DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.50106#0019
2
Introduction.
Later re-
use of site
at the
of the
Date of
cemetery
in many cases only superficial, as the contemporary plunderer had gold as his object, and
rule left the stone vases and other objects alone.
In the season of 1900-1 some preliminary work was done on this cemetery by Mr. Green,
cleared among others the large II dyn. stairway tomb (3551)5 but, owing to the greater
With
graves
Plundering This cemetery, like most of the others in the district, had suffered at the hands of modern
native plunderers, but the earlier graves were too poor, from their point of view, to be worth
digging, and they had contented themselves with turning out some half-dozen pits. A much
larger proportion of the graves had been disturbed in ancient times, though the disturbance
was
as a
Excavation
of
cemetery
who
importance of work on other parts of the site, the cemetery was not systematically cleared till
the winter of 1902-3. The photograph on plate 2 shews the condition of the ground
beginning of the 1902-3 season, while 3, taken from the same point, gives us a view
cemetery after the final clearing.
The cemetery first came into regular use towards the end of the second dynasty,
one exception—a sporadic burial of the late-middle predynastic period—the earliest
were of the corbel-vaulted stairway type which was common on another part of the site, and
it is clear that this cemetery immediately succeeded cemetery 3000. Following on the corbel-
vaulted tombs there was a large closely-connected series of small graves, which covered the
whole of the third dynasty. At about the end of the third dynasty the cemetery was abandoned
in favour of cemetery 500, and apparently fell into complete decay. In the sixth dynasty this
part of the site again came into use. Rock-cut] tombs were constructed in the upper parts
of the slope, and in the gravel banks on the side of the large water-course, while graves of
the ‘shaft and chamber’ type were sunk in vacant spaces all over the cemetery. Here, as in
most Egyptian cemeteries, the newcomers had had but little respect for the tombs of their
ancestors: walls were cut away to make room for a new pit, or were made use of in the
construction of the later tombs, while in some cases two or more early graves were com-
pletely covered up and hidden away by the larger sixth dynasty super structures. It was
only by clearing away the whole of these later superstructures that we could get at many of the
earlier ones underneath (see plate 39). Plate 5 gives us a view of the cemetery cleared down to
sixth dynasty level, while in 6 we have the same view after the later superstructures had been
removed. The difference in the level of the surface at -these two periods was 40-50 cm.
This was due partly to the decomposition and collapse of the third dynasty walls, which, it
must be remembered, were constructed of mere crude brick, and partly to natural accumulation.
In the ninth dynasty or thereabouts the cemetery was once more abandoned, and, with the
exception of two or three eighteenth dyn. intrusive burials in the rock-cut tombs of the upper
part of the slope, never again came into use.
We have, therefore, two distinct groups of tombs in this cemetery—those of the II to
III dynasties, and those of the VI—IX, marked respectively black and red in the general plan
(Pl. 58). In this volume we are primarily concerned with the early group, as the latter type
of grave recurs frequently in various parts of the site, and will be discussed in detail in a
1 We have applied the term ‘rock-cut’ to the whole of this class of tombs, as those constructed in the gravel were of exactly the
same type as the real rock-cut tombs.
Introduction.
Later re-
use of site
at the
of the
Date of
cemetery
in many cases only superficial, as the contemporary plunderer had gold as his object, and
rule left the stone vases and other objects alone.
In the season of 1900-1 some preliminary work was done on this cemetery by Mr. Green,
cleared among others the large II dyn. stairway tomb (3551)5 but, owing to the greater
With
graves
Plundering This cemetery, like most of the others in the district, had suffered at the hands of modern
native plunderers, but the earlier graves were too poor, from their point of view, to be worth
digging, and they had contented themselves with turning out some half-dozen pits. A much
larger proportion of the graves had been disturbed in ancient times, though the disturbance
was
as a
Excavation
of
cemetery
who
importance of work on other parts of the site, the cemetery was not systematically cleared till
the winter of 1902-3. The photograph on plate 2 shews the condition of the ground
beginning of the 1902-3 season, while 3, taken from the same point, gives us a view
cemetery after the final clearing.
The cemetery first came into regular use towards the end of the second dynasty,
one exception—a sporadic burial of the late-middle predynastic period—the earliest
were of the corbel-vaulted stairway type which was common on another part of the site, and
it is clear that this cemetery immediately succeeded cemetery 3000. Following on the corbel-
vaulted tombs there was a large closely-connected series of small graves, which covered the
whole of the third dynasty. At about the end of the third dynasty the cemetery was abandoned
in favour of cemetery 500, and apparently fell into complete decay. In the sixth dynasty this
part of the site again came into use. Rock-cut] tombs were constructed in the upper parts
of the slope, and in the gravel banks on the side of the large water-course, while graves of
the ‘shaft and chamber’ type were sunk in vacant spaces all over the cemetery. Here, as in
most Egyptian cemeteries, the newcomers had had but little respect for the tombs of their
ancestors: walls were cut away to make room for a new pit, or were made use of in the
construction of the later tombs, while in some cases two or more early graves were com-
pletely covered up and hidden away by the larger sixth dynasty super structures. It was
only by clearing away the whole of these later superstructures that we could get at many of the
earlier ones underneath (see plate 39). Plate 5 gives us a view of the cemetery cleared down to
sixth dynasty level, while in 6 we have the same view after the later superstructures had been
removed. The difference in the level of the surface at -these two periods was 40-50 cm.
This was due partly to the decomposition and collapse of the third dynasty walls, which, it
must be remembered, were constructed of mere crude brick, and partly to natural accumulation.
In the ninth dynasty or thereabouts the cemetery was once more abandoned, and, with the
exception of two or three eighteenth dyn. intrusive burials in the rock-cut tombs of the upper
part of the slope, never again came into use.
We have, therefore, two distinct groups of tombs in this cemetery—those of the II to
III dynasties, and those of the VI—IX, marked respectively black and red in the general plan
(Pl. 58). In this volume we are primarily concerned with the early group, as the latter type
of grave recurs frequently in various parts of the site, and will be discussed in detail in a
1 We have applied the term ‘rock-cut’ to the whole of this class of tombs, as those constructed in the gravel were of exactly the
same type as the real rock-cut tombs.