diff --git a/content/article/honegger.md b/content/article/honegger.md index 739740e..1561fd5 100644 --- a/content/article/honegger.md +++ b/content/article/honegger.md @@ -128,6 +128,9 @@ systematically endowed with a stick, an ornament, and sometimes particular objects or tools such as potter\'s tools, the male tombs are systematically endowed with a bow.[^10] +![Graves of an archer and of a woman with a stick of the Kerma ancien II Phase (2300-2100 BC), found in Sector 23 of the Easter Cemetery of Kerma. The grave of the archer contained two individuals: a young man in the central position and a woman placed by his side. A dog, a bow, an ostrich feathers fan, and a bronze mirror accompanied the young man. The grave with a wooden stick contained a woman aged 20-29 years. Both graves were partially plundered and a part of the skeletons is here reconstructed.](../static/images/honegger/Fig4.jpg "Graves of an archer and of a woman with a stick of the Kerma ancien II Phase (2300-2100 BC), found in Sector 23 of the Easter Cemetery of Kerma. The grave of the archer contained two individuals: a young man in the central position and a woman placed by his side. A dog, a bow, an ostrich feathers fan, and a bronze mirror accompanied the young man. The grave with a wooden stick contained a woman aged 20-29 years. Both graves were partially plundered and a part of the skeletons is here reconstructed.") +**~~Figure 4. Graves of an archer and of a woman with a stick of the Kerma ancien II Phase (2300-2100 BC), found in Sector 23 of the Easter Cemetery of Kerma. The grave of the archer contained two individuals: a young man in the central position and a woman placed by his side. A dog, a bow, an ostrich feathers fan, and a bronze mirror accompanied the young man. The grave with a wooden stick contained a woman aged 20-29 years. Both graves were partially plundered and a part of the skeletons is here reconstructed.~~** + During the *Kerma ancien III* phase, the same tendencies identified in the previous phase continued. In the sectors of this period, we noticed that young boys\' graves were also accompanied by bows (Fig. 5). The @@ -156,6 +159,9 @@ rulers, the other tumuli could belong to high status individuals or to free men and women.[^12] In certain instances, a mud-brick chapel was erected on the west side of the tumulus (Fig. 6).[^13] +![Middle Kerma grave with bucrania deposited south of the tumuli and a mud-brick chapel located to the west (ca. 1900 BC).](../static/images/honegger/Fig6.jpg "Middle Kerma grave with bucrania deposited south of the tumuli and a mud-brick chapel located to the west (ca. 1900 BC).") +**~~Figure 6. Middle Kerma grave with bucrania deposited south of the tumuli and a mud-brick chapel located to the west (ca. 1900 BC).~~** + During Classic Kerma, the diameter of the largest graves is between 30 and 90 meters. The three most famous ones were built to a uniform size with tumuli approximately 90 meters in diameter (KIII, IV, @@ -237,6 +243,9 @@ until the end of Middle Kerma.[^27] Let us return to the archers\' graves of the oldest sectors.[^28] Their equipment consists of: +![Plundered grave containing an adult with his leather loincloth and a double bend bow (Kerma ancien II, Sector 23). At the bottom: general view of the grave. At the top: detail of the bow whose length is over 1,5 m.](../static/images/honegger/Fig8.jpg "Plundered grave containing an adult with his leather loincloth and a double bend bow (Kerma ancien II, Sector 23). At the bottom: general view of the grave. At the top: detail of the bow whose length is over 1,5 m.") +**~~Figure 8. Plundered grave containing an adult with his leather loincloth and a double bend bow (Kerma ancien II, Sector 23). At the bottom: general view of the grave. At the top: detail of the bow whose length is over 1,5 m.~~** + \- One or two bows, single or double-curved (Fig. 8). It seems to us that not too much should be made of this distinction, because the double curvature can be achieved by deformation. It does not necessarily @@ -260,6 +269,9 @@ occasionally decorated with a plume of ostrich feathers at its extremity to manufacture the bows, since these had been too severely damaged by termites. +![Plume of ostrich feathers with a string, which was rolled up at the extremity of the bow (Kerma ancien II, Sector 23).](../static/images/honegger/Fig9.jpg "Plume of ostrich feathers with a string, which was rolled up at the extremity of the bow (Kerma ancien II, Sector 23).") +**~~Figure 9. Plume of ostrich feathers with a string, which was rolled up at the extremity of the bow (Kerma ancien II, Sector 23).