"From Lepsius to Borchardt. Archaeological investigations at the Fifth Dynasty Sun Temples in Abu Ghurab", in: Betrò, M., Miniaci, G. Eds. Talking along the Nile. Ippolito Rosellini,

Talking along the NileIppolito Rosellini, travellers and scholars of the 19th century in Egypt

edited by Marilina Betròand Gianluca Miniaci

Proceedings of the International Conference held on the occasionof the presentation of Progetto Rosellini. Pisa, June 14-16, 2012

Indice

Greetings and introductions

Massimo Mario Augello 9

Cosimo Bracci Torsi 11

Marilina Betrò 13

IlProgettoRoselliniMarilina Betrò 15

Contributions

19thcenturyepigraphersaskeytotheidentificationofBaqetIII’sbirdsinBeniHassanRozenn Bailleul-LeSuer-John Wyatt 19

Egyptinthe1840saccordingtoGeorgAugustWallinPatricia Berg 35

TheLorenaArchiveinPragueandthecollectionfromtheTuscanExpeditiontoEgyptintheFlorenceMuseumMarilina Betrò 43

GirolamoSegatoel’esplorazionedellaPiramidediGioseraSaqqara(dicembre1820-marzo1821)Edda Bresciani 59

Quelquesnotesd’historiographiesurlaChambredesAncêtresElisabeth Delange 69

DayafterdaywithFlindersPetrie.PocketdiariesfromthearchiveofthePetrieMuseumofEgyptianArchaeology,UniversityCollegeLondonPaolo Del Vesco 83

Lettere e Documenti di Bernardino DrovettiAccademiadelleScienzediTorino“Untesorettodioltremilledocumentiprivati”Laura Donatelli 93

WhoDiscovered“Belzoni’sTomb”?AGlimpsebehindtheScenesofEarlyExplorationandtheAntiquitiesTradeBeatrix Gessler-Löhr 101

Jean-FrançoisChampollionetlaNotice descriptiveSylvie Guichard 125

LetterediIppolitoRoselliniaMicheleArcangeloMigliariniMaria Cristina Guidotti 131

ÀlarecherchedeItj-Taouy/el-Licht.ÀproposdesdescriptionsetcartesdusiteauXIXesiècleDavid Lorand 137

TracingalinetomodernEgyptology:IppolitoRosellini,VladimirPropp,andthecryptohistoryofthe“DizionarioGeroglifico”Gianluca Miniaci 151

FromLepsiustoBorchardt:archaeologicalinvestigationsattheFifthDynastySunTemplesinAbuGhurabMassimiliano Nuzzolo 163

LememoriediAmaliaNizzoli:versounanuovaedizioneSergio Pernigotti 177

L’ereditàintellettualediIppolitoRosellininegliArchividiEgittologiadell’UniversitàdegliStudidiMilanoPatrizia Piacentini 187

CollectingTypes:Rosellini,Petrie,Montelius.ThebeforeandtheafterStephen Quirke 197

CarloVidua,egittologoitalianoAlessandro Roccati 211

NovitàsuTakerhebGloria Rosati 215

Catalogare,condividere,ricercareStrumentiwebalserviziodegliarchiviedell’archeologiaMarco Rufino-Federica Facchetti 223

TheMarquis’excavations.AtaleoftwodiariesPaul Whelan 229

Plates 257

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From Lepsius to Borchardt: archaeological investigations at the Fifth Dynasty

