名古屋大学/古代エジプトの情報伝達に関する調査アーカイヴ名古屋大学/古代エジプトの情報伝達に関する調査アーカイヴ

Published for
PRELIMINARY REPORTAKORIS
2010
Edited by
Kawanishi, Hiroyuki
Tsujimura, Sumiyo
Hanasaka, Tetsu
Doctoral Program in History and Anthropology, University of Tsukuba
1–1–1 Tenno-dai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305–8571, Japan
Printed by NAKANISHI PRINTING CO., LTD. Japan
Copyright ©2011 by KAWANISHI, Hiroyuki

CONTENTS
1

GENERAL VIEW...........................................................................................................................Kawanishi, H.

2

ARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONSSouth Area.......................................................................................................................... Tsujimura, S.
Finds from the South Area................................................................................................ Hanasaka, T.
Hieratic Papyri.........................................................................................................................Uchida, S.

3

EPIGRAPHIC INVESTIGATION
Ptolemaic Quarry at Zāwiyat al-Sultān................................................. Suto, Y. and Takahashi, R.
3

4

ARCHITECTURAL INVESTIGATION.................................................................. Ajioka, O. and Hori, Y.

名古屋大学/古代エジプトの情報伝達に関する調査アーカイヴ

1 GENERAL VIEW
Last season, the excavation on the saddle floor and the north slope of the valley located in thesouthwest part of Akoris was limited to revealing the tops of mud brick walls so as to be able to grasp
the outline of a settlement as much as possible during this summer season. However, as to thetombs in the excavated area, all were completely investigated as a precaution against illegal activity
after our summer work. As the result of the work done, the transition of construction and tombs
has been clarified to a greater extent, that is to say, at first, houses and streets were arranged
according to a plan, and thereafter they were partially destroyed or damaged by the increase ofsilos, and then tombs which became predominant by degrees. The house and street construction
dates back to the end of the New Kingdom, and the evidence of residence almost completely ended
in the Third Intermediate Period (TIP) or the beginning of the Late Period.
Based on the various materials gained in the valley area since 2002, the economic activity
waged by the inhabitants is attested to have been agriculture, stock-breeding, fishing, manufacture
and commerce. The manufacturing, which consists of various kinds, can be categorized into twogroups. One group is formed by the products of agriculture and stock-breeding as shown by
textile work of linen and wool, and leather work of goat skin. The other group is established bypyrotechnology as exemplified by glasswork,
ceramics and copper refining. Each manufacture
is of small-scale, except for the leather work
which appears to have been rather large. Last
season, a pottery mold for casting the faience
figurine of the goddess of Sekhmet or Bastet was
uncovered.

This discovery is significant intestifying faience work.
Masonry work is different from the abovementioned categories in its scale and base of
manufacture.

A huge unfinished, monolithic

column, found in the Ptolemaic masonryworkshop excavated at the north end of the cityarea in the 1997 work (Preliminary Report 1997),
was carefully investigated and re-measured bylaser scanning so as to reconstruct the operations
through to completion.
Through the architectural and epigraphic
survey, two Ptolemaic quarries were confirmed
near Akoris. One lies at Zāwiyat al-Sultān (New3

Minya) which is situated southward at a distanceFig. 1 Map of Egypt.

of 15km from Akoris, and the other is the south3

名古屋大学/古代エジプトの情報伝達に関する調査アーカイヴ

neighborhood of the excavated area.

Considering the distance from the workshop, the crude

limestone of the unfinished monolithic column must have been transported from the latter. As
suggested by Dr. L. Habachi ( JARCE 11, 1974) the beginning of quarrying near Akoris is supposed
to date back to the Ramses III Period. Although this is quite possible, the evidence of quarrying has(Kawanishi)

already been lost.

