Archaeological excavations at Kerma (Sudan)
Preliminary report for 1993-1994 and 1994-1995 campaigns
Contents
- The Pre-Kerma Setlement
- The Seconary Settlement
- The Deposit of Jars
- The Eastern Necropolis
- Chapel K XI
- The Western Necropolis
Two new excavations campaigns led by the SwissArchaeological Mission in Nubia have once again unearthed evidence of considerable interest. Little by little, light has been shed on the importance of the Kingdom of Kerma, whose strength made even the Egyptians fearful. Trough the considerable extent of its remains, the eponymous site is an exhaustible source of information for the better understanding of Sudanese history.
Thanks to a subsidy from the Swiss National Fund forScientific Research and a private donation, the work was undertaken under very favorable conditions. A generous grant was also awarded to us by ExcavationsCommission of the University of Geneva, whose president is Professor Michel Valloggia. These have enabled us to publish the proceedings of the 7th international congress on Nubian studies which was held in Geneva from 3 to 8 September 1991. The editorial work was the responsibility of Mme Nora Ferrero, to whom we offer our very sincere thanks.
The support in the field of Professor Ahmed M. Ali Hakem and Hassan Hussein Idriss, Director General of the Antiquities Service of the National Museum, was most valuable. For many years, a very close collaboration has been maintained with the members of the Antiquities Service, and many of their inspectors have participated in the work of the Mission, under the direction of Salah el-Din Mohamed Ahmed. Mustafa el Scherif joined our latest campaign.
The excavations took place between 7 December 1993 and 31 January 1994, and 7 December 1994 and 31 January 1995. Almost 150 people were involved, of whom around a third were assigned to restoration and protection work under the direction of the rais Gad Abdallah and Saleh Melieh, assisted by Abdelrazek Omer Nouri. A wall of almost 1300 meters was constructed around the main site. After work on the palace and the great roundhouse, a residential district and the remains of seven chapels of the secondary town were "restored". As a result of this restoration work, the impressive view from the top of the difuffa now affords a much better understanding of the urbanization of this vast quarter. The research work was focused on the secondary urban centre, and on the eastern necropolis. Several tombs were excavated in a transition zone between those of the Ancient and Middle Kerma periods (around 2100 BC), and a new analysis of chapel K XI was undertaken. Excavations were continued within the pre-Kerma settlement. The facsimiles of the wall paintings from chapel K XI are perhaps the most spectacular discoveries from the last campaign: they depict aspects of the Kerma environment that are still not well understood, and suggest that the fauna was as much wild as a domestic played a preponderant role.
Once again, we should like to express our gratitude to the members of the Mission, whose competence ensured our success. Béatrice Privati was responsible for studying and drawing the finds, and the survey of the mud brick buildings and the tombs was undertaken by Thomas Kohler, whose patience was severely tested by a deposit of jars comprising several thousands of sherds. Daniel Berti kept the photographic record, and he was also responsible for making the facsimiles of the paintings in chapel K XI, and for the restoration of several leather objects found in the tombs. Marion Berti was our administrator and conservator and she also acted as a draftsperson. The human bone material was studied by Christian Simon and the wild and domestic animal bones by louis Chaix. Their reports are to be found as appendices to this report. Finally in 1995, the prehistorian Matthieu Honegger undertook the study of the pre-Kerma site, and of the lithic material in general. His first observations are also given in an appendix, and have considerable significance for our current and future research.
Several publications relating to different studies of the site have been published during recent years Bonnet,1990.
The Pre-Kerma Settlement
Between 1986 and 1988, a settlement was discovered, which, although related to the "Group A" horizon of Lower Nubia, we prefer to call "pre-Kerma" in view of certain differences in the ceramic assemblage Bonnet,1994. Chronologically, the site lies between the end of the fourth and the beginning of the first part of the third millennium. It was hoped that an experienced prehistorian would undertake the study of this site, and this was achieved in 1995.
Forty six storages were studied, in addition to the 134 previously excavated. One still contained an intact jar, upturned on the bottom of the pit. Part of a long rounded palisade was indicated by series of postholes. The archaeological material was not very abundant, but it added to the existing ceramic assemblage.
When the first level had been cleaned, the remains of an earlier occupation came to light. An alignment of postholes and a hearth may have been related to a layer of sand full of charcoal fragments and marked by traces of lubrification. The presence of this or these layers were found at a depth of 20 or 30 centimeters over a large area. Only a small surface was cleaned, revealing flint flakes, animal bones and two decorated sherds. Clearly, such a stratigraphy constitutes an important find in the study of the protohistory of the region south of the third cataract, and it would be worth enlarging the area of the excavation.
