journal of egyptian archaeology 1930

8/3/2019 Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 1930

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T H E J O U R N A LOF

EGYPTIAN ARCHAEOLOGY

VOLUME XVI

P U B L I S H E D B YTHE EGYPT EXPLORATION SOCIETY

13 T A V I S T O C K S Q U A R E , W . C . 1L O N D O N

1 9 3 0


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C O N T E N T S

T H E B R O N Z E S T A T U E T T E O F K H O N S E R D A I S U I NT H E B R I T I S H M U S E U M

M I S C E L L A N E AT H E N U M E R I C A L V A L U E O F A M A G I C A L F O R M U L AF U N E R A R Y D E S I G N S O N P R E D Y N A S T I C J A R SA N E W L E T T E R T O T H E D E A DD I E B I T T E UM E IN K I N D A U F E I N E R G R A B F I G U R

D E S F R U H E N M I T T L E R E N R E I C H E SR E G A R D I N G R E C E I PT S I N T H E Z E N O N A R C H I V E . . .A N O T E O N T H E C O R O N A T I O N R I T E S I N A N C I E N T

E G Y P TT H E S EC R E T C H A M B E R S O F T H E S A N C T U A R Y O F

T H O T HT H E R E L A T I O N S H I P O F A M U N T O Z E U S , A N D H IS

C O N N E X I O N W I T H M E T E O R I T E SS O M E W O O D E N F I G U R E S O F T H E E IG H T E E N T H A N D

N I N E T E E N T H D Y N A S T I E S I N T H E B R I T I S HM U S E U M . P A R T I I . . .

C O S M ET I CS , P E R F U M E S A N D I N C E N S E I N A N C I E N TE G Y P T

T H E T O M B O F A A H M O S E , S U P E R V I S O R O F T H EM Y S T E R I E S I N T H E H O U S E O F T H E M O R N I N G

N O T E S O N C E R T A I N P A S S A G E S IN V A R I O U S M I D D L EE G Y P T I A N T E X T S

A B R O N Z E S T A T U E O F A C A K E - C A R R I E RE G Y P T A N D T H E A E G E A N I N T H E L A T E B R O N Z E A G EB I B L I O G R A P H Y (1927): A N C I E N T E G Y P TB I BL I O G R A PH Y : G R A E C O - R O M A N E G Y P T . A . P A P Y R I

( 1 9 2 8 - 2 9 ) '

H. R . Ha l l 1G . P. G. Sob hy 3Cam pbe l l Bonner . . . . . . 6G. D . Hornblow er 10Alan H. Gardiner 19

Sieg fr i ed Scho t t 23W . L . W e s t e r m a n n 2 4

Mi l i t za Ma tth iew 31

F . W. Green 33

G. A . W ainw r ight 35

H. R . Ha l l 39

A. Luca s . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Alan W. Shor ter 54

A y l w a r d M . B l a c k m a n 6 3W i lhe lm Spiege lberg . . . . . . 73J . D . S . Pendleb ury 75Jea n Capart . . . . . . . . . 93

H. J . M. Milne , A. D. Nock, H. I .Bel l , J . G. Milne , N. H. Bay nes ,F . do Zulu eta, M. E. Dicker ,R . M c K e n z i c 1 2 0


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V I C O N T E N T SPAGE

Two M I D D L E K I N G D O M S T A T U E S IN T H E B R I T I S HMU S E U M H. R . Hall 167

T H E R O M A N R E G U L A T I O N OFE X C H A N G E V A L U E SIN E G Y P T : A N O T E J. G. Milne 169

A, M I S C O N S T R U E D P A R T I C L E IN THE P Y R A M I DT E X T S R.O.Faulkner 171

N O T E S ONT H E R I T U A L OFO P E N I N G T H E M O U T H T. J. C. Bal y 173P A P Y R I OFD I O C I I R YS O ST O M A N D M E N A N D E R . . . H. J. M. Milne 187THE STELA O F H E K A - Y E B Hans Jakob Polotsky 194E G Y P T I A N P R E D Y N A S T I C S T O N E V E S S E L S .. A. Lucas 200T H E C E M E T E R I E S OF A B Y D O S - . W O R K OF THE

S E A S O N 1925-26 H. Frankfort 213T H E O R I G IN OF C E R T A I N C O P T IC G R A M M A T I C A L

E L E ME N T S .. . Alan H. Gardiner 220A N E I G H T E E N T H D Y N A S T Y O S IR I S B R O N Z E . . . H. R . Hall 235A P H A L L I C F I G U R E T N T H E B R I T I S H M U S E U M . . . Alan W. Shorter 236W O R K I N G P L A N F OR A S H R I N E S. R . K Glanville 237N O T E S ONT H E D A T E OFS O M E B U C H I S S T E L A E . . . H. W. Fairman 240T H E T R U N C A T E D P Y R A M I D IN E G Y P T IA N M A T H E

MATICS ... ... ... ... ... Kurt Vogel ... ... ... 242B I B L I O G R A P H Y : C H R I S T I A N E G Y P T (1929-30) ... De Lacy O ' L e a r y 250N O T E S A N D N E W S 141, 256N O T I C E S OFR E C E N T P U B L I C A T I O N S 147, 259L I S T OFP L A T E S 274L I S T OFI L L U S T R A T I O N S IN T H E T E X T 277

N O T I C E S OFR E C E N T P U B L I C A T I O N S , D E T A I L E D L I ST 278I N D E X 279


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E G Y P T I A N P R E D Y N A S T I C S T O N E V E S S E L S 1BY A. LUCAS

