West Area

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

South Area

Published for
PRELIMINARY REPORTAKORIS
2007
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 ©2008 by KAWANISHI, Hiroyuki

CONTENTS
1 GENERAL VIEW.................................................................................................................Kawanishi, H.
2 ARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONSSouth Area.................................................................................................................Hanasaka, T.
Finds from the South Area........................................................................................Hanasaka, T.
West Area..................................................................................................................Tsujimura, S.
Finds from the West Area.........................................................................................Tsujimura, S.
3 QUARRY
Architectural Survey on the Quarry faces in Zāwiyat al-Sulţān....................................... Hori, Y.
Greek and Demotic Graffiti in Zāwiyat al-Sulţān............................ Suto, Y. and Takahashi, R.
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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

1 GENERAL VIEW
Two significant discoveries concerning the Third Intermediate Period (TIP) were made in the 2007’s
investigation in Akoris. One was to have partly grasped the condition of dwellers by excavating awell-preserved house in Area 07C, measuring about 4 × 3m. It does not belong to a large category
in the TIP of the investigated area, therefore, the dwellers are considered to have been in the lower
half of the middle class or lower. However, they possessed not only the bare necessities of life but
also various kinds of luxurious goods such as sandals, shoes, imported pottery, scarabs, amulets andseveral jars used for brew. This fact suggests that the common people were socially on the rise.
The other discovery was the uncovering of a grave where a mummified boy (Tomb 2),
approximately aged ten, had been buried in a rectangular coffin and a pair of shoes had beenoffered as mortuary goods under his head. It indicates that, despite general opinion, the appearanceof shoes in Egypt was goes back to the pre-Greco-Roman period. Those shoes were selected as
mortuary goods for the boy aroused our curiosity. Was the dead a relative of a craftsman working in
the leather workshop which we have been excavating since 2002, or do the shoes reveal their
popularization among the masses? In any case, without industry and trade, the social rise of thecommon people could not have been prompted and the interment of such young dead with shoes
would not have been made.

Fig. 1 Map of Egypt.

Fig. 2 Sites and villages near Akoris.
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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

According to the 2007 investigation at the south quarry in Zāwiyat al-Sulţān, it was elucidated
that the execution of masonry most probably dates from the era of Ptolemy II. The method ofquarrying in those days is shown by cut marks remaining on limestone bed rock, and many clues forclarifying the labor conditions and management were attained with the help of much graffiti written
on cut faces of the stone. Thus the actual state of the quarry, technology and organization, shall bedemonstrated in the near future.

(Kawanishi)

2 ARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONSSouth Area (Cover; Figs. 3–6)   At the end of the 2003 season, an excavation trench was laidmeasuring 80.0m in length north-south on the slope and 8.0m in width in the South Area at thebase of the crag. The trench was divided into ten 8.0m grids, labeled A–J from top down andpreceded by the number of the year. In 2004–2006 seasons, we extended the already existing
trench further to the west. It was extended to about 40.0m in width east-west at the end of the 2006
season. We found many mud brick structures; houses, granaries and workshops, belonging fromthe TIP to the Late Period (LP).
In the 2007 season, we continued the
excavation, 48.0m in length north-south and6.0m in width east-west in Areas 07A–F, further
to the east from the eastern edge of the existing
trench. An earthen bank, measuring 1.0m in
width, was left between existing Areas 03A–F
and new Areas 07A–F.
At the top edge of the upper part of the
Area 07A, there was a deep shaft measuring
2.8m × 1.4m at the mouth. It might be a shaft
tomb, but we have not gained information
about the date or interior conditions, because
huge rocks have fallen from the crag andcovered the mouth which thus kept us fromentering and investigating the interior.
Since the 2002 season, about ten mud
brick structures which formed parts of houses
have been uncovered, however, a few structures
were surrounded by mud brick walls on all
four sides and we could not learn the wholeplan of the houses.

In this season, we

confirmed a house with two rooms in Area 07C
which were adjoining each other, north andsouth. The rooms were organized in the same
way as those in a structure investigated in the2002 and 2003 seasons.
Fig. 3 Map of Akoris.

The

07C

northern

trapezoidal

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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

roomFig. 4 South Area.
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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. 5

Plan of the South Area excavated in 2007.

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. 6 South Area.
Upper: Leather workshop (Area 07D);
Upper middle: Area 07D;
Lower middle: Two tombs (Area 07E–F);
Lower: Area 07D–F.
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

(Room1) measured 3.4m east-west × 1.2–2.2m north-south, and the 07C southern rectangularroom (Room2) measured 3.3 × 2.2m square. The maximum height of existing walls was 1.1m at
the eastern wall of the 07C northern room, and the thickness of the walls was almost the same as thelong side of a mud brick, a little under 0.40m. The size of the mud bricks was 37–38 × 17–18 ×
6–8cm. There was not a clear entrance to the room from the outside.
A partition wall existed between Room 1 and Room 2, measuring 3.4m in length and 0.9m in
maximum height. The opening connecting the two rooms was 0.6m wide and cut through the wallat the western end. The size of the mud bricks was 36–38 × 16–20 × 6–8cm, slightly smaller thanthose of the surrounding walls.
First, we examined Room 1 more closely. The whole space of Room 1 was covered by earth
divided into two layers, upper and lower, each measuring 0.20–0.30m in thickness. A large numberof logs, branches and twigs, measuring 1–10cm in diameter, were embedded in the underside of thelower layer in disorder. It is possible that this could be the ceiling or the floor of the upper part ofthe building.
There were eight small holes in the surface of the north wall, placed at a height 0.8–0.9m fromthe floor level. They measured about 8–15cm in diameter and about 10–40cm in depth. It is
supposed that these were holes for setting wooden beams or rafters, because there were remains ofwood inside. Furthermore, there were four similar shaped holes placed at a height 0.2–0.3m fromthe floor level.
After removing the fallen earth, a mud-paved floor appeared. It was built on the slope of thesite. The floor, which was not artificially modified, inclined slightly from north to south. On thefloor, a large water jar, storage jar, bowls, many pottery shards, amulets, a wooden product ofunidentifiable use, and so on were found in.
The holes for wooden beams or rafters were too low to spend a common life in the room.
Judging from this point of view, it seems reasonable to conclude that Room 1 would be a storage
room constructed half underground.
Room 2 had a hardened floor with a large quantity of grain and the chaff of cereal, anddroppings of small-sized animals scattered around.

