DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4221#0013
KOYAL TOMBS OF THE 1st DYNASTY.
heaps of Mersekha on the left, the great banks
of pottery of the Osiris shrine in the middle,
and the heaps over Perabsen on the right.
Lastly, advancing a short way further, we
reach the first of the great mounds of pottery
offerings (marked <t> 4 on plan), and stand on it,
as in fig. 4, looking on to the side of the great
tomb of King Zer, which was later adopted for
a cenotaph of Osiris. Such is the approach to
this strange site, which, from the vast quantities
of pottery here, has been called by the Arabs
Um el-Qa'ab, " the mother of pots."
The situation is wild and silent; close round
it the hills rise high on two sides, a ravine
running up into the plateau from the corner
where the lines meet. Far away, and below us,
stretches the long green valley of the Nile,
beyond which for dozens of miles the eastern
cliffs recede far into the dim distance.
4. Looking at the group of tombs, as shown
on pi. iii. and pi. lix., it is seen that they lie
closely together. Each royal tomb is a large
square pit, lined with brickwork. Close around
it, on its own level, or higher up, are small
chambers in rows, in which were buried the
domestics of the king. Each reign adopted
some variety in the mode of burial, but they all
follow the type of the prehistoric burials, more or
less developed. The plain square pit, like those
in which the predynastic people were buried, is
here the essential of the tomb. It is surrounded
in the earlier examples of Zer or Zet by small
chambers opening from it. By Merneit these
chambers were built separately around it. By
Den an entrance passage was added, and by Q.a
the entrance was turned to the north. At this
stage Ave are left within reach of the early
passage-mastabas and pyramids. Substituting
a stone lining and roof for bricks and wood, and
placing the small tombs of domestics further
away, Ave reach the type of the mastaba-pyramid
of Seneferu, and so lead on to the pyramid
series of the Old Kingdom.
The plan pi. lix. is left intentionally in out-
line as the survey is not completed, and until
Ave have accurate plans of the tombs that I have
not yet opened, it is impossible to finish it
uniformly. It might be supposed that the
plans already published Avould suffice, and that
I might incorporate those. But the uncertainties
Avhich surround them are so great that it is
impossible to rely on them. M. Jequier, in
the Recherches sur les Origines de VEgyjpte, ii.,
on p. 232 has given a plan called the " tombeau
du roi Ka," but the form is that of the central
chamber of Mersekha, and the scale sIioavs it to
be 328 inches long, Avhile that of Qa is 428, and
that of Mersekha 523 inches ; its proportion of
length to breadth is as 1 : 2'28, that of Qa is
1 : 1*90, and that of Mersekha 1 : 1*80; it has
no entrance, and both Qa and Mersekha have
Avide doorAvays. Thus neither in size, pro-
portion, nor detail can it be folloAved. Turning
to the next plan, on p. 233, called " tombeau
du roi Den^ the length by the scale is 277
inches, A\Tiereas the tomb is really about 652
inches ; the other details I cannot check until I
clear it. The next plan, " tombeau du roi
Dja" or Zet, is apparently intended for it, but
the chambers differ from the truth in number,
size, and form ; the size by the scale is 355 X 421)
inches, really 369x470 inches : and I have not
yet found any trace of the passage around the
tomb, Avhich seems to be an entire miscon-
ception. The next plan, that of the " tombeau
du roi Ti" (p. 242) — or as he should be called,
Khasekhemui—is by scale 2008 inches long, by
measure of the breadth 2810 long, and is stated
in the text to be 83 metres or 3260 inches long :
probably the text is corrupt and should read 53.
The details of the tomb I cannot ATerify until
it is cleared. Turning now to M. Amelineau's
plans (" Nouvelles Eouilles, 1897-8"), the
"tombeau d'Osiris," that is of King Zer,1 is
1 For this reading Zer (the bundle of reeds) I am
indebted to Mr. Quibell's study of the searings from here.
M. Amelineau reads this sign, however, as khent (the
group of vases), and always calls this tomb that of Osiris.
fch
>e*or!t
*. ,he shortest is
«t verified
Ji„atbe**is'
'■fill'1 J. 1 .
Vh-200 stated,
i°^^ticed'\Ut
It will thus be
,e fresh plans
Mttenceofthetoml
^ As will be seen
fc fog whose h nam<
fo.Uti Setm,
fa correctly siigges
in the table of Aby
the Dynasty. F
pi. xxvi..
A(
it Azab is also knoA
s King Merbap, the
i Further, by the s
'L the king with
pisle seventh of the D
le much like a
iiSemempses by Manet
reai Sem-en-ptah is vc
^original form of tin
'^onthe tablet pi. x-
*ty to be a folio-
riestofPtah."
ltsolllte identified
''fee m the lisfc
ral Proofs of relati
^founda]
«i vase <
******
^ Of AZ;
ia
,fr
*Si
l'0111 the *
'estore tl
heaps of Mersekha on the left, the great banks
of pottery of the Osiris shrine in the middle,
and the heaps over Perabsen on the right.
