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Abu Rawash (Abu Roash)

MICHEL BAUD

Abu Rawash is a wide archaeological area

situated west of the Nile, close to the apex of
the Delta. It is named after what was in the
nineteenth century a small hamlet but has now
become a rather large town, a satellite of Cairo.
This development has proven highly destructive for ancient remains. The area consists of
small hills cut by large wadis belonging to the
strip of semi-arid land (ancient Egyptian zmyt)
between floodplain and desert usually dedicated to cemeteries. Known mostly for its
destroyed pyramid of King Djedefre, the third
king of the 4th Dynasty, and the most northern
site of the Memphite necropoleis, the area
holds a rich inventory of funerary and cultic
sites dating from the Early Dynastic to the
Coptic period. Most, however, are poorly
known and barely recorded (Baud et al. 2003).

THE EARLY DYNASTIC PERIOD:

MODEST TOMBS AND ELITE
CEMETERIES
Excavations in the low sandy plain by Adolf
Klasens (Klasens 19578) and Zahi Hawass
(Hawass 1980) have revealed several cemeteries
of commoners dug in simple oval pits or small
mud brick mastabas dating to the Naqada
IIIBD periods. A recent survey has shown
that most, if not all, have now been destroyed
by mechanical leveling for land reclamation.
The only preserved area is situated on a
small hill fringing the Nile Valley, excavated
by Pierre Montet in 191314 (Montet
193846), by Klasens, and recently by Yann
Tristant (2008). On the east side of the hill
lies a group of large mastabas (up to
25 m long) dating to the 1st Dynasty, designated M after its first excavator, Montet. The
position of the tombs, immediately overlooking the river, is reminiscent of the historical topography of the contemporary SAQQARA

necropolis, although those mastabas are larger.

Most of the tombs date to the reign of King
DEN, as established by seal impressions on jar
stoppers found there. The size of the tombs,
the remnants of rich grave goods, and the
presence of subsidiary burials in parallel lines
to the main tombs, possibly belonging to
sacrificed retainers, indicates that this is an
elite necropolis. These mastabas display an
important step in the ancient Egyptians
mastery of stone cutting, as their deep rectangular shafts (up to 5 m) and lower chambers
are cut in the local limestone. These shafts were
obviously covered with wooden beams topped
with mats and mud-brick roofing; the whole
superstructure was also built in mud brick,
some of the facade walls adopting the design
of the royal palace decoration with niches
(serekh facade).

THE OLD KINGDOM: THE ROYAL

NECROPOLIS OF RADJEDEF
The most glorious period of Abu Rawashs
history is certainly that of the Old Kingdom,
specially the 4th Dynasty. The highest hill
in the area (160 m high) was used as the
site for the pyramid of King Djedefre, the
immediate successor of his father, Khufu
(see KHUFU (CHEOPS/KHEOPS)). Following the tradition of early Old Kingdom rulers, Radjedef
chose a new site for his pyramid contrary to
his brother and successor Khafre (see KHAFRE
(CHEPHREN)), who decided to rest close to
Khufu at GIZA, some 8 km south of Abu Rawash.
In the funerary complex Emile Chassinat found
in 1901 a large collection of very fragmentary
red quartzite statues originally more than
twenty in number of which the head in the
Louvre Museum (E 12626) is certainly one
the most vivid portrayals of a monarch of
these times.
Recent excavations of the pyramid by Michel
Valloggia (19952007; see, e.g., Valloggia 2004)
have challenged earlier views regarding this
monument. It has a square base, with sides

The Encyclopedia of Ancient History, First Edition. Edited by Roger S. Bagnall, Kai Brodersen, Craige B. Champion, Andrew Erskine,
and Sabine R. Huebner, print pages 1013.
2013 Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Published 2013 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
DOI: 10.1002/9781444338386.wbeah15009