There were a straw mat measuring about

0.95 × 0.70m, leather sandals, a pair of leather shoes, a cobra-shaped wooden object, and many
pottery shards on the floor.
The floor of Room 2 was at the same horizontal level as that of Room 1, but, on the other hand,the base of the walls was about 1.5m deeper than that. The southern wall was a continuation of thestructure which was excavated in the 2002 and 2003 seasons (the 02–03C room). The base of thesouthern wall of the 02–03C room was set on the bedrock directly and was 1.8m in depth from thehorizontal level of the floor of Room 2. It is possible that these two rooms, the 02–03C room andRoom2, were the first and second floors of the same house, however, there was no entrance or steps
connecting them.
The leather workshop was situated in Area 02–04, 07D just south of the huge east-west wall
(EW wall). The EW wall formed the boundary between the upper and the lower parts of the slope,and measured 2.3m in height, 1.5m in thickness and 23.0m in total existing length. In the 2002–
2004 seasons, we confirmed the western edge of the leather workshop.
There were accumulated layers consisting of debris, animal hair, vegetable remains andhardened floor. Each layer was 1–3cm in thickness, and the total thickness of the layers was about8

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

40–50cm. The vegetable remains were seeds and seed hulls, which were from the tree ‘sont’’, ascalled by local residents. This tree is in the pea family and a genus of Acacia, named ‘Egyptian
Mimosa’ or ‘Suntwood’ in English, and it is one of the many varieties of ‘Acacia nilotica (L.) Del.’ bythe botanical name. Suntwood is rich in tannin used for the process of vegetable tanning. In
addition, in previous investigations we found a thick accumulation of animal hair and a lump oflime used as an animal hair remover in the workshop.
A large quantity of leather products, especially sandals, shoes, and parts were excavated in eachseason. It was revealed that the raw material for these products was goatskin. Since the 2002
season, more than forty whole or nearly whole sandals and shoes, and hundreds of fragmentary
products were found.
The archaeological remains indicate that the leather workshop might have served twofunctions, a tannery and a sewing factory for leather products.
In this season, we confirmed the eastern edge of the leather workshop with a north-south wall,measuring 2.8m in length, placed 2.5m away from the edge of the above mentioned earthen bank.
The area of the leather workshop measured 17.5m east-west and 6.5m north-south. The southernedge of the workshop might have extended to the south, however, it unfortunately could not be
confirmed. There was an east-west wall measuring 1.2m in length, which made a right angle with
the north-south wall at the eastern edge of the leather workshop. We divided the workshop into
two parts, temporarily named P5 and P7. P5 was the northern part and P7 was the southern part of
the area excavated in this season. Areas P1–P4 were already uncovered in the 2003 season.
P5 was a trapezoidal form measuring 2.3m north-south × 3.3m east-west. Beneath upper layerof soil, there was a layer containing a large quantity of leather products, three completed sandals
and many fragmentary leather pieces.
P7 measured 2.2m north-south × 1.1m east-west. It was probable that the entrance was cut
through the north-south wall at the eastern edge of the workshop, 0.5m in width. It seemed that thesoil of P7 was made a blackish color on account of the seeds and seed hulls of the suntwood. There
are a large amount of vegetable remains and some fragmentary leather products, and moreover,there was an iron tool, measuring 0.0cm in length, which looked like an awl with a pointed end.
Judging from the relationship between the layers, the leather workshop belongs to the latest
phase among the buildings detected in the whole trench investigated since 2002, and dates from theend of the TIP or the beginning of the LP. In this season, we stopped excavation at the top of alayer which was equal to the latest phase of the leather workshop. It is necessary to investigate thesequence of the accumulated layers carefully to study the process and period of use for a tannery
and a sewing factory of leather products. Excavation work in the future seasons will give us answers.
In this season, two burials were found, Tomb 1 in Areas 07E and Tomb 2 in 07F. Tomb 1
measured 0.70m in length and 0.35cm in width, with head pointing westwards. It contained themummified body of a child, possibly a boy, 3 years old, covered with a cloth. No funerary gift was
discovered.
Tomb 2 contained a small rectangular wooden coffin, measuring 1.40m in length and 0.29m in
maximum width, with head pointing westwards. All except the bottom plank of the coffin was
decayed. There was the mummified remains of a child, possibly a boy, 8–10 years old, covered witha cloth. An important point to emphasize is that the mummy remained intact and a pair of leather
shoes of suitable size for his age was placed under the head.

