A Reconstruction of the Reliefs of Hesy-re

A Reconstruction of the Reliefs of Hesy-reAuthor(s): Wendy WoodSource: Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt, Vol. 15 (1978), pp. 9-24Published by: American Research Center in EgyptStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40000125 .

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A Reconstruction of the Reliefs of Hesy-re

Wendy Wood

The Third Dynasty tomb of Hesy-re (pl. Ilia) was discovered in the nineteenth cen- tury in the course of excavations at Sakkara directed by Mariette.1 The five best preserved of eleven wooden reliefs in the inner corridor were removed from the tomb. One of the reliefs shows Hesy-re seated at a table of bread (pl. la), and the other four reliefs show Hesy-re striding (pls. Ib-IIb). Ma- riette later wrote that four of the panels were found in four of the eleven niches which articulate the west wall of the corridor, but he did not identify the niches and he did not report the sequence of the reliefs.2 In the season of 1911-12 the tomb was excavated by Quibell, who reported that the five panels taken by Mariette had originally been set into the wall at the back of the five southernmost stepped niches.3 Quibell also reported that the next five niches contained panels which were so "hopelessly decayed" that only a few hieroglyphic signs were visible on them.4 Unfor- tunately, the visible signs on the decayed panels were not recorded. From the northernmost niche, however, Quibell recovered a relief in very fragmentary condition of Hesy-re striding (pl. lie). The six surviving panels are on exhibition in the Egyptian Museum, Cairo.

The decoration of the inner corridor is obviously based on the theme of offerings. The shallow recess in the east wall of the corridor next to the entrance was adorned with a painted offering list. The short wall at the northern end of the corridor was

painted with four offering stands (pl. IVa). In addition, four of the surviving reliefs have short offering lists inscribed to the right of the figures of Hesy-re (pls. la, Ic, lib, and lie). The program of decoration presumably reflects the function of the space as an offering chapel.

Reisner interpreted the niched west wall of the offering chapel as a withdrawn facade which "may have been at one stage of the construction the actual facade of the mastaba."5 In his view the superstructure of the tomb was a mastaba with a paneled facade masked by later construction. On the basis of Mariette's numbering of the reliefs from the southernmost niches, in which the relief of Hesy-re seated bore the highest number, 992, Reisner identified the table scene as the panel from the fifth niche, counting from the southern end of the chapel.6 We can infer that he thought the placement of all the reliefs from the five southernmost niches could be reconstructed from Ma- riette's numbering. Reisner identified the fifth niche as the principal offering niche on the basis of his interpretation of the architecture as a paneled mastaba with the principal niche approximately opposite the buri- al chamber.7 We can infer that he thought the table scene was the principal scene on the west wall, and he envisioned it as flanked by reliefs of Hesy-re striding, four on the south and six on the north. Reisner never attempted to follow up his placement of the table scene with a full reconstruction of the reliefs. Nor did he attempt to inter-

9



10 JARCE XV (1978)

pret the series in the context of the function of the chapel and its decorative program.

Reisner's placement of the table scene in the fifth niche has two weaknesses. First, he assumed that Mariette's numbering reflects the order of the reliefs in the five southernmost niches. Mariette's numbering of the reliefs, however, extends from 989 through 992. He did not number one of the striding reliefs (pl. Ha), presumably because it is the poorest in quality and was not on exhibition at that time. If we accept Reis- ner's assumption that Mariette's numbering reflects the order of the reliefs and ignore the problem of the unnumbered relief, the table scene should be placed in the fourth niche, not the fifth. But we cannot assume, in my opinion, that Mariette's numbering has any relationship to the original order of the reliefs. We do not know whether Mariette was even at the site when the reliefs were found. His numbering of the table scene as fourth in his sequence might reflect only the uniqueness of the scene among the panels recovered, or his numbering of all the reliefs might have been arbitrary.

The second weakness in Reisner's em- bryonic reconstruction is his analysis of the superstructure of the tomb as essentially an old-fashioned mastaba with a paneled facade. There is no evidence that the west wall of the inner chapel ever served as the facade. The break in the bonding of the brick occurs, as Quibell pointed out, in the east wall of the outer corridor chapel.8 Quibell interpreted the tomb as a variant of a two-niched mastaba.9 He subtracted from the plan the two small mastabas that abut the tomb on the east, having identified them as additions which were probably built later for Hesy-re's relatives.10 The east face of Hesy-re's mastaba then appears to be a variant of the conventional two-niched type which has a principal offering niche at the southern end of the facade and an auxiliary niche at the northern end. The southern

niche of Hesy-re's mastaba has been dis- placed, however, by the doorway to the inner chapel. Opposite the doorway is the first of the eleven stepped niches in the west wall of the chapel. In effect, the southern offering niche of the east facade has been deeply recessed to incorporate it into the series of interior niches which articulate the west wall of the offering chapel.

My reconstruction of the series of reliefs is based on the assumption that they were truly architectural sculpture- that is, they were designed to reinforce and enhance the architectural design and they cannot be divorced from their context without suffer- ing a loss of meaning. The architectural design governed the organization of the sculpture, which is not unusual in Egyptian art but, as I hope to demonstrate, it was carried to an unusual extent. The artist perceived and made use of the dual relationship of the southernmost niche to the facade and the inner chapel. Moreover, his response to the architecture went beyond the design to an awareness of the shifting viewpoint of a giver of offerings who traversed the entire length of the offering chapel. The artist realized that the value of some of the niches in a series which cannot be seen as a whole from anywhere in a chapel only about one meter wide fluctuates according to the viewer's position. On this perception he based the formal inventions which com- plicate and enrich his design.

