DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.6551#0247
202
OPERATIONS CARRIED ON AT GIZEH.
in the pyramids had been cut through the rock on the
southern side, and opened into the excavation, at about
fifteen feet from the top, without any apparent means of
descent, or any communication with the bottom : it is
probable, therefore, that some building formerly existed
in the centre, (like that afterwards discovered in Camp-
bell's Tomb,) with which the passage communicated.
The lower part of the perpendicular sides were hollow,
and several large grottoes seemed to extend to a consi-
derable distance, particularly towards the south-west.
The bottom was covered by a pavement, which was said
to have resisted every attempt to remove it. With gun-
powder, however, this might be easily accomplished. The
desert mountains abound with tombs in every direction.
I examined three, which contained regular arches with
key-stones, and vestibules with domed roofs. They were
near each other, and there were probably many more
constructed in the same manner. They had been closed
with stone doors fixed on pivots. I did not consider
them of very remote antiquity; and it is to be observed
that, in the adjacent plain, there are heaps of burnt
bricks, apparently Roman. Large tumuli, surrounded
with masonry, and ruined sepulchres covered with sand,
occupy the highest part of the hills; and the traces of a
wall extend from east to west, upon the summit. I
afterwards examined the periboli near the Third Pyramid,
the excavations in it, and the other works.
March 21th.
Reis, 5. Men, 101. Children, 109.
The same works were repeated.
OPERATIONS CARRIED ON AT GIZEH.
in the pyramids had been cut through the rock on the
southern side, and opened into the excavation, at about
fifteen feet from the top, without any apparent means of
descent, or any communication with the bottom : it is
probable, therefore, that some building formerly existed
in the centre, (like that afterwards discovered in Camp-
bell's Tomb,) with which the passage communicated.
The lower part of the perpendicular sides were hollow,
and several large grottoes seemed to extend to a consi-
derable distance, particularly towards the south-west.
The bottom was covered by a pavement, which was said
to have resisted every attempt to remove it. With gun-
powder, however, this might be easily accomplished. The
desert mountains abound with tombs in every direction.
I examined three, which contained regular arches with
key-stones, and vestibules with domed roofs. They were
near each other, and there were probably many more
constructed in the same manner. They had been closed
with stone doors fixed on pivots. I did not consider
them of very remote antiquity; and it is to be observed
that, in the adjacent plain, there are heaps of burnt
bricks, apparently Roman. Large tumuli, surrounded
with masonry, and ruined sepulchres covered with sand,
occupy the highest part of the hills; and the traces of a
wall extend from east to west, upon the summit. I
afterwards examined the periboli near the Third Pyramid,
the excavations in it, and the other works.
March 21th.
Reis, 5. Men, 101. Children, 109.
The same works were repeated.