the ancientEgyptians for writing and drawing thatwas not deemed important enough forthe brushes and papyrus scrolls of thelearned scribes; yet the informationcontained thereon has been the mostvaluable means of bringing us close tothe lives and daily activities of thepeople who were not part of thegoveming class. It seems fitting then,that the name of the Egyptian StudySociety publication be a name whichreflects the efforts of the "ordinary"people, thus "The Ostracon" wascnosen.

Discovery of Deir el.Medina pit

ln 1922 when Bernard Bruyereseriously undertook to clear theworkman's vi l lage known as Deirel-Medina, he was rewarded with anunusual discoverv. The richest of hisf inds was a tarle pit ( i ts originalpurpose still in question) filled withthousands of l imestone chips withwrit ing, drawing and paint ing onthem. This find is unsurpassed in itswealth of domestic and archivalinformat ion and in i ts state ofpreservation. The day+o-day writtenaccounts on these ostraca orovide awindow into the dai ly l i ie of thevillagers 3000 years ago. We learnabout work schedules, equipment,

del ivery of supplies, excuses forskipping work, rewards andpunishments, promot ion s andinteraction between management andstaff. It brings to life the people ofDeir el-Medina and their loves andhates, disputes and scandals, theirhumor and leisure, their favori testories and most popular literature.

Deir e l -Medina was a uniouevillage of Egypt's finest artisans andcraftsmen, housed together in theTheban hills. Their sole purpose wasto build the tombs of the kings andqueens. These workmen of the royal"gang" were particularly inclined tosketch casually on the smooth, handychips from the surrounding limestonehills. In some cases the drawings areformal and conventional, like the royalscene of Ramses IX gesturing towardtwo fan-bear ing men. Morecommonly, they are inf ormal,sketched in a free manner. Manydrawings on ostraca convey a feelingof immediacy.

Formal and informal images

Some of the casual drawings arelittle more than doodles, but even thedoodles of a skilled draftsman containthe essence of his art. One flake ofl imestone bears a donkey's headwhich captures its appealing charm; onanother, two jackals are sketched witha few bold lines, showing completeconfidence of the artist. A number ofchicks casual ly f i l l the space ofanother flake while a rooster's strensth

is conveyed through the artistsstrong thick stroke s. The

Egyptians found^it amusing toshow anlmals pertormlng numanfunctions, often in reverse to theirnormal relationships, such as catsactins as servants to mice. Thistype 6f animal caricature is oftentemred satirical and is common onostraca as well as papyri,

Sometimes the drawing isaccompanied by short inscriptionsand mav serve as ah informalvotive 6ffering to one of thedeities. Sometimes the drawingsof people are caricature-like. Twoscenes on one small ostracon showwomen engagod in activities notcommonlv shown in formal art.The uppei portion of the drawingshows a scantily dressed womanwith an elaborate head-dres s,seated on a stool and suckling achild. The other scene is a boldlYdrawn girl, her hair arranged inwidely spaced strands with atop-knot. As she prepares hertoilet, she holds a mirror and eyepaint. Many of the details areexaggerated in both scenes and thefaci-of the girl is grotesque to thepoint of caricature.

A plan of the proposed tombof Ramses IX, painted on stone,was actually found abandoned inthe verv tomb itself. Other osnacashow the workmen in action. Onone such stone fragment aworkman is depicted breaking updre stone with his spike and mallet.Though crudely drawn, the artistwas accurate to the Doint ofshowing that this man wis in needofa shave. One unique sketch is acopv from an actual monument. Itcair be recognized as the Queen ofPunt, depicted on the walls ofQueen Hatshepsut's Temple atDeir el Bahri. Maybe some of thetemole likenesses on ostraca wereactual trial pieces for larger worksor an.

Most males wrote hieratic

To stave off boredom, orperhaps purely for their ownamusement, or maybe simply tobare one's soul, people passedtheir t ime by sketching orwriting-much as people have donesince iecorded history began. Anumber of i l lustrated obsceneostraca simi lar to the Tur inPapyrus (The Obscene Papyrus)have been found at Deirel-Medina. There are also writtenaccounts of adul terous acts.Where limestone was not found,then potterv sherds were used forthe sime purpose. Inscribed on apot that was eventual lY broken,was a man's love poem addressedto "sister," a term of endearment,respect and honor:

My stster has come, my heartis exultant.My arms spread out toernbrace her.As for my heart , i t isoverjoyed and its place is likeafish in its pond.O night may you last aneternity for meNow that my lady has come.