The architectural design arouses expectations which will aid in reconstructing the architectural sculpture. The eleven niches of the inner chapel are arranged in an un- broken line and were viewed in sequence from one through eleven, and we can expect them to be formally and iconographically unified. Since the six surviving reliefs are all of Hesy-re, the five decayed reliefs probably featured him, too (fig. 1, pattern A; figures at end of article).

From the viewpoint of a giver of offerings, however, our analysis of the design and our



A RECONSTRUCTION OF THE RELIEFS OF HESY-RE 1 1

system of numbering are inadequate and misleading. When a visitor approached the chapel he saw only the southernmost niche, which is distinguished architecturally by virtue of its location opposite the doorway. The relief in this niche could be viewed from the entrance as an entity independent of the series. Only after the visitor entered the chapel did it become apparent that the relief in Niche I was followed by a sequence of other reliefs. The niches, therefore, could also be interpreted as one niche plus a series of ten.

The dual relationship of Niche I, as the recessed southern niche of the facade, to the northern niche of the facade and to the other niches of the inner chapel suggests that four criteria should be met by the relief it contained. First, we can assume that the dual architectural function of the niche was taken into consideration by the artist who designed the series. The relief should be self-contained, yet it should be related to the ten reliefs which follow, and it should contain the visual impetus required to initiate the series. Second, as the first relief in the offering chapel viewed by a giver of offerings, the relief in Niche I has an informational responsibility which must be met. There should be an inscription which names Hesy-re and lists his titles in full. Third, the relief should establish the offering theme as the basis of the program of decoration by stating it strongly. Fourth, in view of the importance of the first niche and the natural desire of the sculptor to create a favorable first impression with the best product of his workshop in the spot which was most fully lit due to the doorway, we can expect the relief in Niche I to be of exceptionally high quality.

Of the five reliefs known to have come from the southernmmost niches (pls. Ia-IIb), the relief of Hesy-re seated (pl. la) is the only one which meets the four criteria deduced from the architectural design. Only the table scene satisfies the dual archi-

tectural function peculiar to the first niche. The seated pose and the table of bread set the relief apart from the other surviving reliefs, which all show Hesy-re striding. Moreover, the composition of the table scene is static in comparison to the other reliefs. Hesy-re's extended right arm and bent left arm attest to his power to move, but the juxtaposition of his arms in opposite directions cancels the slight impetus which each arm gives the viewer's eyes. The relief of Hesy-re seated can be viewed as an independent self-contained scene.

The relief of Hesy-re seated is also united to the series by common elements- the material, the scale, and various pictorial elements, such as the placement of the figures in relation to the inscriptions. The eyes of the viewer are moved principally by the diagonal line formed by the staff and wand. The line is read as rising from left to right, not falling from right to left, because Hesy-re faces right. I have suggested elsewhere that the designer of the triads in the portico chapels of King Mycerinus's valley temple at Giza in the Fourth Dynasty usedl compositional diagonals as visual directives in the triads of the end chapels to encour- age visitors to move toward the inner chapels.11 The relief of Hesy-re seated contains an earlier example of this compositional device, in my opinion, and suggests that it was a standard way of initiating movement along a series of architectural sculptures during the Old Kingdom. The relief of Hesy-re seated can be viewed as the initial directive which encourages the viewer to move along the inner chapel. The visual directives in the table scene- the direction faced by Hesy-re, and the compositional diagonal formed by his staff and wand- com- plement the architectural directive pro- vided by the severe angle of the east wall at the entrance to the chapel (pl. Ilia).

The relief of Hesy-re seated best satisfies the informational responsibility borne by the relief in Niche 1. Presumably on the



12 JARCE XV (1978)

basis of the intact panels and the impres- sions left by the panels in the plaster, Qui- bell remarked that the panels were uniformly 115 centimeters high.12 The reliefs were placed just above the floor.13 The inscriptions above the figures which identify Hesy-re and list his titles were therefore closer to eye level than the figures them- selves, which suggests that considerable importance was attached to the inscriptions. Moreover, the figures vary in quality, but the hieroglyphs are uniformly well made. The relief of Hesy-re seated contains a more complete list of Hesy-re's titles, as well as his name, than any of the other surviving reliefs.

The need for a strong thematic statement to introduce the chapel program in the first niche seen by a visitor is also best met by the relief of Hesy-re seated. The table scene, in which Hesy-re is the recipient of offerings described in the list confronting him and symbolized by the table of bread, is an explicit statement of the offering theme.

The relief of Hesy-re seated also satisfies our expectation that the panel in Niche 1 was of exceptionally high quality. The surviving reliefs show a range in quality which suggests that they were made in a workshop rather than by a single sculptor. But the relief of Hesy-re seated is so fine that it can be attributed, in my opinion, to the master sculptor. A rich linear vocabulary- straight lines, curves, and lines that swell or taper- is combined with the modeling of gently rounded masses and subtle detail. The face, modeled and incised with fine details, is a convincing portrait. The broad-shouldered, slender physique is idealized, but the expo- sed areas of flesh reveal the sculptor's command of anatomical detail. Smith pointed out that the relief is higher, flatter, and more sharply defined in the table scene than in the other panels.14 The boldness of the cutting, the control required for modeling which is uniformly low, and the sus-

tained passages of contour lines, as in Hesy- re's right arm, show that the sculptor was a technical virtuoso who could employ his linear and plastic vocabulary without making any concession to the grain of the wood.

The relief is marred only by the absence of any articulation of the long garment and by the crowding of the hieroglyphs. But the garment was probably painted with a leopard-skin pattern which supported the patterned area of the wig and contrasted with the plain background, like the patterned garment in a table scene of the Sec- ond Dynasty from Sakkara.15 The flesh areas were probably unpainted, for the wood supplies the reddish-brown hue which is conventional for male skin in Egyptian art, but other areas of all the reliefs were probably painted. The crowding of the hieroglyphs above the figure, presumably for the sake of completeness, does not diminish the quality of the individual signs.