(Hanasaka)
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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. 7 Finds from the South Area.
Nos. 1–8: Wooden Objects; No. 9: Iron Object; Nos. 10–14: Stone Objects; Nos. 15, 16, 42: Clay Objects;
Nos. 17–25 and 43: Baked Clay Objects; Nos. 26–41: Amulets; Nos. 44–46: Cowries; Nos. 47–49: Leather
Sandals; Nos. 50–54: Leather Shoes.

Finds from the South Area (Fig. 7)   Wooden Objects (Nos. 1–8)

No. 1: Cobra-shaped

wooden object with a feather ornament on the top and a projection at the bottom, attendant onsome product, Area 07C (Room 2), l. 29.2 × w. 4.7 × t. 3.3cm. No. 2: Unidentified wooden object,with a sawtooth edge, Area 07C (Room 1), l. 22.0 × w. 3.2 × t. 1.2cm. No. 3: Wooden hoe, a part ofthe mr-type hoe, Area 07C, l. 35.3 × w. 14.0 × t. 2.2cm. No. 4: Unidentified wooden object, possibly
a handle for a basket, Area 07C (Room 1), l. 15.6 × h. 4.6cm. No. 5: Wooden spindle whorl, Area
07C (Room 2), d. 5.4 × h. 2.1cm. No. 6: Wooden spindle whorl with a shaft, Area 07B, l. 12.1 ×
d. 4.9 × h. 1.9. No. 7: Unidentified wooden stick-shaped object, a coiled thread around the stick,
Area 07C (Room 1), l. 31.4 × d. 0.8cm. No. 8: Wooden peg, Area 07C, l. 19.6 × d. 2.5cm.
Iron Object (No. 9)   No. 9: Iron small tool, possibly an awl for piercing holes, Area 07D(P7), l. 10.8 × w. 0.8 × t. 0.4cm.
Stone Objects (Nos. 10–14)   No. 10: Flint sickle blade, bitumen adhered, Area 07B, l. 6.92 ×
w. 3.49 × t. 1.13cm. No. 11: Flint sickle blade, Area 07E, l. 5.72 × w. 1.73 × t. 0.59cm. No. 12:
Flint sickle blade, Area 07E, l. 6.24 × w. 1.30 × t. 0.63cm. No. 13: Flint sickle blade, Area 07C,
l. 2.68 × w. 1.21 × t. 0.29cm.

No. 14: Flint sickle blade, bitumen adhered, Area 07E, l. 5.17 ×

w. 1.96 × t. 0.74cm.
Clay Objects (Nos. 15, 16, 42)   No. 15: Clay lid, with eight stamps, unfired, Area 07C,
d. 4.7 × h. 2.1cm.

No. 16: Clay lid, with three stamps, unfired, Area 07C (Room 2), d. 8.8 ×

h. 2.7cm. No. 42: Clay lid, with ten stamps, an impression of cloth left at the bottom, unfired, Area
07C (Room 2), d. 10.2 × h. 4.5cm.
10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

Baked Clay Objects (Nos. 17–25, 43)   No. 17: Pottery disc, possibly a weight, Area 07C(Room 1), d. 3.2 × t. 0.7cm.

No. 18: Earthen weight, a pulley-shaped with a groove running

vertically, fired, Area 07C (Room 2), l. 6.7 × w. 4.8 × t. 2.1cm. No. 19: Earthen weight with a hole,
fired, Area 07C (Room 1), l. 3.4 × w. 1.6cm. No. 20: Unidentified earthen object with a hole, fired,
Area 07E, d. 3.8 × t. 2.8cm. No. 21: Cobra figurine, Area 07C, h. 13.0 × w. 5.2cm. No. 22: Cobra
figurine, Area 07C, h. 10.2 × w. 5.7cm.

No. 23: Cobra figurine, Area 07C (Room 2),

h. 5.6 × w. 4.3cm. There were 48 cobra figurines found from the South Area in this season. No. 24:
Human figurine, with two naval-like projections and with a projection on the back, Area 07C,
h. 8.2 × w. 4.4cm.

No. 25:Human

figurine,withanaval-likeprojection,

Area

07B,

h. 5.8 × w. 4.4cm. There were 14 human figurines of these type found from the South Area in thisseason. No. 43: Burnished round object, possibly a gaming piece, Area 07C, d. 1.88 × h. 1.57cm.
Amulets (Nos. 26–41) No. 26: Fragment faience Bes figurine, Area 07F, h. 2.87 × w. 1.59cm.
No. 27: Faience Baboon figurine, Area 07C (Room 1), h. 1.71 × w. 0.93 × t. 0.70cm.
Faience Bes figurine, Area 07C (Room 1), h. 1.68 × w. 0.81 × t. 0.38cm.

No. 28:

No. 29: Faience

unidentified amulet, shape of a fist on a hexagonal prism, Area 07E, h. 1.61 × w. 0.78cm. No. 30:
Fragment faience Udjat-eye, Area 07C (Room 1), l. 0.89 × h. 0.75 × t. 0.36cm.

No. 31: Faience

unidentified amulet with geometrical decoration, Area 07C (Room 1), h. 2.21 × w. 0.92 × t. 0.77cm.
No. 32: Glass Taweret, holding with knife, cobalt blue glass, Area surface, h. 2.35 × w. 0.99cm.
No. 33: Faience scaraboid seal, with a hieroglyph read as ‘‘’Imn-RC’’, Area 07F, l. 1.43 × w. 1.00 ×
h. 0.51cm. No. 34: Faience scarab, with a hieroglyph read as ‘‘’Imn-RC’’ and nb-signs, Area 07E,
l. 1.25 × w. 0.94 × h. 0.65cm.