The limestone flakes from theworkmen's village cover almostall aspects of daily life for whichwriting was needed. They bearaccounts. note work in hand, workcompleted, lists of workmen andof tlieir tools and rations, courtoroceedings and the classici i teratute df the period. I t isbelieved that a substantial portionof the male inhabitants of Deirel-Medina were literate in hieratic,ifnot hieroglyphic. Hieratic was ashorthand version of the formalhieroelvDhic script which seems tohave -b66n restriited to decorativepurposes for monuments, temPles,iomUs, s te l ae, cof f ins, etc.Evervdav letters were written inhieraiic and ordinary workmen areknown to have written in hieraticwithout the aid of a scribe.

One of the most popular andbest-known stories is the tale oftho adventures of Sinuhe, aprominent young Egyptian whotook oolitical refuse in Palestineduring the reign of Senworsret I,and who, in his old age, rotumedto his home and his people.Several examples of this storYhave been found but a comPleteversion of the story is written onthe largest ostracon.yet knowrt,meas ur lng approxlmately J )inches high and 12 1/2 incheswide, with text on both sides.

In a number of cases, the Pitat Deir el-Medina yields the soleevidence for the existence ofcertain literary pieces. Many ofthe comoositions were written onboth pap:yri and ostraca. Contraryto popular belief, recent studieshave ihown that paplrus was wellwithin the workman's budget, buti t mav have been dif f icult toobtair i . Though many l i teraryosffaca remain unpublished, over1500 examples are available inmuseums and other Places ofsafe-keeping throughout theworld.

May, 1990 The Ostracon &cel

Perhaps the most frequentwork on ostraca is the famousSatire O n Trades by the authorKhety. It appears to be an openletter, ridiculing all professionsexcept that of scribe and is quite"flowery" and lengthy, but endswith the advice: "as for the scribe,no matter what oosition he findshimself in in thelroyal) residence,he will not be uncomfortable in it."I t has been suggested that thispiece may have been a primer forstudents in scr ibal school .Examples of Khety's piece havebeen excavated from El-Amarnaalso.

Absenteeism from work

A l imestone at tendanc eregister was kept by the scribe ofthe tomb in progress and recordedthe days absent af ter eachworkman's name, Reasons forabsence were indicated in red andwere much the same as reasons forabsence from work today. Aworkman might be absent to dopersonal work for his superior orfamily events such as attending thepurification rituals after childbirth,or a death in the family mightprevent him from reporting forwork. In year 40 of Ramses II,Neferabu was away embalming hisbrother, while Hehnekhu wasbandaging the body of his mother.Another workman was absentmummifying one of his friends.Illness of ones self or a familymember was another reason forabsence. Workmen could also beaway for religious obligations orfor brewing beer. Perhaps, even inthe 19th dynasty, personal dayswere given, as Pendua was awayfor a day drinking with Khons,while Wadjmose took a day off tobuild his house, and yet anotherworkman had a row with his wifewhich resulted in time off.

Many hundreds of ostracabear business documents of

various kinds. In Reignal Year 6of Sethos II, an ostracon describesthe c ourt proceedings whe nNebnufe, a workman, issued acomplaint against the womanHerya, accusing her of stealing atool of his. A complete account ofthe proceedings is recorded,including the verdict :"Exceedingly gui l ty is thecitizeness Herya, and worthy ofdeath. The workman Nebnufe isvindicated."

The ostracon is then signedby all the people present. . Such asevere sentence was srven becausein the course of the proceedings itemerged that the woman had alsostolen a ritual vessel from a shrineof Amun, and both stolen objectswere found buried in her home.

