DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.3390#0025
16
THE GREAT MASTABA I060 OF SENAR
Various scraps of copper.
Several score of flints. Types xix, 5, 6.
1 small globular flint, f inch diameter.
1 box of crude mud, pi. xvii, 1, 2, and the remains
of others.
A black ink graffito on one of the pieces of pre-
pared stone, pi. xvi, 6.
Several thick pads of linen of various qualities.
Almost the only remains of pottery found in the
central chamber were the pieces of two curious vases
of un-Egyptian appearance (pis. xvi, 1, xix, 24). All
the rest was stored in the four offering-chambers, in
which there was nothing else besides pots. The
types are drawn on pis. xix, xx, while the potmarks
will be found on pi. xxx. The clay caps on the
jars were mostly plain, but such as had sealings are
drawn on pi. xxx.
28. We compared the various shapes of the
pottery with the dated examples published in The
Royal Tombs I, pis. xxxix to xliii, and Abydos I,
pis. xxxvi to xli and p. 21, and the known types
are found to fall clearly into reigns of the middle of
the 1st dynasty; they thus serve to date the mastaba
very closely. The results are here tabulated, the
numbers referring to the drawings on pis. xix, xx.
As nos. 8, 9, 13, 15, 21, 22, 23, 24, 28 do not occur
in these dated groups, and 10 has no date, these are
of no use for dating purposes ; 34 being so very
uneven in its shape cannot be accurately fixed to
any type. The 19 dateable types group themselves
as follows:—
Types of Pots. Total. Sundries.
2
. 18 19 25 26 30 35 6
33
Reigns.
Mena \
Narmer/ J4 l6
Aha\
Zer i ■
Zet . • \29
Merneit . 7 11 20 31 32 36 6 J \
Den . . 12 1 J
Azab . . 17 I
Semerkhet^ 27 l
Qa J"
17 2
Here it appears that, out of a total of 19 dateable
types, 13 fall between Zer and Merneit. The central
point here is Zet, to which the mastaba should pro-
bably be placed, although as it happens there is no
vase which is datable to his reign. This no doubt
arises from the fact that we have very little material
of his from which to date. Hence by the pottery
only which the mastaba contained, it dates itself to
the reign of Zet.
After the pottery we next turn to the stone vases,
the drawings of which had been made by another
hand, that of Mrs. Petrie, and which I had not used.
Prof. Petrie worked out their sequence-dates, and
arrived at the following results.
S.D. 79
80
81
1.
10.
3-
On referring to the comparative table of sequence-
dates and kings (sect. 5) we find that S.D. 79 corre-
sponds to Mena and Zer, and S.D. 80 corresponds
to Zet; S.D. 81, which is now added to this old list,
corresponds to Merneit, Den, and Azab. It is here
seen that out of 13 types of stone vases 10 fall under
S.D. 80, i.e. under Zet, to which reign the mastaba
had already been assigned by the pottery.
Thus the two classes of objects are found to be
in full agreement as to the date to be given to the
burial, and this result is the more satisfactory in
that it was arrived at independently from two in-
dependent but collateral sources, and by two people
working independently of each other.
These results of dating by pottery and stone-vase
shapes agree completely with the other evidences of
date, as follows :—
1. General resemblance.
a, to the mastabas of the early part of
dyn. i, i.e. Aha and Zet.
b. to the small graves of dyn. i.
2. Resemblance of the red-painted recesses to
those of Zer and Zet.
3. Resemblance of the system of construction to
the technique of the wooden construction
found in the tombs of Zer and Zet, on which
it appears to be based.
4. Resemblance of the actual construction both
in this technique and material to the tomb
of Merneit.
5. Actual dating by pottery to Zet.
6. Actual dating by stone vases to Zet.
Hence all the evidences that can be collected
converge on the same point, which is somewhere in
the first part of the ist dynasty, and of this period
more particularly that part between Zer and Merneit;
therefore about the reign of Zet, which lies between
these two.
29. Description of Plates. PI. xviii, the plan of
the mastaba, which has been treated already.
