2009 Field Note 2 - Rocking at Hierakonpolis: The 2009 Rock Art Survey

Introduction and the Survey

Every mark made by human agency is of interest for understanding past activity at Hierakonpolis.

Every archaeologist needs a specialization. Some of my colleagues went into lithics, others into ceramics, etc. Rock art is my thing, and that's a natural progression from discovering Australian aboriginal art while hiking in the bush with my dad when I was very young. The study of rock art presents its own challenges: it has its own repertoire of field techniques and ways of interpretation. It can also be physically challenging and is definitely not something you can do from the comfort of an easy chair.

Working with the rock art at Hierakonpolis is a wonderful, unique opportunity to study material that comes from a site that is also being extensively investigated, not only via excavations but also with experimental archaeology. This range, for me, is a perfect blend since my rock art interests have always been rooted in my archaeological background. The integrated approach taken at Hierakonpolis also means that rock art exploration must fit in with the aims of the overall project, which is to assist in the understanding of past activities that once took place at the site. Thus rock art research involves taking note of every mark made by human agency--not simply recording the obvious figures and impressive tableaux as is often the case in rock art studies elsewhere. It is an ideal picture: excavations proceeding in the elite Predynastic cemetery in Wadi Abu Suffian finding wonderful things, while I scramble around the hills finding the petroglyphs!

Mineral resources at Hierakonpolis--phosphates for fertilizer, stone and gravel for building--have been quarried for some time. However, as a result of the rising water table, the desire for stone to build water-resistant foundations for new houses has risen commensurately. Ease of access to the cliffs running across the west half of the site means that many potential rock art bearing areas have already been smashed to pieces and hauled away. One devastating example of what rock mining can do occurred close to the famous boat petroglyphs at HK61, located in a wadi tributary to the Wadi Abu Suffian, the main wadi running through the site. Rock miners, attempting to cut a hard sandstone boulder down to size destroyed beautifully pecked ibexes, which were part of a larger scene of boats and animals (see before and after shots) carved on to two inner sides of this split boulder. This is one of the cases of destruction we know about, but the piles of stone chips and scars of missing boulders suggest there are many more we don't know about and never will.

The north side of the split boulder at HK61b before--decorated with an intricate scene of animals.

The same rock after rock miners tried to break it up for removal.

The scars of stolen boulders are marked by the piles of stone chips stretching on to the horizon. We will now never know what might have been there.

The trail of destruction--tracks used by the stone miners running past the petroglyphs at HK61

To buy at little time, we have blocked the tracks wherever possible.

It is almost impossible to guard all of the far-flung areas in the vast area covered by the archaeological site. The only way to reduce the impact of these mining activities is through extensive survey of the threatened areas, careful recording of what remains, and the physical hindering of access to the site by blocking the miner's tracks wherever possible, just to give us a little more time.

This season, for the few weeks I could be there, I managed to survey a total of 2.375 km2 of area for rock art. Of this, 0.75 km2 was surveyed intensively, turning over every stone and examining every rock face, then mapping and epigraphic recording of the rock art observed. The survey registered 57 sites, constituting 165 individual panels of petroglyphs. (Although the majority of the petroglyphs were strokes and gashes in the rock, easy to observe and record, others required both perseverance and ingenuity to see and document.) More than half of these were previously unknown. Of the sites registered, panels represented the following:

Human figures: 2%
Animals, including giraffe, cows, birds: 10%
Boats: 4%
Writing in hieroglyphs and other scripts: 4%
Abstract symbols including scratched lines sometimes in intricate patterns: 80%

The majority of sites (76%) occur in the area south and west of the HK 11 hill on the south side of the Wadi Abu Suffian and the small wadi running beside the elaborate boat petroglyphs at HK61. The number of sites indicates a high level of human activity in this area, which sadly continues today in the form of rock mining. Rock artists and rock miners unfortunately seem to have sought the same hard sandstone boulders. Overall 46% of sites occur in association with rock shelters.

We tend to think of rock art as a prehistoric phenomenon, but while there is no doubt that most of the petroglyphs at HK do date to the Predynastic, the assemblage spans the ages. Across space and time, there is clearly a human urge to commemorate one's presence at a spot whether you are a prosperous official, a Second Intermediate Period soldier named Renseneb, or a girl named Alice.

One of two petroglyphs of an official that may commemorate an inspection of the HK6 cemetery

Posted to a remote rock shelter to guard access to the wadi in the troubled times of the Second Intermediate Period (ca. 1600 B.C.), the soldier Renseneb left his name.

High in the cliffs flanking the wadi, a surprising discovery! Made when and why? Unknown.

Different light brings out different images. Hikes around the site in the morning light and then in the late afternoon were very informative. Walking around at different times of day not only revealed different images but also different fellow inhabitants of the desert realm. When it was just about quitting time, the desert foxes would come out looking for morsels and on occasion, I could catch them returning in the early morning after their nocturnal rounds.

Capturing the HK 61A South Boat--before it Sails Away for Good

The best known rock art at HK are the boats and giraffe that grace the two interior sides of a large boulder that fell from the hills long ago and split in two halves forming a narrow corridor between them about a meter wide and providing the rock artists with a fine smooth surface for the pecking and carving. First discovered in 1979, this cleft rock is located at the edge of a small wadi that joins the Wadi Abu Suffian, just before the cliffs begin to hem it in. The glyphs were studied in 1980 and subsequently the most elaborate of the animal headed boats, the one with the charging bull above it, became the logo for the Hierakonpolis Expedition. The boats on the north boulder and the giraffe on the south were documented in facsimile; however, the boat on the south boulder was not recorded at that time. It is much more faded, having been exposed to the northerly winds over the millennia, but in light of the current threats to the survival of the rock art at Hierakonpolis, it was decided that a record needed to be made as soon as possible regardless of the difficulty.

