Elkab
The site of Elkab (25°07′ N, 32°48′ E) is situated on the east bank of the Nile, about halfway between Luxor and Aswan. The name "Elkab" is probably a corruption of "Nekheb," the ancient Egyptian name of the capital of Nome III of Upper Egypt, known as "Eleitheiaspolis" in Graeco-Roman times. The ancient town is close to the Nile and at the mouth of the Wadi Hellal, which opens into the valley to form a vast semicircle.
The site is very extensive and contains ruined temples, cemeteries and rock-cut tombs. Today the most impressive ancient feature is a vast mudbrick enclosure wall (35 in the plan). Several monuments, as well as an important collection of rock inscriptions and drawings, are also found a few kilometers east of Elkab in the desert.
The principal deities worshipped at Elkab were Nekhbet and Sobek. During the Old Kingdom Nekhbet’s cult was situated in the desert, where the goddess had a sanctuary. Later the cult moved into the Nile Valley and it finally predominated over those of other deities.
Recorded information about Elkab dates back to the eighteenth century, but the first major description of the site was made in 1799 by a member of the Napoleonic expedition, Saint-Genis. Later in the nineteenth century Elkab, and especially its New Kingdom rock-cut tombs, became very popular with tourists. At the end of the nineteenth and during the early twentieth centuries, excavations at Elkab were conducted by the English archaeologists J.E.Quibell, A.H.Sayce and E.Somers Clarke. From 1937 to the present, a Belgian expedition has been excavating at the site.
The history of human occupation at Elkab is a very long one. A number of handaxes and other flint tools, found isolated on the hills surrounding the Wadi Hellal, testify to human presence during Lower and Middle Paleolithic times. Much better documented, however, is the Epi-paleolithic culture known as the "Elkabian," which was discovered within the great enclosure wall in 1968 (23). This microlithic stone tool industry dates to the seventh millennium BC and belongs to a population of hunters and gatherers which frequented the site in the interval between the high summer floods and the winter activity of the Wadi Hellal.
Predynastic remains dating to the fourth millennium BC have been found at several locations. A late Predynastiac cemetery consisting of about 100 tombs (Nagada III phase) was excavated in 1977-9 in the northeast area of the great wall (24). Scattered sherds,however, indicate that the earlier phases of the Nagada culture, and probably even the earliest one (Badarian), are also represented at Elkab.
A large number of rock drawings occurs on two isolated rocks in the Wadi Hellal. Less extensive groups can be found at various locations along the wadi. Some of the drawings may predate the Predynastic period, but on stylistic grounds the majority can be attributed to the Nagada I and II phases. The drawings consist of a large number of animals, but the typical Nagada II-style boats are also present.
The Early Dynastic period (1st-2nd Dynasties) at Elkab is represented by a cemetery, consisting mainly of small mastaba tombs (with mudbrick superstructures), excavated by Quibell, within the northern area of the great wall (25-6) In the same area, he also found a few blocks of granite (27), now lost, which belonged to a building erected by Khasekhemwy of the 2nd Dynasty. A number of circular constructions immediately west of the temples (19), excavated in 1955, have also been dated to this period because Early Dynastic artifacts have been found there, but it is unlikely that these are Early Dynastic.
A curved double wall (17), connecting the enclosure wall of the temple with the great wall of Elkab, has been interpreted by some scholars, without substantial proof, as the remains of a very ancient, circular city wall. Although nothing can be stated with certainty about its date or function, two charcoal samples from it have recently been radiocarbon-dated to the First Intermediate Period or early Middle Kingdom. The area enclosed by the double wall (18) was completely ransacked by the excavation of sebbakh (organic debris from the ancient settlement used for fertilizer by farmers), but potsherds and flint tools found on the surface seem to indicate that it was inhabited beginning in the Old Kingdom. Houses were probably located north of the curved wall. Until the middle of the nineteenth century, the entire area, including the great wall facing the Nile, was still covered by a tell (a mound formed through many years of human occupation). It has since disappeared, but the sides of the great wall are still remarkably well preserved in this area.
Old Kingdom stairway tombs and mastabas of mudbrick were excavated by Quibell and Sayce (28-34). Two large mastabas (31-2), identified as those of Kameni and Neferchemem, were originally attributed to the 4th Dynasty, although this date is not certain. In 1986 a decorated rock-cut tomb, belonging to the priest Sawka, was discovered in the south-western part of the hill containing the necropolis, north of the great wall. More undecorated rock-cut tombs, two of which were undisturbed, were recently discovered in the same area; all of these tombs probably belonged to priests of the 6th Dynasty. In 1996 excavations began at an important mudbrick mastaba with a niched fagade, which probably dates to the 3rd or early 4 th Dynasties, located on top of the hill.
