During archaeological research on the territories of two necropolises-Giza and Saqqara (Arab Republic of Egypt) -burial implements of the Ancient Kingdom era (XXVII-XXII centuries BC) were found, which included diadems. Various ways of decorating them, or lack thereof, made it possible to develop a typology of these items. At the moment, four types have been identified. The study of materials and designs of head ornaments made it possible to address the problem of imitation objects in the burial inventory of the specified era. Apparently, all diadems known to date were not intended for long-term wear during life: this is evidenced not only by the materials from which they are made, but also by the symbolism of their decoration, which probably had a protective function for the deceased.

Keywords: diadems, funeral equipment, imitations, Ancient Egypt, Ancient Kingdom.

THE EGYPTIAN DIADEMS OF THE OLD KINGDOM: THE USE OF IMITATION OBJECTS IN FUNERARY EQUIPMENT

The paper focuses on the Egyptian diadems of the Old Kingdom found during archaeological excavations on the territory of Giza and Saqqara Necropoli. The author makes several suggestions on function of these chaplets, based on the analysis of diadems and study of their representations from contemporary temples and private tombs. The author concludes that these circlets as well as some other funerary objects found in ancient Egyptian tombs were imitations of real jewelry worn by the tomb s owners during lifetime.

Keywords: diadems, funerary equipment, imitation, Ancient Egypt, the Old Kingdom.

In the era of the Ancient Kingdom (XXVII-XXII centuries BC) in Egypt there were various types of jewelry (necklaces, bracelets, tiaras). Researchers know about them to a greater extent from visual monuments (i.e., from the design of royal temples and tombs of the nobility, as well as sculpture), to a lesser extent - from decorative and applied arts, despite the fact that during archaeological research in Egypt, quite a lot of ornaments themselves were discovered. Some of the rarest jewelry items of the Ancient Kingdom are diadems originating from metropolitan and provincial necropolises. The most interesting crowns from the point of view of their design were found in the tombs of Giza and Saqqara - two necropolises of the capital of the time of the Ancient Kingdom - the city of Memphis. It is characteristic that over 150 years of studying these monuments, few diadems have been found1 in comparison with other types of jewelry (necklaces and bracelets, pectorals, etc.).

In the literature devoted to the jewelry art of Ancient Egypt, as a rule, tiaras are considered together with other types of jewelry in connection with the following:

YARMOLOVICH Viktoriya Igorevna-Junior Researcher at the Center for Egyptological Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences. E-mail: viktoriya.yarmolovich@yandx.ru

Viktoria YARMOLOVICH - Junior Research Fellow, Centre of Egyptological Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow.

1 In this article, I review the diadems found in the necropolises of Giza and Saqqara, information about which is currently available in publications and Internet resources (in particular, the electronic archives of the Museum of Fine Arts (Boston)). (www.gizapyramids.org) and the Roemer and Peliceus Museum in Hildesheim (http://www.giza-projekt.org/)).

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questions: the peculiarities of their manufacture at different stages of the development of ancient Egyptian society; the technique and materials used; the social affiliation of their owners; the symbolism of plot images, etc. Some researchers suggested that the tiaras were part of the inventory that originally accompanied the buried, and were imitations. Scientists who have come to this conclusion have most often been based on an analysis of the materials from which the monuments under consideration were made [Dunham, 1946, p. 28-29; Reisner, 1942(1), p. 230], and very rarely-on the basis of studying various motifs placed on crowns [Wilkinson, 1971, p. 37].

However, many issues related to head ornaments of the Ancient Kingdom era remain controversial, unclear or poorly illuminated in the specialized literature:

* what tiara design pools existed in the specified period;

* were they made exclusively for burials, or were they real jewelry that was previously worn during the lifetime of the wearer and placed in the tomb after the death of the wearer? 2;

* what significance could the tiaras have had in terms of the motifs placed on them, if any.

