DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4195#0012
THE MASTABA.
exact height with any certainty. The batter
of the exterior walls lies between 1 in 16 and
1 in 20. Three kinds of stone are employed
in the building. Conspicuous parts, such as
the exterior walls facing the roadways, and the
upper part of all the interior Avalls of the ehief
rooms, are constructed of the fine white lime-
stone of Turah. The walls on the E. and W.,
the lower (unsculptured) courses within and
without,1 the framing of the doorways of the
pillared hall, and all subsidiary Chambers,
are built of a coarser stone of a purplish
colour. A yellow stone of poor quality
is used for roofing-slabs. Both the latter
kinds are obtained, I understand, in the
neighbourhood.
6. N". Side.—The entrance to the mastaba
lies towards the E. end of the N. frontage. It
is narrow and set back in a recess, the S. wall
of which has a much slighter batter than the
facade. The masses of äebris outside the build-
ing at this point foiled an attempt to determine
if this recess had been pillared and roofed as in
some mastabas, and whether there were any
remains of an inscribed architrave. A white
stone which is left on the south wall of the
recess may represent the topmost course, but it
is too much shattered to retain any trace of
inscription. The square lintel stone which
crosses the doorway is blank. The recess offers
proof that the builders were not above pre-
ferring show to solidity. At first sight it
appears to be built of very large blocks, but
these are soon found to be no more than
comparatively thin facing-stones, backed by a
wall of nibble. A large part of this casing has
disappeared from the E. side of the recess. At
the N.W. corner of the tomb the wall of the
next mastaba on the N. can be seen, and
shows that the lane between the mastabas
1 At any rate in the portico, the only point outside where
these courses were reached by the excavations.
must be less than hve feet Avide at the
ground level. From Section 4, PI. iL, some
idea can be gained how impressive a walk in
this necropolis must have been when these
great structures were all intact and seen at
their füll height.
7. W. Side.—The W. wall, which is com-
posed of the coarser stone, presently terminates
at the entrance to another mastaba, built of the
same material, and cutting deeply into the
S.W. corner of its neighbour at right angles.
Its E. wall is vertical, and this, combined with
its general aspect, indicates that it is a later
erection.
8. S. Side.—The S. wall is built of blocks
of fine white stone, but its W. end appears to
have been broken down to admit of later con-
structions. It continues here as a rubble wall
of irregulär stones and large black bricks, until
it meets a plastered Avall at right angles (E.
wall of the intruding mastaba?). A doorway
in this latter (protected on the N. and E. by a
second retaining wall at a lower level) admits
to a small ruined chamber of rough construc-
tion. The junction of the white stone with the
rubble is marked by a small brick recess, and
from this point the former extends eastward far
past the point where the S.E. corner might be
looked for, indicating a continuous frontage on
this side.
9. E. Side.—The mounds of rubbish com-
pelled me to leave both the external and the
internal construction of the mastaba at this
point in much doubt. The corner of an inner
chamber built in coarse stone was laid bare,
and also some white stones to the N.E. of this,
which appeared to form the castern entrance of
another room. Presumably these belong to an
adjoining mastaba, but no clear line of junction
could be established. Were it not otherwise
improbable, an entrance or extension of the
mastaba in this direction might be suspected.
Pcrhaps the last excavation has decided the
point.
b 2
exact height with any certainty. The batter
of the exterior walls lies between 1 in 16 and
1 in 20. Three kinds of stone are employed
in the building. Conspicuous parts, such as
the exterior walls facing the roadways, and the
upper part of all the interior Avalls of the ehief
rooms, are constructed of the fine white lime-
stone of Turah. The walls on the E. and W.,
the lower (unsculptured) courses within and
without,1 the framing of the doorways of the
pillared hall, and all subsidiary Chambers,
are built of a coarser stone of a purplish
colour. A yellow stone of poor quality
is used for roofing-slabs. Both the latter
kinds are obtained, I understand, in the
neighbourhood.
6. N". Side.—The entrance to the mastaba
lies towards the E. end of the N. frontage. It
is narrow and set back in a recess, the S. wall
of which has a much slighter batter than the
facade. The masses of äebris outside the build-
ing at this point foiled an attempt to determine
if this recess had been pillared and roofed as in
some mastabas, and whether there were any
remains of an inscribed architrave. A white
stone which is left on the south wall of the
recess may represent the topmost course, but it
is too much shattered to retain any trace of
inscription. The square lintel stone which
crosses the doorway is blank. The recess offers
proof that the builders were not above pre-
ferring show to solidity. At first sight it
appears to be built of very large blocks, but
these are soon found to be no more than
comparatively thin facing-stones, backed by a
wall of nibble. A large part of this casing has
disappeared from the E. side of the recess. At
the N.W. corner of the tomb the wall of the
next mastaba on the N. can be seen, and
shows that the lane between the mastabas
1 At any rate in the portico, the only point outside where
these courses were reached by the excavations.
must be less than hve feet Avide at the
ground level. From Section 4, PI. iL, some
idea can be gained how impressive a walk in
this necropolis must have been when these
great structures were all intact and seen at
their füll height.
7. W. Side.—The W. wall, which is com-
posed of the coarser stone, presently terminates
at the entrance to another mastaba, built of the
same material, and cutting deeply into the
S.W. corner of its neighbour at right angles.
Its E. wall is vertical, and this, combined with
its general aspect, indicates that it is a later
erection.
8. S. Side.—The S. wall is built of blocks
of fine white stone, but its W. end appears to
have been broken down to admit of later con-
structions. It continues here as a rubble wall
of irregulär stones and large black bricks, until
it meets a plastered Avall at right angles (E.
wall of the intruding mastaba?). A doorway
in this latter (protected on the N. and E. by a
second retaining wall at a lower level) admits
to a small ruined chamber of rough construc-
tion. The junction of the white stone with the
rubble is marked by a small brick recess, and
from this point the former extends eastward far
past the point where the S.E. corner might be
looked for, indicating a continuous frontage on
this side.
9. E. Side.—The mounds of rubbish com-
pelled me to leave both the external and the
internal construction of the mastaba at this
point in much doubt. The corner of an inner
chamber built in coarse stone was laid bare,
and also some white stones to the N.E. of this,
which appeared to form the castern entrance of
another room. Presumably these belong to an
adjoining mastaba, but no clear line of junction
could be established. Were it not otherwise
improbable, an entrance or extension of the
mastaba in this direction might be suspected.
Pcrhaps the last excavation has decided the
point.
b 2