1. EXECRATION PIT LOCUS 1055
Pit 13, execration pit L1055
(Plate Ia), is located in square H/III-s/16, which was cut under wall M1019,
1.75 m east of execration pit L1016 (Plate Ib). It belonged to the transitional
phase D/1.2 as does foundation deposit L1057.
It was an oval pit, measuring 40
by 50 cm in section and 15 to 20 cm in depth, containing three skulls, nine
fingers, and some pottery sherds (Fig. 6). According to a preliminary report on
the human remains presented by the anthropologist of the mission, Karl
Großschmidt, skulls No. 1 and No. 3 belonged to two early mature males, and No.
2 to a mature adult. Skull No. 1 lay on its left side looking south-east, while
No. 2 was found on its back and No. 3 on its face. One of the skulls has a hole
on its right side above the ear, probably resulting from a blow which also
appears to have damaged the right temple. Only the fingers belonging to three
right hands were found, and no traces of cuts were observed on the fingers.
Five fingers were found beside skull No. 1, two beside No. 2 and two beside No.
3.
Some sherds found with these
human remains probably served as filling material. These included the body
fragment of a drop jar and a sherd of another. Both vessels had a maximum
diameter of 17 cm and were made from uncoated Nile B2 fabric. There was also
found the body fragment from a cooking pot in Nile E2 which belongs to the
Middle Bronze Age II B–C tradition.
2. EXECRATION PIT LOCUS 1016
In my opinion, Pit 1, L1016, was
an execration pit as well. It lay in square H/III-s/16 (Fig. 4) and had been
dug into a layer of ash and humus earth (L1013), namely, the courtyard surface
(ph. D/1.1), southwest of the building from the late Hyksos period citadel (ph.
D/2). In the process, the pit cut into the mud-brick pavement M1029. It was
oval in shape and had a maximum diameter of 2.20 m north-south by 1.90 m
east-west. The pit was 0.45 m deep at the edges and 1.10 m in the middle (Plate
Ib). The level of this courtyard was higher than the interior rooms of the
palace of the 18th Dynasty.
At the bottom of the pit (Fig. 8
and Plate IIa) were two male skeletons. Both had been laid on their stomachs
and were found looking south. Skeleton No. 1 on the west side of the pit was an
early adult ca. 1.68 m tall. The right arm and hand were raised, but the head
and the left arm were missing. Skeleton No. 2, lying parallel to the first one,
was complete with the arms extended along the body the face looking east. It
belonged to a mature male, 1.70 m tall. No injuries inflicted by an axe, a
knife, sword, or spear were observed on either skeleton..A large quantity of
broken pottery (ca. 380 vessels), the small fragment of a limestone relief,
part of a limestone senet game board, a silex blade, large amounts of
limestone fragments (25 dm2), sandstone chips (3 dm2), two fragments of
quartzite, a silex fragment, some river pebbles, a bright dark-brown hard
stone, the fragment of a mud-brick, and some animal bones were thrown on top of
the two bodies (Fig. 7 and Plate IIb).
3. THE SIGNIFICANCE OF
EXECREATION PITS LOCUS 1055 AND 1016
By all appearances, both pits
preserved complete and partial skeletons of defeated enemies which had been
sacrificed and buried in connection with the construction of new buildings
above the Hyksos citadel; thus, they were probably part of an execration ritual
to purify the area of the citadel, following the conquest and occupation of
Avaris by Ahmose.
Figurines of enemies (whether
they be foreigners or Egyptians) were usually substituted for the actual
bodies. In this way, the soul of the enemy was captured in the ritual figurine
that bore its name, and by means of magic rites, the real person suffered the
same affliction and death as the figurine. The clay figurines, shown with the
hands tied behind their backs, the heads drilled, and sometimes even without
hands, were inscribed with the names of various enemies: the chiefs, peoples
and countries of Asia, Libya and Nubia, and Egyptians as well. The names of the
enemies and the accompanying curse formulae, the so-called “execration texts”,
were written on such figurines from the Old Kingdom until the Late Period.
Execration texts can also be found on pottery vessels that served the same
purpose. (Perla Fuscaldo, Tell El-Dabca
X/2: The Palace District of Avaris. The Pottery of the Hyskos Period and the
New Kingdom (Areas H/III and H/VI): Part II: Two Execration Pits and a
Foundation Deposit [Österreichische Akademie Der Wissenschaften
Denkschriften Der Gesamtakademie 61; Wien: Österreichische Akademie der
Wissenschaften, 2010], 23-24)
