DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4665#0012
EL ARAEAH.
This was the natural approach from the old site to
the outlying desert. At its head are placed the royal
tombs of the earliest dynasties, and the necropolis
which grew in later years reaches out nearly a mile
on either hand. A strip of eight or ten acres in area,
bounded on the south by this valley, marked off on
the north by the Shuna, and so westward, was
selected for the Research Account to explore. It was
thus in the centre of a longer strip, marked off, as it
were, by slight natural features from the whole, and
lying westward from the ancient temenos. To judge
from an inscription found in the present year, this
had early been selected as a burying-ground, and its
boundaries marked out by monumental stones. The
division is convenient, for it enables the growth and
character of this stretch to be examined indepen-
dently of the rest, of which less is known.
This piece, however, has now been fairly
The nearer portion early
of Mariette and
Position be-
Xllth we^ examined.
tween
and XVHIth attracted the attention
dynasty sites. . r , , ,
others ; its further end has more recently
been excavated by the Egypt Exploration Fund ;
and the intervening piece is that which is now in
question. The old results agree with the new in
showing that the spread of the tombs in this direction
was gradual and continuous. Each successive genera-
tion sought the unused ground adjoining that which
was already filled. The process began with the
mastabas of the old kingdom that cluster under the
walls of the temenos: by the Xllth dynasty the ever-
growing necropolis extended as far as the Shuna, and
eventually reached its limits, beyond the space now
under consideration, in the elaborated structures
which Mr. Mace's explorations show to have belonged
to the XVIIIth, XlXth and later dynasties.
The sequence is not unbroken : traces of pits not
protected by superstructure or retaining wall must
soon have become obliterated by the drifting sands,
so that here and there are isolated cases of tombs
unlike their neighbours, or even set down in the
midst of those which had previously occupied the
same place. Yet their presence is explainable, and
the general principle of the sequence remains the
same. In the site itself, as may be seen by reference
to its plan, those few tombs which are definitely of
the Xllth dynasty lie generally to the east, while
those of the XVIIIth dynasty occupy the western
boundary. The probability at once suggests itself,
that the pit-tombs of the intervening space, between
those of the Xllth and XVIIIth dynasties, represent
the burials of the intermediate period.
This point is tempting. So little is
repTe°sentariveknown archsologically of the period, and
of xnith to so uncertain are the records bearing upon
dynasties. it, that any further chance of information
about it must be welcomed. It may be
urged that in times so disturbed as tradition holds
them to have been, there was probably a lapse in the
burial custom that brought strangers to be interred in
this locality. That may have been so. Yet the
continued, though slower, growth of the necropolis
would be but a natural consequence of continuity in
the history of Ab-du itself, or at least of its priest-
hood, whose tombs chiefly abound. There is no
suggestion that throughout this period the town lay
devastated and the temples razed, which is the only
alternative. The gap in the Table of Kings at
Abydos, again, can hardly be urged against this
continuity. The lapse of literary record, the decay
of art and architecture, as well as the second-hand
accounts of the period derived from Manetho and
other sources, all point to a dark age, the chronicle of
which became confused by rapid succession of rulers
and changes of power. The omission, too, of names
representative of foreign domination, was more
natural than their insertion, particularly on a royal
monument. In any case this would have little local
significance. On the other hand, inscriptions of the
earlier part of this period are not wanting, both from
the enclosure and from the burial grounds, whilst a
scarab of Shesha from the site itself belongs probably
to the same period. In the extreme paucity of dated
records of this time, these monuments, though few in
number, constitute a factor of evidence by no means
disproportionate or negligible.
^.„. ,. , Yet they are not sufficient : and with the
Difficulty of '
obtaining rapid progress of excavation throughout
evidenceeon EgYPt 'lt becomes needful to be able to
the period, identify the archaeological types of this
period, if any further light is to be thrown upon it.
And to establish these it is necessary, then, to look
aside from the more direct method, to see whether by
comparison of unknown forms with known, of the
undated with those which can be dated, some
inferences may not become possible ; and to neglect
no result, however small, because its immediate
utility may not be discernible.
In the lack of a satisfactory chronology, it may be
difficult as yet to penetrate the dark that particularly
surrounds the Hyksos period : it is not probable that
there was any local change of forms corresponding to
the change of dynasty. But with a more general
^[ hie to as^
#D and marble
;C of the cut
Kl be fou^ toe
>'"Is establish'
>>5UCh. „ the ■
\er sciencertTae
ieenthem.smo
^Intermediated
ia particular form
.articular date, on a
Lmnion association
:ja one such form, c;
L one such of the
;ii association in groi
:i certain precautions
Lsiied also, there i
Ik each object belc
period.
