Pan-Grave Culture

The Pan-Grave Culture is a Middle Nubian Archaeological culture from Ancient Egypt, Nubia, and possibly the Eastern Desert from c. 1850 BCE – 1600 BCE. They were once confused with the Medjay of the Egyptian textual tradition. Some may have worked as mercenaries during the Egyptian wars of the Second Intermediate Period, while others blended as a Nubian identity into Egyptian society along the Nile Valley. They were once connected with the Eastern Desert, but no evidence for them has been found in the Eastern Desert.

The Pan Grave people

The Pan Grave people were a group of Nubian culture. They are known for creating pan shaped burial plots. Originally archaeologists believe they were from the Northern Nile Valley area. Many experts today, including Liszka, are questioning that belief. The Pan Grave culture primarily existed for the Late Middle Kingdom to the Second Intermediate period. Archaeological evidence shows they may have been mercenaries fighting for the Egyptians. Every grave contained a single body and an ax. This explains the widespread area of the cemeteries.

Pan Grave burials[edit]

The name pan-grave burials is very misleading. Despite the name not all of the burial sites are pan shapes; this was discovered by William Matthew Flinders Petrie. There are actually far less pan style graves than the other forms. The cemeteries that the pan grave people left behind were in many different forms. Sand graves were in ground pits made mostly of sand. This was what Petrie found and said looked like a pan shape giving the pan grave culture its name. There were also Circular graves, oval graves, rectangular graves and tumuli graves. De Souza believes that the type of burial changed with the evolution of the culture.

Sand Graves[edit]

The Sand graves are the pan shape graves that give it name.(2.1.1) These are made into the soft sand, they are round and very shallow. These are the newest of the Pan Grave culture. Some of the objects that are found inside of the grave are pottery, animal hide and baskets.

Circular graves[edit]

Circular graves were the most often and oldest used by the pan grave culture. They were more bowl shaped and had the wall of the burial more round in shape.(2.1.2) They were built on a more solid foundation. The objects were placed around the person in the center. The body was positioned with their knees to their chest.

Oval Graves[edit]

The Oval graves were more egg shaped cemeteries. Some records show that they had shelves built into the walls of the grave.(2.1.3) This is around the intermediate time for the pan grave people.

Rectangular graves[edit]

Rectangular graves were in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth dynasty. They had sharp corners and were a meter deep. The body was laid straight and the head was lined with the spine. There are also coffins. Rectangular grave had mud-brick wall.(2.1.4) These were usually one or two meters in length. They are the rarest type of grave and show the influence of the Egyptians on the pan grave people.

Tumuli[edit]

Tumuli^[2] graves are mound sites that have stone, sand and other things stacked on top of the grave. The pan grave people cover these grave mostly with sand graves.(2.2.2)

Artifacts of Pan Grave[edit]

The major convection between all the gravesites is the commonality of the artifacts. The artifacts that were found in the graves are axes, armbands, Bovines skull and the last most importantly, pottery. A majority of the pottery found in the burials was not made by the pan grave people. They were probably the result of trade with other cultures. The  materials used were from all over the world. (3.1).  There were pots that were made by the pan grave culture. These were made by hand and were very intricate and stylish.  The bovine skulls, from deer or other antlered animals, were painted with scenes of war and battle.  Most of the burials included axes and arm bands, a combination of ceremonial and practical.  This was not just for the man either, women and young children, who were no older than a few weeks or years old had wood axes in their graves.

References

Liszka, Kate (2015-06-19). "Are the Bearers of the Pan-Grave Archaeological Culture Identical to the Madjay-People in the Egyptian Textual Record?". Journal of Ancient Egyptian Interconnections. 7 (2).

de Souza, Aaron (2022-07-12). "Not Marginal, But Marginalised. The 'Pan-Grave' Archaeological Culture, Pharaonic Egypt, and Egyptology". Journal of Ancient Near Eastern History. 9 (2): 173–194.

Liszka, Kate (2021-01-01). "Pan-Grave and Medjay: At the Intersection of Archaeology and History". The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Nubia. page 3-4

Souza, Aaron de. "Pots and Pans. Observations on the Pan Grave Culture in Egypt. (MA Thesis, 2012)".

Souza, Aaron M. De. New Horizons: The Pan-Grave Ceramic Tradition in Context. Golden House Publications, 2019. page 16-17