~~** + \- Reed arrows with a tail and several embedded microliths, are similar to the arrows of Naga-ed-Der in Egypt, dated to the 6th to 12th Dynasty, i.e., a period contemporaneous with Middle Kerma.[^31] The @@ -270,11 +282,17 @@ arrow and the other two at the sides. The arrows would have been inserted in a quiver, but in at least one instance they were placed directly in the archer\'s left hand. +![Middle Kerma quartz and carnelian lunates used as arrowheads (Kerma moyen V, Sector 24).](../static/images/honegger/Fig10.jpg "Middle Kerma quartz and carnelian lunates used as arrowheads (Kerma moyen V, Sector 24).") +**~~Figure 10. Middle Kerma quartz and carnelian lunates used as arrowheads (Kerma moyen V, Sector 24).~~** + \- A goat-skin leather quiver. Its presence in the tombs is not systematic, but we have been able to identify seven more or less complete ones. They are sewn, some wide and rather short, while others are slenderer, like the example in Figure 11. +![Leather quiver 72 cm long with braided leather strap attachment (Kerma moyen I, Sector 31).](../static/images/honegger/Fig11.jpg "Leather quiver 72 cm long with braided leather strap attachment (Kerma moyen I, Sector 31).") +**~~Figure 11. Leather quiver 72 cm long with braided leather strap attachment (Kerma moyen I, Sector 31).~~** + \- A leather archer\'s wrist-guard of a specific model that seems to be typical of the Kerma tradition (Fig. 12). These have been found in a few cases *in situ*, on the left wrist of the deceased (Fig. 13), they are @@ -285,6 +303,13 @@ Dynasty.[^33] This type of wrist-guard is unusual in Egypt and some authors considered it to have come from the north, but it probably belongs to Nubian archers originally attached to the Kerma culture.[^34] +![Leather archer’s wrist-guard (Kerma moyen I, Sector 8).](../static/images/honegger/Fig12.jpg "Leather archer’s wrist-guard (Kerma moyen I, Sector 8).") +**~~Figure 12. Leather archer’s wrist-guard (Kerma moyen I, Sector 8).~~** + +![Intact grave of an 18 years old archer. He wore a necklace with a Red Sea shell pendant, an ostrich feather fan, an archer’s wrist-guard on his left wrist, and a sheepskin loincloth covering his hips and legs. He held a few arrows in his hands and a bow was placed beside him, of which only a few traces were left by termites. At his feet, a sacrificial ram is tied with a rope that goes around the archer's waist several times (Kerma moyen I, Sector 31).](../static/images/honegger/Fig13.jpg "Intact grave of an 18 years old archer. He wore a necklace with a Red Sea shell pendant, an ostrich feather fan, an archer’s wrist-guard on his left wrist, and a sheepskin loincloth covering his hips and legs. He held a few arrows in his hands and a bow was placed beside him, of which only a few traces were left by termites. At his feet, a sacrificial ram is tied with a rope that goes around the archer's waist several times (Kerma moyen I, Sector 31).") +**~~Figure 13. Intact grave of an 18 years old archer. He wore a necklace with a Red Sea shell pendant, an ostrich feather fan, an archer’s wrist-guard on his left wrist, and a sheepskin loincloth covering his hips and legs. He held a few arrows in his hands and a bow was placed beside him, of which only a few traces were left by termites. At his feet, a sacrificial ram is tied with a rope that goes around the archer's waist several times (Kerma moyen I, Sector 31).~~** + + These observations will be the subject of more detailed descriptions in the future, especially the numerous leather objects, which are the subject of a recently started PhD thesis.[^35] Of all the tombs @@ -316,6 +341,16 @@ headdress of the buried, but Bonnet points out the trace of a headband in the tomb of a mummified archer (Fig. 1) that could have served to attach a feather.[^38] +![Shell earrings from male graves (Kerma ancien II, Sector 23). Their diameter is between 2 and 3 cm.](../static/images/honegger/Fig15.jpg "Shell earrings from male graves (Kerma ancien II, Sector 23). Their diameter is between 2 and 3 cm.") +**~~Figure 15. Shell earrings from male graves (Kerma ancien II, Sector 23). Their diameter is between 2 and 3 cm.