To establish the types of artistic design of head ornaments of the Ancient Kingdom era, it is necessary to describe the material monuments that have survived to this day. They are metal hoops. At the moment, it is known that they could have been left without decoration or decorated in several ways. The first was that the hoop was attached, as a rule, three decorative plates, which were decorated with various motifs. The second method - the outer surface of the crown was decorated with beads that formed a geometric ornament.

Monuments analyzed in this article (tab. 1), were discovered in the course of archaeological research of mastabs located in the necropolises of Giza and Saqqara. The tombs date back to the end of the IV-VI dynasties. According to the artistic design, tiaras can be divided into the following types (Table 1)::

Type 1. Tiaras with plates decorated with zoomorphic and / or plant motifs, hieroglyphic signs.

Type 2. Tiaras with plates in the form of bows.

Type 3. Tiaras with ornamental hoops.

Type 4. Tiaras whose hoops do not have additional decorative details.

MATERIALS FOR MAKING TIARAS

As follows from Table 1, two metals were used as the main material for making tiaras-gold or copper, covered with a thin gold foil. From them, ancient Egyptian jewelers made both hoops and decorative plates attached to them. A careful examination of the crowns (in particular, from tombs S 294, D 208) shows that their hoops and plates were made of a very thin metal sheet.

Decorative plates of head ornaments were made mainly of gilded copper, covered with painted plaster or without it. Currently, the most rare discs are made of wood (D 207/208) and gold (G 8250, S 294).

2 In this case, I am asking this question because research on ancient Egyptian jewelry is more concerned with other types of jewelry (necklaces, bracelets, pectorals, etc.) or tiaras dating from later eras. However, even J. E. Reisner, in one of the unpublished volumes of the History of the Giza Necropolis, drew attention to the fact that there is a need to distinguish diadems from burials (he calls them "impractical imitations") from the head hoops and crowns that people might have worn during their lifetime (Reisner, 1942(1), p. 672).

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Table 1

N Mastabs, necropolis

Inventory N

Type of decorative design

Material

Dating information

Publication

Hoop

Plates/Hoop decoration

G 8250, Central Plateau, Giza

-

43

"Sheet gold" (Hassan, 1953, p. 4)

The end of the Fourth Dynasty (Porter and Moss, 1974(1), p. 239)

[Hassan, 1953, p. 4]

D 208, Western Plateau, Giza

AMUL 2500 (Leipzig University Egyptian Museum, Leipzig)

1

Gold-plated copper

Coniferous wood

V-VI dynasties (Porter and Moss, 1974(1), p. 116)

[Schafer, Andrae, 1925, p. 270, 629]

S 294, Central Plateau, Giza

JE 72332 (Egyptian Museum, Cairo)

1

Gold

Gold

V-VI dynasties (Porter and Moss, 1974(1), p. 264-265)

[Hassan, 1936, p. 149]

G 6028 4, Western Necropolis, Giza

MFA 25.2900 (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston)

1

Gypsum-coated copper

The end of Neferirkar's reign - the end of the Fifth Dynasty [Reisner and Smith, 1955, p. 80-81]

G 7143, Eastern Plateau, Giza

MFA 37.606 a (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston)

1

Gold-plated copper

Gold-plated copper, covered with plaster, which is fixed on a linen cloth

The middle of the V-VI dynasties [Reisner, 1942(2), p. 1-3, 69]

[Dunham, 1946, p. 23-29]

In the same place

MFA 37.606 b, 37.606 c (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

45

Gold-plated copper

Copper strips covered with gold foil over a layer of fabric and plaster

The middle of the V-VI dynasties [Reisner, 1942(2), p. 1-3, 69]

[Dunham, 1946, p. 23]

3 This attribution is based on the description of the decoration in the publication of S. Hassan [Hassan, 1953, p. 4) due to the absence of a photo of the object.

4 Information about mastaba G 6028 is available on the website of the Electronic archive of the Museum of Fine Arts (Boston) (http://www.gizapyramids.org/).

