DOI article:
Firth, C. M.: Archaeologcal report
DOI Page / Citation link: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.18106#0007
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away by blown sand, on the side exposed to the weather, of the softer
wares.
The cemetery was dug in a bank of ancient alluvium (Nile mud)
in which the carbonized roots of trees occur. At the north end of
the cemetery the superstructures rest on the mud surface, but at the
south end (the earlier portion) they rest on a layer of hard blown
sand, from 20 to 50 centimetres thick, which had accumulated over
an Early Dynastic cemetery the existence of which seems to have
been forgotten between the Old and the Middle Kingdoms, since
the undisturbed covering slabs and pits of these earlier graves are
built over and enclosed by the superstructures of those of the
C-group period.
The clearing away of the sand in which the cemetery was buried
was carried out with the aid of the railway and trucks, the whole area
being divided for this purpose into six sections lying across the longer
axis of the cemetery. The removal of the sand occupied six weeks,
but in dealing with new material it is always desirable to have the
entire site cleared layer by layer down to the ancient level so that the
evidence from different portions may be compared and the sequence
of the burials or pottery types more easily demonstrated or established.
The " cut-and-cover" system of excavation must always involve a
loss of evidence since the site is never visible in its entirety. The very
saving of time and labour which the method affords, too, often
involves a hasty and disjointed record.
The later graves of the cemetery were at the north end and were
lined and roofed with mud-brick. The roofs were in the form of
circular or pointed vaults all of the leaning type, i.e., that in which the
weight of the roof is distributed between vaulting and the side walls
by making each brick-course of the former lean from 20° to 30° out of
the vertical. A wider span is thus obtained and the roof is able to
resist being crushed by the mass of earth and stones with which the
vault was finally concealed.
The circular stone superstructures covering and surrounding
these vaults were of considerable size and were designed as retaining
walls to the mound of earth covering the grave. In one case the
retaining wall is built of mud-brick.
The pottery offerings placed outside these later graves are enclosed
in neat chapels of mud-brick built against the east side of the super-
away by blown sand, on the side exposed to the weather, of the softer
wares.
The cemetery was dug in a bank of ancient alluvium (Nile mud)
in which the carbonized roots of trees occur. At the north end of
the cemetery the superstructures rest on the mud surface, but at the
south end (the earlier portion) they rest on a layer of hard blown
sand, from 20 to 50 centimetres thick, which had accumulated over
an Early Dynastic cemetery the existence of which seems to have
been forgotten between the Old and the Middle Kingdoms, since
the undisturbed covering slabs and pits of these earlier graves are
built over and enclosed by the superstructures of those of the
C-group period.
The clearing away of the sand in which the cemetery was buried
was carried out with the aid of the railway and trucks, the whole area
being divided for this purpose into six sections lying across the longer
axis of the cemetery. The removal of the sand occupied six weeks,
but in dealing with new material it is always desirable to have the
entire site cleared layer by layer down to the ancient level so that the
evidence from different portions may be compared and the sequence
of the burials or pottery types more easily demonstrated or established.
The " cut-and-cover" system of excavation must always involve a
loss of evidence since the site is never visible in its entirety. The very
saving of time and labour which the method affords, too, often
involves a hasty and disjointed record.
The later graves of the cemetery were at the north end and were
lined and roofed with mud-brick. The roofs were in the form of
circular or pointed vaults all of the leaning type, i.e., that in which the
weight of the roof is distributed between vaulting and the side walls
by making each brick-course of the former lean from 20° to 30° out of
the vertical. A wider span is thus obtained and the roof is able to
resist being crushed by the mass of earth and stones with which the
vault was finally concealed.
The circular stone superstructures covering and surrounding
these vaults were of considerable size and were designed as retaining
walls to the mound of earth covering the grave. In one case the
retaining wall is built of mud-brick.
The pottery offerings placed outside these later graves are enclosed
in neat chapels of mud-brick built against the east side of the super-