The Secondary Settlement
The origins of the secondary settlement established beyond the walls of the ancient town remain difficult to define. Even though the extensive clearance undertaken during the last season provided a good picture of the remains of Ancient and Middle Kerma, their interpretation remains very difficult. Traces were found of a fortification wall defining the east-west limits, with a return towards the south. The line of the wall was marked by the impressions of parallel arrangements of branches, and by double postholes. At the western extremity, a ditch provided another element in the defensive system. Postholes were found in the slope of the ditch, which indicated a series of rounded palisades in front of a gate. This was kept as an entrance until the end of the Classic Kerma period.
Many circular structures, aligned over a considerable distance, have been found in deposits of the Ancient and Middle Kerma period. They are characterized by powerful foundations, against which are sometimes built rectangular walls. Such foundations are similar to those of grain silos, but this does not exclude other interpretations of their function.
On the other hand, the excavation of the sanctuary of chapel E 1 uncovered several layers which demonstrated its architectural history. Even though the earliest layers were not reached, it is certain that the first structure was of the Ancient Kerma period. It was a circular hut, 4.3 meters in diameter. Modifications of its walls suggested a significant period of occupation. Areas for rubbish disposal around its periphery indicated by animal bones suggest that this building was within an area of habitation.
This first building was cut by a second which had a diameter of 4 meters, and posts with sections identical to those of the earlier building of between 0,06 and 0.08 meters. The second building was rebuilt and enlarged to a diameter of 4.3 meters. The diameter f the new posts was slightly increased. The next level was indicated for holes for much larger posts, this time delimiting a rectangular building with two, or perhaps three bays. It is possible that the change in the plan of the building was for religious purposes, this suggested by the presence of hearths on the ground surface, a feature found in many chapels. The orientation of this building respected the sitting of the earlier round houses. The next edifice was still rectangular in plan, and built of wood. It was, however, larger than the previous one, and fitted almost exactly within the mud brick chapel E 1 which succeeded it. This latter was modified many times; built first with a central colonnade, an eastern annex was added, and, finally, it became tripartite, with the addition of two other colonnades. It is possible that the elongated courtyard in front of the entrance was in existence at the time of the wooden buildings.
The complex evolution, with the transition of the architecture from wood and mud to mud brick, has been found in other monuments such as chapel E X, where post constructions of more or less rectangular plan have been recovered. Building E VIII, with its two colonnades placed a right angles, may also have succeeded a more ancient wooden building.
The two elongated buildings, E XVII and E XVIII, which were found in the north-eastern part of the secondary agglomeration belong to the beginning of the Middle Kerma period. They are similar to those found in the first of the levels studied in the religious quarter of the ancient town, to the west of the principle temple, the defuffa. Such buildings no doubt served a number of functions but they certainly had cult associations. E XVIII, which was 18 meters long by 5 meters wide, was equipped with bakeries where bread was prepared for offerings. Four ovens placed side by side were found. E XIII, must also have been the the origin of the later complex of buildings of the large chapel E XVI. Whatever they were, E XVII and E XVIII, both had a double or triple colonnade and formed a prestigious grouping in a sector marked by a long architectural history.
During more or less the same period, and throughout the whole of the Middle and Classic Kerma periods, other chapels were to be built. Single rooms, frequently of modest proportions, they were oriented north-south with the door opening to the south as protection against the prevailing wind. There were frequently bases for a stele to the north and traces of a hearth in the centre, but archaeological material was rarely found. While at first the sitting of these chapels seemed to follow no particular rules. later they were placed next to each other, on either side of the street. We have already described in an early report the architectural characteristics of some of these chapels, which generally take the form of colonnade sanctuary, with one or two side annexes and southern courtyard.
Two rather large dwellings, probably belonging to someone of importance, are still to be mentioned. Houses M 137 and M138 were occupied during the Middle and Classic Kerma periods. The kitchens, with their domestics ovens which were appreciably larger than those usually found, were placed in a separate and probably communal courtyard between the two houses. Cattle and sheep feet had been discarded behind the ovens (see L. Chaix's report below).
Finally, two workshops were found, one of which had been built during a major modification which was undertaken in order to create a new north-south road over a filled-in ditch. These workshops were distinguished by their division into small rooms (A 142) in which were found hearths and benches. In one of these rooms was a perfectly plastered square block with sides of 1.3 meters. Holes for the posts of a wooden structure raised above its surface suggest that it may have served as the base of a workbench. Fragments of crucibles with traces of copper and a tiny ingot of gold. ready for working, give an indication of the activities carried out in the workshop.