The aspects of the subject th a t i t is proposed t o consider are, f i rs t , the nature of th estones used, second, thei r place of origin an d, third , th e bearing of th e facts upon th eproblem of th e home of the people who m ade th e vessels.Th e ma terials of which th e vessels consist are shown in Tab le I , which is based uponth e descript ion given in t h e archaeological reports t o which reference is ma de, b ut includesseveral modifications in t roduced by t he w ri ter . Thus, in order to s impl ify the ma t ter asmuch as possible, related materials are grouped together under one general heading, thesep ara te m aterials so trea ted being indicated in every case. Also, w ha t is terme d porp hyryin t he archaeological repor ts i s called by th e wri ter porphyr i t ic rock. The nam e porphyry(derived from a word m eaning purple) was originally applied to a c ertain kind of purplet inted rock (imperial porphyry), but in geology this primary significance has given placeto one in which structure and not colour is the guiding characterist ic, a porphyri t ic rockbeing an y kind of igneous rock in which ther e are conspicuous crystals scat tered th rou gho uta differently coloured ground-m ass or mat rix of a pp are ntl y hoxaogeneous ma teria l.One specimen of emery has been om i t ted , as th is is not a n Egy pt ian s tone; also oneof gypsum, a s the date is probably protodynastic , and several o thers, because ei ther thena tur e of th e ston e is not specified or th e descript ion is not sufficient for identif icat ion.Th e wri ter has examined as m any as possible of th e s tones used for vessels bo th inPredynast ic a nd ear ly Dynast ic t imes, but , a s the y were most ly m useum specimens, theexaminat ion was of ten necessar ily l imi ted to a n aked eye inspection, or , a t most , an ex-am ination with a lens. This, however, is not always sufficient to esta,bl ish the identi tyof a ston e, for which purpose a m icroscopic stu dy of a thi n section is som etimes requisite.I n a com parat ive ly large num ber of cases of th e more doubtful materials broken fragm entsof early Dyn ast ic da te were fortunately available2, an d the n a microscopic examin ationwas made3. I n a few instances, too, a chemical analysis was also carried out to assistfur ther in t he identi f icat ion.The var ious locali ties in E gyp t where the s tones ment ioned in Table I occur and th eplaces f rom which they were probably obtained for making vessels in Predynast ic t imesar e show n below.Th e first tw o columns of Table I1 need no just ificat ion; th e na tur e of th e variousstones i s that recorded in the archaeological repor ts quoted in connexion wi th Table I,an d th e occurrence of th e s tones i s vouched for by the geologist s in the repor ts t o whichreference i s made. The s tatem ents in the th i rd column, however, which are those of t hewriter , require proof, an d this wil l now be given. Firs t , however, th e term "Nile Valleycl iffs" used in that column must be defined.

Includes Badnrian and Seolithiu.The writer is particularly indebted to Mr. C. llf. Firth and Mr. R . Engelb~chor these fragnlents.I11 many cases th e writer's identification has beer1 kindly checked I.)y Dr. TT7. F. IIume, of the Geological

Survey of Egypt and by Xr. G. W. Grabham, Geologist to t,he Sudan Government.


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E G Y P T I A N P R E D Y N A S T I C S T O N E V E S S E L ST AB L E I.

-Alabaster'-6 7-9 CalciteBss;lltl-6,7-Q,11,12 Includes fine-grained doleriteBrcccial,"4-9.11 Chiefly red and whiteDioritel, 29% 11, '3 SpeckledGranite Includes red granite, black-and-white granite iznd syeriiteLinlestorle 1-",7-10,13 Amorphous and variously colouredI\[arb]eL%498.11 Includes all r:trieties of crysta lline limestone except calcitePorphyritic rock1-"." Includes porphyritic dioriteSchist&4.7-9 Includes various metamorphic rocks, such a s t u g (volcanic ash),mudstone and slate

Incllldes steatite

In contrast to the far desert, the home of the nomad, out of sight of the Nile and ata considerable distance from it, there is a desert border lying within easy reach of theriver, often within sight of i t and readily accessible to the valley dwellers. Any stoneoccurring in this border could easily have been worked by the Predynastic valley peoplefrom their homes, in the same manner as gypsum for plaster and limestone for buildingpurposes and for lime-making are now worked. The villages, too, at that period wouldhave been farther from the Nile and nearer the cliffs than are the villages to-day, onaccount of the marshes then fringing the river. No wholly satisfactory name to expressthis region has been found, but the term "Nile Valley cliffs" has been adopted as thebest available, although it is not sufficiently comprehensive, since the area it is meant todescribe includes not only the face of the cliffs th at border the valley bu t the desertside also, with the plateaux and low hills immediately behind, as well as t he land fora short distance up the side valleys.For the small amount of stone of any one sort worked in any particular locality inPredynastic times in order to make vessels extensive quarry operations w o ~ ~ l dot havebeen needed, and traces of this working are not likely to have persisted to the presentday. Doubtless, too, the stone used was often taken from blocks t ha t had fallen fromthe cliffs, rather than from the cliffs themselves.The various stones may now be dealt with separately and this will be done in t,healphabetical order in which they are given in the tables.1 Petrie, A n h i s t o ~ i cEgypt , 35, 36; Pls. xxxiv-slii. 2 Petrie and Qnibell, i\'aqada and Ballas, 10, 36. 3 Petrie, Wsinwright and Bfackay, The I;abyr?,'?~th,Gerteh and ,Vazghuneh, 21, 22. 4 G. Crnrlton 2nd G. Caton-Thompson, The Baduriatz C


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202 A. LUCAS T A B L E 11.OCCURREKCE J VHERE OBTAINED-

Alabaster N i le V a l l e y c l i f f s 2 ;Cairo-Suez deser t3; S inai 4 Nile V al le y c l i f f 'sBasalt Near Cairo1? Cairo-Suez desert 1 9 3 ; E ' a y y f i m l ~ 5 ; p w 2 n B ; FayyClnlBah aria Oas isl*7; E. desertlp21 s,g; Sin ai 1 ~ 2 ~ 1 0 ~ 1 1Brecc ia Ni le Va l le y c l if f s" E.deser t s N i l e Va l l e y c l i f fsDi or i t e As w % n6;E . desertls8,g; Sinai 1o~l1. l2 AqwhnGrani te A s w g n 8 6 ; E . deser t1 ,$89; Sinai 1,10,11,12; JV . deser t l 3 A ~ w 2 nL i me s t one N i le V a l l e y c l i f f s .2 S i l e V a l l e y cl i ff sMarble E. desert 2,8,g E . de s e r tPorp hyri t ic rock Asw%nG; E. desert8.g; Sinsilo," E. deser tSc h i s t E. deser t 9 8 . 9 ; Sinai109 11 E. deser tSerpent ine E . de s e r t 1 8.9 E. deser t

