Reisner Mycerinus

MYCERINUS
MYCERINUS
THE TEMPLES OF
THE THIRD PYRAMID AT GIZA
BY
GEORGE A. REISNER, Ph.D.
H A W V A R D U N I V E R S I T Y PRESS
CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS
1931
TO
THE MEMORY OF
GARDINER MARTIN LANE

AND
ORIC BATES
PREFACE
THEpresent volume is the first of the series of final reports on the excavations at Giza made by the
Joint Egyptian Expedition of Harvard University and the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. The chapters
on stone vessels and pottery are intended as an introduction to the vessels dealt with in the succeeding
volumes.
I wish to acknowledge the services of Mr. Ashton Sanborn and in particular of Mr. Dows Dunham
in seeing the publication through the press under great difficulties. The actual excavations of the
Mycerinus temples were recorded by the following members of the expedition and myself:
Mr. Cecil Mallaby Firth, 1906-1907.
Mr. Oric Bates, 1908.
Dr. Clarence Stanley Fisher, 1909-1910.
Mr. Alan Rowe, 1924.
Mr. George Vaillant, 1924.
The tracings of the maps and the figures used for reproduction were made by Mr. Joseph Bonello.
The main body of the manuscript, with Appendices A-D, the model plates, and the drawings were
delivered to the printer in 1926. The correction of the page proof was begun by Mr. Dunham in 1929.
The final chapter was delivered in that year and Appendices E and F in 1930. My thanks are due to
President Lowell of Harvard University and to the Harvard University Press for undertaking the
publication. I acknowledge my indebtedness to the officers of the Press for their patience during the
long delay in the publication and for their assistance throughout.
GEORGE A. REISNER
GIZAPYRAMIDS
November 15, 1930
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
1. THEROYALCEMETERY
AT GIZA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2. THEIDENTIFICATION
OF THE THIRDPYRAMID . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
CHAPTER II
THE MYCERINUS PYRAMID TEMPLE
1. INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2. PREVIOUS REPORTSON THE MYCERINUS PYRAMID TEMPLE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
3. THEMYCERINUS PYRAMID TEMPLE AT THE BEGINNING OF OUR EXCAVATIONS ......... 8
4. THEPROGRESS OF OUR EXCAVATIONS AT THE MYCERINUS PYRAMID TEMPLE. . . . . . . . . . 9
A . Preliminary Examination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
B . Railway System in the Great Court (5) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
C. Excavation of Rooms (1)-(11) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
D. Excavation of the Northern Magazines (12)-(24) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
E . Excavation of the Inner Temple, Rooms (25)-(37) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
5. THEDEPOSITS OF DÉBRIS IN THE MYCERINUS PYRAMID TEMPLE AND THE OBJECTSFOUND IN THEM. . 12
A . The Débris in the Great Court (5), and the Entrance Corridor (1)-(4) . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
B. The Débris in the Portico (7), and the Outer Offering Room (8) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
C. The Unfinished Southern Magazines (9)-(11) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
D . The Debris in the Northern Magazines (12)-(25) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
E . The Debris in the Inner Temple (26)-(35) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
F. Room (36) and the Temple Enclosure (37) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
G . Fragments of Statues found North of Room (20) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
H . History of the Deposit of the Débris . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
6 . DESCRIPTION OF THE TEMPLE AS AT PRESENT EXCAVATED . Pls.I , II . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
7. HISTORYOF THE CONSTRUCTION AND DECAYOF THE TEMPLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
A . The Massive Unfinished Temple of Mycerinus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
B . The Crude-Brick Temple of Shepseskaf . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
C. The Inner Limestone Temple of Mernera (?) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
D. Minor Additions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
E . The Decay of the Temple . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
CHAPTER III
T H E MYCERINUS VALLEY TEMPLE
1. DISCOVERY AND EXCAVATION OF THE MYCERINUS VALLEYTEMPLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

A . Valley Temples of the Old Kingdom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
B . Search for the Mycerinus Valley Temple . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
C. Excavation of the Inner Part of the Temple, July 7 to 25, 1908, Pls . VIII-X . . . . . . . . . 35
D . Excavation of the Rest of the Temple. December 3, 1909 to April 12, 1910 . . . . . . . . . . 36
2..DESCRIPTION O F THE MYCERINUS VALLEY TEMPLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
A . The Massive Stone Temple of Mycerinus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
B . The First Crude-Brick Temple, Built by Shepseskaf . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
(1) The Vestibule of the Mycerinus Valley Temple.
(2) The Great Open Court .
(3) The Sanctuary.
(4) The Northern Magazines.
(5) The Southern Magazines - Statue Rooms.
(6) The Exterior Corridor .
(7) The Decay of the First Crude-Brick Temple .
X CONTENTS
C . Description of the Second Crude-Brick Temple . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
(1) The Outer Wall of the Second Temple.
(2) The Sanctuary.
(3) The Magazines.
(4) The Open Court.
( 5 ) The Portal Structure or Vestibule.
(6) General Decay of the Second Temple.
(7) Plundering of the Second Crude-Brick Temple.
D. Description of the Intrusive Structures in the Mycerinus Valley Temple . . . . . . . . . . . 49
(1) The Pyramid City of Mycerinus.
(2) The Different Periods of the Houses.
(a) The Walls on the Floor of the Court.
(b) The Walls Founded on the Floor Débris of the Court.
(c) The Walls Founded Partly on the Decayed Walls of the First Temple.
( d ) The Walls in the City Enclosure in Front of the Temple.
E. History of the Valley Temple and City . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
CHAPTER IV
THE TEMPLES O F THE THREE SMALL PYRAMIDS SOUTH O F T H E THIRD PYRAMID
1. THETEMPLE OF THE PYRAMID 111-a . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
A . The Identification of Pyramid 111-a . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
B. The Excavation of the Temple of Pyramid 111-a . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . , . . . . 55
C. Description of the Temple of Pyramid 111-a. Pls. IV, V, VII. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
(1) The Unfinished Stone Temple of Pyramid III-a.- Mycerinus.
(2) The Crude-Brick Temple - Shepseskaf.
(a) The Entrance to the Temple of Pyramid 111-a.
(b) The Entrance Corridor (8).
(c) The Court (1) and the Court Portico (2).
(d) The Kitchens (6) and (7).
(e) The Anteroom of the Inner Part, Room (3).
(f)Room (4) and Stairway (5).
(g) The Hall of Niches (9).
(h) The Inner Offering Place, Room (12)
(i) The L-Shaped Offering Room (10).
(j)The Magazine (?), Room (11).
(k) The Plastering of the Whole Temple.
(3) The Later Alterations and Repairs.
2. THETEMPLE OF PYRAMID III-b Pls. VI, VII. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
A . The Excavation of the Temple of Pyramid III-b . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
B. Description of the Temple of Pyramid III-b . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
(1) Massive Stone Temple - Mycerinus.
(2) The Crude-Brick Temple - Shepseskaf.
3. THETEMPLE OF PYRAMID III-c. Pls. VI, VII . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
A . The Excavation of the Temple of Pyramid III-c . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . 65
B. Description of the Temple of Pyramid III-c . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
4. COMPARISON OF THE PLANS OF THE TEMPLES OF PYRAMIDS 111-a, III-b, AND III-c . . . . . . . . 68
CHAPTER V
BUILDING MATERIALS AND CONSTRUCTION
1. BUILDINGMATERIALS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
A . Limestone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . 69
B . Red Granite and Black Granite. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
C. Crude Brick . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
(1) Preparation of the Dough for Bricks.
(2) Making of the Bricks.
(3) Sizes of Bricks in the Mycerinus Temples.
2. MASONRY AND CONSTRUCTION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
A . Stone Structures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
(1) The Foundation Platform.
(2) The Limestone Core Walls.
(3) Wall-Casings and Pillars.
(4) Free-Standing Walls.
CONTENTS xi
B . Crude-Brick Construction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
(1) Bonding.
(2) Foundations of Crude-Brick Walls .
(3) Roofing.
(4) Doors and Windows.
CHAPTER VI
OBJECTS FOUND I N THE MYCERINUS TEMPLES
1. THEUSE OF FUNERARY TEMPLES AS DEPOSITORIES OF OBJECTS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96

A . Functional Parts of an Egyptian Tomb . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
B . Types of Objects Placed in the Burial Chambers and their Purpose . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
C. Function of the Offering Place and Objects Associated Therewith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
D . Introduction of Ka-Statues and Reliefs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
.
E Furniture of the Funerary Temples of Mycerinus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
2 . DATEOF THE OBJECTSFOUND IN THE MYCERINUS TEMPLES. . . . . . . .......... 102
3 . ARCHAEOLOGICALVALUEOFTHEOBJECTSFOUNDINTHEMYCERINUSTEMPLES .......... 105
CHAPTER VII
THE STATUARY
1. LIST OF THE STATUARY FOUND IN THE MYCERINUS TEMPLES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108

A . The Pyramid Temple (M. P . T.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
. .
B . The Temple of Pyramid 111-a, The Queen’s Temple (M Q T.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
C. The Mycerinus Valley Temple (M. V. T.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
2. THE TECHNIQUE OF THE STATUARY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
3. THECANONOF PROPORTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
4. COMPARISONWITH EARLIERSTATUARY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
A . The Early Dynastic Sculpture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
B . Stone Statues of Dynasty III . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
C. Figures of the Early Part of Dynasty I V . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
5 . THEATTITUDES OF STATUES AND STATUETTES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
A . The Standing and Seated Figures of Mycerinus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
B . Other Royal Statues of Dynasties IV to VI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
C. Attitudes in Private Statues of Dynasties V and VI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
D . Chronological Order of Attitudes used by Egyptian Sculptors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
E . Influence of the Statues of Chephren and Mycerinus on Private Statues of Dynasties V and VI . . 125
F. Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
6. THECOLORING OF THE MYCERINUS STATUES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
7 . COMPARISON OF THE PORTRAITS OF MYCERINUS AND CHEPHREN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
CHAPTER VIII
STONE VESSELS
1. HISTORYOF THE DEVELOPMENT OF EGYPTIAN STONEVESSELSFROM THE PREDYNASTIC PERIOD TO

DYNASTY V. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
A . The Stone Vessels of the Predynastic Period . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
(1) Type PD-I . Cylindrical Jar .
(2) Type PD-II. Egg-Shaped Jar with Foot and Handles.
(3) Type PD-III. Spheroidal Jar with Two Horizontal Handles.
(4) Type PD-IV . Barrel-Shaped Jar with and without Handles.
(5) Type PD-V . Jar without Handles.
(6) Type PD-VI . Vertical Jar with Handles.
(7) Type PD-VII. Wavy-Handled Jar .
(8) Type PD-VIII. Pointed Jar .
(9) Type PD- I X . Round-Bottomed Saucers and Bowls.
(10) Type PD- X . Flat-Bottomed Saucers and Bowls.
(11) Type PD-XI . Cups and Bowls with External Rim .
(12) Type PD-XII. Tables.
xii CONTENTS
B. Stone Vessels of Dynasty I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
(1) Type 1-11. Cylindrical Jar.
(2) Type 1-111. Spheroidal Jar with Horizontal Handles.
(3) Type 1-IV. Swelling or Shouldered Jar with Horizontal Handles.
(4) Type 1-V. Bulging or Shouldered Jar without Handles.
( 5 ) Type 1-VI. Swelling Jar with Two Knob Handles.
(6) Type 1-VII. Wavy-Handled Jar.
(7) Type 1-VIII. Jar with Pointed Base.
(8) Type 1-IX. Round-Bottomed Dishes and Bowls.
(9) Type 1-X. Flat-Bottomed Dishes and Bowls.
(10) Type 1-XI. Bowls with External Rim.
(11) Type 1-XII. Tables.
C . Stone Vessels of Dynasty II . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
( 1 ) Type2-III.Spheroidal Jar with Handles.
(2) Type 2-IV. Shoulder Jar with Two Horizontal Handles.
(3) Type 2-V. Bulging or Shouldered Jar.
(4) Type 2-IX. Round-Bottomed Dishes and Bowls..
( 5 ) Type 2-X. Flat-Bottomed Dishes and Bowls.
(6) Type 2-XI. Bowl with External Rim.
(7) Type 2-XII. Tables.
D. Stone Vessels of Dynasty III . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
(2) Type 3-111. Spheroidal Jar with Horizontal Handles.
(3) Type 3-IV. Shoulder Jar with Horizontal Handles.
Type 3-V.
(4) Shoulder Jar without Handles.
( 5 ) Type 3-IX. Round-Bottomed Dishes and Bowls.
(6) Type 3-X. Flat-Bottomed Bowl.
(7) Type 3-XI. Bowl with External Rim.
(8) Type 3-XII. Table.
E. Stone Vessels of Dynasty IV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
(2) Type 4-111. Spheroidal Jar with Handles.
(3) Type 4-IV. Shoulder Jar with Handles.
(4) Type 4-V. Shoulder Jar without Handles.
(5) Type 4-IX. Round-Bottomed Platters and Bowls.
(6) Type 4-X. Flat-Bottomed Dishes and Bowls.
(7) Type 4-XI. Cups and Bowls with Recurved Rim.
(8) Type 4-XII. Flat-Topped Table.
(9) Type 4-XIII. Bowl-Stands and Jar-Stands.
. .
2. STONEVESSELSOF MYCERINUS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
A . Provenience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
B. Date of the Stone Vessels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
C . Technique of the Stone Vessels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 179
D. Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
E. Forms of the Mycerinus Stone Vessels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
(1) Type I. Cylindrical Jar.
(2) T y p e II.Egg-Shaped Jar (Old Form).
(3) T y p e III.Squat Jar with Two Handles.
(4) Type IV. Shoulder Jar with Handles.
(5) Type V. Shoulder Jar without Handles.
(6) Type VI. Swelling Vertical Jar with Two Knob Handles.
(7) Type VII.. Wavy-Handled Jar.
(8) Type VIII. Pointed Jar.
(9) Type IX. Round-Bottomed Dishes and Bowls.
(10) Type X. Flat-Bottomed Bowl.
(11) Type XI. Cups and Bowls with External Rim.
(12) Type XII. Table.
(13) Type XIII. Jar-Stand.
(14) Stone Models of Vessels.
. .
3. THE STONEVESSELSOF SAHURA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
CONTENTS
...
xiii
CHAPTER IX
THE POTTERY O F THE MYCERINUS VALLEY TEMPLE
1. PROVENIENCE OF THE POTTERY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
A. The Earlier Pottery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
B. The Later Pottery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
2. THETYPESOF THE POTTERY FROM THE MYCERINUS VALLEYTEMPLE. . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
A. Jars of R . W., Db.W., and W . S. R . Wares . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
(a) Type I. Wine Jar .

(b) Type II. Tall Jar with Tapering Body and Round Base.
(e) Type III.Large Bulging Jar.
(d) Type IV. Traditional Offering Jar .
(e) Types V, VI, and VII. Small Jars.
(f) and IX. Pointed Jars with Neck .
Types VIII
(g) Type X . Small Shouldered Jar with Flat Base.
(h) Type XI . Small Squat Jar with Spout.
(i) Types XII-XIV . Black Polished Jars.
(j) TypesXV-XX. Jars, Red Polished Ware.
(k) TypesXXI-XXIV. Bowl-Stands and Jar-Stands.
(1) Types XXV, XXVI. “Flower-Pot” and Tray .
(m) Types
XXVII-XLII. Basins and Bowls.
(n) Types XLIII, XLIV. Models of Jars and Bowls.
CHAPTERX
OTHER OBJECTS FOUND I N THE MYCERINUS TEMPLES
1. FLINT KNIVES,
SCRAPERS, AND FLAKES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230
2. VESSELSAND IMPLEMENTS OF COPPER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231
3. FLINT WANDS(“MOUTH-OPENERS”) AND ACCOMPANYING MODELS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
4. CYLINDER SEALS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234
5. BEADSAND AMULETS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
6. FAIENCE FRAGMENTS AND INLAYS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236
7. STONEHAMMERS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236
8. MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237
a . Shells . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237
6. Bone Point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237
c. Ivory Bracelet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237
d. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Plaster
Cones 238
e . Color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238
f. Mud Jar-Stoppers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238
g . Wood and Charcoal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238
h. Stone Muller (?) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238
i. Head-Rest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238
j. Painted Pot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238
CHAPTER XI
THE FAMILY O F MYCERINUS
OF MYCERINUS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
THEFAMILY 239
APPENDICES
A. THEDEBEHENINSCRIPTION AND THE Her-PYRAMID ..................... 257
B . DESCRIPTIONOF BURIALS FOUND
AND OBJECTS IN THE COMMUNALBURIALOF THE ROMAN PERIOD
IN ROOM (27) OF THE MYCERINUS TEMPLE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259
PYRAMID
C . PROVENIENCE
LIST OF OBJECTSFOUND
IN THE VALLEYTEMPLE.
MYCERINUS . . . . . . . . . 262
D. RECONSTRUCTION
OF BUILDING
OPERATIONSAT THE TEMPLE . .
OF CHEPHREN . . . . . . . . . 272
E. QUARRY MARKSAND MASONS’
M A R K S O N Pls. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273
X I A N D XII
F. LIST OF INSCRIPTIONS
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
TEXT FIGURES
MYCERINUS
PYRAMID
TEMPLE
1. Débris in great court. mud wall well preserved. section . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

