The Starving of Saqqara

Last updated
The Starving of Saqqara
MaterialLimestone
Size67 cm (26 in), 80 kg (180 lb)
WritingUnknown script
CreatedUnknown period
DiscoveredEgypt, early 20th century
Present location Concordia University

The Starving of Saqqara is the name given to a statue of suspected Predynastic Egyptian origins. The statue of two seated nude beings (possibly a male and female) with large skulls and thin bodies has writing on the back of one of the figures that has yet to be identified. [1] Traces of dark pigment suggest that it was once painted.

Vincent and Olga Diniacopoulos, who amassed a large collection of antiquities, brought the work to Canada in the 1950s. The sculpture was exhibited in the 1950s at their family-owned Galerie Ars Classica on Sherbrooke Street in Montreal. The name Saqqara refers to the burial ground of Memphis, Egypt. How the name came to be attached to the artifact is not known. [2]

The statue has been at Concordia University since 1999. Experts from the University of Cambridge, the British Museum, the Brooklyn Museum, the Israel Museum and the Royal Ontario Museum have all been consulted, without success. [3]

The script has been determined to not be Aramaic, Demotic, Egyptian, Hebrew, or Syriac. [4]

One expert, Clarence Epstein, suggests that it represents a pair of conquered captives. [5] Epstein theorized that the physiognomy of the statues suggest a possible Nubian origin or a depiction of Nubians. [6] Egyptologist Robert Morkot noted that the statue was "certainly atypical" of Egyptian art. [6] Morkot did not believe that it was pre-dynastic, but admitted it was difficult to know without context. [6]

The sculpture was displayed to the public from March 16 to 18, 2011. It was viewable at the atrium of Concordia's Engineering, Computer Science and Visual Arts Integrated Complex. [7]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Howard Carter</span> British archaeologist and Egyptologist (1874–1939)

Howard Carter was a British archaeologist and Egyptologist who discovered the intact tomb of the 18th Dynasty Pharaoh Tutankhamun in November 1922, the best-preserved pharaonic tomb ever found in the Valley of the Kings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Egyptology</span> Scientific study of ancient Egypt

Egyptology is the scientific study of ancient Egypt. The topics studied include ancient Egyptian history, language, literature, religion, architecture and art from the 5th millennium BC until the end of its native religious practices in the 4th century AD.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bes</span> Ancient Egyptian deity of households

Bes, together with his feminine counterpart Beset, is an ancient Egyptian deity, likely of Kushite/Nubian or Nehesi C-Group culture origin worshipped as a protector of households and, in particular, of mothers, children, and childbirth. Bes later came to be regarded as the defender of everything good and the enemy of all that is bad. According to Donald Mackenzie in 1907, Bes may have been a Middle Kingdom import from Nubia or Somalia, and his cult did not become widespread until the beginning of the New Kingdom, but more recently several Bes-like figurines have been found in deposits from the Naqada period of pre-dynastic Egypt, like the thirteen figurines found at Tell el-Farkha.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saqqara</span> Burial ground in Giza Governorate, Egypt

Saqqara, also spelled Sakkara or Saccara in English, is an Egyptian village in the markaz (county) of Badrashin in the Giza Governorate, that contains ancient burial grounds of Egyptian royalty, serving as the necropolis for the ancient Egyptian capital, Memphis. Saqqara contains numerous pyramids, including the Pyramid of Djoser, sometimes referred to as the Step Tomb, and a number of mastaba tombs. Located some 30 km (19 mi) south of modern-day Cairo, Saqqara covers an area of around 7 by 1.5 km.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Djoser</span> Ancient Egyptian pharaoh of the 3rd dynasty

Djoser was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh of the 3rd Dynasty during the Old Kingdom, and was the founder of that epoch. He is also known by his Hellenized names Tosorthros and Sesorthos. He was the son of King Khasekhemwy and Queen Nimaathap, but whether he was also the direct successor to their throne is unclear. Most Ramesside king lists identify a king named Nebka as preceding him, but there are difficulties in connecting that name with contemporary Horus names, so some Egyptologists question the received throne sequence. Djoser is known for his step pyramid, which is the earliest colossal stone building in ancient Egypt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zahi Hawass</span> Egyptian Egyptologist

Zahi Abass Hawass is an Egyptian archaeologist, Egyptologist, and former Minister of State for Antiquities Affairs, serving twice. He has also worked at archaeological sites in the Nile Delta, the Western Desert and the Upper Nile Valley.

In ancient Egypt, cats were represented in social and religious scenes dating as early as 1980 BC. Several ancient Egyptian deities were depicted and sculptured with cat-like heads such as Mafdet, Bastet and Sekhmet, representing justice, fertility, and power, respectively. The deity Mut was also depicted as a cat and in the company of a cat.

Edeet Ravel is an Israeli-Canadian novelist who lives in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Imhotep Museum</span> Archaeological museum in located in the Saqqara necropolis complex

The Imhotep Museum is an archaeological museum located at the foot of the Saqqara necropolis complex, near Memphis in Lower Egypt.