The wooden palisades protected the western gate in Ancient and Middle Kerma were replaced by an almost square tower, which lasted for several centuries. This entrance was protected by a system that was similar, to that discovered near the large roundhouse. In order to reach the settlement, it was necessary to cross the ditch, follow a road whose width was reduced by a palisade of large posts, skirt the tower to arrive at the narrow doorway in the fortification walls and finally emerge on the road leading to the chapels.
Such a system. and indeed the enormous bastions to the east, illustrate the desire to protect a settlement that encompassed both the places of prayer, very likely for a cult to the memory of the dignitaries of the kingdom, and workshops where precious objects were no doubt made. Over the years the defensive system was to be enlarged, and several chapels were sacrificed in order to build powerful terraces to support circular masonry structures. The ditch dug between the main town and the secondary settlement was deepened to more than six meters. A sondage demonstrated that flooding had caused progressive silting. Moreover, a wall made from large ferruginous sandstone slabs from the third cataract had collapsed into the ditch and we were able to excavate the stones which had slid down the slope in an area that had frequently been flooded (Fig. 1).
The Deposit of Jars
During the last decades of Classic Kerma period, most probably during an unsettled period, a large depression, 25 meters by 17 meters, had been dug near the eastern gate of the secondary settlement, at the expense of the defensive system. It was at least 1.5 meters deep. On its slopes, and no doubt also on its flooded base, between 200 and 250 jars had been deposited. They were globular in form with a open neck, and showed signs of use and repair. the rim and the body were decorated with an incised or stamped geometrical pattern.
The jars had been inverted, with their rims driven into the moist earth. The base of the depression was littered with innumerable sherds. The whole collection seems to have been abandoned at the same time, after a brief period of use: the depression was 'closed' with the spoil from nearby mud brick buildings. The fill was particularly compact, being made of more or less horizontal layers of masonry which also appeared to have flooded.
Finally, a circular well had been dug through the fill, with walls made of curved fired bricks which were especially made for the purpose. A layer of sand surrounded the walls, facilitating the run of water. The material found inside the well belonged to the same period as the jars, that is to say to the end of the Kerma culture.
It is difficult to determine the circumstances that motivated this deposit. Was it a votive offering? Had it been deposited during a festival, as still happened in villages until fairly recently? On these occasions each participant prepared beer or date wine and it was not at all rare to see stored in the village square a hundred or so vessels of similar form to those found in the depression. Once emptied, the pots were inverted to diminish the smell of the alcoholic vapors.
The Eastern Necropolis
During the last two campaigns. we worked in an intermediate zone, dated to the period between Ancient and Middle Kerma (c. 2100 BC). Sixteen tombs were excavated, characterized by a large number of ovicaprines placed inside the tombs, and bucrania placed on the ground to the south of the tumuli. The whole of this area seems to have been systematically plundered, no doubt because the graves were richly endowed. Only two tombs (184a and b), in sector CE 20 had escaped destruction. They were superimposed and seem to have been part of the secondary inhumations associated with tomb 185 (Fig. 2).
In the vast circular burial pit of this tomb, the subject, a male of 39 years, rested on a bed, along which the traces of a bow were visible. The base of a partly preserved leather quiver contained the remains of three arrows with their ostrich feather fletching still intact. A large pendant made from an pearlised oyster shell from the Red Sea was found in the disturbed layers, together with many ceramic vessels. A goat and three sheep were found near the bed, one of the latter wearing a headpiece of ostrich feathers. A lamb, cut into several pieces was placed to the north of the burial pit, together with several pots. On the ground level seven bucrania were placed at a regular intervals between the frontal bones of cattle (bulls, cows and calves) which were arranged in a crescent shape to the south of the tumulus; they were from large antelopes, similar to a hartebeest, or from cattle with deformed horns.
The two tombs 184a and b were placed against the tumulus of tomb 185, and had not been pillaged, thus providing a complete inventory of the grave goods. The lower grave was that of an adult female, placed in a flexed position with her head to the east, on a leather cover. She was holding a staff and was wearing a bracelet of faience beads and a necklace with a single silver bead. Besides joints of meat and pottery vessels, there was a complete sheep huddled to the west. Baskets. cushions of vegetable material, and goat and cattle skin covers completed the deposits (Fig. 3)
The tomb placed above was that of a boy, a year and a half old, lying on a leather cover with a lamb. A small bronze dagger with an ivory pommel was tucked into his belt. His jewelry consisted of a large discoid pendant and earrings, both made of gold.
