DOI Artikel:
Griffith, Francis Ll.: Progress of Egyptology: archaeology, hieroglyphic studies, etc.
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.12420#0034
20
Progress of Egyptology.
b. Memoirs and Reports.
Lower Nubia. D. Randall MacIver and C. L. Woolley describe the
results of excavation in the district just above Korosko. A fortress was
excavated near Amada which is considered to be " the residence of a
Nubian chief of the time of the XVIIIth Dynasty." The peculiar black-
topped burnished haematitic ware was in full use at that time in Nubia.
Mr. H. L. Mercer, of Doylestoun, Pennsylvania, has succeeded in
reproducing the pottery, and describes his method: the black rim is
obtained by burying the edge of the pot, turned upside down, in sawdust
in an open furnace; the sawdust lighting late and burning slowly with
smoke carbonises the rim as far as it reaches. Rifled cemeteries near to
the fort produced objects of all types, ranging from those which belong to
the 1st Dynasty in Egypt down to those of Romano-Nubian age. The
last period was well illustrated by a village and cemetery at Shablul, a
little further north, where the hitherto unknown type of decorated pottery
which characterises it was found in abundance. The more important
graves, of crude brick, were found in enclosures, and contained vases and
other objects in pottery, bronze and glass, sandstone slabs and altars
sculptured or inscribed in cursive Meroitic, and curious statues representing
the soul, human in front, but with bird's wings and body at the back. The
date-appears to lie between the 1st century b.c. and the Illrd century a.d.
The whole find is highly interesting as being the first considerable
illustration of the burial customs and the smaller antiquities of Nubia
under the Meroitic kings, whose pyramids and temples have long been
known. The remarkable lottery 0f the time is fully treated in a special
chapter. Another chapter, contributed by the present writer, treats of
Meroitic inscriptions, and offers some new evidence regarding the
equivalence of the hieroglyphic and cursive modes of writing, and a
provisional table of the two alphabets (Areika, vol. I. of the Coxe
Expedition published by the University of Pennsylvania).
Dr. Reisner in the 3rd Bulletin brings down the record of the
Archaeological Survey of Nubia to the end of 1908. At that date the
Survey (which is intended to be continued only as far as Korosko) had
reached about 55 miles south of Shellal, to a few miles south of Gerf
Husen. Here, after the barren region of Kalabsha, cemeteries were again
abundant. The remains were uniform with those found in the preceding
year. There is a curious absence of datable remains belonging to the age
between the New Kingdom and the Ptolemies.
Progress of Egyptology.
b. Memoirs and Reports.
Lower Nubia. D. Randall MacIver and C. L. Woolley describe the
results of excavation in the district just above Korosko. A fortress was
excavated near Amada which is considered to be " the residence of a
Nubian chief of the time of the XVIIIth Dynasty." The peculiar black-
topped burnished haematitic ware was in full use at that time in Nubia.
Mr. H. L. Mercer, of Doylestoun, Pennsylvania, has succeeded in
reproducing the pottery, and describes his method: the black rim is
obtained by burying the edge of the pot, turned upside down, in sawdust
in an open furnace; the sawdust lighting late and burning slowly with
smoke carbonises the rim as far as it reaches. Rifled cemeteries near to
the fort produced objects of all types, ranging from those which belong to
the 1st Dynasty in Egypt down to those of Romano-Nubian age. The
last period was well illustrated by a village and cemetery at Shablul, a
little further north, where the hitherto unknown type of decorated pottery
which characterises it was found in abundance. The more important
graves, of crude brick, were found in enclosures, and contained vases and
other objects in pottery, bronze and glass, sandstone slabs and altars
sculptured or inscribed in cursive Meroitic, and curious statues representing
the soul, human in front, but with bird's wings and body at the back. The
date-appears to lie between the 1st century b.c. and the Illrd century a.d.
The whole find is highly interesting as being the first considerable
illustration of the burial customs and the smaller antiquities of Nubia
under the Meroitic kings, whose pyramids and temples have long been
known. The remarkable lottery 0f the time is fully treated in a special
chapter. Another chapter, contributed by the present writer, treats of
Meroitic inscriptions, and offers some new evidence regarding the
equivalence of the hieroglyphic and cursive modes of writing, and a
provisional table of the two alphabets (Areika, vol. I. of the Coxe
Expedition published by the University of Pennsylvania).
Dr. Reisner in the 3rd Bulletin brings down the record of the
Archaeological Survey of Nubia to the end of 1908. At that date the
Survey (which is intended to be continued only as far as Korosko) had
reached about 55 miles south of Shellal, to a few miles south of Gerf
Husen. Here, after the barren region of Kalabsha, cemeteries were again
abundant. The remains were uniform with those found in the preceding
year. There is a curious absence of datable remains belonging to the age
between the New Kingdom and the Ptolemies.