2
106 m long, and was originally 68 m high,
about the size of Menkaures pyramid (see
MENKAURE (MYCERINUS)); it was built with about
the usual 51 degree slope, and encased largely
in red granite (but to an unknown original
height). Intense quarrying activities from
Roman times to the late nineteenth century
have almost reduced the pyramid to the original low rock knoll (about 12 m high) that
constitutes its core. The rock was cut vertically
in the shape of a T to accommodate the
descending corridor and the underground
chambers, now almost completely destroyed.
The pyramid is part of a large and unusual
complex like all the funerary complexes of
the 4th Dynasty, which predate the classical
layout of the later Old Kingdom. The satellite
pyramid displays an unusual number of
rooms accessed by a shaft, not a descending
corridor; this was later converted into a queens
burial not an unusual phenomenon at the
time. The causeway, which is certainly the
longest ever built (originally over 2 km), is
situated on the northern, rather than the eastern, side of the tomb; thus, the funerary temple
and open court developed on an unusual
northsouth axis. Houses for priests, workshops, and magazines that are common close
to the valley temple were also found near the
pyramid itself.
This royal complex is associated with an elite
necropolis called F, situated 1.5 km to the
northeast, on the same hill as the 1st Dynasty
tombs (Bisson 19245). Wrongly dated to
the Late Old Kingdom and considered a provincial necropolis, this cemetery holds at least
forty mastabas. The largest measure up to 50 m
long and are placed in front of small groups
of minor tombs organized in rows, on a model
very similar to that found at DAHSHUR and
Giza. Recent excavations by Baud (since 2001;
see, e.g., Baud et al. 2003) have shown that
these tombs date to the 4th Dynasty, and at
least three were occupied by princes, presumably sons of Djedefre. This is clearly demonstrated at least for Hornit, whose scribe
statues were found in an annex to the pyramid
temple of his father. Two other sons of

Djedefre, namely Bakai and Setkai, are also

thought to be buried in necropolis F, as indicated by fragments of titularies, which, however, are anonymous. Within area M,
dedicated to the Early Dynastic mastabas,
tombs of minor officials were also built (Baud
2007). One at least belongs to a funerary priest
of Djedefre.
Owing to lack of interest on the part of the
monarchs of Abusir, the site was largely
ignored during the 5th Dynasty. As is proved
by the absence of pottery at the funerary temple, no trace of cultic activity took place in
the complex of Radjedef, and only minor
tombs were still being built in necropolis F
(Marchand and Baud 1996). The area was
eventually revived in the 6th Dynasty, when
a small mud brick sanctuary was erected close
to the pyramid, indicating that the kings of this
period were showing some interest in reviving
the cults of their 4th Dynasty royal ancestors
whatever the blood link was between the two
royal lines. Similar activities are attested at
Dahshur and Giza.

THE LATE PERIOD REVIVAL: THE

ANIMAL SANCTUARIES
As in many necropoleis of the Old Kingdom,
the First Intermediate Period left no trace
of activity apart from small, isolated tombs
and the possible destruction of the pyramid
of Djedefre. No revival is attested either in the
Middle Kingdom, contrary to what occurred at
other Memphite cemeteries; the so-called
fort built in the Nile Valley close to the Abu
Rawash hills (Macramallah 1932) certainly
belongs not to this period but to the first millennium BCE: see below. The date of another
indisputably royal pyramid close to the valley,
called Lepsius I and extensively surveyed
by Nabil Swelim (1987), remains debated;
only a stepped rock-cut knoll remains and a
descending corridor leading to a funerary
chamber. It has been attributed to the 3rd
Dynasty on uncertain grounds. Isolated rockcut tombs are known from the New Kingdom

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on a hill adjacent to cemeteries FM; intrusive
burials of this date in the earlier mastabas of
necropolis F are also known. Significant monuments are, all in all, absent before the revival
of the very end of the Late period.
Two major monuments do belong to these
times, but they are incompletely excavated and
recorded. One is the above-mentioned fort,
in fact an impressive mud brick enclosure wall
(or rather sections of this wall) whose east side
measures 280 m long and whose north side
measures at least 205 m. The brick courses
are laid not horizontally but in a wavy line
typical of Late period constructions. The wide
enclosed area and the location of the building
lead one to assume that this is the enclosure wall
of a sacred (animal?) complex. Another large
complex, or, rather, group of rock-cut galleries,
was discovered by Bisson de La Roque in the
nearby Wadi Qaren (Bisson 19245). They are
strongly reminiscent of the sanctuaries and resting places for animal mummies that are found
in Saqqara, for example; like those, they are
situated either adjacent to the Nile Valley (on
the east) or in a local wadi (on the north).
Contrary to the opinion of its excavator, the
largest complex of galleries, 75 m long, is not
a quarry but a place where animal mummies
were accumulated in apparently huge quantities. Small wooden and bronze sarcophagi of
shrews (not miniature crocodiles) were found
there, and a black deposit of resins and oil
riddled with tiny bones is still visible on the
floor of some galleries. A large quantity of
these animals, as well as ibises, raptors, and
ichneumons, was recently discovered in
a mastaba in cemetery F (Ikram and Charron
2008). Chronologically these remains belong
to the 30th Dynasty, and the building of the
largest gallery at least can be attributed to
Nektanebo II, thanks to the evidence of a decorated block. This monument also mentions
the falcon god of Letopolis (Khem), the nearby
(10 km) capital of the second NOME of the
Delta. He is a blind and seeing god associated
with the above-mentioned animals in specific
ways, e.g., daynight aspects for the duo
ichneumonshrew mouse.

