DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.6553#0129
APPENDIX.
81
ployed in cultivating the ground, with wooden hoes, under the
direction of a single Bedouin, like blacks under a slave-driver.
The boat was drawn over a bank into a canal, and arrived
opposite the Pyramid of Illahoon on Nov. 1st. This building is
situated about two miles to the northward of the village, and
at no great distance from the cultivated plains, which extend to
the banks of the river. It is also near the commencement of
a strip of land, along which the principal road passes to the
Faioum, and which is rendered productive by the admission of
water through a lock, erected about five or six years since,
apparently upon antient foundations. The arrangements of the
water at this place, and particularly those at the Lake Moeris,
are important, because they regulate the inundation of the whole
country. The water is brought down by the Bahr Youseff; and
by means of a sluice, the remains of which are visible near the
entrance of the canal, the current was originally turned through
a lock, and through several suial sluices to the westward of it,
into the Faioum. A bank or dyke, composed of antient masonry,
and now called Gisr e Sultanee, confined the inundation between
the river and the mountain, and was furnished with various
small sluices, for the occasional passage of the water, necessary
for the cultivation of the country below it ; by which means, the
water could be regulated with the greatest accuracy, and the
dangers, which might have resulted from an accidental failure
in a larger work, were avoided.
The Pyramid is built round a knoll of rock, which is nearly
40 feet higher than the base. The rock towards the base has
been faced with crude bricks, and a superstructure has been
erected above it, composed of the same material, and supported
by walls of stone, which proceed from the centre of the edifice,
and which, until they are minutely examined, have the appear-
ance of masses of rock. (See Plate.)
The Plate also shews the mode of construction. The bricks are
laid in a mortar formed of Nile earth, as high as the walls extend,
and above them in dry gravel. They measure lfig by 8g, and
about 5g inches in thickness; are well worked, and are formed
of Nile earth, mixed up with various proportions of chopped
straw. They have also been marked with the fingers on the
upper surface, in the same manner as those in the ruins at
Dashoor.
The Pyramid has had an external casing of stone, and also
VOL. III. c,
81
ployed in cultivating the ground, with wooden hoes, under the
direction of a single Bedouin, like blacks under a slave-driver.
The boat was drawn over a bank into a canal, and arrived
opposite the Pyramid of Illahoon on Nov. 1st. This building is
situated about two miles to the northward of the village, and
at no great distance from the cultivated plains, which extend to
the banks of the river. It is also near the commencement of
a strip of land, along which the principal road passes to the
Faioum, and which is rendered productive by the admission of
water through a lock, erected about five or six years since,
apparently upon antient foundations. The arrangements of the
water at this place, and particularly those at the Lake Moeris,
are important, because they regulate the inundation of the whole
country. The water is brought down by the Bahr Youseff; and
by means of a sluice, the remains of which are visible near the
entrance of the canal, the current was originally turned through
a lock, and through several suial sluices to the westward of it,
into the Faioum. A bank or dyke, composed of antient masonry,
and now called Gisr e Sultanee, confined the inundation between
the river and the mountain, and was furnished with various
small sluices, for the occasional passage of the water, necessary
for the cultivation of the country below it ; by which means, the
water could be regulated with the greatest accuracy, and the
dangers, which might have resulted from an accidental failure
in a larger work, were avoided.
The Pyramid is built round a knoll of rock, which is nearly
40 feet higher than the base. The rock towards the base has
been faced with crude bricks, and a superstructure has been
erected above it, composed of the same material, and supported
by walls of stone, which proceed from the centre of the edifice,
and which, until they are minutely examined, have the appear-
ance of masses of rock. (See Plate.)
The Plate also shews the mode of construction. The bricks are
laid in a mortar formed of Nile earth, as high as the walls extend,
and above them in dry gravel. They measure lfig by 8g, and
about 5g inches in thickness; are well worked, and are formed
of Nile earth, mixed up with various proportions of chopped
straw. They have also been marked with the fingers on the
upper surface, in the same manner as those in the ruins at
Dashoor.
The Pyramid has had an external casing of stone, and also
VOL. III. c,