DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.3388#0049
TEMPLE OF PTAH
39
gang to sink a small pit in the corner of their lot,
fig. 7, two men baling out the pit all day into the
drainage canal at their side. This pit is cut about
6 feet deep, and then widened until sunset. The last
hour of the day, we see every pit probed all over with
iron rods, to about 3 feet into the earth, to feel that there
are no more stones immediately below our feet. At
sunset the pit is abandoned, and the water let into it.
Next day another pit is dug similarly at the side of
it, and the earth thrown into the previous day's pit.
Thus in a week or ten days the gang of men will have
sunk pits to about 12 feet beneath the surface all over
their lot, and probed about 15 feet deep.
As to the sufficiency of this depth of working, we
found a copper knife and a glazed hippopotamus,
both of the xiith dynasty, in different places at
7 feet deep; and a pot of the ivth dynasty at 12
feet deep. The foundations of the buildings of the
xviiith dynasty were reached, and the broken pieces
of sculpture which had fallen to the ground were
readily removed. It seems, therefore, that probing
to 15 feet deep will exhaust the chances of any
sculptures, even of the earliest periods.
The site has been so much exhausted for building
stone in the Arab ages, that it is not likely that a
complete turning over of the whole ground would
repay the work. There are 50 acres in the temenos
of Ptah, and the complete clearance costs about
£300 to .£400 an acre, so that £15,000 or £20,000
would be required to exhaust the ground. The most
likely scheme is to sink pits covering about an eighth
of the area; and, wherever stones are found, expand
the work to clear as far as any remains continuously
extend. This might cost perhaps half the amount,
and spread over ten or fifteen years such a search
would be practicable. Of course a thousandth of
the waste of England would do the whole work in
a year ; unhappily it is not the wasting classes but
the saving classes who pay for any useful enter-
prises.
67. The principal results of the work were those
found along the axis of the temple, east to west.
There our strip of work came down on the ruins
of an axial sanctuary of Amenhotep III, built of
quartzite sandstone, and another sanctuary of
Amasis, of the same material and of red granite.
Of the sanctuary of Amenhotep there were
several large blocks unsculptured, and two or three
with only portions of figures. Two other blocks
had heads of figures, of the king offering to Sekhmet,
see pi. xxix, 2, 3. Of these 2 is at Boston, and 3
at Carlsberg. Of the sanctuary of Aahmes there
are the quartzite blocks pi. xxxii, 4, 5, 6, which last
is given in pi. xxix, 4, and the portrait larger in 5.
Beside these there was also a large granite block
with very shallow engraving, in bad condition, copied
in xxxii, 7; this bears part of a long horizontal
cartouche, with a serpent above it. The portrait of
Aahmes is rare, and is probably the best that is
known, as it is clearly not conventional. The shape
of the under side of the nose, the form of the lips,
and the pointed chin, shew that the personal detail
was observed. This is at Edinburgh.
68. In the same axial excavation was a block of
compact basalt, with a figure of the Hapi bull in a
ceremonial, xxx, 3. Near the colossus was found
the body of a seated figure about two-thirds of life-
size, xxx, 2, scale 1 : 4, of Amen-mes, the inscription
of which is on pi. xxxi, left side. The lower part
of this figure is in the Miramar collection, see the
catalogue by S. Reinisch, pp. 225-8, pi. xxvii. That
base is said to have been found at Memphis, published
by Brugsch in his Monumens de I'Egypte, and then
sent from the viceregal collection to Miramar in
1855. Where the head may be, remains unknown;
but the present publication of the shoulder with the
fracture, may serve to connect it with a head in
some other collection. Our torso describes the person
as Amen-mes son of the doctor Penzerti; on the part
at Miramar there is the mother's name, Any. He
was devoted to Ptah, as being a Memphite; toTahuti,
as being a royal scribe ; but Neith seems to have
been his personal devotion, as he bears her shuttle
on his breast, his shoulder, and on both knees. The
amulet on the breast is enigmatic; Dr. Walker
suggests that it reads Ru-ma-kher for Makheru, with
some reference to a lion god. This torso is now at
Manchester; it is to be hoped that an exchange
of casts between there and Miramar will serve to
enhance both parts of the figure.
Also near the colossus were found a head in basalt
without a name (xxx, I, scale 2 : 3), a torso in basalt
without a name (xxix, 1, scale 1 : 3), and a damaged
head of granite ; these are at Brussels. Two red
granite drums of columns from the same region bear
figures of Ramessu II offering to Ptah; one is at
Carlsberg, the other at Manchester. A small tablet
from the temple, xxxix, 5, has a figure of the Syrian
god Reshep, adored by a man named.....hotep
(University College) ; and a part of a figure of a
god in Syrian dress, on a tablet, is now at Brussels.
