After visiting the Djoser funerary complex and reading some of the first funerary texts in Saqqara, the expedition heads towards two very distinct sites, the Serapeum and the tomb of the first philosopher in history.
Apis was the bull God. Every so many years, one calf was born with all the appropriate signs identifying it as the god Apis. When that occurred, that bull was venerated as such, and on its death, buried with all the honours and trappings of a god. The bull was mummified, funeral treasure provided, and buried in a temple called Serapeum (from ser apis, the bull Apis) in a stone sarcophagus weighting several hundred tons.
After the Serapeum, and before stopping for lunch, we visited a very interesting private tomb. This tomb belongs to Ptahhotep and his son. Ptahhotep is the author of the "Teachings of Ptahhotep", the first philosophical treatise in history.
In their tomb we can appreciate several scenes of everyday life related to the occupations of the owners of the tomb. We can see as well something that we will find in many tombs. As the owner died, all works in the decoration of the tomb stopped, sometimes leaving the images in mid process of sculpting or painting.
We can also see the list of offerings, "one thousand beer, one thousand bread loaves, one thousand geese..."
No comments:
Post a Comment