The boats on the north side of the split boulder at HK61A

The elaborate boat that became the logo for the Hierakonpolis Expedition

The giraffe on the south face

The boat on the south face of the boulder--can you see it?

The boat had to be traced over a number of days. The pecking was so fine, it could only be made out at certain times when the sun was at the right angle. To be exact, the right time was 7:20 am for 20 minutes! This is when the boat would reveal itself and then sail away into sandstone obscurity for the next 24 hours. This meant hurrying to the site, pens in mouth right after breakfast.

Success! The south boat recorded

The work paid off when a boat every bit as elaborate as its companions was revealed. Far from being unfinished, as initially believed in 1980, it, too, had an animal head and elaborate horns slightly different from the others. In fact each of the boats differs in the details of the horns on the animal head and the decoration at the stern. The big surprise was the little animal pecked above the boat--whether it is a charging bull or a lost calf remains to be determined. Nevertheless, it suggests that the cleft in the rock was designed as a unit, with the northwest and southeast boats as perhaps "mirror images."

Similar boats occur on another split boulder (HK61B) not far away, but rock miners have recently defaced the ibexes on it. The boats on this boulder are smaller and more schematically rendered, although the distinct heads, horns, prow ornaments, and cabins can be distinguished.

While those at HK61B are far less elaborate, more far more intricate are the near identical boats found at El Kanais, about 50km to the east of Hierakonpolis in the Wadi Abbad, which runs through the Eastern Desert to the Red Sea coast. This season we had the opportunity to visit this site and see for ourselves the large tableaux of boats covering the cliffs around a small temple built by Seti I. The location of a well deep in the desert, the site was obviously sacred for a very long time. It also became clear that these boats liked to travel in packs or, perhaps better stated, flotillas.

An overview of Kanais with the temple of Seti I

An animal headed boat from Kanais, one of the closest parallels for the HK boats

The big tableau at Kanais--an elaborate and large flotilla of boats.

The boats in the desert have long been a subject of discussion. Another procession of boats in the Wadi Abbad

While animal headed boats occur throughout the southern part of Upper Egypt, the closest parallels for the details of the Hierakonpolis boats is at Kanais, indicating a close connection with this site and the activities in this beautiful and mineral rich part of the Eastern Desert. A particular fondness for split boulders may indicate another connection with Kanais, where one large rock was the focus of attention for many millennia. The boat scenes pecked and cut into the rocks at Hierakonpolis would appear to be abbreviated versions of the large and intricate scene at Kanais and may have been invested with the same significance...whatever that was. The meaning of these ships in the desert has long been matter of discussion, which is still ongoing.

The Gradual Emergence of the Giraffes in Giraffe Cave

This small cave in the HK11C hill is now called Giraffe Cave.

The HK61 locality is not the only place where rock art appears at Hierakonpolis. The hill at HK11, the first major cliff on the south side of the Wadi Abu Suffian, clearly had a special meaning in Predynastic times. A small cave high up on the side of this hill revealed it secrets, once again, when the right light conditions showed not boats but giraffes. Passing by, I noticed faint cross hatching which I originally took to be patchy cows. As the light improved, it could be seen that were three separate panels, each with a different story to tell about the animals depicted. Three elements preserved on three different animals on the three different panels, taken together led to the conclusion that they were giraffes. This only became clear, however, when the faint traces had been recorded on clear acetate in the small windows of opportunity afforded by the sun over the course of several early mornings and with the aid of a space blanket!

The key thing about tracing was to get the right light. That's not always easily obtained, so a space blanket came in very handy--reflecting on one side and shade with the other. With the help of my trusty assistants we were able to control light on both sides using the blanket while I frantically traced the lines as they appeared.

The height of the rock art also meant that I could try out my new super gizmo for awkwardly located rock art. My own creation, it involves a tripod with a long central pole with a lateral arm to stabilize the camera against the rock face. A long cable attached to the computer allows me to position the camera and make sure I am taking the picture I want. In the bright Upper Egyptian sun, the space blanket comes in useful again, so I can see the computer screen!

A giraffe in three parts:
Part 1--a body	Part 2--a mane	Part 3--a head

Bit by bit the giraffes emerged. The first thing that could be seen was that the cross hatching represented the patchy coat of the giraffe. The next panel down depicted the mane along the back of the long neck. And the third panel gave us a head with horns. The other interesting thing to note was that at least one of the giraffes was tethered at the neck--a common feature in Egyptian rock art.

The cave may be the same place investigated by Ambrose Lansing in 1935, which he called the "High Place." Interesting pottery of early Predynastic date found there is now on display in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Although Lansing came to the conclusion that the overhang had been used as a shady spot for potters, the presence of giraffes and other less clear glyphs around, suggest this shallow cave was more than just a resting place. Nearby, a terrace covered in scoop marks, probably for libations, suggests that this hill has special significance, perhaps marking the entrance to HK6, the special zone reserved as the burial place for the royalty of Predynastic Hierakonpolis.

A terrace overlooking the wadi is covered in scoop marks, smoothed hollows in the natural rock that may have been used for the pouring of libations.

The meaning of the giraffe, like everything else when it comes to rock art, remains obscure. It is somehow ironic that despite the growing number and diversity of animals being found in the elite cemetery at HK6--now more than 70 of them, including 2 elephants, 1 wild bull, 1 hartebeest, 2 hippos, 8 baboons, 7 cats, and a large number of dogs, cattle, and goats (some of giant size)--giraffe are not among them, but the search continues!