of the legs of a
small sandstone statue were found near. In the E. wall itself there
are two niches; in and near them were found many small pieces of
worked limestone, some inscribed. They are copied in PL. XVIII, 49-53
and 55. The face in 49 retained a touch of green paint on the cheek,
an important piece of evidence for the dating of the Naqada tombs, the
occupants of which also used this method of adorning themselves. The
pieces, 53 and 54, seem to be parts of a stela; 50 and 55 are from the
bases of limestone statues.

The inscriptions give us Ka-mena's name, and show him as a king's
acquaintance and a priest.

The chambers inside the mastaba, left blank in the plan, were found
filled with brick earth; this was cleared out, but nothing save a
scrap of IVth dynasty pottery was found. The earth was doubtless
thrown in in this way to economise bricks; the cross walls would
serve only to keep this loose earth from falling down the well in the
centre. The well was about 15 feet deep, filled with thick, damp clay,
the bottom being, even in January, very near the water-level. The
chamber was to the south, closed by a rough-hewn slab of sandstone
three inches thick. It should be noted that the sandstone in the
neighbourhood breaks naturally into very flat plates, so that it is
easy to pick out slabs which, with very little dressing, will serve
for building; such pieces were found in many of the early tombs.
This slab being removed, the chamber was found to be full of a very
tenacious clay, much of which had to be cut away with a knife, for in
so tough a substance a light blow with an adze has no effect, and a
heavy one may damage some valuable object before it can be seen. The
whole chamber was lined with flat sandstone blocks, but the thin roof
slabs had given way under pressure of the earth above. The style of
building was irregular (_v._ PL. I), the blocks being fitted, but not
squared. The body had lain on the west side, with its head north; no
trace of a coffin remained, and the bones were a mere white paste,
only to be distinguished by scraping sections with a knife through
mud and bone. Under the whole body was a bed of white sand. Near
the entrance were six vases (XI, 12), of a shape and fabric
indistinguishable from a late Neolithic form common at Naqada, and
opposite the middle of the body was a group of important objects.
These were: a model granary in rough red pottery (PL. VI), each little
storehouse having