2. Débris in great court. low mud wall where granite block has been removed. section . . . . . . . . 14
3. Room (16). plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4 . Room (17). plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5. R o o m (18), plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
6. Room (27). with Roman burials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
7. Rooms (19) and (20) and drain hole. showing position of alabaster fragments . . . . . . . . . . .
.. 16
16
17
20
23
8. Plan of granite pavement. room (29) and section showing stela . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
9. Room (29). restored . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
10. Portico and offering room. restored . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
11.Corridor(13),sectionI: N-S. looking east . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
12. Corridor (13). s e c t i o n east . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
II:
N-S,
looking 81
13. Corridor (13). section 111: N-S. looking east . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
14. Red granite casing block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
15. Proposed method of raising square pillars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
16. Proposed method of raising square pillars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
17. Bonding in wall between rooms (17) and (18) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
VALLEYTEMPLE
MYCERINUS
18. Court. brickwork of niched wall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
19. Plan and elevation of threshold and doorway (1) to (2). first temple . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
20. Detail of roofing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
21 . Section S-N through portico of first temple. showing restoration of columns and roof . . . . . . . . . 93
22. Section S-N through outer offering room. second temple. showing restoration of columns and roof . . 93
STONEVESSELS
23. P. D. types I and II. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
24. P. D . typesIII, I V , V , V I , I X - X I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
25. P. D. types IV-VIII . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
26. Dynasty I type I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
2 7 . . . . . . . . . .
Dynasty
Itypes
I-III . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
28. Dynasty I types IV. V . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
29. Dynasty I types VI-VIII . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
30. D y n a s t y I t y p e s I X , X , X c . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
31. Dynasty I types Xb. Xe . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
32. D y n a s t y I types XI, X I I . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
33. Dynasty II types I a-c . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
34. Dynasty II types III-V . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
35. Dynasty 11. variations of types IX and X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
36. D y n a s t y II types XI, X I I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
37. Dynasty III type I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
38. Dynasty III types III, IV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
39. Dynasty III type Va (1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
40. Dynasty III types V a-e . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
41. Dynasty III typesIX,X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
42. Dynasty III types XI, XII . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
43. Dynasty IV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
xvi LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
44. DynastyIV, model vessels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
45. Mycerinus. alabaster type I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
46. Mycerinus,alabastertypeI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
47. Mycerinus. alabaster type I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
48. Mycerinus,alabastertypeIV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
49. Mycerinus,alabastertype V . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
50. Mycerinus. alabaster miscellaneous types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
51. Mycerinus. alabaster type Vc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
52. Mycerinus. alabaster model vessels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
53. Mycerinus. hard stone types I. IV. V. IX. X I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
54. Mycerinus. hard stone type Ve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
55. Mycerinus, hardstonetypeIII . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
56. Mycerinus. diorite miscellaneous types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
57. Mycerinus. diorite types IX. X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
58. Mycerinus, blue-veinedlime stone types III-V, X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
59. Mycerinus. basalt miscellaneous types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
60. Mycerinus. miscellaneous stones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
POTTERY
61. I. . . . . . . . . .
Type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
6 2 . T y p e s II, III . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
63. Type III . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
64. Type IV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
65. Types V-XI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
66. Types XII-XIV (B. P.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216
6 7 . TypesXV,X V I ( R . P.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
6 8 . T y p e s XVII, XVIII ( R . P.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218
6 9 .T y p e s X I X ,X X ( R .P . ) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
70. Types XXI-XXIV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
71. Types X X V , X X V I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
72. Types XXVII, XXVIII . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
73. TypesXXIX,XXX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
74. Types XXXI-XXXIII . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
75. Type XXXIV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226
76. Type XXXV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227
77. Types XXXVI, X X X V I I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227
78. Types XXXVIII-XLII . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227
79. Type XLIII . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
80.
Type XLIV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
81. Limestone button seal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236
LISTOFILLUSTRATIONS xvii
PLATES
MYCERINUS
PYRAMID
TEMPLE
1 . a, Seen from Second Pyramid looking down south, before excavation, December 1, 1906. - b. Seen from
Second Pyramid looking down south, after excavation, April 16, 1907.
2. a. Outer temple seen from Third Pyramid, looking down east, before excavation, December 1, 1906. - b.
Seen from Third Pyramid, looking down east, after excavation, May 18, 1907.
3. a. Court (5) with layers of débris, looking north, January 9, 1907. - b. Entrance doorway (2) looking east,
stela 07-1-21 as found, January 6, 1907. - c. Portico (7), pillar-sockets south of temple axis, looking
west, May 10, 1907. - d. Portico (7), pillar-sockets of western row, north side, looking west, May 10,
1907. - e . Footway across court (5) and entrance corridor (3), looking east from centre of court,
June, 1907.
4. a. Portico (7) and screen-wall, looking south, February 7, 1907. - b. Court (5), N-W quarter with doorway
(12), looking N-W, February 7, 1907. - c. Court (5), east wall, south part, emplacements for granite
casing, looking down N-E, June, 1907. - d. Court ( 5 ) , portico (7), and offering room (8) from eastern
side of court, looking west, June, 1907.
5. a. Causeway corridor, western end, looking south, June, 1907. - b. Causeway corridor, western end, looking
west into temple, June, 1907. - c. Northern corridor (13)looking east, February 10, 1907. - d. Northern
corridor (13), north wall, black granite casing, looking N-E, May 27, 1907.
6. a. Northern corridor ( I S ) , north wall, granite casing, looking down E-N-E, October, 1923. - b. Northern
corridor (13), south wall, crude-brick casing partly stripped of plaster, looking down W-S-W, October,
1923. - c. Northern corridor ( I S ) , south wall, black granite casing, looking S-E, October, 1923.
7. a. Magazine (17) looking down north, January 22, 1907. - b. Corridor (15) looking west, fragments of
statues as found, January 23, 1907. - c. Magazine (18) looking north, January 22, 1907. - d. Corridor
(15) looking east, knees of statue No. 1 as found, January 23, 1907.
8. a. Fragments of statues outside magazine (20), looking S-W, April 14, 1907. - b. Magazine (20), fragments
of statues in drain hole, looking north, January 20, 1907. - c. Alabaster head and other fragments out-
side drain hole, looking south, April 14, 1907. - d . Near view of alabaster head and other fragments,
looking north, April 14, 1907.
9. a. Crude-brick walls south of western end of causeway, looking east, June, 1907. - b. Room (11) looking
south, January 9, 1907. - c. Looking west from room (26) to room (31), October 18, 1923. - d. Cor-
ridor (%), sloping floor, looking north, April 5, 1907. - e . Room (36), Roman stair on sand, looking
east, April 4, 1907. - f. Room (36), doorway looking down north, April 12, 1907.
10. a. Inner temple and magazines of outer temple, looking down east from the pyramid, June, 1907. - b. Inner
temple and construction plane, looking north, June, 1907.
11. a. Room (29), granite pavement and granite casing of pyramid, looking N-W, October 20, 1923. - b. Room
(29), granite pavement and walls of Turah limestone, with room (27) beyond, looking down east, Octo-
ber 17, 1923.
12. Great alabaster statue of Mycerinus, No. 1.
13. a. Head of statue No. 1, great alabaster statue of Mycerinus, front view seen from below (viewpoint of beholder
standing on floor). - b. Head of statue No. 1, great alabaster statue of Mycerinus, front view seen from
opposite face (viewpoint of sculptor).
14. a. Head of great alabaster statue No. 1 of Mycerinus, right side, three-quarters view. - b. Head of great
alabaster statue No. 1 of Mycerinus, profile of right side.
15. Head of great alabaster statue No. 1 of Mycerinus, left side, four different views.
16. a. Knees of great alabaster statue No. 1. - b. Feet of smaller alabaster statue No. 2c. - c. Torso of smaller
alabaster statue No. 2a, front. - d. Torso of smaller alabaster statue No. 2a, back.
17. a. Seal impressions in mud, from room (22). - b. Seal impressions in mud, from room (22).- c. Inscribed
fragments of alabaster statue-bases. - d. Fragments of alabaster statue of queen, M. Q. T.
18. Flint knives and flakes from temple magazines.
19. a. Flint wand from (14). - b. Limestone stela of Shepseskaf, 07-1-3, 07-14. - c. Perring’s sketch, wooden
coffin lid of Mycerinus. - d. Limestone stela from entrance, 07-1-21. e-i. Fragments of limestone
stelae from portico (7).
20. a-c. Black granite hammer from magazine (17). - d-e. Pot of type XXV from room (36). -f. Pottery models
from room (18), types R. W. XLIII, XLIV. - g. Alabaster and crystal models. - h. Copper, faience,
and shell. - i. Plaster cones from magazines (16) and (18).
21. a. Diorite bowl, room (27-sub). - b. Diorite bowl, room (27-sub). - c. Diorite pan, room (27-sub).
- d. Alabaster and limestone vessels from room (26-sub). - e. Athenian silver coins from entrance
corridor. -f. Roman coin, Arabic coins, iron wedge, etc., from room (27) and adjacent.
xviii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
22. a. Mummy No. 23, from room (27).- b. Mummy No. 23 laid open, coin in hand. - c. Mummy No. 23, near
view of hand with coin. - d. Roman coin, scarabs, etc., from room (27). - e. Roman coins, scarabs, etc.,
from room (27).-f. Room (27),mummy No. 23 as found.
23. a. Room (27), mummies Nos. 54-57, looking down north. - b. Room (27), mummies Nos. 70-77, looking
down S-E. - c. Amulets from mummy No. 56. - d. Amulets from mummy No. 47. - e. Faience rings
and cowrie bracelet from debris in room (27).-f. Glass bottle, amulets, and beads from mummy No. 71.
-g. Scarab seals and backs from room (27).- h. Amulets from room (28).
MYCERINUS
VALLEYTEMPLE
24. a. Sand in the valley before excavation, May 30, 1908. - b. After excavating west part of temple, looking
northwest, February 9, 1910.
25. a. Surface of decay of the portico and offering room, after removing sand, looking west, June 20, 1908. - b.
After excavation of western part of temple, looking S-E from the unfinished pyramid, February 9, 1910.
26. a. Western part of temple, after excavation, looking west, January 28, 1910. - b. The same after removing
north wall of room ( 1 ) of the second temple, February 7, 1910.
27. a. Northern magazines looking south over corridor (20), before opening the old doorway to room (2), Janu-
ary 25,1910. - b. As above, after opening doorway to room (2), February 7, 1910. - e. View from south
end of corridor (20), through (2) and (4) to (21), February 6, 1910. - d. Southern magazines and cor-
ridor (4) looking north, with southern wall of second temple in foreground, February 7, 1910.
28. a. Western wall with rubble revetment, looking north, February 4, 1910. - b. Rooms (17), (18), and doorway
from (4) to (21), looking south, February 6, 1910. - c. Doorways from (4) to (S), (4) to (19), (4)to (18),
and the thieves’ hole in (4), looking down east, February 6, 1910. - d. Thieves’ hole in rooms (4) and
(18) in foreground; rooms (I-4) to (i-11) in background, January 21, 1910.
29. a. Causeway, corridor west of temple, with drain in floor, looking east, February 13, 1910. - b. Doorway
from (21) to western corridor, dropped lintel of first temple half cut away, and above this the brickwork
of the second temple, looking west, February 5, 1910. - e. Deposit of alabaster splinters from statues,
found along southern wall of (I-6), January 23, 1910. - d. Western end of room (111-7), exposed lime-
stone core-wall (Mycerinus), January 11, 1910. - e. Steps in doorway from (4) to (3) and exposed lime-
stone core-wall in (18), looking down W-s-W, February 5, 1910. -f. Eastern end of (5) and doorway
to (4),looking down E-N-E, February 6, 1910.
30. a. Rubble lining of thieves’ hole in room (18),looking east, January 13,1910. - b. Doorway from court through
screen wall to room (111-I), slab threshold, looking east, February 7, 1910. - c. Eastern side of portico,
looking down north, showing foundation of parapet of portico, also adjoining screen-wall, February 20,
1910. - d. West wall of (II-1) with doorway to room (2), showing threshold slab of first temple, looking
down N-E, February 6, 1910. -e. Doorway from room ( 1 ) to room (2), looking west into room (2),
February 8, 1910. -f. Door block of crude brick in doorway from (II-2) to (II-4), seen from (II-4),
looking north, January 25, 1910.
31. a. N-W quarter of court, house walls over court, and western wall of court, looking west, January 26, 1910. -
b. N-W quarter of court after partially exposing older niched wall, looking west, February 7, 1910. - c.
N-W quarter of court, niched wall of court, looking west, February 17, 1910.
32. a. Room (I-23), decayed arm of wooden statue in debris, looking N-E, January 20, 1910. - b. N-W quarter
of court, pottery on floor of (I-57b), looking west, February 5, 1910. - c. Court, granaries (40), (43),
(53), (54), (55),looking east, February 15, 1910 - d. Court (I-57-sub.), plaster on niched wall and ala-
baster jar thrown out of magazines, looking north, February 10, 1910. - e. N-W quarter of court, same
stage as Plate 31-c, February 13, 1910. -f. Shattered triad No. 13 as found in debris of court, looking
east, January 19, 1910.
33. a. Southern half of court, looking east, March 5, 1910. - b. Court, looking north, March 11, 1910.
34. a. Room (I-302-sub.), pottery on floor of court, looking down east, February 26, 1910. - b. Court, middle
drain basin and pathway, looking west, March 9, 1910. - c. Room (I-320), fragments of large alabaster
statues under floor, looking south, February 28, 1910. - d. Vestibule, anteroom (III-377), limestone
decree of Pepy 11, looking east, March 24, 1910. - e. Vestibule, northern magazine corridor (III-380),
stair, looking north, April 1, 1910. -f. N-E quarter of court, looking north, April 1, 1910.
35. a. Vestibule and houses east of temple, before removing wall of vestibule of second temple, looking N-N-W,
March 15, 1910. - b. Same as a, after removing wall of vestibule of second temple, March 15, 1910.
36. a. Corridor (4), the four triads as found, looking north, July 10, 1908. - b. Later house walls above (III-4),
(111-5), and (III-17), looking north, July 11, 1908. - c. Corridor (4), triads Nos. 9 and 10 partly ex-
posed, looking down S-W, July 10, 1908.
37. a. Corridor (4), triads No. 9 (in front) and No. 12 on right, looking south, July 12, 1908. - b. Corridor (4),
triads No. 10 (behind) and No. 11 on right, looking north, July 11, 1908.
38. a. Nome-triad No. 9, front view. - b. Nome-triad No. 10, front view. - c. Nome-triad No. 11, front view.
d. Nome-triad No. 12, front view.
39. Triad of the Hare-nome (No. 9), upper part.
40. a. Triad No. 9, right side, half view. - b. Triad No. 9, left side, half view. - c. Triad No. 9, right side, three-
quarter view. - d. Triad No. 9, left side, profile.
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS xix
41. Triad of the Theban nome (No. 10).
42. a. Triad No. 10, right side, half view. - b. Triad No. 10, left side, one-quarter view. - c. Triad No. 10, right
side, one-quarter view. - d. Triad No. 10, left side, profile.
43. a. Triad of Jackal-nome, No. 11, upper part, large scale. - b. Triad No. 11, left side, profile. - c. Triad
No. 11, right side, half view. - d. Triad No. 11, left side, half view.
44. a. Triad of nome of Diospolis Parva (No. 12), upper part. - b. Triad of nome of Diospolis Parva (No.12),
faces of the king and the nome-goddess.
45. a. Triad No. 12, right side, profile. - b. Triad No. 12, left side, profile. - c. Triad No. 12, right side, half
view. - d. Triad No. 12, left side, one-quarter view.
46. a. Triad No. 12, inscription, left half. - b. Triad No. 12, inscription, right half. - c. Triad No. 9, inscription.
-d. Triad No. 10, inscription. - e. Triad No. 11, inscription. -f. Triad No. 13. -g. Fragment of
alabaster stela from (I-393).
47. a. Room ( I ) of second temple (portico of first temple), showing four bases and other fragments of alabaster
statues as found, looking west, July 16, 1908. - b. Alabaster statues Nos. 19 and 18, back and right side
(in camp court yard). - c. Alabaster statue No. 19, front and left side.
48. a. Alabaster statue No. 18, front view. - b. Alabaster statue No. 18, top of head, looking down. - c. Alabaster
statue No. 18, torso, profile. - d. Alabaster statue No. 18, left side, profile.
49. Head of alabaster statue No. 18, six views.
50. Alabaster head No. 22, four views.
51. Alabaster head No. 22, four views including back and top of head.
54. Discovery of slate pair (No. 17) in corridor (4),bottom of thieves’ hole, January 19, 1910. a. Looking south
over thieves’ hole, January 19. - b. Statue partly exposed, looking down S-W. January 19. - c. Statue
standing in bottom of hole, looking down south, January 20. - d. Same as c., near view.
55. The slate pair (No. 17), upper part (torso and heads, front).
56. The slate pair (No. 17), three views.
57. The slate pair (No. 17), two views.
58. The slate pair (No. 17), upper half, right side, profile.
59. The slate pair (No. 17), four views of the heads.
60. The slate pair (No. 17), four views.
61. a. Room (11-a), west end, looking down S-W, statuettes Nos. 27, 29, 32, 39, and offering table, July 17, 1908.
- b. Same as a., looking west, July 17, 1908. - c. Corridor (4) opposite room ( 5 ) , looking down S-E,
statuettes Nos. 31, 35, 37, and 43, July 14,1908. - d. Room ( 3 ) ,S-W corner, looking down west, statuette
No. 28, January 21, 1910. - e. Copper pan upside down on south wall of (8),looking down S-E, July 19,
1908. -f. Deposit under copper pan, looking down S-W, July 20, 1908.
62. Unfinished statuettes of Mycerinus. a. No. 25, state I. -b. No. 26, state 11.- c. No.27, state 111. - d. No. 29,
state IV. - e. No. 28, state IV. -f. No. 32, state V. - g. No. 35, state VI. - h. Nos. 33, state V and
31, state IV. - i. Nos. 36, state VI and 30, state IV. -j . No. 42, state VIII.
63. Statues and figures. a. Nos. 37, state VII and 34, state V. - b. No. 43, left side. - c. No. 38, state VII. - d.
No. 40, state VII. - e. No. 43, limestone. -f. No. 44, red granite. - g-j. No. 48, ivory, four views. -
k. No. 41, state VII.
64. Miscellaneous objects. a. - Slate jackal No. 45. - b. No. 24a, alabaster. - c. No. 47, alabaster. - d. Decree
of Pepy II, left half. - e. Decree of Pepy II, right half. -f. No. 46, alabaster. - g. No. 15b, slate. - h.
No, 14, slate. - i. No. 46, alabaster. - j . Impression of seal No. 2. - k. Impression of seal No. 3. - l.
Six views of seal No. 1 silver.
65. Magical models, tools, and vessels. a. Flint wand of Cheops. - b. Flint wand and magical models of Cheops.
- c. Smaller flint wand and other objects. - d. Copper vase. - e. Copper models and bent blade. -f.
Copper tools and models. - g. Copper models, Nos. 5-7. - h. Mass of copper tools, No. 11. - i. Copper
tools Nos. 9 and 10.
66. a. Beads and amulets from room (I-50). - b. Magazine (III-12), broken stone vessels on floor, looking down
W-S-W, January 26, 1910. - c. Magazine (III-12), vessels as in b., looking down east, January 28, 1910.
67. a. Alabaster vessels, types I, V-c, V-b. - b. Alabaster vessels, types IV, V, VI.
68. a. Alabaster vessels, types IX-XIII. - b. Miscellaneous stone vessels. - c. Alabaster, large type I. - d.
Blue-veined limestone, types IV, V.
69. a. Diorite vessels, types V, IX, XI. - b. Diorite vessels, type X. - c. Alabaster, diorite, alabaster. - d.
Porphyry and syenite, type I.
70. a. Porphyry and syenite, type 111. - b. Porphyry, syenite, etc., types IV, V, X. - c. Flint bowl of Neb-ra and
Hotepsekhemuwy. - d. Basalt vessels, types I, 11, IV, X.
71. a. Alabaster models. - b. Alabaster jar. - c. Pottery, type I. - d. Pottery, type XXV. - e. Pottery, types
XXVandII.- f.
East wall magazine corridor (III-20), fragments of stone vessels under collapsed wall.
-g. Magazine (111-IO), crushed pottery on floor, looking west. - h. Pottery, types VIII and IV.
72. a. Pottery, selected types from whole temple. - b. Pottery from room (I-302 sub.).
XX LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
QUEEN’STEMPLE
MYCERINUS
73. a. Small pyramids I I I - a t o I I I - c seen from Third Pyramid, looking down S-W, May, 1910. - b. Small
pyramids III-a and III-b with excavated temples, looking down south, May, 1910.
74. a. Temple of small pyramid 111-a, looking down south, May, 1910. - b. Temple of small pyramid 111-a,
looking down east, May, 1910.
75. a. Small pyramid III-c, unfinished burial chamber, looking south, May, 1907. -b. Small pyramid III-b,
temple, looking down west, May, 1910.
76. a. Small pyramid III-c, temple before excavation, looking down S-W, June, 1924. - b. Small pyramid III-c,
surface of decay, beginning of excavation of debris of decay in portico, looking down S-W, July, 1924. -
e. Small pyramid III-c, temple after excavation, looking down S-W, August, 1924. - d. Small pyramid
III-c, temple, looking N-N-W, August, 1924.
77. a. Temple 111-a, room ( 9 ) ,slab-altar, looking down S-S-W. - b. Temple 111-a, room (9), northern offering-
place, looking N-N-W. - c.TempleIII-a, looking west on axis to pyramid from room (9). - d. Temple
111-a, doorway from ( 9 ) to (3),north wall, print of door-leaf on wall. - e. Temple 111-a, room (9), east
wall, southern part, brickwork, looking down east.
78. a. Temple 111-a, room ( 2 ) , portico, looking N-N-E. - b. Temple 111-a, rooms (7),(6), (4), ( 5 ) ,looking west
from room (7). - c. Temple 111-a, looking east along axis from doorway of room (12).- d. Temple
111-a, room ( I I ) , looking down S-E, in foreground top of first course of pyramid casing. -e. Temple
111-a, room (Q), looking north.
A. Line drawings of inscriptions (at end of Appendix F).
PLANS
I. Mycerinus Pyramid Temple, plan and longitudinal section A-B.
11. Mycerinus Pyramid Temple.
Section C-D: E-W through (13), (26), (28), (30), and (31), looking south.
Section E-F: S-N through west side of court, looking west.
Section G-H: S-N through east side of portico, looking west.
Corridor (13), south wall, granite casing.
III. Mycerinus Pyramid Temple.
Section I-J: N-S through (20), (15), (14), (21), (23), (8),and ( I O ) , looking east.
Section K-L: S-N through (27), (26), and (36),looking west.
Section M-N: S-N, corridor (28), looking west.
Section 0-P: S-N through (29b), (34),(33),(32), and (31),looking west.
IV. Mycerinus Queen’s Temple.
Temple 111-a, plan and section S-N through ( 7 ) , (1), and (8),looking west.
V. Mycerinus Queen’s Temple.
1. Plan of northern half of west wall of room (9), showing offering table.
2. Elevation of west wall of offering hall (9), north end.
3. Detailed section of A (in 1 above).
4. Section E-F: E-W through room ( 5 ) .
5. Elevation of face-bonding, room (9).
6. Section E-W through wall between (3) and (9), omitting irregularities.
7. Brick bonding, room (9).
VI. Temple III-c. Plan of temple.
Temple III-c. Section A-B, looking east.
Temple III-c. Section C-D, looking north through ( I ) and ( 2 ) .
Temple III-b. Plan.
VII. E-W section through three small pyramids south of Third Pyramid and their chapels, looking north.
VIII. Mycerinus Valley Temple.
Plan.
IX. Mycerinus Valley Temple.
Plan of the first crude-brick temple.
X. Mycerinus Valley Temple.
Section A-B through sanctuary and storerooms, looking west.
Section G-H through north side of temple, looking south.
Section E-F through south side of temple, looking south.
Section C-D on main axis.
XI. Builders’ inscriptions and leveling lines on core walls, Mycerinus temples.
XII. Builders’ inscriptions on granite casing blocks, Mycerinus temples (in red) ; Builders’ inscriptions of
Cheops in the Great Pyramid (in black).
ABBREVIATIONS
MATERIALS
c.b. ............................ crude-brick (unbaked mud)
1st ............................ limestone
alab. ........................... alabaster
TEMPLES
MPT .......................... Mycerinus Pyramid Temple
M P T (1) toM P T (39) . . . . . . . . . . . indicates the room of the Pyramid Temple as marked on Plate I
MVT .......................... Mycerinus Valley Temple
MVT (111) ..................... NVT, the first c.b. temple, built by Shepseskaf
MVT (111-I), etc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . rooms in MVT (III-)
MVT ( I ) , etc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . also indicates the room in MVT (111)
MVT (11). ...................... MVT, the second temple, built by Pepy II(?)
MVT (11-I), etc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . rooms in MVT (11)
MVT (I) ....................... MVT, the crude-brick houses of the pyramid city
MVT (I-I), etc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . the rooms of MVT (I)
MVT (court) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . the great open court of MVT (111) and MVT (11)
MQT .......................... Mycerinus Queen’s Temple
MQT ( I ) , etc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . rooms in MQT
GIZAPYRAMIDS
G I ............................ First Pyramid, Cheops
G I-a .......................... First queen’s pyramid, east of First Pyramid, Cheops
G I-b ......................... Second queen’s pyramid
G I-c .......................... Third queen’s pyramid
G II........................... Pyramid of Chephren
G III.......................... Pyramid of Mycerinus
G 111-a ........................ Easternmost of three queen’s pyramids south of G III
G III-b ........................ Middle pyramid of same row
G ........................
III-c Westernmost pyramid of same row
POTTERY
BP ............................ black polished ware with black or dark grey body
Db.W ......................... drab ware
FRW .......................... fine red ware (well levigated clay, burned hard)
KW ........................... greenish-drab ware, similar to modern Keneh Ware
R P ............................ red polished red ware (RW), with pebble burnished red wash
RW ........................... ordinary red or brown ware, with color both on surface and on break
varying with degree of heat used in baking; often wholly or partially
covered with red wash. The coarser mixtures are often called “coarse
RW” or “mud ware”
w.m. .......................... wheel-made
w.s. ........................... wet smoothed
MYCERINUS
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
1. THE ROYAL CEMETERY AT GIZA
THEpyramids of the Fourth Egyptian Dynasty stand on an isolated plateau of coarse nummulitic
limestone, on the edge of the desert, about five miles west of the village of Giza. The three largest
pyramids, standing in line and visible for many miles up and down the Nile valley, have held the eyes of
travellers ever since they were built, and at the present time their appearance is probably better known
than that of any other ancient monument. In popular imagination the Great Sphinx is part of the
scene, although it is not visible from a distance. The nearer view reveals the granite temple beside the
Sphinx, the smaller pyramids, the tombs of the courtiers of the Fourth Dynasty, and those of the priestly
officials of the Fifth and Sixth Dynasties. The whole forms the royal cemetery of the Fourth Dynasty
and consists chronologically of three similar parts, each associated with the name of one of the three
kings, Cheops, Chephren, and Mycerinus, who were buried in the three large pyramids.
So far as our present evidence indicates, the first tomb on the plateau was that of Cheops, and con-
sisted of:
(1) The pyramid itself.
(2) The pyramid temple abutting on the valley face (the eastern face) of the pyramid.
(3) An enclosing wall bounding a small area around the pyramid.
(4) A causeway on which stood a covered corridor connecting the entrance of the pyramid temple with the
valley temple.
( 5 ) The valley or portal temple, built on the margin of the desert.
All the tombs of the kings of Dynasties IV and V consisted of these five parts. A special feature, how-
ever, is presented by the Great Sphinx, which lies at the eastern end of the causeway of the Second
Pyramid, on the north near the valley temple of that pyramid. The human-headed Egyptian sphinx
is always a representation of the reigning monarch with the body of a lion. At AbuSîr, in the lower
part of the causeway corridor, at least eight royal sphinxes were pictured in relief, facing the valley
and trampling foreign enemies, and similar sphinxes were on the walls of the exit room of the valley
temple of Sahura. The Great Sphinx a t Giza was carved in a ridge of the native rock left isolated
when the surrounding stone was removed by the quarrymen, probably those of Cheops, and may well
have been the first of the sphinxes, whether in relief or in the round, used to guard the precincts of royal
tombs or of the temples of the gods. The Great Sphinx belongs to the complex of the Second Pyramid,
and was obviously conceived as the guardian of that complex. Former doubts as to the date of the
Sphinx, based on the type of headdress and the style of the work, have now been removed by the head-
dress of the alabaster head of Mycerinus (statue22), and by the addition of the statues of Mycerinus to
those of Chephren as examples of the style of the sculpture of Dynasty IV. All these facts make it per-
fectly clear that the face of the Great Sphinx is a portrait of Chephren.
During the first six dynasties, the custom prevailed of making the tombs of the other members of the
royal family and of the great courtiers near the tomb of the king of their time. Thus, associated with
the tomb of Cheops, three small pyramids stand in front of its eastern face south of the pyramid temple;
a number of mastabas, on the east and south; and a field of mastabas in regular lines divided by streets,
on the west of the pyramid. The three small pyramids are clearly tombs of the most important members
of the family of Cheops, probably queens. Some of the mastaba tombs also belonged to members of
the royal family, and others to favorites of the Court. These tombs form the royal cemetery and are,
in construction, contemporary with the reign of Cheops and the early part of the reign of Chephren.
But the cemetery of Cheops did not end with the royal mastabas. The services in the temples of the
king and in the chapels of the royal mastabas were maintained by landed endowments entrusted to
certain priestly officials and their heirs. These officials appear to have had complete control of the
4 MYCERINUS
cemetery maintained by the endowments. At any rate, they built their own tombs in the streets of the
royal cemetery. The pyramids of Chephren and Mycerinus also have associated with them small
pyramids, royal mastabas, and tombs of priestly officials. Thus the pyramid plateau a t Giza contains
three royal cemeteries, each associated with one of the three kings buried there, and each consisting of:
(1) The king’s pyramid, including the five parts noted above.
(2) The pyramids of favorite members of the royal family, probably queens.
(3) The mastaba tombs of other persons of the blood royal, or of the Court.
(4) The mastaba tombs of the priestly officials who controlled the funerary endowments.
There is one other king’s pyramid at Giza - the unfinished pyramid southeast of the Chephren pyramid.
Beside it on the northeast is a small cemetery; but it is as yet uncertain whether the unfinished pyra-
mid with the adjacent cemetery is to be reckoned as a fourth part of the whole site. After Cheops had
built his pyramid, only two of the kings of Dynasty IV, Radedef and Shepseskaf, avoided the Giza site.
Their royal cemeteries are a t Abu Roash, a few miles to the north, and Dahshur, about eight miles to
the south.
The bulk of the evidence preserved to us of the arts, the crafts, and the culture of Dynasty IV, one
of the great creative periods of Egyptian civilization, was contained in the royal cemetery at Giza. The
pyramids and other tombs of this place have, therefore, attracted the researches of a series of modern
scholars, Vyse, Mariette, Lepsius, and Professor Petrie, as well as the attention of several generations
of illicit excavators serving the market created by the demands of European and American museums
for statues and reliefs. Of quite a different character was the interest excited by the supposed mysteries
of the pyramids in the group of writers led by Piazzi Smyth, whose disquisitions have never had any
archaeological value and need no further mention.
In 1902 the Egyptian Department of Antiquities granted the Giza site to three expeditions - an
American, a German, and an Italian - with instructions to them to agree among themselves as to the
limits of their concessions. A conference was held, attended by Dr. Borchardt acting on behalf of Pro-
fessor Steindorff of Leipzig, Professor Schiaparelli of the Turin Museum, and myself, at that time
director of the Hearst Expedition of the University of California, and an agreement was made dividing
the whole pyramid field. The pyramid of Chephren was included in Professor Steindorff’s territory,
and the pyramid of Mycerinus in my territory. The Hearst Expedition came to an end in 1905, and the
organization was taken over by the Joint Egyptian Expedition of Harvard University and the Boston
Museum of Fine Arts. After a few years Professor Schiaparelli resigned his concession, and it was
granted to me. All the early work of our expedition had been in the northern third of the cemetery
which lies west of the Cheops Pyramid, and the first year of the Harvard-Boston work was devoted to
continuing these excavations. It was not until December, 1906, that I began the examination of the
Third Pyramid.
In 1906-07, assisted by Mr. C. M. Firth, I cleared the temple against the eastern face of the Third
Pyramid, and part of the cemetery of mastabas to the southeast of the temple. In the summer of 1908,
with Mr. Oric Bates as field director, the excavation of the valley temple was begun, and in 1909-10
it was completed by myself and Mr. C. S. Fisher. In the latter season, the chapels of two of the three
small pyramids were excavated. In January, 1914, I cleared out the tombs in the quarry south of the
temple, and finally, in 1923, the chapel of the remaining small pyramid. Thus we have excavated the
precincts of the Third Pyramid, not the pyramid itself, and these precincts consist of:
(1) The pyramid temple.
(2) The causeway leading down to the valley.
(3) The valley or portal temple at the lower end of the causeway.
(4) The chapels of the three small pyramids beside the Third Pyramid.
(5) The adjacent field of mastaba tombs belonging to the funerary priests and officials of Mycerinus.
2. THE IDENTIFICATION OF THE THIRD PYRAMID

The identification of the Third Pyramid at Giza, the smallest of the three large pyramids, as the
tomb of Mycerinus was still a matter of tradition, if not of record, in the time of Herodotus (II,134).
Diodorus Siculus also ascribed the Third Pyramid to Mycerinus (I, 64, 7). The opinions of later
INTRODUCTION 5
writers went astray until modern times, when Sandys (1610) and Greaves (1638-39) each independ-
ently repeated the statement of Herodotus. In 1837 Howard Vyse, during his excavation of the burial
chambers of the Third Pyramid, found an anthropoid wooden coffin inscribed with the name of Myceri-
nus.¹ Just a month previously he had found the name of Mycerinus written in red paint on the roof
of the burial chamber of (III-b), the middle one of the three small pyramids south of the Third
Pyramid (loc.cit., p. 48). The wooden coffin itself appears to be a restoration of Dynasty XXVI, or
later, and thus the proof is clear that at that time the Third Pyramid was still known as the tomb
of Mycerinus. Since the discoveries of Vyse, no doubt has existed that Mycerinus was the builder of
the Third Pyramid, as recorded by Herodotus; and the results of the excavations presented in this
volume fully confirm that identification. The inscriptions found on the statues and stelae in the pyra-
mid temples and on the walls of the adjacent mastaba tombs, unassisted, prove definitely that the
Third Pyramid was the tomb of Mycerinus.
The name of the Third Pyramid was meaning “Mycerinus is divine.’’
This was first recognized from the inscriptions of the funerary priests Tepy-em-ankh² and Debehen.³
The royal decrees found in the Mycerinus temples, as well as the titles of the priests buried in the ad-
joining cemetery, establish the name of the pyramid beyond doubt. The Debehen inscription is of
especial interest, as it contains the following lines, probably written by the son of Debehen:
This tomb Mycerinus caused to be made for my father, while His Majesty was on the road to the pyramid-
plateau, in order to see the work being done on the pyramid (named) Mycerinus-is-divine. His Majesty com-
manded to come the commander of the boats and the great master craftsman (high priest of Memphis) and the
craftsmen.
The rest of the text is not clear in details, but Mycerinus ordered a detail of fifty workmen from the
pyramid shops to excavate and decorate the tomb of Debehen, and justified the opening phrase that
Mycerinus gave the tomb.4 The interest for the present purpose is the contemporary statement that
the Third Pyramid was called “Mycerinus-is-divine” and was being constructed in the lifetime of the
king under his occasional personal inspection.
¹Vyse, The Pyramids of Gizeh, II, 93.
²Mariette, Mastubas, p. 198.
3 Lepsius, Denkmaeler, II, 37b; Sethe, UrkundenI,18; and translation, Breasted, Ancient Records, I, 211, 212.
4 See Appendix A.
5 The tomb of Debehen is now used as a mosque, called “Sheikh Hamid,” much frequented on Fridays by women-folk of the
adjacent villages.
CHAPTER II
THE MYCERINUS PYRAMID TEMPLE
1. INTRODUCTION
ON the valley face of the Third Pyramid is a large temple, such as was built for every king’s tomb, de-
signed for the offering service of the king after his death. One of the best established facts of Egyptian
religion is the belief in the existence after death of the soul or shade of the man, bearing his form and
afflicted with the physical necessities of life on earth. In order to supply these necessities, among other
provisions, periodical offerings were made at the tomb and magic formulas recited with or without offer-
ings. For this purpose every tomb, private or royal, contained an offering place on the valley side,
that is, toward the inhabited fields. In tombs on the east bank of the river, the offering place was on the
west side of the tomb, while on the western bank, as at Giza, it was on the east side. In the little mud
and rubble graves of poor men in the wady north of the plateau, the offering place was only a small
niche in the eastern wall, with a low mud ridge enclosing a small space which, in one tomb, measured
only 100 by 30 centimeters. At the Third Pyramid, the offering place was a great temple, the body
of which covered an area of about 3,850 square meters. But functionally the mud-enclosed niche
and the great temple were both offering places for the dead. Indeed, one may go a step further and
say that functionally the temples of the gods served chiefly also for the receipt of offerings. One of
the most usual prayers, or magic recitations for the dead, is that they may share in the offerings which
come forth upon the tables of the gods. The king was a god, and the line between humanity and
divinity was not sharply drawn. In the temple of the god, his statue was the abiding-place of the
divinity; and in the funerary chapel, the statue of the king served the same purpose for the ka of the
king. Even in the better graves of officials, one of the commonest features is a small closed room, called
a serdab, connected with the offering room by a narrow slot and containing statues of the man and his
family. Such in character was the pyramid temple of Mycerinus - an offering place in which provision
was made for the shade of the dead king by periodical presentations of food and drink, and by magic
recitations before the image of the king or in the symbolic entrance to the tomb.
For convenience of reference, the parts of the temple, as revealed by our excavations, are enumer-
ated here.¹
Construction Period
(1) Causeway corridor, western end of mud-brick corridor on causeway from valley . . . . . . . II
Causeway, massive limestone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I
(2) Entrance doorway, entrance from causeway corridor to entrance corridor, mud brick . . . . . II
(3) Entrance corridor, limestone core walls cased with mud brick inside and outside . . . . . . . I II
(4) Courtyard doorway, entrance from entrance corridor t o courtyard, mud brick . . . . . . . . II
(5) Courtyard, paved offeringcourt, limestone core walls cased with niched wall of mud brick . . . I II
(6) Mud-brick screen and screen doorway, separating portico from courtyard . . . . . . . . . . III
(7) Portico, with pillars (“breiter Raum”) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I
(8) Outer offering room (“tiefer
Raum”) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I
(9) Mud-brick room in Unfinished passage from portico to unfinished part (10) . . . . . . . . . IV
(10) part . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Unfinished I
(11) Rubble walls forming room in SE corner of unfinished part (10) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I
(12) Doorway to northern corridor (13) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I II
(13) Northern corridor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I II
(14) Doorway to magazine corridor (15) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I II
IV
(15) Magazine corridor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I II III
(16) Magazine, easternmost . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I II III
(17) Magazine, second from east . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I II III
(18) Magazine, third from east . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I II
III
(19) Magazine, fourth from east . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I II
III
Plan and
¹See sections on PIs.I,II,andIII.
THE MYCERINUS PYRAMID TEMPLE 7
Construction Period
(20) Magazine, westernmost . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . II I I I I
(21) Doorway to stairway corridor (22) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I I II V
(22) Stairway corridor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . III
(23) Stairway to roof . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . III
(24) Southern storeroom. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I II
(25) Doorway to inner temple . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I II
IV
(26) Anteroom of inner temple . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . IV
(27) Hall of pillars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . IV
(28) Sloping corridor of inner temple . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . IV
(29) Inner offering room
Granite pavement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I
( a ) Inner corridor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I1
(b) Main offering room . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . II
(30) Unjinished corridor of inner temple . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . IV
(31) Unjinished magazine of inner temple, northernmost . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . IV
(32) Unjinished magazine of inner temple, second from north . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . IV
(33) Unfinished magazine of inner temple, third from north . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . IV
(34) Unfinished magazine of inner temple, southernmost on east . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . IV
(35) Space between (34) and pyramid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . IV
(36) Room in pyramid enclosure (37) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . IV
(37) Pyramid enclosure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . II
(38) Room on massive wall between courtyard and magazines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . IV (?)
(39) Room on massive wall between courtyard and magazines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . IV (?)
PERIODS
I. Mycerinus. Foundation platform, core walls of outer temple, unfinished granite casing, granite floor in
inner offering room (29).
II. Shepseskaf. Crude-brick casing of whole temple, limestone pavement in court (5), crude-brick magazines,
destroyed inner temple of crude brick, and the crude-brick enclosing wall of the pyramid;
probably also the kernel of the inner temple of limestone (29).
111. Dynasty V. The screen wall of crude brick in front of the portico, and some of the minor repairs in the
magazines.
IV. Dynasty V I . The inner temple of limestone, except the kernel (29); the door blocks in doorways (14) and
(21), and the rubble rooms (36), (38), and (39).
2. PREVIOUS REPORTS ON THE MYCERINUS PYRAMID TEMPLE
Neither Herodotus nor any other classical writer mentions the temples of the pyramids. The refer-
ence of Herodotus to the ration list of the pyramid of Cheops, said to be written in Egyptian “on the
pyramid,” cannot refer to the walls of the temple, as these were not inscribed in the temples of either
Chephren or Mycerinus, and apparently not in the temple of Cheops. The description, however, would
fit exactly an offering stela such as appears to have been set up against the eastern face of the Third
Pyramid, in the innermost room of the temple. Except for this ration list of Herodotus, the first recog-
nition of the existence of a temple which I have found is by Professor Greaves, who visited the pyramids
in 1637.¹ Incidentally, in attempting to account for the statement of Herodotus that the Third Pyramid
was built of “Ethiopick marble,” Greaves says :
Though it cannot be denied, but close by, on the east side of it, there are the ruins of a pile of building, with
a sad and dusky colour, much like that we described in passing to the second Pyramid,‘which might be the ground
and occasion of this error.
The buildings which Greaves saw “in passing to the second Pyramid” were the mastaba tombs of
nummulitic limestone on the west of the First Pyramid. As for the question which Greaves is discuss-
ing, the Third Pyramid was cased with Assuan granite - “Ethiopick marble” - for about twenty-
four courses from the bottom, and with white limestone for the remainder of the height. Greaves saw
only the core, which is of local limestone, and did not notice the granite at the base. But although he
saw the ruins of the temple, and probably those of the Second Pyramid temple as well, he did not recog-
nize the character of these buildings. According to Vyse (Pyramids of Gizeh,
II,
217), Thevenot in 1655
¹Greaves, Pyramidographia,
p. 647b.
8 MYCERINUS
noted the temples of all three pyramids, and in 1755 Fourmont mentioned those of the Second and Third
Pyramids (op. cit., p. 253). Vyse writes that Fourmont considered the temple of the Third Pyramid
“the most perfect,” and quotes him as saying that in it, “on trouve quatre piliers, qui, sans doute, soute-
noitent une voûte, dont l’idole étoit couverte, et on tournoit autour de ces piliers comme par une espèce
de collatérale.”
Fourmont also appears to have noted quite correctly the massive blocks of which the temple was
built. It is unfortunate that he does not mention the material of which the pillars were made, as he
thus leaves it in doubt whether he saw the pillars of the portico ([7] of our plan), or those of the hall of
pillars (27). Denon in 1799 (op. cit., p. 265), and Jomard in 1801 (op. cit., p. 277), also mention in gen-
eral terms the Mycerinus pyramid temple. The attention of ancient and of modern travellers was fixed
by the pyramids themselves, and the meagre mentions of the temples were merely incidental.
Howard Vyse was the first to undertake excavations in the Mycerinus pyramid temple, and even he
was looking for the entrance to the pyramid. In ThePyramidsofGizeh,I, 150, he mentions that two
workmen engaged “ a t the excavations in the Third Pyramid” were paid off; and that excavations were
being carried out on February 13 (1837), in the pyramid temple and between the temple and the pyra-
mid, on which day,
the greater part of the people were sent with the two janissaries to clear the space between the eastern front of the
Third Pyramid and the ruins of the temple; and likewise to excavate the adytum of the latter building, in the
hope of finding an entrance into the pyramid (p. 154).
These excavations were continued on February 14 to 17. On the 14th, ‘(Some bones, and a skeleton,
probably of a common Arab, wrapped in coarse linen, were found amongst the stones near the Third
Pyramid.” On the 15th:
Litter and decayed forage were taken out from the place where the bones were discovered, at the Third Pyramid.
The Adytum¹ of the temple was cleared to its rocky foundation; it was seventeen feet below the top of the pres-
ent wall, and was stained in places with red cement in which a pavement had been laid: no pavement or lining,
however, remained, nor were any inscriptions or sculpture visible upon the enormous blocks, with which it was
built; but a shallow square had been cut in the centre of the western side, and slight indications of pedestals ap-
peared on the floor.
On the 16th, the work between the temple and the pyramid is mentioned (p. 157), but no details are
given. On the 17th, “I gave up the operation between this pyramid and the temple on account of the
great difficulty and danger attending the removal of the granite blocks, and of the little probability
that existed of finding an entrance, at all events from the temple’’ (p. 161).
Lepsius’s plan of the temple was made from the tops of the stone walls as visible in his time (1842-
43), apparently unchanged when we began work.² Thus the only excavations of which a record has
been preserved are those of Vyse. But the accounts of the Arab writers contain many tales of the
plundering and destruction of the pyramids, and some of these actions probably affected the inner part
of the temple of the Third Pyrsmid. In particular, Abd-el-Lateef of Baghdad (born about 1162 A.D.)
describes from personal observation the attempt of Melek-el-Azeez Othman ibn Yusef to destroy the
“red pyramid,” which I take to be the pyramid of Mycerinus.
3. THE MYCERINUS PYRAMID TEMPLE AT THE BEGINNING OF OUR EXCAVATIONS
When the excavation of the temple of the Third Pyramid began, the part adjoining the pyramid lay
under irregular heaps of limestone débris in which only a few red granite blocks were visible, while the
outer court and corridor contained a shallow deposit of hard débris.³ There was very little sand except
on the western side of the court. In the middle of the court there was a pile of débris thrown out from
Vyse’s excavation of the large offeringniche. The walls of the outer court stood up high and clear, but
were broken away a t the northeast and southeast corners.
The surface of the walls inside showed three irregular lines of sand erosion (P1.3a and e). The lowest
of these was on a level with the irregular surface then visible, and had been eroded by the sand blown
¹Vyse’s “adytum”is (8) on our plan. ²SeePl.1a.
²See PIs.
1 a. and 2 a. 4 See Vyse, The Pyramids of Gizeh, I, 156.
along the surface. Sand erosion on vertical surfaces at the pyramids appears without exception to start
in this manner. When, however, a hole has once been hollowed out, the erosion continues by the rotary
wind-driven movement of the grains of sand in the hole, even when for some cause or other the surface
of the sand is lowered. I have noted the complete perforation of many limestone blocks a meter thick
by sand erosion in this manner. But the lowest line of erosion in the temple was not so serious as the
two upper lines. The highest was about on a level with the third course in the wall, and the middle line
was on a level with the second course. It was clear that the court had once been filled with sand nearly
to the top of the wall, and the highest erosion had been caused by the sand drifting across the surface
a t this level. Then a block or two a t each corner had been removed and the sand drifted out, forming
a new surface about on a level with the top of the second course. Here the middle line of erosion was
formed. Again blocks seem to have been removed at the corners, and the sand drifted out to the surface
observedwhen our excavations began - the third and lowest line of erosion.
The only definite evidence of recent disturbance of the debris in the temple was the mound in the
portico (7) made by Vyse in clearing the “adytum” (8). No distinct traces were observable of his ex-
cavations between the “adytum” and the pyramid. This excavation was probably a hole over the west-
ern part of room (27) and the eastern part of room (29), which had been filled in since Vyse’s time by
the fall of debris from about it and by the wash of rain water.
4. THE PROGRESS OF OUR EXCAVATIONS AT THE MYCERINUS PYRAMID TEMPLE,