Another writer recounts thedi f f icul ty of get t ing what isrightfully owned by him when theborrower is a pol iceman. Oneostracon from Deir el-Medinashows that a workman's basicmonthly wage (received ideally onthe twenty-eighth day) was four76 liter sacks of emmer for breadand one and one-half sacks ofbarley to make beer. This amountwould have nourished a family often. Another v i l lager, i t isrecorded, exchanged theequivalent of two deben of copperto obtain a shawabti box.

Ostraca in Denver

Two ostraca were on displayat the Museum during the exhibitof Ramses I I . One waspart icularly interesting to thiswri ter : the 4 inch by 5 inchlimestone piece with the elderlyharpist stroking his elaboratelycarved harp, drawn in confidentblack strokes and decorated withcolors. This harpist, as with otherharpists represented, is clearlywithout eyesight and is clearly anolder man as evidenced bv his

bald head and the wrinkles on hisneck. His harp has 14 strings. Itcannot be determined i f he isstanding or seated, as the bottomportion is broken away.

Most likely, the villagers hadno idea that they were recordingtheir own history or that, throughthe ostraca lexts and drawings, wewould be brought closer to thedaily lives and activities of thesepeople of Deir el-Medina. Wehave the opportunity to taste thetrue flavor of life in ancient Egypt,and to discover the manysimilarities and oarallels to ourlives today. Migf,t someone readthe ESS Ostracon in 3000 yearsand say the same thing?

By Jonna C. Castle

Jonna is one of the foundersof the ESS and serves on theBoard of Directors and is on TheOstracon staff. She iust returnedfrom a visit to Det ellMedina.

References:The T omb-Builders of theP haraohsby Morris Bierbrier, AmericanUniversity in Cairo hess.Egyprtan Paintingby T.C.H. James, HarvardUniversity PressPharaoh' s Peopleby T.G.H. James, University ofChicago PressRarnses II -T heGreat P haraoh and His TimeDenver Museum of N atur alHistory

SophisticatedSciencesUsed by

Practical applications

As the wor ld 's f i rstNation-state, Egypt had manypract ical appl icat ions for i tsari thmetic: from constructingmonumental royal and Publicbuildings, to predicting how muchfarmine land would be floodedeach yeir by the rising Nile River.

The inundation of the Nileforced the populace to remeasutetheir property each year (thescience of surveying), and monitorthe heavens ( the science ofastronomy), so they could predictwhen the river would flood.

The ancient Egypt ian'srel ie ion taueht that a l l h isoossjssions nee-ded to be protectedior etemity. This gave rise to thedesire to b ui ld permanentstructures of stone (the science ofengineering).

Also, art ist ic conventionswe re str ict . Paint ings, wal l

out in exact ing, geome tr icproponions.

Al l of these act iv i t iesrequired an understanding ofari thmetic ( including adding,subtracting, mult iplying, anddividing), an understanding ofgeometry (to compute angles, andvolumes), and an understanding ofstandards of construction andcommerce (weights, measures andlengths). The Greek philosopherAr istot le. te l ls us that " themathmetical sciences originated inEgypr"

However, it is in the practicalaoolications of these conceDts thatth i Egypt ians so marveiou slyexcelled.

The science of surveying

The ancient Egyptians foundit necessary to recalculate propertyboundaries after the annual floodwaters receded each year. Theharpenodaptai, or rope stretchersusecl knotted cords and boundaryreference markers to determineDroDertv I ine s. Measurementsieoriired a standard of length. Inan6ient Egypt the "cubit" us-ed wasequal to 20.6 inches, supposedlythe distance between the royalelbow and the tip of the middlefinger. The Egyptian name forthis unit was the meh. The mehwas subdivided into 7 "palms "called shesep, each of which werefurther subdivided into 4 digitscalled djebao (fingers)

One hundred cubits equalleda lensth cal led a khet, thecomnion uni t used in landsurveying. Land areas weremeasured in setat, or "squarekh.e.t, " equal to 10,000 squarecuDlts.

Since land ownershiP claimsand the resultant wealth of thepeople's harvests (and the king's

taxation!) were in the hands of thesurveyors, they held importantoosi t ions in the qovernment.Surveying insmrme-nts were oftenolaced in the scribe's tomb for hisuse in the afterlife.