The red granite cornice of Ramessu VI, pi. xxxi,
39
gang to sink a small pit in the corner of their lot,
fig. 7, two men baling out the pit all day into the
drainage canal at their side. This pit is cut about
6 feet deep, and then widened until sunset. The last
hour of the day, we see every pit probed all over with
iron rods, to about 3 feet into the earth, to feel that there
are no more stones immediately below our feet. At
sunset the pit is abandoned, and the water let into it.
Next day another pit is dug similarly at the side of
it, and the earth thrown into the previous day's pit.
Thus in a week or ten days the gang of men will have
sunk pits to about 12 feet beneath the surface all over
their lot, and probed about 15 feet deep.
As to the sufficiency of this depth of working, we
found a copper knife and a glazed hippopotamus,
both of the xiith dynasty, in different places at
7 feet deep; and a pot of the ivth dynasty at 12
feet deep. The foundations of the buildings of the
xviiith dynasty were reached, and the broken pieces
of sculpture which had fallen to the ground were
readily removed. It seems, therefore, that probing
to 15 feet deep will exhaust the chances of any
sculptures, even of the earliest periods.
The site has been so much exhausted for building
stone in the Arab ages, that it is not likely that a
complete turning over of the whole ground would
repay the work. There are 50 acres in the temenos
of Ptah, and the complete clearance costs about
£300 to .£400 an acre, so that £15,000 or £20,000
would be required to exhaust the ground. The most
likely scheme is to sink pits covering about an eighth
of the area; and, wherever stones are found, expand
the work to clear as far as any remains continuously
extend. This might cost perhaps half the amount,
and spread over ten or fifteen years such a search
would be practicable. Of course a thousandth of
the waste of England would do the whole work in
a year ; unhappily it is not the wasting classes but
the saving classes who pay for any useful enter-
prises.
67. The principal results of the work were those
found along the axis of the temple, east to west.
There our strip of work came down on the ruins
of an axial sanctuary of Amenhotep III, built of
quartzite sandstone, and another sanctuary of
Amasis, of the same material and of red granite.
Of the sanctuary of Amenhotep there were
several large blocks unsculptured, and two or three
with only portions of figures. Two other blocks
had heads of figures, of the king offering to Sekhmet,
see pi. xxix, 2, 3. Of these 2 is at Boston, and 3
at Carlsberg. Of the sanctuary of Aahmes there
are the quartzite blocks pi. xxxii, 4, 5, 6, which last
is given in pi. xxix, 4, and the portrait larger in 5.
Beside these there was also a large granite block
with very shallow engraving, in bad condition, copied
in xxxii, 7; this bears part of a long horizontal
cartouche, with a serpent above it. The portrait of
Aahmes is rare, and is probably the best that is
known, as it is clearly not conventional. The shape
of the under side of the nose, the form of the lips,
and the pointed chin, shew that the personal detail
was observed. This is at Edinburgh.
68. In the same axial excavation was a block of
compact basalt, with a figure of the Hapi bull in a
ceremonial, xxx, 3. Near the colossus was found
the body of a seated figure about two-thirds of life-
size, xxx, 2, scale 1 : 4, of Amen-mes, the inscription
of which is on pi. xxxi, left side. The lower part
of this figure is in the Miramar collection, see the
catalogue by S. Reinisch, pp. 225-8, pi. xxvii. That
base is said to have been found at Memphis, published
by Brugsch in his Monumens de I'Egypte, and then
sent from the viceregal collection to Miramar in
1855. Where the head may be, remains unknown;
but the present publication of the shoulder with the
fracture, may serve to connect it with a head in
some other collection. Our torso describes the person
as Amen-mes son of the doctor Penzerti; on the part
at Miramar there is the mother's name, Any. He
was devoted to Ptah, as being a Memphite; toTahuti,
as being a royal scribe ; but Neith seems to have
been his personal devotion, as he bears her shuttle
on his breast, his shoulder, and on both knees. The
amulet on the breast is enigmatic; Dr. Walker
suggests that it reads Ru-ma-kher for Makheru, with
some reference to a lion god. This torso is now at
Manchester; it is to be hoped that an exchange
of casts between there and Miramar will serve to
enhance both parts of the figure.
Also near the colossus were found a head in basalt
without a name (xxx, I, scale 2 : 3), a torso in basalt
without a name (xxix, 1, scale 1 : 3), and a damaged
head of granite ; these are at Brussels. Two red
granite drums of columns from the same region bear
figures of Ramessu II offering to Ptah; one is at
Carlsberg, the other at Manchester. A small tablet
from the temple, xxxix, 5, has a figure of the Syrian
god Reshep, adored by a man named.....hotep
(University College) ; and a part of a figure of a
god in Syrian dress, on a tablet, is now at Brussels.
The red granite cornice of Ramessu VI, pi. xxxi,