2 ARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONSouth Area (Cover, Figs. 2–5, Tab. 1) A settlement dating mainly from the TIP extends in thelowland between a gigantic north crag and the next crag to the south in which the Greek-Romanrock-cut tomb chapels are located in rows half way up. The west end of the settlement where we foundfive houses (House I – V) built in density is divided by the east-west main street at the skirt of thenorth crag and the north-south main street diverging southward in a T intersection. In this season,
we extended the excavation to the east of the north-south main street in the lowland and up to
the slope of the south crag. The triangular area formed, Area L, measures 47m north-south and
21m east-west at the south end, and Area M on the slope measures 31m north-south × 5m east-west.
To know the arrangement of houses in an area as large as possible, only the surface soil was
removed, except for tombs in the upper layer, but not excavated completely. As a result, the tops ofmany mud brick walls were revealed in Area L and they
were supposed to compose some densely built houses
similar to those found in the west area of the north-south
main street. Because the foot of the south crag curves tothe south in Area L, the east area of settlement extends
more to the south compared to the west area. An eastwest alley extends to the east opposite the south end of
the west side area.
On the east side of the main street, two walls having
different angles and of different thickness were found.
A thick wall extends in the north and makes contact withthe thin wall in mid way. The thick wall stretches 6m tothe south from that point and disappears. The otherwall that angles about 10 degrees to the west stretches
to the south, however it does not reach the east-west
alley in Area L.

The difference between these walls

corresponds to the two walls formed on the west side of
the main street.
Inner and outer walls of houses are also divided
into two groups by their directions, that is, parallel/
perpendicular or not to the two sidewalls of different
Fig. 2 Map of Akoris.

thickness along the main street. Walls in the north part4

名古屋大学/古代エジプトの情報伝達に関する調査アーカイヴ

Fig. 3 South Area. 1,6: From north; 2: From south; 3–5: From west; 7: From east; 8: From southeast.

5

名古屋大学/古代エジプトの情報伝達に関する調査アーカイヴ

Fig. 4 Plan of the South Area
excavated in 2010.
6名古屋大学/古代エジプトの情報伝達に関する調査アーカイヴ

Fig. 5 South Area.
No. 1: General view; No. 2: Tomb 7; No. 3: Tomb 13; No. 4: Tomb 15; No. 5: Tomb 14; No. 6: Tomb 16.

of the area and the part to the south of the east-west alley belong to the thick sidewall group. Andwalls in the middle part of the area belong to the thin sidewall group. If the thin sidewall were built
earlier than the thick sidewall, there is no reason why only walls in the south part were arranged ina different direction from the middle part. A house in the middle part was possibly rebuilt withHouse V or almost simultaneously, but the conclusion should await the results of the complete
excavations. In any case, it is noteworthy that the coincidence of directions between the north andthe south parts means some intentional town-planning was carried out.
Silos lined up across the main street from the west area along the foot of the south crag werebuilt over walls in the west half of the south house in Area L. Observing their details, two types
7

名古屋大学/古代エジプトの情報伝達に関する調査アーカイヴ

Table 1

List of the excavated tombs.

Tomb
No.

Area

Burial means

Size of coffin (cm)The deadDirection of
the head

1

L

Wooden coffinpit (232 × 58)

Adult (Female?)

West

2

L

Wooden coffin

147 × 43

Adult

West

3

L

?

160 × 44

Male

West

4

L

Wooden coffin

100 × 30

Infant?

5

L

Wooden coffin

188 × 50

Female, Adult

West

6

L

pottery coffin

7

L

Wooden coffin

192 × 46

Female, Adult(pit with a clay roof)pit (200 × 74)

Male, Juvenile

Funeral objects

A leather sandal

suckling
West

Male, Adult
8

L

Wooden coffin(45 +) × 36

Female, Adult

?

9

L

Wooden coffin

78 × 24

Infant

West

10

L

?

11

M

pottery coffinsuckling

12M

pottery coffinsuckling

13

M

pottery coffinsuckling

14

M

Wooden coffin

95 × 28

Infant

West

15

L

Wooden coffin

127 × 27

Infant

West

16

M

Mat wrapping

73 × 25

suckling

17

M

pottery coffinsuckling

18

L

?

