DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49516#0047
THE LOWER DEFFOFA
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showed the imprint of an adze-dressed surface of wood. One channel had a cross section
measuring about 40 X 40 cm. The beams had been placed about 4 m. apart in rows; and
the rows were about 5 m. apart measured vertically. The beams seemed to penetrate the
mass to a depth of about 6 or 7 meters, but it was not possible to make an exact plan of
the system of beams without destroying the brickwork. After the destruction or decay of
the beams, the empty channels became a source of weakness, and the mass was only held
up by the bonding of the brickwork. The strength of this bonding is proved by the re-
markable coherence of the ruin after at least 3,500 years of exposure to wind and weather.
The greatest destruction has been caused by the excavations made by treasure hunters
which undermined the walls.
The four faces of the structure had a slight batter, amounting to about 5 cm. in 1 m.
of height, or a total of 1 m. for the indicated height of about 20 m.
Towards the southern end of the western side, a flight of steps built of mud-bricks
led up to the beginning of the stairs which ascended through the mass to the top. Neither
the steps below nor the stairs above were bonded with the main building. Apparently a
passage had been left in the brickwork from the beginning and had formed a rough con-
struction stair which began at the desert surface, for use in carrying up building material
during the construction. In this passage the permanent stair was afterwards built by
laying bonded brickwork from 1 to 1.50 m. deep over the rough bricks of the temporary
stair. Thus the bottom step of the final stair was about 1.50 m. above the foot of the wall,
and the external flight of steps, mentioned above, had to be built to carry the stair down
to the desert surface. The permanent stair, 2.50 m. wide at the face of the wall, led up to
a small room (A) about 8 m. above the plain, and entered this room with a width of 2.70 m.
(owing to a slight batter in the walls of the passage). From the NE corner of room A,
another stair, 2.20 m. wide, led up parallel to the eastern face of the Deffufa to a point
near the middle where it turned west, then north again, and emerged in the floor of the
top about 20 m. above the desert. From the NW corner of room A, a curious blind passage,
7.20 m. long and 0.60 m. wide, ran out northward into the mass of the brickwork. The
sides of this passage were continued upward as far as the brickwork was preserved and
probably originally reached the floor of the top of the Deffufa. I am unable to suggest any
satisfactory explanation of the purpose of this blind passage. There were no marks on the
mud-plastered walls such as would have been made by a sliding wooden door, or a heavy
wooden beam, or a hanging rope ladder.
Room A was clearly a guard-room. In the SE coiner was a hearth enclosed with mud-
bricks and bedded with ashes and coals. On the N side of the floor there was a large stone
column-basis such as was used for a wooden column supporting a wooden roof, but it
was not in position. The debris in the room and in the upper stairway consisted of the
usual layer of rubbish above and of a layer of coals and ashes (not from the hearth) below.
The walls were fire-stained, as were also the walls of the upper stair. The walls of the lower
stair were not well enough preserved to show whether they were fire-stained or not, but the
wooden beams in the brickwork adjoining the stair had been burnt out. It is necessary to
assume therefore that a great conflagration had involved the whole of the passages leading
to the top. Access to the passages had no doubt been blocked by wooden doors to guard
against surprise. There were mud-brick door-jambs at the entrance to room A, and pos-
sibly others lower down. Room A was probably roofed with wood, but it is quite clear that
23
showed the imprint of an adze-dressed surface of wood. One channel had a cross section
measuring about 40 X 40 cm. The beams had been placed about 4 m. apart in rows; and
the rows were about 5 m. apart measured vertically. The beams seemed to penetrate the
mass to a depth of about 6 or 7 meters, but it was not possible to make an exact plan of
the system of beams without destroying the brickwork. After the destruction or decay of
the beams, the empty channels became a source of weakness, and the mass was only held
up by the bonding of the brickwork. The strength of this bonding is proved by the re-
markable coherence of the ruin after at least 3,500 years of exposure to wind and weather.
The greatest destruction has been caused by the excavations made by treasure hunters
which undermined the walls.
The four faces of the structure had a slight batter, amounting to about 5 cm. in 1 m.
of height, or a total of 1 m. for the indicated height of about 20 m.
Towards the southern end of the western side, a flight of steps built of mud-bricks
led up to the beginning of the stairs which ascended through the mass to the top. Neither
the steps below nor the stairs above were bonded with the main building. Apparently a
passage had been left in the brickwork from the beginning and had formed a rough con-
struction stair which began at the desert surface, for use in carrying up building material
during the construction. In this passage the permanent stair was afterwards built by
laying bonded brickwork from 1 to 1.50 m. deep over the rough bricks of the temporary
stair. Thus the bottom step of the final stair was about 1.50 m. above the foot of the wall,
and the external flight of steps, mentioned above, had to be built to carry the stair down
to the desert surface. The permanent stair, 2.50 m. wide at the face of the wall, led up to
a small room (A) about 8 m. above the plain, and entered this room with a width of 2.70 m.
(owing to a slight batter in the walls of the passage). From the NE corner of room A,
another stair, 2.20 m. wide, led up parallel to the eastern face of the Deffufa to a point
near the middle where it turned west, then north again, and emerged in the floor of the
top about 20 m. above the desert. From the NW corner of room A, a curious blind passage,
7.20 m. long and 0.60 m. wide, ran out northward into the mass of the brickwork. The
sides of this passage were continued upward as far as the brickwork was preserved and
probably originally reached the floor of the top of the Deffufa. I am unable to suggest any
satisfactory explanation of the purpose of this blind passage. There were no marks on the
mud-plastered walls such as would have been made by a sliding wooden door, or a heavy
wooden beam, or a hanging rope ladder.
Room A was clearly a guard-room. In the SE coiner was a hearth enclosed with mud-
bricks and bedded with ashes and coals. On the N side of the floor there was a large stone
column-basis such as was used for a wooden column supporting a wooden roof, but it
was not in position. The debris in the room and in the upper stairway consisted of the
usual layer of rubbish above and of a layer of coals and ashes (not from the hearth) below.
The walls were fire-stained, as were also the walls of the upper stair. The walls of the lower
stair were not well enough preserved to show whether they were fire-stained or not, but the
wooden beams in the brickwork adjoining the stair had been burnt out. It is necessary to
assume therefore that a great conflagration had involved the whole of the passages leading
to the top. Access to the passages had no doubt been blocked by wooden doors to guard
against surprise. There were mud-brick door-jambs at the entrance to room A, and pos-
sibly others lower down. Room A was probably roofed with wood, but it is quite clear that