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.124 Therefore, the pottery stands in this tomb support a First Dynasty date.One stone vessel, a portion of another, and some beads were also found in tomb L 24.The partial vessel is theupper half of a cylinder jar with wavy bands; a shallow bowl with a flat base is intact.According to Williams, thecylinder jar could have been produced in Egypt during the Naqada III period through the First Dynasty,125 but theshallow bowl was produced only during the First Dynasty.126 He contends that some cylinder jars and stone bowlsmust be redated from the First Dynasty to the Naqada IIIa period to account for their appearance in the Cemetery Ltombs.127 With regard to the beads, Williams cites as parallels only the ''early versions of the grooved pendant andof the bilobate beads.found among the jewelry deposited in the [First Dynasty] tomb of Djer."128In order to date tomb L 24 to the Naqada IIIa period, it is necessary to push back to the Naqada IIIa period, from aslate as the First Dynasty, the earliest accepted dates for some stone bowls and tall, Page 114decorated pot-stands, 129 and to accept the possibility that both low and high pot-stands were commonly usedsignificantly earlier than the evidence suggests.It also requires acceptance of a theory proposed by Williamsconcerning a mummified arm that was recovered from the tomb of Djer.Williams speculates that this arm was stolen from a Naqada IIIa tomb and moved to Djer's tomb for safe keepingby an unknown thief.He bases this conjecture on one bracelet, found on the arm, that is decorated with serekhs onwhich falcons are perched.Citing stylistic studies, he proposes that this motif was no longer used by Djer's timeand must have come from an earlier tomb.Apparently, although this point is not clear, other bracelets found on themummified arm are the only close parallels for the bilobate beads from tomb L 24.130 In contrast, W.M.F.Petriedates the bracelet with serekhs and falcons to early in the reign of Djer.131 The mummified arm was wrapped inlinen, but no evidence exists to suggest that mummies were wrapped in linen during the Naqada IIIa period, as theywere in the First Dynasty.132 The bracelet consists of individual and alternating plaques of gold and turquoise.Theearliest and closest parallels for these plaques are lapis lazuli and ivory plaques that were found in the sametomb.133 The evidence, therefore, supports Petrie's dating for the bracelet.Finally, Williams's analysis shows thatthe iconography on the Qustul incense burner has parallels dating as early as the Naqada II period and as late as theFirst Dynasty.134It therefore is clear that too many conflicting factors must be accommodated for tomb L 24 to fit the chronologythat Williams has constructed for Cemetery L.If we consider instead the First Dynasty, the only real difficulty isthat some of the pottery may be too early, but it is possible that these old pots were heirlooms that had somesentimental value to the occupant of the tomb.The importance of heirlooms and their collection is a human traitthat seems to transcend cultural boundaries.The Egyptian ripple-flaked blade recovered from the previouslymentioned Palestinian tomb is one example.At the southern Mesopotamian site of Uruk a beautifully carved vasedating to the Uruk period was recovered from a temple that is firmly dated to the Jamdat Nasr period.What isinteresting about this vase is that it was saved in spite of having been badly broken.135 The example that bestillustrates this practice of collecting heirlooms comes from Egypt.Below the pyramid of Djoser, first king of theThird Dynasty, approximately 40,000 stone vessels were discovered dating Page 115to the First and Second Dynasties.136 Therefore, the discovery of a few heirlooms from a grave in Nubia shouldnot come as a surprise.Another theory proposed by W.Y.Adams is that since tomb robbing was a popular industryin ancient Egypt, it is possible that various stolen items from older tombs may have been passe and of little valuein Upper Egypt, but they still could be used as trade goods in Nubia.137 A similar situation occurs during theEighteenth Dynasty when Egyptians exported goods pillaged from older Egyptian tombs to Crete.138 According tothe archaeological evidence from tomb L 24, then, it seems that the tomb should be dated to the early FirstDynasty, as should the Qustul incense burner.Therefore, based on the evidence, the Nubian incense burners, theScorpion macehead, and the Metropolitan Museum knife handle all date to the unification of Egypt or later.Furthermore, when we take into account that the earliest evidence of the White Crown appears on a Susan cylinderseal, and the earliest depiction of the White Crown in Egyptian iconography is in association with Mesopotamian-style high-ended ships, then it is feasible that the White Crown is a Mesopotamian import.This in turn wouldstrengthen the possibility that the second register on the reverse of the Narmer palette depicts Narmer usurping theregalia of the northern king.This theory is supported by some textual evidence that suggests a connection between the White Crown and Buto.Of all the gods, Osiris appears to be most closely associated with the White Crown.This association is so strongthat by the Nineteenth Dynasty Osiris is described as wearing his crown as he leaves the womb.139 Moreover,Osiris appears to either come from Mesopotamia or is an amalgamation of an Egyptian and Mesopotamian god.The earliest form of the name of Osiris consists of two ideograms, one of which denotes a "seat" and the other an"eye".Asar was the title of the Mesopotamian god Marduk, and his name is written with the same two ideograms.Osiris also appears to have strong ties to Byblos.140The Pyramid Texts, which contain the earliest mention of Osiris were recovered from pyramids of the Fifth andSixth Dynasties.Some of the texts, however, are believed to be much older and possibly based on oral traditionthat dates to the Predynastic period.This span of time is reflected in the different burial customs mentioned, frompredynastic sand graves to brick mastabas and finally to stone pyramids.141These texts clearly indicate that by the Fifth Dynasty Osiris and Page 116the White Crown were associated with Upper Egypt and the Red Crown with Lower Egypt, 142 but earlierassociations connecting Buto, Osiris, and the White Crown still survive in the Pyramid Texts.In these texts Osirisis identified with the dead king and his son Horus is identified with the living king.When Isis, the consort ofOsiris, wails after finding Osiris dead, only the gods of Buto come to mourn.143 Isis, who is the deified throne,144then gives birth to Horus while hiding at Khemmis, and Khemmis is an island that appears to be located in amarshy area in or near Pe (Buto),145 and the word ''Pe" in Egyptian also means seat or throne.146 The birth ofHorus at Buto is important because the eye of Horus is identified with the White Crown, and Horus gave thiscrown to his father Osiris.147 Samuel Mercer explains this association between the White Crown and Horus byproposing that the Horus kings conquered the South before the time of Menes.148Archaeological discoveries have disproved this early belief of a conquest of the South by Deltaic tribes, but apredynastic connection between Buto and the White Crown still remains and is supported by Pyramid Text § 455-456, which reads "take the Wrrt-[great White] crown from the great and mighty talkers [or foreigners](?)149 whopreside over Libya and from Sobk (Sebek), Lord of Baku."150 As previously mentioned in this chapter, Libya orTjehenu of predynastic times was probably located in the western Delta and included the Deltaic sites of Sais andButo.The location of Baku is not as clear
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