THE GREAT MASTABA I060 OF SENAR
Various scraps of copper.
Several score of flints. Types xix, 5, 6.
1 small globular flint, f inch diameter.
1 box of crude mud, pi. xvii, 1, 2, and the remains
of others.
A black ink graffito on one of the pieces of pre-
pared stone, pi. xvi, 6.
Several thick pads of linen of various qualities.
Almost the only remains of pottery found in the
central chamber were the pieces of two curious vases
of un-Egyptian appearance (pis. xvi, 1, xix, 24). All
the rest was stored in the four offering-chambers, in
which there was nothing else besides pots. The
types are drawn on pis. xix, xx, while the potmarks
will be found on pi. xxx. The clay caps on the
jars were mostly plain, but such as had sealings are
drawn on pi. xxx.
28. We compared the various shapes of the
pottery with the dated examples published in The
Royal Tombs I, pis. xxxix to xliii, and Abydos I,
pis. xxxvi to xli and p. 21, and the known types
are found to fall clearly into reigns of the middle of
the 1st dynasty; they thus serve to date the mastaba
very closely. The results are here tabulated, the
numbers referring to the drawings on pis. xix, xx.
As nos. 8, 9, 13, 15, 21, 22, 23, 24, 28 do not occur
in these dated groups, and 10 has no date, these are
of no use for dating purposes ; 34 being so very
uneven in its shape cannot be accurately fixed to
any type. The 19 dateable types group themselves
as follows:—
Types of Pots. Total. Sundries.
2
. 18 19 25 26 30 35 6
33
Reigns.
Mena \
Narmer/ J4 l6
Aha\
Zer i ■
Zet . • \29
Merneit . 7 11 20 31 32 36 6 J \
Den . . 12 1 J
Azab . . 17 I
Semerkhet^ 27 l
Qa J"
17 2
Here it appears that, out of a total of 19 dateable
types, 13 fall between Zer and Merneit. The central
point here is Zet, to which the mastaba should pro-
bably be placed, although as it happens there is no
vase which is datable to his reign. This no doubt
arises from the fact that we have very little material
of his from which to date. Hence by the pottery
only which the mastaba contained, it dates itself to
the reign of Zet.
After the pottery we next turn to the stone vases,
the drawings of which had been made by another
hand, that of Mrs. Petrie, and which I had not used.
Prof. Petrie worked out their sequence-dates, and
arrived at the following results.
S.D. 79
80
81
1.
10.
3-
On referring to the comparative table of sequence-
dates and kings (sect. 5) we find that S.D. 79 corre-
sponds to Mena and Zer, and S.D. 80 corresponds
to Zet; S.D. 81, which is now added to this old list,
corresponds to Merneit, Den, and Azab. It is here
seen that out of 13 types of stone vases 10 fall under
S.D. 80, i.e. under Zet, to which reign the mastaba
had already been assigned by the pottery.
Thus the two classes of objects are found to be
in full agreement as to the date to be given to the
burial, and this result is the more satisfactory in
that it was arrived at independently from two in-
dependent but collateral sources, and by two people
working independently of each other.
These results of dating by pottery and stone-vase
shapes agree completely with the other evidences of
date, as follows :—
1. General resemblance.
a, to the mastabas of the early part of
dyn. i, i.e. Aha and Zet.
b. to the small graves of dyn. i.
2. Resemblance of the red-painted recesses to
those of Zer and Zet.
3. Resemblance of the system of construction to
the technique of the wooden construction
found in the tombs of Zer and Zet, on which
it appears to be based.
4. Resemblance of the actual construction both
in this technique and material to the tomb
of Merneit.
5. Actual dating by pottery to Zet.
6. Actual dating by stone vases to Zet.
Hence all the evidences that can be collected
converge on the same point, which is somewhere in
the first part of the ist dynasty, and of this period
more particularly that part between Zer and Merneit;
therefore about the reign of Zet, which lies between
these two.
29. Description of Plates. PI. xviii, the plan of
the mastaba, which has been treated already.