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Report on the excavation of the "A" cemetery at Kish, Mesopotamia. Part I

1925; International Trust for Zoological Nomenclature; Linguagem: Inglês

10.5962/bhl.title.7197

2057-0570

Ernest John Henry Mackay, S. Langdon, Berthold Laufer,

Archaeology and Historical Studies

KISHof the second building and its restoration is proved by a flight of steps, which originally lead up to it, being covered over, and a long ramp substituted owing to the changed level of the ground.Once more the site became derelict and was used as a rubbish heap, a cemetery, and a play-ground for children.Evidence of the latter is afforded by a number of broken clay toys being found scattered about.Later, this ground was used for some unimportant buildings just prior to the period of Hammurabi (2067-24 B.C.).Then it was again abandoned until the Graeco- Parthian period, to which a tomb containing multiple burials belonged.In our present state of knowledge, the small "cushion" type of plano-convex brick is said to date from an indefinite period before 3100 B.C., meaning that though this style of brick ceased to be used at about the latter date, we know nothing of the period at which it was first used in Mesopotamia.The "biscuit" type of brick, so called from its much flatter shape, is thought to date from 3100 B.C. to about 2900 B.C.It is to this period that we have to assign the burials found in the "A" mound.Two graves (Nos.13 and 15) were found upon platforms of the biscuit type of brick, which averaged 23 x 14. 5 x 3 to 4.5 cm and 24 x 16 x 4 to 5 cm in size, respectively.These burials, therefore, belong either to the same period as the brick platforms, or to a somewhat later time.The graves can- not date from so early as 3500 B.C., because they were made when the building on which they rested was in an advanced state of decay.Nor can their date very well be later than 2900 B.C., because one of the bodies was lying on a specially constructed, burnt-brick platform whose sides were coated with bitumen.The archaic character of some of the objects found in this cemetery, especially of the weapons, would also militate against their belonging to a late period.Col. Lane and I would, therefore, date the burials about to be de- scribed at about 3000 B.C., a date which allows time for the decay of the "cushion" and "biscuit" type of plano-convex brick buildings which lie beneath them.*As stated above, thirty-eight graves were excavated in the "A" ceme- tery, and it is probable that during next season's work many more will come to light.In view, however, of the importance of the burials cleared this year, containing, as they do, entirely new types of pottery and other articles, it has been thought advisable to publish an account of them as soon as possible, so that the material may be available to those who want it.' Allowance has to be made for the destruction of buildings by enemy action.Large and important build- ings such as those in the "A" mound would probably be badly wrecked in a raid; and there were many raids against Kish. DIMENSIONS AND SHAPE OF GRAVESAll the graves were simple holes of just sufficient size to take the body and funeral furniture.Owang to the very compact nattire of the soil, due to damp and salt, it was found impossible to distinguish between the filling of a grave and its surrounding walls.For this reason, the exact dimensions of the graves could not be ascertained, except in four cases to be described below.Grave 5 v.-as cut down through a plano-convex pavement of the biscuit type of brick, and its dimensions were as follows: 160-180 cm long, no cm wide and 65 cm deep (Plate V).In grave 10, which contained the skeleton of a small child, a rough pav- ing, one brick thick, had been made of plano-convex bricks of both cushion and biscuit type.'To further protect the remains, this grave was also roughly lined with bricks laid on their edges.An even more elaborate flooring was constructed for grave 13.It was made of biscuit bricks, averaging 23 x 14. 5 x 3 to 4.5 cm in size.It measured 1.50 metres in length by one metre in width, and was one brick thick.Whole bricks were used for the outer portion and broken ones in the middle, the whole being bound together by mud mortar.In another grave (No. 15), there was a similar floor, 2 metres long by 1.17 metres wide and one brick thick, but it was much better finished off with a coating of bitumen i cm thick.The biscuit bricks employed were of two sizes, measvuing 22 x 14.5 x 4 to 5 cm and 24 x 16 x 4 to 5 cm, respectively.There is no doubt that the floors of graves 10, 13, and 15 were especially constructed and that they were not remains of early buildings.Grave 23 was found on the top of a burnt-brick wall made of the biscuit type of plano-convex brick.But the people who dug the grave must have ' The cushion bricks were borrowed from other parts of the site and were, of course, of earlier date than the biscuit bricks.* It might, of course, be argued that the people who entered Egypt were not of the same race as the people who were buried in the " A" cemetery, but this is improbable.' p. M. Sykes, History of Persia, Vol.I, p. 37. ' Del Mar, History of Precious Metals, Chap.XXX.' Lapis lazuli is, of course, capable of taking a high degree of polish.' Nos. 10, II, and 12 appear to have been washed over with a thin cream slip.' Compare this fillet with a similar ornament worn in the hair on the alabaster head of a Sumerian woman of early date (De Sarzec and Heuzey, D^couvertes en Chald^e, Plate VI, Fig. 3).' One rock-crystal bead was found in burial 23.