DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4635#0006
EL KAB.
place to search would be the sandstone hill in which
we lived, where the fine inscribed tombs of Paheri
and Aahmes are well known. But is there much
chance of finding inscribed tombs anywhere in Egypt
except at Thebes ? We know that the tomb was left
open for the visits of relatives, and open it must
always have remained, unless it got drifted up with
sand, or unless the quarrying of another tomb on a
higher level sent down a mass of chips which hid it.
At the capital, tombs were often lost for long periods
in this way; in less crowded cemeteries the accident
would seem to be less likely to happen. Many traces in
the existing tombs at El Kab show that earlier tombs
were quarried away in order to make room for them.
This would seem to minimise the chances of finding
anything valuable of early date ; and if by chance
some inscribed tomb still remains hidden in the
talus of chips in the lower part of the hill, the
business of making a thorough search there would be
so long and expensive that it will probably remain
undiscovered.
3. The greatest monument at El Kab is the town
wall, the huge mass of which must arrest the attention
of every passer-by on the river. It encloses a great
square of about 580 yards in the side ; the walls are
40 feet thick, and in most places still reach a height
of 20 feet. The diagonal of the square runs, roughly,
N. and S., and the S.W. wall is parallel to the river.
The S.W. corner has disappeared ; indeed the river
now runs over the point where it must have stood.
There is evidence that the Nile has moved eastward
at this point, but not to any great extent, within the
last 2000 years, for some remains of a landing-stage,
believed to be Roman, can still be seen a little south
of the town. About a quarter of the area inside the
walls was cut off from the rest by a curved double
wall, and only inside this smaller area are there many
traces of buildings. Here, in the early part of the
century, was a large mound, but now the sebakhin
have carried it all away, and we look over a most
desolate space, at one part red with the broken pottery
of all periods, thrown out from the sebakh-digger's
sieve, at another white with the salt that everywhere
permeates the soil. A few great brick walls remain,
and the foundations of the temple, but no part of the
superstructure. Outside this town, but inside the
great square of the walls, the character of the ground
is quite different. There are no great masses of
pottery, hardly any brick walls ; in the lower parts
little parallel ridges in the soil show that cultivation
has been carried on there within the last few years ;
for the rest, the ground is covered with pebbles, much
like the untouched desert, and here and there are
fragments of pottery, evidently of early date. These
were most numerous on two or three slight rises
which, as we afterwards found, had contained groups
of tombs. Thus, on the day we arrived, was presented
the first puzzle of El Kab. The greater part of the
enclosure had never been inhabited, at least by people
living in houses and using pottery. What, then, could
have been the purpose of the huge walls ? The north
wall (strictly, the north-west, but called north for con-
venience) could be crossed by walking up the great
sand-slope, which reaches to its top on both sides.
This is driven up by the prevalent north wind. A
similar, but much smaller, heap has drifted against the
north side of the south wall. From the top of the
north wall one has a good view of the whole neigh-
bourhood. The town lies at the mouth of a wide
valley, flanked by broken ranges of sandstone hills.
An hour's walk up this valley is to be seen the little
square block of Amenhotep Ill's temple, the great
isolated rock of the graffiti, and, rather nearer, the
small temple of Rameses. The low hill to the left,
half a mile away, is the hill of tombs. The row of
black dots sloping downwards to the east are the door-
ways of the tombs ; they follow the bed of soundest
rock. Further to the north is a rock looking, in the
distance, like a huge mushroom. This is a hill of
which there remains only the upper part, resting on
great pillars ; the flanks of the hill and all the inside
of it except these pillars have been quarried away,
the stone being used probably for the temples of
El Kab. The strip of cultivated land is very narrow
at this part, often less than 500 yards wide.
Immediately to the east of the walls the ground
has been disturbed, being covered with small and
equal rises and depressions ; scraps of Xllth dynasty
pottery scattered over its surface showed that here
was the cemetery of the Middle Kingdom.
Note.—I stopped for five hours at Kafr-es-Zaiat on
the railway journey from Alexandria to Cairo to
examine a site, which may be the Serapeum of the
Saite nome. On the map, in the Description de
l'Egypt, some ruins are marked as the village of
El Naharieh, north of Kafr-es-Zaiat. I found, on
talking with the people, that ruins had existed there
thirty years ago, but that now all the ground they
had covered had been brought into cultivation.
