DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.6552#0089
70 OPERATIONS CARRIED ON AT GIZEII.
destroyed, and the place was full of rubbish, but no traces
of a sarcophagus were discovered. Some pateras, pearl
oyster shells, earth, &c. were found near the Eighth Pyramid,
which shewed that the entrance was not far off; and at
one time we imagined that it had been discovered between
two inclined blocks at the base; but they proved to be
parts of the casing, and the passage was afterwards found
in a higher part of the building. Several of the casing-
stones remained; they had been roughly chiselled into
the proper angle, and then worked down to a polished
surface after they had been built, and in many places the
latter operation had not been entirely performed; they
were as firmly laid as the blocks in the Great Pyramid,
and the masonry of the two buildings had a great resem-
blance ; and it is to be remembered that tradition assigns
this tomb to Cheops' daughter.
I carefully examined the Third Pyramid whilst the
people were at their dinners, and the result confirmed my
opinion as to the position of the entrance. I therefore
ordered Goodman (who superintended the work) to leave
the heap of rubbish and of accumulated sand behind him,
and to employ all the people in clearing away the large
blocks under the eastern side of the chasm made by the
Mamelucs, which I knew to be in the centre of the py-
ramid, and which also appeared to be the centre of the
levelled part of the masonry already mentioned; where
the inscription, containing the name of Mycerinus, and
described by antient historians, may have been placed.
At all events, the entrance into this monument does
not appear to have been concealed, although the utmost
care has been taken to secure the interior from viola-
tion. When the people had come to this work, I
destroyed, and the place was full of rubbish, but no traces
of a sarcophagus were discovered. Some pateras, pearl
oyster shells, earth, &c. were found near the Eighth Pyramid,
which shewed that the entrance was not far off; and at
one time we imagined that it had been discovered between
two inclined blocks at the base; but they proved to be
parts of the casing, and the passage was afterwards found
in a higher part of the building. Several of the casing-
stones remained; they had been roughly chiselled into
the proper angle, and then worked down to a polished
surface after they had been built, and in many places the
latter operation had not been entirely performed; they
were as firmly laid as the blocks in the Great Pyramid,
and the masonry of the two buildings had a great resem-
blance ; and it is to be remembered that tradition assigns
this tomb to Cheops' daughter.
I carefully examined the Third Pyramid whilst the
people were at their dinners, and the result confirmed my
opinion as to the position of the entrance. I therefore
ordered Goodman (who superintended the work) to leave
the heap of rubbish and of accumulated sand behind him,
and to employ all the people in clearing away the large
blocks under the eastern side of the chasm made by the
Mamelucs, which I knew to be in the centre of the py-
ramid, and which also appeared to be the centre of the
levelled part of the masonry already mentioned; where
the inscription, containing the name of Mycerinus, and
described by antient historians, may have been placed.
At all events, the entrance into this monument does
not appear to have been concealed, although the utmost
care has been taken to secure the interior from viola-
tion. When the people had come to this work, I