0, a well north of the wall, sunk below water-level, but in the
filling were found the regular group of coarse pots (XII, 31, 36, 35,
33).

In 197 the coarse pottery occurred with chips of malachite, and in 233
with a vertical alabaster vase and fragments of a large vase identical
with a large late Neolithic shape.

11. We next turn to the other large class of tombs, those entered by
stairways. These may all have been mastabas. The characteristic
massive brick walls remain in several cases, in one, at least,
retaining the recessed panel work and niches. But it may be that these
stairway tombs are rather older than those mastabas which have square
wells, and it seems best not to group them together. The appearance of
these tombs may be seen in Miss Murray's black and white reproduction
of two sketches by Miss Pirie (PL. IX).

The first view shows the stairway, as seen from below, looking
northward; in the other view one is supposed to be looking southward
at the vertical end of the shaft, the tomb entrance and the stone
door.

All these tombs were robbed, excepting, possibly, one. This (St. 2)
was the smallest tomb of the kind that I have seen. The stair was
reduced to a couple of roughly cut steps; the total depth was only 1
m., and though a large stone slab had been placed as a door to the
burial chamber, a robber had only to pierce 20 cm. of soil to get into
the chamber through the roof. The chamber, which was about a metre
square, was filled with a thick damp clay. The bones had decayed so
much that only a few parts could be identified but distinctive
fragments of the skull, the hip ends of the two femurs, a tibia, a
radius and ulna, enabled one to see that the body had lain on the
left side with the head to the north. Before the face was an ivory cup
(shape X, 44). Below the body was a little red dust with spots of
white in it, probably the remains of a wooden coffin painted white.

In and below the white paste, which was all that was left of the bones
of the hand, were two nuggets of gold (one 18 dwts. = 28 grammes) and
a handful of barrel-shaped carnelian beads mixed with very small beads
of gold. By scraping away the earth very gently, one could see that
the gold beads had been strung together to form bands 5 or 6 mm.
broad, alternating with bands of carnelian. A gold bar, 2 cm. long,
pierced with five holes, had clearly served to hold the strings on
which the beads were threaded. There was also a bracelet