The spatial relationships of the offering list, the figure, the furniture, and the border are finely calibrated. There is a subtle play between spatial intervals, such as the one between Hesy-re's right hand and the con- ventionalized bread on the table, and overlapping forms, such as Hesy-re's feet and the base of the table. Most impressive is the extraordinary suspension in space of the staff and wand in Hesy-re's left hand, the pen case and an object identified by Drioton as a leather bag slung over Hesy- re's left shoulder,16 and his extended right arm. The suspended elements create ten- sion and activity to animate an inherently static and passive scene. The large formal vocabulary, the technical virtuosity, the command of naturalistic detail based on observation, and the profound sensitivity to spatial relationships proclaim the relief a masterpiece and support an attribution to the master sculptor.

The relief of Hesy-re seated could not be placed in Niche 1 on the basis of quality alone. One of the reliefs of Hesy-re striding



A RECONSTRUCTION OF THE RELIEFS OF HESY-RE 13

(pl. Ib) is also very fine. Fischer has pointed out the elegance of the spatial relationships, the subtle details of the portraiture and the anatomy, the play between flat and patterned areas, and the skillful execution.17 To his description I would add that the suspended elements are again used to give the relief vitality; the same sense of interval can be seen in the space between the wand and the attributes in Hesy-re's left hand, and the same love of the complexity pro- duced by overlapping forms can be seen in the grouping of the staff and the scribal equipment in the left hand. The best of the reliefs of Hesy-re striding has the same fine qualities as the table scene and can also be attributed to the master sculptor.

The best of the striding scenes meets the standard of superior quality which I have postulated for the relief in Niche 1, but it does not satisfy the other criteria deduced from the architectural design. The striding scene is less self-contained and would not serve the architectural function equally well. Hesy-re's stride is enhanced by the placement of the figure slightly left of center and by the absence of the offering list and the table of bread which close the seated scene at the right. He is checked only by the even distribution of his weight. The sense of movement from left to right is therefore stronger in the striding scene. The inscription above the figure gives fewer titles and therefore does not equal the informational value of the relief of Hesy-re seated. The striding scene also lacks the motives, the table of offerings and the short offering list, which would establish the offering theme as the basis of the chapel program. Despite the high quality of the best of the reliefs of Hesy-re striding, it does not satisfy the other requirements of Niche 1 and cannot, in my opinion, vie with the relief of Hesy-re seated for placement in it.

The three other striding scenes recovered by Mariette were probably designed

by the master sculptor, for the series is formally and iconographically unified. He might well have participated in the execution, too, but not to the degree which is evident in the two reliefs I have attributed to his own hand. The differences in quality are most easily discerned by comparing the faces. The relief of Hesy-re with both of his hands open at his sides (pl. Ic) is admirable to modern eyes conditioned to realis- tic portraiture by photography, but the face is deficient in the idealization which is an essential ingredient of classical Egyptian portraiture. The relief of Hesy-re holding his staff against his breast (pl. lib), on the other hand, has the idealization but lacks the individualization essential for a convincing portrait. The relief of Hesy-re with his staff extended (pl. Ha) has a more bal- anced presentation of the natural and the ideal in the face, but the definition of form is weak and the figure lacks presence. The three reliefs are of good quality but they are inferior to the two reliefs I have attributed to the master sculptor and, in my opinion, they are shop work.

From the uniformity of Niches 2-11 we can deduce that the ten reliefs which followed the table scene in Niche 1 were a strongly unified group. We can assume that they projected a sense of pictorial continuity from relief to relief and a sense of movement from left to right- that is, south to north- in accordance with the viewer's movement in the chapel. We know that five of the niches, Niches 2-5 and 11, contained reliefs of Hesy-re striding. Since the intervening niches which contained the five decayed panels are not distinguished architecturally from the rest of the series, it is probable that they, too, contained reliefs of Hesy-re striding (fig. 1, pattern B). The repetition of the stance would provide the unity, continuity, and movement de- manded by the architecture.

The program of the chapel as a whole now begins to emerge. After making an



14 JARCE XV (1978)

offering in front of the table scene, the giver of offerings was directed by the relief of Hesy-re striding to move to the northern end of the chapel. There must have been something of extraordinary interest at the northern end, for this was the goal of the visitor. A statue is most unlikely, for there is no pier or niche to form an architectural setting. According to Quibell, a representation of matting served as the background for the offering stands painted on the north wall (pl. IVa).18 The wall painting probably complemented real offering stands on mats in front of the north wall to which a visitor was directed by the reliefs of Hesy-re.

Although the ten niches which followed Niche 1 probably contained a strongly unified series of striding scenes, several elements of design suggest that the niches were not of equal value for the giver of offerings. The dual relationship of the southernmost niche to the facade and the inner chapel creates a further duality, for both the niche at the northern end of the facade and the northernmost niche within the chapel can be interpreted as corre- spondents to Niche 1. A raised value for Niche 1 1 is also suggested by its proximity to the visitor's goal and by unusual features in the fragmentary relief (pl. lie) which occupied the niche.

One of the unusual features in the fragmentary relief is the direction of the short offering list to the right of the figure. Fi- scher has observed that the hieroglyphs of the corresponding list in Khai-bau-sokar's table scene of the late Third Dynasty are reversed in direction from the other inscriptions at the rear of the offering niche to emphasize that Khai-bau-sokar is the recipient of the benefactions.19 The same reversal of the direction of the offering list, presumably for the same reason, appears in three of the surviving reliefs of Hesy-re (pls. la, Ic, and lib). The fragmentary relief also has an offering list, but it faces away from Hesy-re (pl. lie).

