DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.1033#0006
INTRODUCTION.
begun the appalling task of destroying the pyramid,
by cutting an open trench down the middle, as many
other pyramids have been barbarously opened of late
years. This open trench affair was however far too
much to carry out, and had been abandoned after
hopelessly disfiguring the pile of brickwork. On the
north side therefore there was but little chance left,
but I cleared and cleaned up the rock and pavement
some way in front of it, to settle if any entrance
might exist so far out. I also attacked the east side,
and cleared the face there to the base, in the middle
of the side, but all in vain. The next point of
promise was a deep open space on the north of the
pyramid, where I worked from 29th January to 10th
February. Here there had existed a small temple,
of which Lepsius found some blocks remaining with
the cartouches of Amenemhat III. This area had
not however been cleared about the middle, and it
was possible that this building had stood over the
entrance to the pyramid. So a deep trench was cut
through the hard mass of concreted stone chips, down
to the undisturbed paving and the native rock. Here
therefore was no entrance. Seeing that the south
side was very deeply encumbered, and would require
enormous work to clear it, I reluctantly decided on
tunnelling to the middle, beginning at the broken
north face.
The pyramid being built of mud bricks laid in sand
did not offer any serious difficulty, but yet the tunnel
was not so simple as it seemed. The sand between the
bricks was in very thick layers, usually half to one inch;
and being quite dry and clean, it ran out interminably
in some parts, coming down as in an hour-glass from the
joints. It was needful therefore to board up the roof
of the tunnel all along, and as no native would treat
the place with sufficient tenderness to avoid loosening
the bricks overhead, I had to fix every board myself
as the tunnel advanced. The bricks moreover were
so large and heavy, being double the size each way
of an English brick, and weighing 40 or 50 lbs., that
a single one dropped on a person would have settled
his moving powers for some time to come. It was
needful therefore to use the greatest care in loosening
and taking down the bricks. As the tunnel advanced
to the middle, I found that the rock had dipped down
far below the outside level on which we had begun ;
and the floor therefore had to be cut lower until the
tunnel was so high that I had a false roof above the
working roof to support the bricks. Occasionally,
falls of the side took place, and the false roof above
broke away in parts, and hung in other places as if
a touch would bring it down ; the lower roof however
sustained what actually fell, but the whole region was
caving slowly in, and even the lower roof was only
supported on a fissured mass which stuck somehow
on to the side of the tunnel. In the second season the
state of matters was still more dangerous : falls of the
sides and roof continually took place, even three
times in twenty-four hours. As masons from Cairo
were working inside it was needful to clear away all
signs of the falls, and re-strut the sides, as quickly as
possible; and as happily nothing much fell while
they were inside they never knew anything about the
state of affairs. One of these falls would bring down
tons of brick from the sides and roof, along perhaps
20 feet length. I then at once began clearing the
stuff out with some lads, needing to pass all along the
unsupported and loose tunnel to get it clear; and
then turning everyone out—sometimes at night—I
used to re-prop the sides without any interference.
The need of listening acutely all the time to detect
any sand running down—the prelude to a fall—and
the need of having the narrow way quite clear to
retreat in half a second if needs be, made it necessary
to work quite alone. It may be said why not timber
the place thoroughly with thick beams along the
sides and roof continuously ? To do so however would
have needed the widening of the whole passage, to
allow of thick supports; and the work would have
been risky and very long for one pair of hands, as no
Arab would understand it.
4. The cutting of the tunnel occupied from
nth February to 5th April. When near the middle
of the pyramid, not having found any sign of a
chamber, we deepened the tunnel; but yet were in
solid brickwork without any hope even when down
on the rock base. While working in the tunnel,
however, I noticed that on the east side the bricks
were laid with mud mortar, and not in loose sand ;
and this difference extended for nearly four feet above
the base rock. As this mud mortaring continued
along the side of the tunnel for forty or fifty feet it
was probably a wall. And if a wall had been built
on the ground before the pyramid, it would be for
keeping out the sand and dust from falling into the
pit in the rock where the chamber was being built.
