Length & Width

Variation in the length of the cones is considerable.

For instance, the longest cone, which was found at El-Tarif, is 52.5 cm (=1 cubit). This cone has no seal impressions on its surface and is dated to the Middle Kingdom. The longest cone I know among stamped cones in the New Kingdom is the one which was mentioned in Gauthier 1908 [BIFAO 6]: 134, measuring nearly 40cm. The cone is # 138 and another example of the same type is long, too (37.5cm. BM: EA 62852. Davies wrote the length of this type to be '39.5-40cm' in his manuscript (cf. page 144 in Davies's notebook, bottom left part)).

On the other hand, cones belonging to the viceroy of Kush, Merymose is relatively short. The one stored in the Náprstek Museum (P 2003) measures 14.4 cm (Suková 2004: 94). The shortest cone I know is the one preserved in the Ethnographical museum of Oslo. According to Naguib, 'EM 12641' is just 10.1cm (Naguib 1987: 71). Another short cone for example is housed in the Musée du quai Branly (inv. no. 71.1882.9.3) and is 13cm.

It is very difficult to determine whether the cones became shorter or longer over the years; this is partly because most of the examples available are either accidentally chipped or artificially broken by both plunderers and scholars for transportation. Considering the variety of lengths even in the same type (for example, the full length of # 98 varies from 20 to 29 cm (cf. page 53 in Davies's notebook and page 38 in Macadam's Red file)), some may think that there are no such 'trends' at all.