DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.1350#0037
THE FA YUM ROAD.
35
follows :•
■ye over seven miles <
}f roac
was rather too
to do
with an Arab
The
intervals are as
■ ■—-
inches.
__
inches.
A-B
62200
3000
2073
B-C
19800
1000
19-80
C-D
9700
500
19-40
D-E
10300
500
20-60
E-F
21300
1000
21-30
F-G
20493
1000
20*49
G-H
10498
500
2I-00
H-J
10312
500
20-62
J-L
39200
2000
19-60
L-N
40900
2000
20-45
N-P
41600
2000
20-80
P-Q
41800
2000
20-90
Q-R
20600
1000
20-60
R-S
20800
1000
20-80
S-T
20000
1000
20-oo
T-U
10200
500
20-40
U-V
44200
?
(T-V
53600)
2500
21-44?
A~U 399703 i9500 20-50
Here the distances are manifestly in round
numbers of the usual Egyptian cubit; the exact
value of the mean depends of course on the general
scale of the plan, which depends in turn on the
distances of the pyramids by which it was fixed.
The probable error of the result is probably ± '06
on the cubit of 20-50. The positions of the stelae
at F and S are 12,000 cubits apart; and though the
value of the schcenus was somewhat variable, the
most accepted quantity is 12,000 cubits. Hence
these stelae are called here " schcenus marks." The
little guard-chamber on the crest of the ridge seems
to have been the half schcenus from the starting-
point ; and as its position is naturally fixed, probably
the start was not an exact point, but assumed as
half a schcenus before this hut. The distances
therefore are reckoned from the mouth of the valley
near Sakkara, which is just the point where this
straight line of road would have to bend eastward
into the cultivated land.
55- Parallel with this in its earlier part is the
Oasis road. This is marked out by two lines of
flints swept up on either side, forming a band
about five feet wide. The middles of these bands
are 1070, 1030, 1010, and 1030 inches apart, at
different portions of the road; averaging 1035,
or 50 cubits of 20-7 inches. This road differs from
the Fayum road in not having any distance marks.
It rises from the plain of the pyramids up the ridge
behind that, and there parts from the Fayum road.
A slight ridge of pebbles branches from it in cross-
ing a sloping open ground. It then dips into a
valley; and by its side there occurs a dug-up hollow
with pieces of limestone lying about, which looks
as if it were the foundation of a small station or
guard-house. On rising out of this slight valley, it
makes a sharp turn at about 45 ° up the slope, and
then nearly regains its original direction, gradually
slanting across a very wide valley which runs down
to Sakkara. A few small bits of limestone have
been dug out of a hole about 86 feet north of the
road. At the furthest point reached, the ridge of
pebbles was seen stretching away in the distance
as far as it could be traced.
56. A few notes may be here added on the nature
of this part of the desert, which has probably not
been examined before. There are no sharp valleys
in it, and what slight depressions there are scarcely
ever exceed 10 or 20 feet in depth. Generally
speaking, the ground rises continuously from the
Nile valley up to the range which extends from
Kom el Kashab behind the Gizeh pyramids, along
to the west of the Birket Kurun. This range, at
its highest point (which is 2-7 miles N., and 16-4
miles W. of the South Dahshur pyramid), is about
970 feet above the high Nile; at the very prominent
point, seen plainly from Cairo, and known as Kom
el Kashab, behind the Gizeh pyramids, the range
is about 760 feet over high Nile. (This point is
io-2 N., and n-6 miles E. of the South Dahshur
pyramid). These are some of the highest points
of this long ridge, which forms a great watershed
of this region. Its position is shown approximately
on the map, p. 445, of Baedecker's Guide; though
a corner there runs too near the Nile by about
four miles near Abusir. From this ridge the de-
scent to the Nile valley is almost continuous. There
are two main valleys, or rather ledges, in the slope
between this and Dahshur. One runs out at Abusir
or north of that, its east side rising not more than
about 10 feet; the other runs out at Sahkara, and
is divided from the Nile valley by a rise of about
20 or 30 feet. The long and wide valley marked
on the War Office map, and in the Derikmaler, as
running from the south of the Dahshur pyramids
some 15 or 20 miles to the N.W., is entirely wrong.
That valley reaches its watershed at barely three
miles W. of Dahshur, and is only a small drainage
valley eroded at right angles to the edge of the
Nile valley. It has nothing to do with the great
structural valleys, which all run S.W. to N.E., and
which, with their parallel branches, dominate the
form of this region between the Fayum and Cairo
The Fayum road, it will be seen, keeps in the
35
follows :•
■ye over seven miles <
}f roac
was rather too
to do
with an Arab
The
intervals are as
■ ■—-
inches.
