Review: [untitled]

Author(s): Henry G. Fischer

Reviewed work(s):
Second Cataract Forts, I. Semna Kumma by Dows Dunham ;Jozef M. A. Janssen
Source: American Journal of Archaeology, Vol. 65, No. 1 (Jan., 1961), pp. 68-69
Published by: Archaeological Institute of America
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/502510
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68

AMERICAN

JOURNAL

Each year brings the publication of more source

material for archaeological study. Although these
source works, which now appearon an international,
national, and regional basis, will increasethe already
complex bibliographyof the European prehistorian,
they make availableneeded materialsfor archaeological synthesis.
The Early Bronze Age of CentralGermany,which
has hitherto been known primarilyfrom the princely
gravesof Thuringia,such as the barrowsof Leubingen
and Helmsdorf, and from a few major hoards, such
as Dieskau I-III, can now be studied from a very
large group of hoards, brought together for the first
time in this publication. In the past it was almost
impossible for anyone except a local specialist in
Central Germany to consider this material, because
it was either published in obscure local journals or
remained unpublished in a local museum. Most of
these hoards have been discoveredin the nineteenth
and twentiethcenturies.The authorindicatesthe type
of countryside they were found in, and also notes
the character of the find. While many are closed
finds, others are obviously from destroyedgraves or
from unknown find spots, for example, the hoard
of Weissenfels I, which was discoveredin the Middle
Ages.
Von Brunn's treatment of the hoards of SaxoThuringia, or Central Germany, is primarily concernedwith their chronologicalposition.He pays little
attention to their significancefor industry, trade and
war, which must have been importantaspects of the
culture of this region. His concern is technical. The
metal types, which include the flangedaxe, the hilted
dagger,halberds,and a great varietyof rings and armlets as well as smallornaments,are comparedto similar
types found in neighboringareas.Criticismis directed
against the older chronologicalschemes based upon
typology. For von Brunn differencesin type are not
due to development in time, but to regional variations. After a careful comparisonof the types of the
Middle German hoards with similar types from finds
in Bohemia, Silesia, and southernGermany,he demonstratesthe complexity of cultural influencesaffecting the Saxo-Thuringianarea. On the basis of comparative material from southern Central Europe, he
would assign the hoards to the time of the late and
developed Aunjetitz culture. The northern relationships of the hoards are based mainly upon the study
of the halberd and the flanged celt. He attempts to
demonstratethat the differencesbetween the Saxon,
Polish and Northern German types of halberd are
the result of differencesbetween regional workshops
and have no chronologicalsignificance.Von Brunn
believes that most of the Middle German hoards of
the Early Bronze Age belong to a very limited chronological zone, which may be equatedwith the Aunjetitz
culture, in fact to the late developed phase of this
culture (Reinecke A 2). In the light of this study,
the Early Bronze hoards of the whole of CentralEurope, from the Alps to the Baltic Sea, belong to a
limited and unified chronologicalhorizon. There are

[AJA 65

OF ARCHAEOLOGY

regional variations, but they have no chronological

significance.

This work, which has excellent illustrationsand a

fine catalogue with all the necessary bibliographical
apparatusfor furtherinvestigation,at last makes available a considerablebody of materialfor the study of
the Early Bronze Age of CentralGermany.
H. L. THOMAS
UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI

SECOND CATARACT FORTS, I. SEMNA KUMMA, by

Dows Dunham and Jozef M. A. Janssen.Pp. xxvi

+ i88, figs. 68, pls. I30 + frontispiece, maps and
plans 32. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, I960.
$35.00.