In the same sector, tomb 186 had a chapel to the north-east of a circle of stones that had been placed to protect the tomb from erosion. The inhumation, a 50 year old man, was accompanied by three sheep and a goat. In the southern part of the grave was a partially preserved leather chest reinforced with wood. At first we thought that it had been reused as a coffin, but the discovery of a second and very similar chest in sector CE 21 demonstrated that it had domestic use The five graves in sector CE 21 contained a very large number of sheep up to eleven in a single tomb. Ostrich feather discs were found on the skulls of several animals.
These were made using a different technique from that used for the discs found in other sectors of the necropolis. In order to give the decoration volume, they had been assembled from a circle of small bundles of feathers, whose spines had been bent to form a loop for the fastening cord.
To the south of a large tumulus close to the sectors under study a fragment of calcite bearing the cartouche of the Egyptian Pharaoh Meryra or Pepi I, whose reign was at the end of the Old Kingdom. This discovery, in a context that is transitional between Ancient and Middle Kerma, provides a very valuable chronological marker. We thus decided to investigate sector CE 21. Three toms were excavated, and another piece of calcite, without epigraphy, was found close to the surface. The excavation of the larger neighboring tomb will perhaps provide further chronological indicators.
In one of the tombs that were excavated (t. 193) there were the scattered remains of two inhumations, a 55 old woman and a 30 year old whose sex could be determined. The principle burial was of a man of 60 years, lying on the remains of a bed. Some of the grave goods remained in the filling of the tomb, including a stick used as a handle for a circular ornament made of ostrich feathers, a bronze dagger, fragments of an ivory bracelet, and a pendant consisting of a rock crystal prism mounted in gold. There were also eight sheep, 46 butchery joints and grains of barley.
Chapel K XI
The great funerary monument excavated by G.A.Reisner between 1913 and 1915, has suffered because of intemperate weather and animal and human depredations; recently, a door post had even been removed. The heavy rains of 1994 caused even more damage, and so further cleaning was required. To our astonishment, the wall decorations were sill sufficiently well preserved to be analyzed. Several scenes that had not been recorded by Reisner were surveyed in detail.
The architectural study of the building was also continued, and we were able to draw up a new large scale plan. If it is indeed correct than in its original state the building had a vaulted roof, this was fairly quickly replaced by a less substantial roof, signified by the addition of colonnade. The two layers of painted murals in the northern chamber (B) were associated with a floor which was later than the dolomitic marble colonnade bases. in the southern chamber (A), they very well made sandstone paving seems to have been cut for the foundations. The cavities near to the entrance to the chamber which, according to Reisner, were from a dais or funerary bed, belonged to the vaulted phase without a colonnade.
The discovery of three imposing monolithic stele in front of the entrance to the monument was another surprise, as there was no mention of them in the report on Reisner's excavation. One, broken at the base, measured 4,73 meters in height. Like the two others, its surface had been pitted. It would be necessary to enlarge the cleaned area in front of the facade of K XI in order to find the pits in which these stele had been erected. It is already possible to restore at the base of the wall of bonded stones a bench, which is still in situ to the west.At the foot of the facade three fragmentary slabs were found, deeply engraved with several rows of rosettes. They were encrusted with fragments of the "faience", attached with plaster. These slabs were not sufficiently solid to have formed the "star" ceiling of the entrance and more probably belonged to the decoration of the facade wall. Two other fragments showing the same rosettes are in the Fine Art Museum at Boston.
In the interior, the painted murals were only preserved to a height of around one meter, sometimes even less; they were on a thick layer of plaster. The floor seemed to have had a red ochre and white wash. This is not the place to describe in detail the successive alterations to the building; we should simply state that the decoration of the internal walls took place at a late stage towards the end of the work of enlarging the building in chamber B, two layers of murals were found, showing that the painting had been re-done; moreover, part of the original decoration had collapsed onto the floor.
At the northern extremity of the chamber B was a rectangular stone foundation, 0.94 meters wide, placed directly on the ground. Some traces of paint were found on its surface. In the filling of sand and earth beside it was a broken slab of the same type, also painted. Minute examination of its surface revealed part of the design. It was made up of two figures; one is female and is bending over an object, probably a container, and seems to be leaning on a ladder, while the second is climbing another ladder. It is impossible to say if these slabs formed a plinth, an altar or a stele. Whatever it was, the scene represented would have been visible from the entrance, as the columns were slightly off line towards the west, allowing a direct view.
As one enters the monument. one sees first of all, on the left, a sailing boat with two figures. Following this are at least six series of nine superimposed hippopotami, a motif that is to be repeated on the jambs of the oldest door of chamber A (fig. 8). There is a stylized tree on the back of the western door jamb. In contrast, in the corridor leading to room A, four bulls painted in red with black highlights are treated very realistically. They have their heads lowered, but there are traces in red of the outline of a raised head, which suggests a change of thought. A long procession of giraffes constitutes the decoration of the western wall and of the corridor between chambers A and B.
