GUIDE

This guide contains the following chapters:

- General tomb data

- Wall and register data

- Search and statistics

- Abbreviations

- Addenda, corrigenda & observanda

 

General tomb data

Tomb plans

Most tomb plans are reproductions from Porter and Moss (courtesy of J. Málek). In addition N. Kanawati kindly permitted us to copy the tomb plans of his mastaba publications. Other tomb plans are facsimiles from other publications some even from quite old publications. The tomb plans are not consistent in respect to quality, since the quality of the source publications vary. Additionally, technical limitations and overly detailed plans have sometimes resulted in a lesser quality in Mastabase. All plans can be enlarged by clicking on the plan in the tomb records.

LMP no.

The tombs included in the database are numerically designated in an arrangement roughly following their chronological order, with their datings originally following those of Porter and Moss. Over the course of time numbers were added to the beginning, middle, and end of our preliminary list, resulting in designations such as 000a or 036a (always in lower case). The numbers now range from 000a-263, but represent in total 337 tombs.

Tombs with more than one owner, such as that of Nefermaat and his wife Itet, have been split up when they consist of independent sub-complexes for each owner [1] : each sub-complex gets the same number with the addition of A and B (in upper case). Several tombs have been renumbered over time, resulting in ‘empty’ numbers [2]; e.g. LMP no. 233 (Seneb) has been renumbered into LMP no. 027a, following the publication of the article of Nadine Cherpion, ‘De quand date la tombe du nain Seneb’ in BIFAO 84, which reconsiders the date of this tomb. As a result LMP no. 233 no longer exists. The thought of renumbering all tombs has occurred to us, but numerous theses written by students making use of the current numbering system and the numerous cross-references throughout the database made us decide against this.

In addition to these tombs, several blocks have been added. When these blocks could be dated, they have been inserted in chronological order in between the tombs. Furthermore, a few blocks of uncertain date have been entered in the database at the end of the chronological order, starting with a ‘B’, e.g. B001, B002 etc. Preference has been given to complete and published tombs, resulting in an incomplete corpus of blocks in the current edition on this CD-rom.

Codes and other numbers

The known codes of the tombs, from Lepsius, Mariette etc., are given. For an explanation of these codes, see 'Type of code' in the Code Index. Additionally the numbers given to these tombs by Yvonne Harpur [3] and Naguib Kanawati [4] have been included. To distinguish the tombs from one another, an additional coding is added for those tombs without known codes. This LMP-code consists of a T(omb) (or TB for undated blocks, see above) and a number, e.g. T112 or TB001.

Dating

Various dates are given:

1.      Most likely date

The most likely date is entered by the project based on at least three other dates. When questionable the most likely date is left empty.

2.      Porter & Moss date

The addition of a question mark, indicates that Porter and Moss were not sure about this date.

3.      Harpur date [5]

When the term ‘(taq)’ is given here, it means Harpur gives a suggested terminus a quo. In her publication she calls it a ‘suggested terminus ante quem’. However, she refers to the last, not first known appearance and thus refers to a terminus a quo.

4.      Cherpion date [6]

The addition of ‘(imp)’ in a Cherpion date refers to the fact that Cherpion does not give the date in her indices (mainly IB and IC), but implicitly mentions the date elsewhere in her book. An ‘*’ indicates that Cherpion did not have the opportunity to study this tomb completely.

5.      Kanawati date [7]

6.      Other dating

Other dates, when available, are also given with (in brackets) the publication from which they come. All dates from Baud’s Famille royale et pouvoir sous l’Ancien Empire égyptien are included.

Additionally, since the presence of a royal name provides us with a terminus a quo these are included in the database. In case several royal names occur in the same tomb, only the name of the last reigning king is entered here.

Finally, for search purposes a separate entry ‘Dating’ has been established. This entry is compiled based on the dates explained above. In principle the date chosen for this entry is the Most Likely Date. If this does not exist, the Porter and Moss date is chosen. When there is no Porter & Moss date either, one of the other dates is chosen in the following order: Cherpion no., Harpur no. and Kanawati no. It is not possible to search on the other dates.