1906-1907
( A ) PRELIMINARY
EXAMINATION
Before beginning the work, it was necessary to find a place on which the debris might be deposited
without fear of covering anything of importance. Manifestly the most convenient exit for the field
railway was through either the northeastern or the southeastern corner of the court, where the wall was
broken down. Turning to the southeastern corner, the quarry south of the temple appeared to offer a
convenient site for the dump heap. The examination of the quarry was therefore the first undertaken.
On December 5, 1906, the examination of the quarry began. The sand sloped steeply from the
eastern, northern, and western edges which were high, towards the lower southern edge. In the middle
we sank two holes about twenty meters apart to a depth of about two meters, and began two trenches,
one in the middle of the northen end of the quarry, and one in the middle of the western face. As soon
as the trenches had revealed the character of the site, the two holes in the middle were abandoned with-
out reaching rock, although, when the work was resumed in January 1913, the rock was found only
about 60 cm. lower than the bottom of the holes made in 1906. The upper deposit in the quarry was
clean drift sand; the only objects encountered were two badly mummified burials of the Roman Period,
extended on the back, head west. These were just under the surface.
The western trench showed a series of three quarry terraces made in cutting stone, but these were
all bare of any subsequent cutting or structure. The northern trench began just below a mastaba stand-
ing above the edge of the quarry and, descending through drift sand to a depth of seven or eight meters,
revealed three quarry terraces occupied by mastabas. These mastabas were poor ones of the Fifth
Dynasty types, and bore inscriptions with the titles of funerary priests of the pyramid
In the sand were found fragments of a limestone statuette (incomplete), and potsherds of red polished
bowls with recurved rim and of coarse red jars. It was thus clear that the quarry contained ancient
monuments and was not a suitable place for the dump heap.¹
A casual examination of the ground southeast of the temple and south of the causeway showed that
this part was also occupied by mastabas, which on excavation later proved likewise to be tombs of the
priests of Mycerinus. So it was necessary to turn to the area northeast of the pyramid temple.
Trenches were laid out cutting the deposits along the line of the proposed embankment, and east-
wards, and along the eastern face of the northeastern corner of the temple. The débris over the whole
area right up to the temple foundations consisted of limestone chips, with a small amount of dust, dirt,
¹The excavation of the quarry cemetery was resumed in January 1913, and the whole will be dealt with in another place.
10 MYCERINUS
and potsherds. In the easternmost trenches, a decayed mud-brick wall was found running east and
west, not sufficiently preserved to determine whether it was a retaining wall, or one side of an inclined
plane, or simply a house wall. Over this whole region the limestone chips lay in a nearly uniform layer
and appeared undisturbed since their deposition. The layer probably consisted of the masons’ debris
from the temple and the pyramid, thrown out when the work was nearing completion. Here, then, it
was resolved to run out the debris from the temple.
As, however, the trench along the eastern face of the northeastern corner of the temple had been
begun, it was carried to completion. The foundations and the rock were laid bare around the whole
corner. The foundations of the temple consisted of two courses of enormous undressed blocks extending
about six meters beyond the temple wall. The lower course was about 150 cm. high; the upper course
130 cm. The largest block was 450 cm. long. The lower course rested on the native rock, which had
been scraped and dressed to receive it. As the débris along the face was limestone chips, without
trace of a construction trench, the rock must have been cleared, if it was not already bare, previous to
the building of the temple. No trace of any foundation deposit was discovered, or could even be looked
for without cutting at random through the massive foundations or pulling down the temple.
( B ) RAILWAY
SYSTEMIN THE GREATCOURT(5)
On December 25, 1906, the work of clearing the court of the temple was begun. The rails were laid
in a double track connected by two turn-tables, joined by a cross rail, placed near the middle of the
court, and by another pair of tables placed a t the end of the dump. Thus a circuit was established, the
loaded cars running out on the eastern line, tipping their contents at the dump, and returning empty
on the western line. From the turn-tables in the center of the court, lines radiated to switches which
reached the actual excavations. Thus each loading point had two rail-heads projecting from a switch
connected with a turn-table. While a car on one rail-head was being loaded, an empty car was pushed
into place on the other rail-head. The empty cars waited on the main western line north of the turn-
tables and were shoved into every loading line as soon as it became vacant. Thus there was no delay or
confusion in the car service. The difficulty was at the other end - the dump. Here rails were laid
out from the turn-tables to the growing end of the dump, and every few hours the tables had to be shifted
forwards by inserting two-meter lengths of rails. The men with practice were able to make this shift
in less than five minutes, during which time the cars tipped the débris down the side of the dump and
ran back on the same line. This system we have found most advantageous for all distances over fifty
or sixty meters. For short distances, a single line with switches at both ends is sufficient to serve small
gangs not exceeding twenty or thirty men. For each additional gang, an additional short line should be
laid. The great desideratum is to bring the cars to the very point of excavation for loading, and to
prevent any interruption in the loading.
OF ROOMS(1)
(C) EXCAVATION TO (11)¹
Along the southern side of the court a strip was measured off ten meters in width and divided into
sections five meters long. Each section was assigned to a single small gang with one responsible working
foreman. The preliminary examination showed that the top débris consisted of sand and rubbish about
10 to 20 centimeters deep, resting on a hard irregular surface of mud débris. The work began by remov-
ing the top debris from the mud surface over the whole strip. At the same time, two small gangs were
put to work, one on rooms (7) southern end, (9), (11), and the massive walls between; the other on
room (8) (Vyse’s “adytum”), and on Vyse’s dump heap in room (7). These rooms contained mainly
sand mixed with chips, stones, dirt, and other débris. After the mud surface in the court was cleared,
the mud débris was cut out, revealing a pavement of small limestone slabs and a niched casing wall of
mud brick around the inside of the temple walls. This procedure of clearing away the sand and loose
debris before cutting out the hard débris was carried out strip by strip until the court and the entrance
corridor and the rooms were cleared to the pavement, or to the underlying foundation platform. On
¹The numbers in parentheses correspond to those on the Plan,
January 20, 1907, the excavation of the court (5), the entrance corridor (2), (3), the portico (7), the
outer offering room (8), and the unfinished southern part (9), (10), (11),was completed.
(D)EXCAVATION
OF THE NORTHERN
MAGAZINES
(12) TO (24)
In the meantime the excavation of the northern magazines, rooms (12) to (24), had begun on Janu-
ary 11. On account of the height of the walls, it was not possible to attack this part from the court.
An examination was therefore made on January 10 and 11 of the ground directly north of the inner
sanctuary. The trenches revealed a light layer of debris, mainly chips, on the foundation platform,
which extended northwards in this direction beyond the pyramid. A turn-table was therefore placed
above what afterwards proved to be the northern wall of room (21). From this table, the loading line ran
east over the part to be excavated, and the dumping line ran north to form a new embankment parallel
to the eastern face of the pyramid. In the magazines, rooms (12) to (24), no surface of mud debris was
found, but only a soft sandy deposit mixed with organic matter (decayed wood), which went nearly to
the bottom of the rooms. On the 26th of January this part was clear.
(E) EXCAVATION
OF THE INNER
TEMPLE,
ROOMS(25) TO (37)
On January 26, the clearing of the upper debris over the inner temple was begun. Trenches cut
south of the place showed sufficient area for a small dump on the south between the temple and the
nearest building (the mud-brick temple of Pyramid III-a). Another short line was run out, therefore,
to the south, while the northern line was continued as before, thus attacking the debris from two sides.
It was soon apparent that the débris, consisting of limestone chips, covered a number of displaced and
broken granite casing blocks, and by February 12, a tangled mass of these granite blocks was exposed,
covering the whole inner part of the temple, except above room (27).
The removal of these casing stones presented great difficulties. After several days of painful ex-
periments by Mr. Firth and myself, we made up two special gangs of about eighteen men each, selecting
the strongest, for the purpose of removing the stones, while the rest were employed on clearing away the
dirt and debris underneath and between the stones. The implements used in moving the stones were:
12 hard wood beams, 3 x 3 inches, and 4 meters long.
4 hard wood beams, 4 x 4 inches, and 4 meters long,
4 heavy iron crowbars, 2 meters long.
10 iron rollers, 2 inches in diameter, and 1 meter long.
4 short hard wood boards.
3 ropes, 1 inch in diameter, and 20 meters long.
2 ordinary light railroad trucks (Arthur Koeppel, Giessen) from which we removed the upright support on
one end. Two short wooden beams were laid lengthwise side by side on top to form a platform.
The railway was brought in to the nearest possible point (two to ten meters), and a truck rolled to the
point on the line nearest the block to be moved. A double line of beams was laid with one end resting
on the edge of the truck and the other terminating just under the block. The block was then loosened
and levered on to the line of beams; rollers were inserted between the block and the beams by levering
up the side of the block; and the block was then pulled over the rollers with ropes and pried along with
levers, until it was on the platform of the truck. The truck was then shoved out along the railway to
the end of the dump heap, and the block tipped over the edge. Only three of the stones, which weighed
over seven tons apiece, were too heavy, not for the truck, but for the rails. The track spread, letting
the truck down on the ground. These three stones were rolled out on rollers on a line of beams laid all
the way to the dump.¹
On March 10, twenty-two men were given permission to return to Keft for work in the fields, and I
continued with about sixty workmen. By March 17, the work of moving the blocks was practically
done, and it was possible to begin clearing the sand and dirt from the chambers underneath.
¹ cannot avoid recording the spirit in which the men performed this difficult and unaccustomed work.
I Although
no serious
accidents happened, hardly a man escaped abrasions and minor injuries. The surface of the granite was very hard on the hands;
yet each gang was taking out a two- to five-ton block in half an hour, when the stone was once loosened from the mass.
12 MYCERINUS
On March 27, the inner temple was finished, and I began clearing the spaces north and south of it,
as far out as the north and south walls of the outer temple. On the north side, the clearing was continued
eastward along the mud-brick casing wall of the northern face of the outer temple.
On April 15, the force of workmen was reduced to thirty-five men and boys occupied in the final
clearing up. On the 30th, the season of 1906-07 came to an end.
5. THE DEPOSITS OF DÉBRIS IN THE MYCERINUS PYRAMID TEMPLE AND THE

OBJECTS FOUND IN THEM
(A) THEDÉBRIS IN THE GREATCOURT(5), AND IN THE ENTRANCE CORRIDOR (1) TO (4)
The debris overlying the floors varied greatly in the different parts of the temple. The upper de-
posits of sand in the great court and in the entrance corridor, having at one time reached as high as the
top of the stone walls, had been considerably reduced by the action of the wind, as described above
(Section 3). In general, there was a floor layer of weather-packed mud debris from 40 to 120 cm. deep,
penetrated at certain places by excavations made after the deposit was formed. Over this floor debris,
and filling the later penetrations, there was a deposit of sand varying in depth inversely in proportion to
its exposure to the wind. The surface of the sand was covered with a light layer of surface debris, con-
sisting of sand mixed with limestone chips.
The surface debris in the courtyard contained fragments of potsherds, stone vessels, stone statues,
Roman amulets, Arab coins, and several modern objects including a bone knitting needle. The pot-
sherds were of coarse red jars (type IV), red polished bowls (types XXXIII and XXXIX), and large
mud pots (type XXV), of the Old Kingdom, and some fragments of the Roman Period. The whole
deposit was manifestly an accumulation of all periods. The Old Kingdom objects were, no doubt, orig-
inally on the mud surface or dragged out of the mud debris by later excavations. The Roman objects
had been with burials of the Roman Period or dropped on the surface of the sand of that period. The
Arab objects had mostly been dropped on the sand surface of the Moslem Period. When the sand was
blown out through the breaks in the corners, the heavier objects sifted down to form the mixed accumu-
lation which I have called the modern surface debris. The modern objects had been, of course, dropped
on the surface.
In the western part of the court, in front of the entrance to corridor (13), a hole filled with sand was
found descending through the foundation platform to rock. The mud debris did not cover this hole. A
similar hole was found just inside the doorway of the entrance corridor (2), also filled with sand. In the
latter were found fragments of green-glazed pottery of unquestionable Arabic date. Both of these
holes were penetrations made by Arab treasure-hunters, probably of the same period as the destructive
work on the pyramid - 12th to 13th century A.D. There was another penetration through the place
of the drainage basin in the middle of the court north of the causeway, but this was filled with harder
packed débris, and the date was uncertain. Treasure-hunters through a long period of time regarded
the offering or drainage basins as coverings over concealed treasure, both in the pyramid temples and
in the mastaba cemeteries. The basin in the court must, therefore, have been visible when the pene-
tration was made, and thus the penetration took place either before the court was entirely filled with
sand, or after the sand had blown out. The Arab treasure-hunters seem very often to have selected the
places for their pits at random.
In the northwestern corner of the court the old drift sand lay undisturbed, protected from the action
of the wind by high walls on the west and north. In this deposit close to the wall was a badly decayed
burial extended on the back, head south. With it were three pottery vessels, amulets, and beads, like
those found later with burials of the Roman Period in the room of pillars.
The amulets were as follows:
06-12-1. Uraeus with arms, hands under chin; blue faience, h. 35 mm.
2. Sacred eye, open work, blue faience, length 35 mm.
3 . Sacred eye, blue faience, length 15 mm.
4. Three plaques with sacred eye on both sides, blue faience, length 10 mm.
5 . Nine small rough sacred eyes, greenish faience, length 8 to 10 mm.
6. Two rough Bes figures; greenish faience, h. 22 and 17 mm.
7. Two menat-amulets, greenish faience, h. 18 and 17 mm.
8. Two split cowrie shells.
9. Eleven imitation split cowrie shells, white faience, length 10 mm.
10. Two bronze rings with small high bezels.
11. Various blue-glazed beads : barrel-shaped, long thin cylindrical, short thin cylindrical, thick
cylindrical, disc beads, triple disc beads, small ball beads, one large ball bead.
12. Tall jar, slender pendant form with wide mouth and roll-rim, with two loop-handles just under
rim, hard red-brown ware, height, 64 cm., diam., mouth, 18 cm.; diam., lower part of body,
24 cm.
13. Deep bowl, contracted mouth with roll-rim, tapering base; height, 12.5 cm.; diam., mouth, 13
cm.; diam., body, 17 cm.; red ware.
14. Shallow pan, round bottom, diam., 28 cm.; height, 8 cm.; red ware; three holes bored in rim on
one side close together.
This burial was without doubt of the Roman Period like the burials in (27), and while the walls of the
grave could not be traced, it was clearly a pit-grave sunk in the sand. Thus this drift sand in the
corner had not been disturbed since the Roman Period. Underneath, the mud-brick casing was broken,
FIGURE1
DÉBRIS IN GREATCOURT,MUD WALLWELL PRESERVED, SECTION
and blocks of the unfinished granite casing had been removed. The removal of the granite casing had,
therefore, taken place, in part at least, previous to the Roman Period and probably previous to the filling
up of the court with sand.
In the entrance corridor (3), the same layers of debris were met as in the court; but near the middle
of the south wall in a sort of crevice, about 60 cm. below the present surface, a small red pot was found
(07-1-1), January 9, which contained three silver Athenian coins (07-1-2, Pl. 21 e) of the period 500-
400 B.C.¹ It would be idle to conjecture how these coins came to the place in which they were found.
Just outside the doorway to the entrance corridor on the north was the lower part of an inscribed
stone, in a pile of debris of mixed sand and limestone chips (Pl. 3 b), with a substratum of decayed mud
brick.
07-1-21. Lower part of a limestone stela, top broken off, upper part badly weathered. Bears the ends of
eight vertical lines (PI. 19 d).
This stela is of the style of 07-1-3 and 4, and is probably to be ascribed to Shepseskaf.
Beyond the entrance there was a doorway through each wall of the causeway corridor, and outside
these doorways, especially at the north, there was a great deposit of little model offering vessels of
Head,
¹ Hist. num., pp. 270-274.
14 MYCERINUS
ordinary red pottery (Pl. 20f). Thousands of these models had been cast aside here, manifestly on the
ground level of the Old Kingdom. They were about 120 cm. below the floor of the corridor, nearly on
a level with the foot of the mud-brick casing and covered with almost a meter of debris of decay -
limestone, gravel, sand, and dirt.
The layer of mud debris which covered the floor of the court and the corridor sloped in most places
from the top of the mud casing walls, as now preserved, towards the middle of the court or corridor,
where it was about 40 to 60 cm. deep (see Fig. 1). At the places, however, in which the mud-brick wall
was broken or very low, the mud debris extended to the stone core wall (see Fig. 2 ) . In these places the
deposit was only a little deeper than in the middle of the court (Pl. 3 a). The surface was washed by
FIGURE2
DEBRIS IN GREATCOURT,Low MUD WALLWHERE GRANITEBLOCK
HAS BEEN REMOVED, SECTION
rain, and the deposit, mixed as it was with sand, was manifestly disintegrated debris from the mud-
brick casing walls, packed by weathering.
On cutting out the mud debris, it was found comparatively free of objects, both in the court and
in the entrance corridor. A very few fragments of pottery, stone vessels, and stone statues were en-
countered, all of the Old Kingdom. Fragments of black granite occurred also, especially near the walls;
and, when the debris was entirely removed, it was seen that the heavy core walls had been partially
cased with black granite blocks. This granite casing had never been finished, but a mud-brick casing
had been put on, 15 to 20 cm. wider than the granite casing and completely covering up the granite
blocks. The mud casing, where it concealed the unfinished casing, had been pulled down, and the
granite blocks taken out, before the mud deposit on the floor war; formed (Fig. 2 and Pl. 4 c ) . Thus, this
destruction took place not only before the court filled with sand (see page 33), but before the mud layer
was deposited. On the floor where the granite casing blocks had been taken out, was hard-packed
debris a few centimeters deep consisting of small limestone chips, fragments of granite, and dirt, show-
ing a trodden surface.
( B ) THEDEBRIS IN THE PORTICO

(7) AND THE OUTEROFFERINGROOM(8)
The debris in the portico and the outer offering room presented an entirely different condition from
that in the great court and the entrance corridor. This part was divided from the court by the thick
screen wall of mud brick. The offering room (8) had been completely cleared out by Vyse¹ and the
floor was covered with a shallow layer of sand and stone chips accumulated since 1837. The debris
See
¹ p. 8, supra.
removed by Vyse from the offering room lay over the deposits in the middle of the portico, as they had
existed in his time. Thus over practically the whole of the portico the debris, consisting of sand and
broken stones, remained as it was in 1837. Nevertheless it had been much disturbed, except in the
southern end. The pavement had been torn up, and the pillars and casing stones removed. The greater
part of the screen wall had also been removed in the course of this destruction, and the hole dug by
treasure-hunters in the northwestern part of the court extended into the northern end of the portico. It
was only behind the remaining southern end of the screen wall that the pavement and more ancient
deposits of hard debris were found intact. Here was a deposit of decayed mud mixed with sand similar
to that in the court and covered with a deep deposit of drift sand.
In the disturbed debris, in the middle of the portico (7), we found a number of inscribed fragments
of limestone, as follows:
07-1-3. Seven adjoining fragments of a round-topped stela bearing a decree of Shepseskaf, dated in his
second or third year; PI. 19b.
4. Fragment from the left side of a limestone stela, apparently part of the stela of Shepseskaf (07-1-3,
above); PI. 19 e.
5 to 20. Fragments of two limestone stelae, both decrees, one of which was probably by Mernera (see
07--1-20). The fragments 07-1-7, 13,14,16, and perhaps 19, appear to belong to the one decree,
which has a narrow border a t the bottom (PI. 19 e and i); 07-1-5, 6, 8, 15, 17, and 18, to the
other, which has a broad border below (PI. 19 g). 07-1-20, which has the Horus-name, Ankh-
khauw (Mernera), may belong to either (Pl. 19 h).
There were also found a number of fragments, usually small, of statues of alabaster and slate, of
stone vessels, and of potsherds. These were of the same types as those found in the magazines and inner
temple, but were too fragmentary to be drawn.
( C ) THEUNFINISHED
SOUTHERN (9),(10),(11)
MAGAZINES
The floor debris in room (9), which was lined with mud-brick walls, and in (10) around the western
doorway of (9), was a deposit of sand mixed with decayed mud brick, charcoal, and ashes, reaching
about 50 cm. above the pavement in the southern end of the portico. The mud-brick walls in room (9)
were not bonded with the casing walls of the court or portico and were apparently of later date like the
screen wall. The doorways into the southern end of the portico, and westward into room (10), show
that the room was used during the time that the temple service was still maintained. Room (10) was
filled for the greater part with a rough construction platform, which was covered with debris of decay
and sand. The eastern part of room (IO), which contains the rough rubble room (11), was filled with
sand, except for a light deposit of darker debris on the floor. The floor debris in room (9), and that
heaped about the western doorway in (10), looked as if it consisted of sweepings and other rubbish
thrown out from time to time by the temple servants. The dark floor debris in (10)
and (11) seemed to
have been scattered, partly by wind and weather, from the heap of sweepings. In this rubbish, mainly
in room (9) and around its western doorway, fragments of the following objects were found:
On December 25, 1906:
06-12-15. Fragment of alabaster offering table, type XIIb.
16. Fragment of alabaster offering table, type XIIb.
17. Fragment of alabaster slab (very smooth).
18. Fragment of diorite, thick bowl, type Xc.
19. Fragment of diorite, thin bowl, type Xc.
20. Fragment of slate cup, type IXa (1).
21. Two blue faience beads, long tubular form.
22. Fragments of copper, including part of a tube.
27. Potsherds of Old Kingdom types:
coarse red jars, type IV;
ribbed two-handled red jars, type Mastaba I-1;
two-handled jars of red ware with white slip, type Mastaba I-2;
red-polished jars with spout, type XXXV;
red-polished bowl with spout, type XXXVI ;
small model dishes of red ware, types XLIII and XLIV;
16 MYCERINUS
On December 29, 1906:
96-12-28. Fragment of alabaster statue.
29. Fragment of slate statue.
30. Fragment of copper statue.
There were numerous other fragments of stone vessels of the same materials and forms as those noted
above.
The rest of room (10) showed no trace of any activity later than the building of the temple. In the
southeastern corner there was a small rubble enclosure or room, (11;P1.9 b ) , mud plastered. Diagonally
across from the southwestern corner of the massive core wall of the portico to the middle of the south-
ern wall of room (10) ran a rubble retaining wall about 80 em. high; and the space within this retaining
FIGURE3 FIGURE4
ROOM16, PLAN. SCALE 1/40 ROOM17, PLAN.SCALE 1/40
wall was filled with two layers of packed material forming foundation platforms for the construction of
the northern wall of the room. The lower layer consisted of hard packed limestone rubbish, gravel,
and a number of disused granite hammer-stones. It reached to the top of the first course of the core
wall. The upper layer consisted of worn limestone boulders with a packed surface of rubbish and
reached to the top of the second course of the core wall. This apartment was situated on the knoll of
rock so that the surface of the bed-rock was 90 cm. higher than the bottom of the first course of the
northern core wall, and the northern core wall was built in a trench sunk in the rock. The rock had
never been cut away and formed the basis of the lower construction platform. After the second course
had been set and before the second construction platform of worn boulders was built, the inner surface
of the second course of the core walls was marked on all sides by red leveling lines used as guiding lines
in the construction (Pl. XI, Nos. xviii, xix). There were three of these lines, 51-52 cm. apart, evidently
intended to be one Egyptian ell (52.5 cm.), and on the southern wall they were marked in two places
with red pendent triangles and the words, “five ells,” “six ells,” and “seven ells.”
Room (11), in the southeastern
corner, was a temporary structure erected probably by the work-
men of Shepseskaf as a shelter. It was built over a layer of granite powder resulting from the dressing
of granite in the time of Mycerinus.
( D ) THEDEBRIS IN THE MAGAZINES

NORTHERN (12) TO (25)
The northern magazines and their corridors (12) to (25), being protected by high walls, contained
debris different from that hitherto described. The surface was covered with weathered stone chips and
pebbles overlying a deposit of drift sand about 60 cm. deep, which reached to the top of the mud-brick
walls. High up in this sand, over the middle of room (15), a large fragment was found of the thigh of
a seated alabaster statue (07-1-22); but otherwise it contained only a few scattered bits of pottery.
In rooms (16) to (18), and the eastern end of (15), under the upper layer of sand, there were three strata
of debris:
Above, a stratum of mud (decayed mud brick) and limestone chips, about 150 cm. deep;
Second, a stratum of limestone chips and sand with a few patches of ashes and mud;
Below, a floor deposit of ashes, charcoal, mud, and decayed organic matter.
The floor deposit contained the objects enumerated below, which represented the original contents of
the room, and was produced by the early plundering, the destruction of the wooden loft, and the roof,
and the first period of decay of the mud-brick walls. The middle stratum of chips and sand was pro-
duced by decay after the fall of the roof; and the top stratum was produced by the gradual decay of the
mud-brick walls above its top, accompanied by falls of chips from the stone walls.
The objects found in the floor debris, and manifestly part of the original contents of the room, were:
In Room 16 (see Fig. 3)
07-1-23. 16: 1. Flaring pot of mud ware, type XXV.
24. 16: 2, 3. Forty or more model jars and saucers of ordinary red ware, types XLIII and XLIV.
25. 16:4. Blunt cone of plaster, PI. 20 i, 1.
26. 16: 5. Half of a rough knife of black flint (Photo. B 196, 1/2), like Pl. 18 d, 6.
27. 16: 6. Small lump of copper ore, about 2 cu. cm. in size.
28. 16: 7-10. Fragments of four rough flint knives (Photo. B 196 and B 197).
29. 16: 11. Flint scraper (Photo. B 196 and B 197, 2/5).
30. 16: 12-14. Three flint flakes, two broken (Photo. B 196 and B 197).
I n Room 17 (see Fig. 4)
07-1-31. 17: 1. Broken flaring pot of mud ware, type XXV.
32. 17: 2. Large stone hammer of black granite, with two
handles, worn by use; the ends bruised as if by
pounding; PI. 20a, b, c.
33. 17:3. Tall stand of red pottery, red wash, type XXII-I,
34. 17:4. Flower-pot, type XXV.
35. 17: 5. Bowl-stand of red ware, red wash, type XXIII.
36. 17: 6. Charcoal, two handfuls.
37. 17: 7. Small jar with pointed base, red ware, type XVI-3,
38. 17:8. Fragments of two large trays of red ware, typeXLII,
39. 17:9. About fifty small models of jars and dishes of red
ware, types XLIII and XLIV, like PI. 20 f.
40. 17: 10. Flint knife, PI. 18 a-b, 3.
41. 17: 11. Fragments of five other flint knives, PI. 18 a-b, 2,
7, 9, 11, 12.
42. 17: 12. Flint scraper, PI. 18 a-b, 10.
43. 17: 13. Fragments of five flint flakes, PI. 18 a-b, 1 , 4 ,5 , 6 , 8
I n Room 18 (see Fig. 5 )
07-1-44. 18:1. Limestone disc with knob handle (muller?).
45. 18: 2. Blunt cone of plaster, Pl. 20 i, 3.
46. 18:3. Fragment of flint knife, PI. 18 d, 6. FIGURE
5
47. 18: 4. Fragment of flint knife (Photo. B 200, 4). ROOM 18, PLAN.Scale1/40
18 MYCERINUS
07-1-48. 18:5. Seven long tubular beads of faience, three black and four blue.
49. 18:6. Fragment of rough flint knife (Photo. B 200, 1).
50. 18:7. Broad rough flint knife, PI. 18 d, 3.
51. 18:8. Rough flint knife, handled type, PI. 18 d, 4.
52. 18:9. Jar with pointed base, red ware, type IV-1.
53. 18: 10. Fifteen bivalve shells (disjointed halves). PI. 20 h. In one, a mass of powdered blue
crystalline coloring matter.
54. 18: 10. A mass of oxidized fragments of copper chisels and drills, mixed with shells in SW
corner.
55. 18: 11. Small jar of red ware, red wash, type XVIII-3.
56. 18: 12. Tall bowl-stand of red ware, red wash, type XXII-1.
57. 18: 13. Low bowl-stand of red ware, red wash, type XXII-2.
58. 18: 14. Rough flint knife, handled type, tip and handle damaged, Pl. 18 d, 5.
59. 18: 15. Fragment of decayed wooden board, about 30 cm. long.
60. 18: 16. Fragments of jars of coarse red ware, type TV.
61. 18: 17. Jar-stopper of mud, no seal impression.
62. 18: 18. About fifty small models of jars and dishes of red-brown ware, red wash, Pl. 20f.
63. 18: 19. Bowl of red-brown ware, red wash, type XXXIX-I.
64. 18: 20. Stack of eight pottery models, type XLIV.
65. 18: 21. Broad rough flint knife, handled type, PI. 18 d, 2.
66. 18: 22. Similar broad flint knife, handled type (Photo. B 200, 2).
67. 18: 23. Broken flint knife, handled type, (Photo. B 200, 3).
68. 18: 24. Narrow rough flint knife, handled type Pl. 18 d, 1.
69. 18: 25. Fragment of flint knife (Photo. B 200, 1.)
In rooms (19) and (20) the original deposits, as in (16) to (18), had been cleared out, the wall between
(19) and (20) entirely destroyed, and a hole broken through the foundation platform, like those dug
by Arab treasure-seekers elsewhere. The rooms were filled with drift sand, and the only trace of older
debris was along the eastern wall of (19), where a few fragments of broken flint knives were found. In
the lowest course of the northern wall of room (20), a well-cut hole, probably a drain, led through to the
outside. In this hole, embedded in sand, we found fragments of the shoulder and body of the large
alabaster statue of Mycerinus (07-1-70, 71,72), and one fragment from the body of the smaller alabas-
ter statue (07-1-73). Outside this hole, in the wall, other fragments of these statues were found. (See
page 22.)
In the magazine corridor (15), the debris was different from that of any of the rooms (16) to (20) -a
mixture of sand, limestone chips, fragments of alabaster statues, with a shallow layer of mud debris.
Apparently the mass had been thrown into the corridor. Perhaps the Arabs who dug out rooms (19)
and (20) first dug along this corridor and threw back the dirt from the later excavations into (15). The
fragments fround in (15) were as follows: (see Fig. 7).
07-1-74. Fragment, hips of smaller alabaster statue.
15: 1.
75. 15: 2.
Piece of feet of smaller alabaster statue, Pl. 16 b.
76. Fragment of basis of smaller alabaster statue, Pl. 16 b.
15: 3.
77. 15: 4.
Fragment of large alabaster statue, the knees, PI. 16 a.
78. 15: 5.
Fragments of handled jar, not previous in date to the Christian era, red ware. Found
under 15: 1.
79. 15: 6. Fragments of apron, etc., of smaller alabaster statue.
I n the western end, in a hole through the floor:

