DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49271#0038
16
G. A. Reisner
hither by the thieves for examination or division. The rubbish thrown down the hole
formed a sloping heap against the inside of the door-block, and the thieves’ entrance was
choked up by the stones and coarse debris. The hole in the original filling of the stair-
way was loosely filled. Thus whatever intrusive objects went into the tomb were in
the pile of thieves’ debris in the doorway or in the filling of the thieves’ hole. Now in
this region of the Sudan, rain falls about every second summer. As in general the pyra-
mid is on slightly lower ground than the "western” end of the stairway, the water from
the area in front of the pyramid would drain into the stairway. We found therefore that
the chambers had been filled with fine layers of silt brought in by rain water through the
thieves’ entrance and laid down over the floor debris and over the thieves’ debris. The
door-block itself was nearly impervious to water because of the mud plaster, so that the
water seems to have seeped in slowly without disturbing the debris inside. Later, as
the entrance hole became clear, the water seems to have run in more freely and to have
laid down layers of sand and silt. These were interspersed with layers of broken rock
fallen from the roofs and walls, and in most cases this layer of debris reached the
tops of the doors leading from room to room. We were able by the color and the
consistency to distinguish without difficulty the three different deposits,— floor debris,
thieves’ debris, and the layered debris. It is obvious that (a) objects found in the
original filling of the stairway are earlier in date than the burial; (b) that the menats
and beads scattered on the steps and the bronze trays and other objects on the floor of
the stairway were placed there at the time of the burial; (c) that the objects found in place
or in the floor debris of the chambers belong to the burial; and (d) that objects found in
the thieves’ debris and in the water-borne debris may be either from that particular tomb,
or from some other tomb previous in date to the plundering. On the other hand, heavy
stones in the intrusive debris of the thieves’ hole and the doorway come in all probability
from the chapel of the same pyramid. The fact that these different kinds of debris were
successfully distinguished during the excavations was confirmed by the inscribed tablets
of the foundation deposits. All the pyramids from I to XX, except XIX, had been
identified as named in the list previous to the discovery of the foundation deposits. In
no. XIX, the only inscribed object found was a fragment of a shawwabti-figure of III,
and the pyramid had been marked unidentifiable before the name was found in the
foundation deposits.
The foundation deposits rank as decisive evidence as to the person for whom the tomb
was made. They did not, however, always give the name, notably the deposits of XII,
XIII, XIV, and some of the queen’s pyramids. In the case of pyramid IV, three founda-
tion deposits had one faience tablet each. These gave the same name, but a name different
from that on the stela, granite offering stands, and the shawwabti-figures. Pyramid IV
G. A. Reisner
hither by the thieves for examination or division. The rubbish thrown down the hole
formed a sloping heap against the inside of the door-block, and the thieves’ entrance was
choked up by the stones and coarse debris. The hole in the original filling of the stair-
way was loosely filled. Thus whatever intrusive objects went into the tomb were in
the pile of thieves’ debris in the doorway or in the filling of the thieves’ hole. Now in
this region of the Sudan, rain falls about every second summer. As in general the pyra-
mid is on slightly lower ground than the "western” end of the stairway, the water from
the area in front of the pyramid would drain into the stairway. We found therefore that
the chambers had been filled with fine layers of silt brought in by rain water through the
thieves’ entrance and laid down over the floor debris and over the thieves’ debris. The
door-block itself was nearly impervious to water because of the mud plaster, so that the
water seems to have seeped in slowly without disturbing the debris inside. Later, as
the entrance hole became clear, the water seems to have run in more freely and to have
laid down layers of sand and silt. These were interspersed with layers of broken rock
fallen from the roofs and walls, and in most cases this layer of debris reached the
tops of the doors leading from room to room. We were able by the color and the
consistency to distinguish without difficulty the three different deposits,— floor debris,
thieves’ debris, and the layered debris. It is obvious that (a) objects found in the
original filling of the stairway are earlier in date than the burial; (b) that the menats
and beads scattered on the steps and the bronze trays and other objects on the floor of
the stairway were placed there at the time of the burial; (c) that the objects found in place
or in the floor debris of the chambers belong to the burial; and (d) that objects found in
the thieves’ debris and in the water-borne debris may be either from that particular tomb,
or from some other tomb previous in date to the plundering. On the other hand, heavy
stones in the intrusive debris of the thieves’ hole and the doorway come in all probability
from the chapel of the same pyramid. The fact that these different kinds of debris were
successfully distinguished during the excavations was confirmed by the inscribed tablets
of the foundation deposits. All the pyramids from I to XX, except XIX, had been
identified as named in the list previous to the discovery of the foundation deposits. In
no. XIX, the only inscribed object found was a fragment of a shawwabti-figure of III,
and the pyramid had been marked unidentifiable before the name was found in the
foundation deposits.
The foundation deposits rank as decisive evidence as to the person for whom the tomb
was made. They did not, however, always give the name, notably the deposits of XII,
XIII, XIV, and some of the queen’s pyramids. In the case of pyramid IV, three founda-
tion deposits had one faience tablet each. These gave the same name, but a name different
from that on the stela, granite offering stands, and the shawwabti-figures. Pyramid IV