The most abundant information relating to the Old Kingdom, however, comes from over 600 rock inscriptions on the isolated rocks in the Wadi Hellal. These inscriptions, relate to the 6th Dynasty priests of Elkab, who also performed duties in the temple of Nekhbet. This temple was probably located at the site of the later temple of Amenhotep III (18th Dynasty), where there are concentrations of Old Kingdom sherds. The names of the priests and their affiliations are often included in the inscriptions, facilitating the study of genealogies and the phyle system, in which the priests were organized to serve on a rotating basis (phyles). From the genealogies it is also clear that the rock-cut tombsexcavated in from 1986 onward belonged to a number of these priests. The rock inscriptions also mention the existence at Elkab of funerary cults of Pepi I and Merenre I.
Dating from the end of the First Intermediate Period and the beginning of the Middle Kingdom is a large cemetery (38-41, 44), now bisected by the eastern part of the great wall at Elkab. The cemetery was definitely plundered, and remains largely unexcavated. Tombs are arranged in a planned pattern, and those that have been excavated consist of a chamber on the desert surface behind which is a vaulted mudbrick burial pit.
Remains of Middle Kingdom monuments at Elkab are scarce. One block belonging to an 11th Dynasty building was found in the temple of Nekhbet (2). Blocks which were originally from a temple-stand for the sacred bark, built on the occasion of the first" " ‘ (jubilee) of Sobekhotep III of the 13th Dynasty, have also been found.
Decorated tombs dating to the Second Intermediate Period and early 18th Dynasty are found in the necropolis north of the great wall. The oldest of these tombs are the 13th Dynasty tomb of Sobeknakht and the 17th Dynasty tomb of Renseneb. The most important tombs are those of Ahmose, son of Abana, and Ahmose Pennekhbet, descendants of Ahmose, the first king of the 18th Dynasty. Both tombs contain biographical accounts of Ahmose, who drove the Hyksos out of Egypt, and his successors. The most beautiful tombs, however, are those of Pahery and Renni, dating to the reign of Tuthmose III. Pahery’s tomb is particularly well-known for its agricultural scenes.
Several temples were built at Elkab in the New Kingdom. A temple of Tuthmose III, to the north of Elkab, was seen almost intact by members of the Napoleonic expedition but was destroyed in 1828. Temples were also built in the desert to the east of the town. The most famous of these is the small but well-preserved temple of Amenhotep III, dedicated to Hathor and Nekhbet. Another small temple, now known as "el-Hammam," was built by Setau, Viceroy of Kush during the reign of Ramesses II (19th Dynasty). It was probably dedicated to the deities Re-Horakhty, Hathor, Amen and Ramesses II. Both Amenhotep III’s temple and the el-Hammam monument were restored during the Ptolemaic period and enlarged with porticos.
The two most important temples at Elkab were built side by side. The principal temple was dedicated to Nekhbet (2), while the second one was dedicated to Sobek and Thoth (1). Only the temples’ foundations and the lowest layer of wall blocks survive today, although a number of columns and part of the wall of the western temple were still standing at the beginning of the nineteenth century. A causeway (5) linked the temple of Nekhbet with a quay (16), but their dates are uncertain. Quibell and Somers Clarke began excavations in the temple area, but it was not until the 1930s that the temples were excavated in their entirety by the Belgian Egyptologist Jean Capart. Although earlier temples already existed at the same site, construction of the temple of Nekhbet was especially active during the 18th Dynasty. Most of the pharaohs of this dynasty added to the building, but Tuthmose III and Amenhotep II were particularly active. The present form of the temple of Nekhbet was built during the 26th-30th Dynasties, in part with blocks from older constructions (such as those from the 11th Dynasty chapel). The temple of Sobek and Thoth in its present form dates to the reign of Ramesses II.
Near the two main temples at Elkab are the foundations of four small temples (6-9), which cannot be dated with any certainty. One of these temples (6) may have been a mammisi (house of births). The sacred lake (4), which originally was square in area,probably dates to the 30th Dynasty. A massive covered stairway was excavated in this area in 1968, but revealed no inscriptions. Surrounding the temple precinct was a mudbrick wall (14), of unknown date.
The massive mudbrick enclosure wall (35), which is preserved to a height of 11m in some places, surrounds an area approximately 530x 600m. The southern corner of this wall has either disappeared due to Nile erosion, or was never built in order to allow easy access to the Nile harbor. Built against the wall are three large ramps, each of which is situated near a gate, which lead to the top of the wall. Such ramps are not found on any of the large mudbricks walls at Elkab considered to be temple enclosures. Several radiocarbon dates now confirm that the enclosure wall dates to the Late period, probably to the 30th Dynasty. Textual evidence suggests that the wall was built under the instructions of Nectanebo II (or perhaps the original order had already been given by Nectanebo I), in order to create a stronghold which could eventually be used as a refuge against the Persian threat. The rarity of evidence for occupation at this time, however, seems to indicate that the enterprise was abandoned, perhaps because of the death of Nectanebo II or because of Alexander the Great’s conquest of Egypt. A small temple built by Nectanebo I or Nectanebo II (37), now completely ruined, is found outside the great wall, within the axis of the eastern gate.
