DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4104#0025
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16
ABYDOS III.
when that entrance was so nicely hidden that a
plunderer would be sure to miss it and to attack
the building from the top. This is what
actually happened, and by a process of digging
and smashing, he very possibly landed first shot
—if the expression be permitted—upon the
treasure he was seeking.
26. To the north of S 10 and east of S 9,
there are three smaller tombs constructed upon
a uniform plan. The most westerly of the
three runs down from the surface as a sloping
passage or chamber of whitewashed brick,
3 ft. Avide and 10 ft. long. At the bottom a
limestone slab fixed into a brick doorway
originally blocked the way. This was the
entrance to a second chamber with a barrel-
shaped roof of whitewashed brick, which had, of
course, fallen in. The chamber was 4 ft. wide and
high enough in the centre for a person to stand
upright. It was 8 ft. long, and ended against
another limestone slab. Behind this was a
clean drop of a couple of feet into the burial
chamber, which had been originally roofed like
the second chamber. It was ] 0 ft. long, 4-i- ft.
wide, and about 8 ft. high, the walls white-
washed. Four slabs of limestone seem to have
encased the coffin, and there may have been a
fifth placed across them as a lid. One inlaid
eye from the coffin was the only fragment of
burial that remained.
The middle tomb contained four chambers.
The first sloped doAvn from the desert surface
for 7 ft., being about 4:[ ft. wide, and having
two small steps at the mouth. The second
chamber was the same width, and sloped for
8 ft., at the end of Avhich a doorway, barred
with limestone, led into a roofed chamber, 9
l't. long and 4^ ft. Avide. Through this a second
doorway opened on the sarcophagus, constructed
as before of loose limestone slabs, in Avhich a
feAV male bones Avere found. All the Avails of
the chambers AA^ere AvhiteAvashed. The last of
the three tombs had only three chambers. The
first Avas 3.\ ft. wide, and ran doAvn for 10 ft.
to the next division, 4 ft. Avide and 9 ft. long,
and roofed as before. Again a door blocked
with a limestone slab led to the burial, in a
room 10 ft. by 5tj>, roofed, and containing the
remains of a sarcophagus similar to those
described aboA'e.
These three tombs, it will be seen, contained
tAvo roofed chambers led doAvn to by others
unroofed. Bricks Avere heavily stacked above
the barrel roofs, and the Avhole Avas covered by
sand to the desert level. The unroofed chambers
Avere, after the funeral, filled Avith sand until
the building Avas hidden from sight. The
tombs Avere much destroyed by plunderers, and
the roofs had all fallen in, though sufficient
remained at the sides to sIioav Avhat shape they
had been.
At the extreme north of the cemetery there
is a small isolated tomb, S 16, built probably
at a later date than those already mentioned.
It is rectangular in form and consists of only
one chamber Avith a barrel-shaped roof, through
a hole in Avhich the tomb Avas originally entered.
The chamber is 9 ft. long, 3| Avide, and about
5 ft. hi<di, the floor beino- about 9 ft. from the
desert surface. Along the east side a semi-
preserved body of a Avornan lay upon its back,
Ayith the arms to the sides and the head toAvards
the north. The tomb had been disturbed by
plunderers, and the skull was found at a higher
level, ha\ring been removed, no doubt, in the
search for necklaces or neck-jeAvels. In the
north-Avest corner there Avas some undisturbed
pottery, consisting of four long jars, three dishes,
a few broken saucers, and a fine red polished
vase. Their shapes and their position in the
tomb are recorded in the plates.
At the south side of the cemetery there is a
group of four tombs, knoAvn as S 13, 14. They
each consist of a rectangular Avhitewashed brick
shaft, running down 9 ft. or so, filled with sand ;
but one has a second chamber Avith a barrel
roof, leading from the shaft by a brick door.
Practically nothing now remains of the burials.
some loose <
found; and ^
To the east of tl
eroof ^as bairei
^tll ending until a
"o, ^ whitewash
number of dr:
later
mber a ni ^
scratched in
of interest. Photog
B the plates. At the
affaits complete cl<
of it will be ap
of the most intere
ie cemetery is a large
■table niastaba, whicl
# entrance in the coi
W front wall and the ]
if, Here stands a la:
ft. from sidi
56 ft. in
ile walls are some
i the fourth Avail
Ml 10 or 12 ft. high
'% little short of thei
ill mastabas the walls
1 is to say, they lei
if continued to a fra
The outer surface
[Wi ^t the inner, 1
J% » quite rou^
l0fthesPace enclosed'
t *■ of brick r
Vas*g over the d
He! -«*
,:.f\b'H «d it
< °S* 10 ft.
s J **•*<«
'Scatter
x
T()M]
16
ABYDOS III.
when that entrance was so nicely hidden that a
plunderer would be sure to miss it and to attack
the building from the top. This is what
actually happened, and by a process of digging
and smashing, he very possibly landed first shot
—if the expression be permitted—upon the
treasure he was seeking.