Sun Temples in Abu Ghurabmassimiliano nuzzolo

Nineteenth century explorers and scholars: an overview

Withtheirensembleofcultrooms,basins,mag-azines,altarsandreliefsofdifferentshapeandquality,sublimatedbythefirstexampleofwhatweusetocall“obelisk”,thesuntemplesoftheFifth Dynasty certainly represent one of themostintriguingmonumentsofancientEgyptianarchitecture.Nevertheless,thenorthernmostareaoftheAbu-sir plateau,where the two uncovered templesstill laytoday,wassystematicallyinvestigatedforthefirsttimeonlybytheGermanarchaeolo-gistLudwigBorchardtattheturnoftheNine-teenth and Twentieth Century, with the com-pleteexcavationofNiuserra’ssuntemple1,thefifthtempletohavebeenbuilt,andthesurveyofthesuntempleofUserkaf,thefounderoftheFifthDynasty2.However, throughout the Nineteenth Centurythis northern foothill of the Abusir plateau,which is currently calledAbuGhurab, under-went several explorations, among which it isworthmentioningfirstandforemostthatofCarlRichard Lepsius.TheGerman scholarwas infactthefirstonewhoexploredindetailtheareaofAbusir, including in hismaps not only theactualpyramids,buteven thesmallstructures–thathecalledhoweverpyramids–whichwillbelateridentifiedassuntemples3.

1 Borchardt1905.2 Borchardt1910,p.149-50.3 Although the area ofAbusir, beforeLepsius, did notparticularly attract the attention of explorers and trav-elers in the nineteenth century, it is worthmentioning

Theexplorationofthesuntemplesseemsthusto be so closely related to the pyramids fromboththecult-historicalandthearchaeological-topographicalstandpoint.UpuntilBorchardt’stime,or,tobemoreprecise,thepublicationofaveryimportantarticlebySetheinthenumber27ofthe“ZeitschriftfurÄgyptischenSprache”–year1889–theexistenceofthesuntempleswasinfactscompletelyunknowntoscholars4.Through the analysis of the auto-biographicalinscriptions of some private mastabas of thefifthdynasty,where thenamesof the templesweredeterminedwithahieroglyphicsigndif-ferentfromwhatwasthenormalsignforpyra-mids,Sethesuggestedtheexistenceofspecifictemplesdedicatedtothesungodwhichshouldhave been likely situated not so far from thepyramidsoftherespectivepharaohs,namelyinoraroundAbusir.Inthissensehewentastepfurther to Meyer who had previously arguedthat these hitherto unknown temples wouldhavebeenbuiltbyallpharaohsofthefifthdy-nastyasatributetothemaingodRa5.

three lithographieswhichclearlydepict theareaof thepyramids within theMemphite necropolis, namely theonesbyHectorHoreau,GiovanbattistaBelzoniandDa-vidRoberts.Horeau’s lithography, inparticular,clearlyshowsthethreemainpyramidsofAbusirinthemiddlebetweentheGizaandSaqqarapyramids,althoughwithanevidenttopographicaloffsetduetothepictorialpur-posesofthedrawing.Fortheimagesofthelithography,seeSimoën1989,p.58-9,110-1,130-1.4 Sethe1889,p.111-7.5 Meyer1886,p.71,n.2.Meyer actuallyproposed toidentify themound in the northernmost foothill of theAbusirplateauasasuntemple,althoughhedidnotman-agetoconnectthispyramid/suntempletothenameofits

massimiliano nuzzolo

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Forthisreason,untilBorchardt’stime,thesuntemplesareusuallydescribedaspyramidsinallthegeographicalmapsoftheNineteenthCentu-ry,asitisthecasenotonlywithLepsiusbutalsowiththetwomaingeographicalachievementsofthecentury,namelythe“Descriptiond’Egypte”oftheyear1808andtheplanoftheBritishex-plorersPerringandVysemadein1837-1838.As far as the Napoleonic map is concerned(Fig. 1), the geographers recorded the pres-enceof“pyramidesenruines”–certainlycor-responding to the actual, current pyramids ofAbusir – and of a very small structurewhichiscalled“Eminencequil’oncroitavoirétéunePyramide”, which appears to correspond toNiuserra’s sun temple6. The Frenchmaps didalsopreciselyrecordthesizeoftheAbusirlake,whichisalsoincludedinLepsiusmapbutdoesnotexistanymore.However,themaininterestofFrenchcartographerswasobviouslyfocusedon themost impressivepyramidsofGizaandSaqqaraaswellas theruinsof theoldcityofMemphis/MitRahinawhicharebothverywelldrawnanddocumented7.As to Perring and Vyse, their survey brieflyinvolved also the Abusir plateau8. However,they realizedadetailedmapof the solepyra-mids while they roughly recorded, with thenumber12,thepresenceofasmallbuildingonthe northernmost hill ofAbusir, the so-called“Reeghahpyramid”9.Intheirdescriptionofthe

