Hippo

"Hippo comb" from HK6 Tomb 72 at Hierakonpolis

A spot on the top of the hippo figure’s back seems to have been intentionally burnt. This comb was found just above the remains of the tomb owner’s pelvis.

A man standing with a leashed baby hippo on Gebelein painted linen, Gebelein, ca. 3600 BC	Pot from HK6 Tomb 72 at Hierakonpolis

"Donkey comb" from HK6 Tomb 72 at Hierakonpolis

HK6 Tomb 72 at Hierakonpolis is set within a large wooden structure (Structure F). The body of Tomb 72 owner was highly disturbed. Bones of a young person, 17-20 years of age, were found scattered in the upper fill and surrounding areas. Only some fingers and a part of the pelvis were found on the floor of the tomb. Bones of juvenile sheep or goat rested on the floor of the tomb, while bones from cattle legs were found higher up in the fill of the burial. The objects found in the tomb date the tomb to the Naqada IIA-B period, roughly 3700-3600 BC.

The almost complete removal of the human bones from the floor of the tomb, while many objects were left in place suggests that the grave had been violated soon after the owner's death. This seems to have been an act of aggression against the tomb owner, rather than merely robbery. The tomb’s superstructure was then burnt down, along with other posts within Structure F. It then seems that the tomb was covered with sand and gravels when Structure F was rebuilt, probably in the early First Dynasty.

The orientation of Structure F and Tomb 72 suggests that it was the main tomb for the complex of tombs on the eastern side of the cemetery, which included the burials of several young humans, a leopard, wild cattle, baboons, sheep with modified horns, goats, dogs and possibly an ostrich. Thus the owner of Tomb 72 may have been one of ancient Hierakonpolis’ Predynastic kings.

^dLugal-banda

Sumerian: Lugal = King,  Sumerian: banda = young, junior

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2024/05/12   Takahiko Nakagawa