Chronological Developments in the Old Kingdom Tombs in the Necropoleis of Giza, Saqqara and Abusir: Toward an Economic Decline during the Early Dynastic Period and the Old Kingdom

Description

At the end of the 6th dynasty the 500 year old established order of the Old Kingdom fell apart, which, according to the interpretation given to various contemporary literary sources, started a period of social unrest and economic decline. The magnitude of the economic investment bestowed by the members of the higher social strata on the monuments that would be the abode for their after-life leads to the hypothesis that an economic decline could also manifest itself in the dimensions of the various architectonic elements of these monuments. The dimensions of the tombs have been chosen as the subject of this study. The preliminary part of the study is performed on the tombs in the necropolis of Giza. The results of the study are compared with the same measurements in the necropoleis of Saqqara and Abusir. The conclusion is that the economic decline started already at the early dynastic period and not as a result of the caving in of the Old Kingdom. An interesting ‘side-effect’ of the study is that the dimensions of the tombs can serve as a method to check a dating that has been proposed based on other aspect of the tomb. Table of Contents Part I: Various Chronological Developments of Dimensional Aspects of the Tombs in the Necropolis of Giza Introduction Chapter One: Preliminary Considerations Chapter Two: The Necropolis of Giza Chapter Three: The Chronological Development of the Number of False Doors Chapter Four: The Chronological Development of the Dimensions of the Tombs and Their Chapels. Part I Chapter Five: The Chronological Developments in the Dimensions of the Tombs and Their Chapels. Part II Chapter Six: The Chronological Development of the Number of False Doors in Relation to the Dimensions of the Tomb Chapter Seven: Discussion, Analyses and Conclusions in Relation to the Necropolis of Giza Part II: The Necropoleis of Abusir and Saqqara. A Verification of the Chronological Tendencies in the Necropolis of Giza Chapter Eight: The Necropolis of Saqqara Chapter Nine: Various Chronological Developments in the Necropolis of Saqqara Chapter Ten: The Tombs in the Necropolis of Abusir Part III: Additional Methods for Controlling the Proposed Dating of a Tomb Chapter Eleven: Methods of Checking the Proposed Datings of Tombs The Chapter Twelve: The Necropoleis of Saqqara, Giza and Abusir: Discussion and Conclusions Part IV: Catalogues and Tables