DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.3559#0012
PYRAMIDS OF SACCARA.
9
I. This inscription contains a date, in which the year, the month, and the day, are expressed; but it is imperfect, and the
fourth day can only be distinguished. The other characters resemble those in H, J, K.
J. These characters are like those in I. They are inserted in black, and with bars which are vertical, and therefore unlike
those in H and K, which are horizontal. A fourth month is recorded, but, as the season is not mentioned, it cannot be
ascertained whether it signifies Choiak, Pharmuthi, or Mesore.
K. 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 H. 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 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 at Gizeh. See Nos. 61 and 64, Egyptian Saloon, in the British Museum.
PYRAMIDS OF SACCARA.
PLATE VII. A MAP.
In order to comprehend the whole of the cemetery of antient Memphis, this Map extends as far northward as the village
of Abouseir.
The Pyramids of Saccara are eleven in number,* exclusive of the large building, called " The Throne of Pharaoh." They
were built with stone, and were approached by inclined roads or causeways from the plain below. They are all much decayed,
excepting the large one built in degrees, which, together with another towards the north-east (No. 2 in the Map), are the only
two at present open.
A space around the large Pyramid (about 8200 feet in length), abounds with mummy-pits, and also with tombs, although of
the latter but few remain, as they have been subject to continual devastation for the sake of materials for building. The most
interesting at present are those marked G and K on the Map.
In G are the cartouches of several kings of the early dynasties. K is an excavation, and contains the name of Psammeticus II.;
and, although the roof is not a regular arch, yet the way in which it is built, evidently shews that the principles of an arch were
known when it was formed. The space (F in the Map) to the northward of the Great Pyramid is supposed to have been used
for the interment of criminals, because the bodies were placed, without coffins, in small recesses lined with crude bricks, and had
been mutilated by the loss of the hands, or of the feet, which had been separated at the joints.
The Serapeum is said by Strabo to have been built on a sandy spot, and traces of it have been looked for (but without
success) amongst the mounds and antient substructions near this place.
A sketch of the Pyramids of Saccara, as seen from the northern brick Pyramid of Dashoor, is given in Plate IX. Fig. 5;
and Bruce probably alluded to this view, when he observed, that " The traveller is lost in the immense expanse of desert,
which he sees full of Pyramids before him, is struck with terror at the unusual scene of vastness, and shrinks from attempting
any discovery amidst the moving sands of Saccara." —Bruce's " Travels," Vol. I. p. 66.
PYRAMID No. 1 IN THE MAP.
PLATE VIII. Fig 1.
This Pyramid seems to have been of a later date than the two following, because the road for the conveyance of materials
to it has been constructed with crude bricks from a causeway, which had been previously formed in the rock to Nos. 2 and 3.
The bricks are large, and are made of alluvial soil, with but little straw, excepting on the outside; and almost all of them are
marked, apparently by the fingers having been brought close together and thrust in thus ••
The Pyramid is much decayed, and presents the appearance of a mass of rubbish. The masonry is only visible at one
place on the southern side. It appears to have been built in steps or degrees.
Attempts had been made, both on the northern and on the southern sides, to open it, but without success; and an excavation,
about 8 feet deep, had been begun at the top.
Present Base, about
Ditto Height
Platform at top, about
210 feet.
59 feet.
50 feet.
PYRAMID No. 2 IN THE MAP.
PLATE IX. Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4.
It is called by the Arabs, " Haram el Mekurbash," the Broken or Serrated Pyramid. It was opened by a Signore Maruchi,
in 1831, or 1832; but, being again closed up by the falling in of the masonry, it was reopened for admeasurement, &c. by
Mr. Perring, in July 1839.
It is built with large, unsquared stones, rudely put together. There are no remains of a casing, and the whole is much
decayed.
The regular inclined passage in the centre of the northern front remains closed up with masonry; and at the opening, C,
Figs. 1 and 2, it was found to be lined, and also to be stopped up with blocks of granite. To avoid these obstructions, therefore,
when the Pyramid was broken open, the present entrance was probably forced into the lower end of the inclined passage, which
thence proceeds in a horizontal direction, and has been closed near the middle by a portcullis, consisting of a slab of granite,
about half of which remains. Above this portcullis, a perpendicular excavation is apparently connected with the horizontal
passage, D, Fig. 1, which had been forced from the entrance.
A little beyond the portcullis on the eastern side, a passage communicates with two side-rooms excavated in the rock, and
originally lined with fine masonry, the fragments of which at present nearly fill them.
The two principal apartments have pointed roofs, and are lined with calcareous stone from the quarries of the Mokattam.
The blocks which form the sides are not laid on horizontal beds, but slope away with an incline, like the beds of those in the
Queen's Chamber in the Great Pyramid of Gizeh. f
* Nine of them are numbered from north to south in the Map.
f "Pyramids of Gizeh," Plate VIII. No. 1.