No. 35: Faience scarab, with engraving a s3-sign and a h3-sign‘protection beheind?’, Area 07D, l. 1.59 × w. 1.10 × h. 0.67cm. No. 36: Fragment faience scarab,with engraving a human or god and uraeus-sign, Area 07D, l. 2.25 × w. 0.91 × h. 0.97cm. No. 37:
Fragment faience scarab, with unidentified sign, Area 07F, l. 1.29 × w. 0.57 × h. 0.66cm. No. 38:
Faience scarab, engraving crossing wings?, Area 07D, l. 0.99 × w. 0.70 × h. 0.41cm. No. 39: Faiencescarab, with engraving a snb-sign, Area 07F, l. 0.77 × w. 0.66 × h. 0.51cm. No. 40: Glass scarab,with a latticework decoration, cobalt blue glass, Area 07F, l. 0.93 × w. 0.65 × h. 0.53cm. No. 41:
Fragment faience ring, with a hieroglyph read as ‘‘’Imn’’ and a nb-sign, Area 07F, bezel l. 0.94
× w. 0.86cm.
Cowries (Nos. 44–46)

No. 44: Cowrie bead, l. 1.78 × w. 1.25 × t. 0.69cm.

No. 45: Cowriebeads, Area 07C (Room 1), l. 1.80 × w. 1.31 × t. 0.66cm, l. 1.79 × w. 1.30 × t. 0.66cm, l. 1.49 ×
w. 0.72 × t. 0.49cm. No. 46: Cowrie beads: Area 07C (Room 2), l. 1.75 × w. 1.30 × t. 0.67cm, l. 1.86
× w. 1.31 × h. 0.69cm. There were 48 cowries found from the South Area in this season.
Leather objects (Nos. 47–54) No. 47: Leather sandal, left foot, single sole, with red and green
colored toe and ankle thongs, Area 07C, l. 23.4cm × w. 10.4cm. No. 48: Leather sandal, right foot,‘eared’ cutting pattern layered soles, filled with animal hair inside, Area 07C (Room 2),
l. 24.1 × w. 8.5cm. No. 49: Leather sandal, right foot, ‘eared’ cutting pattern layered soles, with toe
and ankle thongs, Area 07E, l. 23.6 × w. 9.8cm. No. 50: Leather shoe, right foot, ‘eared’ cutting
pattern layered soles, lost most part of upper part, Area 07C (Room 2), l. 29.0 × w. 12.9cm. Nos. 51
and 52: A pair of leather shoes, ‘eared’ cutting pattern layered soles, lost most part of upper part,
Area 07C (Room 2), left foot l. 26.3cm × w. 12.5cm, right foot l. 25.4 × w. 12.0cm. Nos. 53 and 54:
A pair of leather shoes, ‘ears’ cut from layered soles were lengthened and were utilized to stiffen thesides of the slit-oval upper, Area 07E (under the head of mummified remains of Tomb 2), left foot11

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 Tombs confirmed in 2007.

Fig. 9 Tombs excavated in 2007.
Upper: General View, Tomb 9, T11; Middle: T12, T17, T18; Lower: T23 (elevation and plan), T24 (elevation).

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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

Upper: T24 (plan), T25, T26; Middle: T36 and 37 (elevation), T36 and 37 (plan), T38 (elevation);
Lower: T38 (plan), T42 (elevation and plan).

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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. 10 Tombs in the West Area.
No. 1: General View from the south; No. 2: Tomb 17; Nos. 3, 4: T23; Nos. 5, 6: T24, No. 7: T36, No. 8: T38,
No. 9: T42.

l. 20.1 × w. 8.5cm, right foot l. 19.7 × w. 8.2cm.

(Hanasaka)West Area (Cover; Fig. 3, 8–11)   The west necropolis located on a narrow shelf around andtoward the south of a rock-cut mastaba belonging to the end of Old Kingdom Period (the OK
Period). Tombs are supposed to have been cut in the same period as the mastaba, however almost
all of them were reused for burial in the TIP. In this season, we extended our investigation area toapproximately 50 meters south from the last season’s in order to confirm the distribution of tombs,
and excavated shaft tombs (Nos. 9, 11, 12, 17, 25, 26) and tomb chapels (Nos. 18, 23, 24, 36, 37, 38,
42). The tomb chapels, with entrances open to the west, cut the west side slope of the shelf on whichshaft tombs are in a north-south line.
No. 9 is a shaft tomb. A female senior with her head to the west in a wooden coffin was buried
in an inclined position partly in and partly out of a small pseudomorphic chamber. The coffin wasalmost completely decayed except for the bottom which forms an anthropoid shape measuring
158 × 40cm. No. 11 is a shaft tomb without a chamber. No. 12 is a large shaft tomb. A male seniorcontained in an almost completely decayed wooden coffin with a carved head wearing an atef hood14

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

(Scale: cm)

Table 1 Shaft Tombs
Size of Shaft

No. 9

No. 11

No. 12

No. 17

No. 25

No. 2690 × 90 × d. 170

91 × 93 × d. 165

250 × 94 × d. 195

86 × 88 × d. 190

112 × 116 × d. 290

124 × 124 × d. 256

east

west

west

east

130 × 57 × d. 82

220 × 100 × d. 116

224 × 96 × d. 90

110 × 50 × d. 74

Direction of Chamber
Size of Chamber(Scale: cm)