Applications in engineering

The scribe Ahmose, whocopied the Rhind papyrus duringthe Middle Kingdom of Egypt,tel ls us at the beginning of thescroll that the title of the work is,"the correct method of reckoning,for grasping the meaning of thingsand knowing everything that is."He goes on to ta lk about themysteries, obscurities and secretscontained in the papyrus. TheDaDvrus contains problems ofgeometry. and algebra. Althoughno formal proofs are contained inthe oapwi, such as one would findin th6 -more modern Greekmanuscripts, the ancient Egyptiansknew how to calculate the area ofthe circle (requires an accurateapproximation for qi), areas ofgeometric figures and volumes ofgeometric solids.

These papyri problems wereused to train the architects andengineers of ancient Egypt, muchas textbooks do today.

Some of the problems listedon the papyrus involve practicalbui ld ing proj ec ts, such asconstruct ing Pyramids. Tomeasure the slope of a PYramid,the Egypt ians used a concepteouivalent to the cotangent of anariele. called the sekedl It is thest ;eDness eq uivalent to therecio'rocal of ihe "rise" over the"ruir" . In the old k ingdomovramids the seked was either 5ii2 (the step pwamid and Khufu'spyramid slirfel, or 5 1/4 (Kafre'spyramid slope).

See Science on pg. :7

Egyptians

and statuary were all laid

The Ostracon is p ubl i sh edrly by members of The ESircietv at ttre Museum of

2001 Colorado Blvd., Denver. The ESS is a non-profit

whose purpose is to studyient Egypt. Articles are contribuaedmembers on a voluntary basis.

participation is encouraged.mav be orinted in whole or in

Editors:BarbaraFenton 778-8178Jonna C. Castle 333-5396Desk-toD DublishinsJav C. Cistte - 33r-0767Meiinbershioinfo 370-6368' 220-1226

lvlay, 1990 The Ostracon Page 5

Members traveling to Egypt with the first ESS study trip have doneresearch related to their particular interests. New findings,research information and develooments from that studv will bepresented in a series of articles.

Studying the pyramids

The pyramids of Egypt havelong been a topic of wonder anddebate. In the first century BC,Diodorus Siculus wrote in Book Iof Historical Library: "they areamong the seven most famousworks of the world. " Many otherscholars would study these ancientsffucturcs to see what secrets theywould y ie ld. Fol lowing is aglimpse into the findings of someof the pyramids and tombs of theOld Kingdom.

First and second dynasty

In uacing the early stages ofthe architectural development ofthe pyramid, W.B. Emeryexcavated at the Saqqara site whathave become known as mastabas.Mastabas, from the Arabic wordmeaning bench, were developedby the early dynastic kings as atype of super-structure over theburial pit; a type of safeguard toprotect grave s f rom beingdestroyed. The oldest mastaba atSaqqara has been dated to thereign of Aha, second king of theFirst Dynasty. Mastabas, such asthose associated with Aha. wererepl icas of royal palaces, thusgiving form to the theory that thetomb was intended as a olacewhere the deceased would ipendeErrury.

The kings of the First andSecond Dynasty also possessedanother type of memorial in asecond location: Abvdos. These

memorials are known as acenotaph, a monument to oneburied elsewhere. In his book,The Pyramids of Egypt, I .E.S.Edwards offers two explanationsfor the two locations. Abvdosheld a position of importanc6 dueto i ts associat ion with the godOsir is and i t was the ancesiralhome ofthe early kings. Saqqarawas the actual bur ia l p lacebecause of i ts proximity to thecapital of Memphis. Anothertheory is that Abydos symbolizedthe king's rule over upper Egypt,while Saqqara was the counterpartfor his rulership over LowerEgypt.

Third dynasty

The use of stone in thebuilding of tombs above groundbegan in the Third Dynasty. Theinnovat ive archi tect of th isprocedure was Imhotep, thebuilder of the Step Pyramid ofDjoser. Imhotep was as legendaryas the king for whom he designedthe tomb.

