DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.11610#0097
HAWARA
85
its arrangement was wholly unknown : explorers had
fruitlessly destroyed much of the brickwork on the
north side, but yet the entrance was undiscovered. In
Roman times the stone casing had been removed,
and as the body of the structure was of mud bricks, it
had crumbled away somewhat; each side was there-
fore encumbered with chips and mud. After vainly
searching the ground on the north side for any
entrance, I then cleared the middle of the east side,
but yet no trace of any door could be found. As it
was evident then that the plan was entirely different
to that of any known pyramid, and it would be a
hopeless task to clear all the ground around it. I
therefore settled to tunnel to the midst. This work
was very troublesome, as the large bricks were laid in
sand, and rather widely spaced : hence as soon as
any were removed, the sand was liable to pour
out of the joints, and to loosen all the surrounding
parts. The removal of each brick was therefore done
as quietly as possible, and I had to go in three times
a day and insert more roofing boards, a matter which
needed far more skill and care than a native workman
would use. After many weeks' work (for there was
only room for one man), I found that we were halfway
through, but all in brick. On one side of the tunnel,
however, I saw signs of a built wall, and guessing that
it had stood around the pit made for the chamber
during the building, I examined the rock-floor, and
found that it sloped down slightly, away from the
wall. We turned then to the west, and tunnelling
onwards, we reached the great roofing beams of the
chamber in a few days. No masons of the district,
85
its arrangement was wholly unknown : explorers had
fruitlessly destroyed much of the brickwork on the
north side, but yet the entrance was undiscovered. In
Roman times the stone casing had been removed,
and as the body of the structure was of mud bricks, it
had crumbled away somewhat; each side was there-
fore encumbered with chips and mud. After vainly
searching the ground on the north side for any
entrance, I then cleared the middle of the east side,
but yet no trace of any door could be found. As it
was evident then that the plan was entirely different
to that of any known pyramid, and it would be a
hopeless task to clear all the ground around it. I
therefore settled to tunnel to the midst. This work
was very troublesome, as the large bricks were laid in
sand, and rather widely spaced : hence as soon as
any were removed, the sand was liable to pour
out of the joints, and to loosen all the surrounding
parts. The removal of each brick was therefore done
as quietly as possible, and I had to go in three times
a day and insert more roofing boards, a matter which
needed far more skill and care than a native workman
would use. After many weeks' work (for there was
only room for one man), I found that we were halfway
through, but all in brick. On one side of the tunnel,
however, I saw signs of a built wall, and guessing that
it had stood around the pit made for the chamber
during the building, I examined the rock-floor, and
found that it sloped down slightly, away from the
wall. We turned then to the west, and tunnelling
onwards, we reached the great roofing beams of the
chamber in a few days. No masons of the district,