uluburun bass aja 1989

The Bronze Age Shipwreck at Ulu Burun: 1986 CampaignAuthor(s): George F. Bass, Cemal Pulak, Dominique Collon, James WeinsteinSource: American Journal of Archaeology, Vol. 93, No. 1 (Jan., 1989), pp. 1-29Published by: Archaeological Institute of AmericaStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/505396Accessed: 05/12/2009 13:46

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The Bronze Age Shipwreck at Ulu Burun: 1986 Campaign

GEORGE F. BASS, CEMAL PULAK, DOMINIQUE COLLON, AND JAMES WEINSTEIN

Abstract

The Institute of Nautical Archaeology in 1986 completed its third excavation campaign at Ulu Burun, near Kas, Turkey. New finds include a unique gold scarab of Nefertiti that may provide confirmation for a recent theory that she served as coregent sometime during the latter years of Akhenaten's reign; a gold medallion with a nude goddess holding a gazelle in each hand, as well as other typically Canaanite gold medallions; a rock-crystal cylinder seal with gold caps, probably Kassite; an Old Babylo- nian hematite cylinder seal recut by an Assyrian artisan,

perhaps during the Amarna period; and, in a pithos, the earliest known diptych of the type which held wax for writing surfaces. More weights, bronze tools and weapons, pottery, and copper and tin ingots also came to light, as did another faience ram's-head rhyton. At the deeper end of the site, several more stone anchors were uncovered, bringing the known total on board to 12. The site's ultimate contributions to the history of trade, international relations, and technology must await complete excavation and more positive dating.

The following report is divided into three sections, on the excavations, the cylinder seals, and the gold scarab.

I. EXCAVATIONS AT ULU BURUN IN 1986*

George F. Bass and Cemal Pulak

During the summer of 1986, the Institute of Nauti- cal Archaeology (INA) continued excavation of a Late Bronze Age shipwreck off Ulu Burun, near Ka?, in southern Turkey.' Diving began on 7 June and continued until the end of August. Once more, part of the staff lived ashore in a camp built onto the southeastern face of the rock promontory, while others lived aboard the Virazon, again moored above the site. Diving, mapping, and excavating techniques were the same as those used in previous campaigns.

* The 1986 campaign was financed by the INA Board of Directors, the Anna C. and Oliver C. Colburn Fund of INA, the Institute for Aegean Prehistory, the National Geo- graphic Society and the National Science Foundation. The excavators were G.F. Bass, director; Cemal Pulak, assistant director; Donald A. Frey, photographer; Robin C.M. Pier- cy, chief of operations; Tufan Turanli, captain of INA's research vessel Virazon; Murat Tilev, engineer; and Yancey Mebane, Karl Ruppert, and David Perlman, physicians. Staff also included archaeologists Douglas Haldane, Faith Hentschel, Lisa Shuey, and Shelley Wachsmann; Texas A&M graduate students Nicolle Hirschfeld, Ralph Peder- sen, Lillian Ray, and Stephen Vinson; conservators Jane Pannell and Robert Payton; and illustrators Netia Piercy (figs. 8, 9, 10, 13, 14, and 18), Sema Pulak (figs. 7, 11, 16 and 21), and Anika Liversage (fig. 27). Yasar Yildlz represented the Turkish General Directorate of Antiquities and Museums.

See C. Pulak and D.A. Frey, "The Search for a Bronze Age Shipwreck," Archaeology 38:4 (1985) 18-24 for the dis-

Diving twice daily, with nearly six hours between dives, six days a week, we compiled 60 dives to between 50 and 140 ft (15 and 43 m), 1125 dives to between 140 and 150 ft (43 and 46 m), 1580 dives to between 150 and 160 ft (46 and 49 m), and 2 dives to 170 ft (52 m), totalling 512 hours on the site in 1986.

Work was again concentrated on the shallower half of the site, west of the large rock outcrop (figs. 1 and 2). We hoped to excavate completely the area upslope of the uppermost rows of amphoras and copper ingots,

covery of the site. A 10-day inspection in 1983 is described by G.F. Bass, D.A. Frey, and C. Pulak, "A Late Bronze Age Shipwreck at Kas, Turkey," IJNA 13 (1984) 271-79, and the first excavation campaign by G.F. Bass, "A Bronze Age Shipwreck at Ulu Burun (Kas): 1984 Campaign," AJA 90 (1986) 269-96, and G.F. Bass, "The Ulu Burun Ship- wreck," VII. Kazz Sonuclarz Toplantzsz (Ankara 1986) 619- 35 (hereafter VII. KST). For the 1985 campaign see C. Pu- lak, "The Bronze Age Shipwreck at Ulu Burun, Turkey: 1985 Campaign," AJA 92 (1988) 1-37, and G.F. Bass, "Underwater Excavations of the Ulu Burun Shipwreck," VIII. Kazz Sonuclarz Toplantzsz 2 (Ankara 1987) 291-302 (hereafter VIII. KST 2). The site has also been published in popular form, with color photographs of many of the artifacts, in G.F. Bass, "Oldest Known Shipwreck Reveals Splendors of the Bronze Age," National Geographic 172:6 (December 1987) 692-733. The two cylinder seals described here have been illustrated previously: D. Collon, First Impressions: Cylinder Seals in the Ancient Near East (London 1987) 135-37, nos. 570-71.

American Journal of Archaeology 93 (1989) 1

G.F. BASS, C. PULAK, D. COLLON, AND J. WEINSTEIN

Fig. 1. Wreck seen from northeast

approximately grid squares L-10 to N-10 and L- 1 to N-11, where many small finds were recovered in 1985, including a scarab and a plaque with Egyptian hieroglyphs, as well as all of the gold jewelry found that year. This goal was not realized because the area continued to be surprisingly rich in small artifacts, and because newly discovered deposits of artifacts extended the known boundaries of the site. We continued mapping and removing the aforementioned rows of amphoras and ingots, which had been discovered under a thick layer of marine encrustation in 1985. To the south of these regions, we completed excavation of the narrow, sand-filled gully that had in 1984 produced such diversified finds as a gold chalice, a falcon-

shaped gold pectoral, elephant and hippopotamus tusks, glass ingots, amber and faience beads, an am-

phora filled with glass beads, and several bronze

weapons, and which in 1985 had yielded two bronze swords and scrap silver in the vicinity of pithos KW 250. Excavation was extended below this gully to the rock outcrop and across the remainder of the upper half of the wreck. During this time the rows of

2 0. Negbi, Canaanite Gods in Metal: An Archaeological Study of Ancient Syro-Palestinian Figurines (Tel Aviv

ingots extending downslope to the north of the rock

outcrop were mapped but not removed. Lastly, toward the end of the campaign, exploratory dives at the

deepest visible part of the site revealed two previously unknown anchors at a depth of 51 m; these may mark the westernmost extent of the site. During these ex-

ploratory dives, a pithos, which seems to have rolled down the steep slope, was spotted lying far below the rest of the wreck, at an estimated depth of 58 m.

Grid square M-l 1, in the first area mentioned, continued to yield gold jewelry, including pendants of four known Canaanite types: KW 703 is a pear- shaped sheet of gold, 9.1 cm high, its ribbon loop for

suspension rolled forward and scored vertically (fig. 3). The pendant bears the framed repousse figure of a nude female holding a gazelle in each raised hand. The figure faces forward, wearing a crown, but her feet are in profile to her right. She wears four bracelets on each wrist, and pairs of anklets. The figure is almost certainly that of a deity of uncertain identification, being a good example of Ora Negbi's "Pictorial Qudsu" group,2 as well as of K.R. Maxwell-Hyslop's

1976) 99-100, except the Ulu Burun figure does not wear a Hathor wig.

[AJA 93 2

THE BRONZE AGE SHIPWRECK AT ULU BURUN: 1986 CAMPAIGN

H I I | J |j K L M J N I 0 P

3

THE ULUBURUN WRECK NEAR KAS - TURKEY

INA 1986

O .5 1m

8058 f '61 819,727

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4-. .. . .q: .

+ + . .+ +

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H I J I K I L MN 0 I

Fig. 2. Site plan. Objects mentioned in text are indicated by their K(as) W(reck) numbers.

1989]

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

20

21

_t

1

1

1

I

1

1

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Fig. 4. Gold roundel KW 756. 3:2

(fig. 4). It is decorated in repousse by a four-pointed star with curved rays between its straight rays, all outlined by incised lines; single repousse bosses are cen- tered in the fields between the rays, and the edge of the pendant is outlined by repousse dots. This star-with- curved-ray motif is much more like the common motif

Fig. 3. Gold pear-shaped pendant KW 703. 3:2

group b of nude goddess pendants3 and P.E. McGov- ern's type II.B.1.4 Four of these are in sheet gold from Minet el-Beida and one in cast bronze from Akko, while another, of cast gold from Zincirli in Anatolia, may be of later, Iron Age date;5 a parallel from Minet el-Beida has gazelles held in a manner similar to that on the Ulu Burun medallion.6

Sheet-gold pendant KW 756 is a roundel, 4 cm in diameter, with its suspension loop also rolled forward

3 K.R. Maxwell-Hyslop, Western Asiatic Jewellery c. 3000-612 B.C. (London 1971) 139.

4 P.E. McGovern, Late Bronze Palestinian Pendants (JSOT/ASOR Monograph 1, Sheffield 1985) 30.

5 Negbi (supra n. 2) 100, 135. 6 Maxwell-Hyslop (supra n. 3) 139, pl. 106; C.F.A.

Fig. 5. Gold rectangular pendant KW 757. 2:1

Schaeffer, "Les fouilles de Minet-el-Beida et de Ras Sham- ra, troisieme campagne," Syria 13 (1932) pl. 9.1; C.F.A. Schaeffer, Ugaritica II (Paris 1949) 36-37, fig. 10; Negbi (supra n. 2) 100 with fig. 119, pl. 53.1701, and 191 for bibliography.

4 [AJA 93

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Fig. 6. Gold horn-shaped pendant KW 892. 3:2

seen in various materials at Ugarit, Alalakh, and She- chem than is that on gold roundel KW 138, found on the wreck in 1984.7 Two gold roundels from Shechem provide parallels for KW 756.8

Rectangular pendant KW 757, with rounded corners, is 2.5 cm high (fig. 5). The figure of a standing woman, facing right, is scratched on its surface. Her hair hangs straight behind her ear to below her shoulder. Three horizontal scratches cross her waist. Her skirt is flounced, with three horizontal lines above the

;~' ~ ;:-

Fig. 7. Whetstone KW 701. 1:1

7 Bass, AJA 90 (1986) 289-90, pl. 17.4, with references to those at Ugarit, Alalakh and Shechem in notes 117-19, 121; Bass, VII. KST (supra n. 1) 628, 635 fig. 11. This is Type

Fig. 8. Bronze hoe KW 839. 1:3

hem, like those of the wife of the Syrian merchant, shown newly arrived in Egypt by ship, in the 15th- century Tomb of Nebamun at Thebes.9 The figures

Fig. 9. Bronze fishhook KW 924. 1:1

VI.G.1 in McGovern (supra n. 4) 75. 8 Maxwell-Hyslop (supra n. 3) 144, pl. 115. 9 T. Save-Soderbergh, Four Eighteenth Dynasty Tombs

1989] 5

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her lower skirt, perhaps an underskirt, is cross- hatched, and there is only one line above this, perhaps the hem of an outer garment; two lines cross her waist; both elbows are bent sharply, the forearms held up with the palms of the hands facing away from the body. Another pendant, from the same hoard, has a male figure on its surface,"I as does a pendant of the same family from Tell Abu Hawam.12 All of these pendants have their suspension loops rolled forward. It is of interest that the two females face to the right, whereas the males face left.

The fourth gold pendant from Ulu Burun, KW 892 (fig. 6), is of Maxwell-Hyslop's horn-shaped type,'3 with solid-cast horns and a rolled-over hollow loop for suspension; its crescent is 4.4 cm wide. Maxwell-Hys- lop says the type was especially popular in the 15th and 14th centuries.'4 Good parallels appear in the hoard at Shechem that produced the best parallels for roundel KW 756, above. The type also occurs at Me- giddo,'5 Tell el-Ajjul,'6 Beth Shan, Gezer, and Ras Shamra,17 and in Greece and Cyprus.18

Also found here were two cylinder seals (KW 714 and KW 881), discussed in Part II by Collon, and a

a-z,

Fig. 10. Bronze knife KW 800. 1:2

resemble one another also in that on each the arm far- ther from the viewer hangs down but slightly forward, whereas the arm nearer the viewer is held forward and upward. The Ulu Burun pendant is similar to but slightly smaller than a sheet-gold pendant found in a hoard of probable Late Cypriot IIIA1 date at Hala Sultan Tekke that may be jewelry "of a non-Cypriote woman, from Egypt or Palestine."'0 On the Hala Sul- tan Tekke example, the woman's hair is similar, but

(Private Tombs at Thebes 1, Oxford 1957) pl. 23; G.F. Bass, Cape Gelidonya: A Bronze Age Shipwreck (TAPS 57, part 8, 1967) 65, fig. 74.

10 P. Xstrom et al., Hala Sultan Tekke 8. Excavations 1971-79 (SIMA 45:8, Goteborg 1983) 8 no. N 1157j, 9-10, 13 fig. 9. The hoard was originally thought to be from perhaps as early as 1500 B.C., K. Nicolaou, "Archaeological News from Cyprus, 1977-1978,"AJA 84 (1980) 67, pl. 13.24.

11 Astrim et al. (supra n. 10) 8 no. N 1157k, 13 fig. 10; Nicolaou (supra n. 10) pl. 13.23.

12 R.W. Hamilton, "Excavations at Tell Abu Hawam," QDAP 4 (1935) no. 416 on p. 64, pl. 39.1, designated Type

a b

Fig. 11. Agate lentoids a) KW 840, and b) KW 793. 1:1

II.B.3 in McGovern (supra n. 4) 32-33, 156 pl. 6.76 (cf. Type II.B.l.b on p. 30).

