{{Short description|Ancient Egyptian necropolis}} {{Infobox ancient site |name = Umm El Qa'ab |native_name = {{langx|ar|أم القعاب}} |alternate_name = |image = Umm el-Qaab.jpg |alt = |caption = General view of area, showing littering of pots |map_type = Egypt |relief=yes |map_alt = |map_size = 250 |location = Egypt |region = New Valley Governorate |coordinates = {{Coord|26|10.5|N|31|54.5|E|display=title,inline}} |type = |part_of = |length = |width = |area = |height = |builder = |material = |built = |abandoned = |epochs = |cultures = |dependency_of = |occupants = |event = |excavations = |archaeologists = |condition = |ownership = |management = |public_access = |website = |notes = }}'''Umm El Qaʻāb''' (sometimes romanised '''Umm El Gaʻab''', {{langx|ar|أم القعاب}}) is an archaeological site located at Abydos, Egypt.<ref>Toby Wilkinson, ''Early Dynastic Egypt'', Routledge, 1999</ref> Its modern name''',''' meaning "Mother of Pots", refers to the mound made of millions of broken pieces of pots which defines the landscape. Umm el Qa'ab contains evidence that the site is the cemetery for Egypt's predynastic proto-kings along with rulers of the 1st and 2nd dynasties. In addition to early royal tombs, evidence also suggests a link between the site, the cult of Osiris, and Osiris' annual festival.
The cemetery was likely founded during the Naqada I period (4,000 BCE) as evident from the tomb structures, pottery, and seal impressions excavated from the site. The location continued as a royal cemetery through the First Dynasty (2,950-2,775 BCE) and ended with the burial of only the last two kings of the Second Dynasty, Peribsen and Khasekhemy (2,650 BCE).<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kemp |first=Barry J. |date=December 1966 |title=Abydos and the Royal Tombs of the First Dynasty |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3855814 |journal=The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology |volume=52 |pages=13–22 |doi=10.2307/3855814|jstor=3855814 |url-access=subscription }}</ref>
The Pre and Early dynastic royal cemetery at Umm el-Qa'ab became a site of veneration and cultic practice beginning in the Middle Kingdom (1,938 BCE) and stayed in use for 1,500 years until the Ptolemaic Dynasty (305-30 BCE).<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=O'Connor |first=David B. |title=Abydos: Egypt's first pharaohs and the cult of Osiris |date=2011 |publisher=Thames & Hudson |isbn=978-0-500-28900-6 |edition=1. paperback |series=New aspects of antiquity |location=London}}</ref>
The tombs of this area were first excavated by Émile Amélineau in the 1890s and more systematically by Flinders Petrie between 1899 and 1901.<ref name="shawp67">Shaw, Ian. ''The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt.'' p. 67. Oxford University Press. 2000. {{ISBN|0-19-280458-8}}</ref> Since then the area has been excavated repeatedly by the German Archaeological Institute since the 1970s, which has allowed for a thorough reconstruction of the original layout and appearance of these tombs.<ref name="shawp67" />
==Pre-dynastic and Dynasty 0 tombs==
=== Cemetery U === [[File:Vessel with "Dancing" Women. Predynastic Vessel. Late Naqada I, from the tomb U-502 at Umm el-Qaab, Abydos. JE 99583 Cairo Museum.jpg|thumb|Vessel with "Dancing" Women. Predynastic Vessel. Late Naqada I, from the tomb U-502 at Umm El Qa'ab, Abydos (Cairo Museum, JE 99583)]] Cemetery U is located at the northern edge of Umm el-Qa'ab and inscriptions found in the tombs has been interpreted by Günter Dreyer as evidence of it being the burial site of 17 Egyptian proto-kings of the Naqada III period.<ref name=":0" /> Tomb U-j contains the bulk of evidence which supports the royal nature of the site.