Lastly, advancing a short way further, we
reach the first of the great mounds of pottery
offerings (marked <t> 4 on plan), and stand on it,
as in fig. 4, looking on to the side of the great
tomb of King Zer, which was later adopted for
a cenotaph of Osiris. Such is the approach to
this strange site, which, from the vast quantities
of pottery here, has been called by the Arabs
Um el-Qa'ab, " the mother of pots."
The situation is wild and silent; close round
it the hills rise high on two sides, a ravine
running up into the plateau from the corner
where the lines meet. Far away, and below us,
stretches the long green valley of the Nile,
beyond which for dozens of miles the eastern
cliffs recede far into the dim distance.
4. Looking at the group of tombs, as shown
on pi. iii. and pi. lix., it is seen that they lie
closely together. Each royal tomb is a large
square pit, lined with brickwork. Close around
it, on its own level, or higher up, are small
chambers in rows, in which were buried the
domestics of the king. Each reign adopted
some variety in the mode of burial, but they all
follow the type of the prehistoric burials, more or
less developed. The plain square pit, like those
in which the predynastic people were buried, is
here the essential of the tomb. It is surrounded
in the earlier examples of Zer or Zet by small
chambers opening from it. By Merneit these
chambers were built separately around it. By
Den an entrance passage was added, and by Q.a
the entrance was turned to the north. At this
stage Ave are left within reach of the early
passage-mastabas and pyramids. Substituting
a stone lining and roof for bricks and wood, and
placing the small tombs of domestics further
away, Ave reach the type of the mastaba-pyramid
of Seneferu, and so lead on to the pyramid
series of the Old Kingdom.
The plan pi. lix. is left intentionally in out-
line as the survey is not completed, and until
Ave have accurate plans of the tombs that I have
not yet opened, it is impossible to finish it
uniformly. It might be supposed that the
plans already published Avould suffice, and that
I might incorporate those. But the uncertainties
Avhich surround them are so great that it is
impossible to rely on them. M. Jequier, in
the Recherches sur les Origines de VEgyjpte, ii.,
on p. 232 has given a plan called the " tombeau
du roi Ka," but the form is that of the central
chamber of Mersekha, and the scale sIioavs it to
be 328 inches long, Avhile that of Qa is 428, and
that of Mersekha 523 inches ; its proportion of
length to breadth is as 1 : 2'28, that of Qa is
1 : 1*90, and that of Mersekha 1 : 1*80; it has
no entrance, and both Qa and Mersekha have
Avide doorAvays. Thus neither in size, pro-
portion, nor detail can it be folloAved. Turning
to the next plan, on p. 233, called " tombeau
du roi Den^ the length by the scale is 277
inches, A\Tiereas the tomb is really about 652
inches ; the other details I cannot check until I
clear it. The next plan, " tombeau du roi
Dja" or Zet, is apparently intended for it, but
the chambers differ from the truth in number,
size, and form ; the size by the scale is 355 X 421)
inches, really 369x470 inches : and I have not
yet found any trace of the passage around the
tomb, Avhich seems to be an entire miscon-
ception. The next plan, that of the " tombeau
du roi Ti" (p. 242) — or as he should be called,
Khasekhemui—is by scale 2008 inches long, by
measure of the breadth 2810 long, and is stated
in the text to be 83 metres or 3260 inches long :
probably the text is corrupt and should read 53.
The details of the tomb I cannot ATerify until
it is cleared. Turning now to M. Amelineau's
plans (" Nouvelles Eouilles, 1897-8"), the
"tombeau d'Osiris," that is of King Zer,1 is
1 For this reading Zer (the bundle of reeds) I am
indebted to Mr. Quibell's study of the searings from here.
M. Amelineau reads this sign, however, as khent (the
group of vases), and always calls this tomb that of Osiris.
fch
>e*or!t
*. ,he shortest is
«t verified
Ji„atbe**is'
'■fill'1 J. 1 .
Vh-200 stated,
i°^^ticed'\Ut
It will thus be
,e fresh plans
Mttenceofthetoml
^ As will be seen
fc fog whose h nam<
fo.Uti Setm,
fa correctly siigges
in the table of Aby
the Dynasty. F
pi. xxvi..
A(
it Azab is also knoA
s King Merbap, the
i Further, by the s
'L the king with
pisle seventh of the D
le much like a
iiSemempses by Manet
reai Sem-en-ptah is vc
^original form of tin
'^onthe tablet pi. x-
*ty to be a folio-
riestofPtah."
ltsolllte identified
''fee m the lisfc
ral Proofs of relati
^founda]
«i vase <
******
^ Of AZ;
ia
,fr
*Si
l'0111 the *
'estore tl