Schenkel, Wolfgang

Propylaeum-DOK

278 Arts and Economics
Brinks, Jurgen
The Development of the Royal Funerary Complexes in the Old 
Kingdom. A Structural and Historical Analysis of Ancient 
Egyptian Architecture
[“Die Entwicklung der koniglichen Grabanlagen des Alten 
Reiches. Eine strukturelle und historische Analyse altagyp- 
tischer Architektur”]
(Hildesheimer Agyptologische Beitrage, 10)
Hildesheim: Gebr. Gerstenberg Verlag, 1979; 189 pp., supple­
ment with 20 plates
The present work is of interest from two points of view, the 
historical and the methodological.
Historical: The rulers of the Egyptian Old Kingdom (3rd-6th 
dynasties) were buried in the necropolis in the neighbourhood of 
the then capital, Memphis, in large burial complexes, which con­
sist roughly of the burial area itself, the pyramid, together with 
extensive buildings known as the “funerary temple”. By contrast, 
the kings of the preceding Archaic Period (1st and 2nd dynasties) 
had two cemeteries, one at Abydos in Upper Egypt, the other at 
Saqqara, near Memphis, in Lower Egypt. Only one of these areas, 
of course, comes into consideration as a burial area. Which of the 
two was used as a burial ground is disputed; the present work 
decides in favour of Saqqara. Also disputed is the historical rela­
tionship, from an architectural point of view, of the two Archaic 
Period complexes to the single complex of the later period. Of 
paramount importance for the resolution of this problem is the 
funerary complex of King Djoser of the Third Dynasty, the first to 
have a pyramid (the so-called Step Pyramid of Saqqara) and the 
first also to have a tomb of the later, Old Kingdom type. The 
monument, however, is of such complexity, that a good deal of 
analysis and interpretation is necessary to determine to which 
stage in the development of architecture it belongs. As a result, 
analysis of the funerary complex is both the preliminary to, and the 
core of, the present work. As was to be expected, the difficulties of 
analysing and interpreting the complexities of this monument 
have produced highly controversial views; the present work 
attempts, by means of a structural analysis, to break up the Djosef 
tomb into the same elements as are to be found in the early tomb^ 
of Abydos and Saqqara, and in the later tombs of the Old Kingdom'
Methodological: The author bases his interpretation of the material 
chiefly on a structural analysis of the tombs, or, more precisely, oh 
an examination of the room sequences in the tombs and thek 
interrelationships. The attempt at structural analysis is not in fac1!
Originalveröffentlichung in: Mundus 17, 1981, S. 278-279
Arts and Economics 279
new, but it has encountered some resistance from Egyptologists. 
This is because the key to the understanding of this architecture 
Was hitherto assumed to lie in the determination of the religious 
function of the individual rooms or groups of rooms (see for 
instance the analysis by Wolfgang Schenkel in Gottinger Miszellen 
29, 1980, pp. 89-103).
In both respects the present work, like all modern studies of 
Egyptian architecture, is indebted to the pioneering work of Her­
bert Ricke (Notes on the Architecture of the Egyptian Old King- 
dom/Bemerkungen zur agyptischen Baukunst des Alten Reiches I, 
in Beitrage zur agyptischen Bauforschung 4, Zurich 1944, II, ibid. 
5, Cairo 1950, pp. 1-128). It is to be hoped that the present work 
may afford an additional impulse to the study of Egyptian architec­
ture, following in the footsteps of Ricke, and that the continuation 
of the debate will further the clarification of a number of questions 
still unsolved, historical as well as methodological.
Three points of detail should be stressed:
1. The author recognizes four partial complexes in the royal tombs 
of the Old Kingdom, beginning with that of Djoser.
A - the complex for funerary offerings (“Totenopferkultanlage ), 
B - the Sed-Festival complex (“Sed-Fest-Anlage ),
C - the complex for the cult of veneration ( Verehrungskultan- 
lage”);
D - the solar-cult complex (“Sonnenkultanlage ).
The A-complex is derived from the Archaic-Period complexes in 
Saqqara, the B- and C-complexes from the Archaic-Period com­
plexes in Abydos. The fourth, the D-complex, has not hitherto 
been clearly recognized; however, it can be shown, according to 
the author, to have existed from the time of Djoser and more or less 
continuously thereafter.
2. The key Djoser complex experienced two fundamental changes 
m arrangement. A knowledge of the resulting three planning 
stages facilitates the placing of individual findings within the 
different stages in the architectural development of the whole 
complex.
3. The analysis of the Old-Kingdom tombs given by Ricke (op. cit., 
vol. II) is modified in some details.
Professor Dr. Wolfgang Schenkel


Brinks, Jürgen, The Development of the Royal Funerary Complexes in the Old Kingdom. A Structural and Historical Analysis of Ancient Egyptian Architecture, Hildesheim 1979

http://archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/propylaeumdok/3994/1/Schenkel_REZ_Brinks_Juergen_1981.pdf

Brinks, Jürgen, The Development of the Royal Funerary Complexes in the Old Kingdom. A Structural and Historical Analysis of Ancient Egyptian Architecture, Hildesheim 1979

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