Table 2 Tomb Chapels
No. 18

No. 23

No. 24

No. 36

No. 37

No. 38

No. 42

255 × 155 × d. 105(the fore chamber)
265 × 158 × d. 123

224 × 120 × d. 90

140 × 104 × d. 90

220 × 140 × d. 96

230 × 110 × d. 100

Size of Chamber
267 × 175 × d. 150(the rear chamber)
156×68×d.80

was detected here. Some slender jars offered to the dead date from the 8th–7th century B.C.
No. 17 is a shaft tomb. Because its burial chamber is close to the chamber of the neighboring tomb
No. 19, the wall separating them is very thin, a fact which has contributed to its partial destruction.
Many timbers were contained in the upper layer of debris in the shaft, while various objects
including crocodile-shaped clay figurines dating from the TIP were unearthed from the lower layer.
No. 18 is a tomb chapel. A shallow shaft (84 × 70 × d. 46cm) is on the northern side of apassage connecting the burial chamber, while a thick accumulation of animal bones, mainly of younggoats, was detected on a platform on the southern side. These bones seem to have been offered tothe dead. In a chamber, an anthropoid wooden coffin in which a mummified male senior laid withhead to the south is fixed by clay between the west wall of the chamber and the coffin. The coffinmeasuring 226 × 76cm is seriously damaged but part of the head formed by colored plaster ispreserved in better condition than the rest of the figure. Furthermore, three large and small sizedears made of plaster were found around the coffin. That shows that not only a coffin but also aplank cover was once there.
No. 23 is a tomb chapel in which has two shafts. The north shaft (90 × 90 × d. 262cm) has alarge chamber (255 × 155 × d. 105cm) to the west. Approximately 25 dispersed human bones
including those of 10 infants in addition to a small piece of a wooden coffin with gold leaf on it, aplaster mask and a few Coptic lamp shards were discovered in the upper layer of debris reaching
the height of the chamber ceiling. Among them a senior male’s perforated skull was found and is
the third instance in the site. A small round hole (7 × 10mm) was opened carefully on the left sideof the occipital region of the skull. These many bones were probably gathered from tombs of the
TIP and abandoned collectively in the Coptic period. The south shaft (80 × 47 × d. 220cm) also
includes a burial chamber (126 × 92 × d. 92cm) to the west.
dispersed from the upper layer of debris in the shaft.

Female adult bones were found

No trace ofinterment remains in the chamber.
No. 24 is a tomb chapel consisting of two chambers connected withan inclined passage. No trace of a coffin remained, but grave goods areabundant. Especially, this tomb contained fine bronze objects. No. 25
and No. 26 located side by side are both shaft tombs and also have no
trace of a coffin in their chambers. They are similar in having amulets offaience and many beads.

Fig. 11 Perforated skull
excavated at Tomb 23.

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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. 12 Finds from the West Area.
Nos. 1–5: Tomb 9; Nos. 6–10: T11; No. 12: T12; Nos. 11, 13–29: T17;
Nos. 30–43: T18; Nos. 44–50: T23; Nos. 51–64: T24; Nos. 65–67: T25;
Nos. 68–81: T26; Nos. 82–84: T36; Nos. 85–87: T37; Nos. 88–90: T38;
No. 91:T42.

Nos. 36–38 and 42 are tomb chapels. No. 36 is contiguous to No. 37, and No. 38 is only 1.8m
away from them. No. 42 is located 10m to the south of No. 38. A narrow way continues to thenorth in front of these four chapels, and is broken off 10m north of No. 36 because of a landslide.
Though the chapels of Nos. 36–38 have no trace of interment on the floor coated with mud, objects
date from the TIP remain in the each chapel. A heel of a leather sandal found in No. 37 may havebeen produced at the leather workshop excavated in the South Area.
No. 42 was reused for burial in the Coptic Period. Two adjacent hewn stones, the outer sides ofwhich were coated with gypsum, are laid at the entrance of the passage in front of the chamber. A
chapel was possibly extended for the last interment, because the floor is rather large comparing withthe ceiling and the east line of the floor gently curves toward the entrance to the passage unlike theceiling which is an ordinary rectangle. A mummy lying with the head to the north surrounded by
the Coptic pottery shards and wooden pieces remains along the east wall of the chapel.
mummy was burnt after interment.

The(Tsujimura)Finds from the West area (Fig. 12, 13)   Shafts tombs and tomb chapels excavated in thisseason have no remains belonging to the OK Period. Coptic remains such as lamp shards were
found, however almost all remains date from the TIP. Considering unearthed pottery, the reuse of
tombs is thought to have become active at the end of the TIP. Amulets and beads were discovered
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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

from almost all tombs regardless of type.
Similarly, human and cobra figurines andchess-like pieces of a game have been found intombs so far excavated regardless the size andthe type of the tomb. Only crocodile-shaped
figurines have been restricted to shaft tombs.
A bird-shaped figurine (No. 6)
Tomb

11,

wood,

intact,No. 6:

l. 15.6 × w. 4.6 ×

h. 5.3cm, hand-modeled. It appears to be a
dove.

Fig. 13 Pottery excavated from the West Area.
No. 1: Tomb 12; No. 2: T24; No. 3: T26.