realowner,i.e.Niuserra.TheGermanscholaralsosup-posedthattheMastabat-FaraunofShepseskafmightbeactuallyasanctuarydedicatedthesungod,whicheven-tuallyturnedouttobenotthecase.6 Description de l’Egypte1808,vol.V,pl.1.7 Description de l’Egypte1808,vol.V,pl.1.8 Theyalso introduced theplace-name“Abusir” in theofficial toponymy of themonuments ofAncient Egypttoindicatewhatwillbelateridentifiedastheroyalne-cropolisofthefifthdynasty.Infacts,thepreviousexplor-ersincludedthisareawithinthelargerpyramidfieldofSaqqara,usingthenameAbusirforthesoleareaofthelakeandthevillagearoundit,asitisthecase,forexam-ple,withtheNapoleonicmap.9 Vyse 1842, p. 12-3. This was also the pyramid thatMeyerproposedtoidentifyasasuntemple,althoughhedidnotmanage toconnect thepyramid to thenameofNiuserra.Seealsonote5inthepresentpaper.

archaeologicalarea,thesuntempleofUserkafhas no mention. Nonetheless, despite theirquick exploration, the two English scholarswereabletoverifythatthe“Reeghahpyramid”was a very impressive building completelymade instoneuponwhichseveralbrickbuilt,poor houses had been erected quite recently.AsBorchardthimselfsaysintheprefaceofthepublicationofthesuntempleofNiuserra10,thisapparentlyuselessdetailwasinfactsveryinter-estingforhimwhencomparedwiththeaccountofLepsiuswhodescribedthesamestructureasacompositebuildingmadeofstoneandmud-brick. Among the debris of the temple, Per-ringalsofoundsomewellpreserved,decoratedblockswiththenameofthetemple(^sp-ib-Ra)engravedon11.Aswewillseelater,theseblockswillbeparticularlyimportantfortherightinter-pretationofthebuildingasasuntemple.

Lepsius at Abusir/Abu Ghurab: old data and new perspectives

Inthemiddleofthe’40oftheNineteenthcenturyLepsiuswasthusthefirstexplorerandscientistto include thispartof theAbusirplateau inhismap(Fig.2).AsamatteroffactstheremainsofNiuserra’s sun temple,namedpyramidXV,aredrawnwithagreatdealofdetails12,alsoincludingthecausewayandthevalleytemplewithitstwolargecolumnsinthefaçade,towhichBorchardtwilllatergiveaprecisedescription.Forthefirsttime,Lepsius also included inhismap the suntempleofUserkaf,namedpyramidXVIIandlay-ingapproximately700m(950stepsaccordingtoLepsiusaccount)tothesouthofNiuserra’s13.Thetempleisdescribedasa80mbasestructure,withamaximumpreservedheightofaround3.6m(12feet).EveniftheplanbyLepsiusisnotsoaccurateastheonewhichwillberealizedbytheSwissscholarHerbertRickeafterhisexca-

10 Borchardt1905,p.3.11 Vyse 1842, p. 10-1. The scholar suggested that theblockswerebroughtherefromatemplenearby,whosenamewastheonerecordedintheinscription.12 Lepsius1849,p.129-30,pl.32.13 Lepsius1849,p.131,pl.32.