 Additional terms like first/second half or early/middle/late are based upon the following schedule:

Dynasty 4 (2613-2494)

 

 

 

 

 

Sneferu (2613-2589)

First half

Early

Cheops (2589-2566)

Djedefre (2566-2558)

Middle

Chephren (2558-2532)

Second half

Mycerinus (2532-2503)

Late

Shepseskaf (2503-2498)

Dynasty 5 (2494-2345)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Userkaf (2494-2487)

First half

Early

Sahure (2487-2475)

Neferirkare (2475-2455)

Shepseskare (2455-2448)

Middle

Neferefre (2448-2445)

Niuserre (2445-2421)

Second half

Menkauhor (2421-2414)

Late

Djedkare (2414-2375)

Unas (2375-2345)

Dynasty 6 (2345-2181)

 

 

 

 

 

Teti (2345-2323)

First half

Early

Userkare (2323-2321)

Pepi I (2321-2287)

Middle

Merenre I (2287-2278)

Second half

Pepi II (2278-2184)

Late

Merenre II (2184-2181)

N.B. The dates are from I. Shaw (ed.), The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt (Oxford, 2001). Instead of Merenre II this publication has Nitiqret immediately following Pepi II.

The user should realize that certain tombs are only dated by an interval, e.g. LMP no. 138 "Dynasty 5, end or Dynasty 6, early". This implies that in a total summation of the tombs by concrete dynasty numbers, these tombs will be counted twice: under dyansties 5 and 6. This grand total thus will, necessarily, exceed the real total of tombs in the database. With respect to (statistically) chronological questions this complication can best be avoided by first asking the database for separate lists of tombs dated to dynasties 4-5, respectively 5-6, print these, and use them as a checklist against the lists that ask for "(all) tombs"dated to dynasty 4, respectively 5 and 6.

Gender

Here the gender of the tomb owner is given (male/female). When the gender is unknown a question mark has been entered in this field. In a few cases one chapel is dedicated to both husband and wife. In these (and similar) cases ‘both’ is entered.

Literature

The given literature is not exhaustive. Included are the most important publications. Since not all publications have been at hand during the work, it has not always been possible to include references to all pages, figures and plates. The references are concise. For the complete bibliographic entry and for the used bibliographical abbreviations consult the bibliography.

 

Wall and register data

Wall data

Since the publication of Porter and Moss has been the starting point of this project, their tomb plans and wall numbers have been used when available. They have sometimes given more than one number to a wall. These walls have been recorded as one in the MastaBase, but with both numbers. For instance, figure 1 shows a plan in which the eastern wall of the chapel is divided by a doorway. This wall has been given two numbers by Porter and Moss. In the MastaBase this wall has been numbered as  ‘02-03’.

To every wall an orientation is allocated. Pillars depicting the owner on every side are entered as one wall with ‘ALL’ as orientation, since these depictions lay outside the scope of the project.

Wall schemes

The wall schemes are an indication of the arrangement of main and subthemes on the wall. Every main theme has its own colour and abbreviation. Every subtheme has its own abbreviation. For instance stock-breeding (ST; in green) as main theme and Milking (M) as subtheme (see Themes index).

It should be kept in mind, that these wall schemes are by no means a direct, proportionally correct, reproduction! The same has to be said for the hatching of damaged areas, which can only be approximately.

To the left of each wall scheme the register numbering from top to bottom is given. This is generated automatically. Anomalies occur when certain scenes occupy more than one register in height (see fig. 2). Additionally, in case of wide or complex walls numbers may overlap.

Fig. 2. Wall scheme of the East wall of the tomb of Hetepherakhty (LMP 045)

A register showing the harvest of grain, with the harvest of flax on both sides, should be depicted as:

Fig. 3.

However, due to technical limitations a subtheme can only be entered once in a register, resulting in the following depiction:

 

Fig. 4.

When this occurs the description does state that the flax harvest is depicted on both sides of the harvest of grain.

Several times it proved to be impossible to create a wall scheme. In these instances a description of the wall (as far as available) is given in the wall remarks, including the abbreviation(s) of the (sub)theme(s). Nevertheless, these themes have been entered in the database and will be included in the statistics.

Damaged walls

Unfortunately there are many damaged walls and fragments. Of course these have been included.

When the upper part (or lower part) of a wall has been destroyed, the wall scheme shows an extra damaged register on top (or at the bottom) of the remaining registers (see fig. 5). This does not imply that there is only one register destroyed! (see also the remarks on the next page under the Wall position index (Wpi)).

Fig. 5. Example of a wall of which the upper part has been destroyed
from the tomb of Ptahshepses in Abusir (LMP 036a).