5 A description of three or four (?) hoops is given in an unpublished manuscript by J. E. Reisner [Reisner, 1942 (1), p. 379-380].

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Table 1 (end)

N Mastabs, necropolis

Inventory N

Type of decorative design

Material

Dating information

Publication

Hoop

Plates/Hoop decoration

Mastaba "B", Western Necropolis, Giza

-

1

-

Gold-plated plaster

Mid-fifth and Sixth Dynasties

[Abu-Bakr, 1953, p. 84]

G 2095', Western Plateau, Giza

39-1-86

3

Copper

Linen cloth covered with a thin layer of plaster, on which earthenware beads are fixed

The end of the Fifth Dynasty (the reign of Jedkar-Isesi-Unis) [Roth, 1995, p. 124]

[Roth, 1995, p. 122, 124, Pl. 82b]

S 309/316, Western Plateau, Giza

AS 7529 (Museum of Art History, Vienna)

2

Gold-plated copper

Gold-plated copper

The end of the V-VI Dynasty [Junker, 1944, p. 46]

[Junker, 1944, p. 52-53]

G 5520, Western Plateau, Giza

-

3

Gold-plated copper

Earthenware beads

The end of the Fifth and Sixth Dynasties (Porter and Moss, 1974(1), p. 164)

[Hawass, 1992, p. 333]

G 2146, Western Plateau, Giza

17

-

Gypsum plates

VI Dynasty (Reisner, 1938, p. 31)

[Reisner, 1938, p. 31]

Kaemsenu Mastaba, Saqqara

-

1

Gold-plated copper

Gold-plated copper

The Sixth Dynasty (Porter and Moss, 1974(2), p. 541)

[Firth, Gunn, 1926, p. 33]

6 The number is given according to the field inventory of the object of a joint expedition of Harvard University and the Museum of Fine Arts (Boston) (Photo ID number OR30_pl. 521 (http://www.gizapyramids.org/).

7 The diadem from mastaba G 2146 is mentioned by J. E. Reisner in one of his articles, where the author briefly reports the discovery of two gypsum disks with well-preserved paint pigments on their surfaces, which, presumably, were attached to a diadem similar to the crown from the mine In mastaba G 7143 (Reisner, 1938, p. 31)..

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As in the case of hoops, the aforementioned elements have a very small thickness. In the place where they were attached to the hoops with rivets, they were often inlaid with a rounded carnelian insert (G 7143, S 294, S 309/316). Such an application of inlay could have a purely functional purpose (masking the attachment of the plate to the hoop), as well as aesthetic-for the completeness of the composition. Rivets could be hidden on the reverse side of the plates in special bushings to hide the presence of this part. In general, the plates themselves were as follows:the contours of the pattern were cut or minted on the plane of the disks, and the details were refined with paints of different colors, which were applied to gypsum.

From the tiaras of mastaba " B " and G 2146, only fragments of plates made of plaster have come down to us. One might assume that they were originally covered with disks of a more durable material, such as copper, similar to the monuments from graves G 6028 and G 7143. But in view of the fact that no other parts of the head decoration were found in mastabs "B" and G 2146, we can only guess at their design.

In the case when only the circlet of the tiara was decorated, flax was applied to it, covered with a thin layer of plaster, into which beads of various shapes, sizes and colors were glued (G 2095', G 5520). In order to fix the fabric on the surface of the hoop, its edges were slightly bent outwards.

The deceased in their tombs may have been accompanied by jewelry that they wore during their lifetime, as evidenced by traces of their use and repair. But there was also a category of jewelry that was specially made as funeral equipment, as can be seen from the materials used for their production. The use of thin materials (metal foil, wood) or brittle materials (gypsum) indicates that the tiaras were most likely intended for burials, since with regular wearing such an ornament could easily be deformed (Reisner, 1942(1), p. 207).

