DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4664#0027
22
THE CEMETERY.
no trace except a few fragments of bone in the
southern division of the tomb, which may have been
part of the skeleton.
55. Near the decorated tomb was another with a
brick lining, plastered over with mud, but no colour
had been used. This had been plundered, nothing
remaining but a few coarse jars.
At a short distance to the south of the decorated
tomb there was one with the southern part divided off
into two small compartments by low walls. The
pots and other offerings which these compartments
held had all been stolen, only a few fragments of
pottery being left.
The rest of the graves were mere rough rectangular
excavations in the hard desert sand varying in depth
from 2*0 m. to 0*5 m. The roofs had in many
instances been made of wood as the remains of the
ends of the beams were found in some cases. In one
grave the roof was supported by wooden columns
the holes into which their bases fitted still remaining ;
this grave is shown on PL. LXVII. Nearly all had
been robbed, and most of those that had escaped con-
tained little except pottery.
The general orientation is very roughly north and
south ; but no special care seems to have been taken,
as some of the examples deviate very considerably
from this line, and a few are east and west, these
latter being small rather shapeless and shallow
excavations.
From the graves that were more or less untouched
the objects shown on PL. LXIV. were recovered.
They belong to types already known except the
bowl 1, which resembles the pottery found in the
Pan-Graves at Hu : but there is no doubt that this
example belongs to the prehistoric and not to the
later period, as all the objects associated with it were
prehistoric, and the grave itself appears to have been
untouched.
The spheroidal spindle whorls shown on the same
plate should be contrasted with those of hemispherical
shape from the town and temple areas, belonging to
the early dynastic period.
Besides the main prehistoric cemetery, close to
the cultivation, there is another smaller one at the
mouth of the valley south of the rock-cut tombs of
the New Kingdom and extending some way up it.
Two or three isolated graves, containing nothing
but the skeleton and a few rough pots, were found
half way between the sandstone cliffs and the southern
end of the cemetery.
The tomb shown at the bottom of Pl. LXVII I. is
situated at about two-thirds of the way towards the
fort from the decorated tomb, and near to a group of
tombs of later date than the Old Kingdom. The
tomb appears to belong to the late prehistoric or
early historic period, but it may be later.
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THE CEMETERY.
no trace except a few fragments of bone in the
southern division of the tomb, which may have been
part of the skeleton.
55. Near the decorated tomb was another with a
brick lining, plastered over with mud, but no colour
had been used. This had been plundered, nothing
remaining but a few coarse jars.
At a short distance to the south of the decorated
tomb there was one with the southern part divided off
into two small compartments by low walls. The
pots and other offerings which these compartments
held had all been stolen, only a few fragments of
pottery being left.
The rest of the graves were mere rough rectangular
excavations in the hard desert sand varying in depth
from 2*0 m. to 0*5 m. The roofs had in many
instances been made of wood as the remains of the
ends of the beams were found in some cases. In one
grave the roof was supported by wooden columns
the holes into which their bases fitted still remaining ;
this grave is shown on PL. LXVII. Nearly all had
been robbed, and most of those that had escaped con-
tained little except pottery.
The general orientation is very roughly north and
south ; but no special care seems to have been taken,
as some of the examples deviate very considerably
from this line, and a few are east and west, these
latter being small rather shapeless and shallow
excavations.
From the graves that were more or less untouched
the objects shown on PL. LXIV. were recovered.
They belong to types already known except the
bowl 1, which resembles the pottery found in the
Pan-Graves at Hu : but there is no doubt that this
example belongs to the prehistoric and not to the
later period, as all the objects associated with it were
prehistoric, and the grave itself appears to have been
untouched.
The spheroidal spindle whorls shown on the same
plate should be contrasted with those of hemispherical
shape from the town and temple areas, belonging to
the early dynastic period.
Besides the main prehistoric cemetery, close to
the cultivation, there is another smaller one at the
mouth of the valley south of the rock-cut tombs of
the New Kingdom and extending some way up it.
Two or three isolated graves, containing nothing
but the skeleton and a few rough pots, were found
half way between the sandstone cliffs and the southern
end of the cemetery.
The tomb shown at the bottom of Pl. LXVII I. is
situated at about two-thirds of the way towards the
fort from the decorated tomb, and near to a group of
tombs of later date than the Old Kingdom. The
tomb appears to belong to the late prehistoric or
early historic period, but it may be later.
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