DOI Heft:
Sudan
DOI Artikel:Lemiesz, Marek: Hagar el-Beida 1 excavations of a late/post-meroitic cemetery
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.42091#0377
FOURTH CATARACT - HAGAR EL-BEIDA
SUDAN
necklaces were found in huge quantity and
variety, but they are hardly diagnostic for
burial chronology.
The pottery [Fig. 2} is varied as well
(establishing an internal site fabric typology
will be a research priority for an upcoming
season). Huge jars (including so-called beer-
jars), some with textile imprints or incised
ornaments, can be recognized as typical
alternatively of Post-Meroitic or Late
Meroitic contexts. A handmade globular
pot with incised herring-bone decoration
(HB1/T9/I) has been classified by Adams as
post-Meroitic domestic ware,9 but this same
burial contained also an orange-ware wheel-
made jar HB1/T9/G, which is attributed
to the well-defined group of Meroitic wares
known from the Gabati cemetery.10 On
the whole, however, the ceramic material
seems to be connected preferably with the
terminal Meroitic period.
A ramp with vertical shaft and
perpendicular side chamber, such as in
HB1-T5, was popular in central Sudan in
both the Late and Post-Meroitic periods.11
In the Fourth Cataract region, these features
(described as "compound burials" at Ab
Heregil) have been regarded as more typical
of Late Meroitic cemeteries.12 On the other
hand, for substructure type II (rectangular,
vertically cut shaft) a close analogy is found
among published burials from Kassinger
Bahri13 and el-Haraz.14
The human remains from the hitherto
explored graves of the HB1 cemetery were
preserved in extremely poor condition,
especially compared to the state of burials
found in contemporary cemeteries in the
vicinity (Hagar el-Beida 2 and Es-Sadda 1).
The apparent long-lasting waterlogging of
the chambers was responsible for a complete
disintegration of the bones. Crushed
fragments were scattered on the chamber
floors and only in tomb HB1-T6 was a part
of a thorax preserved in what looked to be
an anatomical arrangement.
9 W.Y. Adams, "Ceramic Industries of Medieval Nubia" (Lexington 1986), 47-50, 411-423, Fig. 247.5
10 Gabati. A Meroitic, Post-Meroitic and Medieval Cemetery in Central Sudan, vol. 1, ed. D.N. Edwards (London 1998),
146, Fig. 6.18
11 P. Lenoble, "Trois tombes de la region de Meroe", Archeologie du Nil Moyen 2 (1987), 111-115; Gabati, op. cit., 15-52,
Figs 2.3-10
12 El-Tayeb, Kolosowska, op. cit., 65-66, Fig. 24.
13 H. Paner, "The Flamdab Dam Project. Preliminary report of results from work in the Fourth Cataract region, 1996-
1997", GAMAR 1 (1998), 126-129, Figs 17, 21-22
14 A.M. Abdel Rahman, H. Kabashy, "Two seasons in the Fourth Cataract Region. Preliminary results", Sudan & Nubia 3
(1999), 65-66, Fig. 10
373
SUDAN
necklaces were found in huge quantity and
variety, but they are hardly diagnostic for
burial chronology.
The pottery [Fig. 2} is varied as well
(establishing an internal site fabric typology
will be a research priority for an upcoming
season). Huge jars (including so-called beer-
jars), some with textile imprints or incised
ornaments, can be recognized as typical
alternatively of Post-Meroitic or Late
Meroitic contexts. A handmade globular
pot with incised herring-bone decoration
(HB1/T9/I) has been classified by Adams as
post-Meroitic domestic ware,9 but this same
burial contained also an orange-ware wheel-
made jar HB1/T9/G, which is attributed
to the well-defined group of Meroitic wares
known from the Gabati cemetery.10 On
the whole, however, the ceramic material
seems to be connected preferably with the
terminal Meroitic period.
A ramp with vertical shaft and
perpendicular side chamber, such as in
HB1-T5, was popular in central Sudan in
both the Late and Post-Meroitic periods.11
In the Fourth Cataract region, these features
(described as "compound burials" at Ab
Heregil) have been regarded as more typical
of Late Meroitic cemeteries.12 On the other
hand, for substructure type II (rectangular,
vertically cut shaft) a close analogy is found
among published burials from Kassinger
Bahri13 and el-Haraz.14
The human remains from the hitherto
explored graves of the HB1 cemetery were
preserved in extremely poor condition,
especially compared to the state of burials
found in contemporary cemeteries in the
vicinity (Hagar el-Beida 2 and Es-Sadda 1).
The apparent long-lasting waterlogging of
the chambers was responsible for a complete
disintegration of the bones. Crushed
fragments were scattered on the chamber
floors and only in tomb HB1-T6 was a part
of a thorax preserved in what looked to be
an anatomical arrangement.
9 W.Y. Adams, "Ceramic Industries of Medieval Nubia" (Lexington 1986), 47-50, 411-423, Fig. 247.5
10 Gabati. A Meroitic, Post-Meroitic and Medieval Cemetery in Central Sudan, vol. 1, ed. D.N. Edwards (London 1998),
146, Fig. 6.18
11 P. Lenoble, "Trois tombes de la region de Meroe", Archeologie du Nil Moyen 2 (1987), 111-115; Gabati, op. cit., 15-52,
Figs 2.3-10
12 El-Tayeb, Kolosowska, op. cit., 65-66, Fig. 24.
13 H. Paner, "The Flamdab Dam Project. Preliminary report of results from work in the Fourth Cataract region, 1996-
1997", GAMAR 1 (1998), 126-129, Figs 17, 21-22
14 A.M. Abdel Rahman, H. Kabashy, "Two seasons in the Fourth Cataract Region. Preliminary results", Sudan & Nubia 3
(1999), 65-66, Fig. 10
373