Ju) g] SOCIETYOF BIBLICAL ARCH/EOLOGY. [1894.of which nearthe entrance cutting are inscribed, and the mass of
rubbishslopesfromthe cutting downto the centre andeasternsides.
Comingout of the quarry we find the workmen's houses,builtof
boulders,and a few cairns, probablygraves. Theground is strewn
withfragments of pottery ; the majority of these fragmentsare in
1 ough red pottery, a good dealweathered,the forms of which, where
the pieces can be put together (as occurs in the case of jars broken
outsideor left inside the ruined workmen'shouses)are similar to the
Xllthdynastyshapes,as we know themfromthe work at Kehun,
and the drawings in tombs.
But in the main campabovementionedthereare many piecesof
bowlsin a fine darkred glaze, the shape and material beingthe
sameas those whichProfessor Petriefound at Medum, andwhich
appearalsoto have beenfoundby Rhind at the Ghizeh pyramids.
It is much moredifficult to restore the forms of this earlier
pottery,as the quarry has of course beenworked up to the Xllth
dynasty,whenthe works seemto have stopped,for there is little or
no XVIIIth dynastypottery,and onlya few ribbed piecesof late
Roman or Coptic, probablyleft thereby salt diggers. I should
imagine that the hard glazed red bowlswerecommon from the
earliesttimestill the decadence and fall of the Vlth dynasty,new
stylescomingin in the Xlth andXllthdynasties,lastingintothe
earlyXVIIthdynasty,whentheyin their turngaveway to the forms
commonlyknownas XVIIIth dynasty,whichare met withtill the
endof the XlXth andbeginningof the XXth, etc.,etc. Of course,
in dating by pottery, a hard and fastruleis only applicablein very
exceptionalcases. Examplesof forms thoughtto belong exclusively
to one period mayand do turn up in a totally differentone,and are
difficultto deal with on this account. Themaincampseemsto
havebeenon the western sideon the very edgeof the pit, not a nice
positionfor a dark night; from it the ground slopesup to the west
overa level plain, with scatteredhousesandcuriousconstructions
builtof boulders withlittlepathswornup to them, (?) ovens.
Theplainendsat the foot of a long low hill of remarkable form;
on either end of the summit are cairns of stones, similarto those
calledin Scotland andSwitzerland "Stonemen,"andfrom them
is visible the great cairn whichmarks the position of the smaller
Xllthdynastyquarry,which is separated from the hill by a broad
flat valley andthe slopes of the hills on either side.
Descending the slope and crossing the valley we climb up a
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