pounder
- Museum number
- EA67818
- Description
-
Spherical dolerite pounder.
- Dimensions
-
Diameter: 6.50 - 7.60 centimetres
-
Weight: 540 grammes
- Curator's comments
- During his exploration of the lower part of the air shaft leading from the so-called Queen's Chamber in the Pyramid of Khufu, three tools were discovered: this small stone pounder, a small wood board, and a copper object in the shape of a dove's tail. Now thought to be offerings dating to the age of Khufu, they were either genuine tools or models of tools and are similar to objects discovered in foundation deposits. They may have been placed in the air shaft at Giza to allow the deceased king to magically open the passage and return to heaven.
Bibliography:
'L'art egyptien au temps des pyramides' [exhibition catalogue] (Paris, 1999), p. 185 [34];
'Pharao siegt immer : Krieg und Frieden im alten Ägypten' [exhibition catalogue] (Bönen, 2004), p.253, Cat No.62;
Hoelzl (ed.), 'Die Pyramiden Agyptens - Monumente der Ewigkeit' (2004), p.253, Cat. 62;
C. P. Smyth, ‘Our Inheritance in the Great Pyramid’ 4th ed. (London, 1880), p. 429;
R. Stadelmann, ‘Die sogenannten Luftkanäle der Cheopspyramide: Modellkorridore für den Aufstieg des Königs zum Nimmel’, ‘Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäeologischen Instituts, Abteilung Kairo’ 50 (1994), pp. 287-288;
M. Lehner, ‘The Complete Pyramids: Solving the Ancient Mysteries’ (London/New York, 1997), p. 112.
- Location
- Not on display
- Exhibition history
-
Exhibited:
2004, 30 Apr-1 Nov, Schallaburg,---- 'Die Pyramiden Agyptens'
2013, 22 Jan - 20 May, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna , 'In the Shadows of the Pyramids: The Austrian excavations at Giza (1912 – 1929)'
- Condition
- good
- Acquisition date
- 1972
- Department
- Egypt and Sudan
- BM/Big number
- EA67818
- Registration number
- 1972,0722.1