07-1-80. 15: 7. Fragment of a flint wand, inscribed, “Mother of the king, Nebty-kha-merer” (probably
the mother of Mycerinus), Pl. 19 a.
In the outer corridor (13), the debris was sand, limestone chips, and mud, and appeared also to have
been disturbed nearly to the floor. The quarrymen who took out the black granite blocks of the unfinished
casing of the court had also discovered the four blocks in the north wall of the corridor and had stripped
the mud-brick casing from them as a preliminary to taking these also. But for some reason they de-
sisted. Behind the crude-brick casing of the southern wall of this corridor, we found in 1924 two courses
of unfinished granite casing, which we exposed by removing the crude-brick covering. All of these
granite blocks bore inscriptions in red or black paint.
In rooms (21), (22), (23), and (24), the debris was sand, with large patches of mud, and presented
a somewhat similar appearance to the undisturbed rooms (16) to (18). In (22), before the stairway
(23), there were several mud fragments with seal impressions :
07-1-81. 22: 1. Lump of mud, round-topped, flat-bottomed, with marks of double strings crossing bottom
a t right angles; marks of two knots. Was attached to wooden surface, door or box.
Covered with seal impressions in which the lower part of frame of Horus-name is visible,
but hieroglyphics are illegible - perhaps Iset-ib-tauwy (Neweserra), Pl. 17 a, 6.
82. 22: 2. Lump of mud, with string mark; from a lock (?). Two impressions of cylinder-seal of
Isesy, end of Dynasty V. PI. 17 a, 7.
83. 22: 3. Lump of mud with string mark (jar seal.?). Part of an impression of an official seal of
Mycerinus, but the name (in a cartouche) is obscured by overlapping of impressions, Pl.
17 b, 6.
84. 22: 4. Fragment of mud, with the impression of an official seal of Sehetep-tauwy (Teti, of Dy-
nasty VI), Pl. 17 b, 5.
85. 22: 5. Apparently part of 07-1-84 (Teti, of Dynasty VI), Pl. 17 b, 4.
86. 22: 6. Lump of mud with string mark, seal impression with illegible Horus-name, PI. 17 a, 5.
probably Isesy.
87. 22: 7. Lump of mud with string mark, with seal impression of official of Mery-tauwy (Pepy I),
PI. 17 a, 1.
88. 22: 8. Eight illegible fragment, Pl. 17 a, 2, 3, 4 and b 1, 2, 3, 7, 8.
These lumps of mud, relics of sealings by officials of Mycerinus, Neweserra, Isesy, Teti, and Pepy I were
in the original floor debris and can hardly have been far from the place where they were used. Some of
them may have been seals placed on the door which formerly swung in doorway (21), before it was
blocked up.
( E ) THEDEBRIS IN THE INNER
TEMPLE,
ROOMS(26) TO (35)
The part of the temple which lies between the rooms already discussed and the pyramid itself rested
under a tangled mass of granite casing blocks. These were covered with heaps of limestone rubbish,
and the interstices between the blocks were filled with the same material. When the blocks and the
limestone rubbish had been cleared away, the debris underneath, mostly drift sand, was found not to
be in uniform layers. All over the region of the room paved with granite, (29), the older layers of sand
had been cleared away to the floor, and on the south of this room the old layer of hard debris had been
exposed. The southern wall of (29) had been pulled down, and many of the blocks were found piled up
on the old hard debris to the south. The granite floor had been partly taken up, and many of the blocks
showed chisel marks made for splitting the granite. This disturbed area had been again filled with drift
sand. In the sand were found a number of iron or steel chisels (Pl. 21 f ) , a few iron bands, and one stick
(07-2-1). The stick had served as a handle for a rectangular iron frame, which had been used to hold
the chisel while it was struck with a hammer. These objects were, of course, all Arabic.
The rooms (26), (27), and (28) were found filled with sand. Where the roof was broken in (27), the
upper layers had been disturbed, but under that part of the roof which was still intact the surface was
practically undisturbed. There was a space of between 80 and 90 centimeters between the roof and the
sand. On the surface of sand in room (27 t ) we found nine Arabic bronze coins (07-2-2 to 10, Pl. 21 f,
upper two rows). These had apparently been dropped by one of the quarrymen, or treasure-hunters, who
may have been exploring the place, or had crawled in to sleep there. In room (28), on the same surface,
a fire had been built, blackening the wall. The coins were pronounced by Professor Moritz, then director
of the Khedivial Library, to be of the period of the Eiyubides, the latter part of the twelfth and early part
of the thirteenth century A.D.; that is, they correspond in date with the destructive works described by
Abd-el-Lateef. (See p. 8.) Thus it is clear that the rooms in this part of the temple stood nearly full
of sand in the twelfth century A.D. When the rooms were opened by us, the sand lay still undisturbed
in all three rooms, except for the top layer under the break in the roof of (28). Clearing this sand away,
we found room (27) stacked with eighty-seven poorly preserved mummified burials. The bodies had
all been wrapped in many layers of cloth, and some of them showed traces of gilded and painted plaster
on the outer covering. A number of bodies had been further protected with a layer of heavy reeds made
20 MYCERINUS
into a sort of mat tied with strings at intervals of about 10 cm. These reeds were sometimes between
two layers of the wrappings, as in burial 56. Other bodies were fastened to a board, or had a pole
inside the wrappings behind. A number of bodies, 56,80
to 86, were in wooden coffins of anthropoid form,
with mortised joints a t the shoulders,-head,and feet. Five wooden masks were found in the debris, besides
boards from coffins. But all the wood was badly rotted. It was clear that the room had been stacked
full of mummies, in coffins, in reed cases, and often, no doubt, merely in their wrappings. The mass
decayed and settled down on itself, causing a certain amount of disturbance; sand partly filled the room,
and then came the plunderers who pulled the upper bodies about. Finally, the room filled again with
sand long before the Arab quarrymen dropped the thirteenth-century coins on the surface in (27 X ) .
The date of these burials was fixed by three coins, one of which was found in the hand of the body
numbered 23. The others were in the lower debris, along with the usual beads and amulets. These
FIGURE
6
coins (Pl. 2 2 e ) were examined by Dr. Grenfell and Dr. Hunt, and, while badly worn, were said by
them to be quite certainly Roman, of the period between 50 and 150 A.D. The color of the glaze and
the forms of many of the amulets, as also of the pottery, confirm this date. We can, therefore, only
assume that the beautifully glazed, bright blue amulets, which one might easily mistake for New King-
dom in date, and the scarabs, are all of the Roman Period, at any rate so far as their use is concerned.
Of course, it is possible that some of the scarabs were of earlier manufacture, found in excavations
during the Roman Period and re-used as amulets.¹
Below the mass of mummies was a floor debris from 40 to 80 cm. deep. The upper part was sandy,
stained black from the decay of the murnmies above it; the lower part below the old floor was hard
packed limestone debris. In the lower hard debris were found a number of objects of Old Kingdom
date, as follows:
Beside the west wall, opposite the first pillar:
07-2-121. Fragment of a diorite bowl, type Xc, diam. ca. 24 cm., P1.21 b.
About 100 cm. northeast of 07-2-120:
07-2-122. Greater part of a diorite bowl, discolored by mummy decay, diam. ca. 22 cm., type X c , Pl.21 c.
123. Nearly complete diorite cup, diam. 15 cm. type X a (4). Pl. 21 a. One piece of this was with
07-2-125 to 129, near the north wall.
124. Two pieces of a diorite bowl, diam. 19 cm., type Xc, Photo. C 475 below.
Near the north wall, in the middle:
07-2-125. Fragment of a squat jar of fine white alabaster, type Vc(2). Photo. C 474 middle.
126. Greater part of a bowl of fine white marble, type X a . Photo. C 474 right.
127. Small bowl (saucer) of fine dark-veined white marble, in two pieces, one found in room (28)) type
IXa(1). Pl. 21 d , 1/3, 2/4.
128. Fragment of a small model cup of crystal, type X a ( 3 ) . Photo. C 474 left.
129. Fragment of a cylindrical jar of alabaster, type Id(2). Photo. C 474 left.
Against north wall, in northeast corner of room:
07-2-130. Three pots of soft-baked mud ware, type XXV, Fig. 71.
The
¹ detailed descriptions of the burials 1 to 87 and of the objects Reg. nos. 07-2-11 to 07-2-120, having no specific bearing on
the history of the temple, are given in Appendix B.
Room (26), a sort of vestibule, north of (27), was filled with drift sand to the roof. On clearing out
the sand, a stair was found descending from the surface level of the drift sand outside on the north,
through the northern door of (26) to the floor. The stair had evidently given access to (27) at the time
the Roman burials were made. On the western side of the room, on sand, lay two skulls and some scat-
tered human bones. With these were found the following:
07-2-131. Figure of a god with double crown, right foot and lower left leg gone, green faience. H. 91 mm.
Photo. C411.
132. Bottle amulet of blue faience. H. 25 mm. Photo. C 411.
133. Amulet, obscure form, rudely cut, blue faience. H. 22 mm. Photo. C 411.
134. Eleven cylindrical beads of blue-green faience. L. 17 mm.-21 mm. Photo. C 411.
Under the bones was an irregular hole (360 x 136 cm.) broken in the stone pavement of the room to a
depth of about 50 cm. In the doorway to room (28) was a third skull. The western end of the doorway
was blocked with rubble.
Room (28) was filled with debris to within 12 cm. of the roof. Over the clean drift sand filling the
room, there were in the southern end five upper layers, as follows:
(1) Rubbish, dirt, granite, and limestone chips, 8 cm.
(2) Ashes, charcoal, black dirt, 2 cm.
(3) Straw, sand, and bits of limestone, 4 cm.
(4) Nearly clean drift sand, 3 cm.
(5) Sand, organic matter, dark straw, 6 cm.
(6) Clean drift sand to floor.
The layers 5 and 6 sloped from the southern end away to the north. From the break in the roof on the
north a slope of drift sand had sifted in, filling the northern end over layers 5 and 6, and forming, in fact,
the continuation of 4. The upper layers extended northwards only about three to four meters from
the southern end of the room. Layer 6 had drifted in from the southern entrance. On this, in layer 5,
was a mummy, as in room (27), and in the debris above it were beads and amulets (Pl. 23 h) :
07-2-135. Figure of Haroeris, pale blue faience. H. 41 mm.
136. Upper part of a figure of a cat-headed goddess, blackened green faience. H. 35mm.
137. Three figures of Bes, blue-green faience. H. 24 mm., 24 mm., and 23 mm.
138. Squatting cat, blue faience. H. 17 mm.
139. A sort of basket amulet, blue faience. H. 17 mm.
140. Four small rudely made uzat-eyes of blue faience. L. 11 mm., 9 mm., 9 mm., 9 mm.
141. Plaque with uzat-eye in relief on one side, and incised on the other, green faience. L. 9 mm.
142. Atenat-amulet, blue faience. H. 17 mm.
143. Double lion (?) amulet, blue faience. L. 19 mm.
144. Carnelian pendant, pomegranate. H. 16 mm.
145. Five imitation split cowries of whitish faience. L. ca. 13 mm.
146. Three imitation split cowries of shell. L. ca. 12 mm.
147. Lot of blue-glazed beads - cylindrical, spherical, annular. Also one ridged ball-bead, and
several small spiral shells.
In the unfinished rooms (30) to (35), the condition was entirely different. When the drift sand was
removed, a heap of hard packed limestone -masons’ rubbish -was found in each room. This rub-
bish, which was deepest in room (30), where in the middle it nearly reached the roof, had obviously
formed a construction plane used in building the walls and setting the roof slabs, although part of it
came from the dressing work already carried out in the rooms themselves. In the debris were only a
few potsherds of the ordinary coarse red jars, (type IV), except in room (32), where some fragments of
a diorite vessel (type Xu) and of oxidized copper, or bronze, were found in the debris. These rooms,
left unfinished, had been undisturbed since the period of their construction.
( F ) ROOM(36) AND THE TEMPLE

ENCLOSURE
(37)
North of the inner temple, in rooms (36) and (37), the modern surface presented a continuation of
the weathered limestone chips and sand in which were embedded the granite blocks. Below this was a
very irregular deposit of sand, filling the depressions. The surface of the sand corresponded with the
22 MYCERINUS
lowest erosion line, a heavy one, on the adjacent limestone walls. This surface was broken by a hole
opposite rooms (26) west, (28), and (30); and in this hole lay the roofing stones from the northern
ends of those rooms, where they had been cast down by treasure-hunters. Through the sand in room
(36) descended the stairway to room (26), and the surface of the Roman Period was the surface of sand
at the top of the stairway. With the exception of the hole referred to above, the sand was clean and
rested on a surface of decay composed of hard mud, sand, and rubble. This mud bank was continuous
all over the area north of the temple, even close up to the pyramid (Pl. 8 a), and differed clearly in
consistency from the mud banks in which were embedded the great mud-brick enclosing wall of the
pyramid and the casing wall north of the outer part of the temple. It seemed as if the remains of a
mud-brick structure had been dumped here.
In the mud debris in room (37) north, were found fragments of stone vessels and statues, as well as
some pottery. In the limestone rubbish and sand just under the granite layer were:
07-4-1. Fragments of a New Kingdom pot decorated with horizontal black and red bands and black spots.
2. Large pot (flower-pot form) of mud ware. Type XXV, H. 36 cm. Fig. 71. Photo. C497, 498.
3. Squat jar of alabaster, with rim a separate piece. Type Vc (2). Pl. 21 d, on left.
4. Small saucer, with collar rim, of alabaster. Type XIc (2). Pl. 21 d, middle.
5. Lid of a kohl pot of Dynasty VI form (i.e., cylindrical). Pl. 21 d, middle below.
6. Small model cup of alabaster (in seven pieces, but complete). Photo. C473.
7. Two fragments of model dish of alabaster. Photo. C473.
8. Two fragments of rough model dish of alabaster. Photo. C473.
South of the inner part of the temple in room (37) south, the top layer was granite blocks, a lime-
stone casing block from the pyramid, limestone rubbish, and sand, as all along the eastern face of the
pyramid. Under this was sand, covering a mass of limestone blocks which had apparently been taken
from the walls of room (29). These blocks lay on a hard bank of mud, sand, and rubbish, in the eastern
side of which was embedded a construction plane of worn lumps of limestone. This plane rested against
the west wall of the outer temple and led up to the roof of room (27).
(G) FRAGMENTS
OF STATUES NORTHOF ROOM(20)
FOUND
All around the outer temple the crude-brick wall of Shepseskaf had been weathered away to within
30-100 cm. of its foundations. The decayed mud had been spread by rain and wind to form a bank,
the surface of which sloped from the top of the casing wall, as preserved, outward to the old desert sur-
face. On this mud surface of decay lay a stratum of drift sand, with a few centimeters of surface debris
composed largely of fragments of limestone fallen from the decaying walls of the first temple. Some
fragments of statues were found in mud debris (Pl. 8 a, c, d ) in a hole in the casing wall opposite the
magazines (19) and (20). Here the modern surface touched the northern face of the limestone core wall
on a level with the bottom of the second course, and was marked by an erosion line as elsewhere. A sec-
ond and a third line of erosion, one near the top of the second course and the other in the bottom of the
first course, were much deeper than the lowest line. The surface debris was shallow near the wall,
about 15-20 cm. of sand covered with small limestone chips and pebbles, but grew deeper toward the
north, reaching a depth of 60-80 cm. on the edge of our excavations, four meters from the wall. Under
the sand was the usual bank of mud debris sloping down to the north, in which was embedded the old
casing wall, preserved here to a height of about 50 cm.
Beginning with the drain-hole cut through the bottom of the northern wall of room (20), a wide
irregular trench had been cut through the crude-brick casing wall to a point about four meters north.
This trench was filled with loose mud debris and sand mixed together. Evidently the persons (Arabs)
who had caused the damage in room (20), looking for treasure, had discovered the drain and had worked
their way through the hole and into the debris outside for four meters before they abandoned the search.
In the disturbed debris in this trench was found a group of fragments of alabaster statues (Fig. 7) :
07-4-9. Head of the larger alabaster statue of Mycerinus (Pls. 14, 15).
10. Left shoulder of the larger alabaster statue.
11. Fragment of body of smaller alabaster statue (Pl. 16 b-d).
12. Fragment of body of smaller alabaster statue.
These were about three meters from the drain-hole, just inside the face of the casing wall. Nearer the
drain were:
074-13. Fragment from the body of the larger alabaster statue.
14. A large potsherd (type III?).
Under the debris in which these fragments were embedded, we found traces of a drain-trench cut in the
foundation platform and leading out to the north. This drain-trench had probably been roofed with
stone, and had suggested to the ignorant treasure-seekers the possibilities which had drawn them in
this direction. It seems to me evident that the fragments found outside room (20) had been dragged
out by these same men through the drain-hole. I conclude that the presence of the statues in room (20)
7
FIGURE
suggested to them the existence of a hidden treasure, in accordance with the usual Arabic stories of
finding a “guardian” over a great treasure. They first tried the drain-hole in front of which the statues
stood; they then broke through into room (19); they smashed the two statues, throwing the fragments
over into corridor (15), or dragging them out through the drain; and finally, they cut down through the
foundation platform, before abandoning the search.
All the fragments of statues found in and near the northern magazines fitted on these two alabaster
statues, and there can be no doubt that the centre of their distribution was the disturbed area in maga-
zines (19) and (20). From the character of the remains on the floor of (19), near the east wall, that room
appears to have been a magazine, like (16) to (18). The two statues seem therefore to have stood, prior
to their destruction, in room (20). The room was wide enough to have contained the two statues, even
if they stood side by side facing the door. Room (20) was of slightly different form from the other
magazines (16) to (19). There was no mud-brick wall across the northern end, and a vertical niche of rec-
tangular cross-section, the width of the room, had been cut in the limestone core wall to form the north-
ern end of the room. Thus room (20) was 128 cm. longer than the parallel rooms (16) to (19). The eastern
and western interior faces of room (20) were built flush with the sides of the niche in the rock, and the
faces of the niche were plastered white, like the mud-brick surfaces of the room. At a level about 95 cm.
above the floor of the room, a horizontal ledge was cut in the northern and western sides of the niche
(Pl. 8b), and on this ledge and partly on the slope of the eastern wall a stone slab had once rested, whose
thickness was shown by the interruption of the plaster to have been 15 cm. In the west wall of the niche
the ledge turns down at right angles, and the plaster indicates that a second slab, 15 to 30 cm. in height,
24 MYCERINUS
was set upright in front of the horizontal slab, thus forming a slab-altar like that in the hall of niches,
room (9), of the Queen’s temple, Pyramid 111-a. Below the horizontal slab, by analogy, a rectangular
libation basin for blood, water, or milk, should have stood as in the temple of 111-a. Directly behind
this place below the horizontal slab, a rectangular hole was cut through the northern core wall to the
small covered drain which runs away below the mud-brick casing wall to a point outside that wall.
Thus it is possible that the hole in the wall, in spite of its large size, was intended merely to take the
spill from the libation basin in room (20). The niche, as I have explained, was part of room (20), as
shown by the plastering and the adjustment of the mud-brick walls; and the supposition that the ver-
tical niche was a channel for draining off rain water from the roof of this part of the temple is excluded
by the relation of the niche to the room and by the slab-altar in the niche.
Room (20), like all these magazines, was open and accessible from the corridor (12), until the door-
way, (14), was blocked with crude brick, that is, certainly until after the beginning of Dynasty VI. The
walls of room (20) were of the brickwork of the original temple and the relations of the walls to the niche
prove that the niche was in the wall when the temple of Shepseskaf was built. The use of the room as a
libation chamber must therefore date from the time of that temple. But some explanation is required
for this special use of one room in a row of magazines. I therefore conclude that the statues, or at any
rate one of them, were already placed in this room by Shepseskaf, probably against the western wall
facing east, close to the libation basin. Whether both statues were placed in the room by Shepseskaf,
or whether one of them was originally outside, perhaps in the portico, and placed here later, must remain
unanswered.
( H ) HISTORY OF THE DEPOSITOF THE DEBRIS
The series of events by which the debris in the inner temple was deposited, may be summed up as
follows :
1. Before the first century A.D., the floor had been broken up in rooms (26), (27), and (28) by earlier
treasure-hunters, and in the debris left by these people were fragments of pottery, stone vessels, and
statues of the Old Kingdom.
2. In the first and second centuries A.D., the roof was still intact over (26), (27), and (28), and the
rooms contained only so much sand as would run in through the outer doors. The corridor (13) was
sanded up, as well as (36) and (37), nearly to the top of the roof. The roof was no doubt exposed, and
so rendered the discovery of the rooms easy. The sand was dug away from the northern door of (26),
and a rough stair built to give access to the rooms, which were then utilized as a communal burial place.
3. The great damage was done by the Arabs who broke stone and sought treasure. The southern
wall of room (34), its limestone walls, and part of the roof of (27), were broken down and removed. In-
cidentally, the upper layers of mummies in the room were overhauled. The granite floor of room (29)
was partly taken up. When this disturbance had been covered with sand and debris, the attempted
destruction of the pyramid appears to have taken place. The upper courses of the granite casing were
pulled down, and the blocks split up during the process. The whole inner part of the temple and the
base of the pyramid were encumbered with this debris. Some pieces of granite had rotted so that they
fell to pieces under the blows of an iron hammer. Underneath there were patches of fine gray powder,
which a t first were mistaken for ashes, but were soon seen to be decayed granite. Over all this tangled
mass of granite was a deposit of limestone debris like that on all four faces of all the pyramids. But this
had been disturbed, perhaps recently?
6. DESCRIPTION OF THE TEMPLE AS AT PRESENT EXCAVATED

(PLAN
PL.I, SECTIONS
PL.11.)
The site of the temple and the pyramid is a ridge of limestone thrown out from the southern side of
the mass of rock which forms the great plateau of the Pyramids (see Pl. 1, a and b). Between the Second
and Third Pyramids there is a basin, hollowed apparently by the drainage of the higher part of the plateau
which lies west of the Second Pyramid. South of the ridge of the Third Pyramid, a deep wady descends
See
¹ Vyse, Pyramids of Gizeh, I, pp. 150 ff.
to the Nile valley. The site of the pyramid is broad and comparatively flat, requiring no foundation for
the masonry; but under the temple the ridge grows narrow, with a knoll of rock under the southwestern
quarter of the court, rooms (8) and (IO), and the greater part of the portico. In addition to the slope
of the limestone stratum to the east, north, and south, there is a sharp fall skirting the knoll on the east
and north. The slope of the rock under the temple has been equalized by a platform of enormous blocks
of local limestone, varying from five t o twenty tons in weight, loosely fitted together without dressing.
At the northeastern corner of the temple, the foundation platform is three courses deep; at the south-
eastern, only one; and over the area of the knoll, the massive walls of the temple rest on the rock itself,
which has been cut down inside the rooms to admit a pavement about level with the floor of the great
court.
The causeway toward the valley is structurally a continuation of the foundation platform and runs
eastward down the slope to the valley temple, where it joins the foundations of that temple.
The approach to the temple (Pl. I, 1) was through a corridor of crude brick built on the causeway,
with walls plastered white inside and out (Pl. 5, a, b), and a roof of wooden logs. Just before the
entrance doorway of the temple the corridor widens to form a sort of hall and the corridor walls were
broken on each side by a doorway giving exit north and south. Around the outside of these exits on
each side was a rubbish heap, evidently thrown out from the temple, consisting of thousands of small
offering vessels, together with some potsherds of larger coarse vessels.
The entrance doorway (Pl. I, 2) was built of crude brick in continuation of the casing of the temple.
The walls of the causeway corridor were built against the crude-brick masonry of the temple casing.
The threshold of the doorway was a single slab of limestone (Pl. 3 b ) . The weatherworn limestone stela
(Reg. 07-1-21) was in the debris in the northwest corner of the causeway corridor, and probably stood
either as a jamb in the doorway of the temple, or just outside it. The doorway opened into the entrance
corridor (Pl. I, 3), with plain casing walls of crude brick built against the old limestone core wall, and
plastered white. At the western end, on the north side, there was a block of stone in which a niche was
cut, the purpose of which was obscure. The masonry on the opposite side was destroyed, but there was
possibly a similar stone niche on the south. A straight doorway (Pl. I, 4) led from the entrance cor-
ridor to the great open court (Pl. 3 e).
The great open court (Plan I, 5) is 85 ells (44.60 meters) across from north to south, measured be-
tween the faces of the mud-brick casing walls. There was no trace of columns, and the court was ob-
viously open to the sky (Pls. 3 a, e; 4 a, b, d). The white plastered crude-brick walls presented a series
of niches on all the faces - three simple rectangular niches, and then a compound niche, in regular
alternation. This system of niches, to which brickwork lends itself so readily, is known from the First
Dynasty down, and when fully preserved, the niches are roofed with logs of wood, or stone imitations
of logs. The niches appear thus to represent doorways roofed with wooden logs such as are found in
the tombs of the First Dynasty. In the Mycerinus temple these niches must have had a considerable
height, and it is not clear how the wall was finished at the top. The only niched walls comparable in
height were in the mastaba tombs of the pyramid cemetery, and these were finished with an entablature,
above which the wall continued plain to the roof.
By analogy with other contemporary chapels, the court should have contained a stone basin. These
basins have no fixed position, but are usually near the center of the court. In the Mycerinus Queen’s
temple (Pyramid 111-a), it is in the centre; but in the Mycerinus valley temple it is four meters south
of the centre. In the court of the pyramid temple there is a sunken place in the pavement north of the
centre, where I judge the basin to have stood. Probably it was exposed and removed in a search for
subterranean treasure.
The pavement of the court consisted of limestone slabs laid on a bed of mud which rested on the
foundation platform. A pathway, 2.5 ells (131 cm.) wide, crosses the court from the entrance corridor
to the portico (see Pl.
3 e). It is of yellow limestone slabs and is quite level from end to end; but the
pavement of the court slopes from all sides toward the centre, in order to facilitate the drainage of rain
water, and thus sinks in the centre to a level about ten centimeters below the level of the pathway.
At the lowest point in the pavement of the court, a small drainage trench crosses the middle of the
26 MYCERINUS
pathway from north to south, and discharges on each side into a small hole in the pavement. The
difference in level between the pathway and the pavement was compensated on each side by an embank-
ment of stone slabs, which increased in width from nothing at the two ends to about 20 cm. at the
middle. By means of this pathway, a man might cross the wet court dryshod.
The crude-brick casing of the great open court had been originally interrupted on the western side
by the wide opening formed by the portico; but when excavated, this opening was found closed by a
thick screen wall (6) of crude brick, shutting off the view of the portico from the court (Pl. 4 a). Its
ends were built against the casing wall of the court, which proves that this screen wall was of later
construction. In the middle of the screen was a doorway, shown by marks on the floor to have been
cased on each side with stone or wooden slabs, probably limestone, and closed by a wooden door.
The portico (Pl. I, 7) and the outer offering room (8) both bore on their floors and walls the emplace-
ment marks of a granite casing, which had reached to the tops of the walls (Pls. 3 c, d ; 4 a, d). The blocks
of red granite with dressed surfaces found in these two rooms proved that this casing had been com-
pletely finished and was of red granite. The pillars in the portico, shown by the empty sockets, appear
to have been also of red granite, as at the Chephren Valley Temple. A lintel-block of red granite, with
an upper socket for the door-post, was found in the portico and probably formed the roof of the door-
way between the portico and the offering room. The roofs of the two rooms were, no doubt, like-
wise of red granite. The emplacement marks of the casing at the western end of the offering room
indicated a niche in the granite casing in that wall.
Returning to the screen wall, a passage led westward from the southern end of the portico through
room (9), which was cased in crude brick, to the large unfinished apartment (IO). This apartment con-
tained a construction platform of rubble, and in the southeastern corner a rough rubble room (11),
which had perhaps been a shelter for the workmen (Pl. 9 b). This room was later, however, than
the time of Mycerinus himself, when the granite blocks were being worked, for it is built on debris
which contained at a depth of about 30 cm. a layer (about 20 cm. thick) of powdered granite resulting
from the dressing process used on the casing blocks. Apparently some of the granite casing blocks had
been rough dressed in this place preliminary to setting in the walls.
Opposite this to the north lies the path taken by the offering procession. Passing northwards be-
hind, or west of, the screen wall, it turned west into the corridor (13), to its western end (Pls. 4b, d ;
5 c, d ; 6 a, b, c). Here were three doorways, one (14) to the northern magazine, one (21) to the southern
magazine (and stairway to the roof), and the third (25) to the inner temple. During the last period of
occupation, the doorways right and left to the magazines were closed with rough walls of crude brick;
but the doorway (25) to the west was open, leading to the inner temple of limestone. The magazines
and corridors to this point were cased with white plastered crude brick; the walls of the inner temple
were of limestone.
The doorway (25) gave access to the inner temple of limestone. This limestone temple consisted
of two parts, a kernel structure containing the inner offering room and its approach (29), and a later
addition formed by rooms (26) to (28), and (30) to (35), of which (27) and (30) to (34) had never been
finished. The doorway (25) opened into the anteroom (26), which had a dngle square pillar supporting
the roof. The anteroom had in the right end of each of its four walls a doorway which had been closed
by a wooden door of the usual type. On the east was the doorway (25) by which the procession entered
from the outer temple; on the north, the doorway led into the exterior room (36), and through this to the
pyramid enclosure. The doorway on the south led into the unfinished hall of pillars (27), and the door-
way on the west (Pl. 9 c) led to the sloping corridor (28) (Pl. 9 d), and so on to the inner ofering room
(29) (Pls. 10,
11). A pathway had been worn in the stone pavement of the anteroom by the procession
passing to the right of the pillar into the sloping corridor. The stone paved floor of the corridor (28)
rose in a slope from the level of the floor of the anteroom to the higher level of the granite pavement
in the inner offering room. The sloping corridor had a doorway in the west wall directly opposite the
entrance from the anteroom, and this doorway led into an unfinished corridor (30), running north and
south parallel to the sloping corridor itself. From the unfinished corridor (30), four doorways opened
into four unfinished magazines (31) to (34). Magazines (33) and (34) had each a stone shelf. In (33)
THE MYCERINUS PYRAMID TEMPLE a7
the floor of the shelf was on a level with the floor of the room numbered (35), which was in fact merely
an enlargement of the shelf of (33). Room (35) was high up, having been built in the thickness of the
back wall which, abutting on the pyramid, widened upward with the slope of the pyramid. Magazine
(34) was built against the wall of the kernel in the L, and had new walls only on the west and the north.
The stone shelf was supported, as in (33), by grooves cut in the walls. All these rooms had been roofed
with stone slabs, still well preserved.
The wooden blocks for the sockets of the door-posts were already in place, but only a beginning had
been made with dressing the walls in (30), and therooms were still half full of the masons’ debris, which
formed, I judge, the basis of the construction platform. The heights of the shelves and the roofs proved
that the floors of the unfinished rooms (30) to (34) were intended to be about on a level with the floor
in the anteroom (26), or about 90 cm. lower than the top of the granite pavement in (29).
The hall of pillars (27), which was perhaps intended for a statue room, was also unfinished. The
western wall was formed by the older eastern wall of the kernel structure (29) for a distance of 13.40 m.
from the exterior of the southern wall, and beyond that point the remaining 3.40 m. was taken by the
FIGURE
8 FIGURE
9
later wall (the eastern wall) of the corridor (28). The old wall was dressed to about the floor level of
the granite pavement, but below that had been left rough. The eastern wall of the hall of pillars was
formed by the massive limestone core wall of the outer temple. On this a beginning had been made at
dressing the face from the top down, but the work had made little progress. The walls specially con-
structed to form the hall of pillars - that is, the southern wall, the northern wall, and the northern end
of the western wall - were still undressed. It is improbable that the pavement, which would have
been of stone, was ever laid.
The inner offering room (29) was an older L-shaped structure of Turah limestone, which formed
the kernel of the inner temple (Pls.10,11). This L-shaped kernel was built around and over a massive
red granite pavement 7.35 m. wide (north and south), by 6.30+ m. long (east and west), which clearly
belonged to the work of Mycerinus. The upper surface of the pavement was at level 63.14 m., 12 centi-
meters lower than the top of the first course of the pyramid casing. The surface of the rock was about
140 to 160 cm. lower, and had been dressed in emplacements to take the limestone slabs which almost
everywhere intervened between the rock and the granite. The eastern side of the pavement had been
torn up by the Arab quarrymen and the eastern edge of the pavement could not be exactly determined,
because the outer line of the emplacements was quite irregular, not coincident with the edges of the
pavement where both were preserved. Nevertheless, I have no doubt that the granite pavement had
been finished to a straight line on the east and was nearly square, measuring about 7.35 x 7.40 m.
28 MYCERINUS
(see Fig. 8). The east-to-west axis of the pavement was approximately in the east-to-west axis of the
temple and the pyramid. Adjoining the face of the pyramid, two granite blocks sat with their upper sur-
faces about 50 cm. below the floor of the pavement, and in their upper surfaces an emplacement had been
cut which was 208 cm, wide (north to south), and 50 to 70 cm. thick (east to west). The bottom of
this emplacement sloped slightly downward toward the pyramid and had manifestly once contained a
large upright stone, certainly a stela, probably of granite, but possibly of alabaster. The stela was, of
course, missing, and the three or four granite paving blocks which adjoined the stela had also' been re-
moved. The paving block on the north, however, had not been taken away but only turned up out of
place, and was found by us leaning against the face of the pyramid. Whether the stela was removed
by the Arab quarrymen or previously, the Arabs had cut each of the two granite emplacement stones
in half with their steel chisels, and had either cut a hole or enlarged an emplacement in the limestone
rock which underlay these two blocks. In any case, they had attempted to cut under the casing of
the pyramid in a manifest search for hidden treasure.
As stated above, the L-shaped structure of Turah limestone had been built against and over the
massive granite pavement of Mycerinus. The foundations of the exterior wall were preserved on the
south, east, and north, together with the greater part of the first course and parts of the second course.
The wall which formed the entrant angle of the L was preserved on the east, and securely fixed on the
north by the ends of the walls of the later rooms (34) and (35), which had been built against it. The
upper part of the exterior wall above the first course, and the whole of the internal dividing walls which
stood on the granite pavement, had been removed, probably for the sake of their fine white limestone,
while the surrounding walls of local nummulitic limestone had been spared. As a result of this destruc-
tion, the plan of the rooms of the kernel structure could not be traced. There are, however, one or two
valuable indications of the plan (see Fig. 9) :
(a) I n the debris south of the inner temple were several large roofing slabs of Turah limestone, which mani-
festly came from the kernel structure. Three of these have the following measurements:
(1) 231 x 142 cm. x 47 cm. thick.
(2) 236 x 130 cm. x 50 cm. thick.
(3) 295 x 140 cm. x 50 cm. thick.
These indicate two different widths for the rooms - one of about 200 to 210 cm. and the other of about
250 to 260 cm.
(b) Along with these roofing slabs was a niched stone which must have stood upright as do the stones in the
niches of the mastabas of Dynasty IV.
(4) 282 x 109 cm. x 73 cm. thick.
Niche, 21 cm. wide by 23 cm. deep.
Therefore, at least one large niche must be provided for in the reconstruction. By the analogy of the
temples of the small pyramids, III-aand III-c, this niche would be in a long corridor east of the inner
offering room.
(c) The kernel was built about the stela (208 X 50 to 70 cm.), and the form of the inner offering room must
be calculated with regard to the size and place of that stela.
(d) The interior face of the southern wall is preserved with an interior SE and an interior SW angle. This
face presents a projection, probably a door-jamb, 71 cm. long, placed 228 cm. from the SE angle and
355 from the SW angle.
(e) The width of the entrance doorway from room (28) is visible and its internal lines seem to be indicated,
but not beyond a doubt.
(f) The L-form of the building, which is certain from the outline of the external wall, must be taken into ac-
count. The internal lines, as indicated by a, d, e, above, indicate that the western wall of the L was
considerably thicker than the other walls of the structure (150 cm.).
Now the plans of the crude-brick temples of the small pyramids, as built by Shepseskaf, require as a
minimum a main offering room, a secondary offering room or magazine, and a long corridor with
niches. The jamb on the interior southern face (d) and the lines of the entrance doorway (e) indicate
a long corridor (29 a), along the eastern side of the structure, with a doorway at its southern end leading
into a deep narrow room (29 c) along the south wall, the secondary offering room or magazine. The
western wall of (29 c) is fixed by the interior SW angle and by a construction line cut in the limestone
pavement. The face of the stela must have projected 40 to 50 cm. eastward of the indicated western
wall of (29 c); and as stelae are as a rule set back in the wall instead of projecting, I think another
room (29 d ) , must be assumed, with the face of its western wall 50 to 60 cm. eastward of the face of the
western wall of (29 c). I n the temples of the small pyramids, the main offering room, corresponding
to (29 d ) , opens on the long corridor (“hall of niches”) and is not directly connected with the secondary
offering room or magazines corresponding to (29 c ) . The two sizes of roofing slabs seem to indicate
that room (29 d ) was wider than the others; and the thickening of the western wall of the L, that this
part of the wall contained a deep compound niche, with an offering table, as in the temple of 111-a.
Within limitations marked by these facts, a number of reconstructions are possible. In Fig. 8, I give
what seems to me to be the best interpretation of all the facts.
The pyramid enclosure (37) was bounded by a wall of crude brick 2.65 m. thick placed with its
inner face about 10 m. from the base line of the pyramid. It probably enclosed the whole pyramid.
After the construction of the later inner temple of limestone, the part of the enclosure south of the inner
temple was not accessible by any doorway through the southern wall of the temple, and nearly its whole
width was blocked by the construction plane of worn boulders used in building the inner temple of
nummulitic limestone. The lower part of the surface of the plane, on the west, and the ground to the
south of it were found by us littered with limestone roofing and casing blocks as well as with granite
casing blocks, or fragments of such stones. The part of the enclosure which was north of the inneq
temple was accessible from the temple through the northern doorway of the anteroom (26), which led
into the small room (36), and thence by another doorway into the enclosure itself (Pl. 9 e, f ) . The
ground in this part of the enclosure was covered by a heavy deposit of mud debris and limestone chips.
7. HISTORY OF THE CONSTRUCTION AND DECAY OF THE TEMPLE