Alabaster (Calcite).Alabaster is reported from four areas only1*, one in the Cairo-Suez desert, where it masworked for a short period in modern times15, but where there is no t race of ancientworking; a second in Sinai, where there is no evidence of its ever having been worked;and the th ird and fourth near Helwbn and in the district extending from about Miniah toa little south of Asyiit, respectively. I n both places there are ancient quarries, those atHelwBn dating certainly from the Old Kingdom16, and others near Tell El-'Amamah fromat least the Third Dynasty17. A quarry in Wbdi Asyiit was worked a t the beginning of

1 Geological Surv ey o f Eg ypt , Geol. Map.2 W. F. H um e, Exp lan . Notes to Geol. Map , 1912 ; alabaster, 46 ; basa lt , 32, 33 ; breccia, 46 ; l imes tone ,

46, 47 ; marble , 47 .3 T . Barr on, The Topog. and Geol. of the District between Cairo an d Suez , 1907 ; alabas ter , 20 ,9 3 ; basal t ,103-7.

4 H . J . L. Beadne ll , The Wi lderness of S i xa i (1927) , 83 .5 Id. , Th e Topog. an d Geol . of the Fayu.rn Province of Egy pt , 19 05; basalt , 15, 28, 34, 53, 56, 62.V. Ball, A Description of tile First or Aszva~aCataract o f the N l e , 1907; basal t , 69 , 86 , 88 , 89; d ior i te ,

69 , 79-80, P1. v ( 2 ); granite, 68, 69-77.7 Ball and Beadnell , Baharia Oasis; i ts Topog. and Geol . (1903),40, 63-4.8 Barron and H um e, The Topog. an d Geol . of the Eastern Desert of Egyp t , Central Port io ~z, 908; bas&, 52,225, 228-9, 26 3; breccia, 169, 171 ; dio rite , 59, 118, 221, 230, 23:3, 239, 247 , 265 ; granite , 49,62-3, 118-19,225, 234, 247, 265 ; marble , 32 ,11 9,240 , 266-7 ; porphyri t ic rock, 118,2 27-8 ,236, 238-40, 245,262 ; schis t ,

217-21, 224, 226, 236, 238-9, 249, 264 ; serpentine, 224, 265.Q J . Ball , The Geog. and Geol. of South -Easte rn Ey yp t , 191 2; hasalt , 310-13; diori te , 286-93; granite ,

267-76 ; mar ble , 348-9 ; porphyritic rock, 276, 283-5 ; schist , 337-50 ; serpen tine, 320-30.10 T . Barron, The Topog. an d Geol. of the Pen in. of Si na i ( FVestenz Po rti on ), 1907 ; basa lt , 198-9; diori te ,195-6 ; granite, 185-95 ; porphyritic rock, 185-6, 189-90, 192, 195, 197 ; schist , 203-4.11 J . Ball , Th e Geog. a~ zdGeol. of West-Central Si na i , 19 16 ; basa lt , 10, 122- 4; diori te , 163-4; granite ,

163-4 ; porphyri t ic rock, 163-4 ; schist , 164.12 11'. F. Hu me , T he T opog, andGe o l. o f the Pe n in . o f S i na i (S ou t h - Eas t e r n Por t i on ) , 190 6 ; d i o r i t e 71 -2 ,

168, 24 0, 242-3 ; granite, 154-62, 239-44.13 F.W. Moon, Notes on the Geol . of Hassan ein Bey 's Exp ed. to So llu ~n -D ar ju rn G'eog. Jourqz., LX IV ( 1 9 2 4 ) ,388-93.14 See Table 11.15 T . Barro n, Th e Top og , an d Geol. of the District between Cairo an d Su ez, 20, 93.16 Petr ie and Mackay , He liopol is , K af r Am ntar an d Sh urafa , 39 , 40 .17 G . FV. Fraser in Proc. Soc. Bibl. Arch., XVI (1893-4), 73-82; Petrie , A History o f E g y p t , I (1923) , 45 .


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EGYPTIAN PREL>YXASr1'ICSTOXE VESSELSthe Eighteenth Dynasty1 and mas possibly re-opened in th e time of Xohammed Ali tosupply the stone required to or ~l a~ ne nt Frorn the abovehe Citadel mosque inconsiderations it may be accepted as practically certain tha t all the alabaster employedanciently, including that for the predynastic vessels, was ohtainecl frorn the Nile ValleycliBs.

Basalt.This includes fine-grained dolerite, which is merely a coarse basalt. Coniparatirelylarge quantities of basalt were employed in the Old Kingdom; thns a pavement in theFourth-Dynasty mortuary ternple of Kheops at Giza11 \$-as of basalt , 8s also the pavementsof a court, of a causeway. of t'ivo small chambers and of a snlall offering place in aFifth-Dynasty mortuary temple a t Sakkbrah3, arid pavements in the mortuary templesof two Fifth-Dynasty pyra~ilids t Abuqir (between C4izah and Sakkgrah), the remains ofall of which may still be seen. A sarcophagus found in the Fourth-Dynasty pyrarnid ofSfykerinos at Gizah was also of basalt4. As this stone occurs plentifully both in the

