Egyptian Art in the Age of the Pyramids, pp. 154-165, "Excavating the Old Kingdom. The Egyptian Archaeologists"

Ancient People

• Djedefre

  • Type Individual - Ancient
  • Remarks Third king of Dynasty 4. Son (?) of Khufu.
• 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.
• 

  Khafre

  • Type Individual - Ancient
  • Remarks Fourth king of Dynasty 4. Son of Khufu. Builder of the Second Pyramid at Giza and probably of the Great Sphinx as well. Known two thousand years later by the Greeks as King Khephren. A number of diorite and greywacke statues and statue fragments depicting the king have been discovered in Khafre's valley temple, including Cairo CG 9-17. The fragmentary head of an alabaster royal statue (MFA 21.351 + MFA 33.1113) is attributed to Khafre.
• Khentkaus [I] (G 8400)

  • Type Individual - Ancient
  • Remarks Owner of G 8400. Possible daughter of Menkaure. Chapel entrance door jambs and fragments of false door inscribed for Khentkaus, identified as [mwt nswt-bjtj nswt-bjtj sAt nTr] mother of the two kings of Upper and Lower Egypt, daughter of the god; in situ in G 8400. Alternately the titles may read [nswt-bjtj mwt nswt-bjtj sAt nTr] king of Upper and Lower Egypt, mother of the king of Upper and Lower Egypt, daughter of the god.
• 

  Khufu

  • Type Individual - Ancient
  • Remarks Second king of Dynasty 4, son of Snefru. Builder of the Great Pyramid at Giza, the only one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World still standing. Known two thousand years later by the Greeks as King Cheops. Horus name: [mDdw] Medjedu. Full birth-name: Khnum-Khufu.
• 

  Menkaure

  • Type Individual - Ancient
  • Remarks Fifth king of Dynasty 4. Son of Khafre. Husband of Khamerernebti II. Builder of the Third Pyramid at Giza. Known two thousand years later by the Greeks as King Mycerinus.
• 

  Nisutnefret (G 1457)

  • Type Individual - Ancient
  • Remarks Owner of G 1457. Chapel entrance drum lintel and false door (including upper lintel) inscribed for Nisutnefret, identified as [rx nswt Hrj-sStA n nswt xrp n wabw nswt jmj-r Axt-xwfw jmj-r wabt nswt Hm-nTr xwfw] royal acquaintance, secretary of the king, director of royal wab-priests, overseer of the pyramid of Khufu, overseer of the royal wabet, priest of khufu; in situ in G 1457. Fragments of lintel and drum lintel (37-1-7, 37-1-8) inscribed for Nisutnefret; found east of G 1457.
• Rawer (G 8988)

  • Type Individual - Ancient
  • Remarks Owner of G 8988. Son of Itisen and Hetepheres. Entrance architrave, lintel and facade inscribed for Rawer, identified as [smr watj Hrj-tp nxb Hm-nTr Hr-jnpw xntj pr Smswt watj aD-mr Hr sbA xntj pt sm xrp SnDt xt mnw xrp aH Hrj-sStA n pr(-dwAt) Xrj-Hb wa m wrw Hb xrp Hwwt nt mw aD-mr dp Hm-nTr wADt jrj nfr-HAt] sole companion, chief of Nekheb, priest of Horus-Anubis who presides solely over the suite, administrator of the district 'Star-of-Horus-Foremost-of-Heaven', sem-priest, director of the kilt, khet-priest of Min, director of the palace, secretary of the House (of Morning), lector-priest, sole one of the great ones of the festival, director of mansions of mu-textiles(?), administrator of Dep, priest of Wadjet, keeper of the diadem; facade in situ, lintel and architrave fallen in front of entrance to G 8988. Inner door jambs inscribed for Rawer, identified as [jmj-r Xkrw nswt n jswj overseer of the king's ornaments in the two chambers; in situ in G 8988. Inscription along top of eastern wall of serdab 14 with titles [Hm-nTr nxbt Hm-ntr wADt smr watj n(j) mrwt] priest of Nekhbet, priest of Wadjet, sole companion, possessor of love; in situ in G 8988. Rawer appears on alabaster panel (JE 66626) in niche 14, identified as [Hrj-sStA n mdw-nTr] secretary of the sacred writings; in situ in G 8988. Inscribed limestone slab with title [Hm-nTr wADt p dp] priest of Wadjet in Pe and Dep; found displaced in G 8988. Inscribed limestone slab with title [jmj-r wabt] overseer of the wabet; found fallen from wall of first chamber of eastern passage in G 8988. Life-size limestone statue of Rawer, inscribed [jrj nfr-HAt (smsw?) wxrt aAt jr Sn nswt] keeper of the diadem, (elder?) of the great shipyard, royal hairdresser; found in back of second chamber of eastern passage in G 8988. Life-size limestone statue of Rawer, inscribed [jmj-jb n nb=f Hrj-sStA n nswt] he who is in the heart of his lord, secretary of the king; found in situ in serdab 12 of G 8988, along with limestone relief of biographical inscription (JE 66682). A large number of other inscribed statues and fragments of Rawer and his family found throughout G 8988 (including JE 66615, a quartzite "pseudo-group" statue of Rawer, and JE 66625, a limestone statue head of Rawer).
• 