The Step Pyramid rises to204 feet above ground in s ixunequal steps. The pyramidshows obvious changes in designplans. The pyramid started out as amastaba, which then became thelowest stage of a four-steppedpyramid. At the fourth step of thepyramid, the design changed yetagain, with the final plan adding alittle to each side and rising to thecompleted sixth stage, The StepPwamid is the central feature in a

complex of bui ld ings andcourtydds, surrounded by a stonewall

This complex was designedto afford Djoser the setting toreDeat his heb-sed in his afterlife.Edwards identifies heb-sed as ajubilee ceremony of renewal, towhich every Old Kingdompharaoh was ent i t led af teroccupying the tkone for a cenainnumber of years, the exact periodvarying from time to time duringancient history. The most strikingportion of the heb-sed was there-enactment of the coronation,where the k ing received thepermission of the gods of Upperand Lower Egypt to continue hisre1gn,

Djoser's pytamid would be aparadigm for his successors in theThird Dynasty. In 1951 thePyramid of Sekhemkhet wasexcavated. Since Sekhemkhet'sreign lasted only six years, hispyramid was never completed.With the excavation of the tomb,there were hopes that i t wouldhold the body ofthe king. Therewas no evidence that robbers hadever penetrated the depths of thetomb. The discovery of thesarcophagus, a magnif icentalabaster coffin, showed that itwas still sealed with the remains ofa wreath on top of the l id.However, when tlie sarcophaguswas opened, it was empty. Twotheories are that the body wasstolen as part of a conspiracyduring the burial, or that thetomb/sarcophagus was intended tobe a dummy, with the body buriedelsewhere,

Fourth dynasty

The Fourth Dynasty beganthe transition of the step pyramidto what is the true pyramid, astructure with a souare base andsides sloping inwa:rd to the point

Journey to the past

Page 6 The OsEacon MaY, 1990

of the summit. The Pyramid ofMeidum is a good example of.thistransit ion, Meidum, the tombprobably begun by Huni andfinished by Seneferu, the first kingof the Fourth Dynasty, bearsgraff i t i . Some of the graff i t ishows that a scribe of the cult ofKing Tuthmosis I visited the tombon "the twelfth day of the fourthmonth of summer in the forty-fustyear of the reign of Tuthmosis III."

The bent pyramid

Also built by Seneferu wasthe bent pyramid, so cal ledbecause of the way the angle ofincrease changes from 54 degrees31 minutes to 43 degrees 21minutes. It also shows that thedesign changed dur ingconstruction, probably due to thecollapse of Meidum. The bentpyramid has a distinction amongpyramids of the Old Kingdom inhaving two entrances. Its secondpassageway faces south, the onlyknown instance of an OldKingdom corridor differing fromthe usual north facing. The reasonfor th is could be to providesupport, and to counter lateralprcssure on the walls.

North of the bont pyramidstands the red pyramid, the earliesttomb to be comoleted as a truepyramid. This also belonged toSeneferu, according to Edwards,because Seneferu's so-cal ledHorus name, Neb-maet, waswritten in red ochre on a casingblock found at the northeast cornerof the pyramid.

The Giza pyramids

Khufu, Seneferu's son andsuccessor, was motivated by hisfather's ambitious constructionsand chose a plateau on the edge ofthe desen that would be the site ofthe most famous group ofmonuments in the world: the

The Step Pyramid erbvre.

Pyramids of Khufu, Kafre andMenkaure. These pyramids aresometimes known by the Greeknames of Cheops, Chephren andMycerinus.

The great pyrarnid

' Khufu's pyramid, a l soknown as the great pyramid, earnsi ts t i t le just ly. I t has beencalculated that St. Pe ter 'sCathedral, St. Paul's Cathedral,Westminster Abbey, as well as theCathedrals of Florence and Milan,could be grouped inside the areaof its base. \n 1925, J.H. Cole ofthe Survey Department of theEgyptian govemment ascertainedthe following measurements of thebase: north, 755.43 feet; south/)o,uu teet; west /)5. / / teet; east,755.88 feet. The greatestdifference between the longest andshortest side is only 7.9 inches andthe area covered by the base is13.1 acres.

