| Discussion of virtual reconstruction and interpretative choices |
- Title
-
Lehner (1997: 140) for pyramid measurements; Verner (2001: 274-280) for temple ground plan; Labrousse and Lauer (2000) for the queen's pyramid and Userkaf temple detailsThe Userkaf pyramid complex consisted of a pyramid, cult pyramid (on one side), and queen's pyramid (separate) to the south; Labrousse and Lauer’s (2000) drawing of the Userkaf enclosure wall suggests its total height was 16 cubits/8.4m, width (at base) 8 cubits /4.18m, with a rounded top and 8.33 degree angle slope to the sides; interior square pillars in the temple courtyard were reconstructed as 1.1 wide, 4.25m tall, with additional 0.95m tall architraves (5.2m tall total), holding a 0.80m peristyle roof around the court; the satellite pyramid measured 20.96m square, with a projected original height of 14m; the height of the sanctuary on the east side of pyramid measured 6.8m, with an exterior 15% grade; Labrousse and Lauer’s publication drawings (2000) were used to estimate heights for the courtyard and pillars, the two main (vaulted interior) entrance halls, the height of the statue niche room, the height and form of enclosure wall, and for height and form of sanctuary; doorways and interior spaces were not modeled; we did not reconstruct the possible magazines directly north of the subsidiary pyramid (on Labrousse and Lauer map, not shown on Verner map)The Userkaf pyramid form (in concert with all the Dynasty 4-6 pyramids in the model) alters to a deflating ‘ruin’ in the 3D model at the time-slide to Dynasty 18 (1548 BCE), approximately 1000 years after its construction in Dynasty 5; this does not correspond with a single destruction event in reality, but represents a general marker to the reader that many of the stone monuments of the Old Kingdom may have been naturally deflating or intentionally reused or their stone repurposed during the New Kingdom, see: Jaromir Málek, “A meeting of the old and new: Saqqara during the New Kingdom,” in Studies in Pharaonic religion and society: in honour of J. Gwyn Griffiths, ed. Alan B Lloyd (London: Egypt Exploration Society, 1992), 60, 65-73; inscribed blocks from the Unas causeway and other Old Kingdom monuments have been identified as reused in the New Kingdom temple tombs by their recent excavators (see Section 2)The pyramid of queen Neferhetepes: the Labrousse and Lauer publication (2000) was used to model the queen's pyramid and temple, with many of the funerary temple details simplified; her pyramid measured 26.2m per side, originally with a 53 degree angle, original height ~17.5m; Labrousse and Lauer (2000) suggested her enclosure wall originally stood around 5m tall, with a 5% slope and a curved top; square pillars in the open court were 3.3m tall, with an architrave ~.85, and a .50m roofUserkaf complex causeway: Labrousse and Lauer (2000) noted that the causeway of Userkaf has not been systematically excavated, but that its original length (according to early explorer Perring) was still visible in 1837; their plans show the beginning of the causeway emerging from the temple; we modeled this feature on that of Unas, but shrunk it down slightly to a 4.25m height (Unas’s was 4.5m tall, but slightly wider), with a width of 6.5m (according to the plan) and textured it with a similar size of stone as that of Unas (7 courses); we followed Perring's reconstruction map (Labrousee and Lauer 2000: fig. 39) to reconstruct the length and direction of the original possible causeway; this is a highly hypothetical approximation
|