  Seneb (Seneb)

  • Type Individual - Ancient
  • Remarks Owner of Seneb (unnumbered mastaba excavated by Junker). Various architectural elements inscribed for Seneb: lintel and drum lintel of offering room entrance, identified as [wr-a xrp hwwt nt Nt jmj-r mr pr-aA] he who is carried in the sedan chair, director of estates of the Red Crown, overseer of weaving mills of the Great House; south false door (Cairo JE 51297), identified as [xrp dngw sSrw xtmw-nTr n wnHrbAw Hm-nTr wADt nb pr-nw jmj-r jwHw smr pr] director of dwarfs in charge of dressing, god's sealer of the Wenherbau-ship, priest of Wadjet lady of the Lower Egyptian shrine, overseer of libations (?), companion of the house; and granite offering stone, identified as [wr-a smr pr] he who is carried in the sedan chair, companion of the house; all found in situ in mastaba of Seneb. Seated family group statue (Cairo JE 51280) of Seneb (depicted as a dwarf, and identified as [wr-a xrp dngw sSrw smr Hm-nTr xwfw Hm-nTr Ddfra Hm-nTr WADt Hm-nTr kA wr xnt sTpt xrp Hwwt mw Hm-nTr kA mrHw xrp aprw ksw] he who is carried in the sedan chair, director of dwarfs in charge of dressing, companion, priest of Khufu and Djedefre, priest of Wadjet, priest of the Great Bull foremost of Setjpet, director of the estates of water, priest of the Merhu bull, director of crews of the kesu-ships), his wife Senetites, and two children; found in situ in stone box (Cairo JE 51281) in mastaba of Seneb serdab (north of north false door). Base fragment of granite statue (Hildesheim 3132) inscribed for Seneb, identified as [wr-a xrp dngw sSrw Hm-nTr wADt smr xrp hwwt nt Nt] he who is carried in the sedan chair, director of dwarfs in charge of dressing, priest of Wadjet, companion, director of estates of the Red Crown; found in mastaba of Seneb.
• 

  Senetites (in Seneb)

  • Type Individual - Ancient
  • Remarks Wife ([Hmt=f] his wife) of Seneb (owner of Seneb, unnumbered mastaba excavated by Junker). Seated family group statue (Cairo JE 51281) of Seneb, his wife Senetites, and two children; found in situ in stone box (Cairo JE 51281) in mastaba of Seneb serdab (north of north false door). North false door inscribed for Senetites, identified as [rxt nswt Hm-nTr HwtHr Hm-nTr Nt] royal acquaintance, priestess of Hathor, priestess of Neith; also appears on false door (Cairo JE 51297) inscribed for Seneb, north inner jamb (second register, seated holding lotus); found in situ in mastaba of Seneb.

