III built their grand pyramids again at Dahshur. Most pyramids of the ensuing Thirteenth Dynasty have also been found at Dahshur. Excavations in recent years have also shown that there were huge cemeteries for officials of the Twelfth and early Thirteenth Dynasties at the site. They have not yet been explored, because Dahshur was for a long time a military zone and not available to excavate. This has changed only in the past few years with new American, German, and Japanese expeditions.
In 1894, however, the French archaeologist and director of the Egyptian Antiquities Service Jacques de Morgan excavated at Dahshur. Next to the pyramid of Amenemhat III de Morgan found two undisturbed burials. They were placed within a chain of burial shafts perhaps already built under Amenemhat III. It is unclear whether burials took place in his reign and were looted early on or the shafts were left empty and used only in the Thirteenth Dynasty. At present the latter option seems more likely, as there is no published trace of any Twelfth Dynasty use. Two burials belong to the Thirteenth Dynasty. One is that of King Hor, well known from his wooden statue now in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo and among its highlights; the other is that of the king’s daughter Nubhetepti-khered. In the same campaign de Morgan also excavated at the pyramid of King Senusret III. Around the pyramid he found the tombs of royal women, and in two he discovered untouched jewelry boxes.
BURIALS NEXT TO THE PYRAMID OF AMENEMHAT II
In the expedition of 1894 to 1895 de Morgan excavated at Dahshur near and in the pyramid of King Amenemhat II (Fig. 39). The pyramid is so poorly preserved that even its exact measurements are not yet known for certain. It is sometimes called the “white pyramid” because the remains of the limestone cladding dominate the color of the otherwise shapeless rubble heap of pyramid remains.
West of the pyramid, de Morgan found three underground galleries, each of which contained two burials. In one gallery were the tombs of the queen Keminub and the “treasurer” Amenhotep.105 Both were found disturbed. The burials belonged to the late Thirteenth Dynasty, perhaps around 1700 BCE.106 Only inscribed fragments of the coffins were found, or at least these are the only objects mentioned and depicted in the excavation report. They provide us with the names of the tomb owners.
39. Amenemhat II pyramid complex. The undisturbed burials are to the west. Drawn by the author.
The other galleries were found undisturbed, still containing a remarkable set of objects. They belonged to Ita and Khenmet and to Itaweret and Sathathormeryt (Fig. 40). In each of these galleries two burials were found belonging to women, three with the title “king’s daughter.” For a long time it was assumed that they were daughters of Amenemhat II and buried during his reign, but the evidence of the pottery in the tombs indicates that they were most likely buried under Amenemhat III. In one of the burials a scarab was found with the name of Amenemhat III. The relationship of these women to Amenemhat II is thus unclear, though it is still possible to argue that they were daughters of that king, who died and were buried one or two generations later.107
In the first excavation season de Morgan documented the burials of King Hor and Nubhetepti-khered in some detail; the documentation of the other four tombs in the second season appears superficial, leaving modern researchers with many open questions. Only for the tomb of Khenmet did de Morgan present a plan and remark that all the burials were similar in layout.108 However, it is easy to criticize the work of de Morgan today. Ideally modern archaeologists working in Egypt will photograph and draw all objects found, but in the nineteenth century archaeology was still in a phase of development. Excavations were often still seen as enterprises to acquire objects for museum collections. The publications are often very selective and concentrate on objects and architecture the excavators regarded as important. In Egyptian archaeology at that time this was more or less standard.
40. One of the gallery tombs found near the pyramid of Amenemhat II. They belonged to Itaweret and Sathathormeryt, as published by de Morgan. From de Morgan 1903, fig. 118.
Each princess was placed in a set of three coffins. There was an outer stone sarcophagus and within it a wooden rectangular coffin, partly covered with gold foil. This wooden coffin was simply decorated on the outside with two eyes and gold foil, but without any inscriptions. Only on the inside of the coffin were there long religious texts, some already known from the pyramids of the Old Kingdom and therefore labeled “Pyramid Texts” by Egyptologists. Within this wooden rectangular coffin there must once have been an anthropoid coffin. All traces of any of the anthropoid coffins had already been lost when the burials were excavated, only the gold foil once covering their outsides and the inlaid eyes being preserved. De Morgan failed to recognize these anthropoid coffins, but their presence can be assumed from better preserved parallels and from the description given by de Morgan in the excavation report. Next to each anthropoid coffin was a set of royal symbols and weapons also often connected with royalty.
THE BURIAL OF THE KING’S DAUGHTER ITA
The first gallery excavated by de Morgan’s team was found on 12 February 1895 and belonged to the king’s daughters Ita and Khenmet.
The gallery consisted of a long corridor with the tombs of the women cut underneath. When found, the corridor was completely filled and blocked with stones. The tomb of Ita109 consisted of two chambers, each just over 2 m long and 1 m wide and high. One chamber was fully occupied by the sarcophagus, while the other contained the burial goods. A small entrance, more a hole in the ground than a door, gave access from the corridor to the chamber for the burial goods, which is exactly under the corridor. The chamber for the sarcophagus was next to it and was entered via the roof, where there were the big blocks used to close it. The sarcophagus was most likely already in place when the whole complex was built; perhaps even the middle wooden coffin was placed here before the burial, leaving only Ita’s mummy in her anthropoid coffin to be interred.
As already indicated, Ita’s body was laid to rest in a set of three containers. The first was an outer sarcophagus in the form of a simple rectangular box with a vaulted lid with two raised ends. Then there was a partly gilded middle coffin (Fig. 41) inscribed only on the inside, and finally an innermost anthropoid coffin. The middle coffin was decorated on the outside with wedjat eyes and on the inside with religious texts written only in hieroglyphs in different colors.110 Several of them are spells spoken by Nut and Geb.111 The inner coffin was most likely made of thin wood with a fine plaster skin and overlaid with a substance described as bitumen.112 The head had eyes inlaid with silver and a headdress in blue with golden bands. The breast was decorated with a broad collar, to judge from the beads of the collar described by de Morgan.113
The body of Ita was adorned with an array of jewelry and other objects. She had a richly decorated dagger, which stands as one of the masterpieces of Egyptian metalwork (Fig. 42). Its handle consists of three parts. The pommel (the end of the handle) is crescent-shaped and made of lapis lazuli. The handle proper is covered with thirty rosettes. The lower end of the handle is made of gold and frames the upper end of the blade. The sheath of the dagger was made of some organic material, with only the mouth and lower end made of gold. It was most likely made specifically for the burial. The lower end of the handle was made of gold, a material too weak to support the pressure of the blade when used.114 The dagger was found near a girdle with a silver fastener.115 Daggers with a crescent-shaped pommel are of a type known from the Near East.116
