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Mahasna and Bet Khallaf
CHAPTER V.
THE TOMBS K 3, K 4, and K 5 (sections 43-47; Pls. 24-31)
43.
Situated slightly to the east of the tomb of Neter-Khet were three
private tombs of the same age. They were related to it in the nature of
their construction, by the character of their deposits, and also in the
references on the sealings within them. Of these, two were at a
distance of some four or five hundred metres only. The third was
farther removed, by half the distance to the cultivated lands; it was
of more elaborate character, both in construction and in furniture, and
proved to be the burial-place of a Ha- Prince of the time.
Of
the two that are near to one another, numbered K 3 and K 4, the former
is the larger, its superstructure covering twice the area occupied by
the latter. In both cases the surface-bricks had been so far removed
that it was impossible to recover the plan of any chapel or accessory
building that had been raised upon the tomb; but in each case a
quantity of chipped limestone on the east side, towards the south end,
gave indication of a former construction built of that material. The
smaller tomb, K 4, was surrounded by the foundations of a wall
enclosing it on all sides, with an internal stuccoed face; its position
is shown on the plan of PL.XXV. In both tombs the descent to the
chambers was direct, and the door below was closed by a large stone
dropped down from above by means of guides grooved in the sides of the
shaft. In the larger tomb the passage was cut down through the firm
desert, and its floor was nicked horizontally at intervals to prevent
slipping. In the smaller tomb the steeper descent was built of brick at
the top, with thirteen steps below cut out in the desert. Both of these
approaches are illustrated by (p.15) the photographs shown on PL.XXIV.
The sides of both passages are cut down at a slight slope, which
becomes conspicuous as the shafts deepen.
44. In the tomb K 3
there are three chambers: two open out from the passage which leads
from the door, and were found to contain vases and tables of alabaster,
pottery, and some copper implements, of the types illustrated. The
third chamber was larger, formed by the widening out of the passage at
its end, and, as in the tomb K 2, was on the western side. This was the
burial chamber: a small recess had been cut in the floor to receive the
coffin, which had apparently been of wood, but was destroyed. The bones
and skull of the burial remained in fair preservation. The furniture of
this tomb was chiefly remarkable for the unusual size of some of the
vessels and tables of offerings; an example of each kind is outlined,
the former on PL.XXVII, No. 14, and the latter on Pl.XXIX., No. 6. In
the other tomb, K 4, there was a slight difference in the arrangement
of the chambers, but the same general plan was carried out. Within
these were three small recesses for offerings, and the burial chamber
opened out in a similar situation beyond. A single sealing of rough
characters only was legible, giving reference to the King Neter-Khet.
45.
Of the bones recovered from the tomb K 3, the measures of which have
already been tabulated in section 42, Dr. C. S. Myers writes :—
"The
skull is intact save for a broken mandible and left pterion, and the
loss of teeth. It is capacious, but somewhat lightly built. It is of
the forma beloides (Sergi) in vertical view. The frontal region is very
narrow, the parietal region is correspondingly broad between the
eminences. In side view the frontal eminences are strongly developed;
between them and the well marked glabella is an obvious depression.
Ill-defmed supra-orbital ridges are present over the inner third of the
orbits. From the glabella the profile line passes without sensible
depression down to the nasion. The nasal bones are short, and highly
concave. The nasal spine is moderately developed. The face is
orthognathous. The temporal crests are very faintly marked. The mastoid
processes are of average size. The profile curve is long and low,
taking an almost vertical direction below the parietal foramina down to
25 m.m. below the lambda, whence it passes in a long straight line
downwards and forwards. The pterion on each side is in H. Seen from
behind, the parietal eminences are high, large, and round, giving the
norma occipitalis a rounded pentagonal shape. The parieto-occipital
sutures, like the anterior part of the interparietal suture, are very
complicated. The superior nuchal line is exceedingly prominent,
terminating at its middle in a projecting spur. Seen from below, the
skull presents unusually deep depressions behind the occipital
condyles. The inter-maxillary and palato-maxillary sutures are open;
the basi-sphenoid suture is closed. The third right upper molar is just
appearing; the corresponding left upper molar is absent. All the
remaining molars and two left upper bicuspids are present. From in
front the forehead appears high, full, but narrow. The nasal bones are
very narrow, rounded, and somewhat fiat. The lower margins of the nasal
apertures are well defined. The cheek-bones are small and widely set;'
the zygomatic arches are not powerfully developed. The mandible is a
slight, weakly-ridged bone."
