DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.18130#0047
THE CEMETERIES OF
work, 8 ft. by 3 ft., and about 6 ft. deep. At
about 4 ft. from the surface the sides were
hollowed out to receive the mummies. This
form of tomb is common in the Vlth Dynasty.
Unfortunately, all had been re-used at least
once. All had been rifled by the time of the
XVIIIth Dynasty, re-used during this period,
rifled again, and most of them re-used during
Roman times. The Roman burial was often
carelessly made on top of the broken coffins of
the XVIIIth Dynasty.
The other type was the regular XVIIIth
Dynasty tomb. The axes were east and west,
with the tomb chamber at either end of the pit,
but in these there was only one chamber. In
none of them was the floor of the pit level; it
always sloped in rough steps down to the tomb-
chamber.
In two cases the pit, instead of being of the
usual form, 7 ft. by 3 ft. 6 in., was square,
3 ft. G in. by 3 ft. 6 in. Large pieces of shale
had fallen from the roof, and completely broken
up the burials. Each tomb contained more
than one burial, but as the water reached to the
chambers most of the bones had decayed.
As will be seen from plates xxxvi—viii, the
pottery showed little variation. The majority
of the vases are of the coarse red clay, without
any ornament. The few painted examples had
either lines running around the pot or a simple
geometric design. A few were of a light
yellow clay, ornamented with black stripes
(pi. xxxix, 7). There were a few pots of the so-
called Phoenician type (pi. xxxix, 35, 36), but
most of these were in such bad condition that
only the necks remained.
Nearly fourteen square miles of ground were
searched, but no cemetery was found. This
covered the area that would seem to be the
probable distance to which bodies would be
carried. If the bodies were brought by water,
the cemetery may be under the village of Sed-
ment, or they may have been taken even to
G-urob, though the latter is not probable.
SEDMENT AND GUROB. 33
Tombs at Gurob.
48. A little north of the Gurob dyke a
wady runs westward towards the high hills
that divide this district from the Fayum. In
its bed the first unopened tombs were found.
Our best tomb hunter noticed that in one
place the rock was softer than the regular lime-
stone, and forcing with difficulty a hole into this
slightly softer mass, he found sand below. Fif-
teen to thirty inches of gypsum encrustation
had formed over the tops of these tombs ; yet
there was not one that had not been plundered
later than Ramesside times. All had been re-
used by the Ramesside peoples, and again
plundered. Of the early burials practically
nothing remained.
49. The Ramesside coffins were of pottery.
The form in all cases was the same, round
and tapering towards the feet. This coffin has
the appearance of being made on the wheel in
one piece, with only a half-inch hole left at the
top. When partly dry a cutting is started,
as if to divide the coffin in two, down the long
axis. This goes down for two feet, where
another cut meets it at right angles, and the
piece thus taken off forms the lid. With the
lid off this gives an appearance of a huge
slipper. Many of the coffins are decorated with
drawings of the genii of the dead and other
religious designs, but the majority had only a
head modelled in low relief on the lid. The
pottery was good, well baked, and with a hard
surface.
These had been rifled, and with such care
that nothing of any value had been overlooked.
A few poor pots, a broken glazed-ware croco-
dile, and a piece of pumice-stone, were the only
thing's that remained with the broken coffins.
As quantities of pumice-stone are washed up on
the shores of Crete, this may well have been
washed across the Mediterranean, or may have
been imported. In Roman times pumice-stone
was much used in the leather trade, and so it
may well have been in use earlier.
D
work, 8 ft. by 3 ft., and about 6 ft. deep. At
about 4 ft. from the surface the sides were
hollowed out to receive the mummies. This
form of tomb is common in the Vlth Dynasty.
Unfortunately, all had been re-used at least
once. All had been rifled by the time of the
XVIIIth Dynasty, re-used during this period,
rifled again, and most of them re-used during
Roman times. The Roman burial was often
carelessly made on top of the broken coffins of
the XVIIIth Dynasty.
The other type was the regular XVIIIth
Dynasty tomb. The axes were east and west,
with the tomb chamber at either end of the pit,
but in these there was only one chamber. In
none of them was the floor of the pit level; it
always sloped in rough steps down to the tomb-
chamber.
In two cases the pit, instead of being of the
usual form, 7 ft. by 3 ft. 6 in., was square,
3 ft. G in. by 3 ft. 6 in. Large pieces of shale
had fallen from the roof, and completely broken
up the burials. Each tomb contained more
than one burial, but as the water reached to the
chambers most of the bones had decayed.
As will be seen from plates xxxvi—viii, the
pottery showed little variation. The majority
of the vases are of the coarse red clay, without
any ornament. The few painted examples had
either lines running around the pot or a simple
geometric design. A few were of a light
yellow clay, ornamented with black stripes
(pi. xxxix, 7). There were a few pots of the so-
called Phoenician type (pi. xxxix, 35, 36), but
most of these were in such bad condition that
only the necks remained.
Nearly fourteen square miles of ground were
searched, but no cemetery was found. This
covered the area that would seem to be the
probable distance to which bodies would be
carried. If the bodies were brought by water,
the cemetery may be under the village of Sed-
ment, or they may have been taken even to
G-urob, though the latter is not probable.
SEDMENT AND GUROB. 33
Tombs at Gurob.
48. A little north of the Gurob dyke a
wady runs westward towards the high hills
that divide this district from the Fayum. In
its bed the first unopened tombs were found.
Our best tomb hunter noticed that in one
place the rock was softer than the regular lime-
stone, and forcing with difficulty a hole into this
slightly softer mass, he found sand below. Fif-
teen to thirty inches of gypsum encrustation
had formed over the tops of these tombs ; yet
there was not one that had not been plundered
later than Ramesside times. All had been re-
used by the Ramesside peoples, and again
plundered. Of the early burials practically
nothing remained.
49. The Ramesside coffins were of pottery.
The form in all cases was the same, round
and tapering towards the feet. This coffin has
the appearance of being made on the wheel in
one piece, with only a half-inch hole left at the
top. When partly dry a cutting is started,
as if to divide the coffin in two, down the long
axis. This goes down for two feet, where
another cut meets it at right angles, and the
piece thus taken off forms the lid. With the
lid off this gives an appearance of a huge
slipper. Many of the coffins are decorated with
drawings of the genii of the dead and other
religious designs, but the majority had only a
head modelled in low relief on the lid. The
pottery was good, well baked, and with a hard
surface.
These had been rifled, and with such care
that nothing of any value had been overlooked.
A few poor pots, a broken glazed-ware croco-
dile, and a piece of pumice-stone, were the only
thing's that remained with the broken coffins.
As quantities of pumice-stone are washed up on
the shores of Crete, this may well have been
washed across the Mediterranean, or may have
been imported. In Roman times pumice-stone
was much used in the leather trade, and so it
may well have been in use earlier.
D