History of Egypt From 330 B.C. To the Present Time, Volume 12 (of 12)Rappoport, A. S. (Angelo Solomon)
History
History of Egypt From 330 B.C. To the Present Time, Volume 12 (of 12)
Rappoport, A. S. (Angelo Solomon)
Egypt -- History
All of these tombs are very irregularly built; the sides are wavy in
direction, and the divisions of the long trench are slightly piled up,
of bricks laid lengthwise, and easily overthrown. This agrees with
the rough and irregular construction of the central tomb and offering
chamber. The funeral of Azab seems to have been more carelessly
conducted than that of any of the other kings here; only one piece of
inscribed vase was in his tomb, as against eight of his found in his
successor's tomb, and many other of his vases erased by his successor.
Thus his palace property seems to have been kept back for his
successor's use, and not buried with Azab himself. In some of the
chambers much ivory inlaying was found.
The entrance to the tomb of Azab was by a stairway descending from the
east, thus according with the system begun by Den. On the steps, just
outside of the door, were found dozens of small pots loosely piled
together. These must have contained offerings made after the completion
of the burial. The blocking is made by planks and bricks, the whole
outside of the planking being covered by bricks loosely stacked, as can
be seen in the photograph, the planking having decayed away from before
them. The chamber was floored with planks of wood laid flat on the sand,
without any supporting beams as in other tombs.
The tomb of Mersekha-Semempses is forty-four feet long and twenty-five
feet wide, surrounded by a wall over five feet thick. The surrounding
small chambers are only three to four feet deep where perfect, while the
central pit is still eleven and one-half feet deep, though broken away
at the top. When examined by Professor Petrie few of the small chambers
contained anything. Seven steles were found, the inscriptions of which
are marked in the chambers of the plan; and other steles were also found
here, scattered so that they could not be identified with the tombs.
The most interesting are two steles of dwarfs, which show the dwarf type
clearly; with one were found bones of a dwarf. In a chamber on the
east was a jar and a copper bowl, which shows the hammer marks, and
is roughly finished, with the edge turned over to leave it smooth. The
small compartments in the south-eastern chambers were probably intended
to hold the offerings placed in the graves; the dividing walls are only
about half the depth of the grave.
[Illustration: 384.jpg TOMB OF MERSEKHA, SHOWING WOODEN FLOOR]
The structure of the interior of the tomb of Mersekha is at present
uncertain. Only in the corner by the entrance was the wooden flooring
preserved; several beams (one now in Cairo Museum) and much broken wood
was found loose in the rubbish. The entrance is nine feet wide, and
was blocked by loose bricks, flush with wall face, as seen in the
photograph. Another looser walling farther out, also seen in the
photograph, is probably that of plunderers to hold back the sand.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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