46. The remaining one of these
three tombs, number K 5, is situated apart, somewhat conspicuously upon
the plain, between the group of tombs and the cultivation. It is in
every way larger than the group of tombs K 3, K 4, covering an area
almost as great as that of Hen-Nekht, K 2, and in several parts of its
construction showing features of interest not preserved by any of the
others. Like the other private tombs, the descent to its chambers was
straight, or that portion of it which may have existed in the
superstructure had been denuded. It consisted of two flights of stairs,
with a horizontal footway in the middle, the portion marked be in the
section AB on Pl.XXV. The sides of the passage were strongly walled
with brick to a depth of about 10 feet, to support a roof which had
covered its whole length. In the course of time this had collapsed, and
its bricks were found lying upon the floor of the passage. Sufficient
remained, however, of the courses from which it sprang, to show the
manner in which it had been constructed; a photograph is reproduced on
Pl.XXIV. It was built on the principle of the false arch, of
overhanging bricks, the opposite sides supporting one another when
united by mutual pressure.
47. As usual, a large stone
protected the doorway. It was avoided on this occasion by forcing an
entrance from above it, a course which the nature of the desert did not
permit in all cases. The chambers within were found to have been
anciently plundered by a vertical hole sunk from above. [The same
course is found to have been taken in some of the tombs in the
necropolis of this period at Reqaqnah, some two (p.16) miles to the
north, which was excavated in the following year. It was, as a rule,
the plunderer's most expeditious method of reaching the
burial-chambers, and so preserved considerable portions of the tombs
undisturbed.] In this case only there seems to have been provision made
for a double burial; the one in a chamber as usual at the end of the
underground passage, to the west; another in a large chamber to the
immediate east of the entrance.
This latter had been
apparently a secondary consideration; its two chambers contained
deposits of alabaster and pottery of the characteristic forms of the
III Dynasty, but no sealings or well-fashioned bowls such as furnished
the chief burial in the remoter chamber. From this one there came, on
the other hand, some vessels of finer quality than any others found on
the site. These are illustrated by the photographs on PL.XXV., and the
typical outlines appear in numbers 1-8 on Pl.XXVII. The three syenite
vases with small handles, while retaining the weight and solidity
characteristic of the period, are of special quality of work and of
stone. Two of them were selected for the museum at Cairo. The other
forms of the period, in alabaster and pottery, were plentiful; a number
of sealings refer to Nezm-Ankh, apparently a Ha-Prince of the time. The
name of Neter-Khet also appears on an interesting sealing reproduced on
Pl.XXVI., No. 8.
CHAPTER VI.
ARCHAEOLOGICAL TYPES OF THE THIRD DYNASTY (sections 48-54).
The Tombs (Pls.VII., XVIII., XXV).
48.
With only five tombs of the III Dynasty excavated, at the time this
chapter was written, and these confined to one locality, it is
impossible to speak of the types found in them as necessarily
prevailing throughout the whole period, or indeed to regard the results
as otherwise than tentative and perhaps local. The excavation of the
necropolis at Reqaqnah, two miles to the north, will probably show,
when the results are analysed, to what extent and throughout what
period the types here illustrated may be considered to have prevailed.