13 Maxwell-Hyslop (supra n. 3) 149-50, pl. 115; this is Type VI.B.1 in McGovern (supra n. 4) 68-69.

14 Maxwell-Hyslop (supra n. 3) 151. 15 Maxwell-Hyslop (supra n. 3) 150-51. 16 F. Petrie, Ancient Gaza IV. Tell el Ajjul (London 1934)

pl. 20.168 and 174. 17 Maxwell-Hyslop (supra n. 3) 151. 18 K. Niklasson in Astrom et al. (supra n. 10) 177-78

no. 1247, 201 fig. 471.

! I

:

if

[AJA 93 6

I I


Fig. 12. Faience ram's-head rhyton KW 707. Ca. 1:1

unique gold scarab of Queen Nefertiti (KW 772) that is illustrated and treated in Part III by James Weinstein.

In this same deposit were bronze arrowheads, quartz and faience beads, lead fishing-net weights, a few small bronze tools, a whetstone (KW 701: fig. 7; 1. 0.06), and stone balance-pan weights.

Less than half a meter upslope from these finds were three bits of scrap gold. Two are the joining halves of roundel KW 956, identical to the pendant with granulated lotus palmette found here in 1985.19 The third is part of a possible gold bar or disc (KW 928), its edges removed by chisel. Bronzes in this

deposit included a hoe (KW 839: fig. 8; 1. 0.30) of

Cape Gelidonya Type 5;20 three sickles; several arrowheads; and four fishhooks, including KW 924 (fig.

19 Pulak (supra n. 1) 26-27, fig. 32; Bass, VIII. KST 2 (supra n. 1) 292, 299 fig. 3.

20 Bass (supra n. 9) 91 with fig. 104.B68. 21 F. Petrie, Ancient Gaza III. Tell el Ajjul (London 1933)

pl. 22.85-88; J.-C. Courtois, Alasia III (Paris 1984) 18, with additional references to Syria and Cyprus, and 176 fig. 6.12-13; S. Iakovidis, Excavations of the Necropolis at Perati (Institute of Archaeology, University of California, Los Angeles, Occasional Paper 8, 1980) 95, 96 fig. 118; S.G. Miller, "Excavations at Nemea, 1975," Hesperia 45 (1976) 184, pl. 33a suggests the longevity of the type.

22 Bass, AJA 90 (1986) 288-89, 290 ill. 28.

9; pres. 1. 0.05), of a type known throughout the eastern Mediterranean.21 Here, too, was found a bronze finger cymbal (KW 923) which matches that found in 1984.22 KW 800 (fig. 10; 1. 0.23), the only complete bronze knife of its type yet recovered from the wreck, has a down-curving blade like examples found at least in Mycenaean contexts in western Asia Minor and Rhodes.23 Other finds in the deposit include lead fish-

ing-net weights, a lead and several stone balance-pan weights, and faience beads of a type recovered during previous campaigns.24

In neighboring squares N-11 and N-12 were seven

fragmentary tin ingots, some easily recognized as having been cut from the typical four-handled "ox-hide"

shape.25 Here, too, were found two possible Minoan

23 N.K. Sandars, "Later Aegean Bronze Swords," AJA 67 (1963) 140-42, pl. 27.54, 56-57, and J. Deshayes, Les outils de bronze, de lIndus au Danube 2 (Paris 1960) 136 no. 2596, pl. 43.2596; 132 no. 2529, pl. 42.2529; and, for knives from Mycenae with straight blades but with handles terminating in knobs like that at Ulu Burun, 134 nos. 2554 and 2555, pl. 43.2554-2555. Other examples, from the My- cenaean cemetery at Musgebi, near Bodrum, are displayed in the Bodrum Museum of Underwater Archaeology.

24 Bass, AJA 90 (1986) 286-87, 289 ill. 26; Pulak (supra n. 1)25. 25 Pulak (supra n. 1) cf. 9 fig. 4, 10 fig. 5.

1989] 7

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Fig. 15. Glass relief bead KW 829. 2:1

Fig. 13. Bronze fishhook or gaff KW 1225. 1:2

or Mycenaean seal blanks of agate:26 KW 840

(fig. 1 la; diam. 0.016) in N-12, and KW 793 (fig. 1 lb; diam. 0.026) in M-12.

Fourteen Canaanite amphoras and two pilgrim flasks were raised from the heavily encrusted deposit just downslope; other amphoras remain embedded in the concretion. Here, also, was a nearly intact faience

rhyton (KW 707: fig. 12; 1. 0.18) in the shape of a ram's head. It is the fifth rhyton of this type found on the wreck, and its condition allows us to note that it is similar to, but not identical to, faience rhyta in the same form from Enkomi27 and Tell Abu Hawam.28 Conservator Robert Payton notes that it seems to have been broken and mended in antiquity.

Close to this area was the joining fragment of stone mace-head KW 278, found in 1985.29

Fig. 14. Bronze balance-pan weight KW 873. 1:1

26 Cf. J. Boardman, Greek Gems and Finger Rings (Lon- don 1970) 49 [color plate] no. 3; on p. 63, however, Board- man cites evidence that the string-hole was bored after the engraving of a seal, and the Ulu Burun stones are already bored; a Mycenaean preference for banded agates in LH I-IIIA is noted on p. 57.

27 A.S. Murray, A.H. Smith, and H.B. Walters, Excava- tions in Cyprus (London 1900) 33, with fig. 61.1212 and pl. 3.

28 Hamilton (supra n. 12) 65 no. 428, pl. 30. 29 Pulak (supra n. 1) 24.

In disassembling the row of copper ingots marking the lower border of the amphora deposit, we discovered that they were stacked neatly on a cushion of thorny burnet (Sarcopoterium spinosum)30 reminiscent of the dunnage found beneath copper ingots on the Cape Gelidonya wreck.31 Seeds of this species, common throughout the eastern Mediterranean, have been found on virtually all of the shipwrecks we have excavated in the Mediterranean, as well as in amphoras of various periods recovered during INA's annual surveys,32 but this discovery at Ulu Burun provides the first direct evidence of the plant's use. Preserved by copper corrosion products between the ingots were many more murex opercula like those noted previously.33 Perhaps preserved in the same way were numerous tiny faience beads in several colors, like discoid

Fig. 16. Rock-crystal bead KW 767. 1:1

30 C.W. Haldane, "Archaeobotanical Remains from Four Shipwrecks off Turkey's Southern Shore," Proceedings of the Fifth Conference of the Organization for the Phyto-Tax- onomic Investigation of the Mediterranean Area, Istanbul, 12 September 1986, forthcoming.

31 Bass (supra n. 9) 49, 168-69. 32 Haldane (supra n. 30). W. van Zeist first brought this

identification to our attention (letter of 21 April 1986 to Aleydis van de Moortel).

33 Pulak (supra n. 1) 5.

8 [AJA 93


Fig. 17. African blackwood log (Dalbergia melanoxylon). 3:20

beads found in 1984,34 the latter seemingly bleached of color.

Downslope of these ingots was a row of three pairs of anchors, one anchor in each pair resting on the other. A solitary anchor lay at the northernmost end of the row, but a newly uncovered anchor, far down the steep slope in squares P-18 and P-19, may be a missing mate for it, suggesting a fourth pair.

In the approximate area from which pithos KW 251 was raised in 1984, a number of Cypriot ce- ramic pieces were found, some identical to those removed from the pithos in 1984.35 They may represent additional contents of the pithos: White Shaved juglet KW 1058, Base-ring II bowl KW 730, and a fragmentary White Slip II milk-bowl, along with saucer- shaped lamp KW 105936 and pitcher KW 812 with trefoil mouth. In the same general area, but slightly to the south, were pilgrim flasks37 in at least three sizes (large KW 747; medium KW 795; small KW 761 and 776), wall brackets KW 759 and KW 1001,38 saucer-

shaped lamp KW 760 with fire-blackened nozzle,39 a badly damaged stirrup jar (KW 905), four amphoras, a glass ingot,40 fragments of tin ingots, over 100 lead fishing-net weights in two sizes, several small bronze tools, parts of what may be a pair of bronze tongs, and

34 Bass, AJA 90 (1986) 274. 35 Bass, AJA 90 (1986) 279-81, ills. 10-12; Bass, VII.

KST (supra n.1) 626-27, 633 figs. 6-7. 36 Cf. Bass, AJA 90 (1986) 281,282 ill. 14; Bass, VII. KST

(supra n. 1) 626, 634 fig. 9. 37 Cf. Bass, Frey and Pulak (supra n. 1) 276, 277 fig. 7;

Bass, AJA 90 (1986) 284-85, 286 ill. 21; Bass, VIII. KST2 (supra n. 1) 295, 301 fig. 8; Pulak (supra n. 1) 12 fig. 7.

38 Cf. Bass, Frey and Pulak (supra n. 1) 273, 276 with fig. 6; Bass, VIII. KST2 (supra n. 1) 297, 302 fig. 12.

39 Cf. Bass, AJA 90 (1986) 285, 287 ill. 22; Pulak (supra n. 1) 13, 12 fig. 6.

40 Cf. Bass, AJA 90 (1986) 281-82 with ills. 15-16; Bass, VII. KST (supra n. 1) 624, 633 fig. 5. See also "Glass Gal- lery Opens at Bodrum Museum," JGS 28 (1986) 117-18 with fig. 2.

41 This does not seem to be a duck, as is clearly the case with KW 350 (Pulak [supra n. 1] 30 with fig. 37, 31; see

a large bronze fishhook or gaff, with its barb on the outside (KW 1225: fig. 13; pres. 1. 0.10). A few balance-pan weights here include KW 727, a recumbent young animal (perhaps a calf) weighing 3.15 g, and KW 873 (fig. 14; 1. 0.021), shaped like a water fowl,41 weighing 2.02 g. Among a number of glass, faience, and stone beads was a blue glass relief bead (KW 829: fig. 15; 1 0.026) of seeming Mycenaean manufacture,42 a rock-crystal bead (KW 767: fig. 16; diam. 0.016) similar to one from a Late Minoan tomb,43 and another possible Minoan or Mycenaean seal blank (KW 819) of a green stone, possibly steatite. A broken ostrich egg44 and a meter-long, unworked piece of

Fig. 18. Bronze chisel KW 748. 3:5

J.-C. Courtois, "Le tresor de poids de Kalavassos-Ayios Dhimitrios 1982," RDAC (1983) 123, 126, pl. 17.5, where a fowl also with a long neck is identified as a duck or related animal.

42 Cf. V.R.d'A. Desborough, The Last Mycenaeans and Their Successors (Oxford 1964) pl. 20a, relief beads of "glass paste," probably from lalysos.

43 Cf. C.W. Blegen, Prosymna (Cambridge 1937) fig. 599.10; and S. Hood, G. Huxley and N. Sandars, "A Mino- an Cemetery on Upper Gypsades," BSA 53-54 (1958- 1959) 250 no. X.11, 258 fig. 35.X.11 for an example with seven flutes.

44 See D.S. Reese, "The Kition Ostrich Eggshells," Ap- pendix VIII(B) in V. Karageorghis, Excavations at Kition V, Part 2 (Nicosia 1985) 371-82, and A. Caubet, "Les oeufs d'autruche au Proche Orient ancien," RDAC (1983) 193- 98 for references to past discoveries in the eastern Mediter- ranean. See now D. White, "1985 Excavations on Bates's

1989] 9


Fig. 19. Wooden diptych KW 737. 1:1

dark, dense African blackwood or Dalbergia melanoxylon (fig. 17), called ebony by the ancient Egyp- tians,45 represent exotic trade goods. Lastly, scarab KW 904, discussed by Weinstein in Part III, is of the Second Intermediate Period.

Before being raised, seemingly intact but badly cracked pithos KW 252, just south of pithos KW 251 (fig. 2), was emptied of sediment and then disassem- bled under water. The sediment contained numerous seeds and other parts of pomegranates, suggesting to Cheryl Haldane that the jar contained whole pomegranates. Also recovered from the jar were several bal- last stones, bronze chisel KW 748 (fig. 18; 1. 0.92) of a type especially common in the Levant,46 bronze razor KW 749 (similar to KW 344 raised in 1985),47 and wooden diptych KW 737 (fig. 19).

The diptych, reassembled from more than 25 frag-

Island, Marsa Matruh," JARCE 23 (1986) 79 with n. 71. We thank Dominique Collon for referring us to C.S. Gans- dale, Animals of Bible Lands (Exeter 1970) 191-92, for the Near Eastern distribution of the ostrich in more recent times. Nicolle Hirschfeld has brought to our attention a fragment from the storeroom complex at Gla (Prakt 1982, 105-108).

45 The wood was identified by Donna Christensen of the

ments, is of obvious importance for our knowledge of Bronze Age literacy. It consists of two rectangular wooden leaves, 6.2 cm wide by 9.5 cm high, joined by a three-piece, cylindrical ivory hinge; plugged holes indicate that the hinge had been replaced or repaired in antiquity. The central piece of the hinge could not be lo- cated, despite our efforts. The inner faces of the leaves were slightly recessed, and scored with crosshatching for the retention of wax writing surfaces. The inner- most margin of one leaf was incised with geometric marks. A pair of small holes piercing this leaf may have been for a device to keep the diptych closed. It is probable that the diptych was closed while in the pithos, for its inner faces had not suffered as much erosion as the outer surfaces. The earliest previously known writing tablets of this sort were found in a well at Nimrud, from the late eighth century B.C.48 On the walnut Nimrud

Center for Wood Anatomy Research, U.S. Forest Products Laboratory, Madison, Wisconsin. For Egyptian ebony see A. Lucas, Ancient Egyptian Materials and Industries4 (London 1962) 434-36.