SEMANTICS OF IMAGES ON DIADEMS OF THE ANCIENT KINGDOM ERA

Not only the materials from which tiaras are made can help in deciding on their purpose, but also the decorative motifs that adorn them. In the case of tiaras of type 1, the characteristic patterns are papyrus panicles (plant motif), crested ibis (zoomorphic motif) and hieroglyphic sign .

Papyrus panicles adorn all tiaras of type 1, including those depicted in reliefs. Most often, among the material monuments known today, there is a decoration of crowns, when two or three papyrus panicles were fastened with a round insert, and also supplemented with papyrus buds from the bottom 6. But there was a possible variant when the plate was decorated with a plant rosette consisting of four fastened papyrus panicles 7.

Various opinions were expressed about the type of plant on the diadems from the burials in Giza and Saqqara. At the moment, most researchers are inclined to conclude that the crowns were decorated with images of papyrus panicles fastened with a round insert [Aldred, 1978, p. 132; Andrews, 1990, p. 107; Dunham, 1946, p. 24; Reisner, 1942(1), p. 674; Vilimkova, 1969, p. 19; Wilkinson, 1971, p. 37], although some experts believed that they were lotus flowers 8. However, the analysis of images and hieroglyphic characters quite accurately allows us to determine that this is papyrus.

Images of papyrus and water lily(or water lily)9 on reliefs are quite different from each other. The main difference between them is in the transmission of the upper

6 For example, the diadem from the Gizeh mastaba mine G 7143 (Dunham, 1946, p. 24).

7 For example, the central plate of the diadem from the Gizeh mastaba S 294 [Aldred, 1978, Pl. 4].

8 S. Hassan claimed that the central segment of the head decoration from mastaba S 294 depicts four lotus flowers, and on the side - panicles of papyri (Hassan, 1936, p. 149).

9 The flower, which was one of the most popular plant motifs in the art of ancient Egypt, has long been called the "lotus"in Egyptology. But according to research, starting with Rannedy-

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parts of the plant. So, the lily flower has a separation with thin lines, highlighting the petals. Similarly, they are represented in reliefs in tombs of the Ancient Kingdom 10. At the same time, the papyrus panicle was depicted with a semicircular end and zigzag lines that were located just above the junction with the stem. It is shown either divided into thin parts, or without them.

The difference in the transmission of the image of these plants is also noted in the writing of hieroglyphic characters. For example, a water lily was depicted with its petals highlighted (Gardiner, 1957, p. 545). The papyrus had several variants of images: it could be a stalk with a panicle without highlighting any details [Gardiner, 1957, p. 480], a papyrus thicket [Gardiner, 1957, p.481], or a papyrus thicket "with its buds hanging down" [Gardiner, 1957, p. 481].

Thus, diadems were decorated with double panicles of papyrus. They could be supplemented with various details, in particular symmetrically arranged papyrus buds under them (for example, the central plate of the diadem from tomb G 7143), or they were part of decorative rosettes (for example, the central plate of the diadem from mastaba S 294).

Papyrus played an important role in the worldview of the ancient Egyptians. There were amulets in the form of a scepter, the purpose of which was to provide the deceased with rebirth after death. Similarly, the cut papyrus that was carried during the funeral procession was perceived [Germer, 2001, p. 542]. It is logical to assume that the panicles on the decorative plates of diadems could be placed to guarantee the deceased rebirth in the afterlife.

A group of zoomorphic motifs is represented by images of crested ibis 11. This bird belongs to the ibis family and belongs to the genus of Red-legged ibises (Nipponia Nippon; Ibis comata) (Gardiner, 1957, p. 470). In nature, it has white or gray plumage with a metallic sheen [Englund, 1978, p. 14], bright red skin on the head and legs, and a long red beak. Its characteristic feature is a tuft on its head, which distinguishes it from two other representatives of the ibis family known to the ancient Egyptians, the sacred ibis (variant) (Ibis religiosa) and the black-headed ibis (Plegadis falcinellus) (Gardiner, 1957, p. 470). In hieroglyphic inscriptions, the crested ibis is represented by a signthat is similar to the images of birds on the decorated plates of diadems.

