Chessquest

Goddesschess' Sixth Anniversary Celebration
Trips to New York and the Oriental Institute Museum in Chicago
September 23 - October 3, 2005

Part 4

New York Trip
New York Trip 2
New York Trip 3

Photo Gallery

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More Images from the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art

The last item we wanted to show here is 11.155.3b at the Met. This is the description:

[New York city seti 1 chapel wall.jpg (59816 bytes)]
West wall from a chapel built by Sety I for his father, Ramesses I
Abydos, Dynasty 19, reign of Sety I, ca. 1294-1279 B.C.
Limestone, l. 11 ft. 3 in.
Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1911

Because this image is carved on limestone, and is pieced together, it is difficult to make out some of the details (even seeing it in person, it was difficult to make out details). You can find a line drawing of the image in this PDF document from the Met (you'll have to scroll down to page 104 to see the image), which is a little more clear.

Don was fascinated by this tomb carving as a great example showing the offering table as a metaphor for board game. Unfortunately, the image quality is not the best, but this chapel wall carving shows practically mirror images of two offering tables with specific FIGURES on it (representing gaming pieces). According to the description below, these are gods and a form of Osiris' head. To the best of Don's and Jan's recollections, we have not seen another rendition of an offering table in this manner; the ones with which we are familiar either hold "bread" or are loaded with identifiable food and vessels containing food and beverages. Below is a line drawing of the Chapel's west wall, which is clearer than the image (above) of the wall itself, but it is difficult to make out exactly what figures are on the table, other than the "head" of Osiris.

Osiris (oh-SIGH-ris) was the Egyptian god of the afterlife and rebirth. He ruled the netherworld, and his son, Horus, ruled the world of the living. Every reigning pharaoh was identified with Horus and was thought to become one with Osiris after death. At Abydos (ah-BYE-dos or AH-bee-dos), the place most sacred to Osiris, Egyptian kings built temples and funerary chapels so they would be identified with him. They believed that through carved images of themselves their spirits would be able to participate in the annual celebration of the myth of Osiris, during which Osiris was actually reborn, and by extension, they would be reborn as well. Whenever possible, nonroyal persons also attempted to participate by erecting chapels and stelae at Abydos (slide 33).

Originally this limestone relief was on the back wall inside a small chapel built by Sety I for his father, Ramesses I. In inscriptions on the chapel walls Sety declared, "I am the one who makes his name live" and "I will make him a place where his ka[spirit] can alight, drawn in outline and carved with the chisel."

The scene is divided down the center. On the right Ramesses kneels and presents an offering of food and flowers to a cult symbol of Osiris that resembles a head covered with a cloth or wig and surmounted by two tall ostrich plumes.

The symbol is supported by a shaft set into a stand equipped with sledge runners and carrying poles. Encircling the shaft are small figures of deities and the king. Actual cult symbols in the time of Sety and Ramesses were probably made of rich materials. Behind the Osiris symbol is the figure of Isis (EYE-sis), wife of Osiris. She holds an ankh in one hand and raises the other in a gesture of protection.

The poses and arrangement of the figures on the left side of the scene are nearly identical to those on the right. Sety kneels and presents a small kneeling statue of himself offering a jar of myrrh to a cult symbol identical to the one on the right. Behind the symbol stands a falcon-headed figure of Horus, son of Isis and Osiris. He holds an ankh and raises the other hand protectively. The sense of balance is reinforced by the triangular composition.

Reliefs from the two side walls of the chapel are displayed with the central one in the Museum. One shows Ramesses, his face exhibiting signs of old age, receiving offerings of food and drink. In the other, he and his family make offerings to Osiris, Isis, and Hathor.

Here are Jan's miscellaneous notations of exhibits from the Met that we could not find on the Met website:

Images from the Oriental Institute Museum:

OIM Cartonage Mask - Ptolemaic Period

This lovely lady is from the Oriental Institute Museum at the University of Chicago. She's late Ptolemaic, a cartonnage head cover made about 2,000 years ago. The checkerboard design is indicative of the type of decoration used by the Egyptians throughout their long history. This example is particularly well preserved, and beautifully reflects the Egyptian symbolic use of color to represent life, death and rebirth into the realm of the sun god.

Unfortunately, it seems that the OIM has taken much of its collection offline. We only have the image (left) because she was printed on a hand-out that Don stashed into his backpack. According to Jan's scribbled notes, we saw a house-shaped offering stand from Megiddo that had a 3x15 checkered board on it, dated to c. 1300-1200 BCE, Exhibit Number A18308, I could not find this item online. It was pretty spectacular and Don was very excited about it. Jan also noted very ancient checkerboards on Susiana Period pottery (c. 6800-3600 BCE, Persia), a reference to the Bakun Culture (c. 4200-3800 BCE, Iranian Plateau), two scribbled notes about 5x5 checkered squares and one note about a 5x7 checkered rectangle, on pottery from Tall-i Bakun. (She did not write down exhibit numbers for any of these items. Drat!) Jan also made a little sketch of something we'd seen in the Mesopotamian Gallery, a small rectangle, perhaps 2x4 inches, it may have been made out of clay; about two-thirds of the rectangle was incised with a 7x5 grid; the remaining one-third of the rectangle was incised with wavy lines running from the bottom of the 7x5 grid to the edge of the rectangle; my sketch shows three such lines. It's form reminded her of the "field and water" Egyptian tomb painting she'd seen at the Met.

 

 

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New York Trip
New York Trip 2
New York Trip 3

Photo Gallery