But the fact that no other tombs of the III Dynasty have previously
been recognised, and the complete blank that has been hitherto in the
history of that age, render it desirable to publish these results, so
far as they lead, independently, even though some of the questions of
detail have not yet received that consideration which must ultimately
be given to them.
49. The tomb of Neter-Khet is first to
be noted, alike on account of the complexity of its design, as of the
great size and new features observable in its construction. The change
from the characteristic forms of the largest tombs of the 1st and Ilnd
Dynasties is apparently so great that at first glance it is difficult
to perceive any relation between them. The smaller tombs K 3 and K 4,
however, help materially to show the connection.
It is
unnecessary, and it would be speculative, to attempt to trace the
development in detail: a glance at a few characteristic earlier tombs
in sequence, however, is interesting. In the season 1900-01 Messrs.
Randall-Maclver and Wilkin, working at El Amrah, to the south of
Abydos, were enabled to follow the links, and connecting the simple
form of the predynastic grave with a class of tomb which in the 1st
Dynasty seems to have been typical of the more important burials, they
were able to trace the stages by which the burial chamber became
enlarged and made rectangular, and finally divided into separate
compartments, the larger one for the chief burial, the smaller for the
accessories. The whole was roofed over with timber and mud, and in many
cases a descending passage led down to it from without.
The
tombs of Den-Setui and Oa-Sen at Abydos show a further development of
this form, as may be seen in Professor Petrie's Royal Tombs, II.,
PL.LXII, and I., PL.LX. After descent of the stairway, the effect of
entering the tomb (roofed over as it was with wood and mud, and covered
probably with drifted sand) must have been exactly that of entering an
underground chamber. The difference between this type and that of the
tombs K 3, K 4, becomes one of construction only; the chamber was
hollowed out in the desert, leaving a natural roof above it. Possibly
the ease with which a wooden roof might be entered, and the tomb
robbed, had led to the change. The same cause probably led to the
closing of the doorway by a stone, and to the deepening of the passage,
so securing a greater thickness of roof. The tomb K 1 is exceptional,
yet it is already linked with the type. Its every feature is a
development on the same principles, prompted by the same causes. Only
the chambers are more numerous, the passage is larger and deeper, the
doors are more ponderous and (p.17) above all to give final strength
and effect to the tomb. Thus protected, with its passages and shafts
sealed up and disguised, it may well have been regarded as the most
secure burial place existing in Egypt at the time. A stone pyramid
could hardly have been more deceptive or difficult to enter than this
great tomb, which, though it had been once previously opened, at this
the second attempt, with a gang of sixty men, for seven weeks defied an
entrance.
The Hard Stone Bowls (Plates XI, XII.; XX.; XXIV., XXVII).
50.
There was a general similarity between the bowls from all the tombs. An
exception perhaps was the case of three vases of syenite found in tomb
K 5, of a form not appearing, in that stone at any rate, in the other
tombs. Syenite of various qualities was the most abundant of all the
hard stones : porphyry also was common, but breccia was more rare.
There are in the main three chief features distinguishing the types,
{a) the curve of the outline, (b) the shape of the rim, and (c) the
proportional height of the vessels. Among the vessels discovered the
first of these features showed little variation, nearly all being
worked to a slight but regular convex curve, increasing towards the
top. The second feature was represented by two classes, the one
provided with an in-curving lip on the inner side, the other having no
such lip, but ending smoothly from the inner as well as the outer
sectional curve. The shapes of the lips in the former class showed some
variety; and this variation, together with the third chief feature,
which was also variable, serves best to define the types. The essential
difference, for instance, between the forms 10 and 12 on Pl.XII., apart
from the quality of the material, lies in the nature of their rims :
but between 12 and 7 it lies in the differing proportional heights, as
between 10 and 8. The bases of all these vessels were flat, some by
obvious design, as Nos. 4 and 6; others seemingly with the outer curve
merely flattened at the bottom, as No. 2 on the same plate. With regard
to this series of bowls, numerous though they were, it is noticeable
how small is the essential variety in their types. Their forms also are
not new, being prevalent also generally during the 1st and Ilnd
Dynasties; even at that early date they may be regarded as survivals of
still earlier forms of the pre-dynastic period, as may be seen from the
numerous examples found at Abydos (PETRIE, Royal Tombs, II.) and at
Naqada (PETRIE and QuiBELL).