=== Tomb U-j === Dated to Naqada IIIA2 (3,300 BCE), tomb U-j is the largest tomb found at Cemetery U and contains 12 separate chambers. In contrast to the earlier Predynastic pit tombs found at Cemetery U, tomb U-j's multichambered design was outlined by mud-brick walls and had a roof made from wooden beams.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Stevenson |first=Alice |date=December 2016 |title=The Egyptian Predynastic and State Formation |url=http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10814-016-9094-7 |journal=Journal of Archaeological Research |language=en |volume=24 |issue=4 |pages=421–468 |doi=10.1007/s10814-016-9094-7 |issn=1059-0161|doi-access=free }}</ref> Although the tomb had been subject to plundering, about 2000 ceramic vessels were recovered with nearly one third having been imported from Palestine. These ceramic vessels contained traces of tree-resin-infused wine, providing the first evidence of wine in Ancient Egypt.<ref name=":1" /> thumb|Ivory tags found at Cemetery U-j. In addition to ceramic vessels, tomb U-j also contained bowls carved out of obsidian and chests made from imported cedar. The presence of these items suggests the existence of an extensive trade network during the time the tombs were being constructed.<ref name=":1" /> Small ivory tags with hieroglyphics inscribed on them were also recovered from the tomb. These artifacts provide the earliest evidence of writing in Egypt.<ref name=":1" />
=== Evidence for Social Stratification === Analysis of Tomb U-j has led some scholars to believe that the origins of social stratification within Ancient Egypt can be found among the artifacts and burial practices found at the site. The British archaeologist, Alice Stevenson believes the ivory tags found in the tomb provide evidence for the existence of advanced administrative and bureaucratic organization.<ref name=":1" /> In addition to the evidence of writing found in the tomb, the burials themselves have been interpreted as providing evidence of a society which was becoming more stratified. Outside the cemeteries of Abydos, contemporary tombs found elsewhere in Egypt were becoming less complex when compared to burials excavated at Cemetery U. This has been interpreted as evidence of ritual specialization, an organized effort to restrict materials, and artisanship centered around the burials at Umm el-Qa'ab.<ref name=":1" /> * '''U-j''': Unknown ruler, but possibly Scorpion I found in tomb,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.historyofinformation.com/detail.php?id=3428|title = The Earliest Known Egyptian Writing : History of Information}}</ref> also possible pre dynastic ruler Bull is attested in one of the ivory tablets.<ref>Günter Dreyer: Umm el-Qaab I .: the predynastic royal tomb U-j and its early documents (= Umm el-Qaab, 1st volume). von Zabern, Mainz 1998, {{ISBN|3-8053-2486-3}}., pp. 87 & 176.</ref> * '''B1/B2''': Iry-Hor<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ucl.ac.uk/museums-static/digitalegypt//abydos/abydostombiryhor.html|title=Abydos Tomb of King Iry-Hor|website=www.ucl.ac.uk|accessdate=March 16, 2024}}</ref> * '''B7/B9''': Ka
==First Dynasty tombs==
=== Cemetery B === Cemetery B is located south of Cemetery U and contains the tombs of Egypt's First Dynasty king along with the last two kings of the Second Dynasty. Furthermore, inscriptional evidence found at isolated tombs also suggests the Dynasty 0 rulers, Qa'a, Iry-Hor, and Narmer, were buried at this site.<ref name=":0" /> The royal tombs located at Cemetery B were significantly larger and more architecturally complex when compared to their predynastic predecessors at Cemetery U. For instance, the First Dynasty ruler, King Djer, had a burial chamber of nearly 96 sq. m, while the burial chamber at Tomb U-j was only 20 sq. m.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> * '''B17/B18''': Narmer<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ucl.ac.uk/museums-static/digitalegypt//abydos/tomb17-18.html|title=Abydos tomb B 17/18 (tomb of Narmer ?)