DOI issue:
Sudan
DOI article:Żurawski, Bogdan: Cemeteries 1995
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.26390#0129
The sepulchres erected around the N-W corner of the
monastery seem to be contemporaneous or later with graves
unearthed in the southern part of the TWH cemetery. Their
tentative date, based upon architecture, building mode and two
radiocarbon datings, place them in the 9-11^ cent.
During the 1995 season, all three crypts beneath the
commemorative chapels (Graves Nos. 26, 27, 28) were reopened,
measured and drawn. Moreover, limited excavations were
conducted in the western parts of the crypts, leaving the bodies
untouched.
The "twin crypts below the portal" (cf. VI (1994)
pp. 88-89) were badly damaged by rainwater which flooded the
burial chambers. The enshrouded skeletons in the northern crypt
were found embedded in a thick stone-hard layer of mud washed
from the walls and cemented by water.
In the southern crypt, six enshrouded skeletons were buried.
The burials were accompanied by grave goods (water-jars, lamps
and some basketry). Five water jars (called <y?v//(3s) were deposited
within the burial chamber, in its western part, close to the heads of
the deceased (one extra jar was buried in the access shaft). Lamps
were fbund lying on the rims of the <??///<?& The last burial in the
crypt was deposited along the southern wall. Instead of the usual
coarse shroud the skeleton is wound in superb textiles. The outer
wrapping is not tied. The general appearance of this burial
resembles the Gebel Adda burials from Church No 4, dated to the
late 13^ century."
The crypts below the portal were built well before the chapel with
two hemicycles was raised. The bulk of A^ur-masonry in the S-W
corner of the sanctuary sits on the already existing vault of crypt
no.27. Significantly, each of the twin crypts below the portal was
associated with a separate altar located along the eastern wall of
Nicholas B.Millet, Gebel Adda Preliminary Report, 1965-66, 74ACE 6
(1967), p. 60.
127
monastery seem to be contemporaneous or later with graves
unearthed in the southern part of the TWH cemetery. Their
tentative date, based upon architecture, building mode and two
radiocarbon datings, place them in the 9-11^ cent.
During the 1995 season, all three crypts beneath the
commemorative chapels (Graves Nos. 26, 27, 28) were reopened,
measured and drawn. Moreover, limited excavations were
conducted in the western parts of the crypts, leaving the bodies
untouched.
The "twin crypts below the portal" (cf. VI (1994)
pp. 88-89) were badly damaged by rainwater which flooded the
burial chambers. The enshrouded skeletons in the northern crypt
were found embedded in a thick stone-hard layer of mud washed
from the walls and cemented by water.
In the southern crypt, six enshrouded skeletons were buried.
The burials were accompanied by grave goods (water-jars, lamps
and some basketry). Five water jars (called <y?v//(3s) were deposited
within the burial chamber, in its western part, close to the heads of
the deceased (one extra jar was buried in the access shaft). Lamps
were fbund lying on the rims of the <??///<?& The last burial in the
crypt was deposited along the southern wall. Instead of the usual
coarse shroud the skeleton is wound in superb textiles. The outer
wrapping is not tied. The general appearance of this burial
resembles the Gebel Adda burials from Church No 4, dated to the
late 13^ century."
The crypts below the portal were built well before the chapel with
two hemicycles was raised. The bulk of A^ur-masonry in the S-W
corner of the sanctuary sits on the already existing vault of crypt
no.27. Significantly, each of the twin crypts below the portal was
associated with a separate altar located along the eastern wall of
Nicholas B.Millet, Gebel Adda Preliminary Report, 1965-66, 74ACE 6
(1967), p. 60.
127