DIY History | Transcribe | Campus Culture | I.C. Notebooks 1 | ""A Funerary Repast In An Egyptian Tomb Of The Archaic Period"" Page 6

Transcribe
Translate

""A Funerary Repast In An Egyptian Tomb Of The Archaic Period"" Page 6

6 A FUNERARY REPAST OF THE ARCHAIC PERIOD

tombs, but no entirely satisfactory explanation has yet been put forward, although the most commonly favoured and indeed the most plausible is that the vessel had to be "killed" so that it could be carried with its deceased owner into the after life. But if this was necessary, why was the practice only applied to a very limited proportion of the dead man's possessions?
Altogether, the main hall contained 27 pottery vessels and 21 alabaster and diorite bowls and dishes, some of which were of the finest quality. The remains of unidentifiable wooden furniture and boxes were found near the burial put, but little survived of them save a brown powder. In this connection, I must point out that the preservation of materials in the Sakkara tombs varies to an extraordinary degree. With some burials, woodwork is found perfectly preserved while other substances, such ass bread, are almost entirely destroyed. In Tomb 3477 the opposite was the case: the foodstuffs were wonderfully preserved, but wood and metal objects had suffered to an almost unbelievable degree. 
Having examined the main hall, we entered the small annex which we found stacked with more than fifty vessels and dishes of alabaster, limestone and diorite (Plate 7A). After the removal of the contents of this room and all other objects in the main hall, with the exception of the funerary repast, we turned our attention to this, obviously the most important feature of the burial. Dish by dish, it was carefully moved to the magazines attached to our expedition headquarters. Here, a few days later, it was examined by the late Mr. Alfred Lucas, who was at that time chemical adviser attached to the Egyptian Antiquities Service. With few exceptions, he was able to identify with certainty the character of each dish, and so one more feature of the life of the Egyptians of this remote age was revealed to us. We now know what these ancient people, living nearly 5,000 years ago, considered a good meal (Plate 6B) The only information which we still lack - and I am afraid it is a question which is never likely to be answered - is: in what order were the various items of this rich meal eaten?

The "menu", if I may call it so, was as follows:
5. Triangular loaf of bread on a pottery dish (made from emmer wheat)
45. A form of porridge on an alabaster dish (made from ground barley)
35. Unidentified. A liquid containing some sort of fatty substance.
20. A cooked fish on a pottery dish (Cleaned and dressed with the head removed)
22. Pigeon stew on a pottery dish 
18. A cooked quail on a pottery dish (Cleaned and dressed with the head tucked under one wing.)
15. Two cooked kidneys on a pottery dish 
18. Ribs and legs of beaf on a pottery dish 
135. Identify uncertain, but containing cut ribs of beef
12. Stewed fruit, probably figs, in a pottery bowl.

Saving...

6 A FUNERARY REPAST OF THE ARCHAIC PERIOD tombs, but no entirely satisfactory explanation has yet been put forward, although the most commonly favoured and indeed the most plausible is that the vessel had to be "killed" so that it could be carried with its deceased owner into the after life. But if this was necessary, why was the practice only applied to a very limited proportion of the dead man's possessions? Altogether, the main hall contained 27 pottery vessels and 21 alabaster and diorite bowls and dishes, some of which were of the finest quality. The remains of unidentifiable wooden furniture and boxes were found near the burial put, but little survived of them save a brown powder. In this connection, I must point out that the preservation of materials in the Sakkara tombs varies to an extraordinary degree. With some burials, woodwork is found perfectly preserved while other substances, such ass bread, are almost entirely destroyed. In Tomb 3477 the opposite was the case: the foodstuffs were wonderfully preserved, but wood and metal objects had suffered to an almost unbelievable degree. Having examined the main hall, we entered the small annex which we found stacked with more than fifty vessels and dishes of alabaster, limestone and diorite (Plate 7A). After the removal of the contents of this room and all other objects in the main hall, with the exception of the funerary repast, we turned our attention to this, obviously the most important feature of the burial. Dish by dish, it was carefully moved to the magazines attached to our expedition headquarters. Here, a few days later, it was examined by the late Mr. Alfred Lucas, who was at that time chemical adviser attached to the Egyptian Antiquities Service. With few exceptions, he was able to identify with certainty the character of each dish, and so one more feature of the life of the Egyptians of this remote age was revealed to us. We now know what these ancient people, living nearly 5,000 years ago, considered a good meal (Plate 6B) The only information which we still lack - and I am afraid it is a question which is never likely to be answered - is: in what order were the various items of this rich meal eaten? The "menu", if I may call it so, was as follows: 5. Triangular loaf of bread on a pottery dish (made from emmer wheat) 45. A form of porridge on an alabaster dish (made from ground barley) 35. Unidentified. A liquid containing some sort of fatty substance. 20. A cooked fish on a pottery dish (Cleaned and dressed with the head removed) 22. Pigeon stew on a pottery dish 18. A cooked quail on a pottery dish (Cleaned and dressed with the head tucked under one wing.) 15. Two cooked kidneys on a pottery dish 18. Ribs and legs of beaf on a pottery dish 135. Identify uncertain, but containing cut ribs of beef 12. Stewed fruit, probably figs, in a pottery bowl.