DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.41333#0073
Sahure and his Cult-Complex in the Light of Tradition
ognise such a direct orientation of the above-men-
tioned diagonal to Heliopolis as the situation at Giza.
On the other hand, I find it far more interesting that
the “Abusir diagonal” is determined by monuments
of chronologically successive rulers, all of which con-
taining the hi element in its own designation (a cus-
tom that never appeared afterwards).25 Unfortunately,
I am still not able to explore the relevance of this
observation, if it has any at all.
Basically, under the early Vth dynasty, the cult-
complex of Sahure obtained the most prominent lo-
cation on the Abusir plateau, even acting as an inner
referential point for the placement of the royal com-
plexes of Noferirkare and Nofererfe in the following
years. The pattern of pyramid placement along an
imaginary axis, which can also be observed at Giza
was broken by Niuserre, whose large-scale building
activities on the spot, highly influenced by economic
factors as well, transformed the overall appearance
of the royal pyramid field into an assemblage of tombs
of the same bloodline.
The Sacrilege of the Cult-complex
The first trace of this process is the walled off
secondary entrance which BORCHARDT dated to
the late Old Kingdom; we are also informed that the
work has been carried out by the shm subdivision of
the imy-nfrt phyle.26The expansion of the dwelling
place of the mortuary priests and the cult personnel
25 Hri-b3-SShw-Rc; Br-Nfr-ir-kS-Rr; Ntr-bFNfrfRr.
26 L. BORCHARDT, Das Grabdenkmal des Konigs Sraihu-
Re I. Der Bau, Leipzig 1910 (hereinafter referred to as:
Grabdenkmal des Sra3hu-Re I), pp. 99-100.
27 K. BAER. Rank and Title in the Old Kingdom. The Struc-
ture of the Egyptian Administration in the Fifth and Sixth
Dynasties, Chicago 1960, pp. 109-159, Nos 360,452,458,
462,523,528,600.
28 BORCHARDT, Grabdenkmal des Sralhu-Re I, pp. 100;
GOEDICKE, Konigliche Dokumente aus dem alien Reich,
AA 14, Wiesbaden 1967, p. 226.
29 VERNER, Abusir, p. 89; L. BARES, Eine Statue des
Wurdentragen Sachmethotep und ihre Beziehung zum
Totenkult des Mittleren Reiches in Abusir, ZAS 112
(1985), p. 117.
30 The revivication of the cult extended to the whole of the
royal cemetery. Noferirkare: burials ot the funerary
priests at the eastern side of the pyramid temple
(BORCHARDT, Das Grabdenkmal des Konigs Nefer-ir-
kei-rer, Leipzig 1909, pp. 72ff.; BARES, ZAS 112 (1985),
p. 91; BARES, A Note to the Thirteenth Dynasty at
Abusir, VA 4/2 (1988), p. 117; VERNER, Abusir, pp. 89ff.),
entering and occupying sacred areas within the walls
of the temple as well as making private use of the cult
equipment and provision is a well demonstrated phe-
nomenon not exclusively at Abusir, but at various
places of the whole Memphite necropolis. Nonethe-
less, we can be certain that the mortuary cult of Sahure
himself was sustained at least until the end of the Vlth
dynasty, since at least eight mortuary priests served
in the cult-complex of Sahure under the reign of
Pepi II.27 The fragment that BORCHARDT came
upon in the area of the valley temple is apparently
a part of a royal decree, which might have also be-
longed to the second half of the Vlth dynasty.28
Restoration of the Cult in the Middle Kingdom
Recent Czech excavations have revealed that cen-
tral-Abusir ceased to be the cemetery of royalty and
the upper class nobility from the Old Kingdom
on.29 Another feature worth mentioning is the revivi-
fication of the mortuary cults of the Old Kingdom
rulers during the early Xllth dynasty. Typical Middle
Kingdom hemispherical cups, and fragments of
sealings were obtained from selected sectors of the
funerary complexes (e.g. Khentikaus II, Pyramid
Lepsius XXTV),30 and the suspected family burials
of the Middle Kingdom mortuary priests in the vicin-
ity of the Noferirkare and Niuserre complexes have
already been published by SCHAFER.
In the case of Sahure, the graffiti of Ameny and
traces of cult activity from the rear part of the temple,
from the area of the offering chapel (BARES, ZAS 112
(1985), p. 93). Khentikaus II: pottery characteristic of the
early Xllth dynasty (hemispherical cup), burial of a child
in the floor of the sarcophagus chamber (VERNER, The
Pyramid Complex of Khentkaus. Abusir III, Praha 1995,
pp. 19,42). Noferefre: burial of Huiankh inside the funerary
temple (BARES, VA 4/2 (1988), pp. 117,119 footnote 3;
BARES, The Necropolis at Abusir (South Field) in Mid-
dle Kingdom, in: Fifth International Congress of Egyp-
tology. Abstracts of Papers, Cairo 1988, p. 13; BARES,
ZAS 112 (1985), p. 93), pottery fragments characteristic of
the Xllth dynasty from the site of the northern-, or en-
trance-chapel (VERNER, Excavations at Abusir. Prelimi-
nary Report 1997/8, ZAS 126 (1999), pp. 70-76 and p. 71
footnote 6). Niuserre: cemetery of funerary priests in-
cluding Herishefhotep inside and around the funerary
temple and the causeway (H. SCHAFER, Priestergrdber
und andere Grabfunde vom Ende des Alten Reiches bis
zur Griechischen Zeit von Totentempel des Ne-user-re,
Leipzig 1908; VERNER, Abusir, pp. 90-91). Lepsius Pyr.
