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Pyramid and Mortuary Temple of Unas |
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Unas (Wenis) reigned at the end of Dynasty V, for a period of up to 30
years. His pyramid at Saqqara, although the smallest of the Old
Kingdom pyramids, reflects his long reign in the intricately carved
hieroglyphic decoration of the inner chambers - the earliest known
example of the 'Pyramid Texts'. Before his time (with the exception of
Djoser's monuments) all of the known pyramids had been undecorated. |
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The pyramid itself looks unremarkable, little more than a large heap
of rubble which is dwarfed by its older neighbour, the Step Pyramid of
Djoser. The structure was first investigated by Gaston Maspero in 1881
who had been collating a corpus of texts found in other Dynasty V and
VI pyramids and he was the first to enter Unas's subterranean
chambers. The pyramid and part of the mortuary temple was excavated by
Alexandre Barsanti on behalf of Maspero at the turn of the 20th
century, and investigation of the mortuary temple and causeway was
later continued by Cecil Firth, Jean-Philippe Lauer and others up to
the present time.
The structure's core of rough limestone blocks diminished in size
towards the top of its six layers and had a casing of blocks of fine
white limestone (now only remaining on the lowest levels).
The entrance to the pyramid was found on the north side, opening at
ground level in the pavement of the court beneath a small entrance
chapel. A passage slopes down to meet a corridor and horizontal
passage which was originally blocked by three granite slabs. The
antechamber lies beneath the centre of the pyramid, with a room
containing 3 niches to the east and the burial chamber to the west.
Following the plan of other pyramids of this period the roof of the
burial chamber was gabled - but the ceiling was painted with golden
stars on a deep blue background to represent the night sky. White
alabaster lined the walls of the burial chamber. This was incised and
painted on the west wall, with designs in black, white, yellow, blue
and red, intended to imitate the wooden structure covered by reed wall
hangings of a royal palace or a niched archaic mastaba. More notably,
Unas was the first king to have texts inscribed on the walls of his
final resting place. |
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Columns of beautifully carved blue painted hieroglyphs on the
remaining walls of the burial chamber, antechamber and parts of the
passages depict 283 'spells' which were part of a body of texts known
today as the 'Pyramid Texts'. These texts, comprising almost 800 known
'spells' or 'utterances', describe the different stages of royal
rebirth and were intended to safeguard his (or her) journey from death
to the Netherworld, presumably to be read by the deceased. It is
thought that the texts were probably composed by the priests of the
Heliopolitan sun cult, but may have had a predynastic origin. No
single pyramid contains the whole collection of spells and there was
no standard edition. One of the texts in Unas's pyramid (utterances
273-4) is referred to as the 'cannibal hymn', which describes
'swallowing the spirits of the gods'. It is suggested that this may be
a remnant of an extinct funerary practice such as human sacrifice,
though there is no evidence for this in Old Kingdom Egypt.
Pyramid Texts have been found in five kings' pyramids of Dynasties V
to VI (Unas, Teti, Pepy I, Merenre and Pepy II) and in the Dynasty
VIII pyramid of King Ibi, as well as a few queens' pyramids. Maspero
collected more than 4000 lines of text from the pyramids he
investigated. The inscriptions are thought to be the earliest corpus
of religious expression from anywhere in the world and were the
forerunner to later coffin texts and the texts commonly called the
'Book of the Dead' (which include much of the content of the Pyramid
Texts) in later royal tombs.
Unas's sarcophagus of greywacke was sunk into the floor on the western
side of the burial chamber, with his canopic chest at its foot. Only a
few mummified fragments of bone were found remaining from the burial
(now in Cairo Museum), but it is not clear whether they belonged to
Unas.
The mortuary temple on the eastern side of Unas's pyramid is now
largely destroyed, but followed the plan of his predecessor Djedkare.
The king following Unas was Teti, who built a red granite gateway at
the entrance to the temple and commemorated the act by inscribing his
name and titles. The entrance hall was paved with alabaster, the walls
decorated with offering reliefs and led to an open court with 18
elegant red granite palm-columns depicting the names of the Unas. A
transverse corridor had a staircase built into its western wall which
would have led to a roof terrace, the corridor dividing the outer and
inner parts of the temple. Here was a chapel with 5 statue niches, an
antechamber and the cult offering hall with its false door. Traces of
the pink granite false door, with an inscription referring to deities
protecting the souls of Nekhen and Buto, still remain, but there is
little else left of the mortuary temple. Many of the blocks and
columns were re-used in later monuments (especially in the Delta) and
the temple was also invaded by large shaft tombs of the Late Period,
adding to its destruction. A small satellite pyramid was situated on
the southern side of the mortuary temple, inside the enclosure wall.
On the southern side of the pyramid is part of an inscription by
Khaemwaset, son of Rameses II and priest of Heliopolis, who restored
many of the Old Kingdom monuments, including those of Unas, 1000 years
after they were built. To the north-east of the pyramid, two queens of
Unas, Nebet and Khenut, were buried in mastaba tombs.
A causeway links Unas's mortuary temple to his valley temple and must
have been very impressive in its time. It was excavated by Selim
Hassan in 1937 and is now the best surviving pyramid causeway. It
consisted of a covered passageway, 720m long, its interior surfaces
decorated with high quality reliefs depicting a range of colourful
scenes. The walls were lit by a slit in the roof of the causeway which
ran along the whole of its length. The theme of decoration on the
causeway walls progresses from the living world in the east to the
land of the dead in the west. It depicts scenes such as the
transportation of stone from Aswan, hunting scenes (including
giraffes, lions and leopards), agriculture, metalworking and battle
scenes, as well as royal rituals and vignettes from heb-sed
ceremonies. One haunting representation on the lower part of the
causeway was thought to be unique for the time, and portrayed
impoverished emaciated foreigners (probably Bedu tribes) who were
living a life of famine and hardship. Unfortunately parts of this
scene were missing and the explanation has been lost, but in recent
years a similar scene was found on older blocks from Sahure's
causeway. The scene appears to show the realities and hardships in Old
Kingdom Egypt and may also be connected with the 'Famine Stela' on
Sehel Island at Aswan, which supposedly documents a 7-year famine
during the reign of King Djoser. |
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On the upper part of the causeway a pair of boat-pits, 45m long, were
carved out of rock and encased in limestone blocks.
The survival of riverside pyramid structures has been poor, often
being used for the quarrying of stone for construction of later
monuments and Unas's valley temple is no exception. It probably lay at
the side of a lake with a harbour and a quay to give access to the
causeway. In the 1970s Ahmad Musa continued the work of former
Egyptian archaeologists by excavating the lower parts of the causeway
and the valley temple. On a terrace of the temple he found a greywacke
sarcophagus, similar in style to those of Menkaure and Shepseskaf,
which contained a mummy of an elderly man identified by an inscription
on his golden belt as 'King's son, Ptahshepses'.
See C H Harvey's website for a discussion of the
Pyramid Texts. |
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Entrance |
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Unas's causeway and valley temple has undergone a great deal of
reconstruction in recent years and it is possible to walk along the
paved causeway (the upper part is accessible from the ticket office)
towards the mortuary temple and pyramid. The interior of the pyramid
had been closed to visitors for a few years (due to damage to the
decoration from moisture) but is due to be rescheduled for opening
again. Meanwhile the Pyramid Texts may be seen in Teti's pyramid.
Remains of the valley temple can be seen from the road opposite the
ticket office. |
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