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The Royal Tombs of the First Dynasty (Abydos), Part I W.E. Flinders Petrie | | | | |
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THE ROYAL TOMBS OF THE FIRST DYNASTY, PART I.
Chapter 3
THE OBJECTS DISCOVERED. (part 1; sections 20-22; plates 4-17)
20. The Stone Vases, pls.4.-10.
The
enormous mass of fragments of stone vases, mainly bowls and cups, found
in the tombs has not yet been fully worked over. Roughly speaking,
between 10,000 and 20,000 pieces of vases of the more valuable stones
were found; and a much larger quantity of slate and alabaster. The
latter it was impossible to deal with, beyond selecting such pieces as
showed the forms. In many cases a large group of fragments which were
found together was kept apart, and sorted in hopes of finding that they
would fit; but it was seldom that more than a very few could be joined.
The scattering of pieces has been so thorough during the various
plundering^ of the ground, that pieces of the same bowl are found on
the opposite sides of a tomb, or even in different tombs. To sort over
and reunite the fragments of individual bowls out of 50,000 or 100,000
pieces among stones with so little variety as slate and alabaster, and
after a great part had already been carried away by previous diggers,
was beyond the time and attention that our party could give. My
experience in dealing with the far more promising material of the
valuable stones shows how hopeless it would be to get results from the
others.
The less common stones were, however, thoroughly dealt
with. Every fragment was kept, the pieces from each tomb separately.
Those from one tomb were then sorted into about fifteen or twenty
classes of materials. Next all the pieces of one material were sorted
over, placing all brims together, all middle pieces with the axis
upright, and all bases together. Then every possible trial of fitting
was exhaustively gone through. In result a group of say 200 fragments
of one material, from one tomb, would be mainly united into perhaps 20
or 30 lots, each the pieces of one vessel, and lew ing less than half
over as irreducible residue. In this way, out of the tombs of Azab,
Mersekha, and Qa, I have put together parts of about 200 vases;
these are in most cases about a quarter to a half of the vase, enough
to draw the whole outline. These outlines remain yet to be copied. And
all the fragments from Zet, Merneit, and Den have yet to be sorted.
The
materials I avoid specifying at present, as many of them need careful
study to define them properly. The names of materials here used on the
plates are therefore intentionally vague. The frequent metamorphic
limestones and breccias are here only named "metamorphic"; the
saccharine marbles with grey and green bands are named “grey
marble": the frequent opaque white, with grey veins (geobertite
?) is named “white marble“; and "volcanic ash“ covers everything
between slate and breccia. To attempt precision before a full study of
the stones would only lead to errors.
21. The Inscriptions, pls.4—10.
Plate 4: Inscriptions on stone vases from Kings Mena to Merneit.
We now turn to some individual notes.
Pl.4,1.
This piece of Aha was bought from the son of M. Amelineau's reis, who
had a great supply of fragments. We found a seal of Aha, and a shell
bracelet with apparently Aha on it, in the ground east of Zer, so no
doubt this piece came thence.
2. The piece of Narmer
is part of a great alabaster cylinder; in the rubbish of Den was found
a similar jar with a relief inscription (p.19) ground away, the traces
of which well agree to this name. The style of the hawk is the same as
on the work of Aha, and very different from that of any other king in
this Dynasty, pointing to Narmer hw ing reigned just before or after
Mena.
3. This is the only piece of Zeser, and being
found in an early tomb here it cannot be connected with Zeser the third
king of the III Dynasty. Rather is it like a piece of bowl of an
unknown king D, which I found lying at the Cairo Museum
(pl.32,32); both have the nebti without the vulture and uraeus,
apparently an earlier form. Even Aha-Mena used the animal figures over
the nebti; and these two names being superfluous to the 1st Dynasty,
suggests that they belong, with Narmer, to the Dynasty of ten kings who
are said to have reigned 350 years before Menes. Further excavation may
clear this matter. The fragment of ivory of Den appears in its proper
place in pl.11.
4. This finely cut group is unfortunately
imperfect; several more pieces of the bowl were found with it, but none
to complete the inscription.
5. This group is the same as
found scratched on pottery at the tomb of Zer, according to M.
Ainelineau, who reads it (Osiris, p.43) as ap khet (horns and
staircase).
6. This seems to be a name, Hotep-her,
apparently repeated as Her-hotep on a stele published by De Morgan, No.
808; see copy, pl.32.
7. This fragment was found
in the tomb of Merneit, and very unluckily has just lost the name. It
is deeply cut on a piece of a large crystal bowl.
