DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49517#0052
24 HARVARD AFRICAN STUDIES
slate, red ferricrete sandstone, grey sandstone, alabaster (or crystalline quartzite), a hard,
fine, drab stone, and a hard, fine, yellow stone. The two latter occurred once each; and
each was, I think, some sort of sandstone. Although similar kinds of stone were used for
statues in Egypt, the characteristic Egyptian limestones and the Assuan granites are
wanting among the materials found at Kerma. The black serpentine, the blue-speckled
black serpentine, the alabaster, the ferricrete sandstone, and the fine, hard, yellow stone
(sandstone?), all occur in the shawwdbti- figures of Tirhaqa (Nuri Pyr. I). The greyish-
black granite is the same stone as that used in most of the statues of the kings of Ethiopia
found at Gebel Barkal dating from the reigns of Tirhaqa (688-663 b.c.), Tanutaman,
Senkamanseken, Anlaman, Aspalta, and Akhratan (ca. 350-300 b.c.); that is, down to
a time several centuries after the separation of Ethiopia from Egypt. Some of the Ethi-
opian royal statues (Atlanersa and Anlaman) and some of the Kerma figures are of the
grey Tombos granite. The Barkal stelae and the Nuri stelae are of the same stone as that
found in the granite quarries of Belial, south of Nuri, but none of the Kerma fragments were
of this stone. Slate was not a favorite material in the Ethiopian period; but in February,
1914, while riding from Kerma to Delgo (Sesi), I saw extensive beds of both the dark
amorphous slate and the green slate. This district is extremely rich in different colored
stones, and I shall never forget the narrow camel-track passing through the variegated
desert landscape. At one point I noted a black, a red, a green, a white, and a drab hill, all
visible from the same spot. One of the black hills which I examined more nearly was a
crackled mass of the black haematite such as was used for haematite beads (but not at
Kerma). Between Ferket and Kosheh, I also saw quartzite. I believe that every stone
used in the Kerma statues and statuettes may be found in or near the region of the Third
Cataract, and not one is necessarily of Egyptian origin.
(2) Distribution
The distribution of the fragments found at Kerma over the different parts of the site is
instructive. Six fragments were found on the surface or protruding from the surface layer
of drift-sand: a head of Amenemhat III (?), No. 12; part of a standing private statuette
with triangular apron, No. 36; part of a standing private statuette wrapped in a sheet,
No. 45; a fine shaved head, No. 66; and two fragments of heads not included in the list.
The head of Amenemhat was lying about fifty meters south of K II; No. 36 I picked up
myself, about one kilometer ESE of the cemetery; No. 45 was among the stones near the
middle of K IV; the shaved head I saw in place just showing in the surface between K III
and K IV; and the other two were west of K II. These fragments were all more or less
weathered and had probably been displaced in ancient times. At the Lower Deffufa (K I),
three fragments (Nos. 59, 63, and 71) were found in the loose upper debris, and Lepsius
picked up a hand on the surface. There is no reason for assigning to these a date differing
from the date of the fragments from the eastern part of the site. But it is impossible to
say whether the pieces from K I came from a temple now destroyed or from a workshop.
They may even have been brought there from the cemetery.
At the crude-brick building K II, eleven fragments were found in the debris in front —
Nos. 17, 31, 53, 57, 70, 80, four fragments of slate, and one of alabaster. In room A, were
found Nos. 16, 23, 25, 40, and 95; and in B, Nos. 9 and 67. Three of these were certainly
from royal statues or statuettes (Nos. 9, 16, and 17), while six (Nos. 25, 40, 53, 57, 67, and
slate, red ferricrete sandstone, grey sandstone, alabaster (or crystalline quartzite), a hard,
fine, drab stone, and a hard, fine, yellow stone. The two latter occurred once each; and
each was, I think, some sort of sandstone. Although similar kinds of stone were used for
statues in Egypt, the characteristic Egyptian limestones and the Assuan granites are
wanting among the materials found at Kerma. The black serpentine, the blue-speckled
black serpentine, the alabaster, the ferricrete sandstone, and the fine, hard, yellow stone
(sandstone?), all occur in the shawwdbti- figures of Tirhaqa (Nuri Pyr. I). The greyish-
black granite is the same stone as that used in most of the statues of the kings of Ethiopia
found at Gebel Barkal dating from the reigns of Tirhaqa (688-663 b.c.), Tanutaman,
Senkamanseken, Anlaman, Aspalta, and Akhratan (ca. 350-300 b.c.); that is, down to
a time several centuries after the separation of Ethiopia from Egypt. Some of the Ethi-
opian royal statues (Atlanersa and Anlaman) and some of the Kerma figures are of the
grey Tombos granite. The Barkal stelae and the Nuri stelae are of the same stone as that
found in the granite quarries of Belial, south of Nuri, but none of the Kerma fragments were
of this stone. Slate was not a favorite material in the Ethiopian period; but in February,
1914, while riding from Kerma to Delgo (Sesi), I saw extensive beds of both the dark
amorphous slate and the green slate. This district is extremely rich in different colored
stones, and I shall never forget the narrow camel-track passing through the variegated
desert landscape. At one point I noted a black, a red, a green, a white, and a drab hill, all
visible from the same spot. One of the black hills which I examined more nearly was a
crackled mass of the black haematite such as was used for haematite beads (but not at
Kerma). Between Ferket and Kosheh, I also saw quartzite. I believe that every stone
used in the Kerma statues and statuettes may be found in or near the region of the Third
Cataract, and not one is necessarily of Egyptian origin.
(2) Distribution
The distribution of the fragments found at Kerma over the different parts of the site is
instructive. Six fragments were found on the surface or protruding from the surface layer
of drift-sand: a head of Amenemhat III (?), No. 12; part of a standing private statuette
with triangular apron, No. 36; part of a standing private statuette wrapped in a sheet,
No. 45; a fine shaved head, No. 66; and two fragments of heads not included in the list.
The head of Amenemhat was lying about fifty meters south of K II; No. 36 I picked up
myself, about one kilometer ESE of the cemetery; No. 45 was among the stones near the
middle of K IV; the shaved head I saw in place just showing in the surface between K III
and K IV; and the other two were west of K II. These fragments were all more or less
weathered and had probably been displaced in ancient times. At the Lower Deffufa (K I),
three fragments (Nos. 59, 63, and 71) were found in the loose upper debris, and Lepsius
picked up a hand on the surface. There is no reason for assigning to these a date differing
from the date of the fragments from the eastern part of the site. But it is impossible to
say whether the pieces from K I came from a temple now destroyed or from a workshop.
They may even have been brought there from the cemetery.
At the crude-brick building K II, eleven fragments were found in the debris in front —
Nos. 17, 31, 53, 57, 70, 80, four fragments of slate, and one of alabaster. In room A, were
found Nos. 16, 23, 25, 40, and 95; and in B, Nos. 9 and 67. Three of these were certainly
from royal statues or statuettes (Nos. 9, 16, and 17), while six (Nos. 25, 40, 53, 57, 67, and