archaeological investigations at the fifth dynasty sun temples in abu ghurab

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vationofthetempleinthe’50ofthetwentiethcentury14,itisnonethelessquiteprecise.Moreo-ver,whatseemstobeparticularlyinterestinginLepsiusaccountisthefactthattheuppertempleofUserkaf’s solarcomplex,althoughenrichedby various kinds of precious stones (granite,limestone, quartzite), appeared to be alreadybadlypreserved inLepsius time.Thiselementraisesmanydoubtsonthethree-dimensionalre-constructionofthetempleitselfmadebyRicke,especiallyoftheobelisk,whosesizeandshape,asIpointedoutinmyPhDthesis,seemtohavebeenmodelledonNiuserra’ssuntempleobeliskratherthanrealarchaeologicalevidence15.In this context, however, it isworthmention-ingthepresenceofatleasttwobuildingswhicharesketchedinLepsius’smapandcompletelydisappear in later maps (Figs. 2-4). The firstonewas situated in the area between the suntemplesofUserkafandNiuserra,wherewecan

14 Ricke1965,pls.1-3.15 Nuzzolo2010,p.43-4.

clearlyrecognizeasquarestructure,closetothevalley,whichisnamedpyramidXVI.Lepsiusdescribes the building as a “Ziegelpyramide”(brick pyramid) with a base of around 75 mperfectly oriented on the cardinal points.Wehavenodataontheheightofthisallegedpyra-midbutthetermusedbyLepsiustodefinethebuilding,i.e.mudbrickhill(Berge),seemstofitwithaquitereliablestructure16.InDeMorgan’smap,madein1897,thebuild-ingintoaccountseemstoberecordedbutonlyasaverysmall,meaninglesspoint,missinganydescription(Figs.3-4)17.In1898,namelyonlyoneyearlater,BorchardtdidnotmentionatallthebuildinginhisreportofthearchaeologicalexcavationsinNiuserra’stemple18.

16 Lepsius1849,p.130-1,pl.32.17 DeMorgan1897,pl.11.18 However,hedidrecordthisstructureinhisbriefde-scriptionofUserkaf’ssuntemplewhichwasquicklyin-vestigatedduringhisexcavationofthepyramidofSahu-ra.Forthebibliography,seenote2inthepresentpaper.

Fig.1-DetailofNapoleon’smapoftheMemphitenecropolis(afterDescription 1808:vol.V,pl.1)comparedwithamodernsatelliteimageoftheareaofAbusir(GoogleEarth-June2012).


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Based on notesmade byLepsius in his note-bookontheshapeandtopographicalpositionofpyramidsXVIandXXVIII,theeditorsofLep-sius’swork(mainlySethe)havesuggestedthathemighthavemistakenastwopyramidswhatwasactuallyasingleone19.However,theremotesensingofsatelliteimagesseemstodemonstratethatthebuildingdidre-allyexist: throughtheanalysisofsatelliteim-ageryoftheareaintoaccountwecanestablishthe presence of archaeological remainswhichseem to be evenmore clearwhen confrontedwith the geographical map made in 1978 bytheEgyptianGovernmentwith theaimof the

19 Lepsius1849,p.138.

FrenchAviation(Figs.5-6)20.Inthelattermap,in facts, just between the two unearthed suntemples ofUserkaf andNiuserra,we can ob-servetheexistenceofatellwhichpresentsananomalousheight (28.6m) respect to thesur-roundingarea(whoseoverallheightisaround20m),anelementwhichisevenmorestrangefortheborderlinebetweenthecroplandandthedesertwherethetellitselfislocated21.Taking into account that out of the 6 templesknownfromtheepigraphicsourcesonly2have

20 EMHR1978,sheet21.21 Inthisregard,wecanalsonotethatalltheothervalleytemplesofbothpyramidsandsuntemplesaresituatedataheightofabout20m.SeetheplanofAbusirmentionedinthepreviousnote.

Fig.2-Lepsius’smapoftheAbusirplateau(afterLepsius1849,pl.32).


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Fig.3-DeMorgan’smapoftheAbusirplateau(afterDeMorgan1897,pl.11).

Fig.4-ComparisonbetweenthemapsofLepsius(left)andDeMorgan(right).Thefulllinesrepresentthemonumentstillstandingnowadaysonthefield;thedottedlinesrepresentthetwomissingpyramids“LepsiusXVI”and“LepsiusXXVIII”.