Crocodile-shaped figurines (Nos. 8, 13–18)
No. 8: Tomb 9, clay, l. 5.7 × w. 1.5cm. No. 13:

l. 8.6 × w. 3.7cm. No. 14: Tomb 17, clay, l. 12.7 × w. 3.6. No. 15: Tomb 17, clay, l. 8.9 × w. 2.6cm.
No. 16: Tomb 17, clay, l. 10.1 × w. 3.2cm.

No. 17: Tomb 17, clay, l. 10.0 × w. 2.8.

No. 18:l. 11.6 × w. 3.4cm.
Chess-like pieces of a game (Nos. 4, 40, 62, 71, 83)   No. 4: Tomb 9, max.
diam.1.8 × h. 1.4cm.

No. 40: Tomb 17, max.

diam.4.0 × h. 2.3cm.

No. 62: Tomb 24, max.

diam.2.5 × h. 1.7cm.

No. 71: Tomb 26, max.

diam.3.8 × h. 2.0cm.

No. 83: Tomb 36, max.

diam.4.1 × h. 2.7cm.
Metal Objects (Nos. 51–53)   No. 51: Tomb 24, figurine of Thoth, bronze, intact, l. 6.4
× w. 1.9 × h. 8.3cm. A scribe worships in front of the god Thoth. There is a loop on Thoth’sback used to hanging the figure.

No. 52: Tomb 24, figurine of Osiris, bronze, intact,l. 3.8 × w. 1.6cm. Two linked Osiris figurines and an attachment loop on its back. No. 53: Tomb 24,
figurine of Osiris, bronze, l. 3.7 × w. 1.6cm.
Horseman (No. 60)   Tomb 24, terracotta, hand-modeled, present size w. 5.2 × h. 6.4cm.
Other finds are as follows:

Tomb 9: No. 1: Faience, h. 1.51 × w. 0.71cm.

No. 2: Faience,h. 1.11 × w. 0.52cm. No. 3: Cowrie, h. 1.70 × w. 1.28 × t. 0.50cm. No. 5: Bronze/copper, l. 11.9 ×
d. 0.3cm.
Tomb 11: No. 7: Faience, h. 1.75 × w. 0.70cm. No. 9: Baked clay, l. 4.13 × d. 2.17cm. No. 10:
Clay, l. 3.32 × d. 3.39cm.
Tomb 12: No. 12: Baked clay, 3.01 × 2.53 × 1.67cm.
Tomb 17: No. 11: Wood, l. 30.2 × w. 4.7 × t. 1.6cm. No. 19: Baked clay, l. 7.18 × w. 6.13cm.
No. 20: Clay, l. 3.49 × d. 1.53cm. No. 21: Baked clay, d. 3.36 × t. 1.01cm. No. 22: l. 59.7 × w. 25.5
× t. 10.8cm. No. 23: Wood, l. 45.3 × w. 4.5cm. No. 24: Wood, l. 3.74 × h. 3.84cm. No. 25: Wood,l. 14.5 × w. 3.2cm. No. 26: Cowrie, l. 1.89 × w. 1.43 × t. 0.74cm. No. 27: Faience, l. 0.78 × w. 0.56
× t. 0.41cm. No. 28: l. 0.81 × w. 0.56 × t. 0.46cm. No. 29: Faience, l. 2.43 × w. 1.76 × h. 1.01cm.
Tomb 18: No. 30: Faience, l. 0.77 × w. 0.61 × t. 0.39cm. No. 31: Faience, l. 1.13 × w. 0.46 ×
t. 0.30cm. No. 38: Gypsum, l. 6.77 × w. 3.88cm. No. 39: Baked clay, l. 3.66 × w. 5.52cm. No. 41:
Bronze/copper, l. 3.73cm; l. 1.88 × d. 0.40cm. No. 42: Bronze/copper, l. 4.45 × w. 1.92cm. No. 43:
Bone, l. 5.71 × w. 0.75cm.
Tomb 23: No. 44: Faience, l. 2.62 × w. 1.41cm. No. 45: Faience, l. 1.86 × w. 0.80 × t. 0.51cm.
No. 46: l. 1.39 × w. 0.66cm.

No. 47: Bronze/copper, 1.43 × 1.19cm.

No. 48: Bronze/copper,l. 2.57 × w. 1.12cm. No. 50: Gypsum, l. 10.3 × w. 7.8cm.
17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

Tomb 24: No. 54: Faience, l. 1.33 × w. 0.70cm.

No. 55: Bronze/copper, l. 2.19cm; l. 4.6cm.

No. 56: Bronze/copper, l. 1.64 × w. 0.62cm. No. 57: Cowrie, l. 1.56 × w. 1.07 × t. 0.49cm. No. 58:
Cowrie, l. 1.93 × t. 1.39 × t. 0.64cm. No. 59: Cowrie, l. 1.64 × w. 1.18 × t. 0.56cm. No. 61: Baked
clay, l. 5.60 × w. 4.74 × h. 3.14cm. No. 62: Stone, l. 9.61 × w. 4.86 × t. 3.62cm. No. 64: Stone,l. 5.80 × w. 4.82 × t. 0.80cm.
Tomb 25: No. 65: Stone, l. 1.20 × w. 0.62cm. No. 66: Bone, l. 5.58 × d. 0.63cm. No. 67: Clay,l. 3.63 × d. 4.10cm.
Tomb 26: No. 68: Faience, l. 1.01 × h. 0.77cm. No. 69: Faience, l. 0.93 × h. 0.63 × t. 0.38cm.
No. 70: Bone, h. 1.15 × w. 0.81 × t. 0.28cm. No. 72: Clay, l. 3.06 × d. 3.25cm; l. 2.17 × w. 2.43cm.
No. 73: Baked clay, l. 10.5 × w. 7.2cm. No. 74: Baked clay, l. 5.48 × w. 5.58cm. No. 75: Baked clay,l. 6.24 × w. 6.42 × h. 6.35cm. No. 76: Baked clay, w. 4.60 × h. 6.83cm. No. 77: Clay, 6.93 × 4.78 ×
t. 2.36cm.