XXIV: pottery characteristic of the early Xllth dynasty
67
ognise such a direct orientation of the above-men-
tioned diagonal to Heliopolis as the situation at Giza.
On the other hand, I find it far more interesting that
the “Abusir diagonal” is determined by monuments
of chronologically successive rulers, all of which con-
taining the hi element in its own designation (a cus-
tom that never appeared afterwards).25 Unfortunately,
I am still not able to explore the relevance of this
observation, if it has any at all.
Basically, under the early Vth dynasty, the cult-
complex of Sahure obtained the most prominent lo-
cation on the Abusir plateau, even acting as an inner
referential point for the placement of the royal com-
plexes of Noferirkare and Nofererfe in the following
years. The pattern of pyramid placement along an
imaginary axis, which can also be observed at Giza
was broken by Niuserre, whose large-scale building
activities on the spot, highly influenced by economic
factors as well, transformed the overall appearance
of the royal pyramid field into an assemblage of tombs
of the same bloodline.
The Sacrilege of the Cult-complex
The first trace of this process is the walled off
secondary entrance which BORCHARDT dated to
the late Old Kingdom; we are also informed that the
work has been carried out by the shm subdivision of
the imy-nfrt phyle.26The expansion of the dwelling
place of the mortuary priests and the cult personnel
25 Hri-b3-SShw-Rc; Br-Nfr-ir-kS-Rr; Ntr-bFNfrfRr.
26 L. BORCHARDT, Das Grabdenkmal des Konigs Sraihu-
Re I. Der Bau, Leipzig 1910 (hereinafter referred to as:
Grabdenkmal des Sra3hu-Re I), pp. 99-100.
27 K. BAER. Rank and Title in the Old Kingdom. The Struc-
ture of the Egyptian Administration in the Fifth and Sixth
Dynasties, Chicago 1960, pp. 109-159, Nos 360,452,458,
462,523,528,600.
28 BORCHARDT, Grabdenkmal des Sralhu-Re I, pp. 100;
GOEDICKE, Konigliche Dokumente aus dem alien Reich,
AA 14, Wiesbaden 1967, p. 226.
29 VERNER, Abusir, p. 89; L. BARES, Eine Statue des
Wurdentragen Sachmethotep und ihre Beziehung zum
Totenkult des Mittleren Reiches in Abusir, ZAS 112
(1985), p. 117.
30 The revivication of the cult extended to the whole of the
royal cemetery. Noferirkare: burials ot the funerary
priests at the eastern side of the pyramid temple
(BORCHARDT, Das Grabdenkmal des Konigs Nefer-ir-
kei-rer, Leipzig 1909, pp. 72ff.; BARES, ZAS 112 (1985),
p. 91; BARES, A Note to the Thirteenth Dynasty at
Abusir, VA 4/2 (1988), p. 117; VERNER, Abusir, pp. 89ff.),
entering and occupying sacred areas within the walls
of the temple as well as making private use of the cult
equipment and provision is a well demonstrated phe-
nomenon not exclusively at Abusir, but at various
places of the whole Memphite necropolis. Nonethe-
less, we can be certain that the mortuary cult of Sahure
himself was sustained at least until the end of the Vlth
dynasty, since at least eight mortuary priests served
in the cult-complex of Sahure under the reign of
Pepi II.27 The fragment that BORCHARDT came
upon in the area of the valley temple is apparently
a part of a royal decree, which might have also be-
longed to the second half of the Vlth dynasty.28
Restoration of the Cult in the Middle Kingdom
Recent Czech excavations have revealed that cen-
tral-Abusir ceased to be the cemetery of royalty and
the upper class nobility from the Old Kingdom
on.29 Another feature worth mentioning is the revivi-
fication of the mortuary cults of the Old Kingdom
rulers during the early Xllth dynasty. Typical Middle
Kingdom hemispherical cups, and fragments of
sealings were obtained from selected sectors of the
funerary complexes (e.g. Khentikaus II, Pyramid
Lepsius XXTV),30 and the suspected family burials
of the Middle Kingdom mortuary priests in the vicin-
ity of the Noferirkare and Niuserre complexes have
already been published by SCHAFER.
In the case of Sahure, the graffiti of Ameny and
traces of cult activity from the rear part of the temple,
from the area of the offering chapel (BARES, ZAS 112
(1985), p. 93). Khentikaus II: pottery characteristic of the
early Xllth dynasty (hemispherical cup), burial of a child
in the floor of the sarcophagus chamber (VERNER, The
Pyramid Complex of Khentkaus. Abusir III, Praha 1995,
pp. 19,42). Noferefre: burial of Huiankh inside the funerary
temple (BARES, VA 4/2 (1988), pp. 117,119 footnote 3;
BARES, The Necropolis at Abusir (South Field) in Mid-
dle Kingdom, in: Fifth International Congress of Egyp-
tology. Abstracts of Papers, Cairo 1988, p. 13; BARES,
ZAS 112 (1985), p. 93), pottery fragments characteristic of
the Xllth dynasty from the site of the northern-, or en-
trance-chapel (VERNER, Excavations at Abusir. Prelimi-
nary Report 1997/8, ZAS 126 (1999), pp. 70-76 and p. 71
footnote 6). Niuserre: cemetery of funerary priests in-
cluding Herishefhotep inside and around the funerary
temple and the causeway (H. SCHAFER, Priestergrdber
und andere Grabfunde vom Ende des Alten Reiches bis
zur Griechischen Zeit von Totentempel des Ne-user-re,
Leipzig 1908; VERNER, Abusir, pp. 90-91). Lepsius Pyr.
XXIV: pottery characteristic of the early Xllth dynasty
67