Bemerkungen zu zwei usurpierten Säulen aus der Zeit Merenptahs *

Two examples of reused granite columns are discussed, displaying a variety of techniques of reuse in the Ramessid Period. One column, found at Tell El Yahûdîyeh, has been misinterpreted since the end of the Nineteenth Century. The other shows a unique formulation of a monolithic column into a sculpture, in which the monolithic granite column was eventually turned upside down to produce a larger naophorus statue out of the ‘entasis’ of the six-stemmed papyrus shaft. The origin of both columns can be attributed to the royal buildings of the Fifth Dynasty, perhaps from Abusir.