In the desert to the north of Abydos there are several Predynastic
and Early Dynastic sites which were investigated by John Garstang
in the early years of the 20th century. Near the villages of Mahansa
and Reqaqna, a little to the south of Sohag, Garstang discovered
cemeteries of Dynasty III tombs, whilst in the low desert behind the
village of Beit Khallaf, he found five monumental mudbrick mastabas,
similar to other stepped mastabas of the Early Dynastic Period. |
The most impressive of these huge tombs is known as mastaba K1, which
Garstang originally attributed to Djoser Netjerikhet, who built the
Step Pyramid at Saqqara. The royal burial ground at Abydos had been
abandoned after the reign of Khasekhemwy, but mastaba K1 dwarfs even
Khasekhemwy’s massive Abydos enclosure (Shunet el-Zebib). K1 covers an
area of 45m by 85m and its sloping walls rise to a current height of
around 8m. On the eastern side a ramp leads to the roof of the
structure which was probably vaulted. From the top a steep entrance
staircase was sealed by blocking stones and was covered by a vaulted
ceiling over mudbrick arches. From the staircase the passageway turns
to the south and consists of a wide corridor with several chambers
leading off to the east and west, in which Garstang found huge numbers
of stone and pottery vessels.
From an historical point of view, the most important finds at Beit
Khallaf were seal impressions. Impressions of the Dynasty III kings
Netjerikhet and Sanakht were found in the mastabas, which dated them
to the Early Dynastic Period. A clay seal impression found in mastaba
K1 names a Queen Nimaathap as ‘Mother of the King’s Children’, while
impressions bearing the name of Netjerikhet were also found in
mastabas K2, K3, K4 and K5, although none of these equals the size of
K1. Current archaeological evidence suggests by the similarity of
Khasekhemwy’s Abydos enclosure to the Saqqara Step Pyramid,
Netjerikhet was the son and successor to Khasekhemwy, and probably
performed his burial. Nimaathap was possibly related to Netjeriket in
some way and may even have been his mother. The quantity of stone
vessels found in the Step Pyramid and Nimaathap’s mastaba also
contained identical ink drawings of the god Min, suggesting that they
came from the same ‘heirloom’ collection.
An impression from mastaba K2 shows the name of King Sanakht opposite
the lower end of a cartouche and has been identified as the earliest
occurrence of a cartouche found to enclose a royal name. The seal also
provides evidence for the Horus name of Sanakht (enclosed in a serekh)
equating with the nesw-bity name of Nebka, which has been
reconstructed from the ka-sign in the portion of hieroglyphs in the
cartouche. The Turin Cannon gives the postion of a King Nebka between
Khasekhemwy and Netjerikhet, but the archaeological evidence now
suggests otherwise. |
