DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.28687#0013
SEDMENT,
THE CEMETERY OF HERAKLEOPOLIS.
CHAPTER I
THE SITE.
i. In the course of clearing the western side of
the Nile valley, the British School of Archaeology
was occupied in 1920—21 in finishing Ghurob, and
searching southward of that. Only a few empty
graves were found, until the Gebel Sedment was
reached. At this site, seventy miles south of Cairo,
there lay a cemetery continuous for three or four
miles, as far as Mayana, the burial ground of the
ancient Henen-nesut (later known as Herakleopolis)
which stands about five miles away in the plain.
The desert here forms a narrow neck between
the Nile valley and the Fayum, only two and a half
miles from one cultivation to the other. The ground
slopes gently up toward a gap in the ridge, then
down through the gap, with hills about 200 feet
high on each side overlooking the Fayum. This
region was open and unsheltered, and there was no
protection for camping, except in two craters left,
where great tombs had been opened. In one we
planted some of our tents, and in the other our
men made shelters. From that point we looked
about thirty miles across to the opposite mountains
of the Nile valley, and forty miles across the Fayum.
The site did not seem promising. All around
us were dozens of opened tombs, and one hill in
particular seemed to have been completely ravaged.
Yet it was from there that we obtained all of the
finest objects. Nor were the reports of past explorers
more encouraging; in the volumes on Alinas (p. 14),
and Ehnasya (p. 32), we read “Even though we can
trace the cemetery as far back as the Xlth dynasty,
there is nothing whatever which we can consider
as belonging to the Old Empire ”; “ only a few
previously plundered tombs rewarded a careful
search ”; “ nearly fourteen square miles of ground
were searched, but no cemetery was found.”
2. The settlement of this city was undoubtedly
very early. It had the figures of the corn-Osiris,
and one of the greater relics of Osiris, an arm,
indicating an early prehistoric occupation. The
reason for the selection of this site, then, and later
by the IXth dynasty, is obviously its geographical
position. The gap in the hills gave access here
from the Fayum to the Nile valley, and the Libyan
invaders who swarmed into the Fayum, as the
westerners still do now, found this the gateway
to Nile occupation, as it is at present. The Hera-
kleopolitan dynasties have left hundreds of tombs
here, and in the XVIIIth and XIXth dynasties,
this district was also important. But, strange to
say, little was found of the XNIInd and XXIIIrd
dynasties, although this city and its priesthoods
often appear among the titles of the royal family
in this period.
3. The helpers that we had here were Major
H. G. C. Hynes, Mr. Montgomerie Neilson, M. Henri
Bach, Mr. Miller, and later, at Mayana, Mr. and
Mrs. Brunton; Mrs. Petrie interpreted, gave the
workmen orders, and managed their accounts and
payment, besides drawing sculptures, and my own
share was the photographing, plans, drawing, and
general direction. The work was from 17 December
ig20 to 25 April 1921. The results are of the first
importance for filling up the gap in archaeology
between the Vlth and Xlth dynasties.
1
THE CEMETERY OF HERAKLEOPOLIS.
CHAPTER I
THE SITE.
i. In the course of clearing the western side of
the Nile valley, the British School of Archaeology
was occupied in 1920—21 in finishing Ghurob, and
searching southward of that. Only a few empty
graves were found, until the Gebel Sedment was
reached. At this site, seventy miles south of Cairo,
there lay a cemetery continuous for three or four
miles, as far as Mayana, the burial ground of the
ancient Henen-nesut (later known as Herakleopolis)
which stands about five miles away in the plain.
The desert here forms a narrow neck between
the Nile valley and the Fayum, only two and a half
miles from one cultivation to the other. The ground
slopes gently up toward a gap in the ridge, then
down through the gap, with hills about 200 feet
high on each side overlooking the Fayum. This
region was open and unsheltered, and there was no
protection for camping, except in two craters left,
where great tombs had been opened. In one we
planted some of our tents, and in the other our
men made shelters. From that point we looked
about thirty miles across to the opposite mountains
of the Nile valley, and forty miles across the Fayum.
The site did not seem promising. All around
us were dozens of opened tombs, and one hill in
particular seemed to have been completely ravaged.
Yet it was from there that we obtained all of the
finest objects. Nor were the reports of past explorers
more encouraging; in the volumes on Alinas (p. 14),
and Ehnasya (p. 32), we read “Even though we can
trace the cemetery as far back as the Xlth dynasty,
there is nothing whatever which we can consider
as belonging to the Old Empire ”; “ only a few
previously plundered tombs rewarded a careful
search ”; “ nearly fourteen square miles of ground
were searched, but no cemetery was found.”
2. The settlement of this city was undoubtedly
very early. It had the figures of the corn-Osiris,
and one of the greater relics of Osiris, an arm,
indicating an early prehistoric occupation. The
reason for the selection of this site, then, and later
by the IXth dynasty, is obviously its geographical
position. The gap in the hills gave access here
from the Fayum to the Nile valley, and the Libyan
invaders who swarmed into the Fayum, as the
westerners still do now, found this the gateway
to Nile occupation, as it is at present. The Hera-
kleopolitan dynasties have left hundreds of tombs
here, and in the XVIIIth and XIXth dynasties,
this district was also important. But, strange to
say, little was found of the XNIInd and XXIIIrd
dynasties, although this city and its priesthoods
often appear among the titles of the royal family
in this period.
3. The helpers that we had here were Major
H. G. C. Hynes, Mr. Montgomerie Neilson, M. Henri
Bach, Mr. Miller, and later, at Mayana, Mr. and
Mrs. Brunton; Mrs. Petrie interpreted, gave the
workmen orders, and managed their accounts and
payment, besides drawing sculptures, and my own
share was the photographing, plans, drawing, and
general direction. The work was from 17 December
ig20 to 25 April 1921. The results are of the first
importance for filling up the gap in archaeology
between the Vlth and Xlth dynasties.
1