DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.3388#0034
24
FAR WESTERN TOMBS
broad, and 35'8 inches high. There were found in the
chamber when opened three xxiind dynasty burials
placed in extended positions in rough wooden coffins,
set with their heads to the entrance. On one of the
bodies were found a few rough green glazed cylinder
beads.
42. Tomb C (pi. xv, and entrance xiv, bottom).
This, it will be seen, is similar to tomb B, the length
of the trench being the same. A stone walling was
found also on the east, the distance from this to the
western side of the trench being 124 inches instead
of 99 inches.
The measurements of passage and chamber are as
follows :—■
Passage :
Chamber :
Recess :
I94'2 inches Ions
102-8
4i"3 k
4I'5 wide, 40'5 high.
75 „ 73'6 „
267 „ 37-0 „
The chamber and passage contained 11 burials
of the xxiind dynasty, one being that of a small
child with a shell girdle round its waist. Some of
the bodies were placed in rough coffins, the wood
of which had badly decayed. Owing to the space
in the chamber being limited, it was not found
possible to place more than three burials inside it,
so the remaining eight were placed in pairs up the
passage.
In the recess at the south of the chamber there
was placed a quantity of broken bones together with
a few pieces of charcoal, possibly the remains of the
original burial.
One of the plug-blocks of limestone used to seal
the chamber was found just outside the mouth of the
passage.
CHAPTER VIII
FAR WESTERN TOMBS.
By ERNEST MACK AY.
43. At a quarter of a mile to the west of the
pyramid, a number of circular depressions in the
desert surface are apparent, and are entered on
Lepsius' map. A group of men were therefore set
to work upon them. Many shafts leading to stone-
lined tombs of the same date as the pyramid were
soon opened, and altogether thirty-five chambers were
measured and noted (pis. xvii, xviii).
The shafts were rectangular in shape, averaging
8? inches by 40 inches, and were from 13 to 39 feet
in depth. They were cut in the loose rock, their
sides being fairly true, and dressed with a narrow
adze.
Some 11 feet of water-laid gravel, mixed with
large pebbles, lay on the surface of the rock, and
the tops of the pits therefore were very irregular in
outline.
The majority of the chambers were of built stone
(see model in pi. xiv, 4), and they were always placed
on the southern side of the shafts.
Their average length was 104J inches, and the
width 62 inches, or 5 x 3 cubits respectively.
Only one tomb in the cemetery was found to con-
tain an earlier burial than the secondary ones of the
xxiind dynasty, and very few of the latter date were
found intact. In the unrifled tombs these bodies
were found lying in roughly painted wooden coffins,
invariably much decayed ; the heads were generally
placed to the entrance of the chamber. As is usual
in burials of this date, practically nothing was placed
with the dead, except that in rare instances we found
necklaces of cowry shells, and very coarse glazed
figures of Thoth, Bes, and Bast.
In some cases the chamber held more than one
body, and additional holes were also cut in the sides
of the shaft to hold more coffins, either at the bottom
of the pit on the north, or above the original
chamber.
In most cases the entrance of the tomb chamber
was intended to have been closed by a portcullis of lime-
stone. But this, in all but three instances, was always
found standing above the tomb door on piles formed
of rough blocks of stone placed one on another, mortar
or cement being rarely employed.
In only three tombs, Nos. 50, 60, and 80, the port-
cullisses were found lowered. The first tomb, No. 50,
contained an untouched burial of the late iiird or early
ivth dynasty, and therefore the portcullis or slab must
have been dropped at the time of burial.
The other two instances, Nos. 60 and 80, had been
entered and robbed, and no trace of anything was
found inside them.
It is a curious fact that though this cemetery was
so extensively utilised in the xxiind dynasty, and
though little or no effort would have been required to
lower the portcullisses, except to knock away the
stone piles beneath them, yet, with the exception of
these three cases, the burials were only protected by
a walling of stones and mud, built in the mouths of
the short passages leading to the chambers. One
other case of an early burial was found in this cemetery,
FAR WESTERN TOMBS
broad, and 35'8 inches high. There were found in the
chamber when opened three xxiind dynasty burials
placed in extended positions in rough wooden coffins,
set with their heads to the entrance. On one of the
bodies were found a few rough green glazed cylinder
beads.