The pyramid has thre echambers: The king's chamber,the uncomplgted queen's chamberand the unfinished lower burialchamber. Outside of the pyramidl ie boat-shaped pits where onewooden boat was discovered in1954. Many scholars bel ievethese buried boats were intendedto provide the deceased king witha mode of transportation in the

afterlife. It would be needed forjoining the Sun God on his dailyjourneys and for reaching the godsthat l ived beyond the easternhor izon. However, there isevidence that at least one buriedboat was actual ly used in thewater, thus giving a differentviewpoint to the fust theory.

Khufu learned a lesson fromthe mistakes made in hir father'scollapsed pyramid of Meidum andadded stability to his pyramid bydesigning a very slight inward tiltto tne structure.

The information and theoriesassociated with the pyramid andits role in the lives of the ancientEgyptians are vast. For furtherreading on this subject, the readermight refer to The Riddle of thePyramids by Mendelssohn; ThePyramids by Fakhry; The Worldof the Pharaohs by Hobson.

By Dennis McDonald

Dennis is one of the founders ofthe ESS.

Reference:The Pyramids of Egypt by I.E.S.Edwards

Sciences, continued

Measured in palms of lateraldisplacement per cubit 7 palmsvert ical drop, several sekedscalculated in-the Rhind papyruscorresoond to these later values at5 palnis and I finger (per cubit), or5 U4.

Skilled at working in stone,the ancient Egyptians appliedthese mathematical methods ofmeasuring and calculating lengths,areas, volumes and slopes intobui ld ing t ru ly monumentalstructues which have, for the mostpart, survived the ravages of time.

The discovery of writing

The ear l iest set t lementsknown to man were located in thearea known today as dte Near East.Around 4000 BC, villages weretransformed into city-states, andpeople began to become veryspecial ized in their t rade s.Ancient merchants traveled fromtown to town, trading their waresand spreading culture via a processcalled "cultural diffusion. "

The early peoples of Egyptand Mesopotamia used writ tenrecords forlis$ of items and talliesof goods in a form ofpicture-writing. Writing musthave been a product and aconvenience of commerce,

These writ ings original lystarted as pictographicrepre sentation s, but then theyrapidly evolved just before 3100BC into phonet ic alp habe ts.Although both the Egyptian andMesopotamian civilizations spokea Semit ic language, wr i t ingappear.s to have de velopedsepararcly.

Several hundred years afterthe wr i t ten records began,however, it is clear that althoughsimi lar pr inciples may h aveoriginally been at work (perhaps

via cultural dif fusion) the twowriting systems were significantlydifferent. Egyptian hieroglyphsbesan to be wri t ten in anabbieviated form with a reed penon papyrus in a shorthand sciiptcal led hierat ic; wherea s theMesopotamian script by this timehad changed into wedge-shapedsymbols called cuneiform, whichwere inscribed on wet clay tabletswith a stylus.

Standards of commerce

The values of d i f ferentarticles during the times of theRamesside kings (approximately1150 BC) were expressed in termsof deben and kitay of gold, silver,or copper. The deben was astandard metal r ing weighingsome 91 grams (or 3 ounces). Akitay was 1/10 of a deben. Forsmaller weights, fract ions of akitay were used.

Dry volume measurementsfor grain were by the jar. Thebase measurement of these jarswas called a hekat, 4.54 litres (or al i t t le over a gal lon). Sixteenhekats made a sackful, called akhar.

A curious kind of primitiveexpression for fractions, obtainedby successive halving, is found inthe wedjat eye.

The wedjat represents theeye of the falcon-headed godHorus. Taken apart, and thenrestored, in Egyptian mythologythe Horus eye is really a numericalseries which sums to 63/64.

d@Gq

Liquid volume moasurementswere standardized to 1/10 of ahekat, called the hin. In practice,l iquids were measured by thejugful, the jug being inscribedwith its capacity in hin. The valueof the hin was close to half a lire,

A uni t of measure of thestrength of beer or bread was thepesu. I t was a measure of theamount of grain used to make theloaf of bread or jug of beer. If onehekat of grain made one loaf ofbread, the pesu was one. If onehekat of grain made two jugs ofbeer, the pesu was two. TheRhind mathematical papyrus hasten posu problems, Modernauthorities call the pesu the bakingration. The greater the pesu, thelower the nutrition value of thebread or beer. Temple offeringlists often included the pesu of thefood being donated. Nothing butthe best for the gods, it seems.