So I argued that the chamber must be on one side or
other of the dwarf wall. Which side ? was the
question. On carefully cleaning the rock floor of the
tunnel 1 found that there was a slight slope down to
the west, and concluded that the pit must be on the
lower side. We therefore turned at right angles
begun the appalling task of destroying the pyramid,
by cutting an open trench down the middle, as many
other pyramids have been barbarously opened of late
years. This open trench affair was however far too
much to carry out, and had been abandoned after
hopelessly disfiguring the pile of brickwork. On the
north side therefore there was but little chance left,
but I cleared and cleaned up the rock and pavement
some way in front of it, to settle if any entrance
might exist so far out. I also attacked the east side,
and cleared the face there to the base, in the middle
of the side, but all in vain. The next point of
promise was a deep open space on the north of the
pyramid, where I worked from 29th January to 10th
February. Here there had existed a small temple,
of which Lepsius found some blocks remaining with
the cartouches of Amenemhat III. This area had
not however been cleared about the middle, and it
was possible that this building had stood over the
entrance to the pyramid. So a deep trench was cut
through the hard mass of concreted stone chips, down
to the undisturbed paving and the native rock. Here
therefore was no entrance. Seeing that the south
side was very deeply encumbered, and would require
enormous work to clear it, I reluctantly decided on
tunnelling to the middle, beginning at the broken
north face.
The pyramid being built of mud bricks laid in sand
did not offer any serious difficulty, but yet the tunnel
was not so simple as it seemed. The sand between the
bricks was in very thick layers, usually half to one inch;
and being quite dry and clean, it ran out interminably
in some parts, coming down as in an hour-glass from the
joints. It was needful therefore to board up the roof
of the tunnel all along, and as no native would treat
the place with sufficient tenderness to avoid loosening
the bricks overhead, I had to fix every board myself
as the tunnel advanced. The bricks moreover were
so large and heavy, being double the size each way
of an English brick, and weighing 40 or 50 lbs., that
a single one dropped on a person would have settled
his moving powers for some time to come. It was
needful therefore to use the greatest care in loosening
and taking down the bricks. As the tunnel advanced
to the middle, I found that the rock had dipped down
far below the outside level on which we had begun ;
and the floor therefore had to be cut lower until the
tunnel was so high that I had a false roof above the
working roof to support the bricks. Occasionally,
falls of the side took place, and the false roof above
broke away in parts, and hung in other places as if
a touch would bring it down ; the lower roof however
sustained what actually fell, but the whole region was
caving slowly in, and even the lower roof was only
supported on a fissured mass which stuck somehow
on to the side of the tunnel. In the second season the
state of matters was still more dangerous : falls of the
sides and roof continually took place, even three
times in twenty-four hours. As masons from Cairo
were working inside it was needful to clear away all
signs of the falls, and re-strut the sides, as quickly as
possible; and as happily nothing much fell while
they were inside they never knew anything about the
state of affairs. One of these falls would bring down
tons of brick from the sides and roof, along perhaps
20 feet length. I then at once began clearing the
stuff out with some lads, needing to pass all along the
unsupported and loose tunnel to get it clear; and
then turning everyone out—sometimes at night—I
used to re-prop the sides without any interference.
The need of listening acutely all the time to detect
any sand running down—the prelude to a fall—and
the need of having the narrow way quite clear to
retreat in half a second if needs be, made it necessary
to work quite alone. It may be said why not timber
the place thoroughly with thick beams along the
sides and roof continuously ? To do so however would
have needed the widening of the whole passage, to
allow of thick supports; and the work would have
been risky and very long for one pair of hands, as no
Arab would understand it.
4. The cutting of the tunnel occupied from
nth February to 5th April. When near the middle
of the pyramid, not having found any sign of a
chamber, we deepened the tunnel; but yet were in
solid brickwork without any hope even when down
on the rock base. While working in the tunnel,
however, I noticed that on the east side the bricks
were laid with mud mortar, and not in loose sand ;
and this difference extended for nearly four feet above
the base rock. As this mud mortaring continued
along the side of the tunnel for forty or fifty feet it
was probably a wall. And if a wall had been built
on the ground before the pyramid, it would be for
keeping out the sand and dust from falling into the
pit in the rock where the chamber was being built.
So I argued that the chamber must be on one side or
other of the dwarf wall. Which side ? was the
question. On carefully cleaning the rock floor of the
tunnel 1 found that there was a slight slope down to
the west, and concluded that the pit must be on the
lower side. We therefore turned at right angles