Reisner, George Andrew: The early dynastic cemeteries of Naga-ed-Dêr (Band 3): A provincial cemetery of the pyramid age, Naga-ed-Der (Oxford: University Press by John Johnson, 1932)

Ill
OBJECTS FOUND IN CEM. N 500-900
IN considering the objects found in the graves of Cem. N 500-900, those of the greatest importance
for the history of the cemetery are the two classes most fully represented—the stone vessels and the
pottery vessels. In both there is a clearly marked dividing line between the vessels found in the graves
of type groups assigned to Dyn. II-IV and those in the graves of type vi, assigned mainly to Dyn. V.
The stone vessels are with rare exceptions of alabaster, but isolated examples of diorite-gneiss, por-
phyritic diorite, breccia, slate, and limestone occur in the earlier period and of diorite-gneiss in the
later. In The Funerary Temples of the Third Pyramid (in the press), I have traced the forms of the stone
vessels used in the first four dynasties from the predynastic forms downwards and have pointed out the
characteristics of the forms of the following periods: (a) Predynastic, (Z>) Dyn. O to King Zer, (c) King
Zer to King Khasekhemuwy (end of Dyn. II), (d) Khasekhemuwy to end of Dyn. Ill, (e) Dyn. IV, and
(/) Dyn. V. The group of types used in the reign of Khasekhemuwy and prevailing throughout Dyn. Ill
were either unmodified earlier types (23 forms), or new variations of older types (14 forms). The corpus
of stone vessels of this period was clearly developed from the corpus of Dyn. I. The corpus of vessels
of Dyn. IV consists of forms used in Dyn. Ill, but presents many omissions and in the time of Mycerinus
a general degeneration. In accordance with these conclusions, the forms of the stone vessels found in
the graves of types IV and iv in our cemetery pass insensibly into the forms used in graves of types V
and v. But with the graves of type vi an entirely new set of stone forms occur in the graves, in particular,
the slender pointed jar with cylindrical neck and the small tapering jar with pointed or flat base and
collar-neck.
The development of the pottery in Cem. N 500-900 resembles that of the stone vessels. The earlier
graves yielded a small number of red-polished bowls, cylindrical jars, and well-formed shoulder jars
with tapering body such as were found in Dyn. I and II. These forms continue to occur in deteriorating
examples in the graves of Dyn. IV, but Dyn. IV is dominated by the two ceremonial-traditional vessels
—a degeneration in coarse red ware of the tapering offering jar and an open flaring pot (‘flower pot’
form) of poorly baked mud ware. The pottery is inexpressibly less rich in forms than that found at
more northern sites in Dyn. Ill and IV, and, in particular, the beautiful bowls of red-polished ware with
recurved rims are wanting except for some fragments.
A. THE STONE VESSELS IN CEM. N 500-900
As already pointed out above, Cem. N 500-900 presents two very different sets of types in the stone
vessels yielded by its graves. One of these, the earlier, represents the old traditional corpus of types
while the other is characterized by a set of new types which came in in Dyn. V.
1. The Earlier Group of Stone Vessels in Cem. 500-900, Dyn. II-IV
The following types occur:
Type I. Cylindrical jar, used for containing perfumes, resins, and similar materials; shown on early
reliefs with mouth covered with cloth or parchment, tied with string below rim and sealed
on top.