|website=www.ucl.ac.uk|accessdate=March 16, 2024}}</ref> * '''B10/B15/B19''': Aha<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.digitalegypt.ucl.ac.uk/abydos/abydostombhoraha.html|title=Abydos Tomb of King Aha|website=/www.digitalegypt.ucl.ac.uk}}</ref> * '''O''': Djer<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.digitalegypt.ucl.ac.uk/abydos/abydostombo.html|title=Abydos, Tomb O|website=/www.digitalegypt.ucl.ac.uk}}</ref> * '''Z''': Djet<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ucl.ac.uk/museums-static/digitalegypt//abydos/abydostombz.html|title=Abydos Tomb Z|website=www.ucl.ac.uk|accessdate=March 16, 2024}}</ref> * '''Y''': Merneith<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.digitalegypt.ucl.ac.uk/abydos/abydostomby.html |title=Abydos Tomb Y|website=www.digitalegypt.ucl.ac.uk}}</ref> * '''T''': Den<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.digitalegypt.ucl.ac.uk/abydos/abydostombt.html|title= Abydos Tomb T|website=www.digitalegypt.ucl.ac.uk}}</ref> * '''X''': Anedjib<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ucl.ac.uk/museums-static/digitalegypt//abydos/abydostombx.html|title=Abydos Tomb X|website=www.ucl.ac.uk|accessdate=March 16, 2024}}</ref> * '''U''': Semerkhet<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.digitalegypt.ucl.ac.uk/abydos/abydostombu.html |title=Abydos Tomb U|website=www.digitalegypt.ucl.ac.uk}}</ref> * '''Q''': Qa'a<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.digitalegypt.ucl.ac.uk/abydos/abydostombq.html|title=Abydos Tomb Q|website=www.digitalegypt.ucl.ac.uk}}</ref>
<gallery> File:Ummal-qaab.png|Tombs of the Egyptian 1st dynasty File:Pottery shred, from stump base of a jug. 1st Dynasty. From the Royal Tomb of Semerkhet at Umm el-Qa'ab, Abydos, Egypt. The Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, London.jpg|Pottery sherd, from stump base of a jug. 1st Dynasty. From the Royal Tomb of Semerkhet at Umm el-Qa'ab, Abydos, Egypt. Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, London </gallery>
===Human sacrifice and 1st Dynasty tombs=== Human sacrifice was practiced as part of the funerary rituals associated with the First Dynasty.<ref name="shawp68">Shaw, Ian. ''The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt.'' p. 68. Oxford University Press. 2000. {{ISBN|0-19-280458-8}}.</ref> The tomb of Djer is associated with the burials of 338 individuals thought to have been sacrificed.<ref name="shawp68"/> The people and animals sacrificed, such as asses, were expected to assist the pharaoh in the afterlife. It appears that Djer's courtiers were strangled and their tombs all closed at the same time.<ref>Payne, Keith (20 October 2009). [http://heritage-key.com/egypt/discovery-abydos-examining-work-penn-yale-ifa-joint-expedition "Discovery of Abydos: Examining the Work of the Penn-Yale-IFA Joint Expedition"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100205195944/http://heritage-key.com/egypt/discovery-abydos-examining-work-penn-yale-ifa-joint-expedition |date=2010-02-05 }}. ''Heritage Key''.</ref><ref>Payne, Keith "Exclusive Interview: Dr David O'Connor on the Abydos Expedition" ''Heritage Key'' 29 September 2009 [http://heritage-key.com/egypt/exclusive-interview-dr-david-oconnor-abydos-expedition] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20120708163751/http://heritage-key.com/egypt/exclusive-interview-dr-david-oconnor-abydos-expedition|date=2012-07-08}}</ref> For unknown reasons, this practice ended with the conclusion of the dynasty, with shabtis taking the place of actual people to aid the pharaohs with the work expected of them in the afterlife.<ref name="shawp68"/>
===Tomb stelas=== Many First and Second Dynasty pharaohs had tomb steles erected outside their tomb with their Serekh and their Horus name listed on it, which helps confirms the identity of the tomb owners. The following images shows the surviving tomb steles of pharaohs buried at Umm El Qa'ab. <gallery> File:Djer stela retouched.jpg|Djer File:P1060241 Louvre Stèle du roi-Serpent rwk.JPG|Djet File:Merneith stele.jpg|Merneith File:Motif gravé sur une vasque trouvée la tombe du roi Den.jpg|Den File:Semerkhet stele.jpg|Semerkhet File:CroppedStelaOfQaa (cropped).JPG|Qaa </gallery>