46 Bass (supra n. 9) 99-100 fig. 112.B 129. 47 Pulak (supra n. 1) 14, 15 fig. 10; Bass, AJA 90 (1986)

292-93 with ill. 33, where a similar blade is called a knife. 48 M.E.L. Mallowan, "The Excavations at Nimrud

10 [AJA 93


Fig. 20. Hippopotamus canine KW 744. 1:4

diptych, traces of beeswax bearing cuneiform inscriptions were preserved; analysis of the beeswax showed it to be mixed with about 25% orpiment,49 and this may explain why an amphora of orpiment was on the Ulu Burun ship.50 The Ulu Burun tablet demonstrates that Homer's mention of folding wooden tablets (II. 6.169) was not anachronistic.

Removal of the fragments of pithos KW 252 revealed three more hippopotamus teeth, one incisor and two canines (fig. 20); the four hippopotamus teeth so far recovered51 do not seem to come from the same animal. Recent discoveries of hippopotamus teeth at other Bronze Age sites in the eastern Mediterranean suggest that hippopotamus ivory was used more extensively than previously known.52 Pottery discovered under the pithos included two pilgrim flasks (KW 791

Fig. 21. Shell ring KW 801. 1:1

(Kalhu)," Iraq 16 (1954) 98; D.J. Wiseman, "Assyrian Writing Boards," Iraq 17 (1955) 3.

49 Mallowan (supra n. 48) 99; Wiseman (supra n. 48) 5. 50 Bass, AJA 90 (1986) 278-79; Bass, VII. KST (supra

n. 1) 626. 51 Bass, AJA 90 (1986) 283, 285 ill. 19. 52 A. Caubet and F. Poplin, "Les objets de matiere dure

animale etude du materiau," Ras Shamra-Ougarit III (Pa-

Fig. 22. Metal pilgrim flask KW 1085. 1:2

and 1183), several Canaanite amphoras, spindle bot- tle KW 844, and coarse-ware stirrup jars KW 1188 (h. 0.44) and KW 1198 (h. 0.45). KW 1198, which contained almost every type of seed we have recovered from the wreck, as well as several dozen faience and stone beads and a large fleck of orpiment, is similar in shape and painted decoration to LH IIIA:2-IIIB stirrup jars from the House of the Wine Merchant at Mycenae.53 Also in this area were two rings, most likely fashioned from Mediterranean top shells,54 one found in the mouth of stirrup jar KW 1198. A central groove inscribed completely around each ring preserves a black substance probably intended for affix- ing pre-cut inlays to the ring. One ring preserves an impressed zigzag pattern in this bitumen-like material that probably corresponds to the triangular shapes of missing inlay pieces, while the second has impressed

ris 1987) 278-83, 290-94; see also bibliography in D.S. Reese, "Hippopotamus and Elephant Teeth from Kition," Appendix VIII(D) in V. Karageorghis, Excavations at Ki- tion V, Part 2 (Nicosia 1985) 391-98.

53 H.W. Haskell, "Coarse-Ware Stirrup-Jars at Myce- nae," BSA 76 (1981) 225-26.

54 Pulak (supra n. 1) 26, 27 fig. 31.

1989] 11


Fig. 23. Beaked jug KW 725. 1:3

alternating rectangles and circles (KW 801: fig. 21; diam. 0.023).

A meter to the south, pithos KW 253 (fig. 2) was chiseled out of the crevice in which it was concreted. Preliminary examination of its sediment revealed no

artifacts or seeds. In the crevice were four Canaanite amphoras, terra-cotta pilgrim flask KW 1084, and metal pilgrim flask KW 1085 (fig. 22; h. ca. 0.18), visually identified as tin, which reminds us of the tin pilgrim flask from 18th-Dynasty Egypt.55 Large rim fragments found here and elsewhere may be from the broken pithos spotted far below the site, at a depth of approximately 58 m, a discovery that brings the number of pithoi on the wreck to seven.

In cleaning for mapping the rows of copper ingots north of the rock outcrop, coarse-ware stirrup jar KW 790, several tin ingot fragments, two pilgrim flasks, and a dozen copper bun ingots were chiseled free. The ingots of the shallower of these rows, stacked 11 deep in places, rest directly on large, unidentified ship timbers. Two stone anchors lying deeper than the lowest coherent rows of ingots, but not as deep as the pair found during the exploratory dives mentioned above, bring the total number of anchors on the wreck to 12.

An isolated find, beaked jug KW 725 (fig. 23; h. 0.26) was chiseled out of a pocket on the eastern side of the large rock outcrop. Jeremy Rutter, who is studying the Mycenaean pottery from the wreck for our final publication, but has seen only preliminary drawings of the jug, finds its shape closer to FS 144 of LH IIIA:1 date than to FS 145 of LH IIIA:2, but sees the decoration as LH IIIA:2 and concludes that the jug dates to the LH IIIA:2 early period,56 contemporary with kylix KW 57 found on the wreck in 1984.57

INSTITUTE OF NAUTICAL ARCHAEOLOGY

AT TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY

COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS 77843

II. CYLINDER SEALS FROM ULU BURUN

Dominique Collon

Two cylinder seals58 were found in grid square M-1 1, which yielded the four gold pendants described in Part I and the gold Nefertiti scarab discussed in Part III. Seal KW 714 (figs. 24-25; h. 2.8 cm; diam. 1.06-1.10 cm), of quartz var. crystal (rock-crystal), is slightly chipped around the edges. Its perforation (diam. 0.3 cm) is off center. The seal was perforated from each end, but the point where the two perfora-

55 Lucas (supra n. 45) 253. 56 J. Rutter (letters to the authors on 12 December 1986

and 29 September 1987). 57 Bass, AJA 90 (1986) 285, 288 ill. 23; Bass, VII. KST

(supra n. 1) 624, 633 fig. 3.

tions meet is extremely narrow. Strips of gold were wrapped around and flattened over each end to form gold caps. A pink powder residue within the caps, now being analyzed, may indicate that an adhesive was used. When in position the caps, which are 0.7 cm high, overlap the design and add 0.2 cm to the height of the seal and increase the diameter up to 1.4 cm.

The design of KW 714 was executed with a cutting

58 I have not been able to examine these seals myself, but have worked from numerous photographs, a detailed drawing of KW 881 (fig. 27) by Anika Liversage, and the excel- lent notes and sketches supplied by Robert Payton for figs. 24 and 26.

12 [AJA 93


Fig. 24. Cylinder seal KW 714. 1:1

wheel and drill. It consists of a procession of three figures approaching a fourth from the left, as depicted on the impression. They stand with one foot forward and a drill hole at the ankle; the other foot is indicated by a short horizontal line just below the angle formed by the back of the skirt. The left arm is bent and held level with the waist, and the right arm hangs down behind. The hands are indicated by drill holes. The figures wear globular headdresses. A drill hole at the nape of the neck indicates the hair which is either worn in a bun or, more probably, is worn shoulder length. All are bearded. Two parallel diagonal lines indicate the upper edge of each of their garments. These garments are draped from their right shoulders and pass under their left arms, and are considerably

shorter in front than at the back. The hemlines are indicated by double diagonal lines. The first figure on the left has two vertical lines on the skirt of his garment, the second has a single line and two short tassels hanging from the hem, while the third has only a single line down his skirt. The last holds a short bow behind him, but the others are empty-handed.

The fourth figure wears a flatter headdress, or possibly a hair band, but his hair style and beard resemble those of the other figures. His right arm is bent and held horizontally at waist level; there are two horizontal lines across the garment below it. He raises his left hand in greeting. He wears a long garment with one vertical line down the skirt, two horizontal lines across the bottom, and a heavy, slightly angled line indicating the hem. Two short horizontal lines below this represent the feet. Whereas the first three figures are well spaced, the fourth is smaller and looks cramped, although there are no indications that he was inserted later or that any recutting was involved.

Between the figures there are various symbols. From left to right these are an eye-shape set vertically; a cross above a fish or bird; a crescent; a V-shape, set on its side and pointing right, above a diamond-shape. There are line borders round the top and bottom of the seal.

The closest parallel, as regards both subject matter and execution, is a seal in the Chicago Field Muse- um.59 This seal is Kassite, but its inscription is a prayer and cannot be dated. In attempting to establish a more precise date for the Ulu Burun seal we shall have to rely on style of dress and posture as depicted on the few Kassite seals which can be assigned to a specific reign.

Fig. 25. Impression of cylinder seal KW 714. 3:2

59 W.H. Ward, The Seal Cylinders of Western Asia (Washington 1910) 188 no. 531.

1989] 13

I

{70Xi

h4Ws (^L-4


I 0

Figs. 26, 27. Cylinder seal KW 881.

The posture adopted by the first three figures is that of the "king with a mace" on Old Babylonian seals. This is often, and almost certainly erroneously, thought to be a god, but is probably the king in warrior dress.60 The posture of the fourth figure goes back to the third millennium B.C. In Old Babylonian times it is that adopted by the king in ceremonial dress.61

Normally deities face left, but in view of the more im-

posing size, headdress and stance of the three advanc-

ing figures and the attitude of worship of the fourth, it seems probable that the first three figures are gods and the fourth is a worshipper, perhaps the king.62

The various symbols in the field may perhaps iden-

tify the gods, but this is by no means certain. The cross

may be an abbreviated star indicating an astral deity,

60 D. Collon, Catalogue of the Western Asiatic Seals in the British Museum, Cylinder Seals III: Isin/Larsa and Old

Babylonian Periods (London 1986) 35, 100-104. 61 Collon (supra n. 60) 36-38. 62 In a recent, computer-based study of Kassite seals of the

First Group, Donald Matthews of Cambridge University has reached exactly the opposite conclusions and has provided compelling arguments in support of his views. The three advancing figures would therefore be kings and the single figure facing left would be a god. His study further

1:1. I

Ani- 86

Enlarged drawing of impression. 3:1

but crosses at this period may well have been used to depict the sun. The fish, however, would signify the water god. The crescent moon may indicate that the moon god is depicted. The V-shape is probably a fly, used to symbolize courage and victory,63 and its position next to the god with a bow would support an identification of this figure as a warrior god. The diamond and eye-shape are probably the same symbol for which various interpretations have been proposed (ear of wheat, vulva), generally with fertility connotations. These may be placed on either side of the worshipper as good-luck symbols.

On the earliest datable Kassite seal, that of the son of King Karaindash, ca. 1420 B.C., single figures stand in the same posture as the gods on the Ulu Bu-

indicates that the Ulu Burun seal is of provincial manufacture and is exceptional in not having an inscription (a feature of virtually every other seal in the First Kassite Group). I am most grateful to him for allowing me to see the draft of his results and for his comments on the Ulu Burun seal.

63 E. Porada, "Problems of Iranian Iconography," The Memorial Volume of the Vth International Congress of Iranian Art and Archaeology, 1 lth-18th April 1986 I (Teheran 1972) 173ff.

14 [AJA 93

4.


Fig. 28. Cylinder seal KW 881 and impression. 5:3

run seal, but their garments are draped over their left shoulders and hang open over kilts.64 A similar garment is worn by a figure on an undated seal in the British Museum, but here the garment, although draped diagonally as on our seal, covers both shoulders.65 On both of these seals the figure faces a goddess and is not necessarily divine, but he also appears holding weapons which are divine attributes while facing a robed worshipper on another related, and probably early, Kassite seal.66

There are marching figures on an undated Kassite cylinder seal impression from Nippur, and on three glass beakers from Hasanlu found in a much later context.67 The upper part of the garment on the Nip- pur impression is draped as on the Ulu Burun seal, while the Hasanlu figures wear garments with horizontal yokes. Their skirts are no longer worn over kilts, but are shorter in front, as on our seal, which presumably denotes a change in fashion at some time during the Kassite period.

Parallels for both types of figures (gods and worshipper) are found in the wall paintings which deco- rate the doorways of Palace H at Dur Kurigalzu, the Kassite capital. The paintings were found in a level

64 L. Legrain, The Culture of the Babylonians from Their Seals in the Collection of the Museum (Publications of the Babylonian Section 14, Philadelphia 1925) no. 530.

65 E.D. van Buren, "The Esoteric Significance of Kassite Glyptic Art," Orientalia 23 (1954) 1-39, pl. 2.14.

66 E. Porada, Corpus of Ancient Near Eastern Seals in North American Collections I: The Pierpont Morgan Li- brary Collection (The Bollingen Series 14, Washington 1948) pl. 79, no. 574.

contemporary with Level I1C elsewhere on the site and date to the reign of the last Kurigalzu. They are generally thought to represent dignitaries.68 The figures wear either fezzes or hair bands and their short- sleeved garments seem to consist of a knee-length overskirt and a long underskirt, but details are not clear.

Edith Porada has suggested that the hems of robed figures were curved on the earliest seals, but were cut back at an angle during the reign of Kurigalzu I. By the reign of Burnaburiash II (1359-1333 B.C.) they were straight. The cursory style of the Ulu Burun seal does not allow us to differentiate clearly between a curved or angled hemline, but the latter is more likely; it is definitely not a straight line. The seal may therefore tentatively be dated to the second quarter of the 14th century B.C.

Hematite cylinder seal KW 881 (figs. 26-28; h. 2.8 cm, diam. 1.15-1.20 cm) has been abraded on one side and, as a result, the perforation (0.4 cm) is off center. There is a "collar" halfway down the perforation, as described by Gorelick and Gwinnett.69

The seal was originally cut in the Old Babylonian period with a scene consisting of the king with a

67 Porada (supra n. 63) figs. 7-8; Legrain (supra n. 64) no. 561.

68 T. Baqir, "Iraq Government Excavations at 'Aqar Qiif- Third Interim Report, 1944-5," Iraq 8 (1946) 80- 82, figs. 5-7.

69 L. Gorelick and A.J. Gwinnett, "Further Investigations of the Method of Manufacture of an Ancient Near Eastern Cast Glass Vessel," Iraq 48 (1986) 15-18.

