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Al-Ahram Weekly 29 Apr. - 5 May 1999 Issue No. 427 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 29 Apr. - 5 May 1999 Issue No. 427
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Profile Focus Special Travel Sports People Features Living Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Burials for rich and poor
By Samir NaoumA mission from the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) excavating on the outskirts of Minshat Ezzat in the Delta province of Daqahliya has uncovered a huge necropolis.
"The village of Minshat Ezzat was an ancient residence and burial site during two particular periods, with a long stretch between them," said Mohamed El-Sayed El-Seidi director of antiquities in southern Daqahliya. "Yet the tombs dating back to each of the periods have been found next to each other."
This juxtaposition of different periods of history is not uncommon in the Delta, where silt from particularly high Nile floods has covered burial grounds and provided fertile soil for subsequent agricultural development. Then, after decades, sometimes centuries, of normal floods, followed by a particularly meagre flow over several years, the earth would dry out and be rendered suitable for burials once more.
The earliest burials found at Menshat Ezzat date to pre-dynastic times, with others belonging to the Early Dynastic period and the Old Kingdom, and some to the Graeco-Roman period. Usually, the different strata of habitation along with their related burial grounds would be excavated in reverse chronological order. That is to say, the most recent at the upper level of the earth, going backwards in time as each level of strata is removed. But this is not always the case in the Delta, where the most ancient tombs lie just below the surface of the ground.
The tombs were discovered by farmers preparing their land for cultivation. Some experts say the necropolis suggests that there might have been religious or tribal conflict over sources of water. "This possibly explains why large areas of the surrounding land were burned," said Salem Gabr El-Baghdadi, senior inspector of excavations in Daqahliya.
The find includes 24 Old Kingdom tombs belonging to poor people, indicated by the sparse funerary equipment interred with the remains, and eight mastaba tombs with abundant funerary furniture and objects which indicate luxurious provisions for the afterlife.
"In some of the Graeco-Roman tombs we found as many as seven skeletons placed on two levels and valuable vessels on shelves," said Sayed El-Seidi. He said agate beads were discovered near the remains in one of the women's tombs. "Also, the skeleton of one child was wearing a bracelet of slate, and another was wearing two bracelets, one of slate and the other of limestone," said El-Seidi.
A Graeco-Roman burial site has been unearthed near Minshat Ezzat
"We could infer that some of the surrounding area was under cultivation at the time of the burials because we found a grinding stone of clay in one of the tombs. In others, large blocks of quartz and flint for grinding grain, probably wheat and barley, were discovered," said El-Seidi. "Double-edged and sickle-shaped knives of flint were also found in some of the tombs," he said.
El-Baghdadi, who is also senior inspector of excavations in Damietta, said the settlement areas and related burial grounds discovered at Minshat Ezzat differ from those of Tel El-Dab'a, also in Daqahliya Governorate, and from Kfur Negm, Hassan Daoud and Minshat Abu Umar in Sharqiya, in that it was a necropolis for the rich.
"The area was adequately endowed with life-supporting resources," El-Baghdadi said, "and it is clear that it was once quite heavily populated. The mastaba-tombs were built with two to five rooms each. They invariably faced north with a slight tilt to the east, and the deceased was laid to rest in one of the chambers surrounded by vessels, pots, dishes of alabaster and a variety of cylindrical pots ranging from 15cm to 50cm in height."
El-Baghdadi said the Ancient Egyptians sometimes built false mud-brick mastabas near the burial mastabas to fool grave-robbers. "We found four such false mastabas at Minshat Ezzat," he said.
The nearby tombs belonging to the poorer classes took the form of one or two rectangular rooms with rounded corners. The remains of the deceased and their relics were found in the room facing north. Both rich and poor were buried in tombs lined with mats woven of flax or papyrus.
