DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.6553#0062
APPENDIX.
35
D. The upper line contains a portion of a date, viz. " the eighth of
Epiphi," the third month of the last Egyptian season. The lower line
somewhat resembles A. The determinative image of a man seated upon
a chair seems to indicate that these two lines express a name. The
characters are not perfectly defined, but the upper line contains an
inscription similar to the cartouche of a king, and ends with three pairs
of uplifted hands, preceded, either by a branch (see Champol. " Gram.
Egypt." p. 43, n. 165), or else by the symbol (ibid. p. 40, n. 94) ; and
immediately before it is a horizontal line and a parallelogram. The
lower line contains the expression " Penti," and the symbol, a T, initial
of Tot, inserted in Champol. " Gram. Egypt." p. 43, n. 158. It is also
to be remarked, that a name, resembling in its composition the one in
the upper line, occurs in an inscription upon a tomb found atGizeh. See
Nos. 61 and 64, Egyptian Saloon, in the British Museum.
The following is the substance of a letter from Mr. Harris of
Alexandria to Mr. Perring,4 dated April 18, 1839: —
I promised to send to you the observations that had occurred to me
upon examining the quarry-marks which you found upon the stones of
the Pyramids of Abouseir. The interest which they excite, arises from
the supposition, that these writings, being directions to guide those, who
embarked the stone at the quarries, who conveyed it to its destination,
and who built with it when there, will contain a more matter-of-fact
meaning than the more recondite inscriptions that adorned the fabric
after it was " completed."
Some of the characters evidently indicate the building, for which the
stones were destined, and others the position, in which they were to be
placed ; this last direction could not be necessary in regard to all the
stones of a building, but would be requisite for all, or most of those com-
posing the linings of the chambers, passages, &c. the angles, and other
particular positions.
NORTHERN PYRAMID.
A. Here we have the name of the king, for whom the Pyramid was
probably erected as a tomb.
The position, in which the stone was to be placed, seems to be Indi-
ra n
cated by the marks = n ■ .\ J. = the meaning of which it would
Cfr
4 Mr. Perring states that Mr. Harris has lately discovered at Alexandria,
a statue of Jupiter Serapis, which has been broken exactly in the manner de-
scribed by Mr. Gibbon, in his account of the destruction of the Temple, a. d.
3&9. See Vol. III. p. 80, chap. 28.
35
D. The upper line contains a portion of a date, viz. " the eighth of
Epiphi," the third month of the last Egyptian season. The lower line
somewhat resembles A. The determinative image of a man seated upon
a chair seems to indicate that these two lines express a name. The
characters are not perfectly defined, but the upper line contains an
inscription similar to the cartouche of a king, and ends with three pairs
of uplifted hands, preceded, either by a branch (see Champol. " Gram.
Egypt." p. 43, n. 165), or else by the symbol (ibid. p. 40, n. 94) ; and
immediately before it is a horizontal line and a parallelogram. The
lower line contains the expression " Penti," and the symbol, a T, initial
of Tot, inserted in Champol. " Gram. Egypt." p. 43, n. 158. It is also
to be remarked, that a name, resembling in its composition the one in
the upper line, occurs in an inscription upon a tomb found atGizeh. See
Nos. 61 and 64, Egyptian Saloon, in the British Museum.
The following is the substance of a letter from Mr. Harris of
Alexandria to Mr. Perring,4 dated April 18, 1839: —
I promised to send to you the observations that had occurred to me
upon examining the quarry-marks which you found upon the stones of
the Pyramids of Abouseir. The interest which they excite, arises from
the supposition, that these writings, being directions to guide those, who
embarked the stone at the quarries, who conveyed it to its destination,
and who built with it when there, will contain a more matter-of-fact
meaning than the more recondite inscriptions that adorned the fabric
after it was " completed."
Some of the characters evidently indicate the building, for which the
stones were destined, and others the position, in which they were to be
placed ; this last direction could not be necessary in regard to all the
stones of a building, but would be requisite for all, or most of those com-
posing the linings of the chambers, passages, &c. the angles, and other
particular positions.
NORTHERN PYRAMID.
A. Here we have the name of the king, for whom the Pyramid was
probably erected as a tomb.
The position, in which the stone was to be placed, seems to be Indi-
ra n
cated by the marks = n ■ .\ J. = the meaning of which it would
Cfr
4 Mr. Perring states that Mr. Harris has lately discovered at Alexandria,
a statue of Jupiter Serapis, which has been broken exactly in the manner de-
scribed by Mr. Gibbon, in his account of the destruction of the Temple, a. d.
3&9. See Vol. III. p. 80, chap. 28.