Fragments can be labelled in two ways, depending on whether or not we can attribute the block to a certain wall in the tomb. When labelled ‘Fr-...’ it cannot be attributed to a wall, when labelled ‘...-fr’ it can. For instance 02-fr is a block that originally belonged to wall no. 2, but its original position on that wall is unknown. However a block labelled Fr-02, is the second block in the tomb of which it is unknown to what wall it once belonged.

Register data

Every register receives a number, except for the categories ‘A’ and ‘EX’. This is due to the fact that depictions of the owner (‘A’) and elements, such as the false door and offering lists (‘EX’ ) are beyond the scope of this project. Occasionally this results in skipped numbers, as is the case in LMPno. 115/I/02, where the sixth register does not have a number (depicted are family members; EX/FM). The list of descriptions per register ‘jumps’ from register 02/5 to 02/7.

Registers (and subregisters) are numbered from top to bottom and left to right. Their number always includes the wall number. For instance 46/1 is the topmost register of wall 46 [8].

The descriptions of the scenes are concise. Descriptions are also entered for depictions of the owner (‘A’) and elements, such as the false door and offering lists (‘EX’ ).

For each (sub)register, it is indicated whether or not the scene contains texts (Y = Yes; N = No; ? = Unknown).

Wall position index (Wpi)

For statistical purposes we have included the so-called Wall position index or Wpi, which determines the relative (upper/middle/lower) position of a theme on the tomb wall. In order to calculate this index, the following data are needed: K and N.

These symbols originate from statistics, where K indicates a selection of the population and N the entire population. Here this translates to K (either calculated from above or below) as register such-and-such and N as the total number of registers.

E.g. for Games (GA), Music (M):

- K from above: 2     - K from below: 6

- N: 7                - Wpi: U (Upper)

Fig. 6. Wall scheme from the tomb of Hetepherakhty.
(LMP 045)
 

When a wall is damaged and we cannot determine the original number of registers, N is given as ‘x’. Additionally, K is entered as ‘x+...’ when the upper part of the wall is damaged and as ‘...+x’ when the lower part is damaged (see also above the remarks under damaged walls).

In case of fragments, K and N, and thus the Wpi, can not be determined.

Texts

In order to be as consistent as possible, the texts have been entered per register per (sub)theme, from left to right, which means that they can ‘run’ contrary to the original intended reading direction of the representation. In principle the texts are entered at subtheme-level. However, some texts relate to more than one subtheme. In these instances the text is entered at main theme-level. See for instance fig. 7 where the text running at the top of the register relates to the complete register and not only to the slaughter of cattle (SL/C) or of desert cattle (SL/D).

Fig. 7. A slaughtering scene from the tomb of Kagemni (LMP 183, wall 35, register x+6).

For technical reasons, it proved to be impossible to rigidly maintain the original orientation and order of signs, but if possible the lay-out (columns, rows, mixed) and the orientation are given. Note that the orientation refers to the reading direction and not the direction of the signs. However, as far as possible the composition of the signs has been preserved. When several signs are grouped together, this may result in small, unclear hieroglyphs. In these instances the original composition has sometimes been altered to maintain the clarity of the text. In addition each text is classified according to type: Caption; Spoken; Estate; Observation; Name/Title; Damaged and Unknown. Occasionally, a text can be interpreted as either Caption or Spoken. In these circumstances the text is assigned to one, and the other interpretation is added in the Remarks.

Even though depictions of the owner fall outside the scope of this project, exceptions are made. The so-called observation- or mAA-texts that often accompany these depictions do fall within the objectives of the project and therefore are included. Since it felt unnatural to enter only the mAA-text, when other texts accompanied the same depiction, the decision was made to enter all texts that accompany the scene (except for the titles of the deceased himself, see below).

Sometimes certain hieroglyphs are shown on the screen in red, indicating a hieroglyph that is not available as a graphic in the hieroglyphic module. The given hieroglyph is the closest available variant.

Names are not given in hieroglyphs, but are entered as N (for personal names), E (for estate names), DN (for names of dogs) and RN (for royal names). In case of a royal name, the hieroglyphic reproduction does include the name. In both transliteration and translation RN is entered for search purposes. In this case, the hieroglyphic reproduction does give the name, while in both transliteration and translation RN is entered for search purposes. The reason for this exception is that a royal name can be used for dating purposes.