1989] 15


mace,70 facing the suppliant goddess, and a three-line cuneiform inscription. The king is bearded and kilted, wears a turban headdress, holds a mace at his waist, and represents the concept of active, warrior kingship. The goddess wears a horned headdress below which her hair is looped in the nape of her neck, numerous necklaces (now barely visible), a necklace counter-

weight down her back, and a flounced robe. She raises both hands in intercession for the owner of the seal whose name, together with that of his father and a third line describing him as servant of a deity or ruler, appeared in the inscription. This type of design is too well known to require a more detailed description. Between the figures are a star-disc and crescent and the small figure of a kilted priest holding a cup and, originally, a situla.

The seal must have been extremely worn when, at some later date, it was partially and somewhat crudely recut along the lines of the earlier design. This recut-

ting affected all the figures. The king's beard, splayed across his chest, was misunderstood in the recutting. The priest, whose head had probably been shaved originally, was given a cap or headband and his kilt was altered. His cup was recut, but no trace of his situla remained.71 Possibly, but not necessarily, at this time a thin, kilted figure was added behind the suppliant goddess. He faces left, raising his right hand, and in his left hand, which hangs by his side, he holds a sickle sword of a type known throughout the second millennium B.C . He wears a round cap or hair band and a kilt marked by two lines at the waist, three lines at the hem, and two lines down the front. This figure is shorter and slimmer than the others, and the carving is relatively flat and uninspired. Although kilted figures are occasionally added to scenes consisting of the

king and suppliant goddess,72 in this case the difference in style is too great for the figures to have been

contemporary. It is not clear when the inscription was erased. The

fact that the figure we have just discussed does not over-

lap it may well indicate that it had not yet been abraded at that stage. Traces of the verticals dividing the lines of cuneiform and many of the more deeply cut wedges can still be seen. The lower part of the right arm of the king with a mace may have been partly erased at this time. In the place of the inscription we have a four-winged

70 Collon (supra n. 60). 71 Collon (supra n. 60) 33-35. 72 Collon (supra n. 60) nos. 543-45. 73 Collon (supra n. 60) 2, 199, nos. 161ff., esp. 185, 246

and 252ff. 74 T. Beran, "Assyrische Glyptik des 14. Jahrhunderts,"

ZAssyr 18 (1957) 141-215, figs. 2, 3, 11, 12, 18, 19; E. Po- rada, "Remarks on Mitannian (Hurrian) and Middle Assy-

griffin-demon which has been cut with considerable expertise. Two stars and two rosettes mask some of the cuneiform signs, and it is possible that the circular drillings between the original figures were cut with a worn tubular drill also at this time.

The griffin-demon stands upright. Its arms, ending in talons, are held out horizontally toward the shoulders of the kilted figure and the king. Its torso is depicted frontally, with nipples and navel indicated by small drill-holes. Its legs, ending in talons, are twisted toward the right, but its head is turned toward the left. Its long, beak-like jaws are open wide to reveal fangs and a pointed tongue, its staring eye is set below a sharply angled brow, and it has the pricked ear of a horse. Its two-tiered upper wings rise from its shoulders. Two longer, three-tiered wings hang down on either side of its body.

The initial design of this seal probably dates to the second half of the 18th century B.C., when the cutting wheel was used to cut the deep grooves which form the basis of the figures, especially the goddess.73 It is not clear when the kilted figure was added, but this is likely to have been considerably later, at a time when the design was already worn. The griffin-demon can be securely dated, thanks to its presence on seal impressions on tablets from the reigns of the Middle Assyr- ian kings Eriba-Adad I (1390-1364 B.C.) and Assur- uballit I (1363-1328 B.C.).74

Hematite seal KW 881, in its latest form, and rock- crystal seal KW 714 are therefore probably contemporary, the one from Assyria and the other from Babylo- nia. We know that cylinder seals were being sent as gifts in the Amarna period, and Assur-uballit writes to the pharaoh to inform him that he is sending to him a "genuine lapis lazuli seal."75 Indeed, lapis lazuli was one of the principal requirements of the Egyptian court at all periods. Old lapis lazuli cylinder seals and scrap lapis were collected and sent off as gifts to Egypt and Greece.76 The Ulu Burun cylinders are not of lapis, but the fact that they were found with items of gold jewelry, some of it scrap, is surely significant.

DEPARTMENT OF WESTERN ASIATIC ANTIQUITIES THE BRITISH MUSEUM

LONDON WCIB 3DG ENGLAND

rian Glyptic Art," Akkadica 13 (1979) fig. 11. 75 Amarna Letter EA 16, 1.12. 76 See E. Porada, "Remarks on the T6d Treasure in

Egypt," in M.A. Dandamayev et al. eds., Societies and Lan- guages of the Ancient Near East, Studies in Honour of IM. Diakonoff (Warminster 1982) 285-303, and E. Porada, "The Cylinder Seals Found at Thebes in Boeotia," AfO 28 (1981) 1-70.

[AJA 93 16


III. THE GOLD SCARAB OF NEFERTITI FROM ULU BURUN: ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR EGYPTIAN HISTORY AND

EGYPTIAN-AEGEAN RELATIONS

James Weinstein

A major discovery of the 1986 season at Ulu Burun was a splendid little gold scarab.77 This object is inscribed with the name of Nefertiti, wife of the Egyp- tian pharaoh Akhenaten. It is one of the few late 18th-

Dynasty Egyptian objects excavated in the region of western Asia Minor and the Aegean. Moreover, it is the first object naming either Akhenaten or Nefertiti to be found in this area of the ancient world; as such, it is one of the most important Egyptian finds ever made in the eastern Mediterranean.

THE SCARAB

The Nefertiti scarab (KW 772) is very small: 1.4

cm long, 1.00 cm wide and 0.5 cm high (figs. 29-30).78 The back has an open head and plain clypeus. A wide, deep line divides the pronotum and elytra. A similar line separates the elytra. The humeral callosities are not marked on the elytra, which instead are incised with thin parallel ribbing.79 The elytra, attachment hole, and front edge of the clypeus exhibit considerable wear. The wear on the elytra is particularly no-

ticeable, with the left wing-case having lost most of its

ribbing. The fore, mid and hind legs meet where the

pronotum and elytra join. Three short diagonal lines are incised near the top of the left rear leg.

The hieroglyphic signs on the base of the scarab are

77 The author wishes to thank George F. Bass and Cemal Pulak for granting him permission to publish the gold scarab and the other Egyptian small finds and for providing much of the descriptive and contextual data on these artifacts. Cemal Pulak has provided most of the information on the dimensions and condition of the objects. He and Prof. Bass also supplied the author with photographs, casts, slides and field drawings of the Egyptian finds, on the basis of which their typological features and inscriptions could be described.

The author also expresses his gratitude to Profs. John Coleman and Albert Leonard, Jr., for reading this manu- script and offering their insightful comments on Egyptian- Aegean relations in the Late Bronze Age.

Abbreviations used in this article are the following: Davies (1908) N. de G. Davies, The Rock Tombs of El

Amarna VI. Tombs of Parennefer, Tutu, and Ay (ASE 18th Memoir, London 1908).

Harris (1973) J.R. Harris, "Nefernefruaten," Gottin- ger Miszellen 4 (1973) 15-17.

Harris (1974) J.R. Harris, "Nefernefruaten Reg- nans," Acta Orientalia 36 (1974) 11- 21.

James (1974) T.G.H. James, Corpus of Hieroglyphic Inscriptions in the Brooklyn Museum I: From Dynasty I to the End of Dy- nasty XVIII (Brooklyn 1974).

Samson (1977) J. Samson, "Nefertiti's Regality," JEA 63 (1977) 88-97.

Samson (1978) J. Samson, Amarna. City of Akhenaten and Nefertiti, Nefertiti as Pharaoh (Warminster 1978).

Samson (1982) J. Samson, "Nefernefruaten-Nefertiti 'Beloved of Akhenaten,' Ankhkhe- prure Nefernefruaten 'Beloved of Ak- henaten,' Ankhkheprure Smenkh-

Samson (1985)

Tawfik (1973)

Tawfik (1975)

Tawfik (1981)

Tufnell (1958)

Tufnell (1984)

kare 'Beloved of the Aten,'" Gottinger Miszellen 57 (1982) 61-67.

J. Samson, Nefertiti and Cleopatra: Queen-Monarchs of Ancient Egypt (London 1985).

S. Tawfik, "Aton Studies I. Aton before the Reign of Akhenaton," MDIK 29 (1973) 77-86.

S. Tawfik, "Aton Studies 3. Back again to Nefer-nefru-Aton," MDIK 31 (1975) 159-68.

S. Tawfik, "Aton Studies 6. Was Nefer- nefruaten the Immediate Successor of Akhenaten?," MDIK 37 (1981) 469- 73.

O. Tufnell, Lachish IV: The Bronze Age (London 1958).

0. Tufnell, Studies on Scarab Seals 2: Scarab Seals and Their Contribution to History in the Early Second Mil- lennium B.C., 2 vols. (Warminster 1984).

78 Preliminary comments on the discovery and significance of the scarab as well as a color photograph of this item appear in Bass, National Geographic (supra n. 1) 731-32.

79 Such lines are common on the elytra of scarabs used in pectorals and other pieces of jewelry in the tomb of Tut- ankhamun: K. El Mallakh and A.C. Brackman, The Gold of Tutankhamen (Montreal 1978) pls. 90, 92, 94-95, 104- 105, 106 (third bracelet from top); H. Carter and A.C. Mace, The Tomb of Tut.ankh.Amen I (New York 1923) pl. 65C-D. They also appear on the gold scarab of Akhen- aten in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (see below), as well as on the gold scarab of Queen Mutnodjmet, wife of the last king of the 18th Dynasty, Horemheb: C.R. Williams, Gold and Silver Jewelry and Related Objects (New York 1924) 71-72, pl. 6.15a-e.

19891] 17

[AJA 93 G.F. BASS, C. PULAK, D. COLLON, AND J. WEINSTEIN

Fig. 29. Nefertiti gold scarab KW 772, back. 3:1

small, closely packed, and a bit clumsy. The nfr-sign at

the beginning of line 3 is missing the cross-bar just be-

low the top of the windpipe. The two short strokes be-

neath the letter t on the same line are written in charac-

teristic Amarna style, i.e., vertically rather than diag-

onally. The seated-queen determinative at the end of

line 3 is wearing a diadem and holding a flower. The inscription has the long form of Nefertiti's

name, i.e., nfr-nfrw-itn nfrt-iiti, "Nefernefruaten

Nefertiti." The long form is more common on scarabs

and rings than the short form, from which it differs by the addition of the epithet or title, "Nefernefruaten." The long form normally occupies four lines of text-

two for "Nefernefruaten," two for "Nefertiti"-but on

this small object the entire text has been compressed onto three lines. To accomplish this, the artisan re-

moved the walking reed-leaf sign from its normal position in the name nfrt-iiti and transferred it to the end

of line 2 (after nfr-nfrw-); this allowed him to squeeze the remaining hieroglyphic signs in the queen's birth

name onto line 3. A distinctive feature of Nefertiti's long name is the

reversal of the word itn at the beginning of the car-

touche. This orientation results in the name of the god

facing the seated-queen determinative at the end of the

cartouche. When the cartouche enclosing the queen's long name is written vertically, as it is most of the

time, the deity's name occupies the top line of the car-

touche, while the seated-queen determinative is at the

end of the bottom line. Tawfik points out that this re-

versal is not attested in the Nefernefruaten name of

Smenkhkare or in the names of any of Akhenaten and

80 Tawfik (1973) 82-86; Tawfik (1975) 162; Tawfik (1981) 470.

81 H.G. Fischer, The Orientation of Hieroglyphs I. Rever- sals (Egyptian Studies 2, New York 1977) 92-93.

82 W.C. Hayes, The Scepter of Egypt 2 (Cambridge, Mass. 1959) 292; E. Hornung and E. Staehelin eds., Skara-

Nefertiti's daughters. He believes that the orientation can be explained by the queen's "extraordinary reli-

gious prestige" and by her desire to be close to the Aten even in the writing of her name.80 Fischer offers the additional suggestion that since the queen's cartouche often follows the cartouches of Akhenaten, which in turn face the cartouches of the Aten, "the reversal in her cartouche may indicate that her husband is the source of her contact with the god."'8

Every hieroglyph on line 1 of the Nefertiti scarab

inscription is set in the appropriate position for a com-

plete reversal of the god's name. However, one sign- the reed-leaf i-instead of facing left, toward the seat-

ed-queen determinative on line 3, faces right, toward the t, n and solar-disk determinative. This means that there is only a partial reversal of the god's name: the

name as a whole is reversed, but one element in the

name is in retrograde order. This results in the i in itn

and the seated-queen determinative facing in the same direction.

The composition of this scarab is of some import for the history of New Kingdom jewelry. Gold and silver

royal-name scarabs are not numerous at any time dur-

ing the New Kingdom, but they are particularly scarce in the Amarna Age. This phenomenon is re-

lated to the close mythological association of the scarab beetle (4prr) with the theriomorphic solar deity Khepri (hpri), which resulted in a significant decline in the output of scarabs in all materials during Akhen- aten's reign.82 Gold and silver rings largely replaced their scarab counterparts as finger ornaments for

Fig. 30. Nefertiti gold scarab KW 772, base. 3:1

biien und andere Siegelamulette aus Basler Sammlungen (Agyptische Denkmnaler in der Schweiz 1, Mainz 1976) 67. The connection between the hprr-beetle and Khepri in

Egyptian mythology is described in W.A. Ward, Studies on Scarab Seals 1: Pre-12th Dynasty Scarab Amulets (War- minster 1978) 44-45.