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beenexcavated,andthataccordingtotheAbu-sirPapyri the templesshouldbe locatedquiteclose to the respective pyramids22, I wonderthusifthisbuilding–i.e.LepsiuspyramidXVI– could be actually a sun temple, or a valleytempleofasolarcomplex.Dueto the lackof

22 Nuzzolo2007,p.233,withfurtherbibliography.

any archaeological element on the field, it isimpossibletoestablishatthemomentwhetheritwasNeferirkara’ssuntemple,whichwasbyfarthemostquotedintheepigraphicsourcesofthetimeandshouldlikelyhavehadanimpres-sivearchitecturalframework,orSahura’ssanc-tuary,whichwasmostlikelytheclosesttothesuntempleofUserkaf,beingthesecondonetobebuiltinthearea.However,itisworthnoting

Fig.5-TheFranco-Egyptianmap:detailoftheareaofAbusir/AbuGhurab(EMHR1978,sheet21).


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that,intheareabetweenthetwounearthedsuntemples of Userkaf andNiuserra, we have atleasttwowidehillsthatcouldrepresentasuit-ableplaceforasolartemple,aswecanseebytheaerialphotographsaswellasontheground(Figs.6-7).LepsiuspyramidXVIisnottheonlystructurewhich disappears in the later cartography.Aspreviously recorded, inDeMorgan’smapan-otherpyramidismissing,namelyLepsiuspyra-midXXVIII(seefigs.4,6).Thispyramidwassituatedatthesouth-easterncorneroftheAbu-sirnecropolis,notsofarfromthevalleytempleofNiuserra’spyramid(LepsiusXX)23.Lepsius describes the pyramid, whose heightis not specified althoughvery impressive (dieHöheistganzbeträchtlich)24,asaremarkable,mudbrickbuildingwithasquarebasisofaround95mwhich,wouldLepsius account be right,let thispyramidbe thegreatestofall thefifthdynastypyramidsexceptNeferirkara’s.Duringthe excavations of Sahura’s pyramid complexin1908,thepyramidwasfinally,brieflyinves-tigatedbyBorchardtwhoconcludedthatitwasprobablyaMiddleKingdompyramid25.However, theGermanscholarwasnotable tocompletethediggingofthestructurebecauseofthehighgroundwaterlevel.Besidessomesmall,

23 Lepsius1849,p.137-8,pl.32.24 Lepsius1849,p.137.25 Borchardt1910,p.147.

intrusive,decoratedobjectsoftheLatePeriod,hemainly found fragmentary blocks of lime-stone,quartzite26,basaltandgranite,somethingthatwouldfitbetteranOldKingdombuildingratherthanaMiddleKingdompyramid.More-over,Lepsius’spyramidXXVIIIseemstohavebeensomehowconnectedtootherminorstruc-tures–probably tombs–whichweresituatedfurther to the south-east of the pyramid itselfandcertainlydatedtothelateOldKingdom27.Finally, as far aswe know, the site ofAbusirdoes not seem to have been characterized byMiddle Kingdom royal tombs, which are infactslocatedelsewhere.Lacking any new archaeological element onLepsius pyramid XXVIII we cannot reach adefinitiveconclusion.Nonetheless,inthiscasetoo,throughtheremotesensingofthesatelliteimagesandtheanalysisoftheabovementionedFranco-Egyptianmap(fig.5-6),andparticular-lyofthedifferentheightsofthetellintheareaintoaccount,wecanstilldistinguishthepres-enceof a structure aswell as its architecturalrelevance (33.3m in height), which certainlydemonstratethatthebuildingwasonceaveryimpressivestructure.

26 ThewordusedbytheGermanscholarisactually“rotundbraunSandstein”butweknow,fromthesuntempledescription,thatinbothcaseswearedealingwithquartz-ite.SeeBorchardt1905,p.41;Borchardt1910,p.147.27 Borchardt1910,p.147-9,andpl.2.

