After a few weeks off for the Holidays, we returned to Hierakonpolis anxious to find out more about our elephant in the elite cemetery at HK6. Now that we had discovered the floor of the grave at the base of the large depression in the center of the grid square 9I, we needed to find to the walls. To do this, we decided to run a section through the middle of the tomb, intentionally over cutting where we expected the edges to be, in order to catch the sides in the profile. The surrounding natural sediments were composed of bands and lenses of sands and gravels that looked remarkably similar to the disturbed grave fill and only careful inspection in the right light revealed the faint line of a stepped trench cut into the harder natural soils. The sections showed that our original test trench had missed the true walls of the tomb by about a meter on three sides.

We overcut the edges in order to see them clearly in profile (left). The difference in the color of the fill and the natural soil was also clear in top view once you knew what to look for. The profile view of the stepped edges of the elephant's grave (right).

Once we knew where to go, we could now begin to uncover the full extent of the grave. We began by exposing the pelvis that extended into the balk on the south side, which with trepidation we had left behind in December. The bones had stood up well to being covered during our absence and clearing away the surrounding soil we found the tops of the both femora still in articulation. More exciting still, part of the articulated tail with the outline of the skin and flesh that once surrounded it was still in place along the edge of the grave. This level of preservation was unprecedented. It was a great act of will power to cover it up yet again for the few days until the zooarchaeologist Wim Van Neer returned, but we knew how important it would be for him to see this. It was also important for us to see if other parts of the elephant could be found still in their original place in order to determine the method and orientation of the burial.

We began uncovering the full extent of the pelvis (left) once we knew where to go. The bones had held up well to being recovered during our absence and the skin and fabric was still in place over the femur (right).

With the assistance of Chris Marshall, a physical anthropologist used to much smaller bones, we began to taking back the fill to the true edge. To the west, a sandy depression needed to be cleared as the loose fill kept spilling into the grave. We assumed this to be a looter's trench, but to our surprise it turned out to cover part of the tomb's original architecture. Again, a large number of head bones (an elephant's head IS very big) were found beyond where we expected the edge of the roughly oval grave pit to be. Going down, we were able to clearly distinguish the tomb walls, but the bones continued, eventually funnelling down into a circular hole, just like the pit that Joe had excavated. Oh no, not again! Once the bones were lifted, large quantities of wood appeared--disturbed roofing beams we assumed--but after brushing, we could see that these were not a tumble of beams, but the remains of a huge post, 50cm in diameter, still in situ within its posthole! Finally we could explain the strange shape of Joe's pit--it too was a posthole. Located only 2 meters apart, these two postholes were definitely part of a set, but did they belong to the elephant grave or to another structure further to the south in the unexcavated portion of the square?

It was a surprise to find the tail bones still in articulation with the outline of the skin and flesh still around them after 5,500 years!

We didn't have to wait too long to find the answer to this question. Taking down the eastern half of the tomb, in addition to many more elephant bones including the other half of the lower jaw and part of the upper jaw with tusk still in place, another post hole was found in the northeast corner, still holding its wooden post. The location of its twin along the southeast was also determined, although time prevented us from excavating it. Now that we had the four posts, it was obvious that they were associated with the elephant burial, but this was not the end of the posthole story, as we later discovered.

Beneath the bones were the remains of a large wooden post still preserved in place.

After exposing the full extent of the grave, it was now time to tackle the floor. With Wim Van Neer in attendance, the moment had come to lift the tail, pelvis and legs. He was only too anxious to help, but the job was daunting. Our workmen, highly skilled at lifting bones and other delicate archaeological materials, were confident, nevertheless the size of these bones was a match for all of our ingenuity. We began by handing Wim a scoop with which to collect the large amount of dark brown organic matter firmly lodged in the pelvic cavity. As it was a rather warm day, there was no question as to what this material might be. Sacks were filled with it and it was hoped that microscopic examination by our archaeo-botanist might yield clear evidence of the elephant's last meal some 5,500 years ago. (It did, so his efforts were not in vain). Wim then collected the tail vertebrae in anatomical order, marking each foil wrapped parcel, while the workmen began to undercut around the huge pelvis with infinite care. We were particularly anxious to preserve the pubis bone of the pelvis. The shape of this bone proved that this was a male, as Wim had suspected on circumstantial evidence. We are happy to report that we were for the most part successful in the harrowing task, and again, large quantities of aluminium foil were put to good use in packaging the bones for transport to the lab for more detailed analysis.