No. 78: Clay, d. 4.01 × h. 2.75cm; Baked clay: d. 2.70 × h. 0.95cm.

No. 79: Clay,d. 4.12 × h. 3.76cm. No. 80: Stone, l. 6.61 × w. 5.78 × h. 4.31cm. No. 81: Bone, l. 3.33 × w. 0.87
× t. 0.51cm.
Tomb 36: No. 82: Wood, l. 49.3cm. No. 84: Bronze/copper, h. 1.22 × w. 0.55cm.
Tomb 37: No. 85: Leather, 5.57 × 5.24cm. No. 86: Faience, l. 0.86 × w. 0.70cm. No. 87: Baked
clay, l. 5.51 × w. 4.24 × h. 3.93cm.
Tomb 38: No. 88: l. 6.88 × w. 3.93cm. No. 89: Baked clay, d. 2.92 × t. 0.74cm. No. 90: Lead,l. 2.01 × w. 2.06 × t. 0.66; l. 1.65 × w. 1.29 × t. 0.48cm.
Tomb 42: No. 91: d. 3.43 × t. 0.58cm.
Pottery (Fig. 13 Nos. 1–3)   No. 1: Tomb 12, slender jar, intact, rim diam.4.3 × h. 17.8cm.
No. 2: Tomb 24, two-handled flask, intact, rim diam.2.0 × h. 11.3cm. No. 3: Tomb 26, ovoid jar
with biconvex neck, intact, rim diam.4.1 × h. 20.8cm.

(Tsujimura)

3 Quarry
Architectural Survey on the Quarry Faces in Zāwiyat al-Sulţān (Figs. 14, 15)   Zāwiyat al-Sulţān exists
some 12 km south of Akoris and consists of an undulating plateau of limestone dissected by atributary of Wadi Sheikh Yasin (Fig. 14). In the summer of 2007, we undertook limited excavations
within the quarry with the specific purpose of clearing up some doubtable points of fact, including
the inside of the cave (see Fig. 15), of which the top has been identified in 2006.
Normally a soft-stone block was defined at the quarry face by cutting separation trenches along
the back and sides with a pick, and split from the bedrock, using wedges, or by applying levers to acontinuous groove. Here, however, quarrymen actually begun to cut a horizontal trench far below
the high wall (Fig. 14 upper), we should not dismiss the possibility that stone-production was goingon simultaneously on the top of that high wall.
The main purpose of the excavation is to reconstruct the process of making horizontal caves
and to clarify their function, which occur at almost the same level through the whole quarry area.
And in this season the graffiti and the lines in red, which has been drawn with irregular spacing on
the quarry faces and the ceiling of the cave, were carefully recorded and labeled (Fig. 15 lower
right), and finally we intend to elucidate their meanings. Removing the deposits covering thequarry floors was carried out, since any structural details which might further clarify the relationshipbetween the quarry faces and the surface of the bedrock are hidden by the stone debris and later18

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. 14 South Quarry.
Left: Zāwiyat al-Sulţān and Akoris;
Upper: Geographical map of Zāwiyat al-Sulţān.

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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. 15 Detail of the South Quarry.
Upper left: Excavated area A; Upper right: Narrow
strip of holes (trapezoidal in section); Middle left:
Excavated area B; Middle right: A stone block inthe surveyed area of 2003; Lower left: Inside of
the cave in area A; Lower right: Red lines andchisel marks on the ceiling of the cave.

deposits (Fig. 14 upper).
Removing of deposits in two areas (A and B in Fig. 14 upper) revealed clear evidence of narrow
strip of holes (trapezoidal in section) that had been cut with a point at the lower end of the wall(Fig. 15 upper left and right). But insufficient for dating evidence in removed deposits such as
datable vessels; it was clear, however, that the cave is confirmed by the fact that on its ceiling we canobserve graffiti readable as Year 38 and 39 and datable to the period of Ptolemy II or VIII in area A.
Dumped over a large part of the removed area in the cave (Fig. 15), directly on top of the20