By analyzing the meanings of words that include a determinative in the form of a crested ibis, we can assume what semantic load this bird could carry on the decorative plates of diadems. It is used in the word variant ), which has several different interpretations:

* Ax, the enlightened one, the soul of illumination [Hannig, 2003, p. 13];

* a worthy deceased [Hannig, 2003, p. 14];

* Spiritual power [Hannig, 2003, S 14].

This word was also used in relation to women. In this case, it was written as follows: :

during the Nastic period and up to the conquest of Egypt by the Persians, ancient masters depicted water lilies/water lilies (White water lily (Nymphaea lotus L.), Blue water lily (Nymphaea caerulea Sav.)). The plant, which is called "lotus" in botany (Nut-bearing lotus (Nelumbo nucifera I...)), grows in abundance in India and it was not brought to Egypt before the Persian conquest. Accordingly, his image in art appeared after this period. See [Pommerening, Marinova, and Hendrickx, 2010, p. 14-15].

10 For example, in the bird-catching scene on the eastern wall of the memorial chapel of Queen Meresankh III mastaba in Giza (G 7530-7540, late 4th dynasty) [Dunham and Simpson, 1974, fig. 4].

11 For the significance of birds in the ancient Egyptians ' ideas, see [Tolmacheva, 2008].

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* the enlightened one (i.e., all women) [Hannig, 2003, p. 15];

* The benefactor [Hannig, 2003, p. 15].

The ancient Egyptian concept of "Ax" is one of the most important categories in the religion of the ancient Egyptians. According to researchers, it is connected with the afterlife (Kees, 2005, pp. 59-62). According to A. O. Bolshakov, a deceased person who has an afterlife due to the fact that he took care of creating a burial with images and a memorial cult. A person can enter this state only after death through a special ritual ("transformation into"). After it was performed by the priest, who read out the sacrificial formulas and lists of victims in the tomb, the deceased gained sight and, accordingly, posthumous existence, since "light and sight mean life" [Bolshakov, 2001, p.97].

In the era of the Ancient Kingdom, there was another ritual that featured Ax-snmt "feeding Ax" (Junker, 1934, pp. 62-63). He is known for the relief images in the tombs of the nobility in Giza (late IV-V dynasty)12. G. Junker believed that it was connected with the celebration of a memorial cult (Junker, 1934, pp. 62-63). There is an assumption that this ritual was the first ritual feeding of the deceased after his death [Czerwik, 2009, p. 40].

It is also important that diadems decorated with crested ibises are extremely rare in reliefs. A. Wilkinson noted that on tomb images of the Ancient Kingdom era, a headdress with these birds worn on a person is never found [Wilkinson, 1971, p. 40]. Indeed, the only image of a crown with such a motif was placed in the scene of work in the jewelry workshop in the Saqqara mastaba of Vizier Mereruk [Duell, 1938, Pl. 33] - the decoration lies among other products of the masters, and is not worn on a person. This phenomenon can be explained by the fact that among the ancient Egyptians, the crested ibis was closely associated with the idea of the essence of Nature, into which a person was reincarnated after death (Bolshakov, 2001, p.97).

Based on the translations of the word "Ax", which included the hieroglyph, it can be assumed that crested ibises placed on diadems were important in the funerary context. This assumption is confirmed by the fact that in the era of the Ancient Kingdom there were two funeral rites - ("turning into Ax") and ("feeding Ax") - they indicate that the essence of Ax was associated with the ancient Egyptians ' idea of the posthumous existence of man. Perhaps the images of the crested ibis on the diadems were a kind of guarantee that the deceased after his death will be able to make the transition to the essence In this case, they could be specially depicted on objects that accompanied the deceased in burial.

