The ancient Egyptians have always fascinated me. I remember first learning about the process of mummification in grade 3 and 9-year-old me was enthralled instead of being terrified. The recent chain of events have given me enough time to revisit many of my interests. I found a free course on The Pyramids of Giza by Harvard and jumped at the opportunity to learn more.
The course is taught by the Professor of Egyptology at Harvard, Dr. Peter Der Manuelian and it is always a treat to learn from a teacher who is so passionate about their subject. He is also working on The Giza Project to make all the data collected from the site available for both the scholars and the laypersons. The driving force behind this initiative has been the preservation of the archaeological evidence and Egyptian heritage, which is susceptible to natural and human damage. Also, so many of the artifacts are now in museums all over the world, so the Giza Project is essentially a one-stop exhibit where you can see everything in its rightful place.
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| A 3D reconstructed image of a tomb discovered in Giza. The hieroglyphs and structure has been restored to its original state |
The course only focuses on the Fourth Dynasty of the Ancient Egyptian Empire. Three kings from that era, namely Khufu, Khafre and Menkaure, are buried in Giza and they had their tombs built in the shape of a pyramid. We learn about the artifacts, inscriptions and tomb structures found in the pyramids and the cemeteries surrounding them where the high ranking officials and the king''s subjects were buried.
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| This image shows the Western cemetery which is on the west of Khufu's (i.e. the largest) pyramid |
One of the videos highlighted the mysterious reserve heads which are stone statues found in mastaba tombs of high ranking officials from the Fourth Dynasty in Giza. There were 40 discoveries made in total. The heads were found on the ground and have gathered much interest for their amazing depiction of the individualistic facial features of their owners. Most of the reserve heads are in good condition but a few seem to have undergone intentional damage either to the ears or nostrils, and there is often a line going across the back of the head.
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| Some of the reserve heads found at Giza including those that were were intentionally damaged. Notice the ear/nose been knocked off on a few. |
There are many theories surrounding these stone works and why they were placed in the tombs. Many say that they were supposed to act as an additional carrier for the spirits of the tomb owners. However, there has been no evidence to support this claim and it is basically conjecture.
I believe the reserve heads acted as a storage device for the memories of their owners. Hence, only the head was carved in stone. They could help the spirits remember everything from their life on Earth. The damage might have been from grave robbers or enemies of the royal family who wanted to try to access those memories and learn their secrets.
A lot of archaeology is using the limited evidence to connect the pieces and formulate a theory. I am only using the knowledge I have gained from this course to hypothesize. Who knows what the statuary actually represented? My guess is as good as theirs (although, theirs is obviously a more educated one).