The three forms in syenite
outlined on PL.XXVII., numbered 1, 2, and 3, from tomb K 5, and the
breccia bowl from the tomb of Hen-Nekht, Pl.XVII., are also of known
types, lasting an earlier date, and continuing to prevail in general
through the time of the Old Kingdom.
The Vessels and Tables of Alabaster (Plates XIII., XIV.; XXI, XXII.; XXVII, XXIX).
51.
The same remarks apply to the vessels of alabaster: the forms outlined
on Pl.XIII. and XIV. (excepting those numbered 9, 13, 14 and 25), as
well as those on Pl.XXI, as far as number 8, are in many cases almost
the same as the prevailing types of the hard stone bowls. But this
alabaster being far commoner has proportionately a greater variety of
form. The tall cylindrical vessel of alabaster, numbered 9 of finely
polished surface, with a rope pattern below the rim, is of a type well
known in the preceding dynasties. It occurred only in a few examples in
these tombs, though models of this type, with surface hardly smoothed
and the inside in many cases hardly worked at all, abounded by
hundreds: a selected series of types of these is given on
PL.XXII.
Spouted vessels are features of the
deposits; they occurred in both large tombs, but in particular were
noticeable in that of Hen-Nekht, both of alabaster and of copper. The
shape of spout is not always the same : in the cases numbered 13 on
Pls.IX. and XXI. they are short and open; that numbered 14 on the
former plate, from tombs 1 and 2, is smaller and with narrower channel.
But a more prevailing and interesting form occurs in the cases 10 and
12 on Pl.XXI. as it does in the copper vessel found in the same tomb.
In these cases the spout has two channels, connected with the inside by
small round holes, and being prolonged externally, extend some way
without cover. The tomb K 5 on the whole revealed the greatest variety
of types. In the alabaster vessels numbered 5 and 6 on Pl.XXVII there
is a noticeable resemblance to forms dating so far back as the graves
of Naqada. The large base 15 again is indicative of the large vessels
of alabaster that have been recovered at various times from the
necropolis of Abydos. Another feature of these deposits of the III
Dynasty was the great number and variety of the tables of offerings.
They were always made of alabaster; in some cases the stem was cut in
one block with the table; in other cases it was a separate piece
attached sometimes by cement. The tables were in nearly all cases found
shattered, particularly {p.18) those which had the leg as an intrinsic
part. They had evidently been piled with offerings, and the liquid Nile
mud had poured down the stairway (in which they chiefly abounded) and
had splintered them the more.
The Implements of Copper (Plates XVI. and XXIII).
52.
The two royal tombs contained an interesting series of small copper
implements in considerable quantity. The real objects were more
plentiful than the thin models which abounded in the earlier kings'
tombs. On Pl.XVI, amongst those from the tomb of Neter-Khet may be
specially noticed the three knives, 1, 2, and 14, the first of which
had become bent and corroded, while the last has a nicely riveted
handle. Among the chisels, 23 and 24 are the strongest forms, recurring
in the examples 13, 30, 31. Numbers 6, 10, II, 25, and 26 form another
type of which 7, 19, and 29 appear to be rough castings to which parts
of the mould still adhere. The axes 21 and 22 are so thin that they are
possibly to be regarded as models. The implements are arranged in
groups according to the chambers in which they were found. Numbers
14-18, for instance, marked [a], and 23-31, marked [b], are from
consecutive portions of the main passage leading to the burial
chamber.