No less interesting is the situation with hieroglyphic signs, namely with the sign ("ankh"). It is found only on material monuments (diadems from mastabas G 7143, D 208, "B", G 6028). This sign represents "a band or strap, in particular a sandal strap" (Gardiner, 1957, p. 508). It is part of the word "life" and is traditionally considered a symbol of life (Hannig, 2003, p.272). However, it was used not only in hieroglyphic inscriptions, but also as a decorative motif on various objects and ornaments originating from funerary inventory (Derchain, 1957, col. 269). In the form of a sign, amulets were used [Andrews, 1994, p. 86], which, according to the ancient Egyptians, had a protective function. In this case, we can assume that this hieroglyphic sign on the plates of diadems was a kind of amulet protecting the deceased.

On most tomb and temple reliefs, people wear diadems, which belong to type 1. However, their decor has one significant difference from material memorials-

12 For a list of tombs, see [Junker, 1934, pp. 62-631.

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nicks - on their hoops are fixed plates decorated only with double panicles of papyrus without ibises and the sign It can be assumed that the ancient Egyptians could wear such crowns during their lifetime, because they were depicted as worn on people, unlike diadems with crested ibises. So, according to the analysis of reliefs and paintings from tombs and temples of the Ancient Kingdom, two variants of the decoration of these head ornaments are distinguished. The first option was that a decorative plate was fixed on the back of the head in the form of two fastened papyrus panicles, from which one or two ribbons descended down. They were worn by 14 tsars, 15 relatives of them, and 16 representatives of the capital's nobility. The diadems of the second version looked somewhat different - two panicles of papyrus were fixed on the forehead and back of the head; one or two ribbons either fell down from the panicle on the back of the head, or they were not depicted 17. Judging by the images, they could be worn by representatives of the nobility.

The purpose of type 2 diadems, decorated with bow plates, apparently lay in a slightly different sphere compared to Type 1. To date, only one material monument belonging to this type is known - the diadem from the Gizeh tomb S 309/316. the names were not listed on the walls of his tomb, and it is not possible to establish who he was during his lifetime. But thanks to the relief images on which similar head ornaments are found, a number of assumptions can be made about the symbolism of such a diadem.

In the reliefs that have come down to our time, head ornaments with bows are most often depicted in the scenes of rdjt nbw "giving gold" 18. They illustrate the awarding/reward of 19 different types of jewelry and vessels 20, most often, weavers and heads of weaving workshops 21 or royal architects 22. From this it follows that crowns with bows were one of the types of awards for people associated with the above-mentioned activities. It is possible that the decorations that were presented during this ceremony were gold, since gold is mentioned in the captions to these scenes. Based on this fact, Mr. Junker suggested that the owner of the mastaba S 309/316 was awarded a golden tiara with bows during his lifetime. But it was replaced by a crown with a similar decoration, which was made of gilded copper, in order not to place an ornament made of such a valuable material (gold) in the burial [Junker, 1944, p. 53].

13 See Bolshakov, 2001, p.22 for the plausibility of rendering objects in reliefs of the cult rooms of Egyptian tombs of the Ancient Kingdom era.

14 For example, the image of King Userkaf from his memorial temple in Saqqara (beginning of the fifth dynasty) [Labrousse, Lauer, 2000, fig. 101b].

15 Image of Queen Meresankh III and Hetepheres II swimming in a papyrus thicket (mastaba of Meresankh III in Giza, G 7530-7540, end of IV dynasty) [Dunham and Simpson, 1974, fig. 4].

16 For example, images from the Saqqara mastaba of the vizier Merefnebef (reign of Pepi I, VI dynasty) [Saqqara I..., 2004, Pl. XI, XX, XXI, LXIII].

17 Both variants are immediately found on the mural and relief in the tomb of Hetepheres in Giza (LG 54, VI dynasty) [Junker, 1953, Abb. 104, 105].