8 seems to be a private name, Sunaukh.
9,10. Fragments of brown slate, the second with three jars.
Plate 5: Inscriptions on stone vases of Kings Merneit and Den.
PL.5,1.
This piece of a thin delicate bowl is the only one with the full
drawing of the hieroglyph of Neit, as on the great stele (pl.1a); all
the other bowls have merely crossed arrows. Beyond on the left are
apparently the same signs as on No.3.
2,3,4,6,7. All these
are of burnt slate, of a bright brown. At first I supposed such slate
to have been accidentally burnt in the burning of the tomb; but a
bowl, found in a private grave, W 33, which had no trace of burning,
showed that this brown slate had been altered naturally by an eruption.
No. 2 has the per hez, or “white house," while 4 and 6 both name the
hat-s as the palace name, adding hez above it in 7. The khent sign in
No. 2, of vases set in a stand, should be noted. The 5 pieces were
found scattered in the tomb of Mersekha; they belong to an erased
inscription, and after finding the Merneit vases we can easily see the
crossed arrows of Neit on the left; on the right are traces of
rectangular signs. This is the only piece of Merneit identified as
being re-used; there may have been others now completely erased. But it
is noticeable that eight out of nine inscriptions of his are on slate.
No. 3 is kept at Cairo.
8, 9, are well-cut pieces of crystal
cups of Setui; the latter with an added inscription of Azab-Merpaba.
There is a fine style about all the carving of Setui, both in stone and
ivory, which is more dignified than that of any of the other kings.
10 is a fragment of slate found in the tomb of Setui; but the work looks rougher, and it may well belong to some earlier king.
11
is a beautiful piece of calcite with green patches. It was usurped by
Azab, and is the only piece of his that we found in his tomb.
12,
a fine piece of red limestone, has a boldly cut name of Setui, followed
by a rougher cutting of Merpaba. The latter shows that the signs which
have been read as neter below the hawks on the inscriptions of
Khasekhemui are the usual standards, as they also appear on pl.6,4, and
on the palette of Narmer. This piece is kept at Cairo.
Plate 6: Inscriptions on stone vases of King Azab-Merpaba.
PL.6,1.
(p.20) This slate bowl was found scattered on different sides of the
tomb, as were also the two pieces reunited in No. 3.
2 is a piece of a large alabaster cylinder jar, with coarse cutting.
5,6 are two fragments of a crystal cup with the name Merpaba, but one narrow slip between these pieces is lost.
8
is part of a very fine bowl in pink gneiss, the only example of such;
it was found with two other tine bowls in the grave W 33. The
inscription gives the name of the palace of Azab, Qed-hotep. One piece
of crystal cup of Azab, not figured here, was kept at Cairo.
9-11: Many
alabaster cylinder jars in the tomb of Mersekha had roughened places on
them, and at first it seemed as if they were merely unfinished; but
some traces of signs were found nearly erased, and this led to
searching them all carefully. Every piece of alabaster and slate that
was found was therefore closely looked at, usually in slanting
sunlight, to find erased inscriptions. Three are shown here: on 9
the traces of the door frame and of the heart sign are seen; on 10 is
part of a large hawk, and on 11 nearly the whole ka name is clearly
seen.
Plate 7: Inscriptions on stone vases of King Mersekha-Semempses.
Pl.7,1 is the only instance here of the three birds
group so usual on vases of Aha. The birds of Aha look most like
ostriches (see De Morgan, Nos. 558, 662), while these are more like
plovers; neither would be taken for the ba bird of later times,
and probably these are intended for rekhyt.
2, 3. Only two
names of Mersekha were found on vases, and most of the stonework in his
tomb seems to have belonged to Azab, as every piece on pl.vi. (except
No. 8) came from the tomb of Mersekha. The last sign on No. 3 scarcely
looks like kha, more resembling a fish; but the well-cut cylinder
impressions (pl.28, 73, 76, 77) leave no doubt that the sign is kha.
It is to be noted that the s sign always has the short side forward in
this name, on these two vases, and on all the seals on pl.28,
beside Nos. 17, 20, 34, and 41. This was not universal then, as the s
is the usual way of later times on seals, 5, 6, 7, 24, 25, 30, 32,
33, 40, 40, (i |., and 65; so it seems that there was no fixed rule as
in later ages.
