DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.3559#0007
PYRAMIDS OF ZOWYET EL ARRIAN AND REEGAH.
inscribed with hieroglyphics. At the edge of the hills, on the northern side of the valley, are traces of an antient square building. It
is called by the Arabs El Deir [the convent), a name, however, which is often indiscriminately applied by them to antient ruins.
Upon a projecting knoll, on the eastern side of the mountain, and near the village of Abou Roash, are also the remains of a
building of considerable magnitude and solidity. It is composed of crude bricks, made of Nile earth, without any intermixture
of straw. Small sepulchral grottoes at the bottom of inclined passages have been roughly hewn in the side of the mountain ;
they contain sarcophagi, which are without any ornament or inscription.
Upon a plain now covered with sand, between this place and the village of Kerdassy, the site of a considerable town may
be traced. The name of it has perished, together with its edifices; but, from the apparent antiquity of the Pyramid in question,
it was probably Cochoma, mentioned by Africanus as having existed under the fourth king of Manetho's first dynasty, Venephes
(Enephes, or Venephres), son of Cencenes, " for that monarch is said to have erected a pyramid near the town of Cochone
(Cochoma, or Choe)." *
PYRAMID OF ZOWYET EL ARRIAN.
PLATE IV. Fig. 1.
It is called by the Arabs El Medowareh [the circular), and is situated on an eminence near a sheik's tomb, about three
quarters of a mile to the westward of the village, from which it takes its name.
It is mentioned in the "Description d'Egypte" (Vol. V. p. 14), in connexion with two other buildings, the remains of
which, after some trouble, were at length discovered; the one about half a mile, and the other about a mile, to the northward
of the Pyramid in question; but they were so completely dilapidated, that their original construction could not be made out;
indeed of the most perfect there were only to be seen a few stones, composing a parallelogram, twice as long as it was broad.
The materials of the Pyramid of Zowyet el Arrian have been quarried from the adjoining hills, and consist of hard limestone, in
which are many fossil shells. The blocks have not been squared, nor laid in regular courses, but form a sort of rubble work,
in which clayey loam mixed with sand has been used instead of mortar.
Great part of the building has been removed for the use of the neighbouring villages; and it is only where the sand
has been taken away in search of materials, particularly at the north-western angle, that the masonry is visible. The Pyramidal
form is entirely destroyed, and the general appearance of the ruin is that of a round hill.
No remains of a casing, or of the limestone from the Mokattam, were discovered.
Present base, about 300 feet.
Ditto height, . . 61 feet above the rock.
The rock before the northern front had been scarped away, so as to form on the eastward an inclined approach from the plain
beneath.
PYRAMID OF REEGAH.
PLATE IV. Figs. 2-7.
It is situated on a hill, near the deserted village of Reegah, about three quarters of a mile north-west of the Pyramids of
Abouseir; and it is called by the Arabs, Haram el Abou-Goorob.
There appears to have been a temple before the eastern front, and a causeway communicating therefrom to another building
on the plain. (See Plan, Fig. 2.)
The Pyramid had been carried up in two inclines, like the southern Pyramid of Dashoor. The casing of the lower part
was of granite, and had an angle of 75° 20'; that of the upper part, composed of calcareous stone from the Mokattam, had an
angle of about 52°.
The base was 123 feet 4 inches square.
The hieroglyphics (Figs. 4, 5, and 6) were found upon blocks near the eastern front, and the stone marked Fig. 4, and
several others, upon which characters were rudely sculptured, had been apparently brought out from the interior of the building.
Figs. 5 and 6 were well, but slightly engraved, upon four pieces of granite, which seem to have belonged to the temple already
alluded to.
Fig. 6 had formed part of a doorway; the hole A was evidently intended to receive the top of the heel-post of a door.
Fig. 7 is a view from the south-east, with the Pyramids of Gizeh, and the ruined Pyramid of Zowyet el Arrian in the
distance.
NOTE BY MR. BIRCH.
