DOI article:
Reisner, George Andrew: The archaeological survey of Nubia
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.18104#0019
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Lower Egypt. These tribes may have drifted in gradually, beginning
in the Old Empire.*
It is to be hoped that some large well-preserved " pan-grave "
cemetery may be found in Egypt, carefully excavated and recorded,
and that the anatomical material may be delivered to Dr. Elliot Smith
for comparison with our Nubian skeletons.
Thus it appears to me uncertain how far the " pan-graves " can
be relied on for the dating of the Nubian graves. They point with
certainty to some period previous to the New Empire ; but their
number is too small, their connection with the Nubian graves too
vague, to justify dating the different groups of Nubian graves. The
Nubian material must be its own solution. In Nubia we have a clear
series of groups, early dynastic, B-group, and C-group, the contiguity
and chronological order of which is certain ; but the exact limits
of the B-group and the C-group are of a necessity not clear. The
great point is the lower limit of the C-group. That lower limit which
appeared at Shellal was previous to the New Empire, and this con-
clusion has been generally borne out by the C-group cemeteries found
further south, especially by Cemeteries 58, 69, 72 and, last of all, by
No. 87.
But it must be admitted that some of the C-group graves are
probably contemporaneous with the New Empire.
Cemetery 88 : Early Dynastic and B-group.—This was a small
denuded mound of mud containing a few early dynastic and B-group
graves which may be the north-western end of the destroyed cemetery
west of No. 87. As at Cemeteries 85 and 86, a small " sheikh " has
been built on the knoll, probably over an archaic grave.
Cemetery 89: Middle Predynastic to B-group, New Empire,
Ptolemaic to Byzantine.—Cemetery 89 covered three large mud mounds
separated by two small water channels into three parts. The whole
had been uniformly denuded, so that the upright stones blocking the
doorways of the mud-cut chambers protruded from the ground over
* It seems as if the beginning of the B-group in Nubia were marked by a decided decrease
in the material prosperity of the country, whether caused by some change in the Nile or some other
event of economical importance. If some such event took place, it would in all probability have
caused the migration of some tribes along the desert to Egypt.
**
Lower Egypt. These tribes may have drifted in gradually, beginning
in the Old Empire.*
It is to be hoped that some large well-preserved " pan-grave "
cemetery may be found in Egypt, carefully excavated and recorded,
and that the anatomical material may be delivered to Dr. Elliot Smith
for comparison with our Nubian skeletons.
Thus it appears to me uncertain how far the " pan-graves " can
be relied on for the dating of the Nubian graves. They point with
certainty to some period previous to the New Empire ; but their
number is too small, their connection with the Nubian graves too
vague, to justify dating the different groups of Nubian graves. The
Nubian material must be its own solution. In Nubia we have a clear
series of groups, early dynastic, B-group, and C-group, the contiguity
and chronological order of which is certain ; but the exact limits
of the B-group and the C-group are of a necessity not clear. The
great point is the lower limit of the C-group. That lower limit which
appeared at Shellal was previous to the New Empire, and this con-
clusion has been generally borne out by the C-group cemeteries found
further south, especially by Cemeteries 58, 69, 72 and, last of all, by
No. 87.
But it must be admitted that some of the C-group graves are
probably contemporaneous with the New Empire.
Cemetery 88 : Early Dynastic and B-group.—This was a small
denuded mound of mud containing a few early dynastic and B-group
graves which may be the north-western end of the destroyed cemetery
west of No. 87. As at Cemeteries 85 and 86, a small " sheikh " has
been built on the knoll, probably over an archaic grave.
Cemetery 89: Middle Predynastic to B-group, New Empire,
Ptolemaic to Byzantine.—Cemetery 89 covered three large mud mounds
separated by two small water channels into three parts. The whole
had been uniformly denuded, so that the upright stones blocking the
doorways of the mud-cut chambers protruded from the ground over
* It seems as if the beginning of the B-group in Nubia were marked by a decided decrease
in the material prosperity of the country, whether caused by some change in the Nile or some other
event of economical importance. If some such event took place, it would in all probability have
caused the migration of some tribes along the desert to Egypt.
**