4. This fine piece of crystal cup is united
from two widely scattered fragments. The lower part is a hat sign, as
the line on the left is too near the middle to be the side of the
square, and it must be the corner enclosure of the hat. So this reads
Neb hat ankh. There is also a scrap of a sign above the animal, which
seems to be probably a large hunting dog.
5
is a piece of
a large alabaster cylinder jar, with the festival sign on it, raised on
a platform which has steps at the end. This figure is best seen on pl.
8, 7, pl.11, 5, and pl.14,. 12. On the basis are three signs (?)
SN. On
No. 7 is N, and on No. 8 is SN .... All of these refer to the Sed
festival.
6 is a palimpsest crystal bowl; of the earlier
inscription traces remain in spite of the scraping and re-polishing of
it, and the sign su was brought up clearly by careful wiping over with
ink. The later inscription is Sed heb, the “Sed festival."
9
is a piece of black pottery placed here on account of its inscription.
The signs ka, a door (?), and mer, are clear. The unknown sign is like
one in an ink-written inscription on slate from Abydos, now at Cairo
(pl.32,38).
10 is on a coarse piece of an alabaster
cylinder jar; it is the name of Azab's city or palace, Hor-dua-kh, as
on the seal pl.26, 03.
11, 12 are two inscriptions which
cannot be explained yet. The double-headed axe, after the “royal house“
on 12, also appears in the hands of the warriors on a slate palette.
Plate 8: Inscriptions on stone vases of King Qa.
Pl.8,1
is on a piece of a large white bowl, and is better cut than any of the
others of this reign. It is now in the Cairo Museum.
5 shows that it belonged to the priest of the shrine of Qa, like the bowl in pl.19, 12.
6,7,
both refer to the Sed festival; the upper (p.21) part of 7 was not
fitted on before photographing, but is given separately as 7a, and is
outlined in place above 7.
9 has a boat on it somewhat like the prehistoric boats, high at both ends, and having
two cabins.
11,12,13,14, and pl.9, 1,2,3, all refer to the two buildings named Sa-ha-neb and Hor-pa-ua.
Plate 9: Inscriptions on stone vases of King Qa.
No.1,
pl.9, clears up the difference between these; at the right are
parts of an inscription like that on No.3, showing that the building
Hor-pa-ua was first inscribed along with the king's name; and then
later the building Sa-neb-ha was inscribed on the bowl. Thus the "house
of the sole Horus" — Hor-pa-ua — was the name of the palace; and the
“house of all fortune" — Sa-ha-neb — was the name of the tomb, where
the bowl was later deposited. A variant is seen on the piece of a great
alabaster cylinder jar “Hor-ha-sa." The details of these inscriptions
are considered by Mr. Griffith in his account.
Pl.10,
1 to 7. These are some of the pieces of stone bowls inscribed with ink.
1 and 2 are very illegible, owing to being faintly marked on dark
slate; but on 1 is the name of Setui, though found in the tomb of
Mersekha. These will be drawn and published on their reaching England.
4 has the name of the crocodile hems.
22. Ivory Tablets, pls.10 to 17.
Plates 13 (Nos.1-6) and 14 (Nos. 7-12) : Ivory tablets of Kings Zet and Den- Setui. Photographs of tablets from plates 10 and 11 are added.
We
shall here follow the order of the drawings (pls.13 to 17), as the
photographs (pls.10 to 12) are somewhat out of order owing to only part
of the objects having been photographed in Egypt and the remainder in
England.
Pl.13, 1 This slip of blackened ivory, and the triangular piece pl.11, 2, were
both from the inlaying of a box or furniture. For a photograph see pl.10, 8 which is now kept at
Cairo.
Pl.13,
2 is the end of
a small casket, with grooves and holes on the back for joining it
to the sides (see photograph in table 10. 9). Unfortunately it was
broken in finding, and [in the horus sign, the hawk seated on
a rectangular palace] the serpent was lost; but the tail of the serpent
is still visible, and it was found in the tomb of Zet, so there
can be no doubt of its source. The last sign is like the prehistoric
amulet often found. (Naqada, lviii. Q 709.5; Lxi., 4.)
Pl.13, 3, part of an ivory tablet of Zet (see pl.11,1) found in his tomb.
Pl.13, 4 a fragment of ivory, for inlaying like 1; from tomb of Zet.
Pl.13, 5
is part of an ivory tablet (pl.10,10) from a private grave Z 3. The
figure of a man pounding enters into the name of the palace of Setui
(pl.15,16).
Pl.13, 6 is part of an ivory boat, apparently. The
position is shown by the flat base; the surface of the sides is mostly
flaked away, so that the form is uncertain. On the top is a flight of
steps leading up. The name of Zet is on the side, and it was found in
his tomb.