As the Nubian gateway of Middle Kingdom Egypt,

the southernmostpoint where SesostrisIII posted his
famous decrees denying entry to the Nilotic tribes
furtherupstream,Semnais of particularinterestamong
the forts stationedalong the cataracts.And, with the
other forts of the Second Cataract,it is also of particular interestat the presentmoment becauseit will soon
be obliteratedby the water piled up behind the new
High Dam. The Semna fort kept water trafficunder
surveillancefrom the westernheights of a granite barrier that channelled and constrictedthe Nile at this
point, and it controlledland trafficas well, by embracing the caravanroutewhich was made to pass through
its walls. The Kumma fort, sometimescalled Semna
East, completed the defenses on the opposite side of
the river.
Apart from the temples in the two forts, the site
had received little attention until Reisner and his
assistants conducted excavations there in

I924

and

I928

for a total of somewhatless than six months. A considerable amount of data were accumulatedin this
shortperiod but, owing to Reisner'sfailing health and
the necessityof apportioninghis time between Nubia
and Giza, the recordswere not always clear or complete, and it is a tribute to ProfessorJanssenthat he
was able to organize the materialand put it in shape
for publicationduring the few months of his stay in
Boston. Janssen'smajor contribution,however, is his
exemplarypublicationof the numerousand important
rock inscriptionsat Semna and Kumma. No less valuable are the extensive series of maps and plans prepared by Dows Dunham from Reisner'sfield notes.
Dunham is responsiblefor the final appearanceof the
volume, particularlythe cataloguesof finds from the
five cemeteriesin the vicinity of Semna and from the
forts themselves,but here again the inscriptionshave
been dealt with by Janssen.
More than half the plates are devoted to the two
EighteenthDynastytemplesin the Semnaand Kumma
forts, including many photographstaken by Breasted
in I907 and supplied by the University of Chicago's
Oriental Institute. The scenes and texts are not describedin detail,but their relativelocationis identified
and the correspondingdrawings in Lepsius Denk-

69
BOOK REVIEWS
1961]
In the phrase transcribed as
P. 6I (28-I-500).
mdlerIII arelisted. In generalthe authorshave avoided
elaborate discussion and comparisons, although no
~^^the -e- above C] is doubtful, and
J
; '11
difficultyis glossed over; most of the rock inscriptions, in any case one would expect "may your gods live
for example, are transcribedbut not translatedexcept for you" rather than "may you live for your gods." It
where they present features of unusual obscurity or seems likely that the phrase is actually ? ~ l;,T^.
interest.The resultis a verytidy and readilyassimilated
P. I37 (R.I.S. 24). The initial title
-1 ? is
publication.The only deterrentto its usefulnessis the probably ss kdw.t "draughtsman" rather than ss n Is.t
difficultyof locatingthe descriptionof an item from the "scribe of crews," although the single stroke is admitidentificationgiven in the plates and figures;an index
unusual.
of field numbers would have rectifiedthis deficiency. tedly
P. i39 fl. (R.I.K. i, 3, 29). The transcription of the
Excellentas it is, the publicationof the texts contains
with a horizontal line through it is
()
a few points which seem to merit further comment. mouth-sign
a
little
misleading; the point is that this exIn each of the following cases the page referenceis perhaps for
water level" has been play"(maximum)
pression
followed by a field number or R[ock] I[nscription]
floated upwards, so that the mouth is level with
fully
number.
of the
the border at the
inscription.
very top
P. 141 (R.I.K. I2). The interesting name 'Ig3i-htp,
vessel but s, and the inscription refers to "[Hathor] which also occurs in R.I.K.
23 and 63, has been
mistress of 'Ibsk,"who is mentioned in the northern omitted from the
For the god 'Ig3i see
index,
p.
17I.
temple at Abu Simbel (Save-S6derbergh,Agypten u. now JNES i6, 230ff. Sethe's Urkunden I, 298, line 8
Nubien, 202); an arrangement similar to ^j is to be does not give "the usual spelling of the god's name."
found in Gauthier,Diet. geographiqueI, 65. Another This is another deity whose name is apparently to be
writing of the same localityprobablyoccursin 24-3-802, read Wsr.wy "Two-Powers," as Hayes translates it in
as Janssensuggestson p. ioo.
JEA 32, I5, comment 9. Wsr.wy(?) reappears in two
P. 30 (24-4-I42). The name misread as '3m'3 here Middle Kingdom occurrences of what is probably the
P. I6 (24-3-II28).