In an offering chapel the offering lists can be assumed to be motives of consequence. In the tomb of an official whose titles include mdhfi) ssnsw, "head of royal scribes," and whose tomb reliefs were designed with a pronounced awareness of direction, we can hardly attribute a change of direction in an inscription of thematic importance to carelessness. The departure from the in- scriptional pattern is due, I suggest, to the position of the relief in the last niche of the chapel, closest to the offering stands. The hieroglyphs are not aimed at the figure of Hesy-re but at someone outside the relief. In the last relief of the series Hesy-re is shown as the giver, not the receiver, of offerings (fig. 1, pattern C). He has, in effect, joined the visitor in his pilgrimage to the offering stands at the northern end of the chapel.

The interpretation of Niche 1 1 as a corre- spondent to Niche 1, and of the fragmentary relief as a depiction of Hesy-re as offering giver, is also suggested by another unusual feature in the fragmentary relief. In his left hand Hesy-re holds a hs vase (pl. IVb), which is an appropriate attribute for an offering giver and which does not appear in the other surviving reliefs.

The offering stands painted on the north wall (pl. IVa) are, in my opinion, a contin- uation of the decoration of the west wall. A slightly later parallel for the continuity of representation from wall to wall within an offering chapel is in the tomb of Methen of the late Third or early Fourth Dynasty at Sakkara.20 Relief registers of desert game animals are continued from the west to the south walls, and offering bearers on the east and south walls approach the figure of Methen on the north wall.

Who was the recipient of the offerings made by Hesy-re and the visitors at the northern end of the chapel? At the north end of the east wall of the chapel there was a painted figure, of which only part of a sandaled foot survived (pl. Illb). The rest




of the east wall is painted with compart- mentalized lists of oils above a display of goods within a mat shelter. Quibell pointed out that the proximity of the figure to one of the fictive poles supporting the shelter makes it probable that the figure was seated.21 We should note that a seated figure painted at the northern end of the east wall would correspond in pose and contrast in placement with the relief of Hesy-re seated at the southern end of the west wall. The east wall has been generally interpreted as an independent scene of Hesy-re viewing his funerary equipment. But if we assume that the program is continuous from wall to wall, then the seated figure at the extreme end of the east wall was the recipient of offerings made by Hesy-re and chapel visitors. To command offerings from Hesy-re the seated figure must have been a superior being.

The interpretation of the seated' figure as a superior being who received the offerings made at the northern end of the chapel is supported by the different spatial levels inhabited by Hesy-re and the seated figure. In the striding scenes Hesy-re's head reached a height of about 65 centimeters from the floor, while the seated figure's foot begins at approximately 80 centimeters from the floor.22 Furthermore, Hesy-re in the northernmost niche was not directly confronting the seated figure, which was at the extreme end of the east wall, but kept what can be interpreted as a respectful distance. In the slightly later chapel of Methen, which has been cited as a parallel for continuity in wall decoration (supra, p. 14), the chief figure is placed high on the north wall, while the approaching offering bearers occupy subsidiary registers on the east and south walls.23

The seated figure faced the lists of oils and the goods displayed on the east wall. The identity of the seated figure and an interpretation of the scene on the east wall are suggested by the number and repetition

on the west wall of titles indicating that Hesy-re's official duties principally concerned royal property. Most important is the scribal title, for it appears in all the surviving reliefs. As "head of royal scribes" Hesy-re was attached to the royal treasury.24 Four of the reliefs (pls. la, Ib, Ha, and lib) include the titles wr mdw Srrtw and <t\. These Titles presumably appeared in the fragmentary relief (pl. lie), also, for the hieroglyphs still visible indicate that it repeated the list of titles which appears in three of the more intact reliefs (pls. Ib, Ha, and lib).25 wr mdw §rr£w, meaning "greatest of the Upper Egyptian ten(s)," probably identifies Hesy-re as a provincial adminis- trator. In the Sixth Dynasty the "greatest of the Upper Egyptians tens" was responsi- ble for conscripting men in districts under his control for corvee service.26 Prior to the late Old Kingdom T^ is probably to be transliterated try fa nswt, meaning "concerned with the king's property."27 The titles suggest that the seated figure on the east wall was the king - probably Zoser - whom Hesy-re served. The scene can be interpreted as a depiction of the king sur- veying the bounty of royal property en- trusted to the stewardship of Hesy-re. Oriented both west and south, the king was the recipient of offerings made at the north end of the chapel and the recipient of the fruits of Hesy-re's management.

It might be objected that images of kings are unknown in private tombs prior to the New Kingdom. But Hesy-re's program is unique in so many respects, and our knowl- edge of Egyptian art of the Third Dynasty is so limited, that expectations based large- ly on later tomb decoration should, in my opinion, be suspended.

When the reliefs in the first and last niches of the chapel, the table scene (pl. la) and the fragmentary relief (pl. lie), are considered jointly, it is clear that the series opens with Hesy-re as the passive receiver of offerings and closes with Hesy-re as the



16 JARCE XV (1978)

active giver of offerings. It would be incor- rect, however, to describe the reliefs as diametrically opposed in form. As the recipient, Hesy-re is not totally passive. His left arm is bent and his left hand is closed around his staff and wand, which form the diagonal that relieves the passivity of the scene and initiates the formal movement of the series. As the giver, Hesy-re is not totally active, for his right arm is pendant. The reliefs represent two phases of one state of being, rather than two mutually exclusive states.

