DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4657#0017
12
THE TOMB OF HEN-NEKHT.
high enough to enable one to walk upright within.
Three small chambers branch off on each side. A
long narrow room lies at the end, but turning to the
right hand (the west) just at its door, a short passage
leads into the spacious burial chamber. Here were
found in confusion the remains of a stout wooden
coffin (its fragments destroyed by the white ant) and
the bones of a man. Dr. C. S. Myers, who has ex-
amined these in detail, and whose notes thereon are
appended to the end of the present chapter, writes
that " the skull is extraordinarily massive, remarkably
long, and with marked grooves and ridges. . . . We
shall not be far wrong if we conclude that the stature
of Hen-Nekht was i860 millimetres (or 6 feet 1 inch).
The skeletal stature thus appears to have been 200
millimetres greater than that of the average pre-
historic or early empire Egyptian."
The tomb contained deposits of alabaster and
copper vessels, illustrated on Pls. XX., XXI. and
XXII. ; also some flint and copper implements and
pottery ; which will be comparatively treated of in
Chapter VII. ; and further a few fragmentary seal im-
pressions, bearing a royal name, possibly Hen-Nekht, as
shown in facsimile on PL. XIX. One fragment, No. 7,
may be part of an oval cartouche ; if so it is the
earliest yet recorded, but unhappily it falls short of
giving the necessary clue to the identity of this king.
39. The very stature indicated by his bones, how-
ever, may provide a clue. A height of 20 cms.
(nearly 8 inches) more than the average of his time,
must have constituted him conspicuous among men.
Professor Sayce, upon seeing the bones before
measurement, was so struck by their remarkable
strength, that he immediately recalled the passages
in Manetho and Eratosthenes giving mention of one
(or two) giant kings of the period. The names given
by these historians are Sesochris and Momcheiri; but
the question of his identity from this coincidence is
hardly an archaeological problem.
40. As in the other case, the chambers were plun-
dered and disturbed, and their contents were confused
and broken. So far as could be determined, every
class of offering, whether alabaster, hard stone pottery
or copper, had been represented in the burial chamber.
In the process of sifting the sand within, two scraps
of jewelry were recovered, being pieces of thin gold-
foil doubled over to a triangular form, possibly as
pendants. Further than this there is no special
feature to record, and the archaeological types will
be referred to in comparison with others in a later
chapter.
41. The other series of chambers in the northern
portion of the tomb, as has been indicated, contained
no deposits. The descent to them was similar and
better preserved : it showed that, as in the tomb K 1,
the original direction of the first few steps, g-g, was
to the north ; at h there was a similar turn to the
south, but no stone blocked the passage at K. Here
was (and still remains) an archway of singularly
perfect construction and preservation. It consists of
fifteen bricks, most of which have been purposely
shaped as voussoirs. This has been effected in a few
instances by chipping the ordinary form of brick, but
more often by adding a wedge-thickening of mud
and allowing it to dry on and harden before use for
building. They fit together nicely, and form an arch
which is, roughly, the third of a circle. The course
is single; and the bricks of the wall are built up to it
in horizontal courses, the interstices being filled with
broken pieces and hard mud. Passing down, it is
seen that the barrel roof consists of three successive
descending portions, to follow the steep angle of the
passage floor.
Beyond, a few steps spirally in a corner lead down
to the bottom of the main shaft, where another inter-
esting feature presented itself. A great portcullis-
stone remained supported above the entrance by
slender walls of brick built under its edges, about
four feet above the floor of the passage, leaving the
way clear. The tomb within had never been used,
and the door in consequence had not been closed.
By this instance the whole process by which these
tombs were designed to be protected was made clear.
The funeral ceremony performed, and the pathway
laden with offerings, the slender walls of brick were
removed, and the great stones fell into position before
the successive doors, sliding in their grooves. The
wells were then filled with mud of a hard and
tenacious quality. The surface over all was pro-
bably bricked up, to finally conceal the approaches
to the tomb. In this way the broken and pounded
state of many of the objects is accounted for; for
these passages had not for the most part been pre-
viously dug out so as to clean the steps, former
plunderers having been content to make speculative
holes through the solid mass in the hope of reaching
the burial and its jewels.
42. With regard to the bones recovered from this
tomb, Dr. C. S. Myers kindly furnishes the following
statement:—
" The skeleton of Hen-Nekht is particularly inter-
esting ; for he is by far the earliest king whose
THE TOMB OF HEN-NEKHT.
high enough to enable one to walk upright within.