18 I. Harpur writes about six scenes of" giving gold " from the Ancient Kingdom era that have come down to us, but does not list them [Harpur, 1987, p. 114]. They were found in the following tombs and royal temples: the Nebemakhet mastaba in Giza (LG 87 = G 8172; second half of the IV dynasty), the Akhetkhetep and Ptahhotep mastaba of Saqqara (the memorial chapel of the dignitary Akhetkhetep is located in the Louvre (Louvre E 10958); D 64; late V dynasty), the Gizeh mastaba of the dwarf Seneb (second half of the VI dynasty), memorial temple of King Sahur in Abusir (beginning of the V dynasty), memorial temple of King Niuserra (second half of the V dynasty). Scenes from the mastaba of Ptahhotep and the memorial temple of Niuserra are preserved in a fragmentary state, so it is impossible to say for sure whether they were decorated with tiaras. Therefore, they are not considered in this article.

19 For more information on the interpretation of such scenes dating from the Ancient and Middle Kingdoms, see [Binder, 2008, p. 62].

20 This conclusion is based on the fact that in addition to tiaras with bows, various types of wide necklaces, bracelets (?), and large vessels were depicted in the scenes of "giving gold" (Binder, 2008, p. 64).

21 For the relief from the Saqqara mastaba of Akhetkhetep, see [Ziegler, 1993, p. 116-119]; for the image from the tomb of the dwarf Seneb at Giza, see [Junker, 1941, Abb. 7-8].

22 For fragments of a scene from the memorial temple of King Sahur, see [Borchardt, 1913, Pl. 52-54].

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However, a number of pictorial monuments demonstrate that the owners of tiaras of type 2 could be those whose social status was higher than that of master craftsmen or architects. These could be tsars 23, their relatives 24, high-ranking officials 25, not connected with the weaving workshops.

Two diadems belong to Type 3 - G 2095' and G 5520 from Gizeh mastabas. The crown hoop made of G 2095' is decorated with different colored earthenware beads that form a geometric pattern: black stripes alternate with white ones on a blue-green background. All that is known about the 5520 mastaba hoop is that it was decorated with earthenware beads (Hawass, 1992, p. 333), so I will refer to the monument from tomb G 2095'. Crowns, which would be a complete analogy to a material monument, were not found on temple and tomb reliefs. However, the image of the first version of tiaras of type 1 in some cases has a similar decor - the surfaces of their hoops are also decorated with stripes of different colors 26. But the diadems depicted are different from the real monument 27. They are decorated with plates in the form of double panicles of papyrus, which were attached to the back of the head. Judging by the fact that tiaras of type 3 are not worn on people in reliefs, it can be assumed that they were intended for funeral equipment. This is confirmed by the fact that the diadem from G 2095' is made of rather fragile materials: from a thin copper hoop with a linen cloth fixed on it, covered with a thin layer of plaster, into which earthenware beads are pressed.

Tiaras of type 4 (G 8250 (?), G 7143) do not have a decorative design that could be analyzed and analogies found on pictorial monuments. It can be assumed that such simple bands could have had a protective function, since it is well known that jewelry (in this case for the head) primarily served as amulets for their owners [Aldred, 1978, p. 15]. They could have utilitarian and aesthetic functions-to preserve the hairstyle and decorate the person [Aldred, 1978, p. 17]. Apparently, tiaras of type 4 could serve as ornaments worn as placed in funeral equipment. The difference between these two functions lies in the materials used to create such hoops.

There is no doubt that in the tomb scenes and in the sculpture of the Ancient Kingdom, there are simple ribbons worn on people's heads. However, in this case, it is necessary to approach this topic with caution, since these could be cloth bandages, which, presumably, were made from flax [Kerrn-Lilleso, 1986, col. 46]. They could be worn by both men and women, fastened to the head with a small knot at the back of the head, from which two ends of the fabric descended. Similar armbands were depicted in scenes related to various types of work, or sculptural figures of working servants. These items were not jewelry, but were used exclusively for practical purposes - for example, they were necessary to keep hair that could interfere with work. Simple copper hoops could have originated from similar bandages, as some researchers have already written about [Aldred, 1978, p. 130], but this issue is not part of the task of this article.