Titles have been included as often as possible, except for the numerous titles of the tomb owners themselves. These, and unrecognisable titles, are given as ‘T’.
N.B. Titles of other family members are not included when falling within the EX(tra categorical) scenes or depictions of the owner (unless they are accompanied by an 'Observation' text).

Transliteration and translation are taken from the main publication on the tomb, without critical evaluation. As always there are exceptions. For instance when a more recent study into a certain main- or subtheme has provided a different and better translation, this often is preferred above the main publication.

Since transliterations and translations have been taken directly from different publications,, inconsistencies in transliteration do occur, e.g. s and c are both used. Some things have been standardized: ‘=’ (indicating suffix connections, such as sDm=f) is converted into ‘.’    and ‘j’ into ‘i’ or ‘y’.

When a publication does not give a transliteration the Leiden Mastaba Seminar (LMS) has entered one. These transliterations are preceded by the scribal-sign \.

Translations are entered in English, German or French. Other languages, like Italian, have been translated into English.

When there is no transliteration or translation obtainable the project has provided them if possible. In these cases LMS (Leiden Mastaba Seminar) has been entered in the Literature field.

When ‘?’ was necessary, this was done in the hieroglyphic reproduction. When ‘sic’ should have been added, we have decided to reproduce the hieroglyph in the colour blue, as adding the word sic would be too small and therefore hardly legible. Notes are added in the hieroglyphic reproduction as a red dot behind the word, the corresponding explantion in entered in the remarks field. Additionally, notes have been added in transliteration and translation (as ‘(1)’, ‘(2)’).

 

Search and Statistics

All data can be accessed by choosing from several separately available INDEXES as well as through entering queries in one of the three MODULES.

The data of every index can be ordered per column by clicking on the column heading. Ordering the results of queries in the searching or text modules can be obtained by entering the criterion in the field ‘ORDER BY’ in the grey bar at the top where the query is entered.

When the results are presented in a table the width of every column automatically adjusts to the data presented in the column on that page. When leafing through the pages the width of the columns may vary.

The available indexes are:

 1.     Tombs

showing LMP no., Code(s), Location, Owner’s name, Most likely date.

 2.     Codes

showing LMP. no., Type of code (e.g. A-E indicate Mariette’s numbering system; LG refers to Lepsius’s Giza tombs etc).

 3.     Museum nos.

showing Museum no., LMP. no., Collection.

 4.     Concordance

Showing LMP no., Code(s), Porter & Moss references, Harpur no., Kanawati no.

 5.     Themes

showing Colours and Abbreviations of main themes, followed by Abbreviations per subtheme, and concluded by a separate list of all subtheme abbreviations in alphabetical order.

N.B. We are fully aware of the fact that this categorization of main/subthemes is ours and may coincide only partly with the ancient Egyptian’s in the best case.

The three MODULES are:

 1.     Searching module.

Queries are on the level of data of individual tombs, e.g. searching on main/subtheme: all cases of the subtheme 'Milking' at Saqqara on an east wall. Note that the level (and number) of the results of every query is dependent on the level of the criteria used in the query. The different levels are: tombs, rooms, walls and registers. In the DISPLAY in the grey bar at the top the items are ordered according to these levels. A query on the main theme Slaughtering (SL) will result in a totally different number of occurrences on tomb level (the number of tombs the theme occurs in) than on register level (the number of registers showing the theme). See example 1. The results can be presented as: Listing, Tomb plans [9] and Wall schemes [10]. To look up a specific tomb, this module should be used. Enter the LMP no., name of owner or code as first criterion and press EXECUTE.

2.     Statistics module

Queries with one variable (e.g. Main theme, where Location like Giza OR Saqqara) or with two variables (e.g. Main theme X Location, where Location like Giza OR Saqqara) will be presented as pie charts (1 variable only) or bar charts, in- or excluding legend and marks. Queries with two variables are automatically presented in a bar chart. The first variable appears on the X-axis, the second on the Y-axis. The latter refers to the possibility of showing absolute numbers in the chart. Additionally a table with the results is presented below the chart.

N.B. When showing percentages it may happen that all are shown as 100%. If this occurs switch the two criteria in the select boxes. This occurs when one of the criteria under WHERE is also the first selection criterion. For instance SELECT Main Theme X Most Likely Date, WHERE Main Theme = AG. You will get all results as 100% as all Main themes are 100% of the selection.