Under the mats in the mosques some blocks of
granite of old Egyptian work may be seen, and I
place to search would be the sandstone hill in which
we lived, where the fine inscribed tombs of Paheri
and Aahmes are well known. But is there much
chance of finding inscribed tombs anywhere in Egypt
except at Thebes ? We know that the tomb was left
open for the visits of relatives, and open it must
always have remained, unless it got drifted up with
sand, or unless the quarrying of another tomb on a
higher level sent down a mass of chips which hid it.
At the capital, tombs were often lost for long periods
in this way; in less crowded cemeteries the accident
would seem to be less likely to happen. Many traces in
the existing tombs at El Kab show that earlier tombs
were quarried away in order to make room for them.
This would seem to minimise the chances of finding
anything valuable of early date ; and if by chance
some inscribed tomb still remains hidden in the
talus of chips in the lower part of the hill, the
business of making a thorough search there would be
so long and expensive that it will probably remain
undiscovered.
3. The greatest monument at El Kab is the town
wall, the huge mass of which must arrest the attention
of every passer-by on the river. It encloses a great
square of about 580 yards in the side ; the walls are
40 feet thick, and in most places still reach a height
of 20 feet. The diagonal of the square runs, roughly,
N. and S., and the S.W. wall is parallel to the river.
The S.W. corner has disappeared ; indeed the river
now runs over the point where it must have stood.
There is evidence that the Nile has moved eastward
at this point, but not to any great extent, within the
last 2000 years, for some remains of a landing-stage,
believed to be Roman, can still be seen a little south
of the town. About a quarter of the area inside the
walls was cut off from the rest by a curved double
wall, and only inside this smaller area are there many
traces of buildings. Here, in the early part of the
century, was a large mound, but now the sebakhin
have carried it all away, and we look over a most
desolate space, at one part red with the broken pottery
of all periods, thrown out from the sebakh-digger's
sieve, at another white with the salt that everywhere
permeates the soil. A few great brick walls remain,
and the foundations of the temple, but no part of the
superstructure. Outside this town, but inside the
great square of the walls, the character of the ground
is quite different. There are no great masses of
pottery, hardly any brick walls ; in the lower parts
little parallel ridges in the soil show that cultivation
has been carried on there within the last few years ;
for the rest, the ground is covered with pebbles, much
like the untouched desert, and here and there are
fragments of pottery, evidently of early date. These
were most numerous on two or three slight rises
which, as we afterwards found, had contained groups
of tombs. Thus, on the day we arrived, was presented
the first puzzle of El Kab. The greater part of the
enclosure had never been inhabited, at least by people
living in houses and using pottery. What, then, could
have been the purpose of the huge walls ? The north
wall (strictly, the north-west, but called north for con-
venience) could be crossed by walking up the great
sand-slope, which reaches to its top on both sides.
This is driven up by the prevalent north wind. A
similar, but much smaller, heap has drifted against the
north side of the south wall. From the top of the
north wall one has a good view of the whole neigh-
bourhood. The town lies at the mouth of a wide
valley, flanked by broken ranges of sandstone hills.
An hour's walk up this valley is to be seen the little
square block of Amenhotep Ill's temple, the great
isolated rock of the graffiti, and, rather nearer, the
small temple of Rameses. The low hill to the left,
half a mile away, is the hill of tombs. The row of
black dots sloping downwards to the east are the door-
ways of the tombs ; they follow the bed of soundest
rock. Further to the north is a rock looking, in the
distance, like a huge mushroom. This is a hill of
which there remains only the upper part, resting on
great pillars ; the flanks of the hill and all the inside
of it except these pillars have been quarried away,
the stone being used probably for the temples of
El Kab. The strip of cultivated land is very narrow
at this part, often less than 500 yards wide.
Immediately to the east of the walls the ground
has been disturbed, being covered with small and
equal rises and depressions ; scraps of Xllth dynasty
pottery scattered over its surface showed that here
was the cemetery of the Middle Kingdom.
Note.—I stopped for five hours at Kafr-es-Zaiat on
the railway journey from Alexandria to Cairo to
examine a site, which may be the Serapeum of the
Saite nome. On the map, in the Description de
l'Egypt, some ruins are marked as the village of
El Naharieh, north of Kafr-es-Zaiat. I found, on
talking with the people, that ruins had existed there
thirty years ago, but that now all the ground they
had covered had been brought into cultivation.
Under the mats in the mosques some blocks of
granite of old Egyptian work may be seen, and I