DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.18130#0048
34
EHNASYA.
50. Several of the tombs had been re-used
in about the first century A.D. All of these
later coffins were alike. The sides, top, and
bottom were of very thin wood, so poorly and
carelessly made that the fragments of shale
falling from the roof of the tomb chambers had
broken all of them. In everything connected
with the burials the greatest carelessness was
shown. Not even had the trouble been taken
to remove the sand from the mouth of the tomb
chamber, but the bodies had been pushed in,
and left at any angle that the sand might make.
Each tomb was full of bodies. The cartonnages
of the mummies in these wooden coffins were
built up from papyri. Unfortunately the damp
had reduced these to powder, so that it was im-
possible to touch one without at once seeing
everything fall to pieces. The imagination is
almost inclined to run riot on what these thou-
sands of Greek papyri may have contained.
These tombs were of the regular XVIIIth
Dynasty form, a pit from the bottom of which
a chamber ran into the ground. In these the
limestone had been cut through, and the
chamber dug in a soft shale that underlay the
surface limestone. In the tomb chamber the
shale of the ceiling and sides had so broken
away that it was difficult to note the original
form, but no regularity seems to have been
observed. In a few cases a secondary chamber
opened off the first. Though I found no defi-
nite evidence, it is probable that the people who
re-used the tombs enlarged the original chamber,
and may have added the secondary one.
51. North of this wady and nearer the
cultivated land we found a small hillock that
was thickly pitted with tombs. This fortunately
had been overlooked by the modern digger.
In many places in this district the rock has
cracks about a foot wide running along at the
surface, and in these we found a number of
babies buried, at a depth of about 20 inches.
In one case a reed mat was underneath the body
and the black and white glass beads with the
carnelian ring on plate xl, 16 were with another.
These beads are of the style made during the
reign of Tahutmes III.
52. At about forty inches under the surface
a large number of animal heads were found
interred. These had been buried together,
evidently with considerable care. There was
nothing with them to give evidence of the date
at which they had been buried ; but as every-
thing else found on the knoll was of the latter
part of the XVIIIth Dynasty, it is reasonable to
place these heads as of that date also.
53. Unfortunately here also no tombs had
escaped the robbers in ancient times, but
several things that they had overlooked were
discovered in the rubbish. The few scarabs
found showed the burials here to belong to the
period of Hatshepsut and Tahutmes III (1516
—1449 B.C.) and this was further proved by
the beads. Some very good glass, commonly
called Phoenician glass, was found, and also
some good alabaster bowls and diorite kohl
pots. In two of the tombs fragments of Aegean
false-necked vases were found. One was deco-
rated with broad bands of black, and the other
had this decoration filled in with narrow lines
about n) in. apart between the broader bands,
and around the neck the dotted lily design. The
style is that of the decadence of Aegean art,
and is spoken of by Mr. Evans as the period of
partial reoccupation at Knossos.
54. A very short distance east of this
mound there was a row of circular pits, and
great numbers of bleached bones and pieces of
coarse canvas were strewing the ground.
These tombs were of the early Christian period.
The tombs were in regular rows. A more or
less circular hole of about four feet diameter
and widening out towards the bottom descended
to a depth of from four to six feet. Although
there was no sign of the bodies having been
disturbed at a later period, I could not see any
skeletons in place. Either the bones were
thrown in, or from ten to twenty bodies were
EHNASYA.
50. Several of the tombs had been re-used
in about the first century A.D. All of these
later coffins were alike. The sides, top, and
bottom were of very thin wood, so poorly and
carelessly made that the fragments of shale
falling from the roof of the tomb chambers had
broken all of them. In everything connected
with the burials the greatest carelessness was
shown. Not even had the trouble been taken
to remove the sand from the mouth of the tomb
chamber, but the bodies had been pushed in,
and left at any angle that the sand might make.
Each tomb was full of bodies. The cartonnages
of the mummies in these wooden coffins were
built up from papyri. Unfortunately the damp
had reduced these to powder, so that it was im-
possible to touch one without at once seeing
everything fall to pieces. The imagination is
almost inclined to run riot on what these thou-
sands of Greek papyri may have contained.
These tombs were of the regular XVIIIth
Dynasty form, a pit from the bottom of which
a chamber ran into the ground. In these the
limestone had been cut through, and the
chamber dug in a soft shale that underlay the
surface limestone. In the tomb chamber the
shale of the ceiling and sides had so broken
away that it was difficult to note the original
form, but no regularity seems to have been
observed. In a few cases a secondary chamber
opened off the first. Though I found no defi-
nite evidence, it is probable that the people who
re-used the tombs enlarged the original chamber,
and may have added the secondary one.
51. North of this wady and nearer the
cultivated land we found a small hillock that
was thickly pitted with tombs. This fortunately
had been overlooked by the modern digger.
In many places in this district the rock has
cracks about a foot wide running along at the
surface, and in these we found a number of
babies buried, at a depth of about 20 inches.
In one case a reed mat was underneath the body
and the black and white glass beads with the
carnelian ring on plate xl, 16 were with another.
These beads are of the style made during the
reign of Tahutmes III.
52. At about forty inches under the surface
a large number of animal heads were found
interred. These had been buried together,
evidently with considerable care. There was
nothing with them to give evidence of the date
at which they had been buried ; but as every-
thing else found on the knoll was of the latter
part of the XVIIIth Dynasty, it is reasonable to
place these heads as of that date also.
53. Unfortunately here also no tombs had
escaped the robbers in ancient times, but
several things that they had overlooked were
discovered in the rubbish. The few scarabs
found showed the burials here to belong to the
period of Hatshepsut and Tahutmes III (1516
—1449 B.C.) and this was further proved by
the beads. Some very good glass, commonly
called Phoenician glass, was found, and also
some good alabaster bowls and diorite kohl
pots. In two of the tombs fragments of Aegean
false-necked vases were found. One was deco-
rated with broad bands of black, and the other
had this decoration filled in with narrow lines
about n) in. apart between the broader bands,
and around the neck the dotted lily design. The
style is that of the decadence of Aegean art,
and is spoken of by Mr. Evans as the period of
partial reoccupation at Knossos.
54. A very short distance east of this
mound there was a row of circular pits, and
great numbers of bleached bones and pieces of
coarse canvas were strewing the ground.
These tombs were of the early Christian period.
The tombs were in regular rows. A more or
less circular hole of about four feet diameter
and widening out towards the bottom descended
to a depth of from four to six feet. Although
there was no sign of the bodies having been
disturbed at a later period, I could not see any
skeletons in place. Either the bones were
thrown in, or from ten to twenty bodies were