هنر به عنوان درگیری آیینی در برنامه تدفینی واتتکه‌تور در سقاره، حدود ۲۳۴۵ پیش از میلاد

Art as Ritual Engagement is examined through a case study of feminised funerary representation in the repertoire of Watetkhethor, an elite woman interred in the mastaba tomb of her spouse, Mereruka, at Saqqara, c.2345-2181 BCE. The focus is centred upon the functionality of a particular form of gendered imagery in a ritualised, funerary context. The spaces and images in which Watetkhethor is featured alone, or in support of her spouse, indicate something of an elite woman’s expectations of the afterlife at this particular time. Contemporaneous examples as detailed as Watetkhethor’s are rare, and her status may have permitted Watetkhethor’s personal involvement in designing the funerary programme. Her. The arrangements would have been ‘state-of-the-art’, meeting the requirements of a woman identified as the eldest daughter of King Teti, c. 2300-2181 BCE. However, to date, the assumptions of twentieth century anachronisms, attitudes and biases have all but dismissed the rich iconographical programme of specifically feminised arrangements within this shared tomb. Barbara O’Neill completed an Mres (awarded with distinction) at the University of Winchester in 2015. This work focused upon ancient Egyptian offering tables scenes, particularly those assigned exclusively to women, in Old and Middle Kingdom Egypt (published with Archaeopress the same year). The author’s PhD research (2016-2021) carried out at the University of Winchester, centred on the role of the divine feminine in ancient Egyptian funerary art (University of Winchester). An MA in Egyptology (awarded with distinction) was completed online with the University of Manchester (2021) where the author was part of the first cohort of a Masters programme led by Professor Joyce Tyldesley. Cover 1 About Access Archaeology 2 Title Page 3 Copyright Information 4 Contents 5 List of Figures 7 Figure 1: Officials about to be punished, tomb of Mereruka (Kanawati and Swinton, 2018: 28). That Teti’s efforts ultimately ended in failure is suggested through the possibility that he may have been murdered by his bodyguards sometime between the eleven 15 Figure 2: Image of Mereruka. Interior, looking west; mastaba of Mereruka, Saqqara (photo credit: J. Gayle, used with permission). 16 Figure 3: Left to Right, Meryteti, Watetkhethor and Ibenebu, Watetkhethor’s Chamber B1 (Kanawati and Abder-Raziq, 2008: Plate 16). 17 Figure 4: The mastaba of Mereruka at Saqqara (Duell,1938: Plate 3b). 18 Figure 5: plan of the internal layout in the tomb of Mereruka, sections A, indicating sections dedicated to Watetkhethor, sections B, and to their son, Meryteti, sections (Cooke, 2020:44, figure 1.18). 19 Figure 6: Watetkhethor, as depicted on the north wall of Mereruka’s tomb, Room A13, Figure 5 (Duell, 1938: II, Plate 160). 20 Figure 7: Watetkhethor, positioned to the left/front of Mereruka with his mother on his right, behind in image, (Duell 1938: II: Plate 159). 21 Figure 8: (Duell, 1938: Plate 4). 35 Figure 10: A triadic arrangement, chamber A6, east wall (Duell,1938: 1, Plate 23). 36 Figure 9: Chamber A6, north wall (Duell, 1938: Plate 48c). 36 Figure 11: (Duell, 1938: 1, Plate 48d). 37 Figure 12: Chamber A8, south wall (Duell, 1938: Plate 57). 37 Figure 13: Chamber A10 (Duell,1938: Plate 91). 39 Figure 14 (Duell, 1938:1, Plate 94). 40 Figure 15: (Duell, 1938: 1, Plate 42). 41 Figure 16: Plan of Watetkhethor’s chambers within the tomb of Mereruka (Kanawati and Abder-Raziq, 2008: Plate 3, 53b). 43 Figure 17: B1, pillared hall, south wall (Kanawati, and Abder-Raziq, 2008: Plate 3, 53b). 43 Figure 18: Stairway area leading to tomb-roof via a door that opened from the inside (Kanawati and Abder-Raziq, 2008: Plate 53). 44 Figure 19a, left: Serdab room, B3, east wall (Kanawati and Abder-Raziq, 2008: Plate 32). 46 Figure 19b right (Kanawati and Abder-Raziq, 2008: Plate 32). 46 Figure 20: Burial chapel, B5, west wall recess, north sidewall (Kanawati and Abder-Raziq, 2008, Plate 43). 47 Figure 21: Burial chapel, B5, west wall recess, south sidewall (Kanawati and Abder-Raziq, 2008: Plate 40). 48 Figure 22: Palanquin Scene, chapel, B5, north wall (Kanawati and Abder-Raziq, 2008: Plate 47, annotated B. O’Neill). 49 Figure 23: Burial chapel, B5, north wall, detail (Duell, 1938: Plate 47). 49 Figure 24: Burial chapel, B5, east wall, north end and the final scene in Watetkhethor’s burial chapel chamber (Duell,1938: Plate 50). 50 Preface 9 Chapter 1: Introduction 11 Aims and Objectives 11 The role of visual culture in ancient Egypt 13 Contextualising the early 6th Dynasty: An Overview 14 Security and harsh men? 15 Archaeological Background: The Tomb of Mereruka 18 The Funerary Chambers of Watetkhethor 19 The Research Focus 19 Rationale: Why this study? 20 Contextualising terms: Art and Ritual 22 The Structure of the Study: Chapter Overview 23 Chapter 2: Literature Review 25 Early Perspectives 25 New Perspectives 26 Chapter 3: Methodology 29 Panofsky’s Iconological System 29 Malafouris’s Material Engagement Theory 30 Chapter 4: Art as Ritual Engagement 33 Watetkhethor as facilitator 33 Watetkhethor’s presence in Mereruka’s chambers 34 Watetkhethor and autonomous funerary cult 42 The Pillared Hall (B1) 43 The staircase in the chambers of Watetkhethor (B2) 44 The Burial Chapel, B5 45 The Serdab Room, B3, B4 45 Chapter 5: Study Synthesis 53 Looking forward: Art as Action, Art as Gendered 54 The limitations of this study 54 Conclusion 55 Directions for future research 55 Bibliography 57