idkHK
NOTES ON PLATES.
The accompanying plates were prepared by Mr. J. E.
Ouibell and Mr. F. W. Green, shortly after the objects
arrived in England in 1898 ; but Mr. Quibell's work
on the Catalogue of the Ghizeh Museum, to which
he was appointed in that year, and his subsequent
inspectorship of the monuments, together with long
delays in the preparation of the plan, for which he
was not responsible, have most unfortunately hindered
him from writing the necessary text of his discoveries.
As at the present moment the results of the
Egypt Exploration Fund in the cemetery of the
Early Kings at Abydos are being published, it seems
highly undesirable, in the interests of science and of
Mr. Quibell's discoveries, to withhold from the public
any longer, the most important material contained in
these plates. It has therefore been decided to issue
such plates as are finished, while awaiting the appear-
ance of Mr. Quibell's text in the second part, which
will also contain the later discoveries made by Mr.
F. W. Green on the same site. The present notes are
therefore merely intended to render the plates intelli-
gible, and will be entirely superseded by the proper
text when it appears.
The excavations which produced the objects here
figured, were entirely in the mound of ruin of the
ancient temple site, now surrounded by cultivation.
This work was directed by Mr. Ouibell. Mr. Somers
Clarke drew some of the objects, (marked S. C.) and,
with Mr. J. J. Tylor, contributed largely toward the
expenses of the excavations. Miss A. A. Pirie kindly
helped in the treatment of the objects, and in pre-
paring many of the drawings ; Miss M. A. Murray
also did some of the latter in England. Other
drawings were done by Mr. C. R. Peers and Mr.
F. W. Green, who were assisting Mr. Somers Clarke
at that time in his researches at El Kab, opposite
Hicrakonpolis. The greater part of the objects have
been presented to the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford ;
and the important pieces that were presented else-
where are specially mentioned.
The temple of Hierakonpolis was undoubted,y
one of the most ancient of those belonging to the
historical race, and appears to have been the place of
coronation of the earliest kings, before the subjection
of northern Egypt. The remains of four kings have
been here found, namely Nar-mer (Pls. XXVIb.
XXIX), the Scorpion King (Pls. XXVIc, XXXIV),
Kha-sekhem (PL. XXXVIII), and Kha-sekhemui
(PL. II). The position of Nar-mer has now been
fixed by the discoveries at Abydos to about the
beginning of the 1st dynasty ; and if we credit the
Lists of Sety and of Manetho with being as correct
in the first half of the dynasty as they are proved
to be in the latter part, we must place Nar-mer
immediately before Mena (see Royal Tombs of 1st
Dynasty). From the similarity of work, and con-
tiguity of objects in the main deposit, it appears that
the Scorpion King must have been next to Nar-mer,
probably his predecessor, if indeed that may not be
another title of the same person. The 1st dynasty
seem to have been entirely occupied at Abydos ; not
a single name of that group has been found at
Hierakonpolis. The position of Kha-sekhemui is
clearly shown, by the nature of the objects found in
his tomb at Abydos, to be after the 1st dynasty, and
probably not before the middle of the Ilnd dynasty.
And from the highly developed style of the statues
of Kha-sekhem, he must be placed about the same
period. From his name being a simpler form than
that of Kha-sekhemui, he is more likely to have
preceded that king. Thus two of these kings
probably belong to the close of the dynasty of ten
kings before Mena, which, as it preceded dyn. I is
here called dyn. 0 (about 4800 B.C.), and the other
two kings are as late as the middle of the Ilnd
dynasty (about 4400 B.C.), perhaps later. After that,
the remains of Khufu, Pepy, and other kings, belong
to the well-known historical periods.
Some of the plates, not having yet been completed,
are omitted, and the numbering is therefore not con-
C
NOTES ON PLATES.
The accompanying plates were prepared by Mr. J. E.
Ouibell and Mr. F. W. Green, shortly after the objects
arrived in England in 1898 ; but Mr. Quibell's work
on the Catalogue of the Ghizeh Museum, to which
he was appointed in that year, and his subsequent
inspectorship of the monuments, together with long
delays in the preparation of the plan, for which he
was not responsible, have most unfortunately hindered
him from writing the necessary text of his discoveries.
As at the present moment the results of the
Egypt Exploration Fund in the cemetery of the
Early Kings at Abydos are being published, it seems
highly undesirable, in the interests of science and of
Mr. Quibell's discoveries, to withhold from the public
any longer, the most important material contained in
these plates. It has therefore been decided to issue
such plates as are finished, while awaiting the appear-
ance of Mr. Quibell's text in the second part, which
will also contain the later discoveries made by Mr.
F. W. Green on the same site. The present notes are
therefore merely intended to render the plates intelli-
gible, and will be entirely superseded by the proper
text when it appears.
The excavations which produced the objects here
figured, were entirely in the mound of ruin of the
ancient temple site, now surrounded by cultivation.
This work was directed by Mr. Ouibell. Mr. Somers
Clarke drew some of the objects, (marked S. C.) and,
with Mr. J. J. Tylor, contributed largely toward the
expenses of the excavations. Miss A. A. Pirie kindly
helped in the treatment of the objects, and in pre-
paring many of the drawings ; Miss M. A. Murray
also did some of the latter in England. Other
drawings were done by Mr. C. R. Peers and Mr.
F. W. Green, who were assisting Mr. Somers Clarke
at that time in his researches at El Kab, opposite
Hicrakonpolis. The greater part of the objects have
been presented to the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford ;
and the important pieces that were presented else-
where are specially mentioned.
The temple of Hierakonpolis was undoubted,y
one of the most ancient of those belonging to the
historical race, and appears to have been the place of
coronation of the earliest kings, before the subjection
of northern Egypt. The remains of four kings have
been here found, namely Nar-mer (Pls. XXVIb.
XXIX), the Scorpion King (Pls. XXVIc, XXXIV),
Kha-sekhem (PL. XXXVIII), and Kha-sekhemui
(PL. II). The position of Nar-mer has now been
fixed by the discoveries at Abydos to about the
beginning of the 1st dynasty ; and if we credit the
Lists of Sety and of Manetho with being as correct
in the first half of the dynasty as they are proved
to be in the latter part, we must place Nar-mer
immediately before Mena (see Royal Tombs of 1st
Dynasty). From the similarity of work, and con-
tiguity of objects in the main deposit, it appears that
the Scorpion King must have been next to Nar-mer,
probably his predecessor, if indeed that may not be
another title of the same person. The 1st dynasty
seem to have been entirely occupied at Abydos ; not
a single name of that group has been found at
Hierakonpolis. The position of Kha-sekhemui is
clearly shown, by the nature of the objects found in
his tomb at Abydos, to be after the 1st dynasty, and
probably not before the middle of the Ilnd dynasty.
And from the highly developed style of the statues
of Kha-sekhem, he must be placed about the same
period. From his name being a simpler form than
that of Kha-sekhemui, he is more likely to have
preceded that king. Thus two of these kings
probably belong to the close of the dynasty of ten
kings before Mena, which, as it preceded dyn. I is
here called dyn. 0 (about 4800 B.C.), and the other
two kings are as late as the middle of the Ilnd
dynasty (about 4400 B.C.), perhaps later. After that,
the remains of Khufu, Pepy, and other kings, belong
to the well-known historical periods.
Some of the plates, not having yet been completed,
are omitted, and the numbering is therefore not con-
C