Adult

A bronze pin withbeads, amulets

could be ascertained. One type is comparatively large and has a thick wall, and another is small andhas a thin wall. The large-sized silo was for storing cereals, while the small-sized silos were forfodder. Considering much fodder and dung were accumulated, Area M seems to have been utilized
for grazing.
Twelve tombs lying in Area L were also built after houses were abandoned. Among them
Tombs 10 and 18 contained no traces of coffins. As human bones were scattered in a silo we
consider it as Tomb 18 for the present, and Tomb 10 in which human bones are limited to a small
quantity might actually just be a hole left by illegal digging. Opposite Area L where eight wooden
coffins and one pottery coffin were found, four tombs in Area M contained pottery coffins. All
sucklings under one year old excepting those in Tomb 16 covered with a mat were placed in storage
jars, infants older than sucklings and adults were lying in wooden coffins. Because an infant was lying
in the only wooden coffin of Area M, the dead buried in Area M are limited to sucklings and infants.
According to the chronology of Egyptian storage jars, these jars date from the 8th or 7th
century B.C. Usually, a storage jar containing a suckling wrapped in cloth was put into a pit as it was,but a storage jar in Tomb 6 is wrapped in a mat, and in Tomb 13 which is surrounded by bricks
breaking a part of the wall of a silo, a bowl was put over the mouth of a storage jar like a lid. Tomb 1
containing a wooden coffin for an adult is also protected by rows of bricks on either side of the tomb.
8

名古屋大学/古代エジプトの情報伝達に関する調査アーカイヴ

Though a tomb is for one body basically and sizes of wooden coffins are fitted to each, Tomb 7
contained human bones of three persons.

Because this tomb measuring 200cm long × 74cm

wide × 80cm in depth, is large compared to other tombs, it was probably planned to bury plural
dead there at the time the pit was dug. A wooden coffin in which a female adult is lying was put on
the bottom of the pit. Bones of two males without coffins unearthed from the upper layer don’t keep
their original position. The pit was covered with a slightly rounded roof of 13cm thick solid mud.
Funeral objects were found in Tomb 5 and Tomb 14. Tomb 5 has a wooden coffin in which a
female adult is lying. Although her body is badly damaged, her legs keep their original position. A
leather sandal was found under her right knee. This example is the second one found in wooden
coffin. The first was found in a coffin in Tomb 2 excavated in 2007. Including a leather sandal forchild found in disturbed soil in Area M, footwear made of leather is supposed to have been
widespread as it was not so expensive at the end of the TIP. Tomb 14 has a wooden coffin in which
an infant estimated to be 3 to 4 years old wrapped firmly with cloth is lying face up. A bronze pin
with beads, a large-sized Udjat-eye and a cartouche-shaped amulet were put on his/her chest.
Thus the manner of burial for infants is not so different from those of adults in Areas L and M.
A matter of special importance as a burial manner is the direction of the head. That is, not only
adults but also infants were lying in wooden coffin with their heads to the west.
Considerable finds besides funeral objects include some fragments of papyri with hieratic
letters, and a mold for a faience figure of the goddess Sekhmet. These finds were unearthed fromdisturbed surface soil in the middle part of Area L.

(Tsujimura)Finds from the South Area (Fig. 6) No. 1: Glazed stone (steatite?) scarab, with engraved˘˘hieroglyph signs; h and other unreadable signs, Area 10M, l. 1.60 × w. 1.14 × h. 0.65cm. No. 2:
4

Faience scarab, with engraved hieroglyph sings; sun-disc, scarab and two uraeus, Area 10L,
l. 2.52 × w. 1.87 × h. 1.12cm.