N.B. To make sure that all data is printed, it is best to print tables in landscape.

The difference between the first two modules is a subtle one. The searching module can be used to find a specific individual tomb or obtain lists of tombs, rooms, walls or registers that meet the chosen search criteria (up to 4 criteria). When an overview or comparison of data is required, the statistical module should be used. This module generates cross-tables and charts for simple analysis or comparison.

 3.    Texts module with the possibility of producing e.g. all texts of the main theme ST(ock breeding), subtheme M(ilking).

Unfortunately it is not technically possible to search on complete words. A search on, for instance, Translation like vin, will also include texts with translations including words containing the combination ‘vin’, like observing.

N.B. As the data are taken from the different publications, please be aware that s, c and z will all three be used. Searching for words that can be transcribed with more than one of these will require a search on all of the spellings.

N.B. For search purposes on transliteration, please note that all interpunction is ignored.

For every one of these modules the following SYMBOLS can be used:

=

<>

like

is equal to

unlike (to be used for excluding one option from the list; e.g.Tomb type <> Block(s) to exclude all blocks and only show results from tombs)

like (e.g.Transliteration like nfr includes for example nfrt)

SYMBOLS specifically used for dates:

>

>=

<

<=

greater than (indicating ‘later than’, excluding the given date)

greater or equal to (indicating ‘later than’, including the given date)

smaller than (indicating ‘earlier than’, excluding the given date)

smaller or equal to (indicating ‘earlier than’, including the given date)

It is possible to choose from three OPERATORS. These allow for highly specific searches and therefore improve your results. The search engine employs the operators AND, OR and NOT.

Joining search terms with the AND operator allows you to find entries containing each term. For example, the combination ‘Location = Giza AND Gender = Female’ lists all tombs in Giza belonging to women.

Note, however, that all criteria are on the same level. The third criterion is thus not a refinement of the first two. When requiring a list of all tombs containing dancing and/or singing scenes (both falling under the main theme Games) the search module can be used. However, the query where Main Theme = GA (games) AND Subtheme = D (Dancing) OR Subtheme = S (singing) does not result in the required selection. The third criterion is namely not linked to the first. The results will thus also show the subthemes ‘S’ of other main themes, e.g. agriculture (AG). To obtain the correct data, the following criteria should be entered in the search module: where Main Theme = GA (games) AND Subtheme = D (Dancing) OR Main theme = GA (games) AND Subtheme = S (singing).

Additionally a combination like ‘Location like Giza AND Location like Saqqara’ is obviously an invalid question, since one tomb cannot be located in two places! To get a listing of tombs in either Giza or Saqqara, use the operator OR: ‘Location like Giza OR Location like Saqqara’.

Finally, when, for instance, a selection of tombs only is required, the loose blocks can be excluded by using the third operator NOT. For instance ‘Main theme = ST AND subtheme = M NOT Tomb type = Block(s)’ results in all Milking scenes (ST = stock-breeding; M = Milking) in tombs, excluding all loose blocks.

After filling in all parameters press the EXECUTE button. The grey bar with the parameters now minimizes. To open it, press the Search, Stats or Texts button for the Search, Statistics or Texts module respectively.

N.B. Please note that if one is querying the database on the level of Main theme only, the selection of sub theme in the “display box” can only be given for single loose blocks or fragments and remains empty for (partly) preserved tombs in order to avoid incorrect scores.

Examples

To get accustomed to the possibilities a few practical examples are listed here.

When, for instance, studying scenes depicting fowling with a hexagonal net, one is likely to ask the following basic questions:

SEARCHING:

1.      In which (and how many) tombs do these scenes occur?

I)      Use the searching module

II)    Select (in DISPLAY) all data you want to appear in the table (e.g. LMP no., Most Likely Date etc).
N.B. The level of the criteria selected will influence the number of results. The 7
0 registers of fowling with a hexagonal net appear in 57 tombs!

III)  Enter the following criteria:

                        i.        WHERE Main theme = FO [i.e. Fowling]

                      ii.        AND Subtheme = H [i.e. Hexagonal net]

N.B.: To avoid misspellings , the desired value can be selected from a prefab list by clicking on the button () to the right of the value box.