The central sign is not an alabaster

and '3m'w in the index, p. I72, is probably'3-m-'(.);

(statue seen at a Luxor
_%
cf. 'n-m-'(.), Ranke, PN I, 6I.I3. The name Rs.tl is same personal name:
in
the
and
here
both
Cairo
and
stela
Cat. 20717). In both
written
RJ.td
index, antiquities shop
mistakenly
p. 173.

P. 55 (28-I-480). The reading of the place name

<>m mis not R3-hn.t but R3-sh.wy; see Gauthier,

Dict. geog. III, 126, where phonetic writings are

quoted.
P. 59 (28-1-496) Janssen explains \, as "overseer
of the hundred,"as does Vercoutterin his translationof
the same text, Kush 5, 65, and on p. 6I (28-I-500) the
title is similarly translated"centurion."The Worterbuch IV, 498, I is cited in this connection,as are Kees
(AZ 64, III) and Clere (Rev. d'eg. 7, I9-32). But only
one of the three authorities,the Worterbuch,supports
the translation.Kees, writing in I929, suspectsthat the
word snt is not "hundred"but "one concernedwith
disputes"(sntw), and he cites a single exampleof the
0Q
on a First IntermediatePeriod
writing
Berlin
10989.
Clere,
writing in I950, unhesicoffin,
tatingly acceptsthe readingJnt and interpretsthe title
as "preposeaux querelles"and the same reading and
interpretationhad already been offered by Dunham,
Naga-ed-Der Stelae, 34. Helck, Zur Verwaltung des
M. und N.R., 73, recognizes the general sense of the
title, which he translates"Polizei-Inspektor,"but he
still readsSn.t,as though the t were a feminine ending.
The final consonant is in fact regularly written
in a considerablenumberof cases dating to the period
when it first appears,and this evidence conclusively
disproves the interpretationof WorterbuchIV, 498.
Note that both occurrencesof the title at Semna are
inadvertentlylisted as zmy-r3st in the index of titles,
p. 175, althougha third occurrence,in a Kumma rock
inscription,

is cited as ;my-r3 jn.t.

cases the form of the bird is uncertain, but the occurrence on the statue looks like s3, and is certainly not a
falcon, as Lange and Schafer, Grab- u. Denksteine II,
344, have hesitantly transcribed it in the name on the
Cairo stela.
Note that the 'Ig3-.htp of R.I.K. I2, 23 and 63 cannot be the owner either of stela BM 236 or Cairo 20144,
both of which belong to the same person. The titles
in the rock inscriptions and the stelae do not agree,
and Mnw is named as the father in Cairo 20144 while
'nh-nhy is identified as the father in R.I.K. 23. From
the fact that both 'Igg3-htps have a mother of the same
name, Wh'.t, one can at most conclude that the same
family may be involved.
HENRY G. FISCHER
THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART
EXCAVATIONS AT JERICHO. VOL.

I: THE TOMBS Ex-

CAVATED IN

I952-4, by Kathleen M. Kenyon, with

contributions
Crowfoot, Ann
by Elisabeth

Grosvenor-Ellis, M. Ricketts, F. E. Zeuner. Pp.

xxii + 585, figs. 230, pls. 43. British School of
Archaeology in Jerusalem, London, 1960.
No higher tribute can be paid this volume than
that it maintains those qualities of excellence that
have characterized the work of the Joint Expedition
at Jericho, I952-58. This first installment of the final
report deals with the tombs excavated in I952-54.
Included is substantial evidence from "Proto-Urban,"
"Intermediate EB-MB," and Middle Bronze tombs
and the complete publication of Early Bronze tomb