When the unplaced reliefs (pls. Ib-IIb) which occupied Niches 2-5 are examined with the extremes represented by the table scene (pl. la) and the fragmentary relief (pl. lie) in mind, it is apparent that the inner reliefs of the series are concerned with the transition between the extremes. The surviving examples range between passive and active scenes without overstepping the extremes represented in the end reliefs. The passive or active character of the inner reliefs is determined by the presence or absence of the offering list confronting Hesy-re and characterizing him as the passive receiver. The degree of passivity or activity varies, however, and is determined by the disposition of Hesy-re's hands. At their most active, his hands are extended and support objects symbolic of activity; at their most passive, his hands are pendant and empty, symbolic of receptivity.

A striding scene, though inherently more active than the table scene on account of the upright posture of the figure, cannot be classified automatically as an active scene. "Striding" is here used conventionally for a composite stance. In each striding scene Hesy-re's left leg is advanced, implying movement, but his weight is equally dis- tributed, implying stasis. The artist ex- ploited the duality of the composite stance, as well as the duality of the southernmost niche, for he used the same stance for both passive and active scenes. The

stance can be interpreted as "standing" in passive scenes and as "striding" in active scenes.

In what order were the four surviving inner reliefs of Hesy-re striding or standing placed in Niches 2-5? The obvious solution is to suppose that the series simply progressed gradually from passive to active scenes along the entire length of the west wall of the chapel. The more passive of the standing scenes, Hesy-re with his arms pendant and his hands open, confronted by an offering list (pl. Ic), would be placed in Niche 2; the less passive relief, Hesy-re with his right arm pendant and his left arm holding his staff against his breast, confronted by an offering list (pl. lib), would be placed in Niche 3. In the less passive relief the area of the right hand is not well preserved, but the hand probably held a wand.28 The less active relief, Hesy-re with his right arm pendant and his wand in his right hand, while his left arm is extended and his left hand holds his staff (pl. Ha), would be placed in Niche 4; the more active relief, Hesy-re with his right arm pendant and his wand in his right hand, while his left arm is extended and his left hand raises his staff and scribal equipment in the air (pl. Ib), would be placed in Niche 5.

This hypothetical reconstruction has a number of weaknesses. The termination of the passive scenes in Niche 3 and the be- ginning of the active scenes in Niche 4 has no apparent rationale and throws the series off balance. We would expect the Egyptian preference for equilibrium to produce a more evenly structured play between passive and active scenes, even in a running series. The most objectionable aspect of this reconstruction, however, is that it recalls those small cartoon books which yield the illusion of animation if one flips through them rapidly. It presupposes a cinematic vision which would be appropriate for modern art but incongruous in Egyptian art of the Third Dynasty.




Again the architectural design comes to our aid. If we view the niches as one niche plus a series of ten, or as two niches en- closing a series of nine, the relief in Niche 2 bears the responsibility for initiating the series of striding and standing scenes. Assuming that the master sculptor wished to put Hesy-re's best foot forward to initiate the series, the relief in Niche 2 was probably of higher quality than the reliefs which followed, with the probable exception of the even more important relief in Niche 1 1 . On the basis of its superior quality the more active of the unplaced reliefs (pl. Ib) can be placed in Niche 2. An active scene is to be anticipated as more forceful than a passive scene in presenting the opening statement of the series. Furthermore, the juxtaposition of the passive and active scenes in Niches 1 and 2 would have established for the viewer as soon as possible the passive-active theme.

The remaining unplaced reliefs (pls. Ic- Ilb) must have occupied Niches 3-5, but in what order did they appear? To answer this question we must assume the existence of a pattern and recover the basic motive. Even in a running series a pattern is to be anticipated, for in Egyptian art a premium is placed on structural strength. The pattern must be strong enough to articulate the series rhythmically but too weak to disrupt the unity and the directional movement of the reliefs.

The juxtaposition of the passive table scene (pl. la) in Niche 1 with the active striding scene (pl. Ib) in Niche 2 suggests that the pattern is based on the alternation of passive and active scenes, which are differentiated principally by the presence or absence of the offering list. The fragmentary relief in Niche 11 is exceptional, for it is an active scene with the offering list reversed (pl. lie) on account of the unique relationship of the relief to the offering stands and the figure of the king.

The exemption of the relief in Niche 1 1

from the basic motive of the pattern which I have postulated suggests that we must again shift our interpretation of the niches. If they can be interpreted as one niche plus a series of ten, or as two niches en- closing a series of nine, it must also be possible to interpret them as a series of ten niches plus one. It would be valid to number the niches 1-10 and 10' to express the ambiguous relationship of the fragmentary relief to the pattern of alternation. The pattern divides the ten reliefs which pre- cede the fragmentary relief into five pairs, each composed of a passive scene followed by an active scene (fig. 1, pattern D). Icon- ographically, the pairing expresses the de- pendence of Hesy-re in the active phase on the nourishment he receives in the passive phase. The pattern converts the first ten reliefs into a unified introduction to the visual climax of the program, which embraced the fragmentary relief, at the northern end of the chapel.

The alternation of passive and active scenes would remind the offering giver, as he progressed along the corridor, that Hesy-re is sustained in afterlife by repeated offerings. The visual reminder was probably complemented by offering stands in the niches which contained reliefs with offering lists. This arrangement would cause the visitor to participate in the controlled rhythm of arrest and movement established by the pattern.

The program, as I have reconstructed and interpreted it, is illuminating for the problem of how the ancient Egyptian interpreted two-dimensional figures which are composites of front and side views. The image of the king can be interpreted as oriented west to receive offerings and south to receive property. The figures of Hesy-re can be interpreted as oriented east to receive offerings and north to present offerings. The artist who designed the program for Hesy-re's offering chapel ex- ploited the dual orientation of composite



18 JARCE XV (1978)

figures, as well as the dualities of the composite stance and the southernmost niche.

Assuming that passive and active scenes alternate, and having placed the more active of the striding scenes (pl. Ib) in Niche 2, the less active relief of Hesy-re extending his staff (pl. Ha) must be placed in Niche 4 (fig. 1, pattern D).