IV) Found data can be ordered by any of the fields in the database. It is possible to order data by a maximum of 3 fields. For instance, when an order on Most Likely Date and within the same date on LMP. no. is required, enter in the first value box after ‘ORDER BY’ ‘Most Likely Date’ and ‘LMP no.’ in the second box.

By clicking here you will be able to view how this particular query is entered in the searching module. You should, however, note that this will take you away from this guide.

2.      A similar selection can be made for all tombs in Saqqara, excluding loose blocks which cannot be attributed to a tomb. To get this result extend the criteria of question 1 with:

I)      AND Location like Saqqara

II)   NOT Tomb Type = Block(s)

By clicking here you will be able to view how this particular query is entered in the searching module. You should, however, note that this will take you away from this guide.

The locations of a few tombs are uncertain, resulting in locations such as ‘Saqqara?’ or ‘Giza/Saqqara’. To include these tombs in the selection enter ‘AND Location like Saqqara’ instead of ‘AND Location = Saqqara’.

In the same way the selection can be limited to all tombs dating to the 5th Dynasty. This can be done by simply adding the Dating criterion and choosing 5th Dynasty in the Dating pop-up in both left fields. Select OK to return to basic screen.

A selection on more precise dates can also be made:

• To select all tombs dating to Unas or later, choose the Dating criterion and select the following in the Dating pop-up: ‘Dynasty 5’ in the top left field, followed by ‘Unas, Wenis’ in the top right field and ‘First Intermediate period’ in the bottom left field. Select OK to return to basic screen.

• To select all tombs dating to the first half of the 5th Dynasty (thus all tombs dating to the 5th Dynasty and dated earlier than Niuserre), select in the Dating pop-up ‘5th Dynasty’ in the top left field and ‘Dynasty 5’ in the bottom left field, followed by ‘Niuserre’ in the bottom right field. Select OK to return to basic screen.

By clicking here you will be able to view how this particular query is entered in the searching module. You should, however, note that this will take you away from this guide.

By adding a criterion or replacing one by another all sorts of selections can be created. The maximum amount of criteria available is 4.

STATISTICS:

3.      What is the orientation of the walls (northern, southern, western, eastern) on which the scenes are depicted?

I)      Use the statistics module

II)   Enter the following criteria:

                        i.        SELECT Orientation

                      ii.        WHERE Main theme = FO [i.e. Fowling]

                    iii.        AND Subtheme = H [i.e. Hexagonal net]

III)  The results can be displayed as either a bar chart or a pie chart (query with 1 variable only), in- or excluding a legend and/or the marks (i.e. the total number of tombs per category)

By clicking here you will be able to view how this particular query is entered in the searching module. You should, however, note that this will take you away from this guide.

 4.      What is the position of the scene on the wall?

I)      Use the statistics module

II)   Enter the following criteria:

                        i.        SELECT Wpi [i.e. Wall position index]

                      ii.        WHERE Main theme = MA FO [i.e. Fowling]

                    iii.        AND Subtheme = H [i.e. Hexagonal net]

III)  The results can be displayed as either a bar chart or a pie chart (query with 1 variable only), in- or excluding a legend and/or the marks (i.e. the total number of tombs per category)

By clicking here you will be able to view how this particular query is entered in the searching module. You should, however, note that this will take you away from this guide.

5.      Question 3 and 4 can be combined to see if there is a connection between wall and the position on that wall. For instance, a scene may occur in certain cases in the middle of the west wall, but in other instances on the lower part of the north wall.

I)      Use the statistics module

II)   Enter the following criteria:

                        i.        SELECT Orientation X Wpi

                      ii.        WHERE Main theme = FO [i.e. Fowling]

                    iii.        AND Subtheme = H [i.e. Hexagonal net]

III)  When using two selection criteria (i.e. variables) the results can only be displayed as a bar chart. Again  in- or excluding a legend and/or the marks (i.e. the total number of tombs per category)

By clicking here you will be able to view how this particular query is entered in the searching module. You should, however, note that this will take you away from this guide.

Similar to the searching module the selection of data can be altered or refined by simply replacing or adding criteria, up to a maximum of 4.

