Un Sobekemsaf a Dra Abu el Naga

The aim of this paper is the analysis of some objects found in the necropolis of Dra Abu el-Naga belonging to a king Sobekemsaf or, in any case, linked with him. The most important result is a suggestion of a new chronological order of these items. First of all, Antef diadem has been examined; it is formed by two different pieces. The diadem breaks with previous tradition, prefering geometrie pattern to floral pattern. At the same time, the necklace joint to the diadem follows a Middle Kingdom shape; some new comparisons to it came from the excavations of the Inspectorate of the Fayyum in Hawara area, where Middle Kingdom tombs were found. Probably the diadem and the necklace belong to two different burials and two different periods. Then, the heart scarab of king Sobekemsaf has been examined: its features are not exclusive of the XVIIth dynasty, but are distinctive of the first part of the Second Intermediate Period, as shown by the use of the sign m(t) as substitute for the sign of the vulture, the mutilation of signs like birds and snakes and the absence of any suspension system. Finally, the canopic box of King Sobekemsaf has been examined. Again, its typology is not peculiar of XVIIth dynasty, but it can be traced back at least to the XIIIth dynasty and to a tradition developed in the north of Egypt. Moreover, some features of this canopic box are more similar to the canopic box of king Hor than to the ones of the other kings of XVIIth dynasty. While it is quite hard to assign these objects to king Sobekemsaf Sekhemra Shedtawy, both since the tomb has been robbed in antiquity and since objects dating does not support anymore a XVIIth dynasty dating, it is also questionable to identify the king Sobekemsaf of Dra Abu el Naga with Sobekemsaf Sekhemra Wadjkhaw, because no evidence of this king comes from the west side of Thebes. Some dues, as the lack of cartouche on the heart scarab, and the strong link with the burial equipment of Antef Nubkheperra, bring to the conclusion that Sobekemsaf owner of the BM scarab could be an important figure who lived in Thebes and who was buried in the Theban Necropolis somewhere in the Seventeenth dynasty cemetery. But he is not the king of the Seventeenth dynasty we are looking for. Only another Sobekemsaf is known to me, who lived during the XIIIth dynasty in Thebes, the "reporter" Sobekemsaf, whose statue is now preserved in Wien Museum. In addition, DAI excavations in Dra Abu el-Naga found, under the pyramid of Antef Nubkheperra, a shaft-tomb belonging to a very important personage of middle XIIIth dynasty. It is here suggested that, when in the XIXth century the Gurna villagers discovered the tomb of Antef Nubkheperra, they could have also discovered under the royal pyramid the intact burial of a "false-king" Sobekemsaf, whose funerary set they mixed with that of Antef Nubkheperra.

Analisi del materiale archeologico relativo ad uno dei sovrani della XVII dinastia, Sobekemsaf.