==Second Dynasty tombs== thumb|Tombs of the Egyptian 1st and 2nd dynasty At the beginning of the Second Dynasty (2,775 BCE), Egyptian kings were buried at Saqqara rather than Umm el-Qa'ab. However, this changed with the tombs of the dynasty's last two kings being located at Umm el-Qa'ab in Cemetery B.<ref name=":0" />
* '''P''': Peribsen.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ucl.ac.uk/museums-static/digitalegypt//abydos/abydostombp.html|title=Abydos Tomb P|website=www.ucl.ac.uk|accessdate=March 16, 2024}}</ref> A seal found in this tomb contains the first full sentence written in hieroglyphs.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://xoomer.virgilio.it/francescoraf/hesyra/pribsn.htm|title=Ash/Seth Peribsen|website=xoomer.virgilio.it|accessdate=March 16, 2024}}</ref> * '''V''': Khasekhemwy.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.digitalegypt.ucl.ac.uk/abydos/abydostombv.html|title=Abydos Tomb V|website=www.digitalegypt.ucl.ac.uk}}</ref> This tomb was on a massive scale, with several interconnecting mud-brick chambers, and the actual burial chamber being constructed of dressed limestone blocks. Its measurements were: 68.97 m long and 10.04-17.06 wide.<ref>{{Cite web |title= |url= |website=www.digitalegypt.ucl.ac.uk.}}</ref> When excavated by Petrie in 1901 it contained a scepter made from sard and banded with gold, limestone vases with golden covers, and a ewer and basin of bronze.{{Citation needed|date=January 2010}}
thumb|The site of Khasekhemwy's tomb, filled with sand
===Tomb stelas=== Note that Peribsen's stela is the only serekh to be topped with Seth instead of Horus (albeit the stele later had Seth erased), whereas Khasekhemwy's stela has both Horus and Seth on top of his serekh as a symbol of his reunification of Egypt. <gallery> File:TombStelaOfPeribsen-BritishMuseum-August21-08.jpg|Peribsen File:Khasekhemwy, name inscribed on door jamb (cropped).jpg|Khasekhemwy </gallery>
==Activity during the Second and Third Dynasty== There is evidence that the tombs at Umm el-Qa'ab were looted and burned in the late Second Dynasty during the time period between Nynetjer and Khasekhemwy, when the country was split and ruled by two successors due to the overly complex state administration of the whole of Egypt.<ref>Nicolas Grimal: ''A History of Ancient Egypt''. Wiley-Blackwell, Weinheim 1994, {{ISBN|978-0-631-19396-8}}, p. 55.</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Encyclopedia of the Pharaohs Volume 1: Predynastic to the Twentieth Dynasty 3300-1069 BC|last=Baker|first=Darrell D.|publisher=The American University in Cairo Press|year=2008|isbn=978-977-416-221-3|location=Egypt|page=95}}</ref>
On the east side of the Pyramid of Djoser at Saqqara, eleven shafts 32 m deep were constructed and annexed to horizontal tunnels for royal family members. These were incorporated into the pre-existing substructure as it expanded eastward. In the storerooms along here over 40,000 stone vessels were found, many of which predate Djoser.<ref name=" Kathryn A. Bard 2008">Kathryn A. Bard, ''An Introduction to the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt'' (Oxford: Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 2008), 128–133.</ref> Shafts I–V were used for the burials of royal family members, but shafts VI–XI were used as symbolic tombs for the grave goods of royal ancestors from dynasties I–II. More than 40,000 vessels, bowls and vases made of various kinds of stone were found in these galleries. Royal names such as of kings Den, Semerkhet, Nynetjer and Sekhemib were incised on the pots, showing they came from both the tombs in Umm el-Qa'ab and in Saqqara. It is now thought that Djoser once restored the original tombs of the ancestors after Egypt's reunification, and then sealed the grave goods in the galleries in an attempt to save them from further destruction.<ref name="Kathryn A. Bard 2008"/> Not a lot of info is provided on Abydos during the rest of the Old Kingdom of Egypt.