As two of these inscriptions are upon blocks, which according to Mr. Perring's account had been taken from another edifice
before they were used in the construction of the Pyramid, they cannot be considered to be exclusively connected with the existing
monument, and are therefore comparatively of less value. They are all likewise too imperfect to be completely understood.
Nos. 5 and 6, at present separate, were no doubt originally connected together. Fig. 4 contains the name of the king Ousrenre;
and on a line to the left the seated figure of the monarch may be traced. He is crowned with a teshr, or with the lower part of
a pschent surmounted by two horns; and he holds a whip in his hand, in the same manner as the figure of the king Maire, or
Piops, on a tablet at Chenoboskion published by Sir J. G. Wilkinson. Before the monarch is the head of a person of rank, and
also an imperfect inscription, in which can be distinguished a cord and an owl, phonetically expressing am, and part of the word
cejuici, " minister, officer, preferred." (Champ., " Gram. Egypt." p. 464.) Fig. 5 contains part of two vertical lines, which probably
recount the address of a deity to the monarch, and the titles of the monarch, as, "all stability" "all power" and in the line to
the right "the king set up" may be read.f Fig. 6 comprehends a long horizontal line of hieroglyphics, in which is " of him the
sun taking the heart.........." The inscription resembles those which have been discovered near the Pyramids at Gizeh.
The lower part has contained one of the usual sacred representations, surmounted by the symbol of heaven, supported by a gom,
or koucoupha sceptre.
* See Remarks upon the Map.
f Burton, "Excerpta Hier." Plate XXXVII. 20. Rosellini, « Monum. Tav." Cory (I. Preston), "Mythological Inq." 8vo. London, 1837. Title-page, D, Plate, where the deity says,—"/ set up the tosh (cap) on thy head like thy father Amoun-ra." Plate facing p. 134,
life and power, all stability, all force, like the sun," are the titles of the Guardian of the South, the Hophioue of M. Champollion. Burton, "Excerpta Hier/' Plate XXV. 5.
" Who gives all
inscribed with hieroglyphics. At the edge of the hills, on the northern side of the valley, are traces of an antient square building. It
is called by the Arabs El Deir [the convent), a name, however, which is often indiscriminately applied by them to antient ruins.
Upon a projecting knoll, on the eastern side of the mountain, and near the village of Abou Roash, are also the remains of a
building of considerable magnitude and solidity. It is composed of crude bricks, made of Nile earth, without any intermixture
of straw. Small sepulchral grottoes at the bottom of inclined passages have been roughly hewn in the side of the mountain ;
they contain sarcophagi, which are without any ornament or inscription.
Upon a plain now covered with sand, between this place and the village of Kerdassy, the site of a considerable town may
be traced. The name of it has perished, together with its edifices; but, from the apparent antiquity of the Pyramid in question,
it was probably Cochoma, mentioned by Africanus as having existed under the fourth king of Manetho's first dynasty, Venephes
(Enephes, or Venephres), son of Cencenes, " for that monarch is said to have erected a pyramid near the town of Cochone
(Cochoma, or Choe)." *
PYRAMID OF ZOWYET EL ARRIAN.
PLATE IV. Fig. 1.
It is called by the Arabs El Medowareh [the circular), and is situated on an eminence near a sheik's tomb, about three
quarters of a mile to the westward of the village, from which it takes its name.
It is mentioned in the "Description d'Egypte" (Vol. V. p. 14), in connexion with two other buildings, the remains of
which, after some trouble, were at length discovered; the one about half a mile, and the other about a mile, to the northward
of the Pyramid in question; but they were so completely dilapidated, that their original construction could not be made out;
indeed of the most perfect there were only to be seen a few stones, composing a parallelogram, twice as long as it was broad.
The materials of the Pyramid of Zowyet el Arrian have been quarried from the adjoining hills, and consist of hard limestone, in
which are many fossil shells. The blocks have not been squared, nor laid in regular courses, but form a sort of rubble work,
in which clayey loam mixed with sand has been used instead of mortar.
