Varia Nova

Ancient People

• Hetepheres I (G 7000 X)

  • Type Individual - Ancient
  • Remarks Wife of King Snefru, founder of Egypt’s Fourth Dynasty, and mother of King Khufu, builder of the Great Pyramid. Her burial was hidden in a secret chamber (labeled G 7000 X) nearly 90 feet underground, and contained beautiful pieces of gilded and inlaid wooden furniture, silver jewelry, and a large alabaster sarcophagus that was found to be mysteriously empty.
• Kasewedja (G 8468)

  • Type Individual - Ancient
  • Remarks Owner of G 8468. Identified on door lintel, drum and false door as [jrj nfr-HAt m st nt nswt xntj Xkrwt nbj Hm-nTr Hr sS sSr n nswt] keeper of the diadem in the place of the king, foremost of the ornaments of dancers(?), priest of Horus, scribe of royal linen; in situ.
• 

  Kawab (G 7110-7120)

  • Type Individual - Ancient
  • Remarks Owner of G 7120, along with Hetepheres [II] (original owner of G 7110). Son of Khufu and Meretites [I]. Appears in chapel relief in tomb of his daughter Meresankh III (owner of G 7530-7540), main room (east wall), identified as [jrj-pat sA nswt smsw n Xt=f Xrj-Hb Hrj-tp xrp jAwt nTrt aA dwAw] hereditary prince, king's eldest son of his body, chief lector-priest, director of divine offices, assistant of (the god) Duau; in situ in G 7530-7540). Also mentioned in tomb of his steward Khemetnu (owner of G 5210).
• Khufukhaf [I] (G 7130-7140)

  • Type Individual - Ancient
  • Remarks Son of Khufu and probably Henutsen. He is buried in G 7140.
• 

  Meresankh III (G 7530-7540)

  • Type Individual - Ancient
  • Remarks Owner of G 7530-7540.Granddaughter of King Khufu, builder of the Great Pyramid, and wife of either Khafre or Menkaure. Her unique underground chapel (labeled G 7530-7540) preserves beautifully carved and painted scenes of the queen and her royal family, as well as servants, artisans, and funerary priests. The scenes also depict the sort of rich burial goods that would have been placed in Meresankh’s tomb: statues and fine furniture; boxes containing food, clothing, and jewelry; even a representation of the black granite sarcophagus that was actually found in situ in her burial chamber. Chapel entrance architrave, jambs, reveals and drum inscribed for Meresankh, idenitifed as [mAAt Hr stX wrt Hts nbwj xt Hr wrt Hst DHwtj smrt Hr mrt=f sAt nswt n Xt=f Hmt nswt mrt] seer of Horus and Seth, great one of the hetes-scepter of the Two Lords, khet-priestess of Horus, great of praises of Thoth, companion of Horus, his beloved, king's daughter of his body, beloved king's wife; in situ in G 7530-7540. Appears in chapel relief of main room: seated holding lotus (south wall); standing with her mother (east wall), idenitifed as [wrt Hts] great one of the hetes-scepter; on pillars (north wall), idenitifed as [tjst Hr] intimate(?) of Horus; seated at offering table, standing north of false door and on central pillar, and with her mother and son (west wall), idenitifed as [Hm-nTr DHwtj wrt Hts nbtj Hm-nTr bApf Hm-nTr HwtHr nbt jwnt smAwt mrjj nbtj] priestess of Thoth, great one of the hetes-scepter of the Two Ladies, priestess of Bapef, priestess of Hathor Mistress-of-Dendera, consort of him who is beloved of the Two Ladies; in situ in G 7530-7540. Also appears on all walls of offering (west) room; in situ in G 7530-7540. Architrave on north wall of north room inscribed for Meresankh; uninscribed statues may also represent Meresankh (along with other female family members); in situ in G 7530-7540. Black granite sarcophagus (Cairo JE 54935) inscribed for Meresankh, idenitifed as [xrp sSmtjw SnDt] director of butchers of the 'Acacia House'; in situ in burial chamber of G 7530-7540. Incomplete limestone statue of Meresankh (MFA 30.1457) and pair statue of Meresankh and Hetepheres II (MFA 30.1456); found displaced in debris of main room. Mother ([mwt=f] his mother) of Nebemakhet (owner of G 8172 = Lepsius 86). Appears in relief of inner chapel (above doorway in eastern wall), identified as [mAAt Hr stX wrt Hts wrt Hst Hmt nswt] seer of Horus and Seth, great one of the hetes-scepter, great of praises, king's wife; in situ in G 8172. Also mentioned in the tomb of her steward Khemetnu (owner of G 5210).

