DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49516#0370
THE TUMULUS KX
279
It is of course probable that a good deal of the better-made pottery found in the corridor
around K X A, and especially west of it, should be reckoned to the equipment of the main
burial.
(3) Conclusions
The burial in K X differed from the burials in all the other great tumuli in having a
coffin-burial with a bed. The rest of the equipment was about the same as in K III and
K IV — statuettes, faience and stone vessels, and a boat-model. The use of the coffin-
burial, both in the main burial and in five subsidiary graves, indicates clearly an increase
of Egyptian influence at Kerma in this period.
3. THE SACRIFICIAL CORRIDOR, K X B
(1) The structure
As already stated, the long walls of the sacrificial corridor, K X B, were the first part of
the skeleton to be built and are founded on the alluvium. They are about 58 cm. thick (one
and one-half bricks, measuring 36 X 18 X 9 cm.) and have a slight batter on the side
towards the corridor. The faces of the wall were never plastered on either side and present
alternate header and stretcher courses in both faces. The southern wall is supported by
the short N-S walls which are half a brick wide (18 cm.) laid with scanty mud-mortar and
resting not on alluvium but on the old desert surface of sand. The western half of the north-
ern wall was supported partly by the older mass of brickwork and partly by the complex
of very short cross walls on the north. The eastern half of the northern wall from the older
mass of brickwork eastward was practically vertical and unsupported in any way. Both
parts of the north wall rested on debris, not on alluvium. Where the eastern part adjoined
the mass of brickwork, its foot was 61 cm. above the foot of the mass of brickwork, while
the foot of the western part in a corresponding place was about 25 cm. higher than the foot
of the older mass. The same relation held between the northern compartment walls and the
older mass, but here the compartment walls rested on the old surface-sand of the desert,
while the mass rested on alluvium. The debris on which the northern corridor wall rested
was mainly broken mud-brick, coming apparently from the partial destruction of the older
mass to make a passage for the corridor. The debris from this destruction was indeed spread
over the floor of the adjacent corridor so that the burial level, rising gently from the ends of
the corridor, passed over what was left of the older wall. The burial level was marked by
the usual brown organic stain. The following levels show the relations:
Western end of corridor: Meters
Present level of sandy surface outside. 228.75
Surface of alluvium outside. 227.88
Foot of N wall at end . 227.80
Foot of S wall at end. 227.82
Burial level: Ends of walls ca. 227.85
14 m. west of K X A. 227.87
Middle, 350 cm. from KXA. 228.16
Beside older massive wall . 228.35
On older massive wall . 228.39
279
It is of course probable that a good deal of the better-made pottery found in the corridor
around K X A, and especially west of it, should be reckoned to the equipment of the main
burial.
(3) Conclusions
The burial in K X differed from the burials in all the other great tumuli in having a
coffin-burial with a bed. The rest of the equipment was about the same as in K III and
K IV — statuettes, faience and stone vessels, and a boat-model. The use of the coffin-
burial, both in the main burial and in five subsidiary graves, indicates clearly an increase
of Egyptian influence at Kerma in this period.
3. THE SACRIFICIAL CORRIDOR, K X B
(1) The structure
As already stated, the long walls of the sacrificial corridor, K X B, were the first part of
the skeleton to be built and are founded on the alluvium. They are about 58 cm. thick (one
and one-half bricks, measuring 36 X 18 X 9 cm.) and have a slight batter on the side
towards the corridor. The faces of the wall were never plastered on either side and present
alternate header and stretcher courses in both faces. The southern wall is supported by
the short N-S walls which are half a brick wide (18 cm.) laid with scanty mud-mortar and
resting not on alluvium but on the old desert surface of sand. The western half of the north-
ern wall was supported partly by the older mass of brickwork and partly by the complex
of very short cross walls on the north. The eastern half of the northern wall from the older
mass of brickwork eastward was practically vertical and unsupported in any way. Both
parts of the north wall rested on debris, not on alluvium. Where the eastern part adjoined
the mass of brickwork, its foot was 61 cm. above the foot of the mass of brickwork, while
the foot of the western part in a corresponding place was about 25 cm. higher than the foot
of the older mass. The same relation held between the northern compartment walls and the
older mass, but here the compartment walls rested on the old surface-sand of the desert,
while the mass rested on alluvium. The debris on which the northern corridor wall rested
was mainly broken mud-brick, coming apparently from the partial destruction of the older
mass to make a passage for the corridor. The debris from this destruction was indeed spread
over the floor of the adjacent corridor so that the burial level, rising gently from the ends of
the corridor, passed over what was left of the older wall. The burial level was marked by
the usual brown organic stain. The following levels show the relations:
Western end of corridor: Meters
Present level of sandy surface outside. 228.75
Surface of alluvium outside. 227.88
Foot of N wall at end . 227.80
Foot of S wall at end. 227.82
Burial level: Ends of walls ca. 227.85
14 m. west of K X A. 227.87
Middle, 350 cm. from KXA. 228.16
Beside older massive wall . 228.35
On older massive wall . 228.39