DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.6553#0092
APPENDIX.
57
wood. But Mr. Perring observes that the place does not contain
many shafts or tombs, although it formed part of the cemetery of
Acanthus, the site of which is marked by considerable mounds,
near the mountains to the north-westward of Zowyet el Dashoor.
THE NORTHERN BRICK PYRAMID.
On the 8th of September, 1839, Mr. Perring began to remove
the rubbish and sand accumulated at the northern front of this
Pyramid, which is called by the Arabs, " Haram Mekubbub,"
the Round or Flat Pyramid, as, from the effects of time and of
the seasons, it has the appearance of a mound ; but the materials
had not been taken away, as they had been from the Southern
Pyramid.
It is composed of crude bricks, and has been cased with stone
from the Mokattam quarries, pieces of which were found near the
base. The northern front has had the addition of a temple or
portico, adorned with sculpture and hieroglyphics, like those said
to be attached to the Pyramids in Ethiopia.3 The casing and the
portico had, however, been entirely removed, and their former
existence was only ascertained by the operations carried on by
Mr. Perring, in September and October 1839, in order to discover
the entrance of the Pyramid; and in continuing the excavation
to the eastward a hollow, about 6 feet deep, was found in the
ground under the Pyramid, which was supposed to have been
occasioned by the sinking in of a passage below it. It was
therefore cleared out to the depth of 8 feet, but nothing was
discovered.
The dilapidation of the Pyramid seems to have been begun at
a very early time by the Egyptians themselves, as mummies were
found in the ruins; and as many of the broken stones were in-
scribed with hieratic characters of a comparatively late period, by
which it would appear that the persons who destroyed the edifice,
probably for the sake of the materials, not only retained the
customs, and the language of antient Egypt, but also used the
spot as a place of interment; and the destruction of the masonry
was no doubt accelerated by the facility, with which the stones
could be removed to the neighbouring city, at one time the
capital of the lower country. Indeed, the Arab historians have
attributed the dilapidation of the Pyramids, and of the Tombs
at Gizeh, to the establishment of Cairo in the vicinity of those
monuments.
3 See Caillaud, AVaddington, and Hoskins.
57
wood. But Mr. Perring observes that the place does not contain
many shafts or tombs, although it formed part of the cemetery of
Acanthus, the site of which is marked by considerable mounds,
near the mountains to the north-westward of Zowyet el Dashoor.
THE NORTHERN BRICK PYRAMID.
On the 8th of September, 1839, Mr. Perring began to remove
the rubbish and sand accumulated at the northern front of this
Pyramid, which is called by the Arabs, " Haram Mekubbub,"
the Round or Flat Pyramid, as, from the effects of time and of
the seasons, it has the appearance of a mound ; but the materials
had not been taken away, as they had been from the Southern
Pyramid.
It is composed of crude bricks, and has been cased with stone
from the Mokattam quarries, pieces of which were found near the
base. The northern front has had the addition of a temple or
portico, adorned with sculpture and hieroglyphics, like those said
to be attached to the Pyramids in Ethiopia.3 The casing and the
portico had, however, been entirely removed, and their former
existence was only ascertained by the operations carried on by
Mr. Perring, in September and October 1839, in order to discover
the entrance of the Pyramid; and in continuing the excavation
to the eastward a hollow, about 6 feet deep, was found in the
ground under the Pyramid, which was supposed to have been
occasioned by the sinking in of a passage below it. It was
therefore cleared out to the depth of 8 feet, but nothing was
discovered.
The dilapidation of the Pyramid seems to have been begun at
a very early time by the Egyptians themselves, as mummies were
found in the ruins; and as many of the broken stones were in-
scribed with hieratic characters of a comparatively late period, by
which it would appear that the persons who destroyed the edifice,
probably for the sake of the materials, not only retained the
customs, and the language of antient Egypt, but also used the
spot as a place of interment; and the destruction of the masonry
was no doubt accelerated by the facility, with which the stones
could be removed to the neighbouring city, at one time the
capital of the lower country. Indeed, the Arab historians have
attributed the dilapidation of the Pyramids, and of the Tombs
at Gizeh, to the establishment of Cairo in the vicinity of those
monuments.
3 See Caillaud, AVaddington, and Hoskins.