The best preserved monument at Elkab dating to the Ptolemaic period is located in the desert, where a New Kingdom rock-cut temple was transformed into a sanctuary (hemispeos) dedicated to the lion goddess Chesemtet. This was principally the work of Ptolemy VIII and Ptolemy IX.
From the fourth century BC onward, a village settlement developed within the great wall, mainly along both sides and in front of the mudbrick temple wall (12, 20). Excavations from 1968-81 uncovered a number of houses in this village, some of which could be identified as those of potters. The discovery of two caches of coins suggests that the village may have been deserted during the fourth century AD, for unknown reasons.
During the Graeco-Roman period earlier tombs in the rock-cut necropolis north of the town were extensively reused and some small undecorated tombs were added. Only one decorated tomb is known from the Ptolemaic period. Throughout this necropolis are many horizontal niches, which were intended for the burial of crocodiles, the sacred animal of the god Sobek. During the late Roman period, a small fort was built close to the river (15), using many blocks from earlier temples. Few remains at Elkab are known after the Roman period. A small Coptic monastery is situated next to the Ptolemaic sanctuary of Chesemtet but no Islamic settlement developed at the site.
Figure 35 The enclosure wall of Elkab and its immediate surroundings
Emery, Walter Bryan
Born in Liverpool, Bryan Emery (1903-72) later attributed his early enthusiasm for ancient Egypt to the novels of H.Rider Haggard, which he read as a child. In his teens he was apprenticed to a firm of engineers, but when he was eighteen he studied Egyptology under Professor T.E.Peet at the University of Liverpool. In 1923-4 a field season with the Egypt Exploration Society (EES) at Tell el-Amarna gave him his first experience of archaeological surveying. Then in 1924 Sir Robert Mond put him in charge of the restoration of private tombs in western Thebes, and in the following year, with 400 workmen, he cleared and rebuilt the tomb chapel of the vizier Ramose (no. 55), one of the finest in the necropolis. Still working for Mond in 1927, he discovered the cemetery of the Buchis bulls (the "Bucheum") at Armant. However, after one season at that site under Henri Frankfort, the Egyptian government appointed him to direct the Archaeological Survey of Nubia in the area north of Adindan, which was threatened by submersion due to the construction of the Aswan Dam.
For two seasons Emery surveyed Lower Nubia on foot, assisted by his wife Molly, L.P. (now Sir Laurence) Kirwan and five Egyptian assistants. In 1931 he excavated the great mounds of Ballana and Qustul, previously thought to be natural hills. They proved to be the undisturbed tombs of the "X-group" kings, rulers who controlled Lower Nubia after the collapse of the state of Meroe. These kings were buried with their barbaric furniture and finery, their horses and camels, and human sacrifices: their women and servants.
In 1935 Emery was appointed by the Egyptian Antiquities Service to excavate the Early Dynastic cemetery of North Saqqara, begun by Cecil Firth. He found that the superstructures of the great mastaba tombs of the 1st Dynasty contained storerooms crammed with funerary artifacts, revealing for the first time the masterly craftsmanship of this dynasty. The Second World War interrupted his work here; he served with the British Army in the Western Desert. For a time after the war, he was an attache in the British Embassy in Cairo, but he longed to return to Egyptology.
In 1951 his opportunity came: he was appointed to the chair of Egyptology at University College London. His teaching load was to be light, and he was expected to spend part of each winter excavating in Egypt. As Field Director of the Egypt Exploration Society (EES) he excavated at Saqqara for five more years. The volumes of his publication of what he believed to be the royal tombs of the 1st Dynasty are remarkable for the isometric drawings of the brickwork, which gave a new dimension to early architecture. (Though these tombs contained sealings with royal names of the 1st Dynasty, many archaeologists now believe that they are the burials of high officials, while the kings themselves were buried at Abydos.)
Unable to work in Egypt in 1956 at the time of the Suez crisis, Emery persuaded the EES to let him return to Sudan. At Buhen near the Second Cataract he excavated the elaborate mudbrick fortifications of the Middle Kingdom town. He worked here for eight seasons; his meticulous plans of the walls and ramparts are a unique record of Egyptian military architecture. Meanwhile, the Egyptian government had decided to construct the High Dam at Aswan, which was to engulf all of Lower Nubia, including Buhen. Emery was appointed advisor to the committee of UNESCO concerned with the recording and rescue of the ancient monuments and sites threatened by the rising water of Lake Nasser. He himself saw to the removal of the temple of Hatshepsut at Buhen to the Khartoum Museum.
Emery was then able to return to North Saqqara. His work centered on the mastaba field of the 3rd Dynasty, where he hoped to find the tomb of Imhotep, the architect of the Step Pyramid who was later deified. In this he was not successful, but he came across a vast network of catacombs of the Late period containing mummified baboons and ibises. Further investigations in this area yielded demotic and Aramaic papyri, Carian inscriptions and temple furniture, and the catacombs of the sacred cows, mothers of the Apis bulls.
However, Emery had taxed his strength too far. On March 7 1971, he collapsed on the dig and died two days later. He is buried in Cairo.