Fig.6-ThreeviewsoftheAbusirplateauincomparison:theFranco-Egyptianmap(middle)betweenLepsius’smap(left)andasatelliteimageofthearea(right).Thecirclesenclosethetwomissingpyramids“LepsiusXVI”and“LepsiusXXVIII”.


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Fig.7-Oneofthetwohills–lyinginthemiddlebetweenUserkaf’sandNiuserra’ssuntemples–seenfromnorth-west(7a)andsouth-east(7b).Inthelatterpicture,behindthemainhillontheright,wecanclearlyseeafurther,smallmoundofsandwhichhasprobablytobeidentifiedasthemissingpyramid“LepsiusXVI”.

a

b


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Despiteanyspecificmatterwewouldeventual-lydiscusson,LepsiussurveyofthesiteofAbu-sirstillremainsastartingpointforanyfurtheranalysisofthearea,forboththeaccuracyofhisarchaeological investigation and the precisionof his geographical map which is even moreremarkable when compared with the modernsatelliteimageryandcartography28.

Borchardt in Abusir/Abu Ghurab: the modern, archaeological investigation

AfterLepsius,Abusirseemstolaydormantforabout 50 years during which scholars mainlypaidattentiontothemostpromisingsiteoftheMemphitenecropolis,namelyGizaandSaqqara.OnlyattheveryendoftheNineteenthCenturyattentionwasonceagainfocusedonthesite,firstbyDeMorganandimmediatelyafterbyLudwigBorchardt29.WhileDeMorgan’smapdoesnotpresentanynewtopographicalandarchaeologi-cal element respect to Lepsius one, BorchardtinterventioninAbusirwasthekey-pointforthecompletereassessmentofthesiteanditsmonu-ments. In facts, itwasBorchardtwho system-atically excavated for the first time, between1902 and 1908, the royal necropolis, with thethreemainpyramidsofSahura,NeferirkaraandNiuserraaswellassomeminortombsofqueensandprinces30.Theirdiscoveryprovideduswithagreatamountofarchaeologicaldatawhichcom-pletely changed our view of the fifth dynastyhistoryandartaswellastheOldKingdomasawhole.ItisnoexaggerationtosaythatBorchardtisthefifthdynastyasCarterisTutankhamon.

28 ThemapsofLepsius’sexpeditionwereactuallydrawnbythearchitectGeorgGustamErbkam.SeealsoFreier/Grunnert1984,p.45ff.29 Duringthewinterof1882/83thesiteofAbuGhurabwasactuallyinvestigatedveryquicklybyHenryWind-sorVilliersStuart,aBritishparliamentaryandspecialen-voytoEgypt,towhomweowethediscoveryofboththealabasteraltarandbasinsinthesuntempleofNiuserra.However,hedidnotleaveanyplanorsketchofhisdis-covery but only a concise descriptionwhichwas usedlateronbyDeMorganinhisplanofthesuntemple.SeeBorchardt1905,p.4,n.1.30 SeeBorchardt1907;Borchardt1909;Borchardt1910.

However, the exploration of the site ofAbu-sir had actually begun a fewyears before theendof theNineteenthCentury,andexactly in1897when some outstanding pieces with therepresentation of theSed-Festival ofNiuserrahadbeenpurchasedontheantiquitymarketinCairobythePrussianconsulCarlReinhardt,onbehalfofBerlinMuseum31.These reliefs affected Sethe’s attention be-causeoftheirsimilaritieswiththeabovemen-tionedreliefs–representingNiuserra–whichhadbeen found in the ’30byPerringaroundtheso-calledpyramidofReeghah,whichwas,aswehaveseenbefore,theearlynamegiventothesuntempleofNiuserra.InthesameareaSethehad also founda limestoneblockwithaninscriptionmentioningthenameofNiuser-ra.AbuGhurabappearedtobe,thus,therightplace for the location of the sun temple ofNiuserra,whosepyramidwasonly1.5kmfartothesouth32.Groundingon these promising researches, inwinter1897-98themuseumofBerlinentrust-ed Borchardt, together with prof. Dörpfeld,with a preliminary investigation of the area.Baron Friedrich Wilhelm von Bissing alsojoinedthemissionandfinallydecidedtofundand support a real expedition for the forth-comingyearsinreturnforpublication,whichwasedited,infacts,byBissinghimself33.Theexcavation also included two talented youngscholarsasHeinrichShäferandGeorgMöller(Fig.8).What seems to be extremely amazing in thissense, particularly for modern-day Egyptolo-gists,isthatthepermissionfortheexcavationoftheareawaseasilyandimmediatelygrantedtotheGermanSocietybytheDirectionofAn-tiquitiesinCairo,possiblybecauseAbusirwasnotconsideredapromisingarea,amisappraisalthat Borchardt probably expected and that hecertainlyturnedtohisadvantageifweconsiderthatheaskedforthepermissiontoexcavatetheroyalnecropolisofAbusirevenbeforehaving

