Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean (14.2002(2003))

WEST SAQQARA

EGYPT

The structure of archaeological strata in
this area varies. In the western end, i.e., in
square 1716, a layer of compact dakka
(mixture of flint, rubble and crystallized
sand) underlies a thin layer of sand, which
also fills some deeper cavities. These
cavities lead either to superstructures of
Old Kingdom shafts or to depressions
where Ptolemaic Period (?) burials are to
be found. Some of the late burials were
made in the upper parts of shafts adapted
for this purpose in various ways; for
example, a pit for a simple wooden coffin
had been hewn between two shafts (nos. 56
and 58). The upper part of each shaft is
built of irregular stones and mud brick
bonded in mud mortar. These poor
structures have no outer face as a rule,
being embedded in the dakka. The only
feature to preserve a mud coating (2-3 cm
thick) on the outside of the wall is
a structure situated south of shaft 54,
which is the largest and the best preserved
of the shafts sunk into the dakka layer.
By contrast, the stratum featured in
squares 1715 and 1714 in the eastern part
of the area explored this season is a thick
layer of pure sand accumulated in front of
a rocky facade. It has been explored to
a depth of c. 5 m without reaching the
bottom. The sand stratum contains an
exceptionally dense agglomeration of late
(probably mainly Ptolemaic) burials
(Fig. 3). Together with the burials found in
the western sector of the site, the total
amounts to 136, which constitutes more
than one-third of all the burials (353)
registered by the mission to date (from
1987). Included in this number are the
remains of three bodies dating doubtless
from the Old Kingdom (nos. 337, 342a
and b), found inside rock-hewn funerary
chapels 13 and 14 (see below), as well as
two unusual burials of uncertain date (nos.
348 and 351, see below).Why this spot

enjoyed such immense popularity in the
Ptolemaic Period will have to remain an
open question for now.
Many of the skeletons, mummies and
coffins followed an east-west orientation
with the head to the west (Fig. 4). This
arrangement was not the rule, however,
given that many undisturbed burials from
the same context represented a north-south
orientation with the head mainly to the
south. The skeletons in a considerable
number of the burials from the top of the
sand layer are poorly preserved, unlike the
bodies found lying in the lower layer. The
upper layer remains have obviously been
disturbed by those seeking, ineffectually,
to penetrate into the deeper strata.


Fig. 3- Upper stratum of the Late Necropolis
in square 1713, viewed from the east
(Photo M. Jawornicki)

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