The group from tomb K 2 figured in
Pl.XXIII, includes a number of similar types; the two axes 25 and 26
are thicker and of more serviceable character, and there are also some
riveted fittings, possibly from the coffin itself. The two chisels from
the tomb K 4, however, are the best of all that were found, and the
fine saw-model from tomb K 5 is also of special interest.
The Flint Implements (Plates XV., XX).
53.
From the vicinity of Neter-Khet's tomb there came a variety of rough
flints (palaeolithic in appearance); while from within the tomb came
some of finer workmanship and interesting in form. They are all figured
on Pl.XV. Of the two knives shown in the left hand photo at the bottom,
that with a handle, which is upright, is somewhat rough, and one edge
has been worn down as though by scraping. The back of the blade is
noticeably concave. The other (in the top of the same photograph) is of
better finish, the cutting edge being worked somewhat finely; but the
handle is broken away, anciently, as it seems. These two knives were
both found in a deposit on one of the steps descending through the
superstructure of the tomb, low down near the first archway. Small
flakes or worked pieces like those shown at the top on the right hand
are already known in the earliest dynasties : see, for instance, Royal
Tombs, II., Pl.XXXIII.
The crescent-shaped flints below
are of special interest. Not only were they found in great quantity and
variety near to the tomb, and particularly to its east, but four of a
similar shape were discovered within the burial chamber itself. A
selection of these "Flints from the vicinity of the tomb" is shown in
the group photograph on PL.XV. They are all brown in colour, with a
surface polished by continual drift of sand blowing over them. The two
found within the tomb, on the other hand (shown on a larger scale with
the knives already mentioned), are pale in colour and of rough surface,
having been subjected to none of the natural agencies that had affected
the others. Similar crescent flints were found during the past season
by Professor Petrie within the early temenos of Abydos (see PETRIE:
Abydos, XXVI., 305-314); while Drs. Grenfell and Hunt have observed
them commonly in the Fayum lying about on the open desert.
Below
is a group of larger hand weapons of flint, with rough point and edge.
They were found on the surface of the desert in the neighbourhood (in
which natural flint is plentiful), but they are not necessarily
connected in date with the tomb.
Another interesting
flint is that which is figured on PL.XX., on the left hand side at the
bottom. It may be conveniently called a "gun flint," from its shape.
Several good examples were found in the burial chamber within the tomb
of Hen-Nekht. It is of rectangular form, with each edge cleanly
bevelled, without rippling: its exact use is not apparent.
The Pottery (Plates XXX., XXXI).
54.
As in the case of the vessels of stone, so with the pottery, the
numerous fragments seemed to belong to a few standard types. The three
forms at the bottom of PL. XXX., numbered 18, 19, and 20, seem to be
more unusual; but the remainder are found freely in earlier times. The
type 31, for instance, a rough pot of porous brown earthenware, of
which 32-38 are deviations, has its prototype in the pre-dynastic
period. No. 28 occurs in the 1st Dynasty (cf. Petrie's Royal Tombs, I.,
No. 27), as do 13 and 17 (ib. 146) and 16 (lb. 19).
36.
The superstructure of this tomb was not, apparently, a mastaba of
ordinary character. Though so ruinous that it was difficult to discern
more than its outline amid the mass of brick-work, yet it had seemingly
been built up originally in steps, after the manner shown in the
photographs of its eastern side, on Pl.17. Its analogy with the form
of the step pyramid at Saqqara is striking. The whole rested upon a low
platform of brick laid upon the desert. On the east there was some sign
of an ancient pathway leading towards but not up to the building.
At
the southern end two narrow walls, projecting perpendicular to the
face, enclosed between them (as may be seen in the plan on PL. XVIII.)
a recess the use of which was not apparent. A smaller enclosure, built
of a single thickness of bricks in the angle formed where the easterly
wall joined the main building, was found to contain deposits of various
forms of pottery. The divisions marked E F on the plan represent the
position occupied by the rising portion of the steps, as illustrated by
the section C D.
