DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4664#0021
16
THE TOWN.
,n-ed al'e
sho\
If the door had been placed as the position of the
statue appears to suggest, in front of the gateway, it
must have been the entrance to a projecting bastion
with the approach parallel to the town wall. An
assailant attempting an entrance would have presented
his sliielded side to the wall.
The statue is that of a man enveloped in a long
cloak, descending from the left shoulder nearly to the
knees, and leaving the right side of the chest bare.
The left arm is held horizontally across the chest,
while the right (which is disproportionately long and
shapeless) is close to the side.
The right fist is pierced through horizontally, to
hold staff or mace. The left leg is advanced ; the
knees are rudely indicated. There is no carving
down the side, as is the case with some of the Min
statues ; all the marks seen are those of the tool, or
mere meaningless scratches.
Age of the Town Wall.
40. In the southern part of the site several walls
were uncovered which seem to be contemporary with
the town wall; they are thinner, but the bricks of
which they are built are of the same small size.
Their relation to the thick wall was not made out.
As already mentioned there is a great confusion of
walls at the southern angle of the temple enclosure.
The date of the town wall seems without much
doubt to be early. The bricks of which it is built are
of practically the same dimensions as those used in
the construction of the houses situated within the
town area ; and these houses in some cases have
been built against the inner face, proving that the
wall is anterior to them in date. As all objects
found on and under the floors of these houses, with a
few exceptions that do not detract from the value of
the evidence, belong to the first three Dynasties, it is
clear that the wall must have been built at about the
same date.
From the stratification it seems probable that as
the town grew up it tended in time to encroach
upon a holy place of high antiquity which is repre-
sented by the circular revetted mound within the
temple.
As soon as the town had assumed sufficient
importance it would be protected by a wall. This
may have taken place at the end of the second or in
the third dynasty. I see no reason for supposing the
wall to be contemporary with the circular revetment;
but it may very likely belong to the same period as
the squatting statues, though I am inclined to attri-
bute it to a rather later date.
The use of the archaic statue as a door socket at
one of the gateways, shows that the wall was kept in
repair at a time when such objects had lost their
sanctity ; such repairs may have been made in the
New Kingdom when the other archaic objects were
broken or reused.
The Houses of the Old Kingdom.
41. The whole of the area within the town walls
appears to have been occupied by houses of the Old
Kingdom ; but, owing to the extent of the site, only
those points were examined where the greater
accumulation of earth gave hopes that the walls
beneath had not been destroyed by the sebakhin.
On clearing these walls, the tops of which in some
cases projected through the soil, it was seen that they
formed groups of small rooms, the general orientation
of which was the same as the part of the town wall
nearest to which they were situated.
All the houses so far examined belong to the Old
Kingdom, and practically all the objects found in
them belong to the first three dynasties.
There is a noticeable exception that among the
pottery scattered over the surface of the site, the bulk
of which belongs to the Old Kingdom, there is a
certain percentage of that incised ware which seems
to be characteristic of the period between the Middle
and the New Kingdoms.
Of objects that could be definitely ascribed to the
Middle Kingdom, nothing was found ; this statement
is also true in a great measure with regard to objects
of the New Kingdom.
The objects most frequently found in the houses
were rough earthenware pots and pot stands (see
bottom of PL. LXIX.), numerous fragments of diorite,
quartz-crystal, and other hard stone vessels, numerous
borers used in their manufacture, and a large number
of clay sealings, some bearing the ka names of kings
of the Ilnd and Illrd Dynasties. In addition to
these were numerous flint implements such as were
found in the lower strata of the temple.
The Sealings.
42. The clay sealings were very numerous, and
widely distributed. Unfortunately they are in such a
fragmentary condition that as a rule nothing can be
made out of them.
-
f
n of having
iall rol
#5.
-.left on one
' apiece d
^thesamewayas
naay have b
.papyrus
string fes
;;i4e examples oi
#iinscribed sea
' )UDt for. They
and thrown as
_ rom vessels co:
:;3 from the tomb
nMely, I sugges
.fcsalsofthetei
jbigsand vases c
.[(materials requ
iked as either r
1 Also, as the ch
i as can bedete
m vessels, that :
:; payments were 1
-i tie stores or
■k
Spkdle \Y
IK
with ins
may here
spindle
^scratched uj
;lt0 examples
Options wand
in some ca:
lBsa'lihndin(
*" spindle w
% as those
? * light
>s§ra
Sieves
> been
!%the:
rep
THE TOWN.