As a member of a pair, the active scene in Niche 4 must have its passive com- plement in Niche 3. The complementary relief must be one of the two unplaced reliefs (pls. Ic and lib), which must have occupied Niches 3 and 5. If we assume that the designer carried through the principles of duality and alternation, the passive reliefs formed a pattern in which the more passive phase, represented by the relief of Hesy-re standing with his hands open at his sides (pl. Ic), alternated with the less passive phase, represented by the relief of Hesy-re standing with his staff against his breast (pl. lib). Assuming that the more passive reliefs were as close to the extreme of passivity represented by the table scene in Niche 1 as the pattern of alternation per- mitted, the relief of Hesy-re standing with his hands open at his sides (pl. Ic) can be placed in Niche 3, and we can reconstruct a relief of the same type in Niche 7. The less passive relief of Hesy-re holding his staff against his breast (pl. lib) must then be placed in Niche 5, and we can reconstruct a relief of the same type in Niche 9.

We should note that the reconstructed order of the three southernmost reliefs (pls. Ia-c) in Niches 1-3 corresponds to the order shown on the plate which illus- trates Mariette's discussion of the three reliefs on exhibition in 187 1.29 The corre- spondence of his illustration to the reconstruction suggests that he knew the order of the five southernmost reliefs and ex- hibited three in sequence. The two remaining reliefs were withheld, presumably because the relief of Hesy-re with staff extended is the poorest in quality (pl. Ha)

and the relief of Hesy-re holding his staff against his breast is the most fragmentary (pl. lib). In 1876 four reliefs were on exhibition.30 The added relief was presumably the relief of Hesy-re holding his staff against his breast, for Mariette assigned a number to it. We cannot assume, however, that exhibition of the relief indicates that it preceded the relief of Hesy-re with staff extended and should be placed in Niche 4 instead of Niche 5. Mariette might have decided to add the relief of Hesy-re holding his staff against his breast to the works on exhibition because he thought the pose was unusual.

The active reliefs can be reconstructed completely by assuming that they, too, •follow the patterns of duality and alternation. The more active phase, represented by the relief of Hesy-re with his staff and scribal equipment raised (pl. Ib), alternated with the less active phase, represented by the relief of Hesy-re with his staff extended (pl. Ha). We can reconstruct reliefs of the more active type in Niches 6 and 10, and a relief of the less active type in Niche 8 (fig. 2).

The attributes probably follow a pattern also (fig. 2). The scribal equipment appears, like the scribal title, throughout the series. The staff, wand, a#d empty hand are established as motives in the table scene of Niche 1 and then appear in various combinations in the reliefs of Niches 2-10. In active scenes Hesy-re always carries his staff in his extended left hand and his wand in his pendant right hand, but the scribal equipment alternates between his left hand and his shoulder. In passive scenes two combinations alternate. In the more passive type the hands are pendant and empty; in the less passive type the left hand holds the staff against the breast, while the right arm is pendant and the right hand probably held a wand.

The fragmentary relief (pl. lie) is an exception to the pattern of the attributes.




We have observed that in this relief Hesy- re is a giver of offerings and holds a Ay-vase in his left hand [supra, p. 14). Kadish has made the admirable suggestion that the small round object in Hesy-re's right hand (pl. IVb) is the disk of Re.31 The two attributes would then form a rebus of Hesy-re's name.

Fischer had already considered the possibility that the round object might be a disk of Re and part of a rebus, but he re- jected the identification as "doubtful."32 He remarked that uthe disk would hardly be expected to appear in the hand of an individual, even if it were suggested by an object of similar shape."33 In view of the uniqueness of Hesy-re's program, however, we cannot eliminate the possibility of a disk on the basis of expectations. Fischer described the disk as an indirectness of allusion which would be "contrary to the rather literal mentality of the Egyptians."34 In fact, the rebus is the fundamental prin- ciple of hieroglyphic writing and therefore cannot be described as contrary to the Egyptian mentality. Fischer also pointed out that "nonroyal names of the Old King- dom . . . consistently use a phonetic writing in referring to the name of Re."35 He admitted, however, that the logographic writing appears in a non-royal name of the Archaic Period.36

Fischer pointed out that the hand is represented "as though viewed from the other side" with extended fingers, an unusual viewpoint which does not otherwise appear in the reliefs.37 He identified the object in the hand as a loaf of bread or a lump of natron, but he himself remarked:

In either case one might expect the fingertips to curl upward; it would seem that they were extended in order to reveal the object's round contour as clearly as possible.38

The position was chosen, in my opinion, because it made it possible for the viewer

to see the inner circle of the disk. This detail is not visible, for it was probably painted, as were other details in the reliefs.

Fischer's discussion of the attributes in the fragmentary relief is based on his assumption that the reliefs lack a narrative context.39 I have attempted to demonstrate that the reliefs are narrative in the context of the architectural design, the function of the architectural space, and the decoration of the offering chapel as a unified whole. A rebus on Hesy-re's name formed by the vase and the disk would be an appropriate climax to the offerings of goods and, by implication, services which Hesy-re pres- ents. The rebus would suggest that Hesy- re's ultimate offering to the king is himself. The identification of the object as the disk of Re completes the reconstruction of the reliefs with the pattern of the attributes (fig. 2).