Three small chambers branch off on each side. A
long narrow room lies at the end, but turning to the
right hand (the west) just at its door, a short passage
leads into the spacious burial chamber. Here were
found in confusion the remains of a stout wooden
coffin (its fragments destroyed by the white ant) and
the bones of a man. Dr. C. S. Myers, who has ex-
amined these in detail, and whose notes thereon are
appended to the end of the present chapter, writes
that " the skull is extraordinarily massive, remarkably
long, and with marked grooves and ridges. . . . We
shall not be far wrong if we conclude that the stature
of Hen-Nekht was i860 millimetres (or 6 feet 1 inch).
The skeletal stature thus appears to have been 200
millimetres greater than that of the average pre-
historic or early empire Egyptian."
The tomb contained deposits of alabaster and
copper vessels, illustrated on Pls. XX., XXI. and
XXII. ; also some flint and copper implements and
pottery ; which will be comparatively treated of in
Chapter VII. ; and further a few fragmentary seal im-
pressions, bearing a royal name, possibly Hen-Nekht, as
shown in facsimile on PL. XIX. One fragment, No. 7,
may be part of an oval cartouche ; if so it is the
earliest yet recorded, but unhappily it falls short of
giving the necessary clue to the identity of this king.
39. The very stature indicated by his bones, how-
ever, may provide a clue. A height of 20 cms.
(nearly 8 inches) more than the average of his time,
must have constituted him conspicuous among men.
Professor Sayce, upon seeing the bones before
measurement, was so struck by their remarkable
strength, that he immediately recalled the passages
in Manetho and Eratosthenes giving mention of one
(or two) giant kings of the period. The names given
by these historians are Sesochris and Momcheiri; but
the question of his identity from this coincidence is
hardly an archaeological problem.
40. As in the other case, the chambers were plun-
dered and disturbed, and their contents were confused
and broken. So far as could be determined, every
class of offering, whether alabaster, hard stone pottery
or copper, had been represented in the burial chamber.
In the process of sifting the sand within, two scraps
of jewelry were recovered, being pieces of thin gold-
foil doubled over to a triangular form, possibly as
pendants. Further than this there is no special
feature to record, and the archaeological types will
be referred to in comparison with others in a later
chapter.
41. The other series of chambers in the northern
portion of the tomb, as has been indicated, contained
no deposits. The descent to them was similar and
better preserved : it showed that, as in the tomb K 1,
the original direction of the first few steps, g-g, was
to the north ; at h there was a similar turn to the
south, but no stone blocked the passage at K. Here
was (and still remains) an archway of singularly
perfect construction and preservation. It consists of
fifteen bricks, most of which have been purposely
shaped as voussoirs. This has been effected in a few
instances by chipping the ordinary form of brick, but
more often by adding a wedge-thickening of mud
and allowing it to dry on and harden before use for
building. They fit together nicely, and form an arch
which is, roughly, the third of a circle. The course
is single; and the bricks of the wall are built up to it
in horizontal courses, the interstices being filled with
broken pieces and hard mud. Passing down, it is
seen that the barrel roof consists of three successive
descending portions, to follow the steep angle of the
passage floor.
Beyond, a few steps spirally in a corner lead down
to the bottom of the main shaft, where another inter-
esting feature presented itself. A great portcullis-
stone remained supported above the entrance by
slender walls of brick built under its edges, about
four feet above the floor of the passage, leaving the
way clear. The tomb within had never been used,
and the door in consequence had not been closed.
By this instance the whole process by which these
tombs were designed to be protected was made clear.
The funeral ceremony performed, and the pathway
laden with offerings, the slender walls of brick were
removed, and the great stones fell into position before
the successive doors, sliding in their grooves. The
wells were then filled with mud of a hard and
tenacious quality. The surface over all was pro-
bably bricked up, to finally conceal the approaches
to the tomb. In this way the broken and pounded
state of many of the objects is accounted for; for
these passages had not for the most part been pre-
viously dug out so as to clean the steps, former
plunderers having been content to make speculative
holes through the solid mass in the hope of reaching
the burial and its jewels.
42. With regard to the bones recovered from this
tomb, Dr. C. S. Myers kindly furnishes the following
statement:—
" The skeleton of Hen-Nekht is particularly inter-
esting ; for he is by far the earliest king whose