42. Tomb C (pi. xv, and entrance xiv, bottom).
This, it will be seen, is similar to tomb B, the length
of the trench being the same. A stone walling was
found also on the east, the distance from this to the
western side of the trench being 124 inches instead
of 99 inches.
The measurements of passage and chamber are as
follows :—■
Passage :
Chamber :
Recess :
I94'2 inches Ions
102-8
4i"3 k
4I'5 wide, 40'5 high.
75 „ 73'6 „
267 „ 37-0 „
The chamber and passage contained 11 burials
of the xxiind dynasty, one being that of a small
child with a shell girdle round its waist. Some of
the bodies were placed in rough coffins, the wood
of which had badly decayed. Owing to the space
in the chamber being limited, it was not found
possible to place more than three burials inside it,
so the remaining eight were placed in pairs up the
passage.
In the recess at the south of the chamber there
was placed a quantity of broken bones together with
a few pieces of charcoal, possibly the remains of the
original burial.
One of the plug-blocks of limestone used to seal
the chamber was found just outside the mouth of the
passage.
CHAPTER VIII
FAR WESTERN TOMBS.
By ERNEST MACK AY.
43. At a quarter of a mile to the west of the
pyramid, a number of circular depressions in the
desert surface are apparent, and are entered on
Lepsius' map. A group of men were therefore set
to work upon them. Many shafts leading to stone-
lined tombs of the same date as the pyramid were
soon opened, and altogether thirty-five chambers were
measured and noted (pis. xvii, xviii).
The shafts were rectangular in shape, averaging
8? inches by 40 inches, and were from 13 to 39 feet
in depth. They were cut in the loose rock, their
sides being fairly true, and dressed with a narrow
adze.
Some 11 feet of water-laid gravel, mixed with
large pebbles, lay on the surface of the rock, and
the tops of the pits therefore were very irregular in
outline.
The majority of the chambers were of built stone
(see model in pi. xiv, 4), and they were always placed
on the southern side of the shafts.
Their average length was 104J inches, and the
width 62 inches, or 5 x 3 cubits respectively.
Only one tomb in the cemetery was found to con-
tain an earlier burial than the secondary ones of the
xxiind dynasty, and very few of the latter date were
found intact. In the unrifled tombs these bodies
were found lying in roughly painted wooden coffins,
invariably much decayed ; the heads were generally
placed to the entrance of the chamber. As is usual
in burials of this date, practically nothing was placed
with the dead, except that in rare instances we found
necklaces of cowry shells, and very coarse glazed
figures of Thoth, Bes, and Bast.
In some cases the chamber held more than one
body, and additional holes were also cut in the sides
of the shaft to hold more coffins, either at the bottom
of the pit on the north, or above the original
chamber.
In most cases the entrance of the tomb chamber
was intended to have been closed by a portcullis of lime-
stone. But this, in all but three instances, was always
found standing above the tomb door on piles formed
of rough blocks of stone placed one on another, mortar
or cement being rarely employed.
In only three tombs, Nos. 50, 60, and 80, the port-
cullisses were found lowered. The first tomb, No. 50,
contained an untouched burial of the late iiird or early
ivth dynasty, and therefore the portcullis or slab must
have been dropped at the time of burial.
The other two instances, Nos. 60 and 80, had been
entered and robbed, and no trace of anything was
found inside them.
It is a curious fact that though this cemetery was
so extensively utilised in the xxiind dynasty, and
though little or no effort would have been required to
lower the portcullisses, except to knock away the
stone piles beneath them, yet, with the exception of
these three cases, the burials were only protected by
a walling of stones and mud, built in the mouths of
the short passages leading to the chambers. One
other case of an early burial was found in this cemetery,