DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.6552#0086
68
OPERATIONS CARRIED ON AT GIZEII.
inscribed in a sort of diagram on the large stone over the
entrance of the Seventh Pyramid.5
As the interior of this monument was accessible, I
proceeded to examine it. The whole was an excavation,
and encumbered with stones and rubbish. The passage
in the centre of the northern front descended at an angle
of 33-35 to a vestibule, in which a cutting near the ceil-
ing, and another on the southern side, had been probably-
intended, either for the fixing of a granite slab at the
entrance of the short inclined passage, that led to a sepul-
chral chamber to the westward, or to facilitate the intro-
duction of a sarcophagus into that apartment. The
northern side of this passage was lined with masonry. A
quantity of rain-water and drifted sand had also run down
from the entrance into a flaw, or chasm, on the eastern side
of the vestibule. The sepulchral chamber had been lined
with well-finished masonry, consisting of small squared
slabs of white stone, which had been entirely removed,
with the exception of a few courses near the north-western
corner. A shallow recess on the western side might have
been intended for the reception of a sarcophagus, which,
from some fragments that remained, appeared to have
been composed of polished basalt, and to have been quite
plain. There were some indications of an air-channel on
the northern side, and near it a quantity of the black dust
(consisting probably of decayed stone), so often to be
seen in these buildings; a few small pieces of bone and
of rusty metal were likewise observed amongst the sand,
that had drifted with the rain-water, at the entrance.
s Mr. Perring states that he found the same inscription over the
entrance of the Eighth.
OPERATIONS CARRIED ON AT GIZEII.
inscribed in a sort of diagram on the large stone over the
entrance of the Seventh Pyramid.5
As the interior of this monument was accessible, I
proceeded to examine it. The whole was an excavation,
and encumbered with stones and rubbish. The passage
in the centre of the northern front descended at an angle
of 33-35 to a vestibule, in which a cutting near the ceil-
ing, and another on the southern side, had been probably-
intended, either for the fixing of a granite slab at the
entrance of the short inclined passage, that led to a sepul-
chral chamber to the westward, or to facilitate the intro-
duction of a sarcophagus into that apartment. The
northern side of this passage was lined with masonry. A
quantity of rain-water and drifted sand had also run down
from the entrance into a flaw, or chasm, on the eastern side
of the vestibule. The sepulchral chamber had been lined
with well-finished masonry, consisting of small squared
slabs of white stone, which had been entirely removed,
with the exception of a few courses near the north-western
corner. A shallow recess on the western side might have
been intended for the reception of a sarcophagus, which,
from some fragments that remained, appeared to have
been composed of polished basalt, and to have been quite
plain. There were some indications of an air-channel on
the northern side, and near it a quantity of the black dust
(consisting probably of decayed stone), so often to be
seen in these buildings; a few small pieces of bone and
of rusty metal were likewise observed amongst the sand,
that had drifted with the rain-water, at the entrance.
s Mr. Perring states that he found the same inscription over the
entrance of the Eighth.