31 Borchardt1905,p.1.32 Borchardt1905,p.2.33 Borchardt1905,p.6.


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published the complete excavation results ofNiuserra’ssuntemple34.Iwillnotreporthereeitheronthearchitecturalfeaturesofthetempleorthemainarchaeologi-caldiscoveriesmadebytheGermanscholarinAbuGhurabsincetheywouldrequireseparatetreatment. What seems to deserve particularimportance in this context is instead the factthatBorchardt’sinvestigationofthesuntemplerepresents by far one of thefirst examples ofsystematic,archaeologicalexcavationinEgypt,wheresomeofthemainconceptsandmethodsofcurrentarchaeologywerealreadyworking.Althoughthetemplewasdug,astheyusedtodoat thetime, inlargeearthworksandwithamassiveuseofhumanlabor–wehavetobearin mind that nearly 400 men were employed

34 SeealsoVoss2010,p.109-21.Seealsothecataloguecardnr.72,p.332-3.

duringthethreeyearsofwork35–withthegoaltoremovehundredsofsquaremetersofrubbleand debris from the monument, the Germanscholarpaidparticularattention to thestratig-raphy of the temple, especially in the centralcourtyard where in fact he identified the re-mainsofamudbrickstructurethathesupposedtobethefirstphaseofthetemple,beforeitwasrebuiltinstone36.Hisarchaeologicalskillseemstobealsotestifiedbythepainstakingdescriptionofthearchitectur-alremainsofthetemple(Fig.9)whichwasthefirststepinhisre-evaluationofthecriteriaoftheEgyptianarchitectureoftheOldKingdomaboutwhich,atthattime,verylittlewasknown.Moreover,eventhoughitmayseemtrivialtobementionedhere,wehavenottoforgettheabso-

35 Borchardt1905,p.77.36 Borchardt1905,p.66-71andfig.54;seealsoNuzzolo2010,p.75withtherelativediscussion.

Fig.8-LudwigBorchardt(farleft)andHeinrichShäfer(farright)withagroupofvisitorsinthesuntempleofNiuserraatAbuGhurab:1901.Photocourtesy:SchweizerischesInstitutfürÄgyptischenBauforschungundAltertumskundeinKairo.


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lutelyhardconditionsoflifeandworkofthesepioneers of Egyptology37. At the time, Cairowasnot theovercrowdedmetropoliswhich istoday,withitsenormouscentrifugalperipherywhich is incorporating into the citymore andmorepartsof thedesert,butoneof thenicestplaces in theMiddle East, whose center wasaround30km,andsomehoursofwalkingonadonkeyorcamel,farawayfromthepyramidsofAbusir38.Borchardtchosetospendseveralmonthsayearin thedesert,firstlyfor theexcavationsof thesuntemples,andlateronforthediggingoftheroyal necropolis, for an overall period of ten

37 Seethecataloguecardnr.70,byB.vonPilgrimandC.vonPilgrim,inBrinkmann2010,p.329.SeealsoVoss2010,p.119,fig.89.38 SeealsoBorchardt1905,p.2.