9
I. This inscription contains a date, in which the year, the month, and the day, are expressed; but it is imperfect, and the
fourth day can only be distinguished. The other characters resemble those in H, J, K.
J. These characters are like those in I. They are inserted in black, and with bars which are vertical, and therefore unlike
those in H and K, which are horizontal. A fourth month is recorded, but, as the season is not mentioned, it cannot be
ascertained whether it signifies Choiak, Pharmuthi, or Mesore.
K. 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 H. 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 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 at Gizeh. See Nos. 61 and 64, Egyptian Saloon, in the British Museum.
PYRAMIDS OF SACCARA.
PLATE VII. A MAP.
In order to comprehend the whole of the cemetery of antient Memphis, this Map extends as far northward as the village
of Abouseir.
The Pyramids of Saccara are eleven in number,* exclusive of the large building, called " The Throne of Pharaoh." They
were built with stone, and were approached by inclined roads or causeways from the plain below. They are all much decayed,
excepting the large one built in degrees, which, together with another towards the north-east (No. 2 in the Map), are the only
two at present open.
A space around the large Pyramid (about 8200 feet in length), abounds with mummy-pits, and also with tombs, although of
the latter but few remain, as they have been subject to continual devastation for the sake of materials for building. The most
interesting at present are those marked G and K on the Map.
In G are the cartouches of several kings of the early dynasties. K is an excavation, and contains the name of Psammeticus II.;
and, although the roof is not a regular arch, yet the way in which it is built, evidently shews that the principles of an arch were
known when it was formed. The space (F in the Map) to the northward of the Great Pyramid is supposed to have been used
for the interment of criminals, because the bodies were placed, without coffins, in small recesses lined with crude bricks, and had
been mutilated by the loss of the hands, or of the feet, which had been separated at the joints.
The Serapeum is said by Strabo to have been built on a sandy spot, and traces of it have been looked for (but without
success) amongst the mounds and antient substructions near this place.
A sketch of the Pyramids of Saccara, as seen from the northern brick Pyramid of Dashoor, is given in Plate IX. Fig. 5;
and Bruce probably alluded to this view, when he observed, that " The traveller is lost in the immense expanse of desert,
which he sees full of Pyramids before him, is struck with terror at the unusual scene of vastness, and shrinks from attempting
any discovery amidst the moving sands of Saccara." —Bruce's " Travels," Vol. I. p. 66.
PYRAMID No. 1 IN THE MAP.
PLATE VIII. Fig 1.
This Pyramid seems to have been of a later date than the two following, because the road for the conveyance of materials
to it has been constructed with crude bricks from a causeway, which had been previously formed in the rock to Nos. 2 and 3.
The bricks are large, and are made of alluvial soil, with but little straw, excepting on the outside; and almost all of them are
marked, apparently by the fingers having been brought close together and thrust in thus ••
The Pyramid is much decayed, and presents the appearance of a mass of rubbish. The masonry is only visible at one
place on the southern side. It appears to have been built in steps or degrees.
Attempts had been made, both on the northern and on the southern sides, to open it, but without success; and an excavation,
about 8 feet deep, had been begun at the top.
Present Base, about
Ditto Height
Platform at top, about
210 feet.
59 feet.
50 feet.
PYRAMID No. 2 IN THE MAP.
PLATE IX. Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4.
It is called by the Arabs, " Haram el Mekurbash," the Broken or Serrated Pyramid. It was opened by a Signore Maruchi,
in 1831, or 1832; but, being again closed up by the falling in of the masonry, it was reopened for admeasurement, &c. by
Mr. Perring, in July 1839.
It is built with large, unsquared stones, rudely put together. There are no remains of a casing, and the whole is much
decayed.
The regular inclined passage in the centre of the northern front remains closed up with masonry; and at the opening, C,
Figs. 1 and 2, it was found to be lined, and also to be stopped up with blocks of granite. To avoid these obstructions, therefore,
when the Pyramid was broken open, the present entrance was probably forced into the lower end of the inclined passage, which
thence proceeds in a horizontal direction, and has been closed near the middle by a portcullis, consisting of a slab of granite,
about half of which remains. Above this portcullis, a perpendicular excavation is apparently connected with the horizontal
passage, D, Fig. 1, which had been forced from the entrance.
A little beyond the portcullis on the eastern side, a passage communicates with two side-rooms excavated in the rock, and
originally lined with fine masonry, the fragments of which at present nearly fill them.
The two principal apartments have pointed roofs, and are lined with calcareous stone from the quarries of the Mokattam.
The blocks which form the sides are not laid on horizontal beds, but slope away with an incline, like the beds of those in the
Queen's Chamber in the Great Pyramid of Gizeh. f
* Nine of them are numbered from north to south in the Map.
f "Pyramids of Gizeh," Plate VIII. No. 1.