37. The main passage begins to descend at the
point a, which is somewhat confused; then turns southward at b,
descending from that point below the desert level. At c it is blocked
by a great mass of stone, neatly fitted into position, as shown in the
photograph on Pl.17. It was found by excavation from within that this
stone covered the mouth of an arched passage, which led down from this
point to the well beyond, where another slab d further barred the way.
This stone was of great size, being 17 feet high and 8 to 9 feet wide,
with a thickness in places of 2 feet. By scraping a hole under its
middle, leaving the outer edges resting upon the sand, it was possible
to creep through, and so enter the chambers beyond. These are outlined
by a white line in the plan, and their vertical depth is shown on the
section A B below.
Plate 19: Seal impressions from the tomb of Hen-Nekht at Bet Khallaf.
Here were found in
confusion the remains of a stout wooden coffin (its fragments destroyed
by the white ant) and the bones of a man. Dr. C. S. Myers, who has
examined these in detail, and whose notes thereon are appended to the
end of the present chapter, writes that " the skull is extraordinarily
massive, remarkably long, and with marked grooves and ridges. . . . We
shall not be far wrong if we conclude that the stature of Hen-Nekht was
1860 millimetres (or 6 feet 1 inch). The skeletal stature thus appears
to have been 200 millimetres greater than that of the average
prehistoric or early empire Egyptian."
The tomb contained
deposits of alabaster and copper vessels, illustrated on Pls. 20b, 22
and 23, also some flint and copper implements and pottery; which
will be comparatively treated of in Chapter VII; and further a few
fragmentary seal impressions, bearing a royal name, possibly Hen-Nekht,
as shown in facsimile on Pl.19. One fragment, No. 7, may be part of
an oval cartouche; if so it is the earliest yet recorded, but unhappily
it falls short of giving the necessary clue to the identity of this
king.
39. The very stature indicated by his bones, however,
may provide a clue. A height of 20 cms. (nearly 8 inches) more than the
average of his time, must have constituted him conspicuous among men.
Professor Sayce, upon seeing the bones before measurement, was so
struck by their remarkable strength, that he immediately recalled the
passages in Manetho and Eratosthenes giving mention of one (or two)
giant kings of the period. The names given by these historians are
Sesochris and Momcheiri; but the question of his identity from this
coincidence is hardly an archaeological problem.
Plate 21: Types of alabaster vessels from the tomb of Hen-Nekht at Bet Khallaf.
41. The other series of chambers in the
northern portion of the tomb, as has been indicated, contained no
deposits. The descent to them was similar and better preserved : it
showed that, as in the tomb K 1, the original direction of the first
few steps, g-g, was to the north; at h there was a similar turn to the
south, but no stone blocked the passage at K.
Plate 22: Model cylindrical vases of alabaster, 3rd Dynasty, Bet Khallaf.
Here was (and still
remains) an archway of singularly perfect construction and
preservation. It consists of fifteen bricks, most of which have been
purposely shaped as voussoirs. This has been effected in a few
instances by chipping the ordinary form of brick, but more often by
adding a wedge-thickening of mud and allowing it to dry on and harden
before use for building. They fit together nicely, and form an arch
which is, roughly, the third of a circle. The course is single; and the
bricks of the wall are built up to it in horizontal courses, the
interstices being filled with broken pieces and hard mud. Passing down,
it is seen that the barrel roof consists of three successive descending
portions, to follow the steep angle of the passage floor.
Plate 23: Copper implements and fittings from the tomb of Hen-Nekht at Bet Khallaf.
By this instance the
whole process by which these tombs were designed to be protected was
made clear. The funeral ceremony performed, and the pathway laden with
offerings, the slender walls of brick were removed, and the great
stones fell into position before the successive doors, sliding in their
grooves. The wells were then filled with mud of a hard and tenacious
quality. The surface over all was probably bricked up, to finally
conceal the approaches to the tomb. In this way the broken and pounded
state of many of the objects is accounted for; for these passages had
not for the most part been previously dug out so as to clean the steps,
former plunderers having been content to make speculative holes through
the solid mass in the hope of reaching the burial and its jewels.