No. 3: Faience ring, with some unreadable engraved signs, Area

10M, fragment, l. 1.96 × h. 1.46 × bezel w. 0.71cm. No. 4: Faience ring, with engraved hieroglyph˘˘˘˘sings on the cartouche shaped bezel; hk and w s scepters and others, Area 10M tomb 14,
4 4

fragment, l. 2.58 × h. 1.74 × bezel w. 1.58. No. 5: Faience amulet, Udjat-eye, Area 10M tomb 14,
on mummified remains, l. 3.21 × h. 2.60 × t. 1.21cm. No. 6: Beads, one black and two dark blue
glass ball-beads, shaped by winding molten glass rod, diameter 0.68–1.01cm: one greenish light blue
faience tubular-bead, l. 1.03 × d. 0.33cm, Area 10M tomb 14, on the mummified remains, black ballbead attached to the tip of No. 7 bronze tool. No. 7: Bronze pin or tool (?), slab-shaped, found with
No. 6 black glass bead fixed at the tip on the mummified remains, Area 10M tomb 14, fragment,l. 5.41 × w. 0.34 × t. 0.12cm. No. 8: Bronze fish hook, with rectangular stem section, Area 10L,
l. 3.08 × w. 1.58cm. No. 9: Clay weight with a hole, fired, Area 10L, l. 3.73 × w. 1.86cm. No. 10:
Clay weight with a hole, fired, Area 10D (leather workshop), l. 2.32 × w. 2.08cm. No. 11: Clayobject, gaming piece (?), unfired, black polished, Area 10L, h. 1.59 × diam. 2.01cm. No. 12: Clay
open mold, fired, for faience Sekhmet figure/amulet, rectangular shaped, a bit of yellowish-white
powdery substance lines inner surface, Area 10L, fragment, l. 6.3 × w. 4.4 × t. 3.2cm. The size of
Sekhmet figure is l. 5.9 × w. 1.7 × t. 2.5cm. No. 13: Clay lid (?), unfired, with two impressions of oval
shaped stamps, Area 10M, fragment, l. 9.91 × w. 6.40 × h. 4.09cm.

The size of impressions is9

名古屋大学/古代エジプトの情報伝達に関する調査アーカイヴ

Fig. 6 Finds from the South Area.
Nos. 1–6: Faience objects; Nos. 7–8: Copper/bronze objects;
Nos. 9–15: Earthen objects; Nos. 16–19: Wooden objects;
No. 20: Pottery; No. 21: Stone object; No. 22: Leather
object.

approximately l. 4.3 × w. 2.5cm. No. 14: Clay lid, unfired, with five impressions of rectangularstamps, Area 10L, outer diam. 6.82 × 6.22 × h. 2.80cm, the caliber size of pottery is about 4.8cm.
The size of impressions is approximately l. 1.6 × w. 1.2 × 0.4cm depth. No. 15: Clay cobra figure,fired, with three red vertical lines on the body, no ornamentation on the head and foot base, Area
10L, fragment, l. 9.58 × w. 5.90 × t. 3.46cm. Thirteen cobra figurines were found in this season.
No. 16: Wooden yoke (?), to be used over the necks of two animals and attached to a plow, with one
oval shaped hole at the center and five rectangular mortises, Area 10M tomb 4, fragment,
l. 101.4 × w. 27.2cm.

No. 17:

Woodenspindlediam. 4.90 × t. 1.64, fragment of shaft; l. 2.48cm.

whorl

with

shaft,

Area

10M,

whorl;

No. 18: Wooden spindle whorl, Area 10M,

diam. 4.11 × t. 2.03cm. No. 19: Wooden object, farming implement (?), wedge-like rectangular flat
body, Area 10L, l. 19.53 × w. 7.09 × t. 2.37cm. No. 20: Pottery fragment, pointed base of jar or
amphora (?), imported (?), very fine clay and well-treated surface, Area 10L, fragment,
l. 10.33 × d. 4.26. Three other fragments were found from Area 10M in this season. No. 21: Flint
sickle blade, dark brown flint, formed in a trapezoidal shape, with the remains of dark gray adhesive
over yellowish-white lime plaster, sickle gloss on the limb, Area 10M, l. 7.02 × w. 2.85 × t. 1.84cm.
No. 22: Leather sandal, a part of the right toe folded up, single sole with leather clog thong, stitched10

名古屋大学/古代エジプトの情報伝達に関する調査アーカイヴ

on the edge by vegetable thread, Area 10L tomb 5, under the right knees of a mummified remains,
fragment, l. 12.3 × w. 12.0cm, estimate of sole size is about l. 21.0 × w. 9.0cm.

