Für die Ewigkeit!

Vor über 6.000 Jahren erfanden die Ägypter eine Technik, mit der auch in die härtesten Steine hineingebohrt werden konnte. Damit waren erstmals die üblichen Tongefäße auch aus Stein herstellbar. "Für die Ewigkeit" stabil, waren Steingefäße die idealen Grabbeigaben für Herrscher und höchste Beamte. Der Ewigkeits-Anspruch der Ägypter ließ Steingefäße schließlich so typisch für ihre Kultur werden, dass sie die gesamten 4.000 Jahre ihrer Geschichte über populär waren, auch als wertvolle Exportartikel für die gesamte antike Welt. Als Luxusprodukte waren sie Beigaben in den Gräbern der Könige und höchsten Beamten. Bei den Ausgrabungen der gigantischen Königsgräber und der nicht minder imposanten Anlagen der Elite der 0. bis 3. Dynastie [ca. 3300-2600 v.Chr.] in den oberägyptischen und unterägyptischen Bestattungszentren von Abydos und Saqqara wurden sie zu mehreren Tausend [!!!] gefunden. Das weist auf unzählige, wohl organisierte Spezialproduktionsstätten hin. Welches Wissen dahinter stand und welchen Aufwand die ägyptischen Handwerker dabei betrieben zeigen anschaulich jüngst unternommene und erstmalig erfolgreiche Versuche der Experimentellen Archäologie. ln höchster Qualität und gewissen Massen hergestellt, waren Steingefäße auch immer Exportschlager und sind quasi in allen Zentren der gesamten antiken Mittelmeerwelt gefunden worden. Exporte von ganz unterschiedlichen ägyptischen Steingefäßen sowie deren lokale lmitate wurden in den letzten Jahren bei den Ausgrabungen der unversehrten königlichen Gräber in der Handelsmetropole Qatna [Mittel-Syrien, 2. Jt. v.Chr.] entdeckt. Sowohl in diesen als auch in den Gräbern Ägyptens war der Verwendungszweck der Steingefäße stets, die in ihnen enthaltenen Produkte - Speisen, Getränke, Kosmetika - dem Verstorbenen im Jenseits bereitzustellen. und zwar "für die Ewigkeit". Abgesehen von all diese Themen behandelnden Beiträgen werden im ersten Band der AEGYPTIACA KESTNERIANA auch bis dato unveröffentlichte Steingefäße sowohl im Museum August Kestner - Bestand und zahlreiche Dauerleihgaben - als auch in der noch nie öffentlich gezeigten CHEPERI COLLECTlON, einer norddeutschen Privatsammlung, präsentiert.

Over 6.000 years ago, the Egyptians invented a technique to drill into even the hardest rocks. This meant that containers usually made from clay could now also be produced in stone for the first time. Remaining unchanged "for eternity", stone vessels were the ideal grave goods for rulers and the highest officials. The Egyptians' aspirations to eternity finally resulted in stone vessels becoming so typical for their culture that they remained popular over the entire 4.000 year period of their history, as well as forming precious export items throughout the whole ancient world. As luxury goods they were placed in the graves of pharaohs and the highest officials. During the excavations of the gigantic royal tombs and the no less imposing monuments of the elites of the 0th to 3rd Dynasties [c. 3300-2600 B.C.] in the Upper and Lower Egyptian funerary centres at Abydos and Saqqara, several thousands [!!!] of stone vessels were recovered. This implies the existence of countless, probably organised specialised production workshops. The latest - and for the first time successful - experimental archaeology projects eloquently show how much knowledge was needed and how much effort Egyptian craftspersons invested. As they were produced in the highest possible quality and in large numbers, stone vessels were also popular goods for export and were found in almost all centres around the ancient Mediterranean. Exports of very different kinds of Egyptian stone vessels and their local imitations have been found in the last two years during the excavation of the undisturbed royal graves of the trade metropolis at Qatna [central Syria, 2nd millennium B.C.]. Both here and in the Egyptian tombs, the stone vessels were always used to provide the tombs' occupants with the contents - food, drink, cosmetics - for "all eternity". In addition to contributions covering all these topics, the first volume of AEGYPTIACA KESTNERIANA also presents hitherto unpublished stone vessels in the Museum August Kestner, both from its collection and among the long-term loans, as well as those from the CHEPERI COLLECTlON, a northern Germany private collection that has never before been displayed in public.
 
Over 6.000 years ago, the Egyptians invented a technique to drill into even the hardest rocks. This meant that containers usually made from clay could now also be produced in stone for the first time. Remaining unchanged "for eternity", stone vessels were the ideal grave goods for rulers and the highest officials. The Egyptians' aspirations to eternity finally resulted in stone vessels becoming so typical for their culture that they remained popular over the entire 4.000 year period of their history, as well as forming precious export items throughout the whole ancient world. As luxury goods they were placed in the graves of pharaohs and the highest officials. During the excavations of the gigantic royal tombs and the no less imposing monuments of the elites of the 0th to 3rd Dynasties [c. 3300-2600 B.C.] in the Upper and Lower Egyptian funerary centres at Abydos and Saqqara, several thousands [!!!] of stone vessels were recovered. This implies the existence of countless, probably organised specialised production workshops. The latest - and for the first time successful - experimental archaeology projects eloquently show how much knowledge was needed and how much effort Egyptian craftspersons invested. As they were produced in the highest possible quality and in large numbers, stone vessels were also popular goods for export and were found in almost all centres around the ancient Mediterranean. Exports of very different kinds of Egyptian stone vessels and their local imitations have been found in the last two years during the excavation of the undisturbed royal graves of the trade metropolis at Qatna [central Syria, 2nd millennium B.C.]. Both here and in the Egyptian tombs, the stone vessels were always used to provide the tombs' occupants with the contents - food, drink, cosmetics - for "all eternity". In addition to contributions covering all these topics, the first volume of AEGYPTIACA KESTNERIANA also presents hitherto unpublished stone vessels in the Museum August Kestner, both from its collection and among the long-term loans, as well as those from the CHEPERI COLLECTlON, a northern Germany private collection that has never before been displayed in public.