6.      Are there differences in, for instance, the placing of the scene on a specific wall between Giza and Saqqara?

I)      Use the statistics module
For this question 2 separate queries have to be performed and compared:

II)   First, to get an idea of the placement of the scene on specific walls in Giza enter the following criteria:

                        i.        SELECT Location X Orientation

                      ii.        WHERE Main theme = FO [i.e. Fowling]

                    iii.        AND Subtheme = H [i.e. Hexagonal net]

                     iv.        AND Location like Giza

      When using two selection criteria (i.e. variables) the results can only be displayed as a bar chart. Again in- or excluding a legend and/or the marks (i.e. the total number of tombs per category). In order to compare the two queries the results should be printed. In order to get all data on the print it is best to print in landscape. Note, however, that some columns may fail to print when the table has too many columns for the width of the paper, even when printing in landscape. At the same time, the width of the chart is based on the width of the screen. Thus printing problems can possibly be resolved by changing your screen resolution.

     By clicking here you will be able to view how this particular query is entered in the searching module. You should, however, note that this will take you away from this guide.

III)  Secondly, to get an idea of the placement of the scene on specific walls in Saqqara, enter the following criteria:

                        i.        SELECT Location X Orientation

                      ii.        WHERE Main theme = FO [i.e. Fowling]

                    iii.        AND Subtheme = H [i.e. Hexagonal net]

                     iv.        AND Location = Saqqara

N.B. In order to get the same distribution in the resulting bar chart and table, it is important that the two variables are entered in the same order as in the first query.

     By clicking here you will be able to view how this particular query is entered in the searching module. You should, however, note that this will take you away from this guide.

After running and printing both queries, the results can now be relatively easily compared.

To obtain a view of the differences between all location enter the following criteria:

                        i.        SELECT Location X Orientation

                      ii.        WHERE Main theme = FO [i.e. Fowling]

                    iii.        AND Subtheme = H [i.e. Hexagonal net]

TEXTS:

7.      Which texts accompany these scenes?

I)      Use the texts module

II)   Select (in DISPLAY) all data you want to appear in the table (e.g. LMP no., Hieroglyphic texts, Translation etc.)

III) Enter the following criteria:

                        i.        WHERE Main theme = FO [i.e. Fowling]

                      ii.        AND Subtheme = H [i.e. Hexagonal net]

By clicking here you will be able to view how this particular query is entered in the searching module. You should, however, note that this will take you away from this guide.

8.      In what (sub)themes does the word irp occur?

I)      Use the texts module

II)   Select (in DISPLAY) all data you want to appear in the table (e.g. LMP no., Hieroglyphic texts, Translation etc.)

III) Enter the following criteria:

                        i.        WHERE Transliteration like irp

N.B. “like” is automatically chosen in this module, since the search is often for part of a text. For instance when searching for the word nfr, nfrt will also appear in the results. Note, however that this option searches for words beginning with nfr anywhere in the text, resulting in this case in the exclusion of snfr.

N.B. for this field no selection list is available. All transliterations should be manually typed in the box.

By clicking here you will be able to view how this particular query is entered in the searching module. You should, however, note that this will take you away from this guide.

9.      In what (sub)themes does the word ‘wine’ occur?

I)      Use the texts module

II)   Select (in DISPLAY) all data you want to appear in the table (e.g. LMP no., Hieroglyphic texts, Translation etc.)

III) Enter the following criteria:

                        i.        WHERE Translation like wine

                      ii.        AND Translation like wein

                    iii.        AND Translation like vin

N.B. Since translations have been entered in English, German and French, such a search can only generate a useful result when the the word is selected in all three languages!

N.B. “like” is automatically chosen in this module, since the search is for any part of a text.

N.B. for this field a selection list is not available. All translations should be manually typed into the box.

By clicking here you will be able to view how this particular query is entered in the searching module. You should, however, note that this will take you away from this guide.

10. What sort of texts (i.e. Captions, Spoken text, Names/titles) accompany these scenes?

There are two approaches to getting this information:

I)       Via the texts module:

                        i.      Select (in DISPLAY) all data you want to appear in the table, including TextType (e.g. LMP no., Hieroglyphic texts, Translation etc.)

                                                ii.      Enter the following criteria:

1.      WHERE Main theme = FO [i.e. Fowling]

2.      AND Subtheme = H [i.e. Hexagonal net]

                                              iii.      ORDER BY TextType

By clicking here you will be able to view how this particular query is entered in the searching module. You should, however, note that this will take you away from this guide. 

II)    Via the statistics module:

                                                  i.      Enter the following criteria:

1.      SELECT TextType

2.      WHERE Main theme = FO [i.e. Fowling]

3.      AND Subtheme = H [i.e. Hexagonal net]

4.      AND Text = Y

By clicking here you will be able to view how this particular query is entered in the searching module. You should, however, note that this will take you away from this guide. 