Great part of the building has been removed for the use of the neighbouring villages; and it is only where the sand
has been taken away in search of materials, particularly at the north-western angle, that the masonry is visible. The Pyramidal
form is entirely destroyed, and the general appearance of the ruin is that of a round hill.
No remains of a casing, or of the limestone from the Mokattam, were discovered.
Present base, about 300 feet.
Ditto height, . . 61 feet above the rock.
The rock before the northern front had been scarped away, so as to form on the eastward an inclined approach from the plain
beneath.
PYRAMID OF REEGAH.
PLATE IV. Figs. 2-7.
It is situated on a hill, near the deserted village of Reegah, about three quarters of a mile north-west of the Pyramids of
Abouseir; and it is called by the Arabs, Haram el Abou-Goorob.
There appears to have been a temple before the eastern front, and a causeway communicating therefrom to another building
on the plain. (See Plan, Fig. 2.)
The Pyramid had been carried up in two inclines, like the southern Pyramid of Dashoor. The casing of the lower part
was of granite, and had an angle of 75° 20'; that of the upper part, composed of calcareous stone from the Mokattam, had an
angle of about 52°.
The base was 123 feet 4 inches square.
The hieroglyphics (Figs. 4, 5, and 6) were found upon blocks near the eastern front, and the stone marked Fig. 4, and
several others, upon which characters were rudely sculptured, had been apparently brought out from the interior of the building.
Figs. 5 and 6 were well, but slightly engraved, upon four pieces of granite, which seem to have belonged to the temple already
alluded to.
Fig. 6 had formed part of a doorway; the hole A was evidently intended to receive the top of the heel-post of a door.
Fig. 7 is a view from the south-east, with the Pyramids of Gizeh, and the ruined Pyramid of Zowyet el Arrian in the
distance.
NOTE BY MR. BIRCH.
As two of these inscriptions are upon blocks, which according to Mr. Perring's account had been taken from another edifice
before they were used in the construction of the Pyramid, they cannot be considered to be exclusively connected with the existing
monument, and are therefore comparatively of less value. They are all likewise too imperfect to be completely understood.
Nos. 5 and 6, at present separate, were no doubt originally connected together. Fig. 4 contains the name of the king Ousrenre;
and on a line to the left the seated figure of the monarch may be traced. He is crowned with a teshr, or with the lower part of
a pschent surmounted by two horns; and he holds a whip in his hand, in the same manner as the figure of the king Maire, or
Piops, on a tablet at Chenoboskion published by Sir J. G. Wilkinson. Before the monarch is the head of a person of rank, and
also an imperfect inscription, in which can be distinguished a cord and an owl, phonetically expressing am, and part of the word
cejuici, " minister, officer, preferred." (Champ., " Gram. Egypt." p. 464.) Fig. 5 contains part of two vertical lines, which probably
recount the address of a deity to the monarch, and the titles of the monarch, as, "all stability" "all power" and in the line to
the right "the king set up" may be read.f Fig. 6 comprehends a long horizontal line of hieroglyphics, in which is " of him the
sun taking the heart.........." The inscription resembles those which have been discovered near the Pyramids at Gizeh.
The lower part has contained one of the usual sacred representations, surmounted by the symbol of heaven, supported by a gom,
or koucoupha sceptre.
* See Remarks upon the Map.
f Burton, "Excerpta Hier." Plate XXXVII. 20. Rosellini, « Monum. Tav." Cory (I. Preston), "Mythological Inq." 8vo. London, 1837. Title-page, D, Plate, where the deity says,—"/ set up the tosh (cap) on thy head like thy father Amoun-ra." Plate facing p. 134,
life and power, all stability, all force, like the sun," are the titles of the Guardian of the South, the Hophioue of M. Champollion. Burton, "Excerpta Hier/' Plate XXV. 5.
" Who gives all