Ilese principles are t
■We been steadily k<
j it this volume ; I
peculiarly applicable
iirperiod between th<
i inasmuch as the sit
«W the limiting ty
Arc been possible,
-say appear few—a f
■*ozen plates of ti
jjto question-yet
Entity of mater
~ "'rtve in chara
are also man)
otherwise lea
Uhat have
5at'ng from the
, ofatI%ioUs
" hvo Principles
'^n of the
*d to be
^interven
Mother fa
V ai
c ot realh
;fc
This was the natural approach from the old site to
the outlying desert. At its head are placed the royal
tombs of the earliest dynasties, and the necropolis
which grew in later years reaches out nearly a mile
on either hand. A strip of eight or ten acres in area,
bounded on the south by this valley, marked off on
the north by the Shuna, and so westward, was
selected for the Research Account to explore. It was
thus in the centre of a longer strip, marked off, as it
were, by slight natural features from the whole, and
lying westward from the ancient temenos. To judge
from an inscription found in the present year, this
had early been selected as a burying-ground, and its
boundaries marked out by monumental stones. The
division is convenient, for it enables the growth and
character of this stretch to be examined indepen-
dently of the rest, of which less is known.
This piece, however, has now been fairly
The nearer portion early
of Mariette and
Position be-
Xllth we^ examined.
tween
and XVHIth attracted the attention
dynasty sites. . r , , ,
others ; its further end has more recently
been excavated by the Egypt Exploration Fund ;
and the intervening piece is that which is now in
question. The old results agree with the new in
showing that the spread of the tombs in this direction
was gradual and continuous. Each successive genera-
tion sought the unused ground adjoining that which
was already filled. The process began with the
mastabas of the old kingdom that cluster under the
walls of the temenos: by the Xllth dynasty the ever-
growing necropolis extended as far as the Shuna, and
eventually reached its limits, beyond the space now
under consideration, in the elaborated structures
which Mr. Mace's explorations show to have belonged
to the XVIIIth, XlXth and later dynasties.
The sequence is not unbroken : traces of pits not
protected by superstructure or retaining wall must
soon have become obliterated by the drifting sands,
so that here and there are isolated cases of tombs
unlike their neighbours, or even set down in the
midst of those which had previously occupied the
same place. Yet their presence is explainable, and
the general principle of the sequence remains the
same. In the site itself, as may be seen by reference
to its plan, those few tombs which are definitely of
the Xllth dynasty lie generally to the east, while
those of the XVIIIth dynasty occupy the western
boundary. The probability at once suggests itself,
that the pit-tombs of the intervening space, between
those of the Xllth and XVIIIth dynasties, represent
the burials of the intermediate period.
This point is tempting. So little is
repTe°sentariveknown archsologically of the period, and
of xnith to so uncertain are the records bearing upon
dynasties. it, that any further chance of information
about it must be welcomed. It may be
urged that in times so disturbed as tradition holds
them to have been, there was probably a lapse in the
burial custom that brought strangers to be interred in
this locality. That may have been so. Yet the
continued, though slower, growth of the necropolis
would be but a natural consequence of continuity in
the history of Ab-du itself, or at least of its priest-
hood, whose tombs chiefly abound. There is no
suggestion that throughout this period the town lay
devastated and the temples razed, which is the only
alternative. The gap in the Table of Kings at
Abydos, again, can hardly be urged against this
continuity. The lapse of literary record, the decay
of art and architecture, as well as the second-hand
accounts of the period derived from Manetho and
other sources, all point to a dark age, the chronicle of
which became confused by rapid succession of rulers
and changes of power. The omission, too, of names
representative of foreign domination, was more
natural than their insertion, particularly on a royal
monument. In any case this would have little local
significance. On the other hand, inscriptions of the
earlier part of this period are not wanting, both from
the enclosure and from the burial grounds, whilst a
scarab of Shesha from the site itself belongs probably
to the same period. In the extreme paucity of dated
records of this time, these monuments, though few in
number, constitute a factor of evidence by no means
disproportionate or negligible.
^.„. ,. , Yet they are not sufficient : and with the
Difficulty of '
obtaining rapid progress of excavation throughout
evidenceeon EgYPt 'lt becomes needful to be able to
the period, identify the archaeological types of this
period, if any further light is to be thrown upon it.
And to establish these it is necessary, then, to look
aside from the more direct method, to see whether by
comparison of unknown forms with known, of the
undated with those which can be dated, some
inferences may not become possible ; and to neglect
no result, however small, because its immediate
utility may not be discernible.
In the lack of a satisfactory chronology, it may be
difficult as yet to penetrate the dark that particularly
surrounds the Hyksos period : it is not probable that
there was any local change of forms corresponding to
the change of dynasty. But with a more general
^[ hie to as^
#D and marble
;C of the cut
Kl be fou^ toe
>'"Is establish'
>>5UCh. „ the ■
\er sciencertTae
ieenthem.smo
^Intermediated
ia particular form
.articular date, on a
Lmnion association
:ja one such form, c;
L one such of the
;ii association in groi
:i certain precautions
Lsiied also, there i
Ik each object belc
period.
Ilese principles are t
■We been steadily k<
j it this volume ; I
peculiarly applicable
iirperiod between th<
i inasmuch as the sit
«W the limiting ty
Arc been possible,
-say appear few—a f
■*ozen plates of ti
jjto question-yet
Entity of mater
~ "'rtve in chara
are also man)
otherwise lea
Uhat have
5at'ng from the
, ofatI%ioUs
" hvo Principles
'^n of the
*d to be
^interven
Mother fa
V ai
c ot realh
;fc