Umm El Qaʻāb (sometimes romanised Umm El Gaʻab, ) is an archaeological site located at Abydos, Egypt. Its modern name, meaning "Mother of Pots", refers to the mound made of millions of broken pieces of pots which defines the landscape. Umm el Qa'ab contains evidence that the site is the cemetery for Egypt's predynastic proto-kings along with rulers of the 1st and 2nd dynasties. In addition to early royal tombs, evidence also suggests a link between the site, the cult of Osiris, and Osiris' annual festival.

The cemetery was likely founded during the Naqada I period (4,000 BCE) as evident from the tomb structures, pottery, and seal impressions excavated from the site. The location continued as a royal cemetery through the First Dynasty (2,950-2,775 BCE) and ended with the burial of only the last two kings of the Second Dynasty, Peribsen and Khasekhemy (2,650 BCE).

The Pre and Early dynastic royal cemetery at Umm el-Qa'ab became a site of veneration and cultic practice beginning in the Middle Kingdom (1,938 BCE) and stayed in use for 1,500 years until the Ptolemaic Dynasty (305-30 BCE).

The tombs of this area were first excavated by Émile Amélineau in the 1890s and more systematically by Flinders Petrie between 1899 and 1901. Since then the area has been excavated repeatedly by the German Archaeological Institute since the 1970s, which has allowed for a thorough reconstruction of the original layout and appearance of these tombs. Although the tomb had been subject to plundering, about 2000 ceramic vessels were recovered with nearly one third having been imported from Palestine. These ceramic vessels contained traces of tree-resin-infused wine, providing the first evidence of wine in Ancient Egypt. also possible pre dynastic ruler Bull is attested in one of the ivory tablets.

  • B1/B2: Iry-Hor
  • B7/B9: Ka

First Dynasty tombs

Cemetery B

Cemetery B is located south of Cemetery U and contains the tombs of Egypt's First Dynasty king along with the last two kings of the Second Dynasty. Furthermore, inscriptional evidence found at isolated tombs also suggests the Dynasty 0 rulers, Qa'a, Iry-Hor, and Narmer, were buried at this site.

  • B10/B15/B19: Aha
  • O: Djer
  • Z: Djet
  • Y: Merneith
  • T: Den
  • X: Anedjib
  • U: Semerkhet
  • Q: Qa'a

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File:Ummal-qaab.png|Tombs of the Egyptian 1st dynasty

File:Pottery shred, from stump base of a jug. 1st Dynasty. From the Royal Tomb of Semerkhet at Umm el-Qa'ab, Abydos, Egypt. The Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, London.jpg|Pottery sherd, from stump base of a jug. 1st Dynasty. From the Royal Tomb of Semerkhet at Umm el-Qa'ab, Abydos, Egypt. Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, London

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Human sacrifice and 1st Dynasty tombs

Human sacrifice was practiced as part of the funerary rituals associated with the First Dynasty. The tomb of Djer is associated with the burials of 338 individuals thought to have been sacrificed. For unknown reasons, this practice ended with the conclusion of the dynasty, with shabtis taking the place of actual people to aid the pharaohs with the work expected of them in the afterlife. A seal found in this tomb contains the first full sentence written in hieroglyphs.

  • V: Khasekhemwy. This tomb was on a massive scale, with several interconnecting mud-brick chambers, and the actual burial chamber being constructed of dressed limestone blocks. Its measurements were: 68.97 m long and 10.04-17.06 wide. When excavated by Petrie in 1901 it contained a scepter made from sard and banded with gold, limestone vases with golden covers, and a ewer and basin of bronze.

thumb|The site of Khasekhemwy's tomb, filled with sand

Tomb stelas

Note that Peribsen's stela is the only serekh to be topped with Seth instead of Horus (albeit the stele later had Seth erased), whereas Khasekhemwy's stela has both Horus and Seth on top of his serekh as a symbol of his reunification of Egypt.

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File:TombStelaOfPeribsen-BritishMuseum-August21-08.jpg|Peribsen

File:Khasekhemwy, name inscribed on door jamb (cropped).jpg|Khasekhemwy

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Activity during the Second and Third Dynasty

There is evidence that the tombs at Umm el-Qa'ab were looted and burned in the late Second Dynasty during the time period between Nynetjer and Khasekhemwy, when the country was split and ruled by two successors due to the overly complex state administration of the whole of Egypt.

On the east side of the Pyramid of Djoser at Saqqara, eleven shafts 32&nbsp;m deep were constructed and annexed to horizontal tunnels for royal family members. These were incorporated into the pre-existing substructure as it expanded eastward. In the storerooms along here over 40,000 stone vessels were found, many of which predate Djoser. Shafts I–V were used for the burials of royal family members, but shafts VI–XI were used as symbolic tombs for the grave goods of royal ancestors from dynasties I–II. More than 40,000 vessels, bowls and vases made of various kinds of stone were found in these galleries. Royal names such as of kings Den, Semerkhet, Nynetjer and Sekhemib were incised on the pots, showing they came from both the tombs in Umm el-Qa'ab and in Saqqara. It is now thought that Djoser once restored the original tombs of the ancestors after Egypt's reunification, and then sealed the grave goods in the galleries in an attempt to save them from further destruction.

In the 14th year of the reign of Mentuhotep II, the conquest of the Thinite region by the Herakleopolitan kings occurred. However, the armies of Merikare apparently looted and desecrated the sacred tombs at Umm el-Qa'ab in the process, confirming the third time the tombs were looted. As a result, the 14th year of Mentuhotep's reign is indeed named Year of the crime of Thinis in later Egyptian records.

Osiris Cult and Annual Festival

thumb|Osiris basalt statue found in Djer's tomb. Dedicated by king Khendjer of the 13th Dynasty and discovered by E. Amelineau

Following the restorations of the tombs by the early Middle Kingdom pharaohs, Cult activity likely began at Umm el-Qa'ab during the 12th Dynasty reign of Senwosret I during the Middle Kingdom (1,919 BCE) and continued through until the Graeco-Roman Period, ending with the Ptolemaic Dynasty (305-30 BCE).

The annual festival along with various cultic activities continued at Umm el-Qa'ab for around 1,500 years after being formally established. Chapter 169 of the Book of the Dead, a text found among New Kingdom and later period burials, directly references the annual festival.