ZATU644~a

Tablet (P000867), Uruk, ca. 3350-3200 BC

At the edge of the main Predynastic town (the settlement cluster HK29/29A) in Hierakonpolis is the house and workshop of a potter. The remnants of foundation trenches for post and reed walls of additional buildings and animal pens as well as the eroded (unburnt) remains of other sunken floor structures surround the house, but some may date to earlier or later phases of occupation.

A crocodile and the shadow in the Nile River on C-Ware bottle, Gebelein (?), Naqada IA-IIB period

Proto-cuneiform ZATU662   (Five toes on the front feet of a crocodile)

Two crocodiles on C-Ware elliptical bowl, Gebelein (?), Naqada IA-IIB period

Proto-cuneiform ZATU644~a   (Three claws of a crocodile)

A crocodile has five toes on the front feet and four on the back feet. Three of the toes are clawed.

Narmer Palette (recto), Hierakonpolis, ca. 3000 BC

Dorsal view of the skull of a crocodile

Narmer Palette (recto), Hierakonpolis

Pre-firing "potters' mark" from Tomb 23 and Tomb 85 at HK6 (Elite Cemetery) in Hierakonpolis

ZATU644~a   was probably used as a marker: executed by the "crocodile" deity.

HK6 Tomb 23 is the largest known tomb of the Naqada IIB period. The special columned area called an offering chapel at Tomb 23 deposited a human vertebra with cut marks indicative of decapitation. Tomb 23 was burned probably not too long after it was built, as charred matting still adheres to some of the fence posts.

HK6 Tomb 85 was essentially empty and its contents widely scattered. Pottery recovered in the tomb’s vicinity points to the Naqada IIB period.

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January 25, 2025   Takahiko Nakagawa