DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.6553#0099
62
APPENDIX.
below it (composed only of two blocks) by two of the above-men-
tioned cramps on each of the four sides. These cramps had been
laid in cement composed of plaster of Paris. They were probably
formed of wood or of stone, but none were discovered."
The bricks, of which the body of the Pyramid was built, were
10 inches long, 8 inches wide, and from 4| to 5J inches thick.
They did not afford any inscription, but had been marked on the
upper surface, by means of the fingers, with different signs, appa-
rently according to their quality ; but varying according to their
position, as the marks at the north-western differed from those
at the north-eastern angle, and at the south-eastern angle only
Mr. Perring observed rr\ - . The greatest number were com-
posed of alluvial soil, and were marked thus Those formed
of sandy loam, or of sand mixed up with Nile earth, and a little
straw, had this mark ^ . Others, with not quite so much sand
in their composition, had merely been marked by a thumb thrust
into the centre; a few, which contained a good deal of straw,
had this "w^**"^*^ The most usual mark, particularly on
those near the base, had been made by two fingers, about an inch
apart, having been drawn down the middle; and the bricks so
distinguished were formed of a very dark tenacious earth, and
without any intermixture of straw. They were all remarkably
solid, and they had been laid principally in courses from north to
south, occasionally intersected by courses running from east to
west. The bricks were bedded in, and the interstices between
them were filled up, with fine dry sand. In the operations already
described, Mr. Perring had examined more than 90 feet of the
northern front, and the platform, which supported the casing and
the portico. He had also ascertained by two shafts, that the rock
was 15 feet below the base of the building, and therefore, as
the sand and rubbish had accumulated to a great height, that
excavations in search of the entrance (in which he had already
employed above sixty people more than a month), would be
6 Similar spaces, in the blocks of the Great Temple at Karnac, were found
to have been completely filled with cement, which, notwithstanding the great
heat of the climate, still retained a degree of moisture. See Vol. I. p. 77.
APPENDIX.
below it (composed only of two blocks) by two of the above-men-
tioned cramps on each of the four sides. These cramps had been
laid in cement composed of plaster of Paris. They were probably
formed of wood or of stone, but none were discovered."
The bricks, of which the body of the Pyramid was built, were
10 inches long, 8 inches wide, and from 4| to 5J inches thick.
They did not afford any inscription, but had been marked on the
upper surface, by means of the fingers, with different signs, appa-
rently according to their quality ; but varying according to their
position, as the marks at the north-western differed from those
at the north-eastern angle, and at the south-eastern angle only
Mr. Perring observed rr\ - . The greatest number were com-
posed of alluvial soil, and were marked thus Those formed
of sandy loam, or of sand mixed up with Nile earth, and a little
straw, had this mark ^ . Others, with not quite so much sand
in their composition, had merely been marked by a thumb thrust
into the centre; a few, which contained a good deal of straw,
had this "w^**"^*^ The most usual mark, particularly on
those near the base, had been made by two fingers, about an inch
apart, having been drawn down the middle; and the bricks so
distinguished were formed of a very dark tenacious earth, and
without any intermixture of straw. They were all remarkably
solid, and they had been laid principally in courses from north to
south, occasionally intersected by courses running from east to
west. The bricks were bedded in, and the interstices between
them were filled up, with fine dry sand. In the operations already
described, Mr. Perring had examined more than 90 feet of the
northern front, and the platform, which supported the casing and
the portico. He had also ascertained by two shafts, that the rock
was 15 feet below the base of the building, and therefore, as
the sand and rubbish had accumulated to a great height, that
excavations in search of the entrance (in which he had already
employed above sixty people more than a month), would be
6 Similar spaces, in the blocks of the Great Temple at Karnac, were found
to have been completely filled with cement, which, notwithstanding the great
heat of the climate, still retained a degree of moisture. See Vol. I. p. 77.