~~** + +![Sheep-skin loincloth that still has its wool (Kerma ancien I, Sector 27). The bicoloured fur is composed of black and beige spots.](../static/images/honegger/Fig16.jpg "Sheep-skin loincloth that still has its wool (Kerma ancien I, Sector 27). The bicoloured fur is composed of black and beige spots.") +**~~Figure 16. Sheep-skin loincloth that still has its wool (Kerma ancien I, Sector 27). The bicoloured fur is composed of black and beige spots.~~** + +![Scene representing archers on a rock engraving at the 3rd cataract (Wadi Es-Sabu, 3rd or 2nd millennium BC, height of archers about 15 cm). One of them wears a loin-cloth and all have a head dress made of an ostrich feather, a typical Nubian adornment frequently used by the Egyptians when representing their southern neighbours.](../static/images/honegger/Fig17.jpg "Scene representing archers on a rock engraving at the 3rd cataract (Wadi Es-Sabu, 3rd or 2nd millennium BC, height of archers about 15 cm). One of them wears a loin-cloth and all have a head dress made of an ostrich feather, a typical Nubian adornment frequently used by the Egyptians when representing their southern neighbours.") +**~~Figure 17. Scene representing archers on a rock engraving at the 3rd cataract (Wadi Es-Sabu, 3rd or 2nd millennium BC, height of archers about 15 cm). One of them wears a loin-cloth and all have a head dress made of an ostrich feather, a typical Nubian adornment frequently used by the Egyptians when representing their southern neighbours.~~** + + # Evolution of funeral rites and the emergence of a state At Kerma, men and boys of all ages are systematically buried with their @@ -359,6 +394,9 @@ proportional to the dimensions of the grave. Finally, the quantity of Egyptian ceramics gives an idea of the intensity of the exchanges (Fig. 18). +![Competitive lavish funerals are evidenced by the increase of deposits of exotics goods in and next to the grave, ‘sacrificed people’, bucrania, and elaborate funerary pots. The proportions were calculated on the basis of 409 graves excavated between 2008 and 2018 (Honegger 2018b).](../static/images/honegger/Fig18.jpg "Competitive lavish funerals are evidenced by the increase of deposits of exotics goods in and next to the grave, ‘sacrificed people’, bucrania, and elaborate funerary pots. The proportions were calculated on the basis of 409 graves excavated between 2008 and 2018 (Honegger 2018b).") +**~~Figure 18. Competitive lavish funerals are evidenced by the increase of deposits of exotics goods in and next to the grave, ‘sacrificed people’, bucrania, and elaborate funerary pots. The proportions were calculated on the basis of 409 graves excavated between 2008 and 2018 (Honegger 2018b).~~** + During the first phase of the Eastern Cemetery, exchanges with Egypt are already significant, and it is possible that the presence of several C-Group features is evidence of important contacts between Upper and @@ -403,6 +441,9 @@ demographically than natural population growth could allow. Kerma must therefore have been the centre of the kingdom from this period onwards and attracted populations from its kingdom to settle in the region. +![View of the first Kerma royal tomb (Kerma moyen I, 2050-1950 BC). One can see the edge of the burial tumulus made of earth and stones, the post holes of a wooden architectural structure inside the burial pit and more than 1400 bucrania to the south of the tomb. The diameter of the burial pit is about 10 metres.](../static/images/honegger/Fig19.jpg "View of the first Kerma royal tomb (Kerma moyen I, 2050-1950 BC). One can see the edge of the burial tumulus made of earth and stones, the post holes of a wooden architectural structure inside the burial pit and more than 1400 bucrania to the south of the tomb. The diameter of the burial pit is about 10 metres.") +**~~Figure 19. View of the first Kerma royal tomb (Kerma moyen I, 2050-1950 BC). One can see the edge of the burial tumulus made of earth and stones, the post holes of a wooden architectural structure inside the burial pit and more than 1400 bucrania to the south of the tomb. The diameter of the burial pit is about 10 metres.~~** + # Bibliography Bonnet, Charles. 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