Famine Relief From Unas Causeway

By the Editors of the Madain Project

The Famine Relief from the causeway of Unas' funerary complex in Saqqara documents a severe draught and possibly an impending famine in ancient Egypt during the reign of Pharoah Unas (2345-2315 BCE), usually interpreted as contributing to the collapse of the Old Kingdom.

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Overview

The relief depicts two registers of emaciated victims of famine. The people depicted falling down with hunger, are believed to be the bedouins who inhabited the desert fringes of Egypt. Bell argues that the famine recorded in the Unas Causeway was brought on by a slow but steady reduction in the rainfall that charges the Nile River, coupled with a failure of the government to cope with the problem. It is believed to be ancient Egypt's most haunting and revealing works of art. Egyptologist Miroslav Verner highlights this particular scene from the causeway depicting famished desert nomads. The scene had been used as "unique proof" that the living standards of desert dwellers had declined during Unas's reign as a result of climatic changes in the middle of the third millennium BCE. Grimal suggested that this scene foreshadowed the nationwide famine that seems to have struck Egypt at the onset of the First Intermediate Period. According to Allen et al., the most widely accepted explanation for the scene is that it was meant to illustrate the generosity of the sovereign in aiding famished populations.

Famine in ancient Egypt was a recurring crisis shaped by the region’s dependence on the annual flooding of the Nile. When the river’s inundation failed or was insufficient, agricultural productivity declined, leading to food shortages, economic hardship, and social instability. Egyptian society developed mechanisms to manage these crises, including state-controlled grain storage and distribution, yet prolonged periods of famine could weaken central authority and contribute to broader periods of decline. Historical inscriptions and records document several significant famines, illustrating both the challenges and resilience of ancient Egyptian civilization in the face of environmental and political disruptions.

Discovery

circa 2236 BCE

It was found in the rubble of the roofed causeway that lead up to the Pyramid of Unas. Today it is exhibited in the Imhotep Museum in Saqqara. The Egyptians viewed food deprivation as a liminal experience, approaching chaos. And through such realistic images the Egyptians were expressing their fears to the gods, appealing them to keep these sufferings away from Egypt.

Notes

The issue of famines and economic crises is a hallmark of the First Intermediate Period of Egypt. A series of failures of the Nile flood in various years, a result of climate change, is often blamed for the collapse of the Old Kingdom. Evidence in the form of biographical testimonies, such as the inscriptions of Ankhtifi in his tomb at El-Mo'alla, attesting to the famines are numerous, but somewhat questionable. Climatic change bringing drier seasons appears to have started during the Old Kingdom, and archaeological observations at Elephantine suggests that flooding seasons were better, not worse, during the First Intermediate Period. Crises were socially significant during the period, and gave a basis for the legitimacy of rulers' power. Rulers positioned themselves as caring for the whole of their society, including the weak and unfortunate, ensuring their right to authority and respect.

References

Right, D. K. (2011, June). Frontier Animal Husbandry in the Northeast and East African Neolithic: A Multiproxy Paleoenvironmental and Paleodemographic Study. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
Verner, Miroslav (2001d). The Pyramids: The Mystery, Culture and Science of Egypt's Great Monuments. New York: Grove Press. ISBN 978-0-8021-1703-8.
Seidlmayer, Stephan (2003). "The First Intermediate Period (c. 2160–2055 BC)". In Shaw, Ian (ed.). The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt. Oxford University Press. pp. 108–136. ISBN 978-0-19-815034-3.
Grimal, Nicolas (1992). A History of Ancient Egypt. Translated by Ian Shaw. Oxford: Blackwell publishing. ISBN 978-0-631-19396-8.
Allen, James; Allen, Susan; Anderson, Julie; et al. (1999). Egyptian Art in the Age of the Pyramids. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art. ISBN 978-0-8109-6543-0. OCLC 41431623.

Famine Relief From Unas Causeway

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Famine Relief From Unas Causeway

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