42. With regard to the bones recovered from this tomb, Dr. C. S. Myers kindly furnishes the following statement:—
"
The skeleton of Hen-Nekht is particularly interesting; for he is by far
the earliest king whose (p.13) remains have been found, and they are
the first which can with fair certainty be attributed to the III
Dynasty. The Cairo Museum now possesses his skull, two tibiae, his left
femur, left clavicle, and left humerus, together with fragments of
pelvis, scapulae, and fibulae.
Plate 20a: The skull from the tomb of Hen-Nekht at Bet Khallaf.
"The squamous portions of the
temporal bones are much damaged at the upper margins. In side-view, a
depression is seen in the profile-line of the forehead between the
strong frontal eminences above and the glabella below. The supraorbital
ridges are indicated only over the inner half of the orbits. The nasion
is deeply sunk. The nasal bones are short: the shape of the nose is
slightly concave near the root, but distinctly convex towards the free
end of the nasal bones. The nasal spine is moderately developed.
"The
lower jaw is unusually massive, and marked by strong ridges giving
attachment to powerful muscles. The chin is triangular, and very
prominent. The angle of the jaw appears almost a right angle. Three
right lower molar teeth are present. The face seems orthognathous. The
temporal crests are strongly indicated; the mastoid processes are also
very powerful. The pteria are in H. The profile curve of the skull-roof
is a long low arc traceable from the frontal eminences backward. The
hinder half of the parietal region is more flattened; but the
supra-occipital part of the occipital bone is well developed, and
protrudes noticeably in side-view beyond the parietal region that lies
above. Seen from behind, the occipital region is of a rounded
pentagonal shape, the two upright sides being unusually long and
vertical. The parieto-occipital sutures contain numerous large Wormian
bones. The outer surface of the occipital bone is exceedingly rugged.
One, in particular, of its many ridges, stretching across the greater
part of the width of the bone, at the level of the superior nuchal
line, is so prominent as to form a spur projecting nine millimetres
beyond the surface of the bone beneath it.
"On this spur the
skull naturally rests, when placed in a horizontal position. In a view
from below, little is noteworthy. There are deep depressions behind and
internal to the mastoid processes. The palatomaxillary and
inter-maxillary sutures are open. Seen from the front, the forehead is
high, full, but a little narrow. The nose is high, but its bridge is
broad. The lower margins of the nasal apertures are well defined. The
cheek-bones are massive, rugged, and broad. The internal bi-orbital
distance is wide. "The long bones are very massive, remarkably long,
and well marked with grooves and ridges. The olecranon fossa of the
humerus is imperforate. The femur is very broad at its lower end. The
tibiae are highly platycnemic, very massive, and have a strongly convex
bend forwards.
"The following are the several measurements given
by the skeleton of Hen-Nekht, and by that of another Egyptian of the
same dynasty described in sections 44, 45.
SKULLS
HEN-NEKHT K3
mm mm
Glabello-occipital
length 193
194
Maximum
breadth ....
153
152
Minimum frontal breadth
97.5
93.5
Basio-bregmatic height
...
147
Nasio-alveolar
length .... 67
64
Nasio-mental
length ....
... 108.5
Nasal
length .....
52
51
Nasal breadth .....
27
23.5
Orbital height
.....
38 33 (r.)
34 (1.)
Orbital breadth.....
32 (r.)
39 (r.)
30.5(l.) 40 (1.)
External bi-orbital breadth . 110 100
Internal
bi-orbital breadth . 25
17
Basio-nasal
length ....
...
100
Basio-alveolar
length ...
... 96
Bizygomatic
breadth ....
... 131
Bi-malar
breadth ....
