DOI Artikel:
Firth, C. M.: The archaeological survey of Nubia
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.18107#0005
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people, and even the appearance of the villages, insensibly but surely
change. Once the broad fields of Dakka and Qurta are left behind, '
the cultivation narrows to a strip, or disappears ; the hills rise higher,
and the sand dunes dip more abruptly to the water's edge. On the
east bank, the high mounds of ancient river alluvium, in which, for the
most part, the cemeteries are dug, are full of holes and pits which have
very often been only recently dugout by sebbakhin, and which have not
had time to get refilled with blown sand or earth. No doubt the fact
that objects were found in these graves attracted the notice of the
antiquity dealers of Luxor, whose names are quite well known to the
villagers. These dealers must have met with some local opposition in
their search for antiquities, for one man had provided himself with a
permit, the authenticity of which was considered doubtful even by my
informants. When it is considered that the collection of sebahh is the
work of the smaller boys, it is not surprising that the easily-worked
soft grave-fillings have been dug out, and the burial and its accompanying
objects scattered or stolen. The wonder is that so much remains, but
in nearly every case, careful observation reveals some reason for aban-
doning the place as a sebahh quarry. On the west bank, where a layer
of sand conceals the burials, only those graves which possessed noticeable
superstructures have been systematically plundered. The filling of the
pits has been removed in baskets, and is never found at the edge of the
grave, as is the case when the latter has been cleared primarily to obtain
the objects buried with the dead.
The distribution of the ancient cemeteries very clearly indicates
what has been the history of the country, and what has been the dis-
tribution of population at each place and period. The archaic cemeteries
continue, but with one possible and notable exception they indicate that
at the close of the Predynastic period, and during the first two dynasties,
the Egyptian influence grows less as the distance south increases. The
exception is Cemetery 137, where objects of the finest art of the latest
Prehistoric period were found in association, it is true, with pottery of
non-Egyptian types, but in a quantity and manner of occurrence which
docs not admit of the possibility that the graves containing them are
other than those of the people who lived close by. The objects found
with these burials will be described at greater length in dealing with
the cemetery in its proper place.
people, and even the appearance of the villages, insensibly but surely
change. Once the broad fields of Dakka and Qurta are left behind, '
the cultivation narrows to a strip, or disappears ; the hills rise higher,
and the sand dunes dip more abruptly to the water's edge. On the
east bank, the high mounds of ancient river alluvium, in which, for the
most part, the cemeteries are dug, are full of holes and pits which have
very often been only recently dugout by sebbakhin, and which have not
had time to get refilled with blown sand or earth. No doubt the fact
that objects were found in these graves attracted the notice of the
antiquity dealers of Luxor, whose names are quite well known to the
villagers. These dealers must have met with some local opposition in
their search for antiquities, for one man had provided himself with a
permit, the authenticity of which was considered doubtful even by my
informants. When it is considered that the collection of sebahh is the
work of the smaller boys, it is not surprising that the easily-worked
soft grave-fillings have been dug out, and the burial and its accompanying
objects scattered or stolen. The wonder is that so much remains, but
in nearly every case, careful observation reveals some reason for aban-
doning the place as a sebahh quarry. On the west bank, where a layer
of sand conceals the burials, only those graves which possessed noticeable
superstructures have been systematically plundered. The filling of the
pits has been removed in baskets, and is never found at the edge of the
grave, as is the case when the latter has been cleared primarily to obtain
the objects buried with the dead.
The distribution of the ancient cemeteries very clearly indicates
what has been the history of the country, and what has been the dis-
tribution of population at each place and period. The archaic cemeteries
continue, but with one possible and notable exception they indicate that
at the close of the Predynastic period, and during the first two dynasties,
the Egyptian influence grows less as the distance south increases. The
exception is Cemetery 137, where objects of the finest art of the latest
Prehistoric period were found in association, it is true, with pottery of
non-Egyptian types, but in a quantity and manner of occurrence which
docs not admit of the possibility that the graves containing them are
other than those of the people who lived close by. The objects found
with these burials will be described at greater length in dealing with
the cemetery in its proper place.