The apertures visible above the inscriptions in three of the reliefs (pls. la, Ib, and Ha) were presumably a constant feature throughout the series. Quibell identified them as holes for ties in the brick walls, but he admitted that he could find no im- prints of ties.40 The apertures might have contained emblems of geographical districts which offer their bounty to the king through the offices of Hesy-re. The offering chapels of at least two royal funerary temples of the Fourth Dynasty, the valley temple of Sneferu at Dahshur and the valley temple of Mycerinus at Giza, had programs of decoration which featured the enumeration of geographical units that would provide offerings for the king in afterlife.41 In the valley temple of Sneferu the units are the royal estates grouped according to nomes; in the valley temple of Mycerinus the units are nomes. The valley temple of Cheops might also have featured the enumeration of estates bringing offerings to the king.42 In each of these programs the personifications of geographical units are identified by emblems above the figures. The program



20 JARCE XV (1978)

of Hesy-re's chapel might be an earlier private version of this type of royal program. The variations in the lists of titles in Hesy-re's reliefs might reflect Hesy-re's official functions in various geographical districts. The variations in the wigs might reflect regional fashions. We should note that the oils listed on the opposite wall of the chapel are grouped according to the geographical districts from which they came.43

The suggestion that the program of Hesy-re's offering chapel featured the enumeration of geographical districts has implications for the sculptural program of the Step Pyramid complex of Zoser at Sakkara. The hierarchical organization of Egypt fostered a radial pattern of development in art made for royal officials. Religious propriety prompted artists to create iconographic distinctions between royal and private work, and the more limited econ- omic resources of royal officials prompted reductions in scale and the use of cheaper materials in work they commissioned. Nev- ertheless, royal officials tended to follow the king's lead in artistic patronage. We can therefore conclude that the program of Hesy-re's offering chapel was probably based on a royal program in the Step Pyramid complex.

I have elsewhere pointed out that we can expect programs featuring the enumeration of geographical districts to be located in offering chapels at the entrances to royal funerary complexes of the early Old King- dom.44 If there was a program of this type in the Step Pyramid complex, it was probably located in the alcoves of the colonnade, which afforded the only access to the pre- cinct. Fragments of a limestone statue or statues of Zoser with nine bows, symbolic of the enemies of Egypt, under his feet in relief and three rkyt birds, probably symbolic of the Egyptian people, in front of his feet in relief were found in the colonnade.45 Also in the colonnade were hard

stone heads of foreign prisoners.46 Although the prisoners are probably from a later period, they might have been replacements for older statues in poor condition. The fragments suggest a program in which the people of Egypt and the subjugated enemies of Egypt brought offerings and tribute to Zoser. In such a program the geographical districts under Zoser's rule would have been enumerated.

Hesy-re's program is probably not just a reduced version of the statuary in the al- cove chapels, in my opinion, but a synthesis of programs in the Step Pyramid complex. The wooden reliefs and painted matting on the west wall of Hesy-re's offering chapel are a combination similar to the limestone reliefs and simulated matting of stone and tile in some subterranean chambers of the Step Pyramid complex. The royal reliefs are ritual scenes of king- ship, however, which could not be appro- priated for non-royal art. Hesy-re's program is probably a modification of the icon- ography of the colonnade statuary and the format of the reliefs in the subterrranean chambers. I have elsewhere pointed out that the palace facade mastaba is a similar synthesis, in my opinion, of the superstructure of the funerary palace and the sub- structure of the pit tomb.47 Such syntheses enabled the artist to provide a private pa- tron with architecture or architectural decoration which imitated the essential elements of royal works without infringing on their unique identity.

The program of Hesy-re's offering chapel, as I have reconstructed and interpreted it, is an artistic ancestor of Old Kingdom programs in private tombs which include a scene of the tomb owner inspecting the produce of his estate and receiving his accountants. A well known example is the unfinished scene on the rear wall of the vestibule of the Fifth Dynasty tomb of Pery- neb, which was removed from Sakkara in 1913 and has been reconstructed in the




Metropolitan Museum.48 The substitution of the tomb owner for the king in the later versions of the scene can be interpreted as a reflection of the growing power of the aristocracy at the expense of the monarchy in the Fifth Dynasty.

The program of Hesy-re's offering chapel might have extended to the decoration of the outer corridor where at least the west wall was painted with scenes of rural life.49 This might be an ancestor of the scenes of life on tomb owners' estates in later tombs, but it was presumably life on the king's property that was shown in Hesy-re's outer corridor. Even in the Fifth Dynasty this type of scene was excluded from the inner offering room of conservative tombs.

Hesy-re's program demonstrates the importance attached to the offering ritual. The offerings are not merely physical sus- tenance. They enable Hesy-re to continue not only his existence but also his offices with the powers and responsibilities they entail. Offerings are the catalyst for a chain of reciprocal relationships between the living and those in afterlife, between the king, his officials, and his people. Offerings can be made directly to the king, but even an offering to Hesy-re is indirectly an offering to the king whom Hesy-re continues to serve in afterlife. The order of the next world, like the order of this world, depends on man's fulfillment of his responsibilities to his fellow man.

The program has implications for the interpretation of funerary statues in the early Old Kingdom and for the Egyptian conception of afterlife. Tomb statues are generally believed to have had a common function as potential bodies for afterlife. The development of various types, however, suggests a more complex icono- graphy. Assuming that private funerary reliefs are closely related to private funerary statues, the iconographic significance of seated, standing, and striding figures in funerary art of the early Old Kingdom can

be deduced from the reliefs of Hesy-re. The seated figure of the table scene (pl. la) represents Hesy-re in a passive phase of afterlife as the recipient who is dependent upon the offerings of the living. The striding figures of the series (pls. Ib, Ha, and lie) represent Hesy-re in active phases of afterlife in which he continues to exercise the offices he attained in life. The roles of the two types in the reliefs of Hesy-re reflect a conception of afterlife as a state composed of two principal phases, passive and active. The standing figures (pls. Ic and lib) are representations of a transitional phase of less importance. The elaborate program of Hesy-re's tomb includes the most complete statement of the icono- graphy of the seated, standing, and striding types in early Egyptian art which has survived.