Three major building periods are easily discernible in the Mycerinus pyramid temple, and several
minor reconstructions :
I. The massive unfinished temple of Mycerinus.
11. The crude brick walls which completed this unfinished stone temple; the temple built by Shepseskaf.
111. The screen wall of crude brick, and various minor walls which are probably to be dated to Dynasty V or
Dynasty VI.
IV. The inner limestone temple, probably to be ascribed to Mernera.
( A ) THE MASSIVEUNFINISHED
TEMPLE
OF MYCERINUS
The massive unfinished temple of Mycerinus consisted of the following kinds of masonry:
(a) The massive masonry of enormous limestone blocks, which forms the foundation platform and the cause-
way.
(b) The red granite pavement under room (29) of the inner limestone temple.
(c) *Themassive core walls of limestone forming the outer temple.
( d ) The finished red granite casing, the pillars a.nd antae of the portico and outer offering room.
(e) The unfinished black granite casing of the entrance corridor, the open court, the ends of the portico, the
northern corridor (13), and the southern storeroom (24).
The plan of the Mycerinus temple, as revealed by these different kinds of masonry consisted of:
1. Entrance corridor, cased in black granite, room (3).
2. Great open court, cased in black granite, room (5).
3. Portico, cased in red granite with pillars and antae of the same stone, room (7).
4. Outer offering room, cased in red granite, room (8).
5. Northern corridor, cased in black granite, room (13).
6. Space fiorth of corridor (13), in which the crude brick magazines (15) to (20) were afterwards built; intended,
no doubt, to be divided into similar magazines by walls of granite or fine limestone.
7. Space south of corridor (13), partly cased in black granite, afterwards cased with crude brick and provided
with a stairway of crude brick leading to the roof.
8. Large space, room (lo), south of the outer offering room, never used; symmetrical in size and form with
the space north of the offering room and perhaps intended to contain the same series of corridors and
apartments, rooms (12) to (24).
9. Inner temple of red granite, of which the only indication is the pavement of red granite under room (29)?
the inner offering room.
so MYCERINUS
These indicated parts supply all the rooms which were functionally necessary for a funerary temple
of this period. No two of the pyramid temples of the Old Kingdom are even remotely similar in the de-
tails of their plans, and yet all satisfy the same functional requirements, as does this temple of Mycerinus.
( B ) THECRUDE-BRICK
TEMPLE
OF SHEPSESKAF
When, presumably on the death of Mycerinus, the completion of the original plan for a granite temple
was given up, a beginning was made at constructing the temple in Turah limestone. The kernel of
the inner temple, rooms (29 a ) , (29 b ) , and (29 c ) , had been built of this fine white stone, in striking
contrast to the later walls of nummulitic limestone which surround it. Inasmuch as Turah limestone
was used in the upper courses of the pyramid casing, it is more than probable that the kernel of the inner
temple was contemporary with the limestone casing of the pyramid and previous in date to the crude
brick walls of the outer temple. But the completion of the temple in Turah limestone appears to have
proved too great a task; and the use of that stone was abandoned for a much cheaper material-
crude brick, which lent itself also to rapid construction.
The portico (7) and the outer offering room (8) were the only parts in which the granite casing had
been finished, or so nearly finished that they required no great labor. The entrance corridor, the great
open court, the northern corridor (13), the spaces (14) to (20) and (21) to (24), north and south of that
corridor, the ends of the portico north and south of the granite casing, and all the outside walls of the
temple were cased in crude brick heavily plastered with yellowish mud and coated white. This crude-
brick casing covered the unfinished granite casing, hiding it completely from view (Pl. 6). The walls were
plain except in the great court, where they were built in the system of niches already described. The
doorways, represented in the original structure merely by openings in the core walls, were built also of
crude brick and provided with wooden doors hung on posts set in stone sockets below and wooden
sockets above. The floors were of beaten mud laid on hard packed limestone debris in all the apartments
except the court. In the court a pavement of stone slabs was laid on the mud, probably the same pave-
ment which we found in place. In addition to this work of casing, the following free-standing walls
were built also of crude brick:
(a) The dividing walls in the space north of the corridor (13), which formed the rooms (15) to (20).
(b) The enclosing wall of the pyramid, which was bonded with the outer casing walls of the temple.
(c) The walls of the causeway corridor the upper ends of which were built against the casing walls of the
temple (PI. 5 a).
(d) Probably that part of the inner temple which was later occupied by rooms (26) to (28) and (30) to (35).
The inference that the space now occupied by the limestone walls forming rooms (26) to (28), and
(30) to (35) was formerly filled with a structure of crude brick contemporaneous with the crude-brick
walls of the outer temple, is based on the following considerations:
1. The walls of nummulitic limestone forming rooms (26) to (28) and (30) to (35) were built after the kernel
structure of Turah limestone and after the crude brick casing of the outer temple.
(a) The walls were built against the kernel and with overhanging ends to correspond with the batter of
the older wall.
(b) The crude-brick casing wall of the outer temple on the outside of the west wall of the unfinished com-
partment (10) shows a broken end at a point two meters south of the southern wall of the inner
temple; in the break, and against the casing, rests the construction plane leading to the roof of
the inner temple (PI. 2 b). The casing wall on the north of the inner temple is broken by the later
room (36).
2. The rooms (26) to (28), (30) to (35) were constructed after the plundering of the temple had been begun.
(a) Under the floor of room (27), a number of fragments of stone vessels were found, which were of the
ceremonial types of the temple furniture, not in daily use (see p. 98).
(b) In the construction debris filling rooms (30) to (34), and especially in (33), fragments of similar stone
vessels were also found, together with potsherds and fragments of copper which must by associa-
tion have come also from the temple furniture; this debris had certainly not been disturbed from
the time of the construction of these rooms.
3. The rubble-lined pathway leading from the pyramid enclosure to the Queen’s temple (Pyramid 111-a) de-
mands an exit in the southern wall of the inner temple and this exit does not exist in the limestone
temple now in place.
4. The inner temple, as it stood at the time of the construction of the crude-brick casing, presents no con-
necting rooms between the inner offering-place (29 a) and (29 b), and the outer temple.
The most plausible inference from these facts appears to be that when the crude-brick walls were
built in the area around the outer temple, the rooms connecting that temple with the inner offering rooms
(29 a) and (29 b) were also constructed of crude brick.
The crude-brick temple was the first completed temple attached to the pyramid, and I ascribe it
therefore to Shepseskaf, the son and probable successor of Mycerinus, and identify it with the “monu-
ment” mentioned in the memorial stone of Shepseskaf, which we found in the portico (Pl. 19 b). This
stela bears the following inscription :
Under the Majesty of the King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Shepseskaf, the Horus, Shepsesy-khet, in the year
of the first census of the large and small cattle, he made it, as his monument for his father, the King of Upper and
Lower Egypt [Menkauwra].
The name Menkauwra is not preserved on this fragment; but on another, which to all appearances
belongs to the same stela, the name of the pyramid, Menkauwra-netery, is plainly written (Pl. 19 d). A t all
events, it is impossible to find any other plausible restoration for the text than the name of Mycerinus.
The crude-brick temple built by Shepseskaf, the first completed temple of the Third Pyramid, con-
sisted, then, of the following apartments:
1. The causeway corridor.
2. The entrance corridor.
3. The great open court..
4. The portico.
5. The northern corridor (13).
6. The magazines (16) to (20) and the magazine corridor (15).
7. The southern storeroom (24), and the stairway to the roof (23).
8. The inner temple of crude brick with a limestone kernel, but of unknown plan and about the size of the
later inner temple of limestone.
The plan of the temple of crude brick followed closely the lines of the original stone temple, adding
merely the northern magazines, which may in fact have been included in the original plan. The
southern apartment (10) was left unfinished. The departure from plan in the inner temple it is im-
possible to follow because the original plan of the massive temple is only faintly indicated by the
granite pavement in room (29), while the inner temple of Shepseskaf has been almost completely
destroyed. The kernel of Turah limestone was taken away by Arab quarrymen and the crude-brick
walls, probably fallen into decay, were swept away when the later limestone temple was built (by
Mernera?). The L-shaped form of the limestone kernel is, however, certain, and this suggests that
the plan of the kernel should be reconstructed on the analogy of the temples of the smaller pyramids
III-b and III-c, with a long corridor and a small offering room (see Fig. 7, rooms [29 a] and [29
b]). The
long corridor would correspond to the hall of niches in III-c.
( C ) THEINNER TEMPLE
LIMESTONE (?)
OF MERNERA
The second complete form of the temple was that presented after the substitution of the limestone
rooms (26) to (28) and (30) to (35) for the corresponding crude-brick parts of the inner temple of Shep-
seskaf. The old kernel structure of Turah limestone formed the kernel of the new temple. The new
walls were built against the old walls, as may be seen from the joints shown in the plan; but they were of
local nummulitic limestone, not of white limestone. Thus, when the Arab quarrymen removed the white
limestone for sawing into pavement slabs and other purposes, the walls of nummulitic limestone were left
practically intact. Most of the roofs even were preserved and the rooms have been described above.
The building of rooms (26) to (28) and (30) to (35), which are as stated of nummulitic limestone, is
probably recorded in one or two of the three limestone decrees found in the temple (Pl. 19 e-i). One of
these bore the name of Mernera and another was probably of Dynasty VI, possibly issued also by Mernera.
It may be noted that a decree of Pepy II, the successor of Mernera, was found in the Valley Temple.
39 MYCERINUS
These rooms of Dynasty VI are not only of inferior limestone, but they are less carefully built than
the kernel structure, and were never completely finished. Only rooms (26) and (28), which provided
access to the offering room (29), were finished and showed marks of usage. The rooms (30) to (34)
had the walls left rough, almost as when first constructed, and were half filled with the rubbish which
formed the construction platform. Room (27) was probably left in a similar condition, but it had been
cleared out to provide a place for Roman communal burials, which we found there. The workmanship
is no better than that of the ordinary private mastabas built by officials in the Giza cemetery, in Dynas-
ties V and VI; and even if the temple had been finished, it would have been a comparatively inexpen-
sive work for a king to undertake.
The seal impressions (Pl. 17 a, b ) found in room (22) prove that the temple service was maintained
in some degree during the reigns of Neweserra and of Isesy, the latter of whom ruled toward the end of
Dynasty V. Nevertheless, it is apparent from the plundering and the decay of the crude-brick inner
temple, that the whole Pyramid Temple was neglected like the Valley Temple during Dynasty V. But
in Dynasty VI, both these temples, for reasons which now escape us, became the object of a certain
amount of pious attention.
(D)MINORADDITIONS
Of the minor additions to the temple, the most important is the thick screen wall shutting off the
portico from the great open court (Pl. 4 a). The bricks were about the same size as those of Shepseskaf,
but of a blacker color and more uniform in texture. The wall was built on the limestone pavement of the
court, and the doorway was symmetrically adjusted to the pathway crossing the court. The sides of
the doorway appear to have been cased with limestone or wooden jambs set in grooves in the floor, and
the doorway itself had probably been closed by a wooden door, although the sockets were missing. The
effect of the screen was to cut off the view from the courtyard of the magnificent portico of red granite;
but its purpose was certainly a very practical one for the funerary priests, probably to conceal their
proceedings from the gaze of the laity, and to enhance the sanctity of the place. A similar heavy screen
wall of crude brick had been built against the front of the portico of the Mycerinus valley temple in its
first completed form. A lighter screen wall had also been added to the portico of the Queen’s temple
(Pyramid 111-a). All these screen walls appear to have been constructed comparatively early in the
history of the temples by the same masons and for a common purpose, and they are probably to be
dated to the beginning of Dynasty V.
Room (36) in the pyramid enclosure, around the northern exit from the anteroom (26), is later in
date than the limestone temple, but probably not much later, perhaps only a few weeks. The walls
are of loosely laid rubble, mud-plastered and coated white, but in the northern doorway and high up
in the south wall are small blocks of crude brick. The northern, or outer doorway, contained a stone
threshold of three pieces, of which the thin middle piece was elevated to close the space a t the bottom
of the door, and the inner slab presented a hole for a door-socket on the eastern side. Thus the doorway
had been closed by a wooden door, opening inward. The doorway from room (26) had been provided
in the original masonry of the later temple; and the dressing of its eastern jamb had been continued
northward by cutting back the face of the old limestone core wall to a projection even with the inner
face of the northern wall of room (36). Thus a room similar to (36) may have been part of the original
plan of the second inner temple (Mernera?), and the room as it now exists may have been built immedi-
ately after the finishing of that restoration. The purpose of the room is not very clear except as a con-
necting room between the temple and the enclosure.
The doorway of crude brick with stone threshold and lintel, which had been inserted in the eastern end
of the magazine corridor (15), and thus formed a small square anteroom in front of magazine (16), belongs
to the time of occupation, and may be of almost any period previous to the closing of the magazines.
The door-blocks of crude brick inserted in the doorway (14) to the northern magazine corridor (15),
and in doorway (21) to the stairway corridor (22), closed to use the northern magazines, the southern
storeroom, and the stairway to the roof. The funerary service was still maintained, and the closing of
these rooms was perhaps due to the unsafe condition of the wooden roofs of the magazines. The seal
impressions found in room (22) range in date from the latter part of Dynasty V to the time of Tety, the
first king of the Dynasty VI. The blocking of the doorways was therefore made in or after the time of
Tety. Since the time of Shepseskaf, over one hundred and thirty years had passed, and the roofs may
have become insecure. But the long corridor (13) remained in use, so that its roof must either have been
still in a sound condition or have been repaired. Thus the possibility remains that the door-blocks in
question were inserted at a later date, perhaps in the latest period of the use of the temple.
On the great mass of masonry which separates the northern magazines from the northwestern quarter
of the open court, the foundations of two rooms, (38) and (39), were found, built partly of crude brick
and partly of rubble. It was quite impossible to fix the date of these walls. They might even have been
shelters erected by the Arab workmen who attempted to destroy the pyramid. On the other hand, the
stairway in (22) gave access, no doubt, to the roof, and similar stairways gave access to the roofs of the
temples of Dynasty V excavated by the Germans at Abu Sfr. The roofs of these temples were used for
some purpose - observation of the sun, moon, and stars, for the fixing of times and seasons, habitation
for temple servants, or storerooms. And the possibility must remain that rooms (38) and (39) belonged
to the Shepseskaf temple and were connected with the object for which access to the roof was provided.
( E ) THEDECAY
OF THE TEMPLE
The course of decay of the temple appears to have been as follows:
1. Beginning of decay of crude-brick walls in court; plundering of magazines; shattering of some statues;
collapse of inner temple of crude brick. Dynasties V and VI.
2. Reconstruction of the crude-brick part of the inner temple in limestone, and general clearance of temple
(dump-heap in rooms [9] and [10]); replastering of crude-brick walls. Dynasty VI.
3. Abandonment of temple soon after (within a century) the end of Dynasty VI; collapse of roofs of maga-
zines; decay of crude-brick casing walls and formation of a mud surface of decay in the court and the
entrance corridor; the exposure to rainfall would have been sufficient to form this surface within a cen-
tury after the abandonment of the temple, and would have tended to denude the surface; this is not
the surface of decay which we excavated, but an older surface.
4. Removal of the red granite casing and the pillars in the portico and the outer offering room; removal of
the black granite casing in the court and the entrance corridor; the blocks in place in the northern wall
of corridor (13) were found by burrowing under the intact wall, but not removed; those in the south wall
were not found; those in room (24) were found and partly removed; Dr. Hoelscher assigns this removal
of hard stone to the time of Ramses II.¹
5. Formation of second surface of decay (that excavated by us) in the court, in which process the holes broken
in the crude-brick casing walls during the removal of stone were filled up with mud débris.
6. Drift sand banked up in the space between the pyramid and the outer temple, north of the inner temple,
to the tops of the walls and drifted over the whole temple, filling all hollows and especially the great
court; depth of sand varied from about one meter in centre of court to three or four metres around the
walls; highest line of erosion formed.
7. Used as a cemetery in first to second century A.D.; room (27) cleared out (paved floor already removed?)
and made a communal burial place, entered by a stair descending from surface level of sand through
northern doorway of (26); isolated burials in court and in Mycerinus quarry.
8. A t indeterminable dates, stones were removed from the SE and NE corners of the great court, resulting
in the formation of second and third erosion lines as the sand drifted out in two or more separate
stages; the last removal may have been made by Arab treasure-seekers and stone cutters.
9. From the eleventh to the thirteenth century A.D. Arab quarrymen and treasure-seekers caused the greatest
damage to the temple : the treasure-seekers dug five great holes through the massive stone foundations :
(1) in the entrance doorway; (2) in the middle of the court, north of the pathway; (3) in the western
part of the court opposite the doorway (12) ; (4) in room (20) ; and (5) outside the northern wall of the
temple. The quarrymen appear to have been responsible for the destruction of the limestone walls in
the inner temple (west wall of [27],walls of [29a]to [29d]);the upper layer of mummies in room (27) were
thereby disturbed; the granite pavement in room (29) was partly removed, and a hole cut under the
pyramid in the axis of the room; the granite casing of the pyramid was attacked and the blocks cut up
for various purposes, one of which was the manufacture of circular milling stones; the white limestone
casing was entirely removed, partly before and partly after the granite casing.
10. After the thirteenth century A.D. the temple suffered from the natural decay caused by exposure to wind
and weather; aside from the disturbance made by Vyse, the deposits seemed to have been little altered
during the last two or three centuries.
See
¹ Hoelscher, Das Grabdenkmal des Königs Chephren, p. 67.
CHAPTER III
THE MYCERINUS VALLEY TEMPLE
1. DISCOVERY AND EXCAVATION OF THE MYCERINUS VALLEY TEMPLE
( A ) VALLEYTEMPLES
OF THE OLD KINGDOM
THEvalley temple of Mycerinus, unlike the pyramid temple, lay completely buried under sand (Pl. 24 a),
and had, no doubt, never been Seen after Dynasty VI. There is, therefore, no mention of it by any of
the early travellers. The excavations a t Abu Sfr of the German expedition led by Professor Borchardt
and Professor Schaefer, proved that the royal tombs of Dynasty V had portal temples on the edge of
the valley, connected by a causeway with the pyramid temple. A comparison of Dynasty V pyramids
with the pyramid of Chephren at Giza, led at once to the conclusion that the granite temple by the
Sphinx was the valley temple of Chephren. It became a practical certainty, therefore, that the Third
Pyramid must also have possessed a valley temple, to be looked for at the end of the causeway, still
visible, which led from the entrance of the pyramid temple down to the valley.
(B) SEARCHFOR THE VALLEYTEMPLE

MYCERINUS
The search for the Mycerinus valley temple began on June 1, 1908. Mr. Oric Bates was in immedi-
ate charge of the work. The causeway, constructed of huge limestone blocks, was similar in appearance
to the foundation platform of the pyramid temple, and in fact was structurally a continuation of that
platform. At the western end, adjacent to the entrance of the upper temple, remains of a mud-brick
corridor had been found on the causeway. The causeway itself could be followed for about half the
distance down (circa 250 meters) to the Arab cemetery in the valley. Here it had been cut across
by the course of a water channel, which still carries off the rain water from the plateau behind the Second
Pyramid; and the water had washed out all further traces of the causeway down to rock. Just beyond
this washout, the edge of a low rock cliff was visible, and beyond that all the valley was filled with sand
(Pl. 2 a). The surface of the sand appeared flat, but it really sloped gently toward the cultivation.
In order to determine the probable course of the causeway, a rod was set up in the middle of the
entrance of the pyramid temple, and another in the axis of the causeway near where it had been washed
away; sighting along these rods, others were planted in a line with them in the sand further east, and
a t a point nearly 100 meters from the washout, a trench about one meter wide, lettered A, was laid out
across the apparent axis of the causeway, and three other parallel trenches (B to D) at intervals of 20
meters.
On June 2, the men began work on these trenches, and very soon reached hard debris in A, B, and
C, in which the depth of sand varied from 10 to 50 cm. On the next day, it appeared that this hard
debris was the floor-packing which lay on the causeway under the mud-brick corridor which had now
disappeared. Traces of mud-brick walls were also found, which seemed to be remains of the corridor.
In C, we came on a hole dug by Arab treasure-hunters. It was lined on one side with rubble to keep
back the sand and descended along the southern edge of the causeway. This hole, on being cleared,
showed the massive blocks of the causeway, and it was obvious that the causeway followed the line
presupposed for it.
In the meantime, the men in trench D had gone down about 200 cm. through sand, and had come
upon the tops of two parallel mud-brick walls, which were evidently the walls of the causeway corridor.
It seemed from this that the temple could not be far distant. On June 4, a fifth trench (E) was laid
out, about 40 m. beyond D, also crossing the axis of the causeway. On June 6, in trench E, a mud
surface was uncovered at a depth of 350 cm., manifestly a weathered surface resulting from the decay
of a mud-brick building (Pl. 25 a). It was clear that we were either in the temple, or beyond it.
THE MYCERINUS VALLEY TEMPLE 35
Thus, by June 7, we had traced the causeway down to a well preserved mud-brick corridor leading
toward a mass showing a weathered mud surface. The space between trenches D and E was divided
into five working sections (including D and E), and all the men were set to work removing the sand.
On account of the level surface of the valley, the disposal of the debris caused great difficulty. However,
we put in two lines of railway, laid on a low embankment about 100 cm. high, and ran the debris out
well beyond the possible limit of the temple (Pl. 24 b ) . Here the debris was piled in a wide fan-shaped
dump rising slightly toward the south.
As the work proceeded, the causeway corridor of mud-brick was followed eastward until it was inter-
rupted by a north-to-south wall of rubble with a heavy batter on the west face, which was 608 m.
from the entrance to the pyramid temple. This was built against the main mass of mud (Pls. 28 a ; 29 a ) ,
which was level with the top of this wall, but fell away to the west with an irregular water-worn surface.
Traces of thick walls could be picked up, but not followed out. Along the rubble wall, where the surface
of the mud was within a meter of the modern surface, a number of holes had been dug, such as the
sebbakhin are wont to make in getting out sebakh (nitrogenous fertilizer). On the south of the excavation
as made at that date, a large hole was found descending through the mud. It was filled with sand, and
one side was lined with a rubble retaining wall after the manner of the Arab treasure-hunters. The
hole went down over 5 meters, passing through a heavy platform of large limestone blocks like that at
the pyramid temple; and the men there came upon water.
The causeway corridor, unlike the main body of the temple, was immediately cleared to the layer
of floor debris. The space between the walls was filled with sand, but near the rubble cross wall referred
to above, a mound of hard debris -mud, limestone chips, and gravel - lay over the tops of the walls.
We naturally expected to find an entrance to the temple at the end of the corridor, but having dug under
the rubble wall, we came upon a blank mud-brick wall (Pl. 29 a). Here it was seen that the corridor
turned to the right southward along the back wall of the temple, but the path was blocked by a mud-
brick wall, half a brick thick.
On July 7, a strip about 28 x 24 m. had been cleared of sand, including that in the penetrations;
and as the carry to the end of the railway was becoming every day more difficult, we decided to clear
the walls underlying the surface of decay before proceeding further.
(C) EXCAVATION
OF THE INNER
PARTOF THE JULY
TEMPLE, 7 TO 25, 1908
(PLAN
ONPLS.VIII, IX AND SECTIONS
ON PL.X.)
Up to this time, a number of small objects had been found on the surface or in the sand - small
fragments of slate, diorite, and alabaster vessels, and fragments of slate and alabaster statues, a small
model basin of copper, a few cylindrical blue-glazed beads, potsherds, some small model pots, a broken
bowl of red polished red-brown ware. All these appeared to be of the Old Kingdom. The sand lay in
hard fine layers with rainwashed surfaces. There was an occasional line of mud.
July 7. The work of cutting out the mud debris from the rooms was begun, and immediately a complex of
walls was revealed. These walls include the rooms afterwards numbered (1), (2), (3), (4), (5), (6), (7),
(8), etc. (see Pl. IX). In room (3), in the debris, nearly on the floor, we found on July 9, an unfinished
diorite statuette, No. 25 (08-7-1). In the SE corner of room (1), we found many fragments of a slate
statuette, one fragment bearing part of the name of Mycerinus.
July 10. On the floor of room (3), a small unfinished statuette of a king (Mycerinus), No. 34, in fine reddish
stone (08-7-2). In the debris, a crystal eye set in a copper socket (08-7-3), apparently from a decayed
wooden statue.
About 3.30 P.M., in room (4) along the eastern side, the heads were uncovered of a slate triad, No. 10
(Pl. 36 c), that of the nome of Diospolis parva (08-74). While clearing the mud from around this triad,
half an hour later, a second, No. 9, that of the nome of Hermopolis, the Hare-nome (08-7-5), was dis-
covered about 50 cm. south of the first. About half an hour later, two more, Nos. 11 and 12 (that of the
nome of Cynopolis -the Jackal nome; and that of the Theban nome (08-7-6 and 08-7-7), were found
in rapid succession on the other side of the narrow corridor just to the north. (Pls. 36 a ; 37 a, b). All
these were on the floor, but two were tilted slightly from the perpendicular, and all were askew. They
were embedded in decayed mud brick mixed withsand. The next day, the triads were completely
cleared, photographed in place, and removed to camp. See p. 109.
36 MYCERINUS
July 13. I n room (3), in mud debris, practically on floor, an unfinished diorite statuette, No. 26, of Mycerinus
(08-7-8). Against the west wall of room (1), the bases of two alabaster statues of Mycerinus, facing
east, Nos. 21 and 22 (08-7-9 and 08-7-10). In the southeastern corner of room (1), but practically on
the floor, two pieces (feet missing) of a fine red stone statuette of the king, No. 33 (08-7-11). The
southern part of this room was piled with fragments, broken from alabaster statues.
July 14. I n room (4),north end (Pl. 61 c), practically on floor, three unfinished royal statuettes, Nos. 31 and
37, and a private statuette, No. 43. Two of the royal statuettes were of diorite (08-7-12, 08-7-13) and
one of fine hard red stone with thin white streaks (08-7-14). The feet of a small limestone statuette of a
woman (08-7-15) and a small bit of gold foil were also found in the debris.of this room. In rooms (111-7)
and (111-16) the floor was covered with a mass of broken stone vessels. (See p. 178.)
July 15. In room (111-1), two more bases of alabaster statues of Mycerinus, Nos. 18 and 19 (Pl. 47 a), against
the west wall north of the door to (111-2), (08-7-16 and 08-7-17). Beside the southern base, an alabaster
head with a triple pleated headdress, No. 22 (08-7-18). At the southeastern corner of the northern
basis, another alabaster head (08-7-19), the head of No. 18 (08-7-17).
July 16. In room (III-1), in the middle, an alabaster torso (08-7-20) fits on No. 18. On the north, inside
the door, an alabaster head of a prince, No. 23 (08-7-21).
July 17. I n room (111-2), in debris, two parts of a nearly finished diorite statue, No. 38, feet missing (08-7-22)
and two pieces of a slate jackal, No. 45 (Pl. 64 a). In the western end of the room, the pieces of a built-
up offering table covered with a water-worn alabaster slab, and a crude limestone trough, which were
not far from their original position (Pl. 61 a, b). Beside them on the floor, two unfinished diorite
statuettes of Mycerinus, Nos. 29 and 27 (08-7-23 and 08-7-24); a third in two pieces, No. 32 (08-7-
25) ; and the basis of a fourth, No. 39 (08-7-26). I n the debris above, a rough flint wand (08-7-27).
July 18. I n room (16), in the southwestern corner, a sort of copper sheath containing the decayed end of a
beam (08-7-28).
July 19. I n room (8), a large deposit of broken stone vessels was uncovered on the floor. (See p. 178.) Also
five flint flakes (08-7-29). On the southern side of this room, about the middle, in debris resting on the
dividing wall, about 40 cm. above the floor, was a decayed shallow pan of copper upside down (Pl. 61 e, f).
On removing this, a deposit (08-7-30) was found of copper and stone vessels, together with a fine flint
wand inscribed with the names of Cheops, and a mass of yellow coloring matter. Underneath were traces
of decayed wood, and an oxidized red mineral not unlike iron rust; probably red oxide of copper (it was
not attracted by a magnet). These had evidently been in the pan which, with its contents, had been
thrown out of room (8) by plunderers and had fallen upside down. The objects included the wand, two
model basins of slate, one of haematite, and one of crystal, a model vase of alabaster and one of slate, a
model hes-vase of copper, two model shouldered jars of copper, and a stack of six model basins of copper
(08-7-31 to 08-744).
July 20-25. Clearing sand away in north part of temple. On July 25, 1908, the work was stopped, and owing
to my engagements in Nubia and in Palestine, was not resumed for sixteen months.
(D)EXCAVATION
OF THE REST OF THE DECEMBER
TEMPLE, 3, 1909 TO APRIL12, 1910
1909
December 3. The removal of the sand from strip 1, the part south of the previous excavation, was begun.
During this and the following seasons, I was assisted by Mr. C. S. Fisher. Under the sand we followed
the weathered mud surface as before.
December 15. Clearing southward, we reached the southern face of a wall running east and west, which ap-
peared to be the southern side of the temple; but the clearing was continued to a line four meters further
south, over a mud surface about a meter lower down and sloping away to the south.
December 17. Working westward, we began clearing the sand from above the western corridor (strip 2).
On December 20, the sand having been removed, the clearing of the corridor in continuation of the work
of 1908, was begun.
December 24. The removal of sand from strip 3, immediately east of strip 1, was begun, and continued until
finished on December 29.
December 25-28. The surface of decay of strip 1, the southern part of the sanctuary, had been swept and
photographed. The only thing recorded was a deposit containing several basketfuls of fragments from
slate and alabaster statues and one small model saucer rudely made of alabaster. This deposit was in
the surface of mud over room (III-19).
December 29. We began cutting out the debris from the western corridor, strip 2, and alongside the southern
face of the southern wall (strip 1).
December 30. At a point about 120 cm. north of the southwestern corner of the temple, and 105 cm. below
the top of the wall, in mud debris over the western corridor, we found the head and torso of a red granite
statuette, No. 44, of a private man (09-12-1). This was above the foot of the rubble wall (water wall),
in the top layer of mud formed by the decay of the mud-brick wall (Dynasty IV). In the same debris
was a small copper nail, and a few Old Kingdom potsherds.
December 31. It was seen that the western corridor turned to the east inside the southern wall, and under
the rubble wall with its backing of mud brick, but the entrance to the southern corridor was blocked
with mud brick (Pl. 29 b). Along the southern face of the temple, our trench had reached the foot of
the wall, which was founded on hard limestone debris.
1910
January 1-7. Clearing the sand from the northern wall (strip 4), sebakh holes were found, as in 1908, and in
two places the men, following the sand into penetrations, came on holes made by the Arab treasure-
hunters. In the easternmost of these, a fragment of an alabaster slab was found with the name
Min-nakhf (Pl. 46 g).
January 7. It was now clear from the excavations in strips 3 and 4 that a large open court lay in front of
the block of rooms called the sanctuary, and the removal of sand from the northwestern quarter of this
court was begun (strip 5; finished January 15).
January 8. The removal of the mud debris from the southern part of the sanctuary, strip 1, was begun. A
number of light mud-brick walls appeared, forming a series of rooms, which rested partly on the temple
walls and partly on the debris which filled the rooms of the temple (Pl. 28). There was a small space
(circa 20 cm.) between the inner face of the southern wall of the temple (Dynasty VI) and the back
wall of these rooms. At two places in this space there were mounds of alabaster fragments (on surface
of decay of First Temple) (Pl. 29 c ) .
January 11. In strip 1, many fragments of alabaster statues in mud on south. In room (I-11) (house), a
crystal eye set in bronze, a small red pot (type XXXII-3), and a flint flake. In room (I-4), the upper
half of an unfinished diorite statuette, No. 30, (10-14) of Mycerinus.
January 12. In room (I-4), level of foot of house walls, head and torso of diorite statuette of Mycerinus, No.
36 (10-1-5). Also lower part of female statuette of grey granite, No. 41 (10-1-6) and fragments of ala-
baster statuettes, stone vessels, and pottery of types XIX, XXV-4, XXXIII-1, XXXVI, and XXXVII.
These were above the decayed temple walls (of Dynasty IV). The houses on the south were cleared to
foot of walls.
January 13-14. Cleared away the house walls in strip 4, above room (111-12). Found fragments of ala-
baster, including lower part of face of statue, No. 24 a (Pl. 64 b ) .
January 14. Began taking out mud debris below houses in strip 1, southern part of inner temple, rooms
(III-19), (III-18), and south exterior corridor (111-21).
January 15. Finished taking sand from mud surface in NW quarter of court (strip 5). In strip 1revealed
the exterior corridor on south.
January 16. Under the house walls, in strip 1 on the wide temple walls of Dynasty IV, on south, fragments
of bases of alabaster statues with name of Mycerinus, one fragment with name of Chephren, one with
name of Shepseskaf (?), and fragment of the lion’s paw from a seated statue, No. 46 (10-1-9)
(Pl.
64 c).
January 18. Began moving mud debris from houses in NW quarter of court, strip 5. Fragments of statues
(including another lion’s paw in (I-19), No. 47 (10-1-14) (Pl. 64 f), stone vessels, potsherds, and flint
chips. In room (III-4), in hole dug by Arab treasure-hunters, a t a depth of about 100 cm. below the
floor of the room, exposed heads of a slate statue, king and queen, No. 17 (10-1-16) (Pl. 54).
January 19. In (111-4), cleared rest of thieves’ hole and exposed the whole of the slate pair (10-1-16). The
clearing of the mud debris from the NW quarter of the court continued. In this mud debris, about
four meters north of middle of court, another slate triad (Pl. 32 f) with the heads, feet, and left side
shattered, No. 13 (10-1-17).
January 20. Work continued in NW quarter; the bent left arm of a decayed wooden statue, No. 49 (10-1-18),
was found in the filling of (1-23) (Pl. 32 a). Began cutting through floors in rooms (II-1)and(II-2) and
in magazine, to trace foundation walls of first mud-brick temple (Pl. 30 c-e). Removed slate pair to
camp.
January 21. Gang tracing foundations in (111-3), found small unfinished diorite statuette, No. 28 (10- 1-20),
under the bulge of the west wall (Pl. 61 d). The wall had bulged owing to weight and moisture. This
was true of all the walls of the first mud-brick temple. Hence came the necessity of tracing the foun-
dations.
January 22-23. Work on NW quarter and tracing foundations of magazine walls; cutting away house walls
resting on temple walls in strip 1. Removing mud debris from (111-lo), found twelve fragments of stone
vessels and mass of pottery on floor, west end.
January 25. Work on south corridor, rooms (111-12) and (III-18), and following the Dynasty IV foundations
in(III-2). On removing mud debris from (III-12), found a mass of broken stone vessels on the floor
(Pl. 66 b, c). In (111-2), on breaking mud floor of (11-2), the second crude-brick temple (Dynasty VI),
found on floor of (111-2), two rough red pots (type R W III-1), fragments of a faience vase (No. 7), and
a copper point (drill?), No. 16.
January 27. Above the bottom course of the mud-brick wall (Pl. 30 f ) , blocking the doorway from (11-2)
to (III-4), body and legs of an ivory statuette of Mycerinus (name on belt), No. 48 (10-1-25) (Pl. 63 g-j).
January 28-31. Clearing walls in NW quarter, and sand from southern half of court; removed stone ves-
sels from (III-12).
38 MYCERINUS
February 1. Continued clearing walls in NW quarter of court (strip 5 ) , removing sand from southern half
of court, and clearing southern exterior corridor.
In NW quarter of court in rooms (1-26) and (1-28) under floors, fragments of W. S. R. painted jar
with name of Mycerinus, associated with fragments of statues, stone vessels, flint knives, and faience
inlays.
On floor of southern exterior corridor (III-21), two big basins (type XXX-1), traditional offering jar
(type IV-4), coarse “flower-pot” (type XXV-3), red-polished shoulder jar (type XVII-1).
Feb. 2-4. Continued as on February 1, and also working out the foundations of the first crude-brick temple,
for which purpose the northern wall of (11-2) was partly removed, and several fragments of alabaster
statues were found under the wall, showing that the damage to the statues had been partly done before
the construction of the second crude-brick temple. The later walls in (II-1) were also being removed
as far as necessary, and the floor of (III-1) exposed.
February 5-16. Clearing sand from southern part of court, an operation which proceeded continuously until
February 16, when it was finished. A t the same time, the trench along the southern face of the temple was
carried eastward, and the excavation of the southern exterior corridor proceeded at about the same rate.
The examination of the foundation lines of the first temple was completed on February 5 (PI. 26 b, 27).
The excavation of the upper series of houses was also completed on February 5 and the lower series
on February 16 (Pl. 31, 32). In the floor debris of the court were found many fragments of statues,
stone vessels, etc., from the temple magazines.
From February 8 onward the sand from the southern half of the court was thrown into the rooms in the
southern part of the inner temple. I decided that the crude-brick walls could be saved from rapid decay
only by covering again with sand.
February 17. The excavation along the south wall and in the exterior corridor reached the southeastern
corner of the temple 60 m. from the southwestern corner.
Began removing the debris of decay, mud, and sand, from the rooms of the southern half of the court.
February 18-23. Kemoved debris of decay from the rooms in southern half of court; walls better preserved
than on north (PI. 33); floors of room about 75 cm. above floor level of court. I n middle of court. a
copper hes-vase, 34 cm. high; in room (I-320), a mass of fragments of an alabaster statue (No. 24b); in
room (I-323), fragment of fine alabster stela ("the sm-priest, Ra-wer"), and many fragments of statues,
stone vessels, and pottery, including the arm of statue No. 18, found in the portico.
February 24-26. The removal of the floors of the rooms in the southern part of the court was begun and
finished to the floor level of the court. The pottery found under these floors was especially fine; other
objects as northwest quarter. In this part of the court there were only two series of rooms. While this
work, which required only a small number of skilled men, was proceeding, the removal of the sand from
the area east of the southern half of the court was begun.
February 26-March 11. While the final examination of the southern half of the court was carried out, and
the plans and photographs were made, all but half a dozen men were set to excavate the temple of Pyra-
mid 111-a, which was finished on March 9. On March 9 began the excavation of the temple of Pyramid
III-b, and on the days March 10 and 11, the work shifted back and forth from this temple to the valley
temple. because of the high wind which repeatedly stopped the work at the temple of III-b.
March 12-18. Resumed work a t the valley temple, pushing the removal of the sand eastward from the
southern half of the court, in which the sand was dumped. The excavation of the exterior southern
corridor proceeded behind the gang which was removing sand from the two parallel southern walls, as
this gang, having a much shallower deposit of sand to remove, worked faster than the gangs further
north.
March 18. We had now cleared a space half the width of the temple, reaching to 20 m. east of the eastern
face of the great court. The excavation had come so close to the Moslem cemetery that the people of
the village begged us to stop, and we were unable to refuse their request. The mud surface of decay
was high over the part between the court and the eastern face of the temple, and fell away toward the
east as far as the edge of our excavation. On March 18, we began cutting out the debris of decay.
March 19-25. Revealed the walls of the houses in front of the temple and the rooms of the southern part of
the vestibule and the hall of columns in the vestibule (Pl. 35).
On March 24, in the doorway leading from the vestibule hall of columns to the great court, on about
one meter of debris (PI. 34 d), found a decree stela of Pepy 11, badly weatherworn, which mentions
Mycerinus (Pl. 64 d, e).
March 26-28. Continued clearing hall of columns, and removed the sand from above northern vestibule
magazines, and from N E quarter of court.
March 28-April 1. Cleared the northern magazines of debris of decay. Continued removing sand from
NE quarter of court (PI. 34 e, f ) .
April 2-5. Cleared out debris of decay from NE quarter of court. Fragments of statues, stone vessels, and
pottery as in other parts of court, including diorite basis No. 42 and part of porphyry statuette No. 40.
April 5-7. Set workmen to finish clearing temple of Pyramid III-c.
April 8-12. Final clearing and examination of walls in NE quarter of great court.
2. DESCRIPTION OF THE MYCERINUS VALLEY TEMPLE