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

quarry face, of which uneven surface at regular intervals helped ensure that stone blocks have been
extracted from this bed rock, was a deposit 5–10cm thick of sand and this layer is covered by adeposit 10–30cm thick of sand including a number of small and scattered piece of a plant, which has
been called “hulf ” by the natives. It is possible to see this late unknown activity after the terminationof quarrying in the Ptolemaic period in the complex sequence of activities in this area.
It is still difficult to know how deliberate the whole process of the extraction was in detail, but
the stage of making the horizontal cave is indeed clear (Fig. 15 upper right): two holes in the courseof digging on the exposed vertical face has been guided by chiseled line on the top between the fileof hollows to scramble up the wall and natural fissure (working area). First the surface had been
trimmed to flatten with a pointed chisel and graffiti and a horizontal line have been drawn, andthen the those holes, which are overlapping, have been cut later.
Inside of the cave, cleaving marks still remain around the innermost recess of the cave (Fig. 15
lower left) and masons could be more comfortable in working on uneven but roughly smoothed
quarry floor. That an small stone block (measuring approx. 30cm by 60cm, 50cm in height), thecleaving marks of which correspond exactly with a red line on the ceiling above (lines in Fig. 15
lower left), was deliberately extracted and that its exact location position could be traceable would
have been a very natural solution to the problem with production control and quality assurance.
In area B (Fig. 15 middle left), unfortunately, no direct comparison of the lines in red on thequarry face with the surface of the bedrock seems to be possible since the whole area is covered only
by a deposit 30cm thick of sand lightly discolored, and there no stone debris. And also a small stone
block, which is abandoned in the half way of extracting, contains untrimmed wedge holes in shapeof oval that could belong to the later period. The fact that the stone blocks have been extracted
from quarry floor independently of a vertical separation trench running along the quarry face and a
deeper trench crossing in right angle with it does encourage us to accept different periods ofproduction of stone blocks. A stone block would have benefited from having a similar untrimmed
wedge holes in a quarry datable to the late Roman period (Surveyed area in Fig. 14 left, and Fig. 15
middle right) in order that comparisons regarding the date and technique could be made moreeasily. Generally speaking, as in soft-stone working, the separation trenches had to be carried
deeper than the intended cleavage level. However this area does not follow this principle.

(Hori)

Greek and Demotic graffiti in Zāwiyat al-Sulţān (Fig. 16)   Our research of this season
concentrated on the survey of Greek and demotic graffiti found on the wall and the ceilings ofhorizontal galleries inside the valley (Fig. 16 upper left). The total of 274 Greek and demotic
graffiti, some of which had already been noted in the previous seasons, were examined andphotographed. Surveyed areas indicated by the alphabet and the numbers of graffiti we surveyed
are as follows:
Eastern side from north to south: E (36), F (41), G (16), H (27), I (49); Western side: R (43),S (18); Northern side: Q (27), U (17).
Newly surveyed graffiti reveal more various patterns of writing than those previously known.
Many demotic graffiti carrying not only months but also regnal year and day are confirmed, latter
two of which have been attested only in Greek. Comparison of such demotic graffiti with Greek
counterparts reveals that the Ptolemaic financial calendar, which started seven months earlier (fromMecheir) than the Egyptian calendar, was used for the Greek texts, while the Egyptian calendar wasused for the demotic texts. An example of such pair (Fig. 16 upper right) is F7 (demotic, Fig. 16
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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. 16 Greek and Demotic Graffiti
Upper left: Greek and Demotic; Upper right: Greek and Demotic (F7 and F9);
Lower left: Demotic (F7); Lower right: Greek (F9).

lower left) and F9 (Greek, Fig. 16 lower right). The date (the first line) of F7 reads ‘Year 37, thesecond month of prt (Winter), 29th day’, that of F9 ‘Year 38, Mecheir, 29th day’. Considering thetwo graffiti being juxtaposed, the same month and day being recorded in the two, and generalpractice in recording the data in bilingual administrative documents in the early Ptolemaic period,
they doubtlessly indicated the same date and it is clear that the different calendars were deliberately
employed for the different languages, rather than that the Greek version indicated exactly one year
later. This observation may shed new light on the function of graffiti in administrating the mining
activities.
Seemingly indication of the duration of quarrying, which has been attested only on demotic
graffiti, are now appeared on Greek graffiti in Section R. Rather than recording successive months
like in demotic ones, prepositions such as ‘apo (from)’ or ‘eis (to)’ are used for the Greek graffiti. R
30 and probably R 33 read ‘Pauni, from Hathyr’, R 19 ‘Mecheir to Choiak’.
On the chronology of graffiti, the 39th regnal year is newly attested on some graffiti at the
middle terrace of the eastern and northern sides of the valley (F3, G2, U7, U9). Although bothPtolemy II and VIII are still the candidates to determine under whose reign the quarry was
operated, Ptolemy II is definitely favoured due to the absence of the 40th (and later) year and theappearance of the third regnal year of another (most probably next) king on neighboring graffiti.
(Suto and Takahashi)

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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

Members in 2007
Director: Kawanishi, H. University of Tsukuba;
Vice Director: Tsujumura, S. Kokushikan University;
Members: Endo, T. Kokushikan University; Uchida, S. Meirin college; Suto, Y., Takahashi, R. andOkawahira, A. Nagoya University; Hori, Y., Kida, M., and Oiso, Y. Kyushu University; Endo, H.
Tokai University; Takahashi, T. Oita Prefectural Office; Mitobe, H. Yamagata Prefectural Office;Miyahira, R. Tokyo Lifelong Learning and Culture Foundation; Akahane, T., Saitoh, M. andHanasaka T. University of Tsukuba;
Site Inspector: Ahmad El-Leathy; Hosam Samir
Supporting Persons and Organizations
Dr. Zahi Hawas; Dr. Magdy el Ghandour; Mohamoud, H.; Samil, A.; Adel, H.; Dr, Seif el dim,
Mervat; Iwaki, N. C.E.O. and President, E&M; Murata, Y. medical Dr.; JSPS Research Station Cairo;
Kajima Corporation; Kawatoko, M. Middle Eastern Culture Center in Japan; Shiojiri, K. and
Yamada, S. University of Tskuba; Nishimoto, S. Waseda University; Yamahana, K. Tokai University;
Ozawa, A.; Spencer, V.; Bahi Travel.
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