By David Pepper

This is the conclusion of atwo-part article written by David.The first part was published in thefirst quarter isssue under the title"Counting and accounting; theancient way."

References:The History of Mathematicsby David M. Burton; Allynand Bacon, Inc.The Story of Civilizationby Will Durant;Simon & ShusterMathematics in the Tirne of theP haraohsby Richard J. Gillings; The MITPres sA Sumey of Mathematicsby Vivian Shaw Groza;Holt. Reinhart & Winston

,,,t\*,

Page 8 The Ostracon May, 1990

Modern calendar originatedin ancient times

In prehistoric t ime keeping track of the days was relat ivelyunimportant. Three seasons were sufficient for the needs of the people:the germination season, the worm haryest season and the inundation (orflood) season.

Around 4200 BC it becamenecessary for an accurate means ofkeeplng count ot days ano years.A year was devised of twelvemonths of thirty days each. Eachday consisted of twelve hours ofdayl ight and twelve hours ofdarkness. Previously, the fust dayof the year began when the dogstar Sirius appeared at the sametime as the sunrise on the easternhorizon. However, it was foundthat the appearance of Sir iusoccurred five days before thebeginning of inundation. Howcould the Nile dwellers accountfor five additional days?

According to mythology

The people called upon thegods for an explanation. The godRa, creator of all living things wasthe parent of the f irst divine

couple, Shu and Tefnut, who werethe parents of Nut (the sky) andGeb (the earth). Nut and Gebmade grandfather Ra very angryand he told them Nut could notbear a child in any month of.theyear. Nut at the time was verypregnant with Osir is, Isis, Set,Neohthes and Horus. One canimdgine the shock and horror thatcame over the couple.

They implored Thoth, god ofmagic, for help. Taking pity onthe couple, Thoth played a gameof senet with the moon in whichhe won U72nd of the light of themoon. With th is l ight hefashioned five extra days and Nutdelivered one of her children oneach day. The birthdays of thef ive div ine chi ldren werethereafter celebrated as holidays.

Intense observation of theheavens was carr ied out inorehistor ic t imes and thei :onstruct ion of a pract icalcalendar began. The Egyptianyear of 365 days was not quite inaccord with the ffue solar yearwhich had an additional ouarter ofa day. The rising of Sothis (Siriusthe dog star) was affected by thiserror and accounted for the loss ofa quarter day every four years.The Egypt i an calendar wasadopted by the Greeks andRomans who developed theconcept of leap year and is thecalendar in present use.

By Frank Pettee

Frank is a founder of ESS,on the board of directors and hascompleted his fourft trip to Egypt.

References:Archaic EglptbyW.B. EmeryThe Culture ofAncient Egyptby J.A. WilsonEgyptian Mythologyby Veronica IonsAncient Egyptby E. Manchip White

l{:ff*orru ?q{r?:MFf , f f i , ry [1615tNMtt l ! - l l^ [ | l \

r= r.5

Ricci's drawing, published by Champollion, of a part of the 'Opening of tle Mouth'ceremony from ihe walls of the tomb of Seti I. From Valley of the Kings by John Romer

flouseof 6uollsBook Review

Valley Of The Kingsbv John RomerZ'8t pgs. illustrated $29.95New York: Henrv HoIt andCompany, 1981

These words from JohnRomer in Valley of the Kings arcthe essence of his exquisitelywritten and authoritative book. Inhis first book he weaves togetherthe stor ies of the Europeanarcheologists who journeyed thereto uncover the majesty that layhidden for thousands of years.

Romer's fascination with theValley started in 1966 when hefirst visited the site as a recentgraduate of the Royal College ofArt in London and was given theassignment to draw the wall reliefsand paintings on the tombs. It wasthen he noted " that there issomething very particular in the airof the place; i t is as i f therock-bound tombs radiate a strongpresence of an incomprehensibleand distant oast." He returned in1977 whe-n he organized an

expedi t ion that would beconcerned with the documentationand conservation of the tombs. InL979 he continued his effortswhen he helped establ ish theTheban Foundation, whose goal isto help preserve the tombs.