The Mycerinus valley temple presented three main building periods :
(a) The massive stone temple of Mycerinus.
(b) The first crude-brick temple, presumably of Shepseskaf.
(c) The second crude-brick temple, of Dynasty VI.
( A ) THEMASSIVESTONETEMPLE
OF MYCERINUS
The plan of the massive stone temple cannot be determined because of the incomplete state of the
building. Probably the plan was approximately that of the first crude-brick temple (Pl. IX). The
massive foundation platform and the walls as far as laid were exactly like those of the pyramid temple
built of enormous blocks of local limestone and from the same quarry (Pl. X). Indeed, the masonry,
as far as carried out, was in direct or indirect contact with the end of the causeway, as if the stones
had been brought down the causeway from the quarry above. The foundation platform, resting on
gravel alluvium, had been laid under most of the inner temple and under the northern part of the open
court. Although the platform was not complete, the walls had been begun. In the western wall, two
courses had been laid north of the causeway and one south of it, leaving a space in the middle through
which obviously the stones coming down the causeway were dragged. In the northern wall, two courses
were in place, as in the adjoining part of the west wall. The tops of the foundation stones under the
sanctuary were higher than those under the court, so that the difference in floor level between these two
parts, as found in the crude-brick temple, was part of the original plan.
The abandonment of this construction was certainly coincident with the cessation of work on the
massive pyramid temple, and was due to the same cause - the death of Mycerinus. The valley
temple, however, was not so advanced as the pyramid temple, and had probably been begun at a later
point of time.
( B ) THEFIRSTCRUDE-BRICK
TEMPLE,
BUILTBY SHEPSESKAF
When Mycerinus died, the unfinished pyramid temple, planned as a stone temple of grandiose pro-
portions, was finished in crude brick. But the unfinished stone temple in the valley was still in an early
stage of its construction, so that it was not a question here of casing the walls and adding a few parti-
tions. Practically the whole temple had to be built, and, just as a t the pyramid temple, the material
chosen was the cheap and practical crude brick, the favorite building material for all but the most ex-
pensive buildings. The incomplete walls of the stone temple hardly give a hint of the intended plan of
that building. Nevertheless a difference in level existed between the foundation platform in the western
part and that in the middle, and the higher western part of the platform was utilized for the sanctuary
of the crude-brick temple, while the lower part was taken by the great open court. Thus the extent
of the sanctuary with its magazines was already fixed by the foundation platform of the stone temple
and, in all probability, the plan of the first crude-brick temple was somewhat like that of the intended
stone temple. The plan of the first crude-brick temple differed little in its functional provisions from
the plan of the outer temple at the pyramid, but the absence of an inner temple, such as existed at
the pyramid temple, is to be especially noted. The first crude-brick valley temple is to be ascribed to
Shepseskaf, as was the first completed temple at the pyramid.
The foundation for the temple was prepared by filling in the space around the unfinished stone
platform with hard-packed gravel and covering the stone platform to a height of 15-50 cm. Thus a
gravel platform was produced, of about the same firmness as the desert strata on which the Egyptians
were wont to found their crude-brick walls.
The first crude-brick temple consisted of (Plan on Pl.
IX):
1. A vestibule with magazines (354-384).
2. An open court (“Court”).
3. A sanctuary (1, 2) with magazines (3-20).
4. An exterior corridor lending to the causeway corridor (21).
40 MYCERINUS
These were all parts of one continuous structure, built of the same kind of bricks with the same bond-
ing and plastering. The rooms within the walls had been filled with hard-packed debris to a height of
24-80 cm. above the foot of the walls, and this filling was covered with a floor of mud plaster. Or,
alternatively, the walls had been built in trenches cut in the gravel platform.
(1) T h e Vestibule of the Mycerinus Valley Temple, Pl. IX, 354-384, and Pl. 35.
The wide doorway in the eastern wall of the vestibule had been originally the main entrance to the
temple. On each side was a stone door-socket, showing that the doorways had been closed with a two-
leaved wooden door. Later, however, the main entrance had been blocked up with a wall of crude
brick and ceased to be used.
The vestibule structure contained a small anteroom, flanked on each side by four magazines open-
ing from a corridor. The anteroom (111-377) was nearly square, being 14.50 m. long (east-west) and
16.10 m. wide (north-south). The roof had been supported by four wooden columns resting on four
alabaster bases sunk in the mud floor; but only the bases with prints of the columns remained. The
walls were plastered with mud and whitened.
In the north wall, next to the west wall, a doorway opened to the northern magazine corridor (380),
and opposite, in the south wall, another doorway gave access to the southern magazine corridor, (354).
From each of these corridors, four doorways led eastward into four long east-to-west magazines. In
the northern magazine corridor, a stairway (Pl. VIII and Pl. 34 e) led upward, probably to the roof.
I n the southern end of the southern magazine corridor (354), a doorway led into the exterior southern
corridor (21).
In the middle of the west wall of the anteroom, opposite the entrance, another doorway led into
the open court. The stone-paved pathway which crossed the middle of the open court to the portico,
began in the middle of this doorway.
The doorway into the northern magazine corridor and the doorways of the northern magazines had
been blocked with crude brick. But the end doorways of the southern magazine-corridor and the door-
ways of the southern magazines had not been blocked. Thus a passage was left open from the exterior
corridor into the southern magazine corridor, from there into the anteroom, and thence into the open
court. This passage appears to have formed the only entrance to the temple after theentrance doorway
was closed with brickwork.
All the rooms and corridors of the vestibule and all the doorways had been roofed with wood. Re-
mains of logs were found on top of the walls of the northern magazines and of beams (?) over the door-
way into the exterior corridor. Over this doorway, the brickwork had been built upward to the top of
the wall. When the wood decayed, the mass of brickwork resting on it dropped down into the door-
way and was found by us lying on about 50 cm. of drift sand (cf. P1.29 b).
(2) T h e Great Open Court

The great open court was much like that at the pyramid temple, except that it was not paved with
stone. It measured 19.40 m. long (east-west) and 41 m. wide (north-south), and was crossed by a stone-
paved pathway 110 cm. wide, which began in the middle of the western doorway of the antechamber
and ended in a stone ramp leading up to the sanctuary. The faces of the walls on all sides of the court
were built in a series of offering niches, as at the pyramid temple-one compound niche and three
simple niches in alternation (Pls. 26, 31, and 33).
South of the middle of the pathway, a tank, hollowed out of a single rectangular block of limestone,
was sunk in the gravel filling of the court. From its northeastern corner, an inflowing drain, slanting to
the east-northeast, reached to the western door of the vestibule anteroom. This drain was a trench
hollowed in blocks of stone laid end to end and covered with slabs of stone. The joints between the
stones were caulked only with the plaster which lined the trench.
The middle part of the western side of the court was open and occupied by the front of a portico,
This feature was exactly the same as at the pyramid temple, but in each case I have not counted the
portico as part of the court,
(3) The Sanctuary, Pl.

IX, 1-2
The sanctuary of the Mycerinus valley temple consisted of a portico (1) and an offering room (2)
similar in plan to those of the outer part of the pyramid temple. The sanctuary and the magazines
together correspond to that part of the pyramid outer temple which lies west of the open court. But
note must be taken that these apartments terminate the valley temple. There was no inner temple.
The portico was of the same form as that of the Mycerinus pyramid temple, with the same rectangu-
lar antae, but all built of crude brick plastered and whitened. The roof and the columns must have
been of wood. The eastern side of the portico was formed by a crude-brick wall rising to the level of
the floor, and perhaps originally forming a low parapet. The floor of the portico had been packed hard
with gravel and plastered with mud. The original approach, no doubt a ramp like that found in place,
had been destroyed when the earliest alteration to the temple was made. Probably early in Dynasty V,
the portico was closed by a high screen-wall of crude brick, built in the court along its western side.
The entrance to the portico as found by us and its approach belonged to this screen-wall. The threshold
was a large slab of limestone, with grooves for the casing slabs of the door-jambs and with two door-
sockets for a double-leaved door, exactly like the threshold in the screen-wall at the pyramid temple.
The rise from the court to the threshold, about 50 cm., was made by means of a stone ramp with a low
parapet on each side. The sloping floor consisted of five slabs of limestone contained between side slabs
set with a slight batter and resting on the floor of the court. The edges of these side slabs rose about
5 cm. above the sloping floor, to form the low, round-topped parapets. The space between the side
slabs appeared to be filled with hard-packed debris on which the floor-slabs rested. This ramp, which
joined the end of the pathway through the court, was of different limestone (yellow), 195 cm. wide
between the parapets (85 cm. wider than the pathway), and 320 cm. long.
In Dynasty VI this portico had been entirely rebuilt on a different plan, but the late walls had been
founded on the earlier, or on debris. It was thus easy to follow the lines of the old walls under the later
ones, although it was necessary in places to cut away the later wall to make sure of the details (Pls. 26 b;
30 c-e). It is certain that the four alabaster statues of Mycerinus found in the later room, resting on
the later floor a few centimeters above the old floor, had been originally in the old portico.
In the middle of the west wall of the portico, a doorway led into the offering room. The foundation
wall was interrupted by a space which was bridged by two limestone slabs (Pl. 30 d), forming the thresh-
old of the doorway. The upper surfaces of these slabs were grooved on each side to receive casings of
stone or wood, and showed two door-sockets and a bolt hole, which indicated a double leaved wooden door.
It is to be noted that this threshold was not in the later doorway, leading to the later offering room.
The offering room was of the long east-to-west form usual in these rooms and already seen in the
outer offering room at the pyramid temple. The western end of the room had been washed out previous
to the building of the second crude-brick temple, and overbuilt by the later wall. Its examination was,
therefore, a matter of considerable difficulty, but we managed to expose the greater part of the founda-
tion wall, which crossed the end of the room in a straight line with no indication of niche or stela. It
is to be noted that we found in the later offering room, which nearly coincided with the earlier, parts of
an offering bench consisting of water-worn alabaster slabs, and beside this, four small unfinished statu-
ettes (Pl. 61 a, b ) . The offering bench, at any rate, was probably in a similar place in the old offering
room. On the floor of the old room, under the later floor, there were two offering pots of coarse red
pottery, potsherds, a few fragments of statuettes and stone vessels, some flint flakes, and fragments of
faience vessels.
North and south of the entrance, doorways in the north and south walls led to the magazine corri-
dors, (20) (Pl. 27 c) on the north, and (4)on the south. Each of these doorways had had a bridge
threshold of which a single limestone slab was preserved in each case, resting on the ends of the inter-
rupted foundation walls, similar to the doorway from the portico to this room. These slabs had no
door-sockets. In the other doorways, the sockets were in the second slab, which is the one missing in
the two doorways under discussion. Probably the second slab in both these doorways contained a
socket for a single-leaved door.
42 MYCERINUS
(4) The Northern Magazines

The northern magazine corridor (20) ran straight through the building to the north wall of the
temple (Pl. 27). Six doorways in its western wall led to six long, east-to-west magazines (6) to (11), of
which the northern three (9) to (11), were slightly shorter owing to a thickening of the west wall of the
temple. Five doorways in the eastern wall led to four similar magazines (12) to (15), and a shorter
magazine or room (16). The shortness of (16) was caused by the form of the portico; and for the same
reason no room could be constructed opposite magazine (6). Magazines (10), (13), and (14), certainly,
and possibly all the magazines, had been provided with a wooden loft like the magazines of the pyra-
mid temple and other temples. In these magazines we found pottery, stone vessels, flint implements,
sets of model vessels of stone and copper, flint wands, and other objects (Pl. 61 e, f ; 66 b, c; 71 f, g ) .
But all these objects had been disturbed, most of them broken, and many others were undoubtedly
missing. These northern magazines had been grievously plundered and were probably in a state of decay
when the second crude-brick temple was built; for the lines of the doorway of the later temple, leading
from room (2) to the northern magazine corridor (20), do not coincide with the lines of the first doorway,
and its floor is about 50 cm. higher up.
(5) The Southern Magazines - Statue Rooms

The southern magazine corridor (4) (Pl. 27) also ran straight across the structure; but, instead of
ending at the southern wall of the temple, it passed through a doorway in that wall into the exterior
corridor. This doorway had been roofed with wooden beams (?), traces of which were found on top of
the walls. At some later period, the southern end of the doorway where it entered the exterior corridor
had been blocked with a crude-brick wall one brick thick. When, therefore, the wooden logs decayed, the
brick-work above the blocking wall remained in place, but north of this it sank into the doorway, as in
the exit from the vestibule to the exterior corridor. The debris between the floor and the fallen brick-
work in the southern doorway of (4) was,, however, largely of decayed mud and only about 15 cm. deep.
In the western wall of the corridor there was originally only one doorway, near the southern exit, and
it led into a single narrow room (18), (17), (5), of the same length, east-to-west, as the corridor. (For
later alterations, see below.) I n the east wall, two doorways led each to a single rather wide room
(19) and (3). In the masonry of the portico there was no room corresponding to the small room (16) on
the north. In room (3) there were three rectangular depressions in the floor, which I take to have been
sockets for three statuettes. I n this room were found four unfinished statuettes (one on Pl. 61 d), but
they did not fit the sockets in the floor. In the northern end of corridor (4) (Pl. 61 c) there were found
three nearly finished royal statuettes and one private statuette. In the same corridor, farther south, the
four slate triads of Mycerinus were standing, two against the east wall facing south, and two against
the west wall facing north (Pl. 36). The slate pair was found in a thieves’ hole below the floor of (4)
(Pl. 30 a and 54) but came, I thought, from (17), (18), (5). Thus the greater part of all the statuary
which was not in the portico was in these southern storerooms, and this part includes the five practically
unbroken figures. The conclusion is suggested that, while the utensils were in the northern magazines,
the statues were stored in the southern rooms.
It is to be noted that in the original structure the doorways of this part of the temple were all closed
by wooden doors and could therefore be opened for passage from the offering room (III-2) into the
northern and southern magazine corridors, and from the southern magazine corridor into the exterior
southern corridor, which led to the causeway corridor and ultimately to the pyramid temple. Later
the doorway into the exterior corridor had been blocked, apparently to prevent access from the ex-
terior corridor to the magazines, that is, while the exterior corridor was still in use.
I n the second crude-brick structure, the northern and southern doorways of room (III-2) had been
filled up with brickwork, and it is possible that the corresponding doorways of the first temple may
also have been closed with brickwork late in the occupation of that temple; but on the stone thresholds
as we found them, there were 10-20 cm. of debris with no trace of brickwork.
The long western statue-room (111- 18, 17, and 5) had been twice repaired or altered. In the first
place, the small room (5) had been formed by opening a doorway in the west wall of corridor (4), near
the northern end, and by constructing a thick wall of crude brick across the end of the long western
statue room (Pl. 28 b; 29 f ) . The white plastering of the older room was preserved behind the ends of
this cross-wall, the southern wall of room (5). On the eastern side of room ( 5 ) , the wall beside the door-
way into corridor (4) had been cut back by one course, and room (5) had been replastered all round.
The opposite side of the inserted southern wall in room (17) was also plastered, so that clearly at this
time both rooms (5) and (17) were in use. At the same time, or later, another much thinner cross-wall
was inserted in the long room, dividing it into rooms (17) and (18), and this wall contained a wide door-
way giving access to (17) from (18). Within this wide doorway, a second very narrow one, with a crude-
brick threshold, had been built of poorer brickwork. These alterations, made on the old floor level and
involving room (5), (17), and (18), all provide entrances to the new rooms and are inexplicable except
by the assumption that they were carried out while the rooms were still in use for some of the original
purposes of the building. The division between rooms (17) and (18) might have been made at the same
time as the construction of room (5), but the masonry is different. The second doorway in the thin
wall between (17) and (18) is certainly later than the other alterations.
(6) The Exterior Corridor

The exterior corridor is thus named because it passed along the southern face of the temple to the
southwestern corner, where it turned north along the western face, until it debouched into the cause-
way corridor. The exterior wall of the temple was 300-335 cm. thick. To form the corridor, a thinner
wall, 165 cm. thick, was built at a distance of 155-160 cm. from the face of the temple, and running
parallel to it. There were two doorways into the temple, one giving entrance into the southern vesti-
bule corridor (354), which became the only entrance after the blocking of the main entrance in front,
and the other giving exit from the sanctuary corridor (4). Thus a clear passage was provided from the
corridor through the vestibule, the open court, and the portico, to the offeringroom, the magazines, and
statue rooms, and finally out through corridor (4) into the exterior corridor again and on to the pyramid
temple. But it was also possible to proceed directly to the pyramid temple, or to come down directly
from it through the causeway corridor and the exterior corridor without visiting the valley temple. The
section of the exterior corridor along the southern wall of the valley temple was marked off as a part of
the valley temple, however, by two doorways both of which had been closed by wooden doors. One of
these was at the southwestern corner of the temple (Pl. 29 b) and had a stone threshold and wooden roof,
while the other, without a threshold, was at the southeastern corner. By the brickwork over the roofs of
these doorways, the southern wall of the corridor appeared to be joined with the brickwork of the temple
wall. East of the eastern face of the vestibule, the corridor appeared to be continued eastward, but
we found a joint in line with the face of the vestibule in both the northern and the southern walls of the
corridor, making it clear that the extension of the corridor eastward was a later addition to the temple
and to the old exterior corridor. We followed the extension about nine meters to the east of the face
of the vestibule, but could go no further without encroaching on the modern Moslem cemetery. At
420 cm. from the face of the vestibule, a doorway, 155 cm. wide, led into the area in front of the temple,
occupied by house walls of crude brick. This doorway had been closed by a thin blocking wall, also of
crude brick, a t some later period, but before the abandonment of the exterior corridor.
As before stated, the causeway corridor was structurally and functionally a continuation of the ex-
terior corridor, and ended at the front entrance of the pyramid temple, near which there was an exit
on each side, north and south. At a point 540 cm. west of the western face of the valley temple, a stone
drain crossed the causeway corridor a t a slight slant, draining from north to south. This was a stone
slab about 35 x 35 cm. in section, with a channel, 15 cm. wide and 20 cm. deep, sunk in the mud floor
of the corridor. At each end a hole led through the bottom of the side wall of the corridor to the out-
side. The drain had probably been covered with a stone slab. Its purpose was undoubtedly to take
water collected in the angle between the corridor and the temple on the north and discharge it out to
the sloping ground on the south. It will be remembered that the causeway crossed a waterchannel
44 MYCERINUS
higher up, and has now been completely washed away by the rain-water which came down the channel
from the plateau west of the Second Pyramid. While the causeway and the corridor still stood, this
water must have passed down the northern side of the corridor and the temple to the cultivated land in
the valley. Any obstruction north of the temple would dam the water up in this angle between the
temple and the causeway corridor.
It is further to be noted that the exterior corridor had been closed by a thin wall of crude brick, one
brick thick, where it entered the causeway corridor. The purpose of this wall is difficult to perceive.
The corridor on one side of the block must have been abandoned, while on the other, it was still in use.
The block belongs therefore to a time when the complete decay of the valley temple was approaching.
(7) The Decay of the First Crude-Brick Temple