Fa yy i imbnd in the neighbourhood of Cairoj- -at Abu Za'bal, abont halfway betweenCairo and Bilbeis (Bubastis ); t o the north-wtlst of the Gizah pyramids (in the -4bu Rw8sharea) and in the Cairo-Suez desert, respectively---it is highly probable thni the supplywas obtained locally, and, although the particulnr spot froin which it came cannot befixed with absolute certainty, all the evidence point.: to the Fayyiin~ s the source. Thisevidence may now be considered.I'etrie sta tes th at the brown basalt of t he early dynastic vessels "is of the samequality as tha t used in the Fourth Dynasty for building, coming fro111 El-Khankah nearBubastis6." There is, however. no proof of this and no evidence of ancient workinga t Khankah (or rather a t Abu Za'bal ncar Khankah, where th e quarries arc situated) .So far as is known to the writer, the Bayyiim basalt is the only one near Cairofor which there is evidence of ancient worliing. The paved road leading to the quarryis mentioned by Beadnel17 an d described in detail by Niss Caton-ThompsonR, thelatte r of whom tentatively suggests that it nlay be Roman. The neighbonring smalltemple, however, according to Miss C!atoa-Thompson, possibly dates from the OldK i n g d ~ n l ~ . ~ ,hich periotl is ell reprc~ented n the northern F ~ y y r i m ~ ~ .he writer,therefore, ventures to think that both the quarry and the road are also of th at date. Mis.;Caton-Tho~npsonpoints out that "none of the Graeco-Rornan town3 an d temples of tileF'ayyrirri show any trace of basalt in structure or dc ~oration" nd she cannot suggest forwhat purposei t wasrequireclY. The writer, too, does not know of any use of basal tin quanti tyin Egypt during the Ronlail period, but during the Old Kingdorn, as already stated, th isstone was largely employed. It is true that the Romans exported imperial porphyry andspeckled granite from the eastern desert to Italy, and Jliss Caton-Tho~npson aises thequestion of the possible export of basalt8; but iruperial porphyry and speckled granite areA. E . P. Weiga l l , The Alabaster Quawies of Wa dy Assiou t , in An n . Serv. , XI (191 1), 176.

2 TV. F. H u m e , T h e A l a b a s t e ~Quarry of Wddt Asiu t, i n Cairo Sci . Joz~rn . , I ( 1 9 1 d ) ,72. C . ill. Fir th i n An n . S erv. , x x ~ x , 5, 68.

* H. T7yse , Th e Pyra m id s o f Gizeh, 11 (1 840) , 84 . Th is sarcophagus was lo st a t sea, b u t a smal l f ragmentex i s t s a t t h e Br i t i sh M u seu m.

5 See Table 11. Petrie, Royal Tombs, 11, 43.Beadnell, The Top og. an d Geol. of the Fa yu ln Prouince of Eg yp t, P1. xviii. 8 G. C a to n - Th o mp so n in A n t iq u i t y , I ( 1 9 8 7 ) ,338-40. Q 0. C a to n - Th o mp so n a nd E. IFT. Gardner iu Geog. Jo~cr n . , XXI I I ( 1 9 2 9 ) ,45. lo 0p. cit., 42, 43.


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special stones used for o rnamental purposes th a t do no t occur in Ita ly, whereas basaltdoes occur and there is neither evidence nor probability of this having been exported.Miss Caton-Thompson has shown th a t the good quality gypsum used during th e OldKingdom a t the Gizah necropolis for mo rtar an d plaster was obtained in all probabili tyfrom the Fayyi iml , and th e gypsum vases of Old Kingdom da te found by Petr ie a t Gizah2were probably from th e sam e place, since a t t h a t period such vases an d dishes were beingmade on a large scale in the Fay yi im l . Thus in tercourse is denoted between the twoplaces, which are only abo ut 30 miles apart and easily accessible one from the other,i t being at the present t ime possible to traverse the intervening desert by motor car.H and specimens of four of th e basalts mentioned, nam ely, those from th e Fay yiim3 ,Abu Za 'bal , the Gizah pavem ent and the S ak klr ah pavem ent4 respectively , and micro-scopic sections of th e Abu Za'bal an d th e Gizah m aterial have been examined an dcompared.AS seen in the hand specimens, the stone from all four places is very similar, themo st notab le difference being one of colour, some pieces being black a n d othe rs brown,thus th at from th e quarry , whether from th e Fayyi im or from Abu Za 'bal , may be ei therblack or brown, whereas t h a t employed ancien tly is generally brown. This difference,however, is not fundamen tal, the brown being merely weathered surface material . Anotherdifference is th e size of grain, which varies in different specimens, some of th e Abu Z a'balmaterial being slightly coarser than the rest . If th e Fayyi im an d Abu Za 'bal basal ts arefrom the same flow, which is possible, a great similarity between them is only to beexpected.As seen in t he slides, th e Abu Za'bal and Gizah specimens, thoug h bo th typicalolivine dolerites and generally much alike, are not identical, the former showing a yellowalteration product with l i t t le or no green, while the latt er has a considerable amo unt ofgreen an d v ery li t t le yellow5.Th e evidence, therefore, for the Fayy fim havin g been th e source of t h e Old Kingdombasalt , although entirely circumstantial , is strong. To recapitulate, during the OldKingdom basalt was employed in large qua ntit y in the necropolis stretching from Gizah toSa kk lra h. I n th e Fayyiim, within fairly easy reach of this necropolis, there is a basaltqu arr y approached by a made road, and therefore, manifestly worked on a large scale,an d near the qu arr y is a small temple possibly of Old Kingdom d ate. There is noevide nce of th e use of basalt in Egy pt in large qua ntit ies, except during th e OldKingdom , and expor t is unlike ly; there is , moreover, no evidence of th e ancientquarrying of basalt near Cairo, except in th e Fayyiim. Th e basalt employed in th e OldKingdom , when carefully examined, is found to be more nearly l ike tha t from th e Fa y y ii ~ nth an t h a t from Abu Za'ba16. During the Old Kingdom, too, anoth er material (gypsum ),employed for plaster and mortar in the Gizah necropolis , was almost certainly procured,

Caton-Thompson in Man, XXVI I I , So . 80, 110-11.Petrie, Gizeh and Rifeh, 7 ; PI. vi B.