Modern People

• Abdel Moneim Youssef Abu Bakr

  • Type Individual - Modern
  • Nationality & Dates 1907–1976
  • Remarks Egyptian Egyptologist.
• 

  George Andrew Reisner

  • Type Individual - Modern
  • Nationality & Dates American, 1867–1942
  • Remarks Egyptologist, archaeologist; Referred to as "the doctor" and "mudir" (Arabic for "director") in the excavation records. Nationality and life dates from Who was Who in Egyptology.
• Henry George Fischer

  • Type Author
  • Nationality & Dates American, 1924–2006
• 

  Hermann Junker

  • Type Individual - Modern
  • Nationality & Dates German, 1877–1962
  • Remarks Egyptologist, Director of German-Austrian expedition to Giza, 1911–1929. Published 12 volumes of final excavation reports from Giza expedition. Nationality and life dates from Who was Who in Egyptology.
• 

  Selim Hassan (Bey)

  • Type Individual - Modern
  • Nationality & Dates Egyptian, 1886–1961
  • Remarks Egyptologist; Sub Director General. Nationality and life dates from Who was Who in Egyptology. (1886-1961) Egyptian Egyptologist; born Mit-Nagi, 15 April 1886, he studied at the Higher Teacher's College, Cairo under Kamal (q.v.); in 1912 he became a teacher and in 1921 obtained a post in the Egyptian Museum as assistant keeper; he studied in Paris 1923-7 at the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes; he was the first Egyptian to be appointed as a Professor of Egyptology in the Universitv of Cairo, 1928 - 36; he was later made Deputy Director of the Egyptian Antiquities Service responsible for the care of all monuments in the Nile valley, 1936-39; Ph.D. Vienna University, 1935; stimulated by the archaeological work of P. E. Newberry (q.v.) and Junker (q.v.)he began an active career in excavations with the clearance of some of the Giza mastabas in 1929; the excavations carried on by him in this necropolis continued until 1939 by which time a great deal of digging had been achieved, published in 10 parts; he also cleared the Sphinx and its temple, for the first time completely digging out the great amphitheatre around it and ensuring that it would not be buried by send again so easily; he wrote a study on this work and on the temple of Amenhotep II here; in addition the so-called Fourth Pyramid or the palace-façade tomb of Queen Khent-kawes of the Fourth Dynasty was investigated and also the funerary town of the priests associated with it; he later worked on the Unas causeway at Saqqara and at the valley temple of this king, discovering some of the mastabas in this area and two great subterranean tombs dated to the Second Dynasty; his final excavations at Giza were carried out on the east and south faces of the Great Pyramid and at the mortuary temple of King Khufu, 1938-9; he also took part in the campaign to save the monments of Nubia, and wrote a report on this subject; he published about 53 books and articles on Egyptological subjects in English, French, and Arabic, Hymnes religieux du Moyen Empire, 1928; Le Poème dit de Pentaour et Le rapport officiel sur la bataiILe de Qadesh , 1929; Excavations at Giza, 10 pts., 1929-60; The Sphinx. Its History in the Light of recent Excavations, 1949; Report on the Monunents of Nubia,1955Excavations at Saqqara 1937-8, 3 vols., 1975; in Arabic Literature of Ancient Egpt, 2 vols.; Ancient Egypt from Prehistoric Times to the Age of Rameses 11, 6 vols.; he died in Giza, 30 Sept. 1961. AfO 20 (1963), 310 (H. Brunner); Archaeology 14, no, 4 (1961, 293; ASAE 58 (1964), 61- 84 (bibl.) (Dia Abou-Ghazi); Orientalia 31 (1962), 271; Goettinger Miszellen 76 (1984), 78-80; Reid, JAOS 105 (1985), 237, 241-44.

• Metropolitan Museum of Art

  • Type Publisher