,n-ed al'e
sho\
If the door had been placed as the position of the
statue appears to suggest, in front of the gateway, it
must have been the entrance to a projecting bastion
with the approach parallel to the town wall. An
assailant attempting an entrance would have presented
his sliielded side to the wall.
The statue is that of a man enveloped in a long
cloak, descending from the left shoulder nearly to the
knees, and leaving the right side of the chest bare.
The left arm is held horizontally across the chest,
while the right (which is disproportionately long and
shapeless) is close to the side.
The right fist is pierced through horizontally, to
hold staff or mace. The left leg is advanced ; the
knees are rudely indicated. There is no carving
down the side, as is the case with some of the Min
statues ; all the marks seen are those of the tool, or
mere meaningless scratches.
Age of the Town Wall.
40. In the southern part of the site several walls
were uncovered which seem to be contemporary with
the town wall; they are thinner, but the bricks of
which they are built are of the same small size.
Their relation to the thick wall was not made out.
As already mentioned there is a great confusion of
walls at the southern angle of the temple enclosure.
The date of the town wall seems without much
doubt to be early. The bricks of which it is built are
of practically the same dimensions as those used in
the construction of the houses situated within the
town area ; and these houses in some cases have
been built against the inner face, proving that the
wall is anterior to them in date. As all objects
found on and under the floors of these houses, with a
few exceptions that do not detract from the value of
the evidence, belong to the first three Dynasties, it is
clear that the wall must have been built at about the
same date.
From the stratification it seems probable that as
the town grew up it tended in time to encroach
upon a holy place of high antiquity which is repre-
sented by the circular revetted mound within the
temple.
As soon as the town had assumed sufficient
importance it would be protected by a wall. This
may have taken place at the end of the second or in
the third dynasty. I see no reason for supposing the
wall to be contemporary with the circular revetment;
but it may very likely belong to the same period as
the squatting statues, though I am inclined to attri-
bute it to a rather later date.
The use of the archaic statue as a door socket at
one of the gateways, shows that the wall was kept in
repair at a time when such objects had lost their
sanctity ; such repairs may have been made in the
New Kingdom when the other archaic objects were
broken or reused.
The Houses of the Old Kingdom.
41. The whole of the area within the town walls
appears to have been occupied by houses of the Old
Kingdom ; but, owing to the extent of the site, only
those points were examined where the greater
accumulation of earth gave hopes that the walls
beneath had not been destroyed by the sebakhin.
On clearing these walls, the tops of which in some
cases projected through the soil, it was seen that they
formed groups of small rooms, the general orientation
of which was the same as the part of the town wall
nearest to which they were situated.
All the houses so far examined belong to the Old
Kingdom, and practically all the objects found in
them belong to the first three dynasties.
There is a noticeable exception that among the
pottery scattered over the surface of the site, the bulk
of which belongs to the Old Kingdom, there is a
certain percentage of that incised ware which seems
to be characteristic of the period between the Middle
and the New Kingdoms.
Of objects that could be definitely ascribed to the
Middle Kingdom, nothing was found ; this statement
is also true in a great measure with regard to objects
of the New Kingdom.
The objects most frequently found in the houses
were rough earthenware pots and pot stands (see
bottom of PL. LXIX.), numerous fragments of diorite,
quartz-crystal, and other hard stone vessels, numerous
borers used in their manufacture, and a large number
of clay sealings, some bearing the ka names of kings
of the Ilnd and Illrd Dynasties. In addition to
these were numerous flint implements such as were
found in the lower strata of the temple.
The Sealings.
42. The clay sealings were very numerous, and
widely distributed. Unfortunately they are in such a
fragmentary condition that as a rule nothing can be
made out of them.
-
f
n of having
iall rol
#5.
-.left on one
' apiece d
^thesamewayas
naay have b
.papyrus
string fes
;;i4e examples oi
#iinscribed sea
' )UDt for. They
and thrown as
_ rom vessels co:
:;3 from the tomb
nMely, I sugges
.fcsalsofthetei
jbigsand vases c
.[(materials requ
iked as either r
1 Also, as the ch
i as can bedete
m vessels, that :
:; payments were 1
-i tie stores or
■k
Spkdle \Y
IK
with ins
may here
spindle
^scratched uj
;lt0 examples
Options wand
in some ca:
lBsa'lihndin(
*" spindle w
% as those
? * light
>s§ra
Sieves
> been
!%the:
rep