The permanency of a crude-brick building is affected by:
(a) The soundness of its wooden parts.
(b) The rainfall.
(c) The rapidity of the accumulation of sand or debris.
(d) The local topography which affects the course of the drainage water and of the drift sand.
The most decisive factor for the preservation of a building in the Giza pyramid field is its local topogra-
phy, including, it must be noted, the situation of surrounding buildings. For example, the preserva-
tion of the mastaba tombs in the great cemetery west of the First Pyramid and north of the Second
Pyramid was due, firstly, to the massive stone wall on the southern edge of that area and to the enclos-
ing wall of the First Pyramid on the east, which together held up all the drift sand brought in by the north,
northwest, and west winds, which are the prevailing winds, and, secondly, to the slope of the limestone
substratum which allowed the rain-water to drain off to the north. The Mycerinus valley temple was
in a fatal situation, standing free on a low gravel bank on the edge of the desert, at the northern side
of the mouth of a wide wady and deflecting with its causeway the branch channel which drains the lime-
stone plateau west of the Second Pyramid. As long as the causeway and its corridor stood, all the rain
water discharged by the branch channel flowed down the northern side of the causeway to the back of
the valley temple. There its only outlet, aside from an inadequate drain under the causeway corridor,
was around the northern face of the temple. Any deposit of sand or debris north of the temple was
bound to increase the accumulation of water in the angle between the causeway and the temple, while
the flow of water around the temple hastened the decay of the exterior wall and the deposit of mud
debris. Other factors, now undiscoverable, may have affected the deposit of sand, for example, a
mere eddy of wind in the angle in question may have led to the formation of a bank of drift sand, the
snake-form drift so common in the desert, at the northwestern corner of the temple. The effect of the
water discharged by the branch channel is well shown by the device adopted in the second crude-brick
temple to protect the building; for a rubble embankment over a meter high was built along the bottom
of the western and northern walls of that temple, to protect them against erosion by water. Further-
more, the surface of decay of the whole temple showed the channels and lines made by water washing
down over the middle of the western wall.
It will be remembered that in paragraph 2 A , above, the statement was made that a gap had been
left in the massive western wall of the original stone temple, apparently to permit the passage of the
limestone blocks coming down the causeway from above. When the western wall of the first crude-
brick temple was built, the stone blocks already in place were enclosed in the brickwork and formed a
support to it; but the gap in the stone wall was filled with unsupported crude brick. This gap extended
from a point south of the causeway to the southern wall of magazine (III-6). As the brickwork in the
gap south of room (III-2) was protected by the causeway, the western end of (111-2) was the only part
actually exposed to the action of the water which collected in the angle between the causeway and the
northern part of the temple. The examination of the first crude-brick structure showed that the west-
ern end of room (III-2) had been washed away and with it the inside faces of the northern and southern
walls of that room. The doorway into the portico and the doorway in the screen-wall had also been
washed away at this time. It was clear that the brickwork in the west end of (III-2) had become water-
soaked and soft, and being unsupported by the old stone masonry, had given way suddenly under the
pressure of the accumulated rain-water. The northern and southern magazines and storerooms were
unaffected by the rush of water. In the middle of the open court, the water must have spread in a
pool, soaking the brickwork of the rooms standing there at that time, and bringing them down, but not
affecting the walls near the southern and northern sides of the court. Probably the water finally drained
away through the gravel foundations of the court, or evaporated.
The level of the surface of decay of the first temple over the western and the northern walls proves
that a meter or so of sand and water-borne debris had accumulated against these walls at the time
when the sanctuary was destroyed by the inrush of water. When the break occurred, the western end
of room (2) was scoured out considerably below the previous accumulation of debris on the outside,
but the foundations were left intact.
The gully through the sanctuary carried off the accumulation of water behind the temple, thus re-
lieving the pressure on the western wall and preventing the utter destruction of the magazines and
storerooms. At this time, or at any rate before the restoration of the temple, the accumulation of sand
and debris on the western, northern, and southern sides of the temple had reached such a height that the
causeway corridor and the exterior corridor were buried to just above their roofs. But the walls of the
temple could still be traced in the sand, higher on the northern side, especially in the northwestern
quarter, and lower on the southern side, especially in the southeastern quarter.
Before the second temple was built, the roofing beams in the doorways of the first temple had de-
cayed, and the superimposed brickwork had sunk down into these doorways. The roof of the exterior
corridor, and probably that of the causeway corridor, at least in the lower half of its course, had col-
lapsed, and the corridors had become filled with drift sand. The roofs of the magazines and storerooms
had also fallen, and these rooms had become partly filled with debris. The temple appears to have
lain in complete ruin. A surface of decay was formed, and it may well be doubted whether even a
pretence was made of maintaining the temple service.
Thousands of fragments of statues, stone vessels, pottery, and other objects were found scattered
over the temple site in all deposits, but especially in the floor debris of the court. A few of the pottery
vessels may perhaps be ascribed to the second temple or the later houses, but the majority were of
Dynasty IV. The masses of utensils found in the northern magazines, and the statues found in the
southern magazines and in the portico, by their inscriptions and by comparison with the objects found
at the pyramid temple, were proved to be of the time of Mycerinus or Shepseskaf. The condition of
these rooms showed that practically all the objects in the magazines and storerooms were in the rooms
in which they had been originally placed by Shepseskaf. The statues in the portico appeared merely
to have been raised about 20 cm., and placed on the later floor. They all bore the name of Mycerinus
and were undoubtedly the work of his reign.
Nevertheless, hardly a single object was entirely undisturbed. The pottery in room (10) lay utterly
smashed on the floor. The stone vessels in rooms (7), (8),(9), (12), (13), and (16) were also broken,
but many of these vessels were complete and all had been broken in the rooms where originally deposited.
But some pieces were found on the floor of the magazine corridor (20), and fragments fitting on several
of the stone vessels were found in the lower deposit of debris in the court. Thus it is clear that a con-
siderable plundering of the magazines had taken place previous to the construction of the second tem-
ple and indeed before the building of the second series of house walls in the court. Fragments of statues,
a fine copper jar, and other objects were found in the water-borne debris in the middle of the court. It
was also evident that the destruction of the statues had already begun in the period of the first plunder-
ing of the magazines. On the surface of decay of the first temple, and in particular on the southern wall
of the temple, house walls had been built, and under these were numerous deposits of alabaster and slate
chips made by the breaking up of the statues and statuettes. Among these deposits were a few unfin-
ished model vessels of the forms so common in the mastabas of Dynasties V and VI, and made of the
same stones as the fragments of statuary, occasionally even presenting parts of the polished surfaces of
statues. This proves that model vessels were actually manufactured in the temple. As will be shown
later, the plundering of the temple for hard stone did not cease when the second temple was built. But
46 MYCERINUS
it may be assumed that whatever else of value there was in the magazines and storerooms had been re-
moved very early in the plundering of the temple, perhaps during the early years of maintenance of the
services.
( C ) DESCRIPTIONOF THE SECOND CRUDE-BRICK TEMPLE, PLS.VIIIANDX
On the surface of decay of the first crude-brick temple, before it became covered with sand, a second
temple of crude brick was built, the parts of which coincided approximately with corresponding parts
of the older temple. A new portal or vestibule was built over the middle part of the old; a new sanctu-
ary, including closed portico and offering room, was built over the old sanctuary; at least two rooms
were added, one on each side of the offering room; and, finally, an outer wall was built enclosing the
whole. The older open court continued to serve the same purpose in the new temple, but the floor was
now nearly a meter higher and was merely the surface of decay produced by the inrush of water through
room (2).
(I) The Outer Wall of the Second Temple
The outer wall of the second temple was 220 cm. wide, considerably less than the outer walls of the
old temple. On the north and west, this wall rested on the middle of the older wall and had been pro-
tected at the foot by a sloping rubble embankment, about 100-200 cm. high. The southern end of the
west wall and its embankment crossed over the top of the doorway from the southern to the western
exterior corridor; and the southern wall of this second temple was built over the southern wall of the
southern exterior corridor. No trace was found of an eastern wall closing the front of the structure; so
that this great wall on three sides of the second temple was probably, in fact, the enclosing wall of the
pyramid city and followed the older walls of the city in front of the first temple to its eastern limits,
where this later enclosure was then bounded by an eastern wall, running north and south. The east-
ern end of the northern wall was washed away near the northeastern corner of the temple; and the
eastern end of the southern wall, continuing beyond the eastern face of the vestibule, gradually disap-
peared, having been weathered away. The walls of the offering room (2) were bonded with the west-
ern wall, so that clearly this great enclosing wall had been built at the same time as the second temple
and was structurally a part of it. It is to be noted that the southern wall bounding the exterior corridor
must have been visible when the second temple was built, and was perhaps mistaken by the builders for
the southern wall of the first temple.
(2) The Sanctuary
The sanctuary consisted of two rooms, as in the first temple -- a narrow, long (east-west) offering
room and a wide (north-south) portico or anteroom-and these were approximately over the old
rooms. But they did not exactly coincide with them in size or plan, and the floors were 20-30 cm.
higher. It will be kept in mind that these two rooms had suffered most from the inrush of rain water,
and were most in need of restoration.
In the first temple, the axis of the offeringroom had practically coincided with that of the temple;
but in the second temple, in which the widening had caused the axis of the temple to shift about 140 cm.
to the south, the manifest desire to bring the new offeringroom over the old resulted in setting the axis
of the new room about 90 cm. north of the axis of the new temple. Yet it was still about 25 cm. south
of the old axis. The new room was about 60 cm. less than the old in width. The southern wall rested
on the older southern wall with its interior face about 10-15 cm. south of the old face. The interior
face of the new northern wall, however, was about 70 cm. south of the old face, and the northern wall
on the inside was founded in a trench cut in the old floor, while outside, on the north, it rested on the
old wall, which had been partly cut down to take it. On the west, the new wall was built on the older
denuded wall, and its interior face was about 25 cm. west of the face of the older foundation wall. On
the east, the interior face coincided with the old face, but the doorway was of different form and shifted
slightly southward. On each side of the eastern end of the room, a doorway opened into the adjoining
magazine, as in the old room, but was adjusted to the positions of the new walls.
In this second temple, the portico was replaced by an anteroom, a simple rectangular room, not
of the compound recess form, with a doorway in the east and the west sides and with a single north-
to-south row of four columns to support the roof. The east wall was built over the eastern boundary
wall of the old portico, inside the screen-wall of the older temple, and its doorway was thus entirely
west of the older doorway. The interior west face of the portico was set 50 cm. west of the older face.
On the north and the south, the walls of the portico were built partly over the remains of the old walls
and partly over the debris in the old portico, but the axis of the room remained unchanged, although
the axis of the new offering room was shifted to the south. The four columns had been wooden logs,
and had rested on circular limestone bases in a north-to-south line down the middle of the room.
The doorways of these new rooms had only mud floors, not stone thresholds. In the eastern door-
way of the anteroom, we found a stone door-socket set in mud, and it is probable that all these door-
ways had been closed with wooden doors, whose posts rested in similar detached stone sockets.
The floor of the anteroom was on a level with the hard trodden surface of the mud debris in the court,
which at this time covered the old stone ramp and hid it from view. On this trodden surface, just out-
side the doorway, were two more circular bases of stone. These imply a porch in front of the doorway.
In the offering room, on the second mud floor, a t the western end, stood an altar consisting of an
alabaster slab set on two upright stones, with a libation basin of limestone beside it. Beside this altar,
on the south, four unfinished statuettes lay in confusion on the floor. The alabaster slab was water-
worn and had fallen or been knocked over to the north. It appeared as if an altar-bench had stood
originally in this place, and had been accidentally disturbed only after the abandonment of the temple.
But the statuettes had perhaps been cast down from room (5) by treasure-seekers.
Near the western wall of the anteroom were four seated alabaster statues, inscribed with the name
of Mycerinus. These stood just in front of the line of the west wall of the old portico and opposite the
space between the first and second columns on the south, the third and fourth on the north. These
positions did not correspond to the openings between the columns and the antae of the old portico, and
it is probable that the statues, having stood in the old portico, had been shifted slightly to one side and
raised to rest on the new mud floor.
(3) The Magazines
North and south of the offering room, the walls of the first temple were preserved to a good height.
On the south, in line with the exterior southern face of the anteroom, an east-to-west wall 80 cm. thick
had been built between the southwestern corner of the anteroom and the back wall of the second temple,
enclosing a long room shaped like a magazine. But this wall was unplastered on either face. No cor-
responding wall was found on the north. Nevertheless a doorway gave access from the offering room
to this space on the south, and another northward to the ruined northern magazines. The question
naturally arises as to the purpose of these two doorways. Both had been walled up at an apparently
early date, for the sides of the doorways were hardly worn, and thereafter there was no exit from the
offering room. It is also to be noted that we found no opening through the western wall by which one
might have passed upward toward the pyramid temple. The statues in the anteroom prove that the
temple was still devoted to the funerary services of Mycerinus; and, if the same priests and servants
were attached to both the valley temple and the pyramid temple, the procession from the valley temple
to the pyramid temple must have gone back from the offering room to the front of the temple and around
by some path not discovered by us. The exterior corridor and the causeway corridor were certainly not
in a condition to be used. Alternatively, it is possible that the pyramid service was abandoned at this
time, or was conducted by a different set of men from those attached to the valley temple.
The possibility suggests itself that the unexplained wall south of the offering room was intended for
t h e side wall of a stairway leading to the roof, or even over the west wall toward the pyramid temple.
But we found nothing to support this suggestion.
(4) The Open Court
The old floor of the open court, as stated, was buried in about one meter of mud debris. Neither
pathway nor basin was any longer visible. And those who crossed from the portal must have walked
upon the surface of decay formed by the debris deposited in the court. North and south, the court was
filled with little mud huts and granaries.
48 MYCERINUS
(5) The Portal Structure or Vestibule

Over the middle part of the old vestibule we found the remains of a portal structure nearly square
in form, of which the southern part alone could be fully traced. On both the east and the west, the
southern side of a doorway was preserved, which was just outside and in line with the corresponding
doorway of the old vestibule. The west wall descended nearly to the floor of the old court and was not
plastered on the outside. The south wall crossed the northernmost of the southern magazines over
denuded walls and debris. The east wall was founded on a low level like the western wall, and, like it,
also showed the southern face of a doorway. Along the southern side of the anteroom, an east-to-west
wall, unplastered like all the others, was founded on the floor of the anteroom and built against the older
wall. These walls were all of the same size and quite clearly distinguishable. Although founded deep,
they were built over the older walls, even over house walls, and were undoubtedly not earlier than the
other walls which I ascribe to the second temple. Over the northern wall of the anteroom there were
traces of another wall, and on the west, north of the doorway into the court, remains of the northern
half of the west wall of the second portal. There can be no doubt that this portal building offered a
passage through to the court, in the axis of the old passage, but with a higher floor-level.
(6) General Decay of the Second Temple

The second crude-brick temple was built on the ruins of the first temple (Pl. X, sections), and as,
owing to the erosion on the one hand and the deposition of sand and debris on the other, the surface of
decay presented by the old ruins was very uneven, the second temple was not founded on a level plane.
The exterior walls built on the older walls were founded on a level with the sand and debris accumulated
on the outside of the ruins at the time. The walls of the offering room and the wide room (portico) were
fitted into the gully made by the water rushing through the old west wall, and here the surface of decay
had been partially cut away to obtain a level floor inside the rooms. The portal was built over the
ruins of the old vestibule. The court, having been left a hollow by the decay of the first temple, re-
mained lower than the rest of the old temple, was re-used as it stood, and was encumbered with houses.
Thus the second temple, observed from the west, rose above the surface of its day and formed a
sort of hollow filled with houses. The water, still deflected by the middle stretch of the causeway, con-
tinued to flow down the northern side of the main wady and to run off along the western and the north-
ern sides of the temple, so that these two sides had to be protected by a rubble embankment against
erosion. The surface of sand and debris on the west sloped evenly t o the south, so that no pool collected
against the western face, nor was there any trace of water breaking through the western wall. On the
contrary, the temple seems to have fallen gradually to decay. The collection of sand and debris con-
tinued on the north, west, and south, and the decay of the crude-brick walls above went on until the
surface rain-water ran over the west wall. This drainage water running over the ruins produced a sur-
face of decay (Pl. 25 a ) sloping toward the east-southeast, with little channels worn by the water. And
the water filling the court appears to have run over the southern part of the vestibule. This was the
surface of decay which we saw section by section in 1908 and 1910, carefully noting its slope and its water
channels. The sand over the west wall, the highest preserved part of the second temple, was only about
20-50 cm. deep, but over the lower southeastern part several meters deep. This accumulation was due
without doubt to some artificial obstruction in the mouth of the valley. In the northern wall of the
vestibule anteroom (377), a square burial shaft, not much later than the Old Kingdom, descends to
the subsoil, and the surface of that time was less than a meter lower than the present surface. In the
Moslem period, probably about the twelfth century A.D., treasure-seekers dug the great rubble-lined
hole in rooms (18) and (4),in which we found the slate pair. Smaller holes in the vestibule, and in the
north wall of the court, were apparently of about the same date. In much more recent times the local
inhabitants, extracting the decayed mud brick of the walls for use as fertilizing material (sebakh), had
dug a number of holes in the western and northern walls which were easily accessible from the modern
surface. But all these holes had become covered with drift sand before we began work, so that the
valley presented a level surface of sand sloping very gently to the east-southeast (Pl. 24 a).
(7) Plundering of the Second Crude-Brick Temple

The chief objects of the second crude-brick temple had been merely taken over from the first temple.
The statues which we found in the southern storerooms and the objects in the northern magazines
were approximately in their original places. The large statues in the wide room (1) were only slightly
shifted from the positions they had occupied in the old portico. The altar and basin in the offering
room may also have been in the old offering room, but they had been reset and may have been entirely
new. The statuettes beside them were certainly from the old temple and may have been only acci-
dentally deposited in this room. If new pottery was provided, analogy with the Giza cemetery shows
that it would have been of the traditional types, IV and XXV, and the model types, XLIII and XLIV,
with perhaps a bowl-stand and a few bowls.
Thus apparently the second temple contained nothing to attract plunderers except the hard stone
statues and vessels which had been in the first temple. But it is clear that the destruction of these
objects in order to procure hard stone for model vessels, was resumed, if it was interrupted, as soon,
at any rate, as the second temple fell into disuse. The position in which the shattered triad was found
in the court showed that it was being broken up after the abandonment of the second temple. It had
probably been taken out of corridor (4), where the other triads were found. The four statues in room
(1)were also broken up in this period, before the formation of the surface of decay of the second temple.
But the distribution of the fragments of statues through the various deposits of debris proved that the
greater part of the damage had already been done before the building of the second temple.
( D ) DESCRIPTION
OF THE INTRUSIVE
STRUCTURES
IN THE VALLEYTEMPLE
MYCERINUS
(1) The Pyramid City of Mycerinus
With the exception of the two rooms of the sanctuary and the very middle of the court, the whole
of the Mycerinus valley temple within the walls of the later crude-brick temple was filled with small
structures, rooms, and granaries of crude brick (Pl. VIII). The general appearance was that of a poor
modern village (Pl. 31). This village extended also eastward beyond the face of the temple into the
area delimited on the south by the continuation of the exterior corridor and probably by a similar wall
on the north. The decree of Pepy II found in the vestibule room (377), badly preserved as it is, is
similar in content to the stela of Pepy I found at Dashûr in the pyramid city of Sneferuw,¹and the con-
clusion seems unavoidable that this village is the pyramid city of Mycerinus, or, at least, a part of it.
The Sneferuw pyramid city was a rectangle about 65 x 100 m. in size, with the long axis running
east and west; but it is yet unknown whether the valley temple of Sneferuw stood in this rectangle or
adjoined it on the west. Assuming an approximate analogy between the Sneferuw pyramid city and the
Mycerinus pyramid city, the latter, being 51 m. wide, would have measured about 78 or 79 m. in length.
The first Mycerinus valley temple appears to be a unit bounding the western side of the city, but the sec-
ond seems to be included in the city rectangle. We followed the southern wall of the temple and the rec-
tangle for a distance of about 70 m. before being forced to stop by the Moslem cemetery. If the rectangle
included the temple, then the point where we stopped was only about 10 m. from the eastern end of the
rectangle; but if the rectangle really adjoined the temple, then this point was about 70 m. from the
eastern side. It seems more probable, from the relations between the earlier temple and the city, that
the city was added to the temple and should be reckoned as extending about 78 or 79 m. eastward from
the face of the temple. In either case the houses built in the court and later over the ruins of the older
temple were an encroachment of the town on the temple. The reason for this encroachment is easily
understood. The area of these pyramid cities was fixed by definite massive walls, so that they resembled
fortified villages. By decree, the inhabitants, who were the priests of the pyramid temples and the
trustees of the pyramid endowments, were granted certain privileges, exemption from taxes and from
the exactions of administrative officials, probably as an additional inducement to maintain the offer-
ings and services in the temple. These privileges made the pyramid cities very desirable for residence,
¹Borchardt,Ä.Z.,Vol.XLIII,p.1.
50 MYCERINUS
and certainly everyone living in the neighborhood of such a city who could scrape up any pretext to an
inherited right sought to gain a house in the city. Thus there would be always a tendency to over-
crowding. One can well imagine the manner in which the chief officials would use such a situation, and
the comfortable perquisites which they derived from the sale of sites, accompanied perhaps by appoint-
ment to some nominal post in the priesthood of the pyramid temple. The Pepy decree may have been
merely a renewal of some older decree; but it is certain that as long as the authority of that dynasty
lasted, the pyramid city of Mycerinus was fully populated.
It is equally clear that it was to the interest of the inhabitants of this pyramid city to maintain a t
least some semblance of the funerary service as a justification for the continuance of their privileges.
I n this fact I see the reason for the limited character of the restoration of the temple; for the second
temple consisted merely of the sanctuary and the enclosing walls, which were really the walls of the city.
From these circumstances it is also evident that the pyramid city of Mycerinus could not have enjoyed
its privileged position very long after the end of Dynasty VI. Once the privileges ceased to exist, all
incentive to live in the city or to maintain the temples was destroyed, so that the site was abandoned
and fell rapidly into decay. Situated as it was, the ruined temple and city were soon covered with sand
and their existence forgotten.
(2) The Different Periods of the Houses

In a village of mud houses which have repeatedly fallen into decay and been rebuilt during a period
of several centuries, the tracing of any one period horizontally through the site is practically impossible.
The nature of the difficulties is well shown by the state of almost any of the older modern Egyptian
villages or of the Bulaq quarter of Cairo. The houses of one generation are not simultaneously destroyed
and replaced by a new series built on their ruins; but one by one, at irregular intervals of time, the houses
fall or are discarded, to be rebuilt sometimes after a lapse of many years. When a new house is built,
it is founded on the surface of decay, or on the foundations of an older house, or in a deep excavation.
The mound formed by the decay of the village grows upward by the deposit of dirt in the streets and
by the accumulation of debris of decay from the ruined walls. When such a village is excavated, only
the foundations of walls are found buried in the mound, except when the town has been overwhelmed
by some catastrophe or covered by some great levelling operation preparatory to the construction of an
important building. When a village is abandoned, the last series of mud buildings melts away slowly
or rapidly, according to the situation and the weather, until only the bases of the walls lie beneath a
weather-worn surface of decay. In the pyramid city of Mycerinus, the mud walls were protected by the
high outer walls of the two temples, but exposed like the temple walls to the rain-water of the branch
channel and to the action of the sand and debris borne by wind and water.
Remembering the conditions, the difficulties encountered in unravelling the series of houses in the
Mycerinus valley temple become comprehensible. The complete reconstruction of any one period was
simply unattainable. The town as it stood when abandoned, which would naturally have presented
the only opportunity of complete recovery, had been greatly damaged by the rain-water, and the south-
ern part, more exposed than the northern, had apparently entirely disappeared. The following facts,
however, serve to outline the growth of the city within the temple:
1. As long as the first temple stood, the city would encroach only on the open court, and the earliest structures
are to be sought there.
2. The houses on the walls of the first temple must have been built after the greater part of the temple had
fallen into decay, probably after the construction of the second temple. None of these houses encroached
on the sanctuary proper (the portico and the offering room).
3. There are no buildings on the surface of decay of the second temple; that is, the last houses and the second
temple fell into decay simultaneously.
4. In the northwestern quarter of the court, there are three distinct series of walls visible:
(a) On the floor of the court, embedded in the floor debris of the court, which was a deposit of decayed
mud and sand about 20 to 70 cm. deep.
(b) On the floor debris of the court.
(c) Partly over the walls of the first temple and partly over the court, about one meter above the floors
of the series (b).
( a ) The Walls on the Floor of the Court. - The floor of the court was covered with a layer of debris
of decay, mostly mud, with some sand and other material, which varied in depth from about 20 cm.
over the stone pavement to about 40 to 70 cm. along the northern and southern sides. In this floor
debris, especially in the upper part, a considerable number of fragments of stone vessels and of shattered
statues (Pl. 34 c) were found, some of which fitted on fragments of stone vessels found in the magazines
of the first temple, and had clearly been scattered by the plunderers of the magazines. Thus all walls
founded on this debris (Pls. 32 b, d, e; 34 f) had been built after the very serious first plundering of the
older temple; but the walls in the debris belong to the time when the funerary service was maintained
in the first temple.
The walls embedded in the floor debris of the court were badly preserved, owing probably to the
dampness and to the pressure of the superimposed debris. The bricks were crushed and the walls
difficult to follow. Walls apparently founded on the floor of the court were exposed under rooms (301)-
(304), (318), (332), (333), and in the northwestern quarter parallel to the western side of the court. Of
these, the only well-built walls were under room (303). The later wall between (303) and (302) had,
in fact, been founded on one of the older walls; and the older walls appear to have been denuded to the
level of the floor debris of the court previous to the construction of the later walls. Within these older
walls under the floor of (302), and in the floor debris of the court, a group of 35 pottery vessels was
found, mostly unbroken (Pl. 34 a). Although this layer of debris contained many objects from the
magazines of the first temple, the preservation of the vessels under room (302) indicates that they were
originally deposited where found and not brought here from the temple magazines by plunderers. Either
room (302 sub) was an extra magazine constructed in the court at the time of the funeral because of the
lack of room in the over-filled magazines, or it was built for a similar purpose at some slightly later
date, perhaps for the storage of utensils used in the service. For example, the offerings made in the
early years succeeding the funeral were probably specially full, being real and not sham offerings, and
may have been brought in vessels which, after being emptied, were set aside in this room.
A comparison with the vessels found in the Giza cemetery shows that the group from (302 sub)
(Pl. 72 b) lacks a number of characteristic types found in the royal mastabas of DynastyIV, that it con-
tains some of the types found in the mastabas of Dynasty V, and that, finally, the group, as a whole,
corresponds rather to Dynasty V than to any other (see Chap. IX, POTTERY).
(b) The Walls Founded on the Floor Debris of the Court. - The series of walls founded on the floor
debris of the court, and denuded to the level of the walls of the first temple, was the best preserved of
all. I n particular, a bonded complex of rooms lines the southern side of the court (Pl. 33) and consists
of five separate apartments each opening on the court (Pl. VIII) :
(1) Rooms (301), (317), (337), (338), (339).
(2) Rooms (316), (315), and (302).
(3) Rooms (314) and (303).
(4) Rooms (308), (304), and (305).
(5) Rooms (306), (307), and (324).
Some of the doorways had stone thresholds, and one door-socket of stone was found in (315). The
doorway between (306) and (307) and that between (307) and (324) were very low, each spanned by a
limestone lintel. The roofs over the rooms were presumably of wooden logs covered with mud, but
might have consisted of crude-brick vaults such as were used in the chapels of the mastabas of Dynasty
IV. The walls were generally one brick thick, alternating header and stretcher courses, and their sur-
faces were mud plastered.
On the floor of room (307) were found four pottery vessels, a limestone jar, and a rough limestone
basin. The pottery vessels were: a tall red-polished bowl-stand (type XXII-2), a large red-polished
basin (type XXXIV-1), and two large jars (type 111). These types occur from Dynasty IV to Dynasty
VI and do not greatly assist in dating the rooms.
North of room (324), the same series of walls continued under the portal structure of the second
temple, and was certainly earlier than that structure. The northern wall of room (338) was built
against the screen-wall of the portico and was later than that wall (Dynasty V).
52 MYCERINUS
Abutting on this bonded complex were the well-built walls of

(6) Rooms (310), (323), (325), and (331).
These were of later date, but appeared to have been intended as an enlargement of the group (306),
(307), and (324). That is, they belonged to the same period of occupation. In the space between the
walls and the stone pathway were a number of poorly built walls, which were slightly later and yet had
their floors on the same level.
In the northern half of the court, no such continuous complex of well.-built walls was present, but
the greater part of the area was occupied by circular granaries and single rooms or pairs of rooms. In
the northwestern corner decayed and obscure walls formed
(7) Three rooms (57a), (57b), and (58) (Pl. 32 b, d ) ,
with their western and northern walls (half-brick thick) built against the niched wall of the court, and
with their floors about 40 cm. above the floor of the court. On the floor of room (57b), in the NW
corner, were five stacks of pottery - three stacks, each consisting of two flower-pots upside down
against the north wall, and two stacks, each consisting of four coarse trays, leaning with upper sides
out against the west wall. These were clearly in their original position in the room which is thus marked
as a storeroom. On the same level with these rooms were the
+
(8) circular granaries (?) (40b), (48 49 sub), (50 sub), (53), (54 sub), (55), (56), (383 sub), (386
sub), (391 sub), (404), and (407) (PI. 32 b ; 33 e ; 34 f).
As to
(9) the rooms towards the middle of the court,
we were never able to determine whether they belonged to this series of rooms or to the succeeding
series; possibly they belonged to both.
(c) The Walls Founded Partly o n the Decayed Walls of the First Temple. - A very extensive series of
walls was founded partly on the denuded walls of the first temple, partly over the debris-filledmagazines,
and partly over the older structures in the court (Pl. 31 a and b ; 28 d ; 27 d; 36 a). Over the exterior
corridor, the southern wall of the temple and room (III-19) stood the complex
(10) Rooms (5) to (11),
of which only the foundations below the floor level were preserved. On the foundation level were heaps
of alabaster chips from statues, potsherds, etc., from the temple magazines. Probably connected with
this complex were the walls of
(11) Room (I-4),
and with these in turn the walls forming
(12) Rooms (I-1)
to (I-3),
which were over room (III-17)andcorridor(III-4); but the connecting masonry had been destroyed
by the two enormous holes dug by Arab treasure-hunters.
Similarly, over the northern magazines, the western wall of the court, and partly over the court,
stood the large interbonded complex
(13) Rooms (I-12)to (I-21), (I-23),and (I-24).
South of (21) lay the
(14) Rooms (I-22), (I-27), (I-28), all bonded together.
To the same period appeared to belong
(15) the rectangular rooms along the northern side of the court (I-29), (I-30), (I-39), (I-47),
(I-52), (I-54), (I-383), (I-386), inasmuch as they were built over the older circular bins. With these
belong the circular bins (1-40a), (I-390), (I-393), (I-405), and (1-406). As already stated, the rooms
near the middle of the side of the court may be assigned to this period or to the preceding period, or
to both.
In addition to the walls just mentioned, the following complexes were also over temple walls:
(16) Rooms (101) to (104) on top of the south wall of the court.
(17) Rooms (388) and (389); over the northern magazine room (410) of the vestibule.
(18) Rooms (355) to (358) and (370) to (372) in the southern magazines of the vestibule.
The rooms (388) and (389) were over the walls and the filling of the northernmost of the vestibule
magazines (410), (411), and belonged manifestly to the series of walls over the western magazines.
The intrusive rooms in the southern magazines (cf. 18 above) had floors above the old floors; their
doorways corresponded with the old doorways, and the walls were well built and heavier than those in
any other part of the city (Pl. 35). The walls of the old magazines were utilized, wherever possible, as
the exterior walls of the new rooms. Under the floors a number of pottery vessels were found, which had
been in the old magazines. These rooms had undoubtedly been built at a time when the walls of the
first temple were still practically intact, although the roofs had already fallen and the magazines be-
come partially filled with debris. But the doors opened into the corridor (354), and this corridor must
have been accessible, although not necessarily from both ends.
The rooms (372a) and (372b) were overbuilt by the walls of the later portal building, just as were
the walls north of room (324) in the court. Taking all the facts, it may be concluded that the later
rooms in the vestibule magazines are certainly as early as the complex (301) to (307), in the adjoining
part of the court, and may be even earlier. But it is impossible to decide whether they formed
merely a restoration of the vestibule magazines, or were of the same character as the complex in the
court.
(d) The Walls in the City Enclosure in Front of the Temple. - The rectangular enclosure of the pyra-
mid city of Mycerinus extended eastward for perhaps 70 m. from the eastern face of the temple. The
southern side was bounded by a continuation of the exterior southern corridor (III-21) of the first
temple; and the walls of this city corridor, although they were built against the southeastern corner
of the temple, were practically contemporaneous with the walls of the first temple. At a distance of
415 cm. east of the corner of the temple, a wide doorway (width 155 cm.) opened through the northern
wall of the exterior city corridor into the city enclosure. It was unfortunately not possible to follow
the city enclosure over any great area, owing to the presence of the modern Moslem cemetery. The
village people became very nervous and begged us to desist.
The few structures cleared were sufficient to show that there were at least two periods of houses.
Under the floors of the second or upper series, the same classes of objects were found as in the floor
debris of the court, including fragments of stone vessels and statues evidently scattered by the plunder-
ers of the magazines of the first temple. This series of houses appears, therefore, to correspond to that
built on the floor debris of the court (series b, above). Contemporary with this series, a blocking wall
had been built across the two ends of the doorway into the exterior city corridor, completely closing
that corridor to access. The blocking of the vestibule of the first temple appears to belong to the same
period. But these door-blocks may have been built in the latter part of the period of the houses. The
walls of the houses, as preserved, were only from 20 to 90 cm. high and were denuded to a very uneven
surface of decay, sloping down from a height of about 200 cm. beside the face of the temple, to 140 cm.,
about four meters eastward of the face. Thus a later series of buildings had almost certainly been
washed away. The lowest walls in this quarter may safely be ascribed to the time of the early use of
the temple, but their condition was such as to make their recovery impossible.
( E ) HISTORY
OF THE VALLEYTEMPLE
AND CITY
The history of the construction and the decay of the Mycerinus valley temple may be set forth as
follows:
I. The unfinished stone temple, abandoned at the death of Mycerinus.
II. The first crude-brick temple, erected by Shepseskaf.
1. The rooms formed by the walls resting on the floor of the court (1-302 sub), etc., and the series a of
the city.
2. The screen-wall closing portico (III-1).
3. The rooms of series b (including granaries).
4. The alterations in the storerooms (5), (17), (18).
5. The blocking of the doorway from vestibule (III-377) tocorridor (III-380).
6. Probably the construction of the rooms in the southern magazines of the vestibule.
7. The plundering of the magazines; the removal of vessels and statues to be broken up for the stone
continued through the rest of the time of both the first and second temples.
54 MYCERINUS
8. The gradual decay of the temple; the decay and fall of the roofs; the deposition of debris to a depth
of 150-200 cm. in the magazines, and from 40-100 cm. in the court; the sanctuary apparently
kept clear.
9. The ruin of the sanctuary by the influx of water through the western wall of the offering room, the
formation of a surface of decay; the sanding up of the exterior corridor and the accumulation of
debris around the southern, western, and northern sides of the temple to the level of the surface of
decay of this temple.
111. The second crude-brick temple, erected at least as early as the middle of the reign of Pepy II, and per-
haps earlier.
10. The series of rooms ( c ) , over the rest of the temple and city.
11. The decay of the second temple; denudation of the upper part of the walls by weather and drainage
water; formation of a surface of decay; buried in sand; the burial pit of “the king’s tribesman,
Yer-r
..” (Dynasty
VlI?),
holes dug by Arab treasure-seekers of the twelfth to fourteenth
centuries A.D. in north wall, and in rooms (111-4) and (18); removal of sebakhin recent times.
The point in doubt is the date of the construction of the second temple. The great repairs at the
pyramid temple were in limestone and were probably made by Mernera. There the necessity arose
from the decay of the inner temple of crude brick. But neither of these facts assists us much in the prob-
lem of the valley temple. The conditions were different; the thickness of the walls may have been less
at the pyramid temple; the decay of the two temples may not have occurred at the same time, and the
restoration may have been delayed in the one case or the other. The length of time which it may have
taken for the first crude-brick valley temple to fall in ruins is incalculable; the period from Shepseskaf
to the end of Dynasty V is not too short, nor that to the end of Dynasty VI too long. The restoration
of the temple was not an expensive undertaking, being well within the means of a prosperous landowner
of the present day. The people whose interest it was to rebuild the temple were those who belonged to
the community of the pyramid city of Mycerinus. Tax-free and relieved from requisitions of all sorts,
they could well afford the restoration of the temple. The construction of the second temple is not,
therefore, necessarily to be connected with the decree of Pepy 11. That decree merely confirmed the
old privileges, but the restoration of the temple may have given occasion for its issue. The decree
is dated in a year which is later than the thirtieth and earlier than the sixtieth, or somewhere near the
middle of the reign of Pepy 11. If the decree were issued as a reward for the restoration of the temple,
then the second temple was built before the middle of the reign of Pepy 11. But, as already remarked,
there may have been earlier decrees of which this is merely a formal renewal.
However interesting the question may be, the exact date of the second temple has only an academic
value. The few fragments of pottery found were none of them as late as the Middle Kingdom. Even
those found inside the walls or on the floor of series c of the house walls were clearly of Old Kingdom
date, not greatly different from those found under the floors of series b and in the magazines of the first
temple. All the more important objects were in the magazines of the first temple, or demonstrably
removed from those magazines, with the exception of the four large alabaster statues in the portico of
the first temple, which had been slightly shifted to the places they occupied in the second temple. Thus
there are practically no objects for which the exact date of the second temple would have been of im-
portance.
CHAPTER IV
THE TEMPLES OF THE THREE SMALL PYRAMIDS SOUTH OF THE
THIRD PYRAMID
SOUTHof the Third Pyramid and close to the wall of crude brick, which limits the more intimate pre-
cincts of the pyramid itself, stand three small pyramids, in a row from east to west (Pl. 73; Pls.IV-VII).
These are within the long rubble wall which joins the outer enclosing wall of the Second Pyramid and
marks off the burial field of the time of Mycerinus, including within its fold, as far as we were able to
trace it, the Third Pyramid and its temple, the three small pyramids, the Mycerinus cemetery, and
probably the valley temple as well. Vyse numbered these three small pyramids, V, IV, and VI, from east
to west, while Lepsius numbered them X, X I , XII
from west to east. But the Giza pyramid field is so
obviously dominated by the three great pyramids of (Cheops,Chephren, and Mycerinus, and the small
pyramids beside these are so clearly those of subordinate persons of the same reigns, that much confusion
will be avoided by numbering the small subordinate pyramids from the pyramid of the king in whose
reign they were built. Thus I number the pyramids beside the Third Pyramid as III-a,III-b and III-c,
from east to west.
1. THE TEMPLE OF THE PYRAMID III-a
( A ) THEIDENTIFICATION OF PYRAMID III-a