X i n d l y supplied by Miss C'aton-Thompson.Kindly supplied hy Mr. C. &I.Firth.

"ny more detailed examination than th at here attempted is a matter for the petrologist. Dr. J. it 'Evans, Past President, Geological Society of London and Dr. TV. F. Hume, Geological Survey of Egypt ,both very kindly made a cursory examination of t he material, both hand specimensand slides, and expressedagreement with the writer's conclusions.

6 [Aliss Caton-Thompson writes:" Miss Gardner and I agree with Mr. Lucas' inference th at the basalt used in Old ICingdonl monuments

conies from the FayyGm, a view which we proposed to adrance independently in our full publication, now


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E GYP T IAN P R E DYNA S T IC S T ON E VE S S E L S in par t a t least , frorn the Fayyiim, a nd probably certain gypsum vases found a t Gizahwere also obtained from the Fayyiim.But, if basalt was obtained in large quanti ty from the Fayyiim during the OldKingdom for paving purposes an d for making a sarcophagus, it is no t unreasonable tosuppose th at the small amo un t required for th e early dynastic vessels was procured fromth e sa me place, and , if so, the n it becomes exceedingly probable th a t this was also thesource of th a t em ployed for the predynastic vessels. This is rendered still more probableby t he fact th at this basalt w as actually used in srnall q ua nti ty for vases1 an d otherpurposes2 as early as the Neolithic period, which is proved by th e basa lt objects of t h a tda te foun d by Miss Caton-Thompson near the quarry.Beadnell sta tes 3 th at t he basalt, although generally har d a nd black, is frequentlydecomposed, so ft and of a brown colour a t th e base. The Abu Za'bal basalt, which isnow employed for road metal in Cairo, is also mostly black, with the inferior weatheredsurface material brown.

At a coniparatively late date , occurrences of dolerite (coarse basalt) in the easterndesert became known, since in one place ( W ld i Atollah, roughly midw ay between K enahand Kostir) this rock bears inscriptions of Ramesses 1114(Twent ieth Dynasty) , an d inanother locali ty, in about the same lat i tude as Asyii t , but much nearer the coast thanth e Nile an d close to th e imperial-porphyry q ua rry of Gebel Dokhbn , there ar e doleritequarries alm ost certainly of Ro ma n d ates. There is no evidence to show whether thisstone was worked on a large scale or for what purpose it was required, though it mayhave been for purely local use, for example, for building houses for those engaged in theporphyry quarrying or stat ions and watch towers for those guarding the workmen. Theruins of a tem ple a nd of a small tow n enclosed by a fortified wall (th e tow n containinga ba th establishment with a n eight-pillared hall a n d a plunge bath ) still exist6, but t henat ure of the stone employed is not mentioned, thoug h in a chamber in a small stonebuilding ne ar th e qu ar ry the re a re seats consisting of large dolerite blocks resting ondolerite slabs 5 .in hand, on the FayjQm. We can, indeed, conbiderably strengthen this assumption as a result of our workin 1927-18.

Mr. Lucas refers to the road from the basalt flow of Wi din el-Faras to Has r er-Sagha, an account ofwhich I published in Antiquity, September, 1927. I agree with him that the probabilities are in favoilr ofan Old Klngdom date, and some day, when I again hold that concession, the matter shall be gone intofully. But thi s road leads south down from the scarp, a direction which does not elucidate the questionof tralisport to the north. SlTethink i t more probable that an anclent and mell-defined road, 25 yards wide,which we followed for 1 2 contiuuoua miles between the modern King's Road and Dahshfir, is the routeused.A -western continuati011 of this road, which me co111d not trace owing to obliterdtion by wadys, wouldlead direct to the \Vld$n el-Faras "quarries." Investigation of the eastern terminus a t Dahshfir mightsettle the matter.

3ficroscopical examination of the FaypClm basalt and a specimen from the Fifth-Dynasty pavement a,tSakbhrah shows them to be indistinguishable ; and although the rock type is a common one, the presenceof similar inclusions in both supports their community of origin. This, in our opinion, would be establishedbeyond doubt if a comparison were made with a specimen of basal t from h bu Za'bal, the alternative source.To this end me are sending Mr. Lucas specimens of Fayyfim basalt." Ed.]

1 G. Caton-Thompson, see reference No. 1 2 , Table I.2 G. Caton-Thomp)son in Antiquity, I, 331, and in Jozrrn. Ro,yal Anthrop. Inst., LV I (1926),P1. ssxv,

Fig. 1, PTo. 4.Qeadnell, op. cit., 61. 4 Rarron and Hume, op. ciz., 52, 263."p cit., 26. "4, E. P. JYcigall, Travels in th e l7p:ppc.rE'gyp t i t r~~eserts, 106, 107.


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206 A. LUCASBreccia.

A red and white breccia and another with little or no red colour are found abundantlyon the west bank of the Nile in several localities, for instance, north of Miniah, nearAsyiit, at Thebes and near Esnah. A red and wbite breccia also occurs in the easterndesert1. There is no evidence to shorn from what source th e small amount of this stonerequired for the few predynastic vessels was obtained, but the balance of probabilities isstrongly in favour of the Nile Valley cliffs, where it occurs plentifully.

Diorite.The particular kind of diorite used for the few predynastic vessels made of thismaterial was a speckled variety, in which the component minerals (white felspar andblack hornblende) are fairly evenly distl-ibuted, the banded, mottled and often slightlytranslucent varieties not being used, so far as is known, until Dynastic times. Dioriteoccurs near AswLn, in the eastern desert and in Sinai1, and, although in the eastern

desert it is largely developed in the hills north of the Kenah-Ko@r road and was workedin WBdf Semnah (north-west of KO+&)by the Romans2, there is no evidence of earlierworking. Aswin, where the speckled variety similar to that used for the predynasticvessels is known to occur3, and where another stone (granite) was being worked froman early date, seems the most probable source of the predynastic supply. Sinai, althougha possible source, appears very unlikely and no record of any stone-working in Sinai isknown to the writer2.Granite.