__
inches.
A-B
62200
3000
2073
B-C
19800
1000
19-80
C-D
9700
500
19-40
D-E
10300
500
20-60
E-F
21300
1000
21-30
F-G
20493
1000
20*49
G-H
10498
500
2I-00
H-J
10312
500
20-62
J-L
39200
2000
19-60
L-N
40900
2000
20-45
N-P
41600
2000
20-80
P-Q
41800
2000
20-90
Q-R
20600
1000
20-60
R-S
20800
1000
20-80
S-T
20000
1000
20-oo
T-U
10200
500
20-40
U-V
44200
?
(T-V
53600)
2500
21-44?
A~U 399703 i9500 20-50
Here the distances are manifestly in round
numbers of the usual Egyptian cubit; the exact
value of the mean depends of course on the general
scale of the plan, which depends in turn on the
distances of the pyramids by which it was fixed.
The probable error of the result is probably ± '06
on the cubit of 20-50. The positions of the stelae
at F and S are 12,000 cubits apart; and though the
value of the schcenus was somewhat variable, the
most accepted quantity is 12,000 cubits. Hence
these stelae are called here " schcenus marks." The
little guard-chamber on the crest of the ridge seems
to have been the half schcenus from the starting-
point ; and as its position is naturally fixed, probably
the start was not an exact point, but assumed as
half a schcenus before this hut. The distances
therefore are reckoned from the mouth of the valley
near Sakkara, which is just the point where this
straight line of road would have to bend eastward
into the cultivated land.
55- Parallel with this in its earlier part is the
Oasis road. This is marked out by two lines of
flints swept up on either side, forming a band
about five feet wide. The middles of these bands
are 1070, 1030, 1010, and 1030 inches apart, at
different portions of the road; averaging 1035,
or 50 cubits of 20-7 inches. This road differs from
the Fayum road in not having any distance marks.
It rises from the plain of the pyramids up the ridge
behind that, and there parts from the Fayum road.
A slight ridge of pebbles branches from it in cross-
ing a sloping open ground. It then dips into a
valley; and by its side there occurs a dug-up hollow
with pieces of limestone lying about, which looks
as if it were the foundation of a small station or
guard-house. On rising out of this slight valley, it
makes a sharp turn at about 45 ° up the slope, and
then nearly regains its original direction, gradually
slanting across a very wide valley which runs down
to Sakkara. A few small bits of limestone have
been dug out of a hole about 86 feet north of the
road. At the furthest point reached, the ridge of
pebbles was seen stretching away in the distance
as far as it could be traced.
56. A few notes may be here added on the nature
of this part of the desert, which has probably not
been examined before. There are no sharp valleys
in it, and what slight depressions there are scarcely
ever exceed 10 or 20 feet in depth. Generally
speaking, the ground rises continuously from the
Nile valley up to the range which extends from
Kom el Kashab behind the Gizeh pyramids, along
to the west of the Birket Kurun. This range, at
its highest point (which is 2-7 miles N., and 16-4
miles W. of the South Dahshur pyramid), is about
970 feet above the high Nile; at the very prominent
point, seen plainly from Cairo, and known as Kom
el Kashab, behind the Gizeh pyramids, the range
is about 760 feet over high Nile. (This point is
io-2 N., and n-6 miles E. of the South Dahshur
pyramid). These are some of the highest points
of this long ridge, which forms a great watershed
of this region. Its position is shown approximately
on the map, p. 445, of Baedecker's Guide; though
a corner there runs too near the Nile by about
four miles near Abusir. From this ridge the de-
scent to the Nile valley is almost continuous. There
are two main valleys, or rather ledges, in the slope
between this and Dahshur. One runs out at Abusir
or north of that, its east side rising not more than
about 10 feet; the other runs out at Sahkara, and
is divided from the Nile valley by a rise of about
20 or 30 feet. The long and wide valley marked
on the War Office map, and in the Derikmaler, as
running from the south of the Dahshur pyramids
some 15 or 20 miles to the N.W., is entirely wrong.
That valley reaches its watershed at barely three
miles W. of Dahshur, and is only a small drainage
valley eroded at right angles to the edge of the
Nile valley. It has nothing to do with the great
structural valleys, which all run S.W. to N.E., and
which, with their parallel branches, dominate the
form of this region between the Fayum and Cairo
The Fayum road, it will be seen, keeps in the