DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4862#0027
The boundary
walls
The facade
The portico
THE TOMB AND THE SITE
to mark off a wide section of the slope beneath them by low walls of rub-
ble, brick, or perhaps even of faced masonry. Puyemre was more ambi-
tious. He had a supply of well-cut blocks of limestone from the ruined
walls of Mentuhotep close by, or from a breach that he himself had made
in it, and he employed these in building on top of, or as a facing to, the
banks of rock which the excavation of the forecourt had left, two mag-
nificent boundary walls of the same pyramidal section as the ancient one,
only less steep.1 Four courses are still preserved in places on the south
side (here the bank was entirely cased in), and one or two on the north,
where the natural rock was partly utilized. They suggest that the walls
reached a height of nearly three meters. These solid constructions must
have contributed greatly to the effect made by the noble fagade by isolat-
ing it from unworthier surroundings on both sides.
The Theban custom of leaving the face of the tomb undecorated,
save for the door-framing and occasionally a rounded tablet, is sufficiently
explained by the poor quality of rock which is met with on all but the low-
est levels. Useramun, the contemporary (?) vizier of Egypt, had broken
through the custom in Tomb i3i; but had wisely confined himself to a
series of deeply receding niches and big script. Puyemre's larger ambi-
tions may be called ill-advised, inasmuch as, in order to carry them out
even moderately well, he had to re-face or extensively patch the wall of
the fagade. A secondary consequence, foreseen or not, was that, having
filled the fagade with detail and even some bright color, he felt obliged to
erect an elaborate portico to protect it. The result was indeed imposing
and may have lasted to a late period.2
Of the fagade little remains to us now but sparse blocks and innum-
erable small fragments. Of the portico there are left only the founda-
tions, one drum of its columns, a length of the architrave and cornice,
and many splinters of the construction and of the sculptured scenes which
1 The slope of Mentuhotep's wall is i in 5; that of our tomb, i in 3. Hence the stones had to be laid on
an inclined bed. The section on PI. LXXV is incorrect in this respect.
2 The fire that was kindled in the tomb burnt the two stelae nearest to the doors very thoroughly,
implying some shelter at this point at least. At an undetermined date a solid brick wall was built against
the north stela, apparently to support the architrave. The portico was perhaps preserved deliberately as
an architectural triumph.
walls
The facade
The portico
THE TOMB AND THE SITE
to mark off a wide section of the slope beneath them by low walls of rub-
ble, brick, or perhaps even of faced masonry. Puyemre was more ambi-
tious. He had a supply of well-cut blocks of limestone from the ruined
walls of Mentuhotep close by, or from a breach that he himself had made
in it, and he employed these in building on top of, or as a facing to, the
banks of rock which the excavation of the forecourt had left, two mag-
nificent boundary walls of the same pyramidal section as the ancient one,
only less steep.1 Four courses are still preserved in places on the south
side (here the bank was entirely cased in), and one or two on the north,
where the natural rock was partly utilized. They suggest that the walls
reached a height of nearly three meters. These solid constructions must
have contributed greatly to the effect made by the noble fagade by isolat-
ing it from unworthier surroundings on both sides.
The Theban custom of leaving the face of the tomb undecorated,
save for the door-framing and occasionally a rounded tablet, is sufficiently
explained by the poor quality of rock which is met with on all but the low-
est levels. Useramun, the contemporary (?) vizier of Egypt, had broken
through the custom in Tomb i3i; but had wisely confined himself to a
series of deeply receding niches and big script. Puyemre's larger ambi-
tions may be called ill-advised, inasmuch as, in order to carry them out
even moderately well, he had to re-face or extensively patch the wall of
the fagade. A secondary consequence, foreseen or not, was that, having
filled the fagade with detail and even some bright color, he felt obliged to
erect an elaborate portico to protect it. The result was indeed imposing
and may have lasted to a late period.2
Of the fagade little remains to us now but sparse blocks and innum-
erable small fragments. Of the portico there are left only the founda-
tions, one drum of its columns, a length of the architrave and cornice,
and many splinters of the construction and of the sculptured scenes which
1 The slope of Mentuhotep's wall is i in 5; that of our tomb, i in 3. Hence the stones had to be laid on
an inclined bed. The section on PI. LXXV is incorrect in this respect.
2 The fire that was kindled in the tomb burnt the two stelae nearest to the doors very thoroughly,
implying some shelter at this point at least. At an undetermined date a solid brick wall was built against
the north stela, apparently to support the architrave. The portico was perhaps preserved deliberately as
an architectural triumph.