Granite, including both the red and black-and-white varieties and also syenite, is verywidely distributed in Egypt1, but, as all kinds occur near AswLn and were worked therein early Dynastic times, it appears highly probable that it was from this source that thegranite for the few predynastic vessels was obtained. The only other granites knownto have been worked anciently are the red granite of WBdi Foakhir5 (a continuation ofWbdi HammLmLt, between Kenah and KO&) , the date of the working of which isunknown but probably late (Weigall says R ~ r n a n ) ~ ,nd the black-and-white granitequarried by the Romans at >Ions Claudianus7.Limestone.

As the cliffs bordering the Nile Valley from Cairo to a little beyond Esnah, a distanceof about 500 miles, are of limestone, which includes almost every kind and colour, exceptpossibly black, there is no need to look elsewhere for the source of the limestone usedfor the early vessels, even those of Predynastic date.The colours of the limestone used for the predynastic vessels comprise white, grey,yellowish, pink and black, the three first mentioned being very common colours in lime-stone and occurring in most limestone areas; pink and black limestone, however, are lessusual and may be specially considered. Pink limestone has been noted in several places

1 See Table 11. 2 B, ~r ro nand Hume, op. tit., 221, 265. 3 .J. Ball, TILEAswan Cataract, P1. v (2). "ec p. -207. Bnrron and Hame, op. tit., 265 6 TYeig,zll, Travels in th e +per qqyptiaiz Deserts (l909),50. f Barron and Hume, op. cit., 39, 264.


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207GYPT I AN PRE DYNAST I C ST ONE VE SSE L Sin the eastern desert1, but it is not necessary to go so far afield as this, since some ofthe limestone of the Nile Valley also weathers pink2, one example being that of the wallsin the tomb of Tutrankhamiin3. A black crystalline limestone occurs near the conventof St. Antonp in the eastern desert4, where a t some period it has been worked, and alsoin the Cairo-Suez distr ict5 and possibly elsewhere. The workings at the convent are notlikely to be connected with the few black limestone vessels of Predynastic da te6, since thecut ting of such a small amount of material as was required to make these vessels wouldnot leave marks lasting several thousands of years.

Marble.So far a s is known, marble only occurs in the eastern desert, where it is recorded fromseveral localities7, a grey saccharine variety from WBdi Dib (west of Gebel ZBt and fairlyclose to the coast) and both a white and a colour-banded kind from Gebel Rokham (nearthe upper part of Wbdi Xiah8, east of Esnah and roughly two-thirds of the way betweenthe Nile and the Red Sea), the lat ter of which was exploited to a small extent in Arabtimess. It was doubtless from one or both of these sources that the small amount ofmarble used anciently was, a t least in part, obtained, since a third occurrence in the farsouth-eastern desert is a very unlikely source. A crystalline limestone, however, that ispractically marble occurs in localities other than those mentioned and probably even inthe Nile Valley cliffs.

Porphyritic Rock.Porphyritic rocks, varying considerably both in the nature and size of the conspicuouscrystals and also in colour, are widely distributed in Egypt10 and occur near AswLn, inthe eastern desert and in Sinai. Although this material was used in the Predynasticperiod for making vessels, i t was not employed to any great extent, the particular variety

generally chosen being black and white (white crystals in a black matrix). There is noevidence to show from where this stone was obtained, though i t was almost certainly eitherfrom AswBn or from the eastern desert, and, as the latter offers more opportunities, itseems the more probable source. Sinai, although possible, appears unlikely, chiefly becausemost of the other stones employed for the predynastic vessels can be shown, with a highdegree of certainty, to have been obtained elsewhere, some of them from the eastern desert;had one kind of stone been obtained from Sinai, it seems probable that others, also, wouldhave been procured from the same place. Further , no record or trace of stone-workingin Sinai can be found a t any period, whereas in the case of t he materials that did comefrom Sinai (copper ore and turquoise) records and proofs of the mining exist. In the hopeof obtaining direct evidence on the problem, the porphyritic rocks in the Cairo GeologicalMuseum have been carefully examined, but no specimen identical with the stones employedanciently could be found, though Dr. Hume informs me that similar rocks do occur inthe eastern desert.E a r r o ll a n d Hume, op. cit., 167, 169, 170, 177. 2 Op. cit., 171.A. Lucas in Carter , The Torrzb of Tut-ankh-Am en, 11, 164.

"urne, E~ZCL IL .Votes to Geol. *+fay,4i .Barr011, Cairo-Suez District, 27, 99 , 100, 101.

6 Petr ie , L) iospol is P a ~ v a , 9. See Table 11.8 TvBd? Miah e n te r s the Nile Val ley near Edfu.q.a r th o n x in Jle'm. d e Z'Znst. d ~ & ~ ~ ~ t s , (1922),33.10 Sec Tablc 11.

Journ. of Egypt. Ar c h . xvx.


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Schist.There are many varieties of schist, but th at used by the ancient Egyptians wasprincipally a fine-grained, compact, hard, crystalline, quartzose, metamorphic rock, very

like slate in appearance and generally of various shades of grey, ranging from light todark, with sometimes a greenish t int . The term schist is also here used to include tuff(volcanic ash), mudstone and slate. The former is a fine-grained, bluish-grey, crystallinestone, consisting of consolidated volcanic ash, which is sometimes calcified, th at is to say,has undergone alteration resulting in the formation of calcium carbonate as one of theproducts. Nudstone, which is a compact clay rock, is probably the material for whichPetrie coined the term "Duri te"; he describes i t as an "indurated mud or ash, whichis of the composition of slate but without a slaty fracture1." Slate is generally a hard,fissile clay-schist, though slate formed from volcanic dust and not from clay is known.Schist occurs in various localities in Egypt2 , being particularly plentiful in the neigh-bourhood of WBdi Hammamiit on the main road between Kenah and Ko$r, where thereare ancient quarries tha t were worked certainly in the Fifth Dynasty3 and probablyearlier. Weigall found one inscription stated to be of the First Dynasty4. Slate occurs inth e low hill region to the west and north-west of K o~6r ; t Gebel Mongul (west of GebelZSt) and elsewhere in the eastern desert5.

