DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4664#0030
KOM EL AHMAR.
25
massive walls of unbaked brick, panelled on the
outside, a thinner outer wall, and a large gateway ;
a building of the same type as the Shunet ez Zebib
at Abydos.
North and south along the edge of the fields the
desert is seen to be much dug over by sebakh diggers
and dealers. Hundreds of archaic graves lie open,
and fragments of pottery and stone vases strew the
soil ; all the damage has been done within the last
ten years.
Close to the fort on the W. is the low hill in
which are the two well-known decorated tombs of the
Old Kingdom ; and further to the W., at a distance
of twenty minutes' walk up the dry stream bed, is
another series of sandstone hills, in one of which can
be seen the row of entrances to the group of XVIIIth
Dynasty tombs.
Over all the ground for two miles N. and S. of
the fort, some search was made; but the results,
though not devoid of interest, showed that the
ravages of the Theban dealers had been more ex-
tensive than was expected, and that but little of the
cemetery had been left.
61. The fort was first examined to see if its
nature and date could readily be ascertained ; but
here the sebakhin have actually dug to a greater
depth than the foot of the wall; so that, except at
the S. end where there is a mass of fallen brickwork,
no remains of the same date as the wall were expected.
Some archaic graves lie under the walls, and in the
same place are some of the same tiny trenches with
branches at right angles, such as were found beneath
an archaic village at Ballas.
They are about 10 cm. in width and depth, and
may have served for the footing of wattle-and-daub
walls. The mud of which the bricks are made con-
tains fragments of archaic pottery, and this is the
only evidence of their date that was found.
62. To the E. of the fort is the low red mound
which is sometimes called specially Kom el Ahmar.
It consists almost entirely of fragments of pottery
of the common Old Kingdom types, mixed with a
few pieces of the red and black archaic ware. These
lie heaped over a group of buildings with bee-hive
domes, and small square doors high up on the S. side,
no doubt granaries.
The fragments seem to have been thrown out from
a kiln, but the granaries are of unburnt brick, and
show no trace of fire. The two dug out were filled
with clean sand. The bedding of the layers of pot-
sherds shows that the granaries have not been built
in pits dug in the mound, but that the broken pottery
has been heaped round them. They must then
belong to the early Old Kingdom, and be among the
oldest of non-funerary monuments. There was
originally a group of twelve or more of these build-
ings, but all but three or four have been carried away
by sebakhin.
63. Immediately to the north of the fort, and of
this mound, is an area which once contained archaic
tombs, but is now completely dug out. Then comes
a group of three small mounds of brickwork which
were clearly mastabas.
Of these the largest, that to the W., when dug
out, displayed a plan of some interest. It is a stair-
way tomb with a small chamber below ground to the
S. The space between the two surrounding walls is
divided into chambers by half-partition walls, but
these chambers contained nothing but filling, and in
the stairway and chamber below were fragments of
alabaster cylinder-jars, and of the common coarse
pots of the Old Kingdom.
Of the other two mastabas one had a central well
instead of a stairway ; both contained fragments of
diorite and limestone vases, but no inscribed object,
nor anything which would differentiate them from
any other mastaba : and the outer sides of the mass
of brick were so cut away by sebakhin that it was
impossible to trace them.
One point, however, of great interest rewarded our
work here. The stairway of the E. mastaba appeared
to be not quite in the centre of the building ; there
might, it seemed, be another well hidden by the un-
touched brickwork ; so a trench was driven right
through the centre of the structure from the N. side,
and under the mastaba, and on the untouched surface
of the desert was found a plaque of green glaze like
that shown in Pl. XVIII. 2. (The photograph is
taken from another plaque found afterwards below
the temple.)
The plaque is oblong, slightly convex in front,
with a projection behind pierced with a hole for
wiring, and is exactly like the famous plaques from
the step pyramid of Saqqara, which are now at Berlin.
The position shows beyond doubt that the plaque is
not later than the Old Kingdom.
64. Further to the N. are other small patches of
cemetery : the graves are not found on the lowest
ground, but on the low black mounds of clay, which
form in many places in Upper Egypt a noticeable
feature of the strip of desert that borders on the
cultivation. These mounds appear to be made of
E
25
massive walls of unbaked brick, panelled on the
outside, a thinner outer wall, and a large gateway ;
a building of the same type as the Shunet ez Zebib
at Abydos.