26. To the north of S 10 and east of S 9,
there are three smaller tombs constructed upon
a uniform plan. The most westerly of the
three runs down from the surface as a sloping
passage or chamber of whitewashed brick,
3 ft. Avide and 10 ft. long. At the bottom a
limestone slab fixed into a brick doorway
originally blocked the way. This was the
entrance to a second chamber with a barrel-
shaped roof of whitewashed brick, which had, of
course, fallen in. The chamber was 4 ft. wide and
high enough in the centre for a person to stand
upright. It was 8 ft. long, and ended against
another limestone slab. Behind this was a
clean drop of a couple of feet into the burial
chamber, which had been originally roofed like
the second chamber. It was ] 0 ft. long, 4-i- ft.
wide, and about 8 ft. high, the walls white-
washed. Four slabs of limestone seem to have
encased the coffin, and there may have been a
fifth placed across them as a lid. One inlaid
eye from the coffin was the only fragment of
burial that remained.
The middle tomb contained four chambers.
The first sloped doAvn from the desert surface
for 7 ft., being about 4:[ ft. wide, and having
two small steps at the mouth. The second
chamber was the same width, and sloped for
8 ft., at the end of Avhich a doorway, barred
with limestone, led into a roofed chamber, 9
l't. long and 4^ ft. Avide. Through this a second
doorway opened on the sarcophagus, constructed
as before of loose limestone slabs, in Avhich a
feAV male bones Avere found. All the Avails of
the chambers AA^ere AvhiteAvashed. The last of
the three tombs had only three chambers. The
first Avas 3.\ ft. wide, and ran doAvn for 10 ft.
to the next division, 4 ft. Avide and 9 ft. long,
and roofed as before. Again a door blocked
with a limestone slab led to the burial, in a
room 10 ft. by 5tj>, roofed, and containing the
remains of a sarcophagus similar to those
described aboA'e.
These three tombs, it will be seen, contained
tAvo roofed chambers led doAvn to by others
unroofed. Bricks Avere heavily stacked above
the barrel roofs, and the Avhole Avas covered by
sand to the desert level. The unroofed chambers
Avere, after the funeral, filled Avith sand until
the building Avas hidden from sight. The
tombs Avere much destroyed by plunderers, and
the roofs had all fallen in, though sufficient
remained at the sides to sIioav Avhat shape they
had been.
At the extreme north of the cemetery there
is a small isolated tomb, S 16, built probably
at a later date than those already mentioned.
It is rectangular in form and consists of only
one chamber Avith a barrel-shaped roof, through
a hole in Avhich the tomb Avas originally entered.
The chamber is 9 ft. long, 3| Avide, and about
5 ft. hi<di, the floor beino- about 9 ft. from the
desert surface. Along the east side a semi-
preserved body of a Avornan lay upon its back,
Ayith the arms to the sides and the head toAvards
the north. The tomb had been disturbed by
plunderers, and the skull was found at a higher
level, ha\ring been removed, no doubt, in the
search for necklaces or neck-jeAvels. In the
north-Avest corner there Avas some undisturbed
pottery, consisting of four long jars, three dishes,
a few broken saucers, and a fine red polished
vase. Their shapes and their position in the
tomb are recorded in the plates.
At the south side of the cemetery there is a
group of four tombs, knoAvn as S 13, 14. They
each consist of a rectangular Avhitewashed brick
shaft, running down 9 ft. or so, filled with sand ;
but one has a second chamber Avith a barrel
roof, leading from the shaft by a brick door.
Practically nothing now remains of the burials.
some loose <
found; and ^
To the east of tl
eroof ^as bairei
^tll ending until a
"o, ^ whitewash
number of dr:
later
mber a ni ^
scratched in
of interest. Photog
B the plates. At the
affaits complete cl<
of it will be ap
of the most intere
ie cemetery is a large
■table niastaba, whicl
# entrance in the coi
W front wall and the ]
if, Here stands a la:
ft. from sidi
56 ft. in
ile walls are some
i the fourth Avail
Ml 10 or 12 ft. high
'% little short of thei
ill mastabas the walls
1 is to say, they lei
if continued to a fra
The outer surface
[Wi ^t the inner, 1
J% » quite rou^
l0fthesPace enclosed'
t *■ of brick r
Vas*g over the d
He! -«*
,:.f\b'H «d it
< °S* 10 ft.
s J **•*<«
'Scatter