DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.50107#0187
THE CHRONOLOGY OF CEM. N 500-900 167
Farther ‘west’ on map ii there are three or four other ‘N-S’ graves of type vi d with chambers on
the ‘south’, but always the direction is determined by some condition of the surrounding ground. See
also N 845 and N 847 in iii E 3.
To sum up the conclusions in regard to vi c and vi d, the variation in the orientation of the
pit is usually determined by the slope of the ground. The ridges run normally ‘E-W’ so that the
sides slope ‘N’ or ‘S’, and the normal orientation of the pit is therefore ‘N-S’. Where a water-
channel or a knoll gives a slope differing from the normal the pit runs up and down the slope,
varying in direction from ‘SW-NE’ through ‘E-W’ to ‘NW-SE’. The burial chamber adjoined the
pit under the high part of the slope and thus falls at the ‘N’, ‘S’, ‘E’, ‘W’, ‘NE’, or ‘SE’ end of the
pit. The burial is normally orientated ‘N’ (primary orientation) or ‘W’ (secondary orientation), but
the desire to place the head in the end away from the pit gives a few exceptional examples of head
‘E’ or‘S’.
The long open pits, type vi a, follow the orientation of the graves of type vi c and d of the row in
which they are situated. Of the 33 listed examples on pp. 24-25, 27 follow the normal ‘N-S’ orienta-
tion, 1 ‘NE-SW’ orientation, and 5 the ‘E-W’ orientation. Of the ‘E-W’ graves, N 849 is in a
row of ‘E-W’ graves of type vi c-d and the others run along the slope. N 600, N 640 b, N 939,
and N 940:
Grave
Grave
Burial
No.
Type
Map
position
Dated to Dyn. V-VI by
N 600
vi a
iii D 3
no body, wb, ‘E-W’
alabaster vessels; mirror
N 640 b
vi a
iii E 4
hcsk, ‘W’
later than N 640 a
N 757
vi a
iii D 1
hcsk, wb, ‘E’
by tomb type only
N 939
vi a
iii C 1
no body, ‘E-W’
tomb type only
N 940
vi a
iii C 1
no body, ‘E-W’
tomb type only
There remains the irregularly placed grave N 775:
N 775 vi a iii D 3 hcsk, ‘NE’, r. (hunchback) tomb type only
The result is that a small proportion of type vi a (5 graves) are set ‘E-W’, one head ‘W’, and one ‘E’,
and the grave of a hunchback has the head ‘NE’.
The graves with side chamber (vi b), seventeen in number (see p. 25), are with two exceptions
set ‘N-S’, the normal orientation, and the heads of thirteen bodies, all that are preserved, lie to the ‘N’.
The two exceptions are N 702 and N 709 which both have the ‘E-W’ orientation. N 702, which has been
mentioned above, is on the slope of a small knoll in iii B 2-3. N 709 is in a group of graves mainly of
type vi b in map iii BC 2. In both cases it was probably some slight trend of the ground which altered
the direction of the grave from the normal.
Thus it may be said that all the sub-types vi a-d conform to the same general rules in regard to the
orientation. The normal orientation is ‘N-S’ with the head of body ‘N’ but the trend of the ground
caused a certain minor proportion of the graves to be orientated ‘E-W’ with the head usually ‘W’ but
sometimes ‘E’.
This brings us to the final sub-type vi e, which may be so easily confused with iv c and v f. The
pit is short and the body is usually tightly contracted as in the older burials, or leg-contracted as in
many of the burials of type vi a-d. First of all, those which fall in map iii BC 1-2, ten in number,
contain no objects nor any burial. Grouped at the ‘NE’ extremity of the cemetery, among graves
Farther ‘west’ on map ii there are three or four other ‘N-S’ graves of type vi d with chambers on
the ‘south’, but always the direction is determined by some condition of the surrounding ground. See
also N 845 and N 847 in iii E 3.
To sum up the conclusions in regard to vi c and vi d, the variation in the orientation of the
pit is usually determined by the slope of the ground. The ridges run normally ‘E-W’ so that the
sides slope ‘N’ or ‘S’, and the normal orientation of the pit is therefore ‘N-S’. Where a water-
channel or a knoll gives a slope differing from the normal the pit runs up and down the slope,
varying in direction from ‘SW-NE’ through ‘E-W’ to ‘NW-SE’. The burial chamber adjoined the
pit under the high part of the slope and thus falls at the ‘N’, ‘S’, ‘E’, ‘W’, ‘NE’, or ‘SE’ end of the
pit. The burial is normally orientated ‘N’ (primary orientation) or ‘W’ (secondary orientation), but
the desire to place the head in the end away from the pit gives a few exceptional examples of head
‘E’ or‘S’.
The long open pits, type vi a, follow the orientation of the graves of type vi c and d of the row in
which they are situated. Of the 33 listed examples on pp. 24-25, 27 follow the normal ‘N-S’ orienta-
tion, 1 ‘NE-SW’ orientation, and 5 the ‘E-W’ orientation. Of the ‘E-W’ graves, N 849 is in a
row of ‘E-W’ graves of type vi c-d and the others run along the slope. N 600, N 640 b, N 939,
and N 940:
Grave
Grave
Burial
No.
Type
Map
position
Dated to Dyn. V-VI by
N 600
vi a
iii D 3
no body, wb, ‘E-W’
alabaster vessels; mirror
N 640 b
vi a
iii E 4
hcsk, ‘W’
later than N 640 a
N 757
vi a
iii D 1
hcsk, wb, ‘E’
by tomb type only
N 939
vi a
iii C 1
no body, ‘E-W’
tomb type only
N 940
vi a
iii C 1
no body, ‘E-W’
tomb type only
There remains the irregularly placed grave N 775:
N 775 vi a iii D 3 hcsk, ‘NE’, r. (hunchback) tomb type only
The result is that a small proportion of type vi a (5 graves) are set ‘E-W’, one head ‘W’, and one ‘E’,
and the grave of a hunchback has the head ‘NE’.
The graves with side chamber (vi b), seventeen in number (see p. 25), are with two exceptions
set ‘N-S’, the normal orientation, and the heads of thirteen bodies, all that are preserved, lie to the ‘N’.
The two exceptions are N 702 and N 709 which both have the ‘E-W’ orientation. N 702, which has been
mentioned above, is on the slope of a small knoll in iii B 2-3. N 709 is in a group of graves mainly of
type vi b in map iii BC 2. In both cases it was probably some slight trend of the ground which altered
the direction of the grave from the normal.
Thus it may be said that all the sub-types vi a-d conform to the same general rules in regard to the
orientation. The normal orientation is ‘N-S’ with the head of body ‘N’ but the trend of the ground
caused a certain minor proportion of the graves to be orientated ‘E-W’ with the head usually ‘W’ but
sometimes ‘E’.
This brings us to the final sub-type vi e, which may be so easily confused with iv c and v f. The
pit is short and the body is usually tightly contracted as in the older burials, or leg-contracted as in
many of the burials of type vi a-d. First of all, those which fall in map iii BC 1-2, ten in number,
contain no objects nor any burial. Grouped at the ‘NE’ extremity of the cemetery, among graves