North and south along the edge of the fields the
desert is seen to be much dug over by sebakh diggers
and dealers. Hundreds of archaic graves lie open,
and fragments of pottery and stone vases strew the
soil ; all the damage has been done within the last
ten years.
Close to the fort on the W. is the low hill in
which are the two well-known decorated tombs of the
Old Kingdom ; and further to the W., at a distance
of twenty minutes' walk up the dry stream bed, is
another series of sandstone hills, in one of which can
be seen the row of entrances to the group of XVIIIth
Dynasty tombs.
Over all the ground for two miles N. and S. of
the fort, some search was made; but the results,
though not devoid of interest, showed that the
ravages of the Theban dealers had been more ex-
tensive than was expected, and that but little of the
cemetery had been left.
61. The fort was first examined to see if its
nature and date could readily be ascertained ; but
here the sebakhin have actually dug to a greater
depth than the foot of the wall; so that, except at
the S. end where there is a mass of fallen brickwork,
no remains of the same date as the wall were expected.
Some archaic graves lie under the walls, and in the
same place are some of the same tiny trenches with
branches at right angles, such as were found beneath
an archaic village at Ballas.
They are about 10 cm. in width and depth, and
may have served for the footing of wattle-and-daub
walls. The mud of which the bricks are made con-
tains fragments of archaic pottery, and this is the
only evidence of their date that was found.
62. To the E. of the fort is the low red mound
which is sometimes called specially Kom el Ahmar.
It consists almost entirely of fragments of pottery
of the common Old Kingdom types, mixed with a
few pieces of the red and black archaic ware. These
lie heaped over a group of buildings with bee-hive
domes, and small square doors high up on the S. side,
no doubt granaries.
The fragments seem to have been thrown out from
a kiln, but the granaries are of unburnt brick, and
show no trace of fire. The two dug out were filled
with clean sand. The bedding of the layers of pot-
sherds shows that the granaries have not been built
in pits dug in the mound, but that the broken pottery
has been heaped round them. They must then
belong to the early Old Kingdom, and be among the
oldest of non-funerary monuments. There was
originally a group of twelve or more of these build-
ings, but all but three or four have been carried away
by sebakhin.
63. Immediately to the north of the fort, and of
this mound, is an area which once contained archaic
tombs, but is now completely dug out. Then comes
a group of three small mounds of brickwork which
were clearly mastabas.
Of these the largest, that to the W., when dug
out, displayed a plan of some interest. It is a stair-
way tomb with a small chamber below ground to the
S. The space between the two surrounding walls is
divided into chambers by half-partition walls, but
these chambers contained nothing but filling, and in
the stairway and chamber below were fragments of
alabaster cylinder-jars, and of the common coarse
pots of the Old Kingdom.
Of the other two mastabas one had a central well
instead of a stairway ; both contained fragments of
diorite and limestone vases, but no inscribed object,
nor anything which would differentiate them from
any other mastaba : and the outer sides of the mass
of brick were so cut away by sebakhin that it was
impossible to trace them.
One point, however, of great interest rewarded our
work here. The stairway of the E. mastaba appeared
to be not quite in the centre of the building ; there
might, it seemed, be another well hidden by the un-
touched brickwork ; so a trench was driven right
through the centre of the structure from the N. side,
and under the mastaba, and on the untouched surface
of the desert was found a plaque of green glaze like
that shown in Pl. XVIII. 2. (The photograph is
taken from another plaque found afterwards below
the temple.)
The plaque is oblong, slightly convex in front,
with a projection behind pierced with a hole for
wiring, and is exactly like the famous plaques from
the step pyramid of Saqqara, which are now at Berlin.
The position shows beyond doubt that the plaque is
not later than the Old Kingdom.
64. Further to the N. are other small patches of
cemetery : the graves are not found on the lowest
ground, but on the low black mounds of clay, which
form in many places in Upper Egypt a noticeable
feature of the strip of desert that borders on the
cultivation. These mounds appear to be made of
E