DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.3391#0013
THE LARGE PITS : NOS. 302, 303, AND 305
cemetery Ci, we shall work it out ; but from its
size, and the nature of the desert here, I anticipate
that it will prove but a repetition of no. 305, that
is, a trial pit. (See chapter xii.)
10. To the north of cemetery A, about one-
third the distance from Gerzeh to Tarkhan, we
found another large pit, filled in with blown sand ;
we worked this out in three weeks, using 16 picks
and 64 boys.
The tomb (see no. 300 on general map pi. xlvi,
and plate ii, nos. I and 2) was never completed, as
many of the huge limestone blocks of which it
was built had not been laid. Some of these blocks
measured as much as 84 x 60 x 32 inches. In spite
of its not having been completed, it had been
anciently plundered, and even the flooring partly
removed in search of treasure.
The pit in which this tomb was built measured
about 38 feet square, the depth being 32 feet,
measured from the apparent floor-level of the stone
chamber. On the east side of the pit there is a
sloping track 90 feet long, down which the blocks
had been lowered ; and, in later times, much stone
had been removed by this way for building pur-
poses, several deposits of limestone fragments near
the mouth of the track shewing where the stone
had been broken up before it was carried away.
PI. ii, no. 2, shews the remains of the building
seen from the top of the pit on the south side. It
appears to consist of two chambers, the sides of
which appear in the form of steps leading down
to the floor of the chamber; but I am of opinion
that these were only the foundations on which the
tomb, or perhaps the pyramid chamber, was to
have been built; the apparent steps being the result
of the ancient plunderers removing stones from
what was then the floor of the chamber, in search
of treasure.
The plundering of this building appears to have
taken place in the xviiith dynasty, as the only
object found was a fragment of a pot of that date
at the floor-level of the tomb. The date of the
tomb is doubtful. On several of the stones were
masons' marks not unlike those of the Pyramid
blocks of Meydum (see Meydum and Memphis III,
pi. v). Most of these were too weathered to copy,
but Mr. Thompson has made a copy of one which
is shewn in pi. xxii, no. I.
The orientation of the chamber, judging from
a line of apparently laid bricks, was 4§ degrees E.
of magnetic north. The dimensions of the top of
the hole made by the plunderers in the floor of
the building was: N., 137 inches; W., 181 inches,
and 175 inches deep ; but it is not possible to say
what the dimensions of the original chamber were
to have been.
The north, east, and south sides of the pit were
lined with bricks, to a height of about 8 feet; the
bricks having an average measurement of 18x9
X 6 inches. PL ii, no. I, shews the track looking
E. from inside the pit.
About a quarter of a mile south of this pit
were found the beginnings of an unusually large
bricked tomb shaft, which had been abandoned before
the chambers were cut. The only contents were a
few crocodile bones about four feet below the surface
(see 301, pi. xlvi).
CHAPTER II
THE CEMETERIES
11. Cemetery A is situated on a hill about half
a mile to the north of the village of Gerzeh (see
pi. xlvi). A plan to the scale of 1 : 1,000 is shown
on pi. xlvii, giving the positions of all the graves
which contained anything to be recorded. The
general type of grave in this cemetery is a plain or
bricked shaft, running down from 7 to 40 feet, with
one or more chambers opening out of the bottom of
the shaft on the north and south sides. The chambers
were cut at such a level that the roofs were, without
exception, formed by a stratum of gypsum which ran
through the hill ; this was firmer than the crumbling
marl of which the hill was composed, yet in many
cases the roofs had collapsed, breaking the coffin and
tomb furniture to pieces. The chambers were closed
by bricking up the entrance and plastering the whole
over with mud, but most of the tombs had been
rifled in early times (see chapter ix).
12. A register of the contents of these graves is
given in pis. xxviii-xxxiii, but the special graves
and objects will be described latter.
The date of this cemetery appears, from the pottery
and names which were found, to lie between the reigns
of Senusert I and Senusert III, within a period of
150 years.
