DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.6552#0110
OPERATIONS CARRIED ON AT GIZEII.
85
The sarcophagus did not bear any inscription or hierogly-
phics. The lid had been fixed by two pins in the usual
manner, and also by a dovetail, which was rounded ; and
a plate of metal seemed to have been applied so carefully
underneath it, that in order to insert a lever for its
removal, it had been found necessary to cut a groove
across the rim of the sarcophagus. The lid was not found
in the sepulchral chamber, but pieces of it were afterwards
discovered.
At the bottom of the southern side of the passage,
leading to the sepulchral chamber, a recess had been
formed (something like that in the lower horizontal
passage in the Second Pyramid), and on the opposite side
a flight of seven steps opened into the southern end of a
room, which were three feet below the level of the passage.
(See Plate III., Fig. 4.) This room was rectangular, but
not square with the sepulchral chamber, as it lay 25°
east of north; a position evidently intended, together
with the above-mentioned recess, to facilitate the removal
of the sarcophagus between this and the sepulchral
chamber. It contained four niches or compartments on
the eastern side, and two on the northern; one of the
latter, it is to be observed, had an inclined direction,
apparently for the purpose of receiving some solid sub-
stance of considerable length. This room was half full of
rubbish, and several Arabic characters had been scrawled
on the ceiling. It was probably intended for funereal
ceremonies like those at Abou Simbel, Thebes, &c.
When the large apartment was finally cleared out,
the greater part of the lid of the sarcophagus was found
(as I have already stated) near the entrance of the passage
descending to the sepulchral chamber; and close to it
85
The sarcophagus did not bear any inscription or hierogly-
phics. The lid had been fixed by two pins in the usual
manner, and also by a dovetail, which was rounded ; and
a plate of metal seemed to have been applied so carefully
underneath it, that in order to insert a lever for its
removal, it had been found necessary to cut a groove
across the rim of the sarcophagus. The lid was not found
in the sepulchral chamber, but pieces of it were afterwards
discovered.
At the bottom of the southern side of the passage,
leading to the sepulchral chamber, a recess had been
formed (something like that in the lower horizontal
passage in the Second Pyramid), and on the opposite side
a flight of seven steps opened into the southern end of a
room, which were three feet below the level of the passage.
(See Plate III., Fig. 4.) This room was rectangular, but
not square with the sepulchral chamber, as it lay 25°
east of north; a position evidently intended, together
with the above-mentioned recess, to facilitate the removal
of the sarcophagus between this and the sepulchral
chamber. It contained four niches or compartments on
the eastern side, and two on the northern; one of the
latter, it is to be observed, had an inclined direction,
apparently for the purpose of receiving some solid sub-
stance of considerable length. This room was half full of
rubbish, and several Arabic characters had been scrawled
on the ceiling. It was probably intended for funereal
ceremonies like those at Abou Simbel, Thebes, &c.
When the large apartment was finally cleared out,
the greater part of the lid of the sarcophagus was found
(as I have already stated) near the entrance of the passage
descending to the sepulchral chamber; and close to it