DOI article:
Griffith, Francis Ll.: Progress of Egyptology: archaeology, hieroglyphic studies, etc.
DOI Page / Citation link: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.12423#0023
Archaeology, Hieroglyphic Studies, Etc.
13
of the wood mere traces remained, but vertical grooves on many of the
capitals and horizontal channels in the floor showed that the screens had
once existed.
" A fair number of blocks had been taken from pagan buildings and
re-used; one of these, a fine quartzite stela of Nekhthorheb, employed by
the monks as a threshold in the refectory, is of importance, but it is un-
fortunate that the inscribed face was left uppermost.
"(2.) In the temple of Teta the central part, north of the pyramid
found last year, was dug or rather quarried out.
" As before, the XlXth Dynasty level was well defined, but no shafts
were important. The best individual find was a perfect draught-board
with its eleven pieces and two knucklebones, neatly packed into a drawer
in the end of the block.
" Of the earlier temple little remained but the pavement and far from
all of that. A few pieces of relief were obtained here and there and some
blocks of a wall remained in place, but oftener the position of a wall was
only traced from the roughened surface of the pavement where it had stood.
A small stair cut out of one block of alabaster remained. There wrere
three or four granite blocks with the names of Teta from doorways, but as
yet this site has been singularly unproductive. The best objects were a
death mask of plaster, of what period we cannot say, and a headless
crouching statue of a Xllth Dynasty pluralist named Tetaemsaf, who was
priest of a whole series of pyramids from Gizeh to Medum.
" (3.) A trial was also made at the Step Pyramid on the east side.
There was here once some building with very massive foundations, but it
has all been quarried systematically away.
" The enclosure wall was also examined and found to consist of a thick
core of rough local stone with a facing of very fine panelled masonry
—| | | distant about a metre
from the core, the space between filled with loose rubbish. It seems
that this structure was already known, as M. Barsanti some years ago
cleared a length of the wall in the southern quarter and covered it
up again.
" (4.) The last part of the work could not be carried out with the
same method as the rest of the excavations. Its purpose was to find
mastabas suitable for sale to European and American museums. It will
be remembered that for some years past the Egyptian Government has
sold, at a very low price, whole chambers of mastabas to museums in
Europe and America, hoping in this way to cut off their market from
those Arabs who break out reliefs from Old Kingdom tombs to sell to
13
of the wood mere traces remained, but vertical grooves on many of the
capitals and horizontal channels in the floor showed that the screens had
once existed.
" A fair number of blocks had been taken from pagan buildings and
re-used; one of these, a fine quartzite stela of Nekhthorheb, employed by
the monks as a threshold in the refectory, is of importance, but it is un-
fortunate that the inscribed face was left uppermost.
"(2.) In the temple of Teta the central part, north of the pyramid
found last year, was dug or rather quarried out.
" As before, the XlXth Dynasty level was well defined, but no shafts
were important. The best individual find was a perfect draught-board
with its eleven pieces and two knucklebones, neatly packed into a drawer
in the end of the block.
" Of the earlier temple little remained but the pavement and far from
all of that. A few pieces of relief were obtained here and there and some
blocks of a wall remained in place, but oftener the position of a wall was
only traced from the roughened surface of the pavement where it had stood.
A small stair cut out of one block of alabaster remained. There wrere
three or four granite blocks with the names of Teta from doorways, but as
yet this site has been singularly unproductive. The best objects were a
death mask of plaster, of what period we cannot say, and a headless
crouching statue of a Xllth Dynasty pluralist named Tetaemsaf, who was
priest of a whole series of pyramids from Gizeh to Medum.
" (3.) A trial was also made at the Step Pyramid on the east side.
There was here once some building with very massive foundations, but it
has all been quarried systematically away.
" The enclosure wall was also examined and found to consist of a thick
core of rough local stone with a facing of very fine panelled masonry
—| | | distant about a metre
from the core, the space between filled with loose rubbish. It seems
that this structure was already known, as M. Barsanti some years ago
cleared a length of the wall in the southern quarter and covered it
up again.
" (4.) The last part of the work could not be carried out with the
same method as the rest of the excavations. Its purpose was to find
mastabas suitable for sale to European and American museums. It will
be remembered that for some years past the Egyptian Government has
sold, at a very low price, whole chambers of mastabas to museums in
Europe and America, hoping in this way to cut off their market from
those Arabs who break out reliefs from Old Kingdom tombs to sell to