Conclusion

To summarise, this new data, collected from the blocks recorded in Cerny’s notes, appears to confirm certain thematic similarities amongst the iconographic programmes of the pyramid causeways of Sahure’s and Unas’ mortuary complexes. he existence in Unas’ corridor of ‘narrative’ and/or ‘historical’ texts, of scenes depicting the transport of the benbenet, fights with sticks, the transport of furnishings or even the possible arrival of an expedition to a foreign country can all be linked to the newly discovered reliefs in Sahure’s causeway. Hence, this leads to the suggestion of the existence of relatively well-defined iconographic repertoires ascribed to that part of the royal mortuary complexes, certainly at least within the fifth dynasty.

However, as I have suggested in a previous study,209 it cannot be disputed that iconographic subjects could change in every funerary complex according to different needs and/or preferences. Apart from some precise subjects (such as those on the walls of the cultic chambers), many themes could be added, suppressed or placed in different rooms according to many different circumstances such as the quantity of wall surfaces to be carved or the general arrangement of the decoration, and so on. In fact, in Unas’ causeway the scenes attached closely to royal activities and ideology were related to non-royal subjects such as daily life activities taken from private tomb repertoires, workshops, agricultural activities and combats — and possibly a siege. hese original scenes, presently unattested in Sahure’s complex, suggest the existence of iconographical differences and innovations among different royal complexes. On the other hand, parallels between iconographic programmes in Sahure’s and Unas’ causeways point to the existence of processes of artistic and literary emulation and tradition in the iconography of royal mortuary complexes, and, consequently, to the debatable reliability of these scenes as historic sources on their own. he so-called ‘Lybian family’ or the return of ships with Asian personnel are well-known examples.210

Finally, I hope this paper will also serve to reappraise earlier work by an eminent scholar which hopefully can now be used as a valuable resource to improve our understanding of Old Kingdom art. First-hand notes by Cerny, written a few years after the discovery of the blocks, when they were still visible and well preserved, underline once again the relevance of old records and archives, frequently neglected or underrated by scholars as essential sources for current Egyptological research. In essence, every future study on the reliefs of the causeway of Unas should consider the collation of originals with these notes — and those made by other scholars — so as to have a more complete, contrastable point of reference and hence more reliable data from which to work.