23 Relief image of King Snefru from his Valley Temple-Broken Pyramid in Dahshur, early IV dynasty (Fakhry, 1961, fig. 99).

24 For an image depicting the stele of Tsarevich Necheraperef (early IV dynasty), see [Alexanian, 1999, Abb. 22]. For the relief image of Princess Nofret in the mastaba of Rakhotep (early IV dynasty), see [Petrie, 1892, fig. IX].

25 For images from the two mastabs of Neferi and Nihetephnum in Giza (both in the middle of the Fifth Dynasty or later), see [Abu-Bakr, 1953, fig. 10, 69].

26 A striking example is the relief from the mastaba of the Vizier Merefnebef in Saqqara (Saqqara I..., 2004, Pl. XXI, LXIII).

27 In this case, we can exclude the possibility that the hoop from the mine I of mastaba G 2095' has reached us in a damaged form or has lost any details. According to the publication of this monument, the burial was not disturbed by robbers, i.e. there is a high probability that the diadem was preserved entirely [Roth, 2001, p. 124].

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Thus, diadems originating from the tombs of Giza and Saqqara, most likely, were made specifically for funerary equipment-this is evidenced by their symbolism and features of their manufacture: objects were made of rather fragile materials (wood covered with gypsum mortar, metal foil, etc.), which hardly allowed them to be worn regularly during his lifetime. Consequently, the head ornaments that were placed in burials could be a kind of imitation of jewelry that was worn in everyday life, but imitations are somewhat modified, equipped with special symbols-amulets that contribute to the revival and prosperous existence of the deceased in the afterlife. It should also be taken into account that even in the era of the Ancient Kingdom, the Egyptians, apparently, realized that burials could be robbed, so they could deliberately "reduce the cost" of funeral equipment, for example, replacing gold jewelry with copper with a thin layer of gilding. If we take into account that imitations of other categories of objects (tools, vessels, even food offerings) were present in the funerary inventory of the Ancient Kingdom28, then we are faced with a special both material and ideological aspect of the ancient Egyptian ideas of the 3rd millennium BC about the existence of the deceased in the afterlife, and these ideas, on the one hand, have rational, and on the other - magical overtones.

In general, this phenomenon - that is, the imitation of various materials, items of burial equipment, etc. - was characteristic of the culture of Ancient Egypt not only in the early periods, but also in later epochs29. It is reflected in both the funerary inventory and tomb architecture (Drenkhahn, 1980, col. 148-149). Therefore, diadems dating back to the era of the Ancient Kingdom serve as further evidence that the practice of using imitations of various objects was sufficiently developed and coexisted with the placement of real things in tombs in order to accompany the deceased.

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

BiEtud - Bibliotheque d'Etude. Institut Francois d'Archeologie Orientate. Le Caire.

BMFA - Bulletin of the Museum of Fine Arts. Boston.

LdA - Lexikon der Agyptologie. Weisbaden. 1975-1986. Bd. I VII.

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Kees G. Funeral beliefs of the ancient Egyptians. From the origins to the end of the Middle Kingdom. St. Petersburg: Neva Magazine, 2005. = Kees G. Zaupokoinye verovaniia drevnikh egiptian. Ot istokov i do iskhoda Srednego Tsarstva. Sankt-Petersburg: Zhurnal "Neva", 2005.

Malykh S.E. Votive ceramics of Egypt during the Ancient Kingdom era, Moscow: Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 2010. = Malykh S.E. Votivnaia keramika Egipta epokhi Drevnego tsarstva. Moscow: Institut vostokovedeniia RAN, 2010.

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29 Probably one of the most famous examples is the burial equipment of Pharaoh Tutankhamun (the reign of the XVIII dynasty, the era of the New Kingdom). However, along with imitations of jewelry and utensils, there are also real objects in it.

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