DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49516#0140
88
HARVARD AFRICAN STUDIES
a series of ovals set with their long axes in one straight line and with their edges more or
less overlapping. Burials may have continued in one tumulus after the subsidiary burials
of another had begun; but the archaeological groups are, as already stated, quite distinct
as groups. Therefore if burials continued in one tumulus after the construction of its suc-
cessor, they could never have been very numerous and the fact would in no manner affect
the sequence of the archaeological groups, but only tend to emphasize the overlapping of
two contiguous ovals.
In order to grasp fully the nature of the progression which may be expected in this
series of archaeological groups, the nature of the Egypto-Nubian culture at Kerma must
be considered. Here was a colony of Egyptian officials, soldiers, and craftsmen holding a
conquered province. The utensils and the ceremonial objects of life were made, as will be
shown elsewhere, by Egyptian craftsmen living at Kerma. These men working on unac-
customed materials under the stimulus of unwonted sights and surroundings developed a
series of crafts of which the products of some followed closely the Egyptian models and of
others took forms never seen elsewhere. The same is true of all the practices resulting from
the Egyptian belief in life after death. All forms whether of objects or customs, in so far as
they depend on Egyptian traditions, may be assumed to have retained a relation to
Egyptian forms, and to have a stronger hold on usage. But those new customs and new
types of objects which for practical reasons had been introduced at Kerma, must be ex-
pected to follow the development of all new things in the Egyptian cemeteries. This is a
phenomenon which has been fully observed elsewhere, in the case of the bronze implements
and weapons, the stone vessels, and the wheel-made pottery.1 When objects of new types
have been adopted for the necessities of daily life, these objects, or rather their spirit forms,
are accepted certainly within a short time as necessary to life after death and therefore
appear in the graves as part of the burial furniture. But the older objects which have be-
come traditional by long custom do not at once disappear. For example, in Egypt, large
flint knives continued to be made for the graves and probably also for ceremonial sacri-
ficial purposes long after they had been replaced in practical usage by copper knives;
hand-made pottery continued to be made for the burial outfit, long after the practicable
pottery was formed on the wheel, and even manifest imitations of hand-made pottery for
these traditional-ceremonial purposes were actually made on the wheel. It may be laid
down as a principle that when objects of ceremonial-traditional character continue in use
after the cessation of their practical use in daily life, and are thus made especially for placing
in the graves, these objects tend to deteriorate, in part from loss of craftsmanship and
in part from the common desire for cheapness. Cheap imitative forms, such as the wheel-
made imitations of hand-made pottery, become numerous especially in the poorer graves.
This has been fully established from the Egyptian evidence in Egypt;2 and at Kerma, the
community was an Egyptian colony. While a craft is in a living and creative state, work-
ing for the needs of daily life, there will always be changes of form, due to adaptation to
present needs or to the taste of the consumer; but in general the quality will be well main-
tained. Burial customs, once introduced, tend to develop chiefly along the line indicated
by the desire for ostentation, but are limited always by the technical powers and material
resources of the community.3 Thus when the powers of a community are failing, the osten-
1 For the comment on the pottery types V, VI, and XXIX, see Naga-’d-Der, I, pp. 132-135, and pp. 92-99.
2 Ibid. 3 Cf. Naga-’d-Der, I, pp. 11-14.
HARVARD AFRICAN STUDIES
a series of ovals set with their long axes in one straight line and with their edges more or
less overlapping. Burials may have continued in one tumulus after the subsidiary burials
of another had begun; but the archaeological groups are, as already stated, quite distinct
as groups. Therefore if burials continued in one tumulus after the construction of its suc-
cessor, they could never have been very numerous and the fact would in no manner affect
the sequence of the archaeological groups, but only tend to emphasize the overlapping of
two contiguous ovals.
In order to grasp fully the nature of the progression which may be expected in this
series of archaeological groups, the nature of the Egypto-Nubian culture at Kerma must
be considered. Here was a colony of Egyptian officials, soldiers, and craftsmen holding a
conquered province. The utensils and the ceremonial objects of life were made, as will be
shown elsewhere, by Egyptian craftsmen living at Kerma. These men working on unac-
customed materials under the stimulus of unwonted sights and surroundings developed a
series of crafts of which the products of some followed closely the Egyptian models and of
others took forms never seen elsewhere. The same is true of all the practices resulting from
the Egyptian belief in life after death. All forms whether of objects or customs, in so far as
they depend on Egyptian traditions, may be assumed to have retained a relation to
Egyptian forms, and to have a stronger hold on usage. But those new customs and new
types of objects which for practical reasons had been introduced at Kerma, must be ex-
pected to follow the development of all new things in the Egyptian cemeteries. This is a
phenomenon which has been fully observed elsewhere, in the case of the bronze implements
and weapons, the stone vessels, and the wheel-made pottery.1 When objects of new types
have been adopted for the necessities of daily life, these objects, or rather their spirit forms,
are accepted certainly within a short time as necessary to life after death and therefore
appear in the graves as part of the burial furniture. But the older objects which have be-
come traditional by long custom do not at once disappear. For example, in Egypt, large
flint knives continued to be made for the graves and probably also for ceremonial sacri-
ficial purposes long after they had been replaced in practical usage by copper knives;
hand-made pottery continued to be made for the burial outfit, long after the practicable
pottery was formed on the wheel, and even manifest imitations of hand-made pottery for
these traditional-ceremonial purposes were actually made on the wheel. It may be laid
down as a principle that when objects of ceremonial-traditional character continue in use
after the cessation of their practical use in daily life, and are thus made especially for placing
in the graves, these objects tend to deteriorate, in part from loss of craftsmanship and
in part from the common desire for cheapness. Cheap imitative forms, such as the wheel-
made imitations of hand-made pottery, become numerous especially in the poorer graves.
This has been fully established from the Egyptian evidence in Egypt;2 and at Kerma, the
community was an Egyptian colony. While a craft is in a living and creative state, work-
ing for the needs of daily life, there will always be changes of form, due to adaptation to
present needs or to the taste of the consumer; but in general the quality will be well main-
tained. Burial customs, once introduced, tend to develop chiefly along the line indicated
by the desire for ostentation, but are limited always by the technical powers and material
resources of the community.3 Thus when the powers of a community are failing, the osten-
1 For the comment on the pottery types V, VI, and XXIX, see Naga-’d-Der, I, pp. 132-135, and pp. 92-99.
2 Ibid. 3 Cf. Naga-’d-Der, I, pp. 11-14.