Serpentine.The serpentine employed anciently was almost necessarily obtained from the easterndesert%, ince no other Egyptian source is known. A green variety occurs in Wbdi UmmDisi6 (which is situated between WBdi Kenah, into which it opens, and the Red Sea) anda t the foot of Gebel El-Rebshi6, and a black variety in WBdi SodmBnG,both these latter

places being north-west of Ko+r. In the far south-eastern desert serpentine is much moreplentiful and covers an area of about 400 square miles7. Steatite , which is very similarin composition to serpentine, is found a t Hamr near Aswiin8 and at Gebel Fatirahs (aboutthe latitude of Tahtah, but much nearer the coast than the Nile). I n the former localitythere are ancient mines, and the mineral is still worked at the present day by the local"Arabs," who fashion it into bowls and pipes.It would be valuable if we could determine what proportion of the vases made con-sisted of each kind of stone, bu t this is hardly possible, as some of the archaeologicalreports concerned do not give the number of vessels of the different materials. Thefollowing table includes all that can be found. Although figures from reports published

earlier than Petrie's Prehistoric Egypt are given in cols. e-k, these are not included eitherin the totals or in the percentages, as they have probably already been incorporated byPetrie. The sources of the figures given in the nine columns a-k are indicated im-mediately after the table.Petrie, Amulets, 8.V e e Table 11.

3 J. Coujat and P. I I o~ l t e t ,Ler inscriptio~as iei.ogl,yphiqueset hihn t iques dzc Ouddi Harnnzdrncit, in Jfe'~n.de Z'l~st .ra~lg.darch. orient. du Caire, XXX IV (1912),122, 123.TVeigall, I'ruvels in th e Uppm Egyptzan Deserts, 39.Barron and Hume, op. cit., 217-8, 221, 226, 238, 264. 0p.cit., 265.

7 J. Ball, South-Eastera Eyypt, 320-30.&linesand Quarries Dept., Report on th e JIi~~eralndustry of Egypt (1932), 37.


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EGYPTIAN PREDYNASTIC STONE VESSELSTABLE 111.

S T O N E a b c d Total / / I e f g h kAlabaster Basalt Breccia Diorite Granite Limestone Ilarble Porphyritic rock Schist Serpentine

a . Petrie, Prehistoric Egy pt (1920),35, 36 : Pls. xxxiv-xlii.b. R. Engelhach, Z ar ageh (1923), 14.c. C. &I.Firth, Arch. Szcrcey of ~ Vu bi a, p t. for 1910-1911 (1927), 198.d. Brunton and C:~ton-Thompson, he Badaria7z Civilisation (1928), 28, 57, 58; PI. li.e. J. E. Quibell and F. W. Green, Hierakonpolis, 11 (1902),P1. lxiv.f. MacIver and Mace, El AnzraI~and Abydos (1902), 16-24.g. G. A. Reisner, Arch. Survey of Nz~ bi a, pt. , for 1907-1908 (1910),116, 119, 125, 128.h. Ayrton and Loat, E l M a ha sn u (1911), 11, 16.k. E. Naville and others, dbydos , I, 14 ; Pls. ii, iii.

The information in Tables I1 and I11 may now be combined in tabular form. Thepercentages can only be regarded as a rough approximation.

TABLE IV .

Alabaster Basalt Breccia Diorite Granite Limestone Marble Porphyritic rock Schist Serpeutine

A statistical summary showing the Sequence Dates of the occurrence of the differentkinds of stone employed for the predynastic vessels would be most useful, but unfortunatelyis not possible, owing to the absence in the archaeological reports of sufficient da ta. Thefollowing table, however, has been compiled.2i-2


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A. LUCASTABLE V.

EARLYPREDYNASTIC' AN D LATE REDYNASTIC~ I I D D L E

Alabasters 3,597Basaltz73,5,G37,1CBreccia?+% 536.. .. .Graiiite2,'Limestone', &G , 7 , s Limestone 233,F, i , gh1arble3 Marble"7Porphyritic roclr2, Porphyri tic rock33 0

Schist2,G,7Serpentiue2,38

Putting together the information contained in Tables I V and V, it is evident thatthe stones employed for making vessels during the early Predynastic period included, notonly the comparatively soft alabaster, breccia and limestone, but also the slightly hardermarble and the much harder basalt, granite and porphyritic rock, and th at by far thegreater proportion of these stones was obtained from the Fayyiim, the Nile Valley cliffsand Aswbn, only two (marble and porphyritic rock) being probably procured from theeastern desert. During the middle an d late Predynastic periods, most of th e stones usedwere identical with those of the earlier period and were doubtless obtained from the samesources, but, in addition, three kinds (diorite, schist and serpentine) not used earlier, sofar as is known, were also employed. Of these, diorite and schist are hard and serpentinesoft, the diorite being probably procured from AswAn and the schist and serpentine fromthe eastern desert.

Certain statements found in the li terature of archaeology having reference to the earlystone vessel industry may now be quoted. These ar e:"But as early as S.D. 38 a fresh influence came in.. . . I ts origin has been provisionallyassigned to the Red Sea district as i t introduced hard stone vases ...ll .""The home of this second civilization must have been mountainous by the supply ofstone instead of clay for vases. . .12.""Petrie has rightly insisted that the home of the stone vase industry can ultimatelyonly be sought in the mountains between Egypt and the Red Sea where all the stonesused for the purpose do actually occur ...13."1 Includes Badarian and Neol~thic. Petrie, Dz'ospolis Parva, 19.3 Id., Prehistoric Eg.ypt,35,36 ; Pls. xxxiv-xlii. I n this report Sequence Dates are given for the different

types of vessels, bu t for only a few of the materials. Among these, the breccia vessel (No. 167 ; P1. xli) andthe pink marble vessel (No. 174 ; P1 xli) may specially be noted, as both these are early, namely S.D. 34 (p. 36).