(Hanasaka)

Hieratic Papyri (Cover, Fig. 7) There are more than ten papyrus fragments unearthed, mostof which are inscribed with hieratic. Some of them retain somewhat significant, although brief, texts.
Papyrus No. 1 (Cover, Fig. 7 Left) Area 10L, 6.5 × 6.8cm. This papyrus bears a part of sevenlines of a magical text, two of which are written in red 1). There is blank space at the right end,
indicating the remaining part to be the beginning of a column in the original text. The date of thispapyrus is uncertain, although it probably dates from the Ramesside Period or the TIP 2).
Translation:x + 1 … /// true ////// …
x + 2 … chewing by the god3), salt /// …
x + 3 … Isis. My brother Seth did …
x + 4 … My brother Seth created ////// 4) …
x + 5 … these people (?) …
x + 6 … chewing by (?) the god, salt of …
x + 7 … Seth ////// …
Notes
1) The lines in red are indicated by italic in the translation.
2) The spelling of the ‘brother’ (Gardiner T 22) of the line x + 4 is peculiar to the Ramesside andthe Third Intermediate Periods (G. Möller, Hieratische Paläographie, Leipzig 1927–1936, II, S.53,
596; III, S.57, 596). Although the spelling of the first letter (Gardiner M (22)) of the line x + 5 isa Graeco-Roman feature according to Möller (ibid. III, S.27, 288), it is attested in the late Ramessideperiod (e.g. A. H. Gardiner, ‘A Protest against Unjustified Tax-demands’, Revue d’Égyptologie 6(1951), pp. 132–133, l. 11).
3) The parallel phrase ‘chewing by Seth’ (wg ’ın Sth_) is attested as a part of a spell in the Papyrus
Ramesseum III, a magical papyrus dated to the early Second Intermediate Period. See J. W. B.
Barns, Five Ramesseum Papyri, Oxford, 1956, p. 21, pl. 12, 11.
4) The preserved signs at the end of the line x + 4 (Gardiner P 8 and possibly Z 7) could be a partof the word ‘voice’ (hrw) or ‘rebellion’ (hrwyw).
˘
˘
Papyrus No. 2 (Cover, Fig. 7 Center) Area 10L, 7.4 × 5.5cm. This fragment bears a part of a text
related to transport and trade, which is dated to the New Kingdom, probably the Ramesside Period.
Translation:x + 1 … transport boat which was sent before…
x + 2 … merchant 1), grain of [harvest tax] 2)…
x + 3 … [the last day (of a month)] 3), the beginning of a season…
Notes
1) For the šwyty translated as ‘merchant’, ‘trader’, or ‘commercial agent’, see S. Bickel, ‘Commerçants
et bateliers au Nouvel Empire: Mode de vie et statut d’un groupe social’, N. Grimal et B. Menu
(eds.), Le Commerce en Égypte ancienne, Le Caire, 1998, pp. 157–172; R. J. Demarée, The Bankes
11

名古屋大学/古代エジプトの情報伝達に関する調査アーカイヴ

Fig. 7 Papyri.
Left: No. 1; Center: No. 2; Right: No. 3

Late Ramesside Papyri, London, 2006, p. 8.
2) For the ‘harvest tax’ (šmw) and ‘grain of harvest tax’ (ı’t šmw), see A. H. Gardiner, ‘Ramesside
Texts relating to the Taxation and Transport of Corn’, Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 27 (1941),
pp. 20, 28–29. Also cf. D. A. Warburton, State and Economy in Ancient Egypt: Fiscal Vocabulary of the
New Kingdom, Göttingen, 1997, pp. 282–286.
3) The word ‘the last day (of a month)’ ((rky) is restored on the grounds of the context and4

surviving determinatives.
Papyrus No. 3 (Cover, Fig. 7 Right)lines of the original text.

Area 10L, 2.9 × 4.4cm. This papyrus bears a part of four

There is blank space discernible at the right edge, indicating theremaining part to be the beginning of a column.