18

THE BRONZE AGE SHIPWRECK AT ULU BURUN: 1986 CAMPAIGN 19

Amarna Period royalty and officials. The heavy signet ring, not the smaller ring with movable scarab bezel, was generally used for official purposes during this period. Gold signet rings were employed as official seals and symbols of authority in the Amarna royal court, and they were handed out as gifts to the king's loyal followers.83 The popularity of these heavy gold rings is reflected in the occurrence of at least eight examples in the tomb of Tutankhamun.84 Even Nefertiti is represented by no less than four gold rings, all of which are inscribed with the long form of her name; there is one each in Paris,85 Cairo,86 Edinburgh87 and Birmingham.88

Gold scarabs dating to the Amarna Period, on the other hand, are rarities. Only one gold scarab is attested for Akhenaten (fig. 31).89 This tiny object (1. 1.0 cm, w. 0.7 cm, h. 0.3 cm) is of unknown provenience. Originally in the Timmins collection in Cairo, it was subsequently acquired by the Earl of Carnarvon and then, in 1926, by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

The back of this scarab shows a lunate head with a depressed base line. The eyes are indicated by single lines radiating outward from the back of the head to the edge of the scarab. A single line divides the pronotum and elytra. The humeral callosities are not marked. As on the back of the Nefertiti scarab, the elytra are incised with thin parallel ribbing. The fore, mid and hind legs of the beetle are naturalistically

83 For example, a relief in the tomb of Ay at Amarna de- picts Akhenaten, Nefertiti and three of their daughters be- stowing valuable gifts on the owner of the tomb: Davies (1908) 22, pls. 29, 42. Among these presents are several signet rings-but no scarabs. A succeeding scene shows Ay re- turning with the royal gifts to his friends: Dayies (1908) pl. 30. Again, signet rings rather than scarabs are depicted. At his investiture as Viceroy of Kush in the reign of Tut- ankhamun, Huy received a gold signet ring as his seal of office: N. de G. Davies and A.H. Gardiner, The Tomb of Huy (The Theban Tomb Series 4th Memoir, London 1926) 11, pls. 5-6.

84 A group of seven gold rings and the ornamental bezel of an eighth were discovered tied in a scarf in the antechamber of Tutankhamun's tomb: Carter and Mace (supra n. 79) 114, 138, pls. 30, 67A; C. Aldred, Jewels of the Pharaohs (New York 1971) pl. 91, cf. p. 217. A ninth gold ring, said to be from a tomb "somewhere ... in Upper Egypt," is now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art: H.E. Winlock, "A Gift of Egyptian Antiquities," BMMA 17 (1922) 171-72, fig. 2; Hayes (supra n. 82) 300-301. T. Hoving, Tutankhamun: The Untold Story (New York 1978) 351, is undoubtedly correct in attributing this ring to Tutankhamun's tomb.

85 Paris, Musee du Louvre E 7688: W.M.F. Petrie, His- torical Scarabs (London 1889) 43, no. 1332; P.E. Newberry, Scarabs (London 1908) 168, pl. 31.30.

86 Cairo, Egyptian Museum Journal d'Entree 36804:

rendered, with the fore and mid legs meeting where the pronotum and elytra join. The hind legs project backward from near the rear corner of the wing-cases. Altogether, the legs give the impression that the beetle is walking on the base-plate. There are tubular pro- jections at both openings of the longitudinal hole through the scarab; these aided in threading the scarab on a wire or piece of string.

The bottom of the scarab has a relatively large base-plate. It is inscribed with the king's nomen, hi- n-itn, "Akhenaten." The signs are much cruder than those on the Nefertiti scarab. The bird is especially ill- formed and inappropriate; it is not the crested ibis

Fig. 31. Gold scarab of Akhenaten. New York, Metropol- itan Museum of Art 26.7.201. 3:1 (Courtesy Museum. Pur- chase, Edward S. Harkness, 1926)

E. Vernier, Bijoux et orfevreries (Catalogue general des an- tiquites egyptiennes du Musee du Caire, nos. 52001-53855, Cairo 1927) no. 52191. The source of this ring is the Kar- nak Cachette: G. Legrain, "Sur quelques monuments d'Amenothes IV provenant de la cachette de Karnak," ASAE 7 (1906) 229.

87 Edinburgh, Royal Scottish Museum 1883.49.1: G.T. Martin, The Royal Tomb at El-'Amarna I: The Objects (ASE 35th Memoir, London 1974) 77, 105, pl. 50.274; Al- dred (supra n. 84) pl. 69 (third from left). This ring is one of a group of objects reportedly found by peasants in or near the Royal Tomb at Amarna in the early 1880s.

88 Birmingham, City Museum and Art Gallery 547'35-39. This ring was kindly brought to my attention by Dr. Ber- trand Jaeger (letter of 2 February 1987).

89 New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art 26.7.201: P.E. Newberry, The Timins (sic) Collection of Ancient Egyptian Scarabs and Cylinder Seals (London 1907) 28 and pl. 9.14; Hayes (supra n. 82) 293. I wish to thank Dr. Christine Lilyquist, Curator in the Department of Egyptian Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, for granting me permission to publish this scarab, and Dr. Peter Dorman, formerly Assistant Curator in that department and now Di- rector of Chicago House in Luxor, Egypt, for facilitating my study of the scarab and arranging for photographs of it to be taken.

1989]


Fig. 32. Scarab KW 904. 3:1

bird (;6), but rather the pintail duck (s') or white- fronted goose (gb).

Two scarabs of Akhenaten with base-plates of precious metals have also been reported. The first, which has a silver base-plate, is probably a fake,90 while the second, which has a gold base-plate, is lost.91 Two gold decorative elements in the form of scarabs were found in Tutankhamun's extraordinarily rich tomb. These tiny specimens, surmounted by sun disks and flanking an equally small scarab of lapis lazuli, sit on the bezel of a gold ring, and therefore cannot be considered true scarabs.92 No gold or silver scarabs have been identified for Smenkhkare or Ankhesenamun, while the Ulu Burun example is the first scarab fabri- cated in a precious metal that is known for Nefertiti.

THE SCARAB S CONTEXT AND OTHER EGYPTIAN

OBJECTS IN THE WRECK

The Nefertiti scarab comes from grid square M-1 1, where it was found in a cluster of small metal, stone, and faience objects. The items in this heterogeneous assemblage can be divided into two categories: tools and weapons, and jewelry. The first group is represented by small bronze tools and arrowheads, lead fishing-net weights, a whetstone and stone balance- pan weights. The second group includes quartz and faience beads, four gold pendants of Levantine types (KW 703, 756, 757 and 892), two Near Eastern cylin-

90 London, University College 12458: Martin (supra n. 87) 80 and n. 4, pl. 51.294.

91 Martin (supra n. 87) 80, no. 293. A blue-glass scarab with a gold base-plate was found in the tomb of Tutankh- amun: Carter and Mace (supra n. 79) pl. 65A-B.

92 Aldred (supra n. 84) pl. 91 (top center), cf. p. 217; Car- ter and Mace (supra n. 79) pl. 67A (top center). 93 This scarab appears in a color photograph in Bass, Na- tional Geographic (supra n. 1) 732. Initial comments on

der seals (KW 714 and 881)-both of which show signs of wear-and the Nefertiti scarab.

The 1985 and 1986 seasons of excavation yielded five other small inscribed Egyptian artifacts. Three came from the immediate area of the deposit described above; these include a scarab (KW 338), a rectangular stone plaque (KW 481), and half of a gold ring (KW 603). Another scarab (KW 904: fig. 32) was found in square M-14; its original relationship to the other Egyptian objects in the wreck is unclear. Finally, a silver ring (KW 650: fig. 33) came from L-11, the square situated directly south of the area from which the Nefertiti scarab emanates. Since four of the six objects came from an area of about a half square meter in square M-11, it is likely that these four items originally were stored together on the ship.

The widely varying dates of these items are instruc- tive. KW 338 (max. 1. [including the tubular gold mount] 2.5 cm, w. 1.8 cm, h. 1.9 cm) is probably a 15th-Dynasty type.93 The back of this bone or ivory scarab has a trapezoidal head and clypeus, a single horn projecting from the center of the head and small side notches to indicate the division between the pronotum and elytra.94 The side type is unknown; its description will have to await removal of the gold mount. The design on the base consists of three columns of amuletic hieroglyphic signs, the two outside columns of signs flanking a central column of hieroglyphs enclosed within a "shrine." Above the "shrine" is a scarab beetle with outstretched wings.95 Scarabs in bone

Fig. 33. Silver ring KW 650. Ca. 1:1

KW 338 can be found in Pulak (supra n. 1) 2, 19, fig. 34. 94 See D. O'Connor, "The Chronology of Scarabs of the

Middle Kingdom and the Second Intermediate Period," The SSEA Journal 15 (1985) figs. 2 and 4 (back type 10) for the dating of this schematic back type to the 15th Dynasty.

95 Tufnell (1984) 124, pl. 20, assigns the decoration on the base to her "panels -'shrine'" group (design class 3E5). A common motif at the top of many scarab designs is the winged sun disk. The flying scarab beetle, on the other

20 [AJA 93


or ivory are rare prior to the New Kingdom,96 but since the other features of this object are altogether typical of the Second Intermediate Period, the scarab is unlikely to be a New Kingdom imitation.

KW 904 (1. 1.45 cm, w. 1.0 cm, h. 0.65 cm) is another Second Intermediate Period item; it too should be assigned to the 15th Dynasty.97 This scarab, made of a stone or frit-like material, has a trapezoidal head and clypeus, and side notches separating the areas of the pronotum and elytra.98 The design on the base consists of a single hieroglyph (the sn-sign) flanked on either side by a flower with bent stalk; the flowers are

arranged in tete-b&he fashion.99 The appearance of two Second Intermediate Period

scarabs in the Ulu Burun shipwreck is not surprising. Scarabs and plaques were often retained as amulets and trinkets for decades, even centuries, after they

hand, is rather unusual; for another example, see P.E. New- berry, Scarab-shaped Seals (Catalogue general des antiqui- tes egyptiennes du musee du Caire, nos. 36001-37521, Lon- don 1907) no. 37358.

96 Among the few pre-18th Dynasty examples are Ward (supra n. 82) 34, pl. 1.10; G.T. Martin, Egyptian Adminis- trative and Private-name Seals (Oxford 1971) no. 1277. The bone or ivory scarab from the Cape Gelidonya shipwreck, originally dated by A.R. Schulman ("The Scarabs," in Bass [supra n. 9] 144, fig. 150.Sc 4) to the Second Inter- mediate Period, has recently been reassigned by R. Giveon ("Dating the Cape Gelidonya Shipwreck," AnatSt 35 [1985] 99) to the New Kingdom. 97 This scarab appears in a color photograph in Bass, Na- tional Geographic (supra n. 1) 732.

98 This scarab also belongs to back type 10 in the typology established by O'Connor (supra n. 94) fig. 2. No information is available on the side type, except that a photograph seems to show a grooved base, with a single groove also indicated for the legs.

99 Tufnell (1984) 116, pl. 2, assigns this decoration to her "floral motifs-two stems" category (design class 1E2). 100 The varying dates of the four scarabs and a scarab-

shaped plaque recovered from the Cape Gelidonya shipwreck offer a useful parallel for the Ulu Burun finds. The objects in the former group, originally published by Schul- man (supra n. 96) 143-47, and discussed subsequently by Giveon (supra n. 96) 99-101 and H. Catling ("The Date of the Cape Gelidonya Ship and Cypriot Bronzework," RDAC 1986, 68-71), cover a minimum of several hundred years.

The latest item in the Gelidonya group is probably Sc 5. The design on the base of this scarab shows the Ram of Amun; an Atef crown is set on the animal's head. Giveon recently lowered the date of the Gelidonya wreck to the reign of Ramesses III or even IV, principally on the basis of sphragistic parallels for this design from the multiple-burial tombs 984 and 934 at Tell el-Far 'ah (South) in Palestine. But Giveon failed to take into account three chronologically significant points: 1) these two tombs contain materials of 13th and 12th century date, with tomb 984 even possessing two scarabs inscribed for Ramesses VIII (E. Macdonald,

were manufactured, in Egypt as well as in the Levant. As a result, such objects often turn up in deposits of much later date.?00

The rectangular plaque (KW 481: 1. 1.6 cm, w. 1.0 cm, h. 0.6 cm) is probably made of steatite.101 It is inscribed pth nb m) 't ("Ptah Lord of Truth") on the obverse, pth nfr hswt ("Ptah Perfect in Favors") on the reverse.102 Scarabs and plaques inscribed for the god Ptah and containing various epithets occur throughout most of the New Kingdom in Egypt, as well as the Late Bronze Age-early Iron Age in Palestine. They are more common in the Ramesside Period than in the 18th Dynasty; in the latter period they are substan-

tially outnumbered by specimens inscribed for the god Amun. The neat cutting and careful arrangement of the signs on this particular plaque are consistent with a dating in the 15th or 14th century B.C., i.e., the mid- to-late 18th Dynasty.103

J.L. Starkey and L. Harding, Beth-Pelet II [BSAE 52, Lon- don 1932] 26, pl. 57.375); 2) tomb 934 was severely disturbed (Beth-Pelet II, 24), and the small finds in this chamber tomb cannot be related to individual burials; and 3) the design on the Gelidonya scarab appears on a scarab found in an 18th-Dynasty shaft tomb (J 39, in chamber F) at Buhen (D. Randall-MacIver and C.L. Woolley, Buhen [University of Pennsylvania, Egyptian Department of the University Museum, Eckley B. Coxe Junior Expedition to Nubia 8, Philadelphia 1911] 176, pl. 59.10187). Although this tomb was disturbed, the surviving pottery and small finds appear to be of 18th-Dynasty date, and none can be considered diagnostic of the 20th Dynasty. Hence, Sc 5 does not provide justification for redating the Cape Gelidonya shipwreck to the early 12th century B.C. 101 Previous publications of this object are Bass, VIII. KST