The first approach results in a list of the texts themselves, ordered by the various types of text. The second displays either a bar or a pie chart depicting the number of tombs in which each type of text occurs for these scenes.

11. In order to gain a synoptic overview of all Observation (mAA) texts go to the text module and

I)    Select (in DISPLAY) all data you want to appear in the table, including TextType (e.g. LMP no., Hieroglyphic texts, Translation etc.)

II)   Enter the following criterion:

WHERE Text type = Observation

By clicking here you will be able to view how this particular query is entered in the searching module. You should, however, note that this will take you away from this guide. 

12. In order to gain a synoptic overview of a specific type of text go to the text module and

I)    Select (in DISPLAY) all data you want to appear in the table (e.g. LMP no., Hieroglyphic texts, Transliteration etc.)

II)   Enter a criterion which is characteristic for the type of text you are looking for, for instance Sy mentioned in captions above the cattle crossing scene:

WHERE Transliteration like Sy

N.B. for this field a selection list is not available. All translations should be manually typed into the box.

By clicking here you will be able to view how this particular query is entered in the searching module. You should, however, note that this will take you away from this guide.

 

Copying data from MastaBase

The "copy button" in the top right corner enables the user to open the shown pages and/or the wall schemes in the standard web browser, frow where they can be copied into other documents. We trust that the user will give a full reference to his source when publishing the document with data from MastaBase.

 

 Abbreviations

A

Owner (see Theme index)

A (or a)

In LMP no. indicates a subcomplex (or a separate tomb, which was included at a later date)

B

In LMP no. indicates that it is a block without known date

B (or b)

In LMP no. indicates a subcomplex (or a separate tomb, which was included at a later date)

C (or c)

In LMP no. indicates a subcomplex (or a separate tomb, which was included at a later date)

E

Entrance

E

East

Ex

Exterior

EX

Extra Categorical (see Theme index)

F

Façade

F

Female (in description of registers)

FD

False door

fig.

Figure

Fr-…

For fragments (of which cannot be determined to which wall they belong)

...-fr

For fragments (of which can be determined to which wall they belong)

imp

Implicit (in Cherpion date)

K

Statistical symbol for a selection of a population

L

Lower (see Wall position index / Wpi)

LMP

Leiden Mastaba Project

LMS

Leiden Mastaba Seminar

M

Middle (see Wall position index / Wpi)

M

Male (in description of registers)

ML

Middle – Lower (see Wall position index / Wpi)

N

Statistical symbol for an entire population

N

North

N

No (in register description on presence of texts)

n.r.

Not recorded

p.

Page

pl.

Plate

P&M

Porter & Moss

S

Sarcophagus-room

S

South

T

MastaBase code for tombs without other known codes

taq

Terminus a quo

tanq

Terminus ante quem

TB

MastaBase code for blocks without other known codes

tpq

Terminus post quem

U

Upper (see Wall position index / Wpi)

UM

Upper – Middle (see Wall position index / Wpi)

UML

Upper – Middle – Lower (= over (almost) the entire height of the wall; see Wall position index / Wpi)

vol.

Volume

W

West

Wpi

Wall position index

Y

Yes (in register description on presence of texts)

 

Footnotes

[1] The following tombs have been split up: 001 (A-B), 002 (A-B), 062 (A-B), 063 (A-B), 181 (A-B), 182 (A-C), 251 (A-B).

[2] The following tomb numbers do not exist: 076, 079b, 082, 141a, 161, 196, 233, 241.

[3] Y. Harpur, Decoration in Egyptian Tombs of the Old Kingdom.

[4] N. Kanawati, The Egyptian Administration in the Old Kingdom.

[5] Y. Harpur, Decoration in Egyptian Tombs of the Old Kingdom.

[6] N. Cherpion, Mastabas et Hypogées d’Ancien Empire.

[7] N. Kanawati, The Egyptian Administration in the Old Kingdom.

[8] The register numbering is not always consistent. In principle registers are numbered without a preceding 0. However, in case of 10 or more registers this preceding 0 has been added, resulting in register numbers like 06/(0)5.

[9] By clicking on the plans, you can go to the complete tomb data.

[10] By clicking on the wall schemes, you can go to the complete tomb data.


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