Charles Explorer logo
🇬🇧

SOME REFLECTIONS ON EMBALMER'S CACHE OF UDJAHORRESNET AT ABUSIR

Publication at Faculty of Arts |
2019

Abstract

The rather small Saite-Persian cemetery at Abusir was founded - judging from the foundation deposits of Udjahorresnet - at the very end of the 26th Dynasty when this part of the extensive necropolis of the ancient capital Memphis attracted the attention of several prominent members of the royal court. The cemetery consists of a cluster of huge and smaller Late Period shaft tombs discovered in a relatively good state ofpreservation.

Its founder, the famous Saite nobleman Udjahorresnet, together with other high dignitaries were - surprisingly - the first and only builders at this remotely situated site. Archaeological excavation and subsequent anthropological research by Professor Strouhal shows that albeit his mummy was no longer present, certainly due to the repeated robbery of the tomb, the poor remains of his embalmer's cache stored in a deep shaft dug in the south-western corner, within his funerary complex were preserved in sufficient quantity.

However, this cannot be say about its quality. All collected data, mainly his shabtis, severalfragments of magical bricks as well as a model of the offering table (Bares 1999: 66-67) indicates that Udjahorresnet was really buried in this newlyfounded cemetery - situated very close to the administrative centre of the country - and not in his native town Sais in the Western Delta or somewhere in Persia as was supposed to date.