2 (supra n. 1) 292, fig. 5; Pulak (supra n. 1) 2, 19, fig. 35 (reverse side). 102 On the reverse side, the plural strokes are set between

the nfr and hs signs, rather than after the hs-sign, as would be expected. This reordering of the signs was probably done for artistic effect. 103 A green jasper plaque from Tomb 221 at Lachish (Tuf-

nell [1958] 126, 235, pls. 39-40.377) provides a useful parallel for the Ulu Burun specimen. The obverse side of this rectangular plaque with rounded corners is inscribed "Amun-Re," while the reverse side is inscribed (vertically) "Ptah Lord of Truth." The careful cutting of the signs on this plaque is reminiscent of the engraving on the Ulu Bu- run specimen. Tomb 221 is contemporary with Fosse Tem- ple II, i.e., the 14th century B.C. (Note that a scarab from this same tomb [Tufnell (1958) 125, 235, pls. 39-40.376] is also inscribed "Ptah Lord of Truth.") A rectangular green schist plaque inscribed "Ptah Lord of Truth" down one long face was found by Petrie at Amarna: W.M.F. Petrie, Tell el Amarna (London 1894) pl. 15.138. Two other Ptah plaques probably of the same general period are in Leiden and Lon- don. The former is a well-cut plaque, inscribed "Amenhotep is (my) Lord" on one side, and "Ptah Lord of Truth" on the other: C. Leemans, Monumens egyptiens du Musee d'Anti- quites des Pay-Bas a Leide. Objets d'habillement. Ustensiles

1989] 21


The silver ring (KW 650: 1. of bezel 1.9 cm, max. w. of bezel 1.3 cm, internal diam. of hoop 1.8 cm) was enclosed in a concretion when it was brought to the surface in 1985. The object was cleaned in 1986 and

subsequently catalogued. The bezel is extremely worn, and the reading of its vertically inscribed in-

scription must be considered tentative. A nb-sign is visible at the bottom. Standing on the nb is a short vertical line intersected at about the half-way point by what seems to be a pair of crossed arrows. If indeed these are arrows, then the sign should be understood as the symbol of the goddess Neith. An elongated, somewhat rounded sign which is slightly wider at the

top than at the bottom and has incised horizontal and vertical interior lines, surmounts the putative Neith

symbol. It has been suggested to the author that this

top sign may be a counterpoise.104 The author has not

yet discovered any exact parallels for this ring, which is certainly a New Kingdom product and may well

belong in the 15th or 14th century B.C. The fragmentary gold ring (KW 603: 1. of remain-

ing portion of bezel 1.4 cm, max. w. of bezel 2 cm, max. preserved h. 2.0 cm) is another worn piece.105 The wear is especially noticeable on the bezel. Chisel marks along the break show that this object was delib-

erately cut in half; about half of the bezel and a fourth of the hoop survive. The preserved upper half of the bezel displays three hieroglyphs, while the missing lower half probably contained an additional group of

signs. A mJ 't-feather is visible on the left side. The thin bird in the center is an Egyptian vulture, while the figure on the right is a seated woman perhaps hold-

de toilette. Bijoux et autres objets de parure (Description raisonnee E. F. G.) (Leiden 1848-1850) pl. 44.646. The London plaque is inscribed "Ptah Lord of Truth" on the obverse side, while the reverse side is said to have the name of Amun-Re: W.M.F. Petrie, Buttons and Design Scarabs (BSAE 38, London 1925) 19, pl. 11.624. The phrase "Ptah Lord of Truth" is especially common on scarabs, less so on plaques, during the Ramesside Period (e.g., Macdonald, Starkey and Harding [supra n. 100] pls. 48.7, 53.194-98, 55.281, 303, 57.350, 352, 357, 386; cf. the clumsy writing of the text on many of these poorly made specimens with that found on the Ulu Burun plaque).

104 1 am indebted to Susan Hollis, Harvard University, for this suggestion, which was offered on the basis of a replica of the ring that I showed to her in December 1987. 105 Bass, VIII. KST2 (supra n. 1) 293, fig. 7; Bass, Nation-

al Geographic (supra n. 1) color photograph on p. 732; Pu- lak (supra n. 1) 2, 18-19, fig. 33. 106 A plaster impression of the ring shows the human head

much more clearly. Cemal Pulak concurs with the author regarding the identification of a human head on this figure

ing an 'nh-sign (the latter being extremely faint). The

m' 't-sign and seated woman face toward the left, while the bird is facing right. Both the m 't-feather and the vulture have carefully incised interior lines. In

addition, the vulture displays a most peculiar feature, namely, a female human head.106 This attribute

brings to mind a Middle Kingdom limestone statue in the Cairo Museum that also has the body of a vulture and the head of a queen.107 The bird has a cap reminiscent of that on a Horus falcon, but since this cap is out of place on a vulture, it probably represents a short

wig. A triangular indentation (a nb-sign? part of the Red Crown?) is just above the head of the seated wom-

an, and small depressions, probably accidental, can be seen above the vulture and the triangular indentation.

The closest well-dated parallel for the design and

general character of the bezel inscription appears on a

gold ring in Leiden.108 The center of the upper half of the Leiden ring is dominated by a human-headed falcon or ba bird. Surrounding the bird on three sides are the hieroglyphs comprising the prenomen of Ay, hpr- hprw-r' ir m' 't. The m 't-sign behind the falcon is oriented toward the left, just as it is on the Ulu Burun

ring. The lower half of the Leiden ring contains a mr-

sign, perhaps to be read with the falcon and sun disk above as mr r', "beloved of Re," and the epithet ', phty, "great of strength." The naming of Ay, Tut- ankhamun's successor, on this ring suggests that the Ulu Burun piece may be a product of the late 18th

Dynasty, i.e., the late 14th century B.C. A second parallel for the Ulu Burun ring is a su-

perb silver-tin alloy ring in the Brooklyn Museum.109

(letter of 10 January 1986). 107 Cairo, Egyptian Museum Journal d'Entree 64770:

L. Keimer, "Sur un fragment de statuette en calcaire ayant la forme d'un oiseau (vautour?) a tete de reine," ASAE 35 (1935) 182-92; L. Troy, Patterns of Queenship in Ancient Egyptian Myth and History (Acta Universitatis Upsalien- sis. Boreas. Uppsala Studies in Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Civilizations 14, Uppsala 1986) 118. This cu- rious figure (h. 24.5 cm) is of unknown provenience. 108 Leemans (supra n. 103) pl. 40.202; Petrie (supra n. 85)

44, no. 1355; Newberry (supra n. 85) 169, pl. 31.34. An- other parallel can be seen in Leemans (supra n. 103) pl. 40.142; the design on this heavy signet ring also has a human-headed falcon on the base. There is no royal name on this object, however, and a date for it is difficult to ascertain. 109 Brooklyn Museum 37.727E: Egypt's Golden Age: The

Art of Living in the New Kingdom, 1558-1085 B.C. Cata- logue of the Exhibition (Boston 1982) no. 335 (entry by M. Eaton-Krauss). This ring formerly was in the New York Historical Society: Williams (supra n. 79) 92-93, pls. 8.27a-c, 10.d-e.

22 [AJA 93


This item, like the Leiden example and probably also the Ulu Burun ring, is characterized by two groups of signs, one above the other. The upper half of the bezel has a human-headed falcon or ba bird flanked on the left by a hk, -sign, and on the right by a seated figure of the goddess Maat. The bottom half of the bezel contains various amuletic hieroglyphs: two dd-pillars, two hs-vases, and the htp and nb signs. Williams dated the ring to the first half of the 14th century B.C., but Eaton-Krauss reasonably proposes reading the signs on the upper half of the bezel as hk. -ml 't-r', i.e., the prenomen of Ramesses IV of the 20th Dynasty. 10 In either case, the engraving on this ring is so superior to that on the Ulu Burun ring that the subject matter and layout of the design probably have little value for dating the Ulu Burun piece.

The intentional destruction of the Ulu Burun gold ring shows that this item was on the ship as scrap metal or bullion, not as a piece of jewelry. Other scrap gold- including four halved roundels (KW 551 and 956), part of a bar or disk (KW 928) and some bits of the metal-was found slightly upslope and in the general area of the gold scarab. 1 Scrap silver was also discovered in the wreck.112 Presumably all of this discarded material was being shipped to western Asia Minor and/or the Aegean where it would be sold for its metallic content and eventually melted down for reuse.

It may be concluded that most of the inscribed Egyptian objects in the wreck were either heirlooms or objects being kept for their intrinsic value. The context of the gold scarab, the wear on this item as well as on the silver ring and the gold ring, the deliberate cutting of the gold ring, and the widely varying dates of the Egyptian small finds cumulatively indicate that the Nefertiti scarab was on the ship as a piece of bric- a-brac. These objects may have belonged to a merchant, jeweler or even the ship's captain, and were be-

110 The views of Williams and Eaton-Krauss appear in the publications cited in n. 109 above. 11' The roundel and bits of gold were found during the 1985 season: Bass, VIII. KST 2 (supra n. 1) 292, fig. 3. The bar or disk fragment was recovered during the 1986 season. An empty gold scarab mount (KW 479) was discovered during the 1985 season near scarab KW 338 and plaque KW 481; this item may also have been a piece of scrap gold: Pu- lak (supra n. 1) 19. 112 Pulak (supra n. 1) 17. The silver ring (KW 650) is so

badly worn that it too is likely to have been a piece of scrap. 13 See above and n. 87.

114 Brooklyn Museum 33.51: James (1974) 171, pls. 12.423, 83.423; Martin (supra n. 87) 72, 105, pls. 18.256, 47.256. Paris, Musee du Louvre AF 9904: C.E. Loeben,

ing saved for eventual sale or melting down. They should not be viewed as royal gifts from Egypt to an Aegean or Asiatic potentate.

THE ORIGIN OF THE SCARAB

Because gold scarabs are so uncommon during the Amarna Period, it is worth speculating on the origin of the Nefertiti scarab. The least likely origin is the Royal Tomb at Amarna. No objects inscribed for Nef- ertiti can be related with certainty to this tomb, which probably was destroyed in the reign of Horemheb or shortly thereafter. One possible item of Nefertiti's fu- nerary equipment that may come from this tomb is the gold signet ring in Edinburgh which was mentioned earlier in this article.13 There is no reason to doubt that this object comes from Amarna, but its proposed association with the Royal Tomb is problematic. A second object is a calcite shawabti, fragments of which are in the Brooklyn Museum and the Musee du Louvre.'14 Two other artifacts that have been attrib- uted to the burial of Nefertiti are a fragmentary faience throw-stick and some now lost gold "winding- sheets."'15 These items are not from controlled excavations, however, and it seems likely that Nefertiti was buried some place other than the Royal Tomb. Thus there is little justification for associating the gold scarab with the Royal Tomb.

A more likely scenario is that the Nefertiti scarab belonged to an official of the Amarna Age or his spouse, and was exported from Egypt during the post- Amarna phase of the 18th Dynasty. Any item naming a member of the despised Amarna royal family and the Aten would have become quite useless to its Egyp- tian owner once the Amarna heresy was over. A sensi- ble Egyptian would have disposed of the scarab as quickly as possible, either by having it melted down for its metallic value or by selling it to someone who

"Eine Bestattung der grossen koniglichen Gemahlin Nofre- tete in Amarna? Die Totenfigur der Nofretete," MDIK 42 (1986) 99-107, pl. 7. No information is available on the provenience of either fragment, and reservations have been expressed about the supposed association of the Brooklyn piece with the Royal Tomb: see, e.g., James (1974) 171; R. Krauss, Das Ende der Amarnazeit (Hildesheimer Agyp- tologische Beitrdge 7, Hildesheim 1978) 97-100; Martin (supra n. 87) 38 and n. 11, 72 and n. 2, but see p. 105, where Martin says the shawabti is "almost certainly from the tomb." 115 See Loeben (supra n. 114) 107, n. 69. The "winding-

sheets" are mentioned by A.H. Blackman, "The Nugent and Haggard Collections of Egyptian Antiquities," JEA 4 (1917) 45; see also Martin (supra n. 87) 80.

1989] 23


had no interest in the subject of the inscription on the base. One can easily envisage an Egyptian official sell-

ing this attractive little bauble, which could no longer be worn in public, to a foreigner, who probably could not read the name inscribed on the scarab-and presumably would care little about the name even if he could understand it.

Yet a third possibility is that the scarab derives from the tomb of an Egyptian governmental or military of-

ficer, and was sold off or stolen when the tombs of the

major functionaries of the Amarna Period were cleaned out. It is not known for certain, however, when the officials' tombs at Amarna were abandoned. All were left unfinished, and many seem never to have been used for interments. It may be supposed that any tombs that were actually used would have been emptied and their contents transferred to Memphis or Thebes either when the royal court abandoned Amar- na in the reign of Tutankhamun, or when the Royal Tomb was destroyed in the reign of Horemheb or

shortly thereafter. An interesting feature of the gold scarab, cut gold

ring and silver ring is that the inscriptions on all three items have some sort of royal affiliation. The gold scarab is inscribed with the name of an Egyptian queen. The design on the bezel of the gold ring is dominated by a vulture with female human head; this figure can be related to the vulture goddess as a symbol of

Egyptian queenship.1"6 The silver ring seems to have the symbol of Neith, a patron deity of the Red Crown and kingship, and in earlier times a goddess linked to

Egyptian queens. 17 Since the first two objects are associated with female royalty, and the third may con-

ceivably be also, one is tempted to relate these three artifacts to a single source. But such a connection may be totally spurious, inasmuch as it cannot be demon- strated that the three items even date to the same period. Moreover, since both the vulture goddess and Neith would have been officially proscribed during the Amarna Period, an active participant in the Amarna heresy is unlikely to have worn the gold and silver rings (at least openly). Hence this feature of

commonality may not provide evidence for the origin of the scarab and two rings. One can only hope that

116 See Troy (supra n. 107) 117-19. The possibility that this bird and that represented in the Cairo statue are intended to be ba birds has been considered by the author, but ultimately rejected, primarily because the vulture is not used in Egyptian art and inscriptions to represent the ba bird. 117 Ramadan el-Sayed, La Deese Neith de Sais 1: Impor-

tance et rayonnement de son culte (Bibliotheque d'Etude 86:1, Cairo 1982) 92-99.

1 8 The Cypriot pottery may eventually prove to be of some

additional Egyptian artifacts will be discovered in the wreck that will shed light on this question.