<i>The Seated Scribe</i> Egyptian sculpture dating from the Old Kingdom period

The sculpture of the Seated Scribe or Squatting Scribe is a famous work of ancient Egyptian art. It represents a figure of a seated scribe at work. The sculpture was discovered at Saqqara, north of the alley of sphinxes leading to the Serapeum of Saqqara, in 1850, and dated to the period of the Old Kingdom, from either the 5th Dynasty, c. 2450–2325 BCE or the 4th Dynasty, 2620–2500 BCE. It is now in the Louvre-Lens.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">British Museum Department of Ancient Egypt and Sudan</span> Ancient Egyptian And Sudanese Museum Department

The Department of Ancient Egypt is a department forming an historic part of the British Museum, with Its more than 100,000 pieces making it the largest[h] and most comprehensive collection of Egyptian antiquities outside the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amarna Princess</span> Forgery of an ancient Egyptian statue

The Amarna Princess, sometimes referred to as the "Bolton Amarna Princess," is a statue forged by British art forger Shaun Greenhalgh and sold by his father George Sr. to Bolton Museum for £440,000 in 2003. Based on the Amarna art-style of ancient Egypt, the purchase of the Amarna Princess was feted as a "coup" by the museum and it remained on display for three years. However, in November 2005, Greenhalgh was brought under suspicion by Scotland Yard's Arts and Antiquities Unit, and the statue was impounded for further examination in March 2006. It is now displayed as a part of an exhibition of fakes and forgeries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aswan Museum</span> Museum on the island of Elephantine, Aswan, Egypt

Aswan Museum is a museum in Elephantine, located on the south-eastern side of Aswan, Egypt. It was set up in 1912 by the British Egyptologist Cecil Mallaby Firth. The museum features artifacts from Nubia, which were housed there during the construction of the Aswan Dam. In 1990, a new department was inaugurated. It displayed findings that were discovered on Elephantine island itself, such as utensils, weapons, pottery and mummies.

Robert George Morkot, FSA is an archaeologist and academic, specialising in Ancient Egypt. He is a Senior Lecturer in Archaeology at the University of Exeter. His current research is focused on the external relations of Ancient Egypt, particularly the relations with Kush (Sudan). He also works on the historiography of Ancient Egypt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sphinx of Taharqo</span> Ancient Egypt sculpture

The Sphinx of Taharqo is a granite gneiss statue of a sphinx with the face of Taharqo. He was a Nubian king, who was one of the 25th Egyptian Dynasty rulers of the Kingdom of Kush. It is now in the British Museum in London.

Tasos Neroutsos was a Greek physician and scholar.

The Shigir Sculpture, or Shigir Idol, is the oldest known wooden sculpture. It was carved during the Mesolithic period, shortly after the end of the last Ice Age, and is twice as old as Egypt's Great Pyramid. The wood it was carved from is approximately 12,000 years old.

Michel Baud was a French Egyptologist, head of the Nubian Sudan section in the Department of Egyptian Antiquities of the Louvre Museum. As such, he was the organizer of an exhibition devoted exclusively to Meroe, Sudan's ancient kingdom known for its legendary capital city and its famous royal necropolis. He was also the director of the archaeological mission on the site of the necropolis at Abu Rawash, and published papers on it such as La ceramique miniature d'Abou Rawash. He was a resident of the French Institute of Oriental Archaeology in Cairo. He was also the author of works on the late Old Kingdom South Saqqara Stone annal document with Vassil Dobrev, published between 1995 and 1997 in BIFAO.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities (Egypt)</span> A government ministry of Egypt

The Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities is the Egyptian government organization which serves to protect and preserve the heritage and ancient history of Egypt. In December 2019 it was merged into the Ministry of Tourism with Khaled al-Anani retaining his function. He was replaced by Ahmed Issa as Minister of Tourism and Antiquities in a cabinet reshuffle on 13 August 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt</span> Last native dynasty of the Late Period of Ancient Egypt (664–525 BCE)

The Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt was the last native dynasty of ancient Egypt before the Persian conquest in 525 BC. The dynasty's reign is also called the Saite Period after the city of Sais, where its pharaohs had their capital, and marks the beginning of the Late Period of ancient Egypt.

References

  1. Concordia University (March 14, 2007). "The Starving of Saqqara sculpture". flickr. Retrieved 4 October 2012.
  2. Concordia University. "CSI Montreal: Concordia Sculpture Investigation". Diniacopoulos Antiquities Collection. Retrieved 2021-09-03.
  3. "Sculpture mystery baffles Concordia researchers". CBC.ca . Mar 17, 2011. Retrieved 18 March 2011.
  4. Curran, Peggy (March 17, 2011). "Experts can't crack Concordia sculpture riddle". The Gazette . Retrieved 18 March 2011 via sculptsite.com.
  5. Boswell, Randy (16 Mar 2011). "Canadian university puts ancient, mysterious sculpture on display". The Vancouver Sun. Postmedia Network Inc. Archived from the original on 2011-03-16. Retrieved 14 May 2022.
  6. 1 2 3 "Egyptian Enigma: The Starving of Saqqara". World Archaeology . May 7, 2011. Retrieved March 2, 2023.
  7. "The mystery of 'The Starving of Saqqara'". Past Horizons. March 16, 2011. Archived from the original on 21 March 2011. Retrieved 25 March 2011.