Once the pelvis was out of the way, we could see more vertebrae and ribs, still in anatomical order along the southern edge of the burial. This showed us that the elephant had been laid on its left side, facing down wadi toward the river and proved that the pelvis was truly in situ. Now that we had this last vital piece of information, we thought with relief, we had completed the excavation of the tomb. But then another strange circular depression in the tomb floor appeared just beside the pelvis. Lined with fabric and skin it was also filled with ribs and vertebrae that had apparently slumped into it. After a fretful day of shovelling elephant dung and lifting large but such delicate bones, we decided this pit would have to wait for another time.

Left, another posthole appeared in the northeastern corner. Right, the post holes on the east (foreground) and the west (upper left).

When it came to lifting the bones, Wim was perplexed, but Fathy was confident.

A special trip was made to explore this hole a few days later, after our backs had recovered. Wim's time with us was short, and he wanted to see all of the elephant bones before he departed. It was hard to imagine what bone we hadn't yet found. The floor of Wim's work room was covered in elephant bones and he had even succeeded in finding the tip of the elephant's tail! Nevertheless, we had a task to accomplish and in the end it wasn't so difficult. Roughly 40 cm below the level of the floor, the pit came to an end in solid rock. Remarkably, it has been excavated for about 20cm into this hard sandstone before who even began it apparently decided to give up--a valiant effort with only flint and soft copper tools. Why it was even attempted, however, remains a puzzle. Our current theory is that the original design of the elephant's grave placed one of the four postholes in this location, but when the rock proved to be too thick and hard to dig through, they adjusted the plan and moved the postholes further to the west. This mistake was not filled in, but simply covered with fabric, which, over the course of 5 millennia, gave way under the weight of the elephant and the ribs and vertebrae immediately above then slid into the hole, where we found them.

It is hard to know what to make of these postholes used or unused. Their size and depth is such that one has to wonder what their purpose might have been. Did they support the grave roof? Although only separated by 2 meters in the north-south direction, the east-west span of 5 m seems far too wide for roofing beams. Besides, would four entire tree trunks sunk deeply into the ground be necessary just to hold up the roof? Could they instead have been part of an imposing superstructure above the grave that marked the location of this impressive beast? Indeed, it is hard to know for sure, but the effort and expense involved just in the postholes shows the elephant was not just a pet, albeit exotic. All of the evidence we have been able to retrieve from our excavations here indicates that this was a very special animal, perhaps the manifestation of the might and the power of the ruler himself, or what the later Egyptians called the Ka.

Articulated vertebrae along the southern wall of the tomb provided further evidence for the orientation of the elephant in the grave. And then another pit appeared.

In Ancient Egypt, everyone, both human and divine had a ka, a creative life force that came into existence at the same moment as the individual as a spiritual double, the personality or spirit of the person and lived on after the corporeal form had died. In Dynastic Egypt the Ka of the king was a special entity. It is often shown following the king in a human form bearing on its head the hieroglyph consisting of a pair of raised arms, which spells its name, ka. Ka statues were sometimes buried with the kings in special shrines and were the focus of the lavish funerary offerings.

Although the ka was shown in human form in Dynastic Egypt, in this early Predynastic period an animal form is not out of the realm of possibility. The earliest kings of Egypt, all had animal names and derived their spiritual might from the power of their eponymous animal. There is a king Scorpion, (and probably two of this name), the famous king Catfish (AKA Narmer), king Fighting Falcon (Hor Aha), king Snake (Wadj), as well as a very early king who wrote his name with an elephant standing on mountains.

The ka, left, and the name stela of the First Dynasty king named Snake (Wadj), right.

If the elephant burial is associated with the large and elaborate Tomb 23 beside which it is located (and there is little reason to doubt it), then we may be able to write the history of this prehistoric time and make live the name of one of Hierakonpolis' earliest kings, just as he would have desired.