The eastern walls have a more varied decoration. In the space between the first and second doors is a fishing scene: a man, his body leaning forward, is manoeuvering his net which seems to be held on a wooden frame and secured by two ropes. A group of twelve fish perhaps indicate the hoped for catch. Above the fishers is a reed boat with two women. Diagonally across the composition is a large black and white crocodile, adding a dramatic element. Some water birds can still be seen above the water: a pelican, a goose and a wader. In the middle ground, two cows are pulled into the water by a man while in the background is a wooden construction.
At the back of the door are wild animals and cows, and the famous scene of the well discussed by Reisner. It is likely that his description was based on poor photographs: the animal closest to the well is indeed not a donkey, but far more likely a bull or a ram, as the form of its horns and hooves suggest. Facing this animal is a magnificent bull; the well extends higher, as does the yellow cord that is being used to pull up the leather bucket. Thus this whole scene needs to be re-examined (fig. 9).
Several rowing boats were depicted on the eastern wall of chamber A and its corners, and there were five decorating the northern wall of chamber B. There were giraffes on the walls of the connecting corridor. However, for us, the most impressive scene was that in chamber B in which three sets of two bulls confronted each other, head against head, before a very tall figure.
Unfortunately, the preservation was such that the removal of the paintings could not be considered, and the monument was filled in again.
The Western Necropolis
Several hundreds of tombs had been dug at different periods into the ruins of the old town. During earlier campaigns we studied several Meroitic graves, without attempting to undertake a systematic clearance. On the other hand, in the secondary settlement to the south west, a larger number of tombs, all from the Napatan period, had been excavated. These tombs were particularly interesting as they confirmed the observations made by F.Ll. Griffith at Sanam in 1912, concerning a double funerary tradition: one was a flexed inhumation, placed on its side, with many grave goods, while the other was an extended inhumation, laid on its back, and usually in a sarcophagus. The first tradition has been found in Nubia since the Neolithic, while the second is associated with Egyptian customs. Thus, according to Griffith, at Nuri, Kurru or Gebel Barkal the royal tombs were those of Egyptian population while on the whole the middle classes remained faithful to the indigenous rites. However, it should be noted that this double tradition is not known in Lower Nubia and Kerma and the reign of the third cataract could thus mark its limit.
Of the 40 graves that were studied, around a quarter were of Nubian type. In the grave goods there were many scarabs and amulets, objects of iron (knives, tweezers) or bronze (razors) and miscellaneous beads. The pottery included both wheel and hand thrown vessels. Several could have originated from the workshop of the potter, found about ten years before a few hundred meters away. The dead. all in flexed position, were usually oriented east-west, with the head to the west, and the face turned to the south or the north.
The sarcophagus burials had an impoverished grave furniture, in contrast, however, veritable funerary chambers had been constructed. The chambers were accessed from the east by a ramp or a stair perfectly cut into the natural silt. These sometimes had elements of mud bricks, which were also occasionally used on the sarcophagus. Although the wood of the sarcophagi had been eaten by termites, it was possible to see traces of a decoration in lively colors (yellow, red. green, black and blue). The head of the occupant was always turned to the west. Two inhumations were distinguished by the presence of a net beads covering the corpse, with rather complicated geometric motifs over the face and the chest. Both burials were those of women.
The depth of these two types of burial and their proximity suggest they were more or less contemporary. The other burials included, in one case two broken polished goblets with a red slip were found on the stairs; these were entirely the same as those found in tombs with the indigenous tradition of burial. Further research is needed to better comprehend these differences. The question of Egyptian influence, particularly important for the XXV Dynasty, and often debated in respect of the ancient tombs of Kurru, merits particular attention. even though the regions of Middle Nubia are still far from having been fully investigated.
References
- Ch.Bonnet (ed.), Études nubiennes. Conférence de Genève. Actes du VIIe Congrès International d’Ėtudes Nubiennes 3-8 septembre 1990. vols. I-II, Genève.
- Ch.Bonnet, Des premières différences sociales à l'émergence d'un Etat. La Moyenne Nubie (IVe-IIe millénaire avant J.-C.),-In: F.Geus (assembled), ‘Nubia Thirty Years Later’. Pre-publication of main papers, Society for Nubian Studies eighth Internatinoal Conference, Sept,1994. Lille.
- Ch.Bonnet 1986, Les fouilles archéologiques de Kerma (Soudan), Rapports préliminaires In: Geneve 1978, 1980, 1982, 1984, 1986, 1988, 1991, 1993.