EGYPTIAN-AEGEAN RELATIONS IN THE POST-

AMARNA ERA

The Nefertiti scarab and the other Egyptian finds in the wreck are an important new source of information for the history of Egyptian relations with the Ae-

gean world (assuming, of course, that this was the ship's destination). But before we can fit these objects into our expanding knowledge of Late Bronze Age trade, we must first establish the date of the wreck. For this we currently have two sources of information: the Egyptian artifacts and the Mycenaean pottery. 18

The Egyptian scarabs, rings, and plaque include at least one object (the Nefertiti scarab) dating to the Amarna Period. A second item, the cut gold ring, probably also belongs in the late 18th Dynasty and

may even be slightly later in date than the Nefertiti scarab. Since both of these objects are well worn, a certain amount of time must be allotted for their use in

Egypt. It is therefore reasonable to suppose that one or both pieces came aboard ship in the post-Amarna era. Since none of the Egyptian objects in the wreck are diagnostic of the Ramesside Period, the Egyptian evidence suggests that the wreck is contemporary with the late 18th Dynasty or, at the latest, the very beginning of the 19th Dynasty. In absolute terms, this is approximately the last quarter of the 14th century or the early years of the 13th century.

The Mycenaean pottery in the Ulu Burun wreck provides a measure of confirmation for this date. This material is basically LH IIIA:2, with some pieces belonging to types that may continue into early LH IIIB.19 This pottery can only be of secondary value for dating the wreck, however, since there is no evidence for dating the transition from LH IIIA:2 to LH IIIB any more precisely than to about the last three quarters of the 14th century B.C.120 Hence the Myce- naean pottery provides at present no more than a ter- minus post quem for the wreck in the second quarter of the 14th century B.C.

Assuming that the ship sank a generation or two after the death of Akhenaten, the Nefertiti scarab can-

chronological value, but this material has not yet been studied. "9 This dating is based on Pulak (supra n. 1) 22-23, per-

sonal correspondence from Jeremy Rutter, who is studying the Mycenaean pottery, to Cemal Pulak (29 September 1987), and a letter to the author from Mrs. Vronwy Hankey (9 April 1988). 120 See below and n. 123.

24 [AJA 93


not be used as evidence for Egyptian-Aegean relations

during the Amarna era. But this does not in any way diminish the significance of this artifact or any of the other Egyptian finds in the wreck. To the contrary, the importance of these items is that they testify to the nature and extent of Egyptian-Aegean relations dur-

ing the period for which we heretofore have had almost no indication for contacts, namely, the time between the death of Akhenaten and the early years of the Ramesside era.

Egyptian connections with the Aegean world did not come to a complete halt with the death of Akhen-

aten, but they did decline sharply from their peak in the reigns of Amenhotep III and Amenhotep IV/ Akhenaten. This is apparent from the limited, rather

ambiguous archaeological data in Egypt as well as in the Aegean world. On the Egyptian side, contact is

probably evidenced by a portion of the Mycenaean pottery discovered by Petrie and more recent excavators at Amarna.121 Unfortunately, although some of

121 V. Hankey, "The Chronology of the Aegean Late Bronze Age," in P. Xstrom ed., High, Middle or Low? Acts of an International Colloquium on Absolute Chronology Held at the University of Gothenburg 20th-22nd August 1987 2 (Goteborg 1987) 48-50. While some of the Aegean materials recently discovered on Bates's Island, Marsa Ma- truh, may also fit into the post-Amarna era (D. White, "1985 Excavations on Bates's Island, Marsa Matruh," JARCE 23 [1986] 75-84), the finds at this interesting site cannot be dated specifically to this short period. 122 Hankey (supra n. 121) 48-49. 123 For the problem of dating the abandonment of Amarna,

see M. Bell, "A Hittite Pendant from Amarna," AJA 90 (1986) 150. P.P. Betancourt ("Dating the Aegean Late Bronze Age with Radiocarbon," Archaeometry 29 [1987] 46, table 1) has recently pushed for the second quarter of the 14th century B.C. as the beginning of LH IIIB. This dating is based on two critical but unstated assumptions: 1) LH IIIB ceramics began arriving in Egypt already in the reign of Akhenaten, and 2) the high chronology for Akhenaten is the correct one. Neither of these suppositions is demonstra- ble; in fact, both may be wrong. If one accepts Helck's ultra- low chronological scheme for the 18th Dynasty (W. Helck, "'Was kann die Agyptologie wirklich zum Problem der ab- soluten Chronologie in der Bronzezeit beitragen?' Chrono- logische Annaherungswerte in der 18. Dynasty," in Xstrom [supra n. 121, Vol. 1] 26: Akhenaten = 1340-1324 B.C., Horemheb = 1305-1293 B.C.) and follows Hankey's view that the LH IIIB pottery reached Amarna in the reign of Horemheb, it could equally well be argued that the LH IIIA:2/IIIB transition took place ca. 1300 B.C. Thus, on the basis of the Egyptian evidence, we can only bracket the transition from LH IIIA:2 to LH IIIB within a range of approximately three-quarters of a century. While such a conclusion effectively destroys the value of the Mycenaean pottery at Amarna for providing anything resembling a precise date for the transition from LH IIIA:2 to LH IIIB:1, it is better to acknowledge this situation than to continue using

the LH IIIA:2-IIIB pottery at this site surely belongs to the period of the 18th Dynasty rulers who succeeded Akhenaten, the amounts and types that belong in this category are uncertain. Hankey favors a date for the small quantity of LH IIIB pottery at Amarna in the reign of Horemheb,'22 and there is no inherent reason for denying such a late attribution. However, there is no published stratigraphic evidence for this date or for dating any of the LH IIIB pottery at Amarna more precisely than to the period from Akhenaten to Horemheb, i.e., to the entire occupation of Amarna during the late 18th Dynasty; hence it cannot be determined whether the LH IIIB pottery arrived at Amarna before or after its abandonment as a

royal capital in the reign of Tutankhamun.123 In the Aegean world, Egyptian imports during

post-Amarna times are limited to a few items found on Crete.124 One artifact is inscribed with the name of a

pharaoh; this is a scarab containing an abbreviated version of Horemheb's prenomen.125 It was a surface

a chronological framework for Mycenaean pottery that is based on unprovable assumptions regarding Egyptian chronology and stratigraphy. 124 Rectangular faience plaques inscribed for Amenhotep

III occur in LH IIIB contexts at Mycenae, but there is no reason to see these objects as post-LH IIIA imports: E. Cline, "Amenhotep III and the Aegean: A Reassessment of Egypto-Aegean Relations in the 14th Century B.C.," Ori- entalia 56 (1987) 9, 11. As for a supposedly late 18th-Dy- nasty scarab found at Zafer Papoura (J.D.S. Pendlebury, Aegyptiaca: A Catalogue of Egyptian Objects in the Aegean Area [Cambridge 1930] 27, pl. 1.47), the parallel cited by Pendlebury for this item from Amarna is weak. The three signs on this scarab-the nfr, falcon, and winged uraeus- can in fact be read as the trigram imn, "Amun." In crypto- graphic writing, the nfr would stand for i, by acrophony from ib, "heart"; the falcon would represent m, by acrophony from Mntw, "Montu"; and the uraeus would be read as n, by acrophony from ntrt, "goddess" (E. Drioton, "Tri- grammes d'Amon," WZKM 54 [1957] 13-14). Scarabs and plaques having the falcon in the center of the design, the uraeus (with or without outstretched wings) to the left and one of several possible signs to the right, are common in the New Kingdom, especially in the Ramesside Period: see, e.g., Tufnell (1958) pls. 37-38.319 (obverse); Macdonald, Star- key and Harding (supra n. 100) pls. 50.98, 55.291-92, 312; A. Rowe, A Catalogue of Egyptian Scarabs, Scaraboids, Seals and Amulets in the Palestine Archaeological Museum (Cairo 1936) no. 594. Hence the design on the base of the Zafer Papoura scarab does not allow us to date this piece specifically to the late 18th Dynasty.

125 H.W. Catling, "Archaeology in Greece, 1974-75," Ar- chaeological Reportsfor 1974-75 (London 1975) 27, fig. 50. The published photograph shows dsr-hpr-r' rather than the full writing of dsr-hprw-r'. The plural strokes likewise are missing in several other Horemheb cartouches on small objects: R. Hari, Horemheb et la reine Moutnedjemet ou lafin d'une dynastie (Geneva 1965) pl. 61a.7, 14, 17 and 38. For

1989] 25


find in the modern village north of the palace at Knos-

sos, so its time of arrival in Crete cannot be established. A scarab allegedly containing the name of

Ankhesenamun, the wife of Tutankhamun, has been

reported from an LM IIIB floor in a house at Po- ros.126 Finally, a small amount of Egyptian pottery has come from LM IIIA:2 and IIIB contexts at Kom- mos.127 Some of this pottery may reflect Egyptian trade with Crete in the final decades of the 18th Dy- nasty, but Minoan chronology is not sufficiently precise to allow us to date this material within such narrow limits.

The relatively small numbers of late 18th Dynasty Egyptian finds at Aegean sites and in the Ulu Burun wreck is striking. In contrast to the far more numerous

Egyptian imports that arrived in the Aegean world

during the reign of Amenhotep III,128 the few finds from the post-Amarna era are little more than trinkets and bric-a-brac; none demonstrate that Egyptian-Ae- gean contacts were anything more than sporadic and

insignificant at this time. The paucity of the Egyptian merchandise on the Ulu Burun vessel in comparison to the goods aboard this ship which originated in Cy- prus, the Levant and the Mycenaean world reinforces this view. If the Ulu Burun ship's contents give a fair and reliable picture of the state of maritime trade in the eastern Mediterranean world during the post-

larger objects containing cartouches missing the plural strokes, see H. Gauthier, Le Livre des Rois d'Egypte II: De la XIIIe dynastie a lafin de la XVIIIe dynastie (MIFAO 18, Cairo 1910) 385, no. 12; 389, no. 27; 390, nos. 33 and 36; 394, no. 62. 126 Heraklion Museum 2474: A. Kanta, The Late Minoan

III Period in Crete: A Survey of Sites, Pottery and Their Distribution (SIMA 58, Goteborg 1980) 4, 315; W. Heick, Die Beziehungen Agyptens und Vorderasiens zur Agiis bis ins 7. Jahrhundert v. Chr. (Ertrige der Forschung 120, Darmstadt 1979) 95, 284 n. 118. According to V. Hankey and P. Warren, "The Absolute Chronology of the Aegean Late Bronze Age," BICS 21 (1974) 152 n. 3, the scarab has been identified by Roger Moorey. There are no published illustrations of this object, however, and since most of the scarabs said to contain the name of Ankhesenamun actually read imn 'nh.s, "Amun (is) her life," or contain some related statement (see, e.g., Hornung and Staehelin [supra n. 82] 237, nos. 234-35), comments regarding the chronological and historical significance of this object should be withheld until this piece is properly published.

127 According to L.V. Watrous ("Foreign Trade at the Mi- noan Harbor Town of Kommos: The Late Bronze Age Im- ported Pottery," paper presented at the 6th International Symposium on Aegean Prehistory in Athens, 1987), the Egyptian and Levantine pottery is most common at Kom- mos in LM IIIA:1, becomes less common in LM IIIA:2, and practically disappears in LM IIIB. A typological dating for the Egyptian ceramics is not yet available.

128 Cline (supra n. 124) 1-36.

Amarna era, then it is likely that the Egyptians were

only minor participants in this activity. Foreign mer- chants handled the Egyptian trade goods being shipped to the Aegean and Asia Minor, and the Egyp- tians themselves had little or no direct contact with the ultimate recipients of this material.

Whether these items were even acquired in Egypt is uncertain. It is conceivable that the Egyptian and other African items were not picked up in Egypt but on Cyprus or somewhere along the Levantine coast, where any one of a number of major trading emporia probably could have supplied the Egyptian and other African objects (including the ebony and ostrich egg) found in the Ulu Burun wreck.129 On the other hand, a ship such as that found at Ulu Burun may have ac-

quired substantial quantities of raw materials and fin- ished goods in Egypt and then sold off most of this

cargo in Levantine and Cypriot ports, i.e., before the

ship headed out toward the Aegean. In such a situa-

tion, the wreck's contents would reflect mostly what the ship had picked up at its most recent port(s) of call, and not what it had sold along the way.

THE SCARAB S SIGNIFICANCE FOR EGYPTIAN

HISTORY

The appearance of Nefertiti's long name on the

gold scarab offers only minimal assistance in delimit-

129 It may be significant in this regard that the names of Amenhotep IV/Akhenaten and Horemheb appear on objects excavated in Syria and Cyprus. These two kings (as well as Nefertiti) are mentioned on calcite vase fragments found in the palace at Ugarit: C.F.-A Schaeffer, Ugaritica III (Mission de Ras Shamra 8, Paris 1956) 164, fig. 120; C.F.-A. Schaeffer, "Les fouilles de Ras Shamra-Ugarit. Quinzieme, seizieme et dix-septieme campagnes (1951, 1952 et 1953), Rapport sommaire," Syria 31 (1954) 41. From British Tomb 93 at Enkomi has come a silver ring inscribed with Amenhotep IV's name: London, British Mu- seum 97-4-1-617; A.S. Murray, A.H. Smith and H.B. Wal- ters, Excavations in Cyprus (London 1900) 17, 36, pl. 4.617; H.R.H. Hall, Catalogue of Egyptian Scarabs, etc. in the British Museum I: Royal Scarabs (London 1913) no. 2678. Horemheb's name has recently been found on the pommel of a staff or cane from Hala Sultan Tekke: G. Hult, Hala Sultan Tekke 7 (SIMA 45:7, Goteborg 1981) 40, 43, figs. 98-99, 101; P. Astr6m, "A Faience Sceptre with the Cartouche of Horemheb," in Studies Presented in Memory of Porphyrios Dikaios (Nicosia 1979) 46-48; P. Xstrom, "Aegyptiaca at Hala Sultan Tekke," OpAth 15 (1984) 18, fig. 15a-b; R. Hari, "Un monument cypriote d'Horemheb," in Studi in onore di Edda Bresciani (Pisa 1985) 249-54. One wonders whether the occurrence of objects containing Horemheb's name in Syria, Cyprus, and Crete (the latter having no stratigraphic context) might indicate the revival of Egypt's relations with the Mediterranean world in the period immediately following the Amarna Age.