This fragment is a part of an indictment

concerning a mayor, dated to the New Kingdom, probably the Ramesside Period1).
Translation:x + 1 Charge concerning 2) the statement of a mayor …
x + 2 … boat(?), Khonsuwer 3)…
x + 3 … report, //////…
x + 4 … he recognized … ////// …
Notes
1) This indictment would have been parallel to the Papyrus Turin 1887 in the form. For thispapyrus, see A. H. Gardiner, Ramesside Administrative Documents, Oxford, 1948, pp. 73–82.
˘˘2) This phrase (sh r) is attested at the beginning of charges in the Papyrus Turin 1887. See A. H.
˘
Gardiner, ibid. passim; idem, ‘Ramesside Texts relating to the Taxation and Transport of Corn’,Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 27 (1941), p. 60, n. 2.
3) Probably a personal name, although not included in H. Ranke, Die Ägyptischen Personennamen,
Glückstadt, 1935.
12名古屋大学/古代エジプトの情報伝達に関する調査アーカイヴ(Uchida)3 EPHIGRAPHIC INVESTIGATION
Ptolemaic Quarry at Zāwiyat al-Sultān (Figs. 8–9) Further investigations were carried out in3

the Ptolemaic quarry at Zāwiyat al-Sultān (New Minya).
3

As in the recent past, our work wasconcentrated largely in horizontal galleries hewn into the limestone bedrock at various points of thequarry valley. We confirmed and reexamined all the graffiti at Sections E, H, and U, and madeadditional notes about their spatial configuration on the site.
In the last report we suggested that the graffito Q29 should be read as ‘Year 2, the month of
Tybi, 7th’ (Preliminary Report AKORIS 2009, pp. 20–21). However, it now seems certain that theabbreviated sign denoting the month is made up not of letters tau and beta but of phi, alpha, andanother letter. It most probably reads Pharmouthi, but Phaophi or Phamenoth are not impossible.
The peculiarity of Q29 is the lack of a personal name and canonical tripartite numerals which other
Greek graffiti normally contain. This suggests that Q29 might have been a correction, or rather
an annotation, to the graffito Q30 which is written next to Q29 and which has an earlier date of‘Year 26, the month of Phaophi, 7th’.
If Phaophi is the correct reading of Q29, it is most interesting to find the two graffiti referringto the same month and the same day of two different regnal years. It would be difficult to believethat this is a mere coincidence. Q29 might give a new date for Q30 due to the arrival of the news
about the accession of Ptolemy IV in Alexandria. Of course this hypothesis raises the problem of
why the regnal year on Q29 is the second, not the first. Our inclination is to say that the scribe
made a wrong guess by equating the last year of the previous king correctly with the first year but
the current year with the next, i.e. second, year.
In the course of the general survey of the quarry, we found another section with Greek anddemotic graffiti in the extensive upper flat area close to the modern town of New Minya (Section C).
Despite the heavy damage caused by recent dumping of rubbish, it is still possible to discern there
some traces of ancient quarrying activities preserved in relatively good condition (Fig. 9 Left). A
Greek graffito shows that this section was exploited in the first or fourth year. The presence ofbilingual graffiti written in exactly the same mode as that of the valley below clearly suggests that theupper flat area was also exploited in the third century B.C.
One of our prime concerns in the course of the examination of the graffiti is the identity ofworkers engaged in the quarry. Obviously an important clue is the onomastics of the personalnames shown on the graffiti. But the distribution of attested months also provides illuminating
insight into the character of the workers. In the first place, the appearance of months in the graffiti
indicates that quarry was in operation throughout the year.