Of the two principal types, the seated figure appears to have been more prevalent in both reliefs and statuary of the Archaic Period and the early Old Kingdom. The table scenes, which are common even in relatively modest tombs, suggest that the seated figure owed its popularity to its close association with the offering ritual. Predicated upon the holding of offices, the striding figure was probably developed in court art as an auxiliary to the seated figure.

Movement and stasis are combined in each of the two types but in differing de- grees. In the seated figure movement was confined to the arms, while in the striding figure movement is further suggested by the advanced left leg. One could argue that the extension of limbs is purely for the sake of relieving the symmetry of the bodies and heightening the visual interest. The extension of limbs probably has an iconographic significance, also, for it im- plies that the figures can move and therefore are capable of life. The equal distribution of weight in both seated and striding figures, however, cancels the temporal im-



22 JARCE XV (1978)

plications of movement and places the figures in the context of eternity.

Hesy-re's program is a graphic demon- stration of the quality and sophistication of court art of the early Third Dynasty. The reliefs of Hesy-re are the finest wooden reliefs which survive from antiquity. The program is a reminder of the conso- nance between architecture and architectural decoration, both painting and sculpture, and between the written word and pictorial form, which could be created by an extraordinary Egyptian artist.

Cleveland State Univesity

1 Auguste Mariette, Les mastabas de Vancien empire

(Paris, 1889), 57 and 80-82. 2

Auguste Mariette, Notice des Principaux Monuments des Musee de Boulaq (Cairo, 1876), 294-95: "Quatre panneaux de bois que couvraient le fond de quatre fausses portes dans le tombeau d'Hesi."

3J. E. Quibell, The Tomb of Hesy (Cairo, 1913), 4. 4 Ibid 5

George A. Reisner, The Development of the Egyptian Tomb Down to the Accession of Cheops (Cambridge, Mass., 1936), 271.

6 Ibid., 273.

7 Ibid 8 Quibell, 15.

9 Ibid., 3.

10 Ibid., 4.

11 Wendy Wood, "A Reconstruction of the Triads

of Kino; Mycerinus " TEA 60 (1974), 9 1 . 12 -Quibell, 18. n

Ibid., 4. 14 William S. Smith, A History of Egyptian Sculpture

and Painting in the Old Kingdom (London, 1949), 140. William S. Smith, The Art and Architecture of Ancient

Egypt (Baltimore, 1958), pl. 13. The wig of Hesy-re is painted black in one relief (pl. Ic). The antiquity of the paint is suspect, but a restoration presumably would have been prompted by traces of the original paint.

16Etienne Drioton, "Un Grattoir (?) de Scribe," ASAE41 (1942), 91-95.

17 Henry G. Fischer in Edward L. B. Terrace and

Henry G. Fischer, Treasures of Egyptian Art from the Cairo Museum (London, 1970), 33-34.

18 Quibell, 6. Fischer in Terrace and Fischer, Treasures, 37.

20 Smith, Sculpture and Painting, 152.

21 Quibell, 18.

22 The height of Hesy-re's head in each relief is estimated on the basis of the uniform height of the reliefs of 115 centimeters. The point at which the seated figure's foot begins is estimated from QuibelPs description, p. 5, of the painted register of objects in front of the foot as 120 centimeters high. The foot begins at approximately mid-point of the register but allowance must be made for the painted dado below, which is approximately one- sixth the height of the register or 20 centimeters.

23 Smith, Sculpture and Painting, 152.

24 1. E. S. Edwards, "The Early Dynastic Period in Egypt," in CAH, rev. ed. (New York, 1971), 11:1,38.

Arielle Kozloff was kind enough to confirm this point with the help of a flashlight at the Egyptian Museum, Cairo.

26 Henry G. Fischer, Dendera in the Third Millenium

B.C. (Locust Valley, New York, 1968), 10. 21

Ibid., 95. 28

Through personal communication John Baines offered this suggestion on the basis of parallel representations. 29

Auguste Mariette, Album de Musee de Boulaq (Cairo, 1871), no pagination, pl. 12.

30 Idem, Notice, 294-95.

31 Personal communication. 32

Henry G. Fischer, "Some Emblematic Uses of Hieroglyphs with Particular Reference to an Archaic Ritual Vessel," MM] 5 (1972), 19.

33 Ibid. 34 Ibid. 35 Ibid 36

Ibid., n. 59. 11

Ibid., n. 57. 38

Ibid., 19. 39 Ibid., 17. 40

Quibell, 5. 41 Ahmed Fakhry, The Monuments of Sneferu at Dahshur

(Cairo, 1961), II, 17-58; Wood, 82-93. 42 Hans Goedicke, Re-used Blocks from the Pyramid of

Amenemhet I at Lisht (New York, 1971), 13-17. 4

Hartwig Altenmiiller, "Das Olmagazin im Grab des Hesire in Saqqara (Qs 2405)," SAK 4 (1976), 8.

44 Wood, 85. 45 Cecil Firth, "Preliminary Report on the Ex-

cavations at Saqqara (1 925- 1926),'M&4£ 26 (1926), 99.

46 Ibid. 47

Wendy Wood, "The Origin and Early Devel- opment of Brick Tomb Architecture in Ancient Egypt," (M. A. dissertation, Oberlin College, 1974), 37.

48 William Hayes, The Scepter of Egypt (New York, 1953), II, 92, fig. 51.

49 Quibell, 10.




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WENDY WOOD: A RECONSTRUCTION OF THE RELIEFS OF HESY-RE PLATE III

a. Plan of the Tomb of Hesy Re at Sakkara

b. Drawing of Fragmentary Painting of a Seated Figure in the Tomb of Hesy-Re at Sakkara.



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Documents

A Reconstruction of the Reliefs of Hesy-re