26 [AJA 93


ing the date of the artifact within the lifetime of Nefer- titi. The epithet or title nfr-nfrw-itn was incorporated into the queen's cartouche early in Akhenaten's

reign-certainly by regnal year 5, but possibly as ear-

ly as regnal year 2 or 3-before the royal family had left Thebes for Amarna.'30 It continued to be used on monuments into the second decade of Akhenaten's

rule; its last-dated appearance is in the famous scene of regnal year 12 in the tomb of Huya at Amarna, where Akhenaten and the "Great Royal Wife" are shown riding in a palanquin to a reception to receive

foreign tribute. 13

The latest possible date for the scarab is regnal year 3 of Tutankhamun, when the young king abandoned the worship of the Aten and transferred his seat of

government to Memphis or Thebes.132 Although there is no direct evidence for the date of Nefertiti's

death, it is generally assumed that the queen had died when these events took place, which may have been

anywhere from three to seven years after Akhenaten's death. (The precise number of years is dependent on two factors: 1] the number of regnal years given to

Smenkhkare, and 2] whether one allows for a core-

gency between Akhenaten and Smenkhkare, and if so, how many years one assigns to this coregency.) Scar- abs naming Nefertiti and the Aten would not have been produced after this time, and reissues of scarabs inscribed for members of the Amarna royal family are

unknown; hence it is safe to assume that this scarab was not manufactured after year 3 of Tutankhamun.

The maximum theoretical dating range for the scarab is thus the period from early in Akhenaten's reign to about regnal year 3 of Tutankhamun. Absolute dates for this time-span vary widely because of the current

fluidity of 18th-Dynasty Egyptian chronology. Red- ford's high chronology places the reign of Amenhotep IV/Akhenaten at 1377-1360 B.C.'33 Hornung's

130 R.W. Smith and D.B. Redford, The Akhenaten Temple Project 1: Initial Discoveries (Warminster 1976) 80 n. 31; D.B. Redford, Akhenaten: The Heretic King (Princeton 1984) 188, cf. pl. 4.10. 131 N. de G. Davies, The Rock Tombs of El Amarna III. The Tombs of Huya and Ahmes (ASE 15th Memoir, Lon- don 1905) pl. 13. 132 The question of whether Memphis or Thebes became

the new royal residence and/or administrative capital of Egypt continues to be debated; for the latest evidence linking Tutankhamun to the Memphite area as well as earlier views on this controversy, see J. van Dijk and M. Eaton- Krauss, "Tutankhamun at Memphis," MDIK 42 (1986) 35-41. 133 Redford (supra n. 130) 13. 134 E. Hornung, Untersuchungen zur Chronologie und Ge-

schichte des Neuen Reiches (Agyptologische Abhandlungen 11, Wiesbaden 1964) 108.

middle chronology gives a probable dating for this king's rule at 1364-1347 B.C.'34 The low chronology favored by Krauss dates Akhenaten to 1352-1336 B.C.,135 while that of Wente and Van Siclen places the king's reign at 1350-1334 B.C.136 Finally, a very low dating scheme recently espoused by Helck dates the king to 1340-1324 B.C.137 Thus, the maximum dates for the scarab could be as high as about 1376-1358 B.C. (on Redford's chronology), or as low as approximately 1339-1317 B.C. (on Helck's chronology).

A more precise date for the scarab can perhaps be obtained through a study of the unusual writing of the epithet or title nfr-nfrw-itn. There are no other published examples of this partial reversal in Nefertiti's long name, whether on the talatat from Akhenaten's temples at Karnak, the inscriptions emanating from Amarna or Hermopolis or on any other objects on which Nefertiti's name appears. It is not altogether impossible that the writing is a scribal blunder or re- flects the decision of an artisan to have the three tall signs on the left-hand side of the inscription face in the same direction for some aesthetic or other idiosyncrat- ic reason. As argued below, however, it is more likely that the partial reversal is deliberate.

A parallel for this unusual writing of the god's name occurs on a pair of gold sequins from the tomb of Tutankhamun.'38 Both ornaments contain the cartouches of a king. One cartouche reads 'nh-hprw-r' mr-ltn, "Ankhkheperure beloved of the Aten," while the other has nfr-nfrw-itn hk', "Nefernefruaten the Ruler." In the latter cartouche, the reed-leaf i on the top line faces left, toward the remaining signs in the god's name as well as toward the seated-king determinative on the left side of the bottom line. Thus, while most of the god's name on the Nefertiti scarab is reversed to face the (seated-queen) determinative even while the i is oriented in the same direction as that

35 Krauss (supra n. 114) 200-202. 136 E.F. Wente and C.C. Van Siclen III, "A Chronology of

the New Kingdom," in J.H. Johnson and E.F. Wente eds., Studies in Honor of George R. Hughes, January 12, 1977 (SAOC 39, Chicago 1976) table 1. 137 Helck (supra n. 123) 26. 138 J.R. Harris (1974) 16 n. 20, fig. 3; see also Harris

(1973) 15. These ornaments are also mentioned by Samson (1977) 94-95; Samson (1978) 108, 127, figs. 8, 15; Samson (1982) 66; Samson (1985) 95. They are now in the Nelson- Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, nos. 67-21/5 and 67-21/6, and will soon be published by Rolf Krauss in an article entitled "Einige Kleinfunde mit Namen von Amar- naherrschern." (I wish to thank Dr. Krauss for providing me with a prepublication copy of this paper.) The checkered history of these objects after their discovery by Howard Car- ter is recounted by Hoving (supra n. 84) 356.

1989] 27


determinative, on the sequins most of the god's name reads in the same direction as the rest of the cartouche-but the i is reversed to face the (seated-king) determinative.

The critical question is whether these jewelry elements from Tutankhamun's tomb contain the cartouches of Nefertiti or Smenkhkare. Tawfik has pointed out that the word itn in the Nefernefruaten name of Smenkhkare is not reversed "because there is no king determinative within the cartouche that the god Aton should face."139 The appearance of the seated-king determinative on the sequins thus can be interpreted in one of several ways: 1) the sequins belong to Smenkhkare, whose Nefernefruaten name here partially imitates Nefertiti's practice of reversing the word Aten; 2) the partial reversal in the second cartouche is a miswriting and has no bearing on the identification of the person named on these sequins; or 3) the names on these ornaments belong to Nefertiti. The fact that we now have a partial reversal attested on a scarab of Nefertiti, and both the scarab and sequins are made of gold (not some cheap material such as steatite or faience, which not infrequently are inscribed with miswritings) argues for the writing on the latter object being a legitimate variant of a pharaoh's Nefernefruaten name and not an error. This variant is so unusual-other than on the scarab and sequins, it is known only from a cartouche reading h- n-itn, "Akhenaten," on an alabaster plaque in Ber- lin'40-that one can hardly be blamed for thinking that the same person is referred to on both the scarab

139 Tawfik (1973) 86. Tawfik was clearly bothered by the peculiar writing on the sequins, since on one occasion where he mentions these objects, he remarks that "the word Aten ... is not reversed as is usually (italics the author's) the case in the Nfr-nfrw-itn name of Smenkhkare" (Tawfik [1981]470). 140 G. Roeder, Aegyptische Inschriften aus den Staatlichen

Museen zu Berlin 2 (Leipzig 1924) 253, no. 2045. The partial reversal on this plaque is especially interesting because it is just like the one on the Nefertiti scarab: the word itn as a whole is reversed, but the reed-leaf i is in retrograde order. The major difference between the two reversals is that the end of Akhenaten's cartouche does not contain a determinative for the god's name to face.

141 There is evidence for at least one other variant in the writing of Nefertiti's name. At Amarna, Petrie found 32 clay molds used for making double-cartouche plaques. Eighteen of these are in University College, London, and on them and apparently also a broken green faience plaque, the word itn in the left cartouche consistently faces in the same direction (toward the left) as the seated-queen determinative: J. Samson, "Royal Inscriptions from Amarna," ChrEg 48 (1973) 247-48, fig. 2; see also G. Fraser, A Catalogue of

and sequins. If such is the case, then the individual can only be Nefertiti.'41

There has been much discussion in recent years regarding the political and religious status of Nefertiti. The most radical proposal offered on this topic has been that of John Harris and his principal supporter, Julia Samson, who argue that Nefertiti and Smenkh- kare were one and the same person, with Nefertiti abandoning her position as queen sometime after regnal year 12 of Akhenaten and taking a new name as well as the title of a king.'42 Both Harris and Samson interpret the names on the sequins as referring to Nef- ertiti as pharaoh, with Samson assigning the sequins to a brief period just after Akhenaten's death but prior to Nefertiti's adoption of her new throne name of Smenkhkare.143

James Allen has recently put forth an intriguing theory which accepts the Harris-Samson claim that Nefertiti became king late in Akhenaten's reign (certainly no earlier than regnal year 12, since in that year Nefertiti still held the title of "Great Royal Wife" in the tomb of Huya), but also suggests that at her husband's death or perhaps shortly thereafter, Nefertiti was succeeded by another ruler, Smenkhkare.'44 Al- len's argument that Nefertiti and Smenkhkare are two different rulers-the conclusion drawn by the great majority of Egyptologists-is based on a complex analysis of the various sets of names associated with Nefertiti and Smenkhkare. His conclusion that the gold sequins belong to Nefertiti is based on two factors: 1) reversal of the god's name occurs only in Nef-

the Scarabs Belonging to George Fraser (London 1930) 34, pl. 10.271a; Hall (supra n. 129) nos. 1966-67. The lintel over the entrance to the tomb of Ahmose at Amarna contains two cartouches with the long name of Nefertiti (Davies [supra n. 131] pl. 27); interestingly, the cartouche on the left side of the lintel has the word itn facing toward the seated- queen determinative, while the cartouche on the right side of the lintel has the same word facing in the same direction (toward the left) as the seated-queen determinative.

142 Harris (1973); J.R. Harris, "Nefertiti Rediviva," Acta Orientalia 35 (1973) 5-13; Harris (1974) 11-21. The principal supporter of Harris's claim is Julia Samson, who has written extensively on this topic; see, e.g., Samson (1985) 83-99; Samson (1977); J. Samson, "Akhenaten's Co-regent and Successor," G6ttinger Miszellen 57 (1982) 57-59; Sam- son (1982). For some negative assessments of this theory, see Tawfik (1975); Redford (supra n. 130) 191-92.

143 See references above in n. 138. The dating of the sequins early in Nefertiti's "reign" appears in Samson (1985) 95.

144 J.P. Allen, "Nefertiti and Smenkh-ka-re," to be published in the proceedings of the International Symposium to Commemorate the Centennial Anniversary of the Discovery of Tell El Amarna, February 1-3, 1987, Chicago.

28 [AJA 93


ertiti's name, where there is a determinative for itn to face; and 2) the nomen nfr-nfrw-itn plus epithet nor-

mally does not have a reversal because there is no determinative for itn to face, but in the one case where there is a determinative (namely, on the sequins), a reversal has been inserted.

Allen sets the length of Nefertiti's reign as pharaoh at about three years based on a hieratic graffito in the tomb of Pere at Thebes.145 This inscription is dated to

regnal year 3 of "Ankhkheperure beloved of..., the Son of Re, Nefernefruaten beloved of Waen[re]," a king who is to be identified with Nefertiti according to Allen's analysis. Whether Nefertiti's reign was entire- ly coeval with that of her husband, or continued on for a short time after his death, remains a mystery.

The inscription on the Ulu Burun scarab does not provide decisive evidence for linking "Nefernefruaten Nefertiti" with "Nefernefruaten the Ruler," but it does support the equation. The principal objection to this identification comes from the shawabti of Nefer- titi. The inscription on this piece of tomb equipment gives Nefernefruaten Nefertiti the titles of "Heiress," "Great One in the Palace" and "Great Royal Wife"- impressive titles, but not those of a pharaoh. If this object was inscribed after Nefertiti died, then she was not a king at the time of her death. And yet the fact that this figure is holding across her chest the flail and scepter, symbols of Egyptian kingship, indicates that Nefertiti was much more than an ordinary queen. Allen has suggested that Nefertiti may have been de- posed by Smenkhkare after her brief reign; in that

case the titles on her shawabti would only reflect those that she held at her death rather than those that she possessed when she was king.

CONCLUSION

The Egyptian finds from the Ulu Burun shipwreck form a remarkable collection of artifacts. I believe that they point to the late 14th/early 13th century B.C. as the most likely date for the wreck. They fill a con- spicuous lacuna in the history of Egyptian-Aegean trade in the Late Bronze Age, demonstrating that commercial relations between the two areas-while limited in scope and probably indirect-persisted into the post-Amarna phase of the late 18th Dynasty. Fi- nally, they indicate that most of the Egyptian goods being shipped to the Aegean during this period were trinkets or raw materials.

The gold scarab is the key piece in this group. Nefer- titi is one of the most interesting figures in Egyptian history, but only recently has her role in the develop- ment of the Amarna Revolution been the focus of so much scholarly attention. This scarab offers a new piece of evidence to identify Nefertiti with a king named on a pair of sequins as "Ankhkheperure beloved of the Aten, Nefernefruaten the Ruler." While the linkage is not indisputable, it may be considered probable that sometime late in Akhenaten's reign or shortly after his death, Nefertiti was pharaoh of Egypt.

2250 NORTH TRIPHAMMER ROAD

ITHACA, NEW YORK 14850

145 A.H. Gardiner, "The Graffito from the Tomb of Pere,"JEA 14 (1928) 10-11.

1989] 29

uluburun bass aja 1989

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