Modern People

• Abdel Moneim Youssef Abu Bakr

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

  • Type Individual - Modern
  • Nationality & Dates
• Ahmed Fakhry

  • Type Individual - Modern
  • Nationality & Dates Egyptian, 1905–1973
  • Remarks Egyptologist and archaeologist. Nationality and life dates from Who was Who in Egyptology. (1905-1973) Egyptian archaeologist; he was born in the Fayum Oasis 21-May 1905, son of Ali F. and Galila Abbas; he studied at the University of Cairo; BA, 1928; frorn 1929 -32 he studied at Berlin under Sethe (q.v.),at Brussels under Capart (q.v.), and at Liverpool under Peet (q.v.); he joined the Antiquities Service in 1932 serving first under Selim Hassan (q.v.) at Giza and then at Luxor; Chief Inspector for Middle Egypt and the Oases in 1936 and Chief Inspector for the Delta in 1938; he later served as curator in the Cairo Museum and Chief Inspector of Upper Egypt, Nov. 1942- Oct. 1944; from 1937 his attention was directed to work on sites in the desert oases and from 1944-50 he served as Director of Desert Researches; in 1947 he visited Yemen and conducted an archaeological survey; from 1950-55 he was Director of Pyramid Researches excavating at the Bent Pyramid of Sneferu at Dahshur and at Shawaf, Saqqara, 1951 (see ASAE 71 (1987), 187-93; in 1952 he became Professor of the History of Ancient Egypt at Cairo University retiring in 1965; he was Visiting Professor at Brown University,1953-4, at Pennsylvania in 1966, and also at Amman and California; in 1969 he excavated tombs in the oasis of Dakhla; his principal published works were sept Tombeaux à Iest de la grande pyramids de guizeh, 1935; Recent Explorations in the Oases of the Western Desert, 1942, The Egyptian Desetis. BahRIa Oasis2 vols. 1942, 1950; The, Egyptian Deserts. Siwa Oasis, 1944; The Oasis of Siwa, 1950; The Necrepolis of El-Bagawat in Kharga Oasis' 1951; An Archaeological journey toYemen3vols., 1951-2; TheEgyptian Deserts. The Anwthyst Quarries at Wadi el Hudi', 1952; The Bent pyramid of Dahshur, 1954; The Monuments of snefru at Dahshur, Vol. I, 1959; Vol. II 2 parts 1961; The Pyramids, 1961; The Oases of Egypt Vol I, 1973 Vol. II, 1974; the notes of'his last excavation were posthumouslv edited in Denkmmaler der OaseDachla, 1982; he died in Paris, 7june 1973 Chron. g. 48 (1973), 309-10 (A. Mekhitarian); BSFE 68 (1973), 5-7 (portr.) j. Lecian t); ARCE Newsletter 86 (1973), 1-3 (D. O'Connor); The Oases of Egypt. Vol. II (1974), v-vi (J. Wilson); Denkmaler der Oase Dachla, 1982, 7 (portr.) (R. Stadelmann), II -12 (bibl.) (M. Moursi); G?tt. Misz 76 (1984), 82-3(H. Attiatalla),JEA 59 (1973), 3-5 (I. E. S. Edwards).
• 

  Ahmed Yusef Mustapha (Effendi)

  • Type Individual - Modern
  • Nationality & Dates
  • Remarks Chief restorer of the Egyptian Department of Antiquities at the Cairo Museum. Restorer of Hetepheres' furniture and Khufu's boat.
• Ali Radwan

  • Type Individual - Modern
  • Nationality & Dates
• Gaballa Ali Gaballa

  • Type Individual - Modern
  • Nationality & Dates
  • Remarks Former head of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities.
• 

  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.
• 

  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.
• Kamal el-Mallakh

  • Type Individual - Modern
  • Nationality & Dates Egyptian, 1918–1987
  • Remarks Unearthed boat of Khufu south of Great Pyramid in 1954.
• 

  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.
• Zahi Hawass

  • Type Author
  • Nationality & Dates Egyptian
  • Remarks Former Minister of State for Antiquities and Secretary General of Supreme Council of Antiquities

• Metropolitan Museum of Art

  • Type Publisher