==Activity during the Tenth and Eleventh Dynasty== In the Teaching for King Merykara, the author, First Intermediate Period king of Egypt, Wahkare Khety address his son, the future king Merikare, advising him on how to be a good king, and how to avoid evil. In the text, the destruction of sacred territory at Abydos and Thinis is recorded; the king expresses remorse, as if accepting responsibility for the unthinkable that must have recurred throughout history – sacrilege in the name of the ruling king, subject to divine retribution during a judgment of the dead. This confirms that the tombs at Umm el-Qa'ab were looted again at the middle of the First Intermediate Period.<ref>{{cite book|title=Egyptian Religion|last=Morenz|first=Siegfried|publisher=Cornell University Press|year=1992|isbn=0-8014-8029-9|location=Egypt|page=128}}</ref><ref name=cah4667>William C. Hayes, op. cit. p. 466–67.</ref>
In the 14th year of the reign of Mentuhotep II, the conquest of the Thinite region by the Herakleopolitan kings occurred. However, the armies of Merikare apparently looted and desecrated the sacred tombs at Umm el-Qa'ab in the process, confirming the third time the tombs were looted. As a result, the 14th year of Mentuhotep's reign is indeed named ''Year of the crime of Thinis'' in later Egyptian records.<ref name="auto1">Callender, In: Ian Shaw (edit.), ''Oxford History of Ancient Egypt'', p. 140.</ref>
== Osiris Cult and Annual Festival == thumb|Osiris basalt statue found in Djer's tomb. Dedicated by king Khendjer of the 13th Dynasty and discovered by E. Amelineau Following the restorations of the tombs by the early Middle Kingdom pharaohs, Cult activity likely began at Umm el-Qa'ab during the 12th Dynasty reign of Senwosret I during the Middle Kingdom (1,919 BCE) and continued through until the Graeco-Roman Period, ending with the Ptolemaic Dynasty (305-30 BCE).<ref name=":0" /> Evidence of Osiris' affiliation with the site was highlighted after E. Amélineau discovered a basalt statue of Osiris in the refurbished tomb of king Djer.<ref name=":0" /> It was during Senwosret I's rule that a temple was built and dedicated to Osiris to the north of Umm el-Qa'ab with a processional valley linking the two sites.<ref name=":0" />
An annual festival dedicated to Osiris began during the Middle Kingdom and his temple became a site of pilgrimage. King Djer's tomb, now reinterpreted as Osiris' tomb, became inextricably linked to the temple as a result of the festival. The festival was held between July and September, coinciding with the annual inundation of the Nile.<ref name=":0" /> thumb|Greco-Roman period stela. Prayer to Osiris Priests associated with Osiris' cult would carry an image of the god out from his temple, travel along the processional valley, and bury the image at Umm el-Qa'ab. After burying the image, it would be ritualistically regenerated and returned to the temple along the same processional route.<ref name=":0" /> The processional route between Umm el-Qa'ab and the Osiris temple played an integral role during the festival as his myth was ceremonially reenacted along the route.<ref name=":0" /> The ritual significance of the causeway between Umm el-Qa'ab and Osiris' temple is further highlighted by Edouard Naville's discovery of six Osiris figures made of mud only 40 meters away from Djer's tomb.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Naville |first=Edouard |date=1914 |title=The Cemeteries of Abydos Part I. The Mixed Cemetery and Umm el-Ga'ab |journal=The Egypt Exploration Fund |pages=36 |via=CSUSB Library}}</ref>
The annual festival along with various cultic activities continued at Umm el-Qa'ab for around 1,500 years after being formally established. Chapter 169 of the Book of the Dead, a text found among New Kingdom and later period burials, directly references the annual festival.<ref name=":0" /> Aside from king Djer's tomb, tombs of other First Dynasty rulers such as Den and Qa'a were likely centers of cult practice. 18th Dynasty votive offerings were found near these early royal tombs in pits located 8 meters away from the burials.<ref name=":0" />
==Bibliography== Kemp, Barry J. “Abydos and the Royal Tombs of the First Dynasty.” The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 52 (1966): 13–22. https://doi.org/10.2307/3855814.
Naville, Edouard. The Cemeteries of Abydos Part I.: ''The Mixed Cemetery and Umm el-Ga'ab''. London: The Egypt Exploration Fund, 1914.
O’Connor, David B. Abydos: Egypt’s first pharaohs and the cult of Osiris. London: Thames & Hudson, 2011.
Stevenson, Alice. “The Egyptian Predynastic and State Formation.” Journal of Archaeological Research 24, no. 4 (2016): 421–68. http://www.jstor.org/stable/44983878.
==References== {{Reflist|2}}
== Further reading == * Dreyer, Günter et al. (1998–). ''Umm El-Qaab.'' Volumes I–VIII. Mainz/Wiesbaden: Zabern/Harrassowitz. * Günter Dreyer, ''[https://isac.uchicago.edu/sites/default/files/uploads/shared/docs/oimp33.pdf Tomb U-j: A Royal Burial of Dynasty 0 at Abydos (pp.127-136)]'' in Emily Teeter (editor) [https://isac.uchicago.edu/sites/default/files/uploads/shared/docs/oimp33.pdf Before the Pyramids: The Origins of Egyptian Civilization] The Oriental Institute of the Museum of Chicago 33, 2011 [https://web.archive.org/web/20230531212745/https://isac.uchicago.edu/sites/default/files/uploads/shared/docs/oimp33.pdf PDF]
==External links== * {{Commons category-inline}}
{{Landmarks of Abydos}} {{Authority control}}
Category:Abydos, Egypt sites Category:Tombs of ancient Egypt Category:Cemeteries in Egypt