Pl.14, 7 and 7a, a piece of an ivory tablet, gives
a portrait of Den-Setui (see also pl.10, 13). It shows the double crown
fully developed, and the traces of colour are red for the Lower crown,
white for the Upper, as later on. This piece is kept in Cairo. The ankh
on the reverse has the divided tails as on the vase at pl.7, 4.
Pl.14, 8
is a fragment (see pl.11, 8) with Den in the attitude shown on the
sealing drawn in pl.32, 39. A part of a sign on the reverse is placed
beside it.
Pl.14, 9 shows Setui standing with staff and mace, preceded by standards (see also pl.10, 14).
Pl.14, 10 is a fragment of ivory (see photograph, pl.11,10) with numerals “1200," as on the ebony tablets pl.15, 16,18.
Pl.14, 11 is a piece of a thick tablet with apparently the same numerals (see pl.11,6).
Pl.14, 12
is a piece of ivory, with signs also on the back, pl.14, 12a (see pl.11,5).
This is one more mention of the Sed festival, so often found on the
stone vase inscriptions. These festivals have been discussed, as to
whether they were every 30 years of a reign, or at fixed intervals of
30 years. The latter is the only use which (p.22) would agree with
their undoubtedly astronomical origin, by the shift of the moveable
calendar one week every 30 years, and one month every 120 years at the
Great Sed festival. I have also already shown (History, ii. 32) how
these festivals do not fall on the 30th year of the reigns, and often
were in reigns of less than 30 years. Now we have this again
illustrated. Those festivals are named on the tablet of Setui
(pl.14,12), on vases of Mersekha (pl.7, 5,6,7,8), and on vases of Qa
(pl.8, 6,7), but never by Azab.
Now in Manetho the
reigns of these kings are 20, 18, and 26 years, not one reaching 30
years. Moreover, we can test whether a series of 30- year intervals
will fall in these reigns. Taking approximately the dates given in my
History, I. 27*, we have:
BC
30-year intervals.
4604
Hesepti = Setui 4588-4
4584
Merpaba
.
4558
Semenptah.
4558-4
4540
Kebh
= Qa
4528-4
4514
So
there is only a range of 4 years left possible for the 30-year cycle to
fall upon within these reigns; and if Merpaba had a Sed festival, it
would have upset the series. As it is—crediting Manetho's reigns—we
have the Sed cycle fixed to within 4 years in the 1st Dynasty. We see
then that all the evidence from these inscriptions is in fw our of a
fixed cycle of 30 years, quite independent of the kings' reigns. This
cycle implies the loss of the day in leap years, which causes the shift
of the calendar; and hence implies the calendar of 365 days being in
use as early as the middle of the 1st Dynasty, and the known loss of a
day in four years.
Plates 15 (Nos.14-18 ), 16 (Nos.19-25) and 17 (Nos. 26-30) : Ebony and ivory tablets of Kings Den-Setui, Mersetha, and Ka. Photographs of tablets from plates 10 and 11 are added.
Pl.15, 14 is a piece of a finely cut
ivory tablet (see photograph in pl.11, 9), which shows part of the palace name, nub
hat and the man pounding, as in No.16.
Pl.15, 15 is a chip of an ebony tablet, with part of the palace name, and the hawk and sahu biti (see pl.11, 3).
Pl.15, 16
is the most important tablet, though the lower edge has not been found
(see photograph in pl.11,14). The scene of the king dancing before Osiris seated in
his shrine is the earliest example of a ceremony which is shown on the
monuments down to Roman times; he bears the hap and a short stick
instead of the oar; the three semicircles on each side are, even
at this early stage, unintelligible. The inscriptions below, referring
to the festival, will be dealt with by Mr. Griffith; but we should note
that the royal name Setui occurs in the lower register, so this tablet
is good evidence for that king being Den, besides the clay sealings not
yet published.
Beyond there is the name of Den, and that of
the royal seal-bearer Hemaka, which occurs so often on the jar
sealings. The palace name is written with nub, apparently a hatchet,
and the man pounding, for which see Nos. 5 and 14. The two signs after
suten look like different forms of hatchet, see also Nos. 15, 26, 29.
For the numerals “1200“ at the bottom edge compare also Nos. 10, 11,
18. This tablet was crusted with melted resin, harder than the wood;
and the only way to clean it was by powdering the resin with a needle,
while watching it with a magnifier: so it is possible that some point
may not have been fully cleaned out.