In the second, their frequency

demonstrates clear seasonal fluctuation of activities in the quarry. Even though the legible graffiti
are not distributed evenly in the valley and they may not represent the actual state of works inprogress, the distinct seasonal pattern is unmistakable. The quarry was constantly busy during thefirst half of a financial year, i.e. from Mecheir to Epeiph, while it was less productive during thelatter half of the year, i.e. from Mesore to Tybi. The absence of the month Thoth is surely not
13

名古屋大学/古代エジプトの情報伝達に関する調査アーカイヴ

Fig. 8 South Quarry.
Left: Zāwiyat al-Sultān and Akoris;
Upper: Geographical map of Zāwiyat al-Sultān.
3

3

14

名古屋大学/古代エジプトの情報伝達に関する調査アーカイヴ

Fig. 9 Detail of the South Quarry.
Left: General view of the graffiti at Section C; Right: Thick layers of organic material near Section N.

fortuitous.

This seasonal pattern shows that stone blocks were actively extracted toward the

beginning of inundation in order to export them through the Nile. It also indicates that some ofthe people named in the graffiti were not full-time professional masons but local peasants who
worked in the quarry when the labor in their fields was not so demanding. This is exactly the casefor the quarrymen working today in the vicinity of the Minya area.
During the general survey, an interesting observation was made near the exit of the valley tothe east of Section N. Several thick layers of organic material appear on the vertical section of
accumulated debris in the midst of the valley floor (Fig. 9 Right). It is highly probable that thesebotanical remains were deliberately brought into the quarry for the purpose of creating a flat bed
on which limestone blocks were pulled down toward the Nile.

(Suto and Takahashi)

4 ARCHITECHTURAL INVESTIGATION
Laser Scanning of Quarries (Figs. 10–15) The investigations of ancient quarries have been
carried out from 10th to 17th in August, 2010. The investigated area, which has been covered from2001, consisted of ancient quarries over a long periods of production, partially excavated in thelimited places, that yielded a monolithic column left under processing, so wide that its application of
up-to-date measuring techniques had to be introduced; laser-scanning. We applied a long-range
scanning machine, laser ray from which can reach as far as 700m and more than 2,000 scanninglaser beams can be emitted in one second and the object can be described as a cloud of points having
three dimensional coordinates. The measuring of three areas of ancient quarries; the south andnorth quarries from Akoris, Zāwiyat al-Sultān has been carried out. Laser scanning in Zāwiyat al3Sultān has been completed within three days and the south and north area where the parts of the3

quarries have been measured. The result coming from laser scanning is still on analysis, and in2012 the further field survey is expected and will be carried out

in order to complete themeasuring.
There is another advantage in this method.

The points cloud with finest accuracy of 3
15

名古屋大学/古代エジプトの情報伝達に関する調査アーカイヴ

dimensional coordinates were analyzed in a computer almost exclusively as a substitute for the
real-existing column, principally for features which, because of their shape or dimensions, could not
at all easily have been measured using old-fashioned techniques. In this report, we would like todeal with the monolithic column that lies down on the working area along the north-east town wall.
The evidence of the column under processing confirms the existence of such a working area outsideof that town (Fig. 10).
Laser scanning of a monolithic column In order to avoid occlusions, the points clouds collectedfrom 12 stations have been merged into one point cloud consisting of 6 million points (Figs. 11 and13).
From the result of analysis, the surfaces of the column are less carefully shaped than expected,
being brought to a more or less unequal level surface by means of liberal spread of processing,
however on the curved face of which are scored pairs of horizontal fine border line between chiselmarks running parallel with each other, to represent an absolute line drawn from the small holes on
the face of the east end to the other of west. (Figs. 12 and 14). Furthermore those small holes areaccurately made in the centre of the column cylinder. On the east end, the divergence between theline from the small holes and the central line of the column cylinder is, of course, caused by the crack
running vertically, and we can suppose that the processing of the column had been proceeded withhigh degree of accuracy of the absolute line from east end to other, until the crack has been opened.
Hypothetic procedure of processing On the curved surface, the effect, in skilled hands, was tocreate a very shallow trench in a straight line, leaving a tool mark on the processing face resemblingthat created by a point chisel driven across the flat surfaces. The fact that curved but somewhat
irregular lines in one direction appear on the upper part alternate in the direction of work after therough-processing, on the lower part, very regular, closely set longish and straight lines means thatthe ends of chisel marks where the mason’s chisel had cut so much behind the line of the intended
surface that the marks could not be effaced. At the fist stage of its process, those small holes madeon the east and west ends may define the central line of the column shaft. Along that central line,
three guidelines, which might be provided by ropes fasten on the edges of a crossed arms at rightangle, could been used to facilitate the actual processes of curving.
The hypothetic process is below (Fig. 15):
1. Make a small hole on the each side of the stone block.
2. Set crossed arms at right angle on the small holes. And pull ropes taut providing guidelines
between those arms.
3. In rough-processing, the curvilinear surface of the column shaft was given to shapes
circumscribed polygonal in section.
4. Applying a wooden curve vertically on its surfaces, which has the same radius of those of the
expected column shaft. This process created the chisel marks that were very regularly andclosely set on the surfaces.
5. Finally, repeat the same work until the curve would fit to the surface. This stage could be applied
to the lower part of the south side of the column shaft.
In this process, on the quarry or working area, there is no need to make the stage to achieve a16名古屋大学/古代エジプトの情報伝達に関する調査アーカイヴ