ROMAN AND COPTIC TIMES

No further remains are found until Roman
times, although the Ptolemaic period might
have continued the Late period cultic practice.
Apart from large cemeteries of largely unrecorded small shaft tombs, activity in the
first and third centuries CE is almost entirely
concentrated on Djedefres pyramid plateau.
This monument was then extensively quarried
and may also have served as a military watch
point (burgus) controlling Wadi Qaren, an
important caravan route to Alexandria, and
also the traffic at the apex of the Delta (Jones
1996). From the fifth century onwards, a large
monastery, Deir Nahya, was erected at the
opening of the same wadi (Jones 1995). It
was constructed using some of the material
from Djedefres complex, such as (now lost)
granite columns.
SEE ALSO: First Intermediate Period, Egypt;
Middle Kingdom, Egypt; Naqada (Nagada);
New Kingdom, Egypt; Old Kingdom, Egypt.

REFERENCES AND SUGGESTED READINGS

Baud, M. (1999) Etudes sur la statuaire de
Redjedef. I: Rapport preliminaire sur la collection
de lIFAO. In C. Ziegler, ed., LArt de lancien
empire egyptien: 3561. Paris.
Baud, M. (2007) Un decor de tombeau remis
en contexte: le scribe au travail du Louvre
(E 14 321) et le mastaba M IX dAbou Roach.
Revue dEgyptologie 58: 14571.
Baud, M. et al. (2003) Le Cimetie`re F dAbou
Roach, necropole royale de Redjedef (IVe
dynastie). Bulletin de lInstitut Francais
dArcheologie Orientale 103: 1771.
Bisson de La Roque, F. (19245) Rapport sur les
fouilles dAbou-Roasch. Cairo.
Chassinat, E. (1921-2) A` propos dune tete en
gre`s rouge du roi Didoufri (IVe Dynastie).
Fondation Euge`ne Piot: Monuments et Memoires
25: 5664.
Hawass, Z. (1980) Archaic graves recently
founded at north Abu Roash. Mitteilungen des
Deutschen Archaologischen Instituts, Abteilung
Kairo 36: 22944.

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Ikram, S. and Charron, A. (2008) The animal
mummies of Abu Rawash. KMT 19, 2: 3441.
Jones, M. (1995) El-Deir el-Nahya. Bulletin de
la Societe dArcheologie Copte 34: 3351.
Jones, M. (1996) A Roman station at Abu Rawash.
Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archaologischen
Instituts, Abteilung Kairo 52: 25162.
Klasens, A. (1957-8) The excavations of the
Leiden Museum of Antiquities at Abu-Roash.
Oudheidkundige Mededelingen uit het
Rijksmuseum van Oudheden 38: 5868; 39:
2055.
Macramallah, R. (1932) Une forteresse du
Moyen Empire (?) a` Abou-Rawach. Annales du
Service des Antiquites de lEgypte 32:
16173.

Marchand, S. and Baud, M. (1996) La Ceramique

miniature dAbou Rawash: un depot a` lentree des
enclos orientaux. Bulletin de lInstitut Francais
dArcheologie Orientale 96: 25588.
Montet, P. (1938-46) Tombeaux de la Ire et de la
IVe dynasties a` Abou-Roach. Kemi 7: 1169; 8:
157227.
Swelim, N. (1987) The brick pyramid at Abu
Rawash number I by Lepsius. Alexandria.
Tristant, Y. (2008) Les Tombes des premie`res
dynasties a` Abou Roach. Bulletin de lInstitut
Francais dArcheologie Orientale 108: 32570.
Valloggia, M. (2004) Le Complexe funeraire de
Redjedef a` Abou Rawash: etat des travaux apre`s
dix campagnes (19952004). Bulletin de la
Societe Francaise dEgyptologie 161: 1227.