Howard-Vyse, Richard William Howard: Operations carried on at the Pyramids of Gizeh in 1837: with an account of a voyage into upper Egypt, and Appendix (Band 1) (London, 1840)

238

OPERATIONS CARRIED ON AT GIZEH.

continually found upon the stones, that were removed at
the southern front of the Great Pyramid.

May 3d.

Reis, 9. Men, 61. Children, 46.

The same works were repeated.

I examined the rocky ground to the westward of the
Great Pyramid, and the tomhs and buildings to the north
of the Second. Foundations might every where be traced
under the sands; and shafts lined with unburnt bricks,
amongst which probably a cartouche might be found, which
would determine the date of the constructions.1 Portals
and sepulchral chambers had been formed in the northern
ridge of the mountain. The entrance of one of the largest
was supported by square pillars, and contained a mummy-
pit. The interior consisted of two ruined chambers, which
had formerly been adorned with painted stucco, but were
filled with the sands of the desert. A staircase descended
from these apartments to a lower range of excavations
and shafts, where fragments of mummies, and of embalmed
animals were to be found beneath the sand. Part of a
large bird, which had been preserved with great care, was
brought out. The footsteps of wild beasts, the sole
tenants of these deserted sanctuaries, were every where to
be seen.

Jack imagined that a stone on a level with the base at
the southern front of the Fourth Pyramid concealed an
entrance. I thought he was mistaken, but I allowed him
to remove it, as the excavation might be of service in

* Much information might possibly be obtained from the cartouches
on the bricks in the various ruins in Egypt.