Fig. 10 General view of the monolithic column.

Fig. 11 Statioins of the laser scanner (Left).
Fig. 12 Border line between chisel marks on the south side (Right).

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名古屋大学/古代エジプトの情報伝達に関する調査アーカイヴ

Fig. 13 View of the 3D model of points clouds.

Fig. 14 Comparison of the centre line of column section with the absolute line drawn from the small holes on theboth ends.

Fig. 15 Hypothetic procedure of the processing.
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名古屋大学/古代エジプトの情報伝達に関する調査アーカイヴ

more rectangular prism in advance of detailed curving and dressing. That monolithic column blockof 14m in length roughly extracted in one of the quarries around Akoris was cracked under theprocess of finishing. On the supposition that the masons in the late Ptolemaic period quarried asingle monolithic column shaft (probably other monolithic columns had been successfully processedand carried away from that work area), it is possible to estimate column length from measured
diameter (approx. 2.5m, exclusive of collars); by applying the ratio 1:6 or 1:7 (from Vitruvius), 15m
or 17.5m is not anomalous size, but shorter than the ideal length. That block would have been
destined to be 14m long, and if the reduction process of the length could not have been continuing,
the crack made impossible to produce a single monolithic column. Another possibility remains thatthe diameter of the column shaft would be reduced to 2.0m, but there is no evidence for further
discussion about the final shape of this column shaft. They are still open questions whether any
other monolithic columns were produced, how this block was carried from the quarry, and where
this block was extracted. The masons saw a sudden, tragic end of processing; though that cracked
block could be easily reused for constructing any buildings, still less was it the result of any rational
knowledge of quarrying processes involved. The last question why they abandoned this monolithic
column is also open to answer.

(Ajioka and Hori)

Members in 2010
Director: Kawanishi, H. University of Tsukuba;
Members: Tsujimura, S. Kokushikan University; Uchida, S. Meirin College; Suto, Y., Takahashi, R.,
Fujii, K., and Kondo, R. Nagoya University; Hori, Y., Ajioka, O., Arasaki, T., Nagasato, M.,
Narikiyo, K., and Ohkawa, M. Kyushu University; Mitobe, H. Yamagata Prefectural Office;Kato, C., Morikawa, M., Yukimaru, C., and Hanasaka T. University of Tsukuba.
Site Inspector: Muhammad Hassan
Supporting Persons and Organizations
Dr. Zahi Hawas; Dr. Mohamed Ismail Khaled; Dr. Magdy el Ghandour; Mohamoud, H.; Adel, H.;
Dr. Seif el dim, Mervat; Kawatoko, M. Middle Eastern Culture Center in Japan; Kajima Corporation;
JSPS Research Station Cairo; Iwaki, N. C.E.O. and President, E&M; Murata, Y. medical Dr.; Yakata,T.; Spencer, V.; Ozawa, A.
This project is sponsored by the Grant-in Aid for Scientific Research, the Ministry of Education,
Science and Culture, Japan.
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名古屋大学/古代エジプトの情報伝達に関する調査アーカイヴ