Pl.15, 17 is a piece of
another ebony tablet, a duplicate of the previous one (see pl.11, 15);
but it is useful as showing a different grouping of the signs, which
helps the explanation of them.
Pl.15, 18 is another ebony piece,
somewhat like the previous pieces (see pl.11, 4); but it shows a
place name beginning Unt . . . , and also the royal name of King Setui.
Pl.16, 19. A piece of a very thick ivory tablet, much burnt: see pl.11, 16.
Pl.16, 20.
Part of a well-cut ivory tablet (p.23), finely polished, blackened with
burning: see pl.10, 11. The inscription seems to refer to the great
chiefs coming to the tomb of Setui; and the figure of the tomb is the
oldest architectural drawing known. It appears to show the tomb chamber
at the left, with a slight mound over it. The tall upright may perhaps
show the steles at the tomb, standing up like the poles in front of the
shrine at Medum (Medum, ix.); see also poles at the side of a shrine of
Tahutmes II. (L.D.), in.15). Next is apparently a slope descending to
the tomb, the stairway of the tomb; while at the right is a diagram of
the cemetery of graves in rows around the tomb, with the small steles
standing up over the graves. The square enclosure of the graves, as in
pl.lxi., each with a small stele over it, must have been a marked
feature in the appearance of this cemetery.
Pl.16, 21-24. Fragments photographed: 21 in pl.11, 11; 23 in pl.11, 7; 24 in pl.11, 17.
Pl.16, 25. Two pieces of apparently the same tablet, judging by thickness, work, and colour.
Another piece of Setui is shown in pl.10, 12, but not drawn. It is the edge of a thick piece from some furniture.
Pl.17, 26.
This ivory tablet of Mersekha was found in the doorway of his
tomb: see pl.12,1. It is deeply cut, and coloured with red and
black as shown in the drawing. The formula is much like that on the
Palermo Stone, and without going into the interpretation of it we may
note the remarkable reading of Horus as Heru, written with three hawks,
like Khnumu written with three rams (Season in Egypt, xii., 312); the
figure of Tahuti seated accords with the early worship of the baboon,
for which see the diorite baboons in the granite Temple of Khafra. The
figure which is placed for the king's name is like that on the sealing
(pl.28,72), but differs from the figure of Ptah in the Table of Abydos.
This figure can hardly be intended for Ptah: and it seems as if it
might be a shemsu, and so give the Greek form Semempses, or else a sam
priest of Ptah. The group of suten and two axes occurs also on the
Setui tablet, pl.11, 14. And the name Henuka is seen on the tablet
No.28.
Pl.17, 27. This fragment of royal titles was found in the tomb of Mersekha: see pl.11, 18.
Pl.17, 28.
This half tablet of ivory was found by the offering place of Qa, on the
east of the tomb. The ka name appears to end with the arm, and hence it
might be supposed to be of Qa; but the signs after the suten biti
cannot be so read, and look much more like ket, with the small bird
determinative: see pl.11, 12.
Pl.17, 29. Part of a thin ivory
tablet, see pl.12,2: found on the east of the tomb of Qa. It seems to
give an unknown royal name Sen . . . below the vulture and uraeus. As
Qa succeeded Mersekha, we should expect to find the name of Kebh. It
seems possible that a sen sign with very tall base (as on a stele,
pl.34, 13) was mistaken by a later scribe for the vase kebh, and the n
below for a determinative of water. After seeing Setui made into
Hesepti, Merpaba into Merbap, and the figure on pl.17, 26 turned into a
statue of Ptah, we can well believe in a possible confusion of the
early form of sen and kebh.
Pl.17, 30. This ivory carving is the
most important artistic piece that was found. It is carved on the back
with the knots and bracts of a reed, and imitates one of the strips of
reed used for casting lots or gaming. In the present time Egyptians
throw half a dozen slips of reed on the ground, and count how many fall
with outside upward, to give a number as with dice. The inner side of
this slip, which was probably one of a set, is carved with a bound
captive. The work is excellent, as may be seen in the photographs
pl.12, 12,13. The plaited lock hanging down, the form of the beard, and
the face, all agree to this being a western man or Libyan. But the long
waist-cloth seems hardly to be expected at a time when, as the slates
and ivory carvings of Hierakonpolis show (p.24) clothing was not
much developed. This is good evidence for the usual waist-cloth of the
Old Kingdom being Libyan in origin.
[Continue to chapter 3, part 2]
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