The small cartouche-shaped scaraboids, found so
commonly in the reign of Amenemhat III, are en-
tirely absent in this cemetery, though they were
common in the east of cemetery B and also in C 2.
cemetery Ci, we shall work it out ; but from its
size, and the nature of the desert here, I anticipate
that it will prove but a repetition of no. 305, that
is, a trial pit. (See chapter xii.)
10. To the north of cemetery A, about one-
third the distance from Gerzeh to Tarkhan, we
found another large pit, filled in with blown sand ;
we worked this out in three weeks, using 16 picks
and 64 boys.
The tomb (see no. 300 on general map pi. xlvi,
and plate ii, nos. I and 2) was never completed, as
many of the huge limestone blocks of which it
was built had not been laid. Some of these blocks
measured as much as 84 x 60 x 32 inches. In spite
of its not having been completed, it had been
anciently plundered, and even the flooring partly
removed in search of treasure.
The pit in which this tomb was built measured
about 38 feet square, the depth being 32 feet,
measured from the apparent floor-level of the stone
chamber. On the east side of the pit there is a
sloping track 90 feet long, down which the blocks
had been lowered ; and, in later times, much stone
had been removed by this way for building pur-
poses, several deposits of limestone fragments near
the mouth of the track shewing where the stone
had been broken up before it was carried away.
PI. ii, no. 2, shews the remains of the building
seen from the top of the pit on the south side. It
appears to consist of two chambers, the sides of
which appear in the form of steps leading down
to the floor of the chamber; but I am of opinion
that these were only the foundations on which the
tomb, or perhaps the pyramid chamber, was to
have been built; the apparent steps being the result
of the ancient plunderers removing stones from
what was then the floor of the chamber, in search
of treasure.
The plundering of this building appears to have
taken place in the xviiith dynasty, as the only
object found was a fragment of a pot of that date
at the floor-level of the tomb. The date of the
tomb is doubtful. On several of the stones were
masons' marks not unlike those of the Pyramid
blocks of Meydum (see Meydum and Memphis III,
pi. v). Most of these were too weathered to copy,
but Mr. Thompson has made a copy of one which
is shewn in pi. xxii, no. I.
The orientation of the chamber, judging from
a line of apparently laid bricks, was 4§ degrees E.
of magnetic north. The dimensions of the top of
the hole made by the plunderers in the floor of
the building was: N., 137 inches; W., 181 inches,
and 175 inches deep ; but it is not possible to say
what the dimensions of the original chamber were
to have been.
The north, east, and south sides of the pit were
lined with bricks, to a height of about 8 feet; the
bricks having an average measurement of 18x9
X 6 inches. PL ii, no. I, shews the track looking
E. from inside the pit.
About a quarter of a mile south of this pit
were found the beginnings of an unusually large
bricked tomb shaft, which had been abandoned before
the chambers were cut. The only contents were a
few crocodile bones about four feet below the surface
(see 301, pi. xlvi).
CHAPTER II
THE CEMETERIES
11. Cemetery A is situated on a hill about half
a mile to the north of the village of Gerzeh (see
pi. xlvi). A plan to the scale of 1 : 1,000 is shown
on pi. xlvii, giving the positions of all the graves
which contained anything to be recorded. The
general type of grave in this cemetery is a plain or
bricked shaft, running down from 7 to 40 feet, with
one or more chambers opening out of the bottom of
the shaft on the north and south sides. The chambers
were cut at such a level that the roofs were, without
exception, formed by a stratum of gypsum which ran
through the hill ; this was firmer than the crumbling
marl of which the hill was composed, yet in many
cases the roofs had collapsed, breaking the coffin and
tomb furniture to pieces. The chambers were closed
by bricking up the entrance and plastering the whole
over with mud, but most of the tombs had been
rifled in early times (see chapter ix).
12. A register of the contents of these graves is
given in pis. xxviii-xxxiii, but the special graves
and objects will be described latter.
The date of this cemetery appears, from the pottery
and names which were found, to lie between the reigns
of Senusert I and Senusert III, within a period of
150 years.
The small cartouche-shaped scaraboids, found so
commonly in the reign of Amenemhat III, are en-
tirely absent in this cemetery, though they were
common in the east of cemetery B and also in C 2.