... 89
Bi-mastoid
breadth ....
107 95
External
bi-maxillary breadth ...
63
Bigonial
mandibular breadth 105
90
Palatal
length .....
57.5
...
Orbito-malar arc ....
... 104
Bi-auricular
arc ....
351 343
Horizontal
circumference
547
552
Cranial
breadth index.
79.3 78.4
Cranial
height index ....
... 75.8
Upper facial
index ....
... 48.9
Lower
facial index ....
...
82.8
Gnathic index .....
... 96.0
Nasal index .....
51.9
46.1
Orbital index .....
84.2 (r.) 84.6 (r.)
80.3 (L) 85.0 (l.)
LONG BONES. [1]
Humerus (maximum length) ... (r.) 334 (r.)
344 (1) 328 (l.)
Radius
(maximum length) ...
266 (r.)
260 (1.)
Ulna (maximum length)
... ... (r.)
285 (1.)
Tibia
(maximum length)
433 (r.) 418 (r.)
(excluding
spine)
430 (1.) 418 (1.)
Femur
maximum length)
... (r.) ...
511 (1.) ...
Tibia
(ant. post.
diam.
42 (r.)
33.5(r.)
at nutrient foramen)
40 (l.)
34.5 (l)
Tibia
(transverse diam.
...
2l.0 (r.)
at nutrient foramen)
...
20.5 (1.)
Femur
(maximum breadth
.. (r.)
...
of
lower end)
79 (1.) ...
Clavicle
(maximum length) . ...
(r.) ...
170 (1.) ...
Platycnemic
index
... 62.7 (r.)
59.4 (1.)
"The
accompanying Table makes it clear that the relative bone-lengths of
Hen-Nekht, as indeed those of the early Egyptians generally, correspond
more nearly to what is met with among negroid than among European
races, if Broca and Humphry's figures can be accepted as true, and if
one is justified in taking the mean bone-lengths in a series as
representing the average skeletal measurements. The same fact seems
indicated if we attempt to construct the stature of Hen-Nekht from his
humerus, femur, tibia, and femur and tibia conjoined, by multiplying
each bone-length, first, by a factor calculated for Europeans, and,
secondly, by another calculated for negroes. The statures in the series
obtained by the second method are far more closely identical than those
obtained by the first. The humerus of Hen-Nekht is exceptionally short.
His leg-bones give a skeletal stature of 1858 millimetres. To this have
to be added a few centimetres for the conversion of the skeletal into
the living stature; from it have to be deducted a few centimetres to
allow for over-estimation due to excessive macroskely.* We shall not be
far wrong if we conclude that the stature of Hen-Nekht was 1860
millimetres, or 73-23 inches. Beddoe's formula gives a closely similar
result.f
"Thus the skeletal stature of Hen-Nekht appears to
have been about 200 mm. greater than that of the average prehistoric or
early kingdom Egyptians."
Ratio of
Bone-Lengths
Hennekht Europeans[2]
Negroes[2] Prehistoric Egyptians
Egyptians[3] VI.-XII
Dyn[4]
Humerus x
100 36.56
40.11 38.20
38.64
37.90
Femur and Tibia
Clavicle x 100
49.40 44.63
46.74
46.73
47.20
Humerus
Tibia x
100 84.10
80.52
84.78
82.67
84.60
Femur
Radius x 100
73.93 79.40
78.78 79.20
Humerus
Footnotes:
1. It is to be regretted that these
measurements were not taken with a properly devised osteometer: they
may nevertheless be regarded as sufficiently accurate for most
anthropological purposes.
2. Cf. Topinard's Anthropology (Eng. Trans.), p.303.
3. From the Monograph by E. Warren (Phil. Trans. R. S. L. ser.B, vol. 189, p.173).
4. Prepared from Randall-Maclver's figures in Prof. Petrie's Dendereh.
[Continue to Chapter 5]
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