The opening chapters of thebook help set the stage for theadventures that follow. Romergives the reader a v iv iddescription of the landscape whileoutlining the history of the NewKingdom. He then delves into thephilosophy and bel iefs of thefunerary rites of the kings withthese poetic thoughts written bythe ancient people:

King Tuthmosis III went upto heavenHe was uni ted wi th thesundisk;The body of the god joinedhim who had made him.When the next rnorningdawnedThe sun disk shone forth,The slq became bright,King Amenhotept I I wasinstalled on the throne of hisfather.

When the Europeans Eaveledto the Valley, we learned moreabout the oharaohs and theirtombs thfough their eyes.Napoleon's campaigns into Egyptbrought along Baron VivantDenon, who helped establish thecollections of the Louwe and whowrote of the natural gate thatguarded the Valley, which since

has been destroyed to provide aroad for buses and cars. ThroughRomer's description we "see" thehigh narrow crack in the steepcliffs and get a feel for how it wasso many yea$ ago,

Throughout the pages of thisbeautifully illustrated book, wemake the acquaintance of suchhistorically significant figures asJean Paul Champollion, GiovanniBat ista Belzoni , Sir GastonMasoero and Howard Carter.Romer gives thorough details oftheir excavations, while educatingthe reader on the royalty of theEighteenth, Nineteenth andTwentieth Dynasties and theirmagnificent tombs.

Amenhot p UI-a tuawing in histofib copied byNestor i H61.ol champollion s

For anyone who wishes toembark on a study of the Valley orto read a definitive book on thesubject, Valley of the Kizgs willgive the reader many hours ofenjoyment while traveling back intime to where "the rock-boundtombs radiate a strong presence ofan incomprehensible and distantpast."

Reviewed by Barbara Fenton

Barbara is on the Board ofDirectors and ot The Ostaconstaff.

"Scratch uoon a rock on thesecliffs or deserts-of the Nile Valleyand the mark is left forever; it is atimeless olace.,.,Some of the cliffsof Thebes have drawings andwritings on them that chronicle allthe time that man has passed in theNile Vallev..,the careful recolds ofthe ancient Egyptian scribes ontours of inspection of the tombs,and modern archaeologists who

The Stone Column

In keeping with the focus of current work in Egyptology, this column willhighlight up-to-date news and information conceming recent discoveries, newnational and intemational exhibitions and conversations with kev individualswho are deVoted to the study of ancient Egypt,

A March 29 telephone conversation with Dr. Zahi Hawass, director general ofthe Giza Plateau and Saqqara, centered around the newly announced fuscoveryof the remains of the Valley Temple of Pharaoh Khufu, builder of the GreatPyramid. Dr. Hawass was extremely excited about the uncovering of a59-foot-long row of basalt rocks which he labeled as the "main prize"-the floorof the valley temple! He indicated that the find had been uncovered by workersinvolved in a UShnanced sewage project near the canal at Nazlett el-S"amman, avillage located at the foot of the Giza plateau. Dr. Hawass feels that thisdiscovery will confirm some of his personally held theories concerning thelayout of the plateau area, and help piece together the little-known history ofKhufu (also known as Cheops), whose 23-year reign ended in 2528 B.C.

Dr. Hawass ended the conversation by suggesting that the Ess-sponsored visitto the Giza Plateajust a few weeks prior to the find, had been the "blessing" thatallowed this geat discovery!

By Barbara StoneDMNIVESS Staff Liaison

Denver MuseumOf Natural History2001 Colo. Blvd.Denver, CoIo. 80205

EGYPTIANSTUDYSOCIETYExecutlva BoardPrssid€nt: Bob KronzsrVice PresidenVPrssident Elsct: Dorolhy SatlordSecretary: Nancy Jonei5gcrgrary: Nancrr/ JonTreasurdr: David PeoI reasur€r: uavto FeppslDMNH Statf Liaison: Barbara Stone

'1989-90 OtllcotsJonna CastleDon HuohesGary KniooAxel KoemsrJudy Slivinsky

1990-91 OflecorgBarbara FentonKsn Hgnd€rsonFrank PetteeRuth VaianaDob Wingfield