Umm El Qaʻāb (sometimes romanised Umm El Gaʻab, Arabic: أم القعاب) was a necropolis of the Early Dynastic Period kings at Abydos, Egypt. The ancient cultic name of the site was (w-)pkr or (rꜣ-)pkr, “District of the pkr[-tree]” (an unidentified species) or “Opening of the pkr[-tree]” (Coptic: upoke), belonging to tꜣ-dsr “the secluded/cleared land” (necropolis) or crk-hh “Binding of Eternity” (Coptic: Alkhah). Its modern name means “Mother of Pots”, as the whole area is littered with the broken pot shards of offerings made in earlier times.
The area was a site of reverence and worship in ancient Egypt, and by the time of the Middle Kingdom, at least one of the royal tombs was excavated and rebuilt for the priests of Osiris.
Location of Umm El Qaab
Umm el-Qa’ab is situated about 1.5 km west of the temples of Seti I and Ramesses II on a ridge in the lower desert. A wadi emerging from the cliffs southwest of Umm el-Qa’ab surrounds the site to the west and north before entering the cultivated land close to the early settlement at Kom el-Sultan, Sohag governorate. The cemetery on the ridge is divided into two sections: the prehistoric necropolis in the north (cemetery U) and the dynastic royal necropolis in the south. The spatial order of the tombs is visible: the first tombs of Dynasty I (cemetery B) are relatively close to the last ones of prehistoric date. In the later 1st Dynasty, the burials gradually moved southward. Royal burials are attested since Sekhen/Ka of Dynasty 0, whose Horus name already shows all elements of later kings. The tomb of his predecessor, Irj-Hor, has also been identified.
Necropolis of Umm El Qaab
The tombs of this area were first excavated by Émile Amélineau in the 1890s and more systematically by Flinders Petrie between 1899 and 1901. Since then, the site has been excavated repeatedly by the German Archaeological Institute since the 1970s, which has allowed for a thorough reconstruction of the original layout and appearance of these tombs.
Pre-dynastic tombs
- U-j: I found an unknown ruler, possibly a Scorpion, in the tomb. Also, possibly pre-dynastic ruler Bull is attested in one of the ivory tablets.
- B1/B2: Iry-Hor
- B7/B9: Ka
First Dynasty tombs
Known as Cemetery B, this area contains the Early Dynastic tombs of the First Dynasty of Egypt’s pharaohs and the Second Dynasty’s last two kings.
Second Dynasty tombs
The last two kings of the Second Dynasty returned to be buried near their ancestors—they also revived the practice of building mud-brick funerary enclosures nearby.
- P: Peribsen. A seal found in this tomb contains the first complete sentence written in hieroglyphs.
- V: Khasekhemwy. This tomb was massive, with several interconnecting mud-brick chambers and the burial chamber was constructed of dressed limestone blocks. When excavated by Petrie in 1901, it contained a sceptre made from sard and banded with gold, limestone vases with golden covers, and an ewer and basin of bronze.
Human sacrifice and 1st Dynasty tombs
Human sacrifice was practised as part of the funerary rituals associated with the First Dynasty. The tomb of Djer is associated with the burials of 338 individuals thought to have been sacrificed. The people and animals sacrificed, such as asses, were expected to assist the pharaoh in the afterlife. Djer‘s courtiers were strangled, and their tombs all closed simultaneously. For unknown reasons, this practice ended with the conclusion of the Dynasty, with ushabtis taking the place of actual people to aid the pharaohs with the work expected of them in the afterlife.