4 Petrie and Quibell, iTaqacla, and Ballus, 10. 5 G. A. Reisner, The Early Dynastic Cemeteries of ATuga ed-Der, I, 129. V l ~ eadaria71 Ciz~ilisation, 8, 57, 58 ; P1. li. 7 El An~rah nd Abydos, 16-24. 11, 16. El ~llai~asna,9 Although not employed for vessels in the earliest age, diorite was used for other purposes, both in the

early Predynastic periocl and even in Neolithic times, a disc mace-head and a worked piece (probably partof a palette) of these respective dates being known. (Pre/~istoric qypt, 23; P1. xxv (6) ; Caton-Thompsonin Jounz. RqyctL Antlzrop. I~zst.,LVI (1926), 313.)

Caton-Thompson ; see reference No. 12, Table I.11 Petrie, Egypt and Mesopota,nia, in Ancient Egypt (1917), 33.lVPreh i s to r i c Egypt, 48. l3 A. Soharff in Journal, XIV (1928), 273.'


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211G Y P T I A N P R E D Y N A S T I C STONE VE S S E L S"The only definite indication as to their home is the fact that their most character-istic contributions t o th e prehistoric civilization a re the stone vases a nd the ir pot teryimitation s; and the region which is most likely to have bred people knowing how to workstone and which is near enough to Egypt to al low permanent intercourse with the NileValley ...is th e Arabian desert along th e western shore of the Re d Sea1."The above s tatem ents are contrary to the evidence t ha t has been adduced, whichpoints to th e home of t he stone vessel industry being, no t in the eastern desert , bu t inor near the Nile Valley, whence th e greater proportion of the ma terial was obtained, tw oof t h e th ree princ ipal stones, ala bas ter an d limestone, being ty pica l of th e Nile Valley, andth e th ird, basalt (which was one of th e e arliest2 and harde st stones used), being obtainedalmost certainly from the Fayyi im.As a rule, th e Nile V alley people of the p resent da y dislike and fear the desert a ndthe desert dwellers, and rarely leave the valley unless obliged. In certain districts, however,a compa ratively small num ber, in order t o gain a livelihood, are forced to make daily

excursions into the desert border to collect gypsum for plaster, limestone for building andlime-burning an d nitrous e arth for their crops. Anciently, conditions were very different,an d during th e Predyn astic period the inhab itants of the Nile Valley were no t th especialized agriculturists th ey ha ve now become, but were in pa rt hunter s an d akin toth e desert dwellers; there can be l i tt le doub t th a t many of them were in the ha bitof going considerable distances into the desert to h un t animals for food and skins, andit was possibly during these expeditions th at th e earliest gold and other minerals, includingsemi-precious stones, were found in small quantities a nd b rought bac k t o t he valley.There was constant intercourse, too, between the Nile Valley and the Red Sea coast, asis proved, for exam ple, by the Red Sea shells th a t are found in the earl iest graves. Thesewanderings in the desert in search of game a nd this intercourse with th e R ed Sea couldhardly have failed to bring the hunters and others into the locali t ies where the fewstones (marble, porphyritic rock, schist and serpentine) th a t were procured from theeastern desert occur, m ost of th ese places being eithe r on or abo ut th e Koptos-KO@road or in or near the large wadys leading from the Nile Valley.It should not be forgotten, too, th a t a ot only was stone (including hard stone) em-ployed for making vessels, bu t th a t i t was also used, even in the earliest Pred ynasticperiod, for palettes and mace-heads, th e earliest palettes being of slate and the earliestmace-head s (disc form ) being of th e very stones (soft alaba ster, breccia an d limestone, an dha rd d iorite, gra nite and porphy ritic rock) th a t were used for vessels3, an d wherever th ehome of th e stone vessel ind ustr y m ay have been, the re also was the hom e of stonemace-heads and stone palettes.

The fact th at s tone objects are made by cer tain deser t "Arabs" at the present dayis som etime s qu ot ed 4 as evidence of th e eastern desert origin of th e ston e vessel ind ustr y,bu t i t has no bearing on the problem. Thus, th e stone employed by these people formaking bowls an d pipes is steati te, a material so soft th a t i t may be cut with a knife,and i t is obtained from the neighbourhood of Aswbn5.1 H. Frankfort, Studies in E a r l y P o t t e y of the iVear East, I , 100.2 See reference No. 1 2 , Table I ; also The Bud arian Civil isat ion, 28 .

Prehistoric Egypt , 23; P1. xxv.Frankfort, op . cit., I, 101.5 Xines and Quarries Dept., Report on the Mineral Industry o f Egypt (1922), 37.


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212 A. LUCASConclusion.

The Nile Valley dwellers from the earliest period made and used vessels and otherobjects of stone (some very ha rd) , most of which was procured from th e Nile Valley cliffs,Aswiin and the Fayy i iml. The few s tones f rom the eastern deser t th at were employedt o a ve ry limited e xten t m ay easily have been procured by th e inhab itants of th e valleyin the ir excursions into t he desert in search of game, gold an d minerals. Th ere is no need,therefore, t o postula te a desert stone-vessel-making race an d the re is no evidence of an ybreak in t he continuity of th e stone vessel industry, bu t only evolution an d progress,more k inds of ston e being used an d m ore vessels being ma de as tim e passed, until th eculminating point in numbers, material and workmanship was reached in the earlyDynastic period.

1 There is no evidence to show whether the predynastic basalt vessels found in the Nile Valley weremade in the Fagydm, or whether occasiorially some of the Fayyam basalt in use in the valley for buildingand other purposes was there shaped into vessels.

journal of egyptian archaeology 1930

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