years,spreadingfrom1898to1908.Therefore,Borchardt’sworknotonlycontributed so sig-nificantlytodefinethecharacteristicsoftheso-lartemplesaswellasthearchitecture,artandhistoryoftheFifthDynasty.Firstandforemost,heprovidedEgyptologistswithprecisecoordi-natesandtechniquesforthelaterarchaeologi-calinvestigations.Ifthereareanylimitstotheworkofthisbril-liantGermanscholar,whichIdealtwithduringmydoctoralworkandtherecentinvestigationofthefield,thesecanbemainlyfoundineithertheinterpretationandcultmeaninghegaveofsome,specificareasofthesuntemple,asseemsto be the case, for example, of the so-called“slaughterhouses” and “storerooms”39, or thefactthathedidnotexplorethecausewaysofthe

39 Nuzzolo/Pirelli2011,p.664-79,inpart.p.671ff.

Fig.9-FourpicturesofthesuntempleofNiuserraduringtheGermanexcavationsbyLudwigBorchardt.Fromtheleftcorneron,clockwise:thetenalabasterbasinsoftheso-called“bigslaughterhouse”;thepedestalbuildingoftheobelisk;the“solar”boat;theareaofthestoreroomswiththeobeliskinthebackground(afterBorchardt1905:figs.38,62,46,29).


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pyramidcomplexes,likethatofSahura,whereinfactsin1994-97,totheirgreatsurprise,theteamofarchaeologistsledbyZahiHawassandMiroslavVernerfoundsomeastonishing,deco-ratedpieceswhichhadescapedtoBorchardt’sexcavation40.

Conclusions

Lepsius and Borchardt were, thus, two veryremarkable charactersof thehistoryofEgyp-tology,whowereabletocombinetheskillandcompetence of the archaeologist on the field,with the synthesis and theoretical analysis ofthescholar.To theformerwemainlyowe thefoundation of the modern Egyptological re-search, with its interest in the topographicalmattersofAncientEgypt.Tothelatterweare

40 Hawass/Verner 1996, p. 177-86. The most updatedpublicationinthisregardisAwady2009.

highlyindebtedforhisunflaggingandearnestarchaeologicalinvestigationofthesiteofAbu-sir,whosestudycanhardlybeseparatedbythehistoryofitsdiscoverer.WhatmakesBorchardt’sstoryevenmorefasci-nating andunique, in the context of nineteenthcentury explorers, is probably its human side,testified,amongtheothers,bytheextraordinaryrelationshiphehadwithhiswife,Emilie(fig.10).She passionately followed him during almostallhis excavations,without the typicalhabitoftheupper class ladiesofher time, that’s to sayasomehowsnobapproachtoarcheology,whilebeingatrueconfidantandinspiringmuseofthearchaeologicalresearchofherhusbandwhoof-tenconfideshisgreatappreciationandgratitudetoherforhavingaccompaniedhiminhisjourneyofsearchingandlifeingreatplateauofAbusir41.

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Fig.10-MimiandLudwigBorchardtattheentranceofaThe-ban tomb:1936.Photocourtesy:Schweizerisches Institut fürÄgyptischenBauforschungundAltertumskundeinKairo.


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AbstractThe sun temples of the fifth dynasty represent one of the most fascinating and strictly unparalleled monuments of Ancient Egypt. In the second half of the nineteenth centu-ry these monuments, lying in northern foothill of the Abu-sir plateau which is now called Abu Ghurab, underwent several explorations, among which it is worth mention-ing first and foremost that of Carl Richard Lepsius. At the

turn of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Century the most impressive of these buildings, i.e. the sun temple of king Niuserra, was finally investigated by Ludwig Borchardt, whose research still remains a starting point for any fur-ther study on the matter. In the present paper, thinking back over the different stages of these explorations, we will thus try to reassess some elements of the topography of this important site of Old Kingdom Egypt.

"From Lepsius to Borchardt. Archaeological investigations at the Fifth Dynasty Sun Temples in Abu Ghurab", in: Betrò, M., Miniaci, G. Eds. Talking along the Nile. Ippolito Rosellini,

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