A Princess, a Vizier, and a Criminal: New Kingdom Objects in Swansea

The blog post for this week is written by Teresa Davison, a retired teacher and Egypt Centre volunteer. Like Peter Black who wrote the blog post of the First Intermediate Period, she is one of the last students to benefit from the DACE Higher Level Certificate in Education in Egyptology, taught by Dr. Amr Gaber.

I have really enjoyed the course so far. The weekly lectures have given an interesting context to the handling sessions. Being able to examine objects of great antiquity has not only been a huge privilege, but also helps us to focus on the societal themes and changes covered each week (fig. 1). This week we studied the New Kingdom, where we looked at empowered strong women like Hatshepsut who reigned during a time of great prosperity. However, as will be seen later, an element of drama, almost “soap-opera like”, crept in to our studies. Hatshepsut claimed royal birth in order to legitimise her role as Pharaoh. Was she then assassinated by Thutmose III? From this time period we examined a limestone relief depicting Neferure (W1376) and a sandstone fragment from the Henqet-ankh temple of Thutmose III (W1371), both of which have previously featured on this blog.

Fig. 1: Peter Black, Keith Shoebridge, and Teresa Davison examining W1371

We looked at W1326, which is a limestone stela dated to the Ramesside Period. It is possibly from Deir el-Medina and forms part of the 1906 Robert de Rustafjaell collection (lot 75). It is a stela depicting a chantress playing a sistrum before an image of Thoth as a baboon (fig. 2). This was a lovely piece and they were often kept in domestic shrines (Weiss 2015). I particularly liked the way the folds on her dress were depicted with simple but elegant lines (Bosse-Griffiths 2001). The skilled workmen may have practised on such pieces.

Fig. 2: Stela depicting a sistrum player before Thoth (W1326)

W957 is a Nineteenth Dynasty limestone offering stand from Deir el-Medina, which was purchased in 1907 from the Robert de Rustafjaell collection (lot 79). It contains the name and titles of Paneb, who was a chief workman at Deir el-Medina (Lucas 1998; fig. 3). Back to the soap opera, Paneb was a notorious character. He was accused of many bad deeds, including sexual assault and adultery (Bierbrier 1977–1978; Bierbrier 2000; Černý 1929). He was also accused of bribery, embezzlement, and misuse of labour. He is alleged to have stolen many items. He ordered his workers to steal stone from the worksite of Seti II to build his own personal tomb! Perhaps W957 was part of that stolen stone? His workers had to make him a bed and his wives were told to weave clothing for him. He was also a tomb raider e.g., he stole a mummified or model goose from the tomb of one of the daughters of Ramesses II. His character was described as angry, emotional, and unstable. An example of this was when he beat up his workmen and threw bricks at people from the top of a wall! He was also accused of drunkenness and murder. Not a pleasant man!

Fig. 3: Offering stand of Paneb (W957)

W232 is a faience statue base also dating to the Nineteenth Dynasty. Its provenance is unknown, although we do know that it was purchased in 1922 from the Reverend William MacGregor collection (lot 1550). The statue base (fig. 4) provides the names and titles of Paser, who was a vizier during the reigns of Seti I and Ramesses I (Donohue 1988). Paser, by contrast to Paneb, seems most respectable with one of his roles as the chief chamberlain, a role of great authority and status. The small piece that we looked at was stained, maybe oil had been poured over it for purification. The small statue that accompanied it has not yet been identified.

Fig. 4: Statue base of the vizier Paser (W232)

Bibliography:

Bierbrier, M. L. (1977–1978) ‘Notes on Deir el-Medina, II: the career of Paneb’. Journal of the Society for the Study of Egyptian Antiquities 8, 4: 138–140.

——— (2000) ‘Paneb rehabilitated?’. In Deir el-Medina in the third millennium AD: a tribute to Jac. J. Janssen, ed. R. J. Demarée and A. Egberts. Egyptologische Uitgaven 14. Leiden: Nederlands Instituut voor het Nabije Oosten. 51–54.

Bosse-Griffiths, K. (2001) ‘Baboon and maid’. In Amarna studies and other selected papers, ed. J. G. Griffiths. Orbis Biblicus et Orientalis 182. Freiburg; Göttingen: Universitätsverlag; Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht. 165–173.

Černý, J. (1929) ‘Papyrus Salt 124 (Brit. Mus. 10055)’. Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 15: 243–258.

Donohue, V. A. (1988) ‘The vizier Paser’. Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 74: 103–123.

Lucas, G. (1998) ‘Four Egyptian pieces in the Wellcome Collection at Swansea, I’. Göttinger Miszellen 167: 83–87.

Sotheby, Wilkinson, & Hodge. (1906) Catalogue of the collection of Egyptian antiquities, formed in Egypt by R. De Rustafjaell, which will be sold by auction by Messrs. Sotheby, Wilkinson and Hodge...19th December, 1906 and two following days... London: Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge.

——— (1907) Catalogue of a collection of antiquities from Egypt, ... being the second portion of the collection of Robert de Rustafjaell, esq. F.R.G.S, which will be sold by auction, ... on Monday, the 9th of December, 1907, and the following day. London: Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge.

——— (1922) Catalogue of the MacGregor Collection of Egyptian Antiquities. London: Davy.

Weiss, L. (2015) Religious practice at Deir el-Medina. Egyptologische Uitgaven 29. Leuven: Peeters.