Offering chapel of Ka-ni-nisut

Offering chapel of Ka-ni-nisut

The entrance to this offering chapel is formed by a corridor covered with reliefs. One noteworthy detail here is the bringing of an antelope. On the western wall of the chamber itself are two false doors which symbolize the connection with the realm of the deceased. Behind the false door on the left was the closed-off statue room, the so-called serdâb, in front of which the daily offerings were placed. In between the false doors, the reliefs represent Ka-ni-nisut ("My vitality belongs to the king") and his wife Nefret-ha-nisut ("Goodness surrounds the king") with their three children opposite them. The names of the children are Her-wer ("Horus is great"), Wadjit-hetepti ("Uto is pacified"), and Ka-ni-nisut junior. Four officials and five mortuary priests are represented with offerings in their hands, followed in the lower register by ten servants of the deceased. The tomb owner is wearing a wig and a short kilt with pleats. Over his shoulder is a panther skin as a sign of his high priestly office. His right hand is leaning on a long stick and his left is holding a sceptre as a sign of his dignity. His wife is wearing a long wig and the close-fitting white dress of ladies of the Old Kingdom. The two eldest children are dressed like their parents in a kilt and a dress respectively. The youngest is represented naked. The head of the office, Wehem-ka, is represented writing, while the three scribes each clutch a container with papyrus under their arms. They each have two reed pens behind one ear. Their painter's palettes are shells suspended from their belts. The mortuary priests are bearing a wash basin, an incense burner, a crane, and two ducks. The servants are carrying an ox leg, geese, ducks, a gazelle, a roasted goose, a piece of meat on a plate, more geese, a reed basket, and a cup with a lid. The last two in the row of servants are again mortuary priests. The hieroglyphic legends mention the names and functions of the persons depicted. The short vertical lines above in the middle list the numerous titles and functions of the tomb owner himself. In front of the head of the office, the title of the entire scene appears: "Viewing the lists". The northern wall again shows Ka-ni-nisut with various chancellery personnel presenting lists to him. Next to the tomb owner is his eldest son on a smaller scale, represented as a small child. Over the entrance on the eastern wall are representations of the two boats on which Ka-ni-nisut is to undertake his journeys. However, the legends here mention mortuary ritual journeys. To the right are rows of representatives of settlements which are to pay taxes. Twenty-five women and five men are represented in two rows. Three bulls are brought as offerings and another two are being slaughtered. The southern wall ends with the scene of the deceased seated at a table of offerings, with its lengthy offering list, which has been damaged. The lower register on the eastern wall also belongs to this scene, representing a long row of mortuary priests and employees carrying offerings. Ka-ni-nisut was a powerful and a rich man who probably live

d in the early 5th Dynasty. His claim to be a "bodily son of the king" is presumably not to be taken literally, but as an honorific title.

Present location KUNSTHISTORISCHES MUSEUM [09/001] VIENNA

Inventory number 8006

Dating 5TH DYNASTY

Archaeological Site GIZA NECROPOLIS

Category CHAPEL

Material LIMESTONE

Technique HIGH RELIEF

Width 143 cm

Bibliography

Satzinger, H., Das Kunsthistorische Museum in Wien. Die Ägyptisch-Orientalische Sammlung. Zaberns Bildbände zur Archäologie 14. Mainz. 1994, 90-93, Abb. 62a-c.

Junker, H., Vorbericht über die zweite Grabung bei den Pyramiden von Gizeh vom 16. Dezember 1912 bis 24. März 1913 (1913) 13-19, Taf. 4.

Junker, H., Gîza 2 (1934) 135-172, Abb. 12-22, Taf. 5-10.

Junker, H., Die Kultkammer des Prinzem Kanjnjswt im Wiener Kunsthistorischen Museum (1925, 1928).

Demel H., Die Reliefs der Kultkammer des Kaninisut und ihre Stellung in der Kunst des Alten Reiches (1929).

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