So far as identified, the small pyramids subordinate to the pyramids of kings, have always been
the tombs of queens of the king beside whose tomb they stood. It is therefore probable that the small
pyramids at the Third Pyramid are the burial places of queens of the family of Mycerinus. Vyse cleared
out the underground chambers of all three, but has reported nothing which might serve to identify
the owners of the tombs. In pyramid III-b, he found some hieroglyphics written in red paint on the
roof; but of these the only intelligible signs form the name of Mycerinus. We cleared the temples of
all three pyramids and found only a few objects. In the debris of the inner part of the temple of III-a
we found fragments of a beautifully finished alabaster statue of a queen, but nothing bearing her name.
Under the plastered floor of room (9) of that same temple, we found a small pot containing five model
cups of alabaster, each bearing the name of “the king’s son, Kay.” But the manner in which these
objects had been placed in the temple indicates that they were a later offering, and in that case Prince
Kay may have been a pious descendant of the owner of the pyramid. Thus the excavation of the
subordinate pyramids and their temples has really yielded no material for their identification.
Pyramid III-a is the most prominent of the three small pyramids, as well as the largest and the most
elaborate. It was a true pyramid, cased at least partly in granite, while the other two were step pyra-
mids left uncased (Pl. 73). Thus pyramid III-a was certainly the tomb of the most important lady
of the family of Mycerinus. This position I would assign to the wife of Mycerinus, whom I call Queen
Khamerernebty II.
(B) THEEXCAVATION
OF THE TEMPLE
OF PYRAMID
III-a
The southeastern corner of the temple of pyramid III-a, the easternmost of the three small pyra-
mids, was marked down in December, 1906, while we were examining the ground for a place to dump
the debris from the Mycerinus temple. In March, 1907, the same season, the whole front of the temple
was traced in order the prevent any encroachment from the large dump running out from the inner
temple of the Mycerinus pyramid temple. But the excavation of the temple was postponed until 1910.
On Saturday, February 26, 1910, as the gangs working on the sand over the surface of decay in the
court of the valley temple finished their sections, each was sent over to the temple of the small pyramid
III-a. This was a very simple piece of work. The walls were entirely of crude brick, and had been de-
56 MYCERINUS
nuded by wind and weather to a gentle slope, so that they were about 160 cm. high on the west beside
the pyramid and about 60 cm. high on the east. The interior was filled with debris of decay in six layers
on the west where deepest:
1. Sand and stones in the surface debris;
2. A thin layer of white limestone chips;
3. A very thin layer of burnt material;
4. A layer of sand;
5. A layer of fallen bricks and dust;
6. The deepest layer, sand mixed with decayed mud brick, plaster from the walls, etc. - debris of decay.
The ground immediately to the south of the temple was found to be clear of all buildings or graves,
and the debris was thrown out on this side. All the debris in the temple and between the temple and the
pyramid was removed in eight working days, and the temple lay clear on March 6.
Very few objects were found in the course of the excavations:
Tuesday, March 1, 1910. In the broken crude-brick stratum ( 5 ) in room (9), fragments of a beautiful ala-
baster statue of a queen.
Thursday, March 3. In the southwestern corner of the court (2), a pile of eight rough offering jars (R W
IV). In room (6), ashes and marks of fire in the northeastern quarter. In room (7), abundant ashes
over all the floor.
In broken brick stratum in rooms (3) and (9), several small fragments of statues, and in room (11), a
flint knife, type 2.
Friday, March 18. In brushing the floor in room (9) a small pot was found, sunk in the floor, and in it five
small alabaster model cups inscribed with the name of Prince Kay, and a smaller one of slate, uninscribed.
Various fragments of pottery, flint flakes, small pottery vessels, and a few fragments of stone ves-
sels were also found in the debris.
(C) DESCRIPTION
OF THE TEMPLE
OF PYRAMID
III-a(PLS. IV, V, VII)
As stated above, the three small pyramids south of the Third Pyramid are within the extensive
rubble enclosure which surrounds the whole Mycerinus enceinte, and outside the southern side of the more
intimate enclosing wall of the pyramid. They were surrounded by a thick rubble wall of their own,
which ran a few meters outside their bases and included the larger temple of pyramid 111-a. This rubble
enclosure was entered near the northeastern corner by a pathway lined on each side by a continuation of
the thick rubble wall, and leading off to the northeast toward the inner part of the Mycerinus temple.
The pyramid 111-a of the usual pyramidal form, presented a core apparently built of low courses of
small blocks of limestone. The two other small pyramids (III-bandIII-c) were of large blocks, in step
form, and uncased. On the analogy of these and other small pyramids at Giza, it is probable that 111-a
has an inner core of larger blocks in step form, and that the low courses of small blocks which are visible
really form the filling of the steps of the inner core. Pyramid 111-a had been cased in red granite from
Assuan like the Third Pyramid. On the front, the first course of this casing, 96 cm. high, is still in place,
but having been covered by the back wall of the temple, it had never been dressed smooth. The floor of
the temple was about 30 cm. above the base of the pyramid, that is, the bottom of the granite casing.
Below the casing lay a foundation course of fair-sized limestone blocks, which appeared to extend east-
ward under the temple. The base of the pyramid was 423 cm. below the granite floor in room (29) of
the pyramid temple of Mycerinus.
The relatively massive foundation platform of the queen’s temple bore only a crude-brick structure,
just like the two temples of the king; and this parallelism justifies the assumption that the queen’s
temple (111-a) was also planned by Mycerinus as a stone temple, but finished after his death by Shep-
seskaf in crude brick. Three, or rather four, building periods are distinguishable:
1. Unfinished stone temple, foundation platform - Mycerinus.
2. Complete temple of crude brick - Shepseskaf:
(a) The earlier inner half of the temple;
(b) The later outer half of the temple.
3. Restorations and alterations during the period of occupation, not later than Dynasty VI.
TEMPLES OF THREE SMALL PYRAMIDS SOUTH OF THIRD PYRAMID $7
(1) The Unfinished

Stone Temple of Pyramid III-a -Mycerinus
It is impossible to determine how far the construction of the pyramid 111-a had advanced at the
death of Mycerinus. At least the limestone core and one course of the granite casing had been completed,
and the limestone platform of the temple had been laid, but beyond that all is uncertain. As the stone
walls of the temple had not been begun, it seems to me improbabIe that the casing of the pyramid with
granite had proceeded very far. No clue whatever was found to the plan of the stone temple.
(2) The Crude-Brick Temple - Shepseskaf (Pls. 74, 77, 78; and IV, V, VII)
The crude-brick temple, omitting later alterations, consisted of an inner and an outer part not
structurally bonded together. The inner part had been completely finished, to the plastering and
whitening of the interior and exterior walls. The outer part had been built against the plastered and
whitened exterior wall of the interior temple, and was therefore later in date, if only by a few weeks or
even days. The dividing line between the two parts crossed the temple from north to south about in
line with the eastern face of the wall which bounds the entrance corridor, the portico, and the kitchen (?)
on the west. Thus the later outer part consisted of the following rooms:
(a) Entrance corridor, room (8).
(b) Open court of niches, room (1) (Pl. 78 a).
( c ) Court portico, room (2) (Pl. 78 a).
(d) The magazines or kitchens, rooms (6) and (7) (Pl. 78 b ) .
But the wall which bounds these rooms on the west belonged, as just stated, to the inner part of the
temple. The inner part of the temple contained the following rooms:
(e) The anteroom(3).
(f) The stairway anteroom (4).
(g)The stairway (5).
(h) The hall of niches (9) (Pls. 77; 78 c, e ) .
(i) The inner offering room (12) (Pl. 77 c).
(j) The magazine (11).
(k) The secondary offering room (10) (Pl. 78 d).
All the walls which surround these inner rooms belonged to the earlier temple. I n addition to the plas-
tered face on which the outer walls abutted, the bricks of the outer part were lighter in color and of a
different consistency from those of the inner part, which were of ordinary black Nile mud. But appar-
ently the outer part was prescribed in the original plan, because abutments were already built in the
front wall of the inner structure opposite the walls which were afterward built to form the outer structure.
The inner temple was functionally incomplete in lacking the outer court, which the evidence of the
mastabas shows was used for the slaughter of sacrificial animals, but was complete for all the more inti-
mate purposes of a temple. Thus, considering all the evidence, it appears that the inner part was
hastily constructed at the time of the funeral, and the rest completed on the original plan a few weeks or
a few months later. The character of this addition, moreover, is against the theory that it was built by
the funerary priests of this pyramid a t a considerably later date, for as a rule the works of the funerary
priest of later times consist only in such necessary repairs as will permit his continuing his services. I
am, therefore, of the opinion that both parts of the temple were built by practically the same people
(not necessarily by the same masons) probably within the same twelve months.
The analogy between the construction of this pyramid with its temple and the pyramid of Mycerinus
with its two temples is patent. Both pyramids were intended to receive a granite casing; all three
temples were planned in stone and finished in crude brick; and the very plastering on the walls is the
same. There can be no doubt that the massive stone constructions were interrupted in all three cases
by the death of Mycerinus and that the crude-brick structures were executed on the orders of Shepseskaf.
(a) The Entrance to the Temple ofPyramidIII-a.-In addition to the wide rubble wall (80 cm.
thick) which enclosed all three of the small pyramids, the temple of 111-a has a narrow wall (32 cm.
wide) partly of rubble and partly of crude brick, parallel to the outside walls a t a distance of 32 cm.
58 MYCERINUS
At the northern entrance to the temple, this narrow wall, here of crude brick, turns inward a t right
angles, to meet the northern face of the temple on each side of the entrance doorway. Directly opposite,
the thicker rubble wall is broken by an opening, and the two ends of that wall are continued in a slant-
ing direction northeastward as the boundaries of a road or path leading toward the crude-brick enclos-
ing wall of the Third Pyramid, probably to a doorway in that enclosing wall. I reconstruct the older
inner temple of the Third Pyramid - that built, as I assume, by Shepseskaf, of crude brick -with a
doorway in the southern wall opening into the pyramid enclosure. This would have permitted access
through the doorway in the southern enclosing wall to the pathway mentioned above, and so to the en-
closure of the three small pyramids. Similar connections existed between the enclosure of the king’s
pyramid and that of the queen, at several other, perhaps all other, pyramids of the Old Kingdom.
The entrance to the temple of 111-a led from this pathway southward into the eastern end of the
corridor (8), by a doorway through the northern wall. The floor of this doorway consisted of four lime-
stone slabs built in the brickwork, with socket-holes in the fourth or inmost slab. The inner edge of the
third slab was elevated about six centimeters above the fourth slab, to form a ledge against which the
wooden door-leaves closed. Outside the doorway, a single sloping stone formed a small ramp, against
each side of which a narrow slab was set, sloping in two directions, but not rising above the surface of
the ramp. The doorway was plastered with mud and whitened like the other wall surfaces of the tem-
ple, and had been closed by a two-leaved wooden door on the inside and opening inward.
( b ) The Entrance Corridor (8).- The entrance corridor seems to have served simply as a passage
from the outer doorway to the court. The doorway into the portico of the court had a threshold com-
posed of two slabs of limestone, built in the masonry at the ends and with the upper surface 4 cm. above
the mud-plastered floor. It was closed by a two-leaved wooden door on the portico side. The floor of
the corridor was a thick layer of mud laid over the foundation packing of gravel. A later coat of white
plaster covered the older white plaster on the west wall, and on the joint in the masonry in the north-
western corner.
(c) The Court (1), and the Court Portico (2).- The part of the outer temple which, having been added
later, brought in one of the most characteristic elements of the plans of the large Mycerinus temples, was
the court with its portico. The northern wall of the court showed the same series of one compound
niche and three simple niches that was present in the court of both the Mycerinus temples; and although
the walls on the east and south were denuded below the base of the niches, it is practically certain that
these two walls were also niched in the same manner.¹
The court was 10.5 meters long from east to west, and 9 meters wide from north to south. Of this
area, a strip 2.8 meters long (east to west), running the width of the court, was taken by the portico;
the rest, 7.70 x 9 meters, was paved with yellow limestone slabs. This pavement sloped very slightly
toward the centre, where a rectangular stone basin was let into the floor just south of the middle. The
basin was a single block of stone 120 x 92 x 45 cm. and was sunk with its top two or three centimeters
below the pavement. The bottom of the basin had been broken through by treasure-seekers, who dug
about 30 cm. into the gravel foundation filling. The court was, of course, open to the sky.
The portico which, as I have said, measured 2.8 x 9 meters, had a mud-plastered floor and was roofed
with wood, the rafters of which were supported on the eastern side by four round wooden columns rest-
ing on stone bases. The marks of the ends of the columns on the bases showed that the columns had
been renewed at some time, the prints of the second set of columns being less in diameter and not centred
on the stones. After the erection of the second set of columns, a screen wall of crude brick with a door-
way in the middle had been built across the front of the portico, shutting it off from the court. The
proof that the wall was later than the columns was given by the fact that where the wall actually touched
the columns, it was unplastered in lines 10 cm. broad from the floor upwards (Pl. 78 a). The resem-
blance to the screen walls of the two large temples is obvious, but the doorway in this screen wall had no
stone threshold and appeared not to have been closed with a door.
(d) The Kitchens (6) and (7).-The doorway in the southern end of the portico led into a long (east
to west) structural space 235 cm. wide balancing the corridor space in the north, but 25 cm. wider. The
¹Cf.templeIII-c.
TEMPLES OF THREE SMALL PYRAMIDS SOUTH OF THIRD PYRAMID 59
doorway was, on the contrary, only 65 cm. wide compared with the 90 cm. of the opposite doorway
from the entrance corridor into the portico. A single limestone slab formed the threshold; the single-
leaf door, resting on a stone socket (not in place) was swung on the portico side of the door-jam, but in
the original temple the door may have been swung on the southern side of the doorway.
This long structural space was originally 10.5 meters in length and 2.35 meters wide, but had been
divided into two rooms (7) and (8) by a cross-wall broken by a doorway. The western room (7), was
6.60 m. long; and room (8), the eastern, 3.15 m. long. The floors of these two rooms had been origi-
nally plastered with mud, and the threshold of the doorway in the cross-wall had consisted of a limestone
slab. But a t some later period, a pavement of slabs of white limestone, not yellow like the court, had
been laid over the mud floor in room (7) and perhaps also in room (8), and a new stone threshold set in
the connecting doorway over the old one. A slight repair of the northern jamb of the doorway had been
built over the new threshold and belongs properly to the same period as the stone pavement. The
western half of this pavement had been torn up in room (7), and the whole of the pavement in room
(8), if (8) was paved, as I believe it was, had been similarly treated.
In the northeastern corner of room (8), two upright slabs of stone had been set in the pavement,
similar to those which were used to support the stone offering benches in the inner rooms. The wall
beside these slabs was blackened and reddened by fire, and the floor thereabouts was littered with ashes
and coals. The fire had been an open one built on the pavement. In the northwestern corner of room
(8) was a hearth (?), a rectangle open on the south, built of stones and bricks set on edge. It was filled
with coals and ashes, and the floor of the room was covered several centimeters deep with ashes. The
pavement, if it extended throughout this room, was laid over these remains.
It appears, therefore, that rooms (7) and (8) had been used for some purpose for which a fire was re-
quired, and the most obvious purpose was the cooking of food, especially meat. Furthermore, the rooms
were used for this purpose for a long period, beginning probably before the laying of the stone pavement
and lasting certainly during the final occupation of the rooms before the accumulation of any debris on
the floors. The faces of the walls of these rooms had been plastered with mud, but not whitened.
(e) The Anteroom of the Inner Part, Room ( 3 ) .- The front wall of the inner part of the temple was
2.15 m. thick like all the exterior walls' of the completed temple, while the walls dividing the rooms
varied from 1.35 m. to 1.65 m. in thickness. The length of the doorway from the portico to the anteroom
(3) was determined by the width of the wall; the jambs extended 1.05 m. inwards from the outer face
of the wall and rested on the ends of a threshold composed of two limestone slabs. I n the inner angles of
the jambs, there was a stone door-socket on each side in which swung a two-leaved door opening inwards.
The original size of the anteroom (3), was 3.15 m. long (east to west) by 6.20 m. wide (north to
south). But the western wall was in the form of a very wide and very shallow niche which increased
the length in the middle by 10 cm. to 3.25 m. At some later time the eastern wall had been thickened
by a layer of brickwork which reduced the length of the room to 2.60 m. (or 2.70 m. opposite the niche).
The room was replastered after this alteration.
In the western corner, a doorway in the south wall led into the room (4). This doorway was provided
with a stone threshold and had been closed by a door swinging back into room (3).
(f) Room (4) and Stairway ( 5 ) .- Room (4),entered as described above from the anteroom (3), was
itself the landing or anteroom of the stairway (5), which led to the roof. Room (4)was nearly square,
being 3.15 m. long (east to west) and 3.55 m. wide (north to south). It appeared to have served no
other purpose than that of giving access to the stairway by means of a doorway through the southern
end of its western wall.
It will be noted that the ground plan of this inner part of the temple is nearly symmetrical; room (4)
balances with room (11) and the L-shaped space of the stairway, room (5), balances room (10). The
doorway to the L-shaped room (5) had no stone threshold and appeared to have been closed by a door
swinging into room (4). As excavated by us, a stair of crude bricks set on edge began on a line with the
outside of the door-jamb towards room (4), rose by seventeen low steps to a line over the middle of the
inner arm of the L, beyond which line it had disappeared by weathering. These steps consisted of two
courses of crude bricks laid on edge on a filling of small limestone chips; and the whitened plaster of the
60 MYCERINUS
walls of room (5) descended below the brickwork of the steps and the filling. Thus this stair was, in
any case, a later construction built after room ( 5 ) had been in use. But an examination of the western
end of the stair in the western arm of the L, showed the foundation course of a lower stair of similar
construction, also resting on limestone chips (Pl. V). This earlier stair had reached the level of the
floor of room ( 5 ) in the western part of the eastern arm of the L, leaving unoccupied the eastern part
of this L adjoining the doorway into room (4). The plaster in room ( 5 ) descended to the top of this
lower stair, which appears to have been about 50 cm. lower than the later stair.
It is to be noted that the later stair had no landing in the turn of the L-shaped space and must have
reached the roof somewhere over the masonry between the temple and the pyramid without making a
turn. The earlier stair, following the lines of the L-shaped space, made a turn north and apparently
reached the same height as the later stair, but at a point over the inmost room (12) of the sanctuary.
The earlier stair clearly belonged to the original period of construction, that of the inner part of the
temple. The later stair was built of lighter colored mud bricks.
I n the southern wall of room (5) was a narrow opening like a doorway, but straight-sided without
jambs. This opening had been walled up and plastered over in the original plastering of the room.
Outside, the narrow enclosing wall had been denuded away so that it was impossible to determine
whether an opening had existed in that wall opposite the opening in the main wall. I came, therefore, to
the conclusion that this opening in the south wall of room (5) was left in the masonry as a construction
entrance to facilitate the introduction of bricks and plaster used in the construction especially of the
interior walls and the stairway.
(g) The Hall of Niches (9). - The hall of niches was 1.90 m. long (east to west) and 10.50 m. wide
(north to south). The southern end was closed against the stairway space ( 5 ) , while the northern end
opened by a doorway into room (IO). I n the axis of the temple, a doorway led in from room (3), and
another led out opposite into an inner room (12). The doorway from room (3) had no stone threshold,
but was plastered level with the mud floors inside and out; the jambs were 85 cm. long; on each side
at the inner end of the jamb was a stone door-socket; in these had turned the doorposts of a two-leaved
wooden door; the leaves had been of the usual battened type; and the wearing marks of the turning
door post and of the battens were plain on the walls for all to read¹ while decayed wood was abundant
in the sockets and on the floor. The opening into room (12) was plastered with mud and had never been
closed by a door. The doorway into room (10) was paved with stone slabs, but was otherwise exactly
like the doorway from room (3) with the same kind of wearing marks in the plaster. The leaves of the
door swung inwards into room (9). But this doorway was a later construction, for the western door-
jamb was a separate half-brick wall built against the old plastered face of the doorway, apparently in
order to permit the western leaf of the door to swing back against the front of the stone bench in the
northwestern corner of room (9). This offering bench projected about 10 cm. beyond the old western
face of the doorway. The older doorway may not have been closed with a door.
The western wall of room (9) was built in a series of niches exactly symmetrical on each side of the
entrance which led into room (12). In the middle of each side was a large deep double compound niche
flanked on the north and the south by three small compound niches (Pls. V, and 78 e ) . This room con-
tained several offering places, added after the walls had been plastered and whitened. In the northwest-
ern corner was a complete and unbroken offering table built of seven limestone slabs (Pl. 77 a). It was
partially closed in front by an upright slab and had a horizontal slab set some distance below the tops
of the side and back slabs. In this horizontal slab was a small circular depression large enough to take a
round-bottomed stone or pottery bowl of medium size. The front of the depression was worn as if by
the hand in placing and removing a bowl. Below the horizontal slab, a rectangular stone basin rested
on the floor. I n the debris below the horizontal slab and before the whole table were found 50 to 60
small model offering jars and saucers of red-brown pottery. I n front of the double compound niche,
south of this table, a rectangular limestone slab was set on a low mud foundation so that its top was level
with the base of the niche (Pl. 77 b). In this slab were two depressions for bowls, and both were hand-
worn on the outside like the bowl depression in the table. Adjoining the floor slab on the south, a sort
See
¹ Pl. V, and Pl. 78 c.
of platform ran along the wall keeping level with the top of the floor slab, that is, with the bases of the
niches. The first part of this platform next to the floor slab was of stone, but the rest was of crude brick.
In the double compound niche, however, there was a clearly marked line of indentation, as if a table of
similar character to the one in the corner had once stood in the outer part of the niche. Directly oppo-
site the middle one of the three small compound niches south of the great niche, in the middle of the
room, the small pot which contained alabaster vessels with the name of Prince Kay was sunk upright
in the floor and covered by the mud plaster of the floor (Pl. 77 b).
In the southern half of the room (9), against the western plastered face between the first small
niche and the doorway into room (12), stood a mud-brick basis (P1.78 e ) about 30 x 30 cm. and 30 cm.
high. The outer part was slightly rounded off, and the whole had been plastered and whitened. If it had
been entirely square I should have assumed that it had served as the basis for a small obelisk and had
been balanced by a companion basis on the northern side of the doorway into (12), for which analogies oc-
curred in the mastabas. But as it stands, I am doubtful of its purpose. The double compound niche
on the south had a line of horizontal indentations like the northern double compound niche; but there
were no other traces of offering tables or stones in this half of the room.
(h) The Inner Offering Place, Room (12). - On comparing rooms (9) and (12) with the offering places
of the early mastabas of crude brick, room (12) seems to be really an integral part of the niched wall of
room (9). It is as if a third double compound niche mid-way between the other two had been enlarged
into a small room of niched form. The entrance, as stated above, was not a real doorway and had never
been closed with a door. The large part of the inner niche, like a small “wide-room,” measured 1.30 m.
long (east to west) by 2.90 m. wide (north to south). The west wall had contained an offering niche in
the middle, but the destruction of the brickwork at this place prevented our tracing the exact plan of
this niche.
(i) The L-shaped OfferingRoom(10). - The L-shaped offering room (10)(Pl. 78 d ) was entered by
a door in the northern end of the hall of niches (9), the construction of which has been described above.
The western arm of the L contained traces of three offering places. In the extreme southern end against
the southern wall was an offering table of stone slabs of the general form of the table in (9), with a single
depression for a bowl; but the table had been upset, leaving the stones displaced and in confusion.
Beside this table in the western wall, the marks in the brickwork below indicated that there had been a
niche in the wall above, toward the pyramid. In front of this niche, on the floor, was a large limestone
slab, 190 x 80 cm., perfectly plain, without the bowl depressions. This served as an offering stone or
possibly as a resting place for a basin or something similar. North of this slab there had been a third
offeringplace, apparently a table, of which there remained two smaller stones set in the floor at a distance
of 150 cm. apart.
( j ) The Magazine (?),Room(11). - From the northern end of the L-shaped room (10), a doorway
opened eastward into a small square room (11), measuring 3.13 m. long (east to west) by 3.65 m. wide
(north to south). The doorway had been closed by a single-leafed door pivoted on a socket inside the
northern door jamb. For some reason the opposite angle at the inside end of the southern door jamb
had been lessened by building a pillar of half bricks in the angle against the white-plastered face.
In the room were two inserted structures. In the southeastern corner, a manger-like basis was
built of crude brick, except that the top of the northern wall was formed by a single block of stone of
square section, set level with the brickwork in the west end. The cavity behind was filled with debris
not unlike that of the room. The whole, about 60 cm. high, may have been covered with a stone or
wooden slab. In the northeastern corner was a construction of an entirely different sort. Two walls,
about one meter high when excavated, stood, one against the eastern wall, and the other, at right angles
to the first, against the northern wall 140 cm. from the NE corner of the room. They appear to have
supported a floor, like the second floors in magazines, and would thus have formed a shelf in the corner,
185 x 80 cm. in area. Against the eastern wall adjoining the end of the shelf wall was a low buttress
about 50 cm. high and 65 x 50 cm. in area, which I can only interpret as a step on which a person might
stand in order to reach the shelf. The second floors in magazines were often reached by means of steps
of this sort.
62 MYCERINUS
(k) The Plastering of the Whole Temple. - The walls had been originally heavily plastered with
yellowish mud and covered with a good thick coat of white plaster of Paris. Wherever alterations had
been carried out, the new parts were also plastered and whitened. In the inner rooms the whitening had
been repeatedly renewed and covered irregularly the edge of the mud floor. In rooms (3) and (4),a grey-
black band ran round the rooms, except in the recesses of the doorways, at a height of 1.32 m. above the
floor. Otherwise no trace was visible of any attempt to decorate the walls. It is of course possible that
scenes had been painted on the walls above this black band as in the mastabas, but no trace was visible.
In rooms (3) and (9), the mud plaster of the floor had been washed with a bluish-grey color which had
splashed up on the bottom of the wall in places but had been worn away in the middle of the floors.
(3) The Later Alterations and Repairs

The alterations and repairs to the temple have been mostly noticed in the description of the com-
pleted temple, but for convenience they are reviewed in this paragraph:
1. In the portico (2), the wooden columns had been replaced and the screen wall built with its doorway into
the court.
2. In rooms (6) and (7), the dividing wall had been made later; still later the stone pavement was laid and
the connecting doorway repaired.
3. The shallow recess at the western end of room (6) had been filled by a half-brick wall built against the
face of the older inner part of the temple.
4. Room (3) had been made 45 cm. shorter (east to west) by the insertion of a brick-and-a-half wall built
against the plastered eastern face.
5. In room (5), a second stair had been built which began in the doorway instead of in the room and rose
therefore about 50 cm. higher than the first stair. The second stair rose in a straight line westwards,
while the first stair followed the lines of the L-shaped space in which it was built.
6. In the room of niches (9), the table and the offeringplaces had been added after the room had been plas-
tered and whitened. The doorway into room (10) had been altered to permit the western leaf of the
door to swing back against the offering table.
7. The whitening had been repeatedly renewed.
Thus none of the alterations made after the completion of the temple were extensive and all were
of a very practical character. The building of the screen wall has a striking resemblance to the similar
alteration at both the large temples of Mycerinus and was probably done at the same time (Dynasty V).
The reason for the reconstruction of the stair is less obvious, but was probably due to some damage from
weather or to the decay of the temple.
2. THE TEMPLE OF PYRAMID III-b

(PLS. VI, VII; AND PLS.73, 75 b)
Pyramid III-b is the second of the small pyramids south of the Third Pyramid and stands 10.15
meters west of the queen’s pyramid 111-a. The general situation of the three small pyramids and their
relation to the enceinte wall, to the enclosing wall of the Third Pyramid, and to their own enclosing
wall proper, has already been described in this chapter.
Pyramid III-b and Pyramid III-c are both ‘(step-pyramids” in four stages and practically dupli-
cates in size and form. The measurements vary slightly according to the place where they are taken,
and the similarity is probably greater than appears from the figures.
III-b III-c
Side of base of stage I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31.24 m. 31.55 m.
Side of top of stage I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29.14 m. 29.17 m.
.
Side of base of stage II . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Side of top of stage II . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Side of base of stage III . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
.
23.31 m.
20.55 m.
13.50 m.
24.08 m.
21.57 m.
13.72 m.
Side of top of stage III . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.97 m. 10.97 m.
Side of base of stage IV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.01 m. 7.38 m.
Side of top of stage IV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.89 m.? ....
From top of stage Ito base of stage II(horizontal distance) . . . . . . . 2.91 m. 2.54 m.
From top of stage IIto base of stage III. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.52 m. 3.92 m.
From top of stage III to base of stage IV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.98 m. 1.79 m.
Height of stage I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.26 m. 5.26 m.
III-b III-c
Height of stage II . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.94 m. 5.94 m.
Height of stage III . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.94 m. 5.94 m.
Height of stage IV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.06±m.? ....
Batter of stage I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.05 m. 1.14 m.
Batter of stage II . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.38 m. 1.25 m.
Batter of stage III . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.21 m. 1.37 m.
Batter of stage IV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56 m. ....
Although some of the variations in the measurements of the two pyramids are undoubtedly due to
difficulties of measuring and to the weathering of the masonry, all the variations cannot be ascribed to
these causes; and the two sets of measurements taken from two pyramids of similar types of masonry
and plans erected probably by the same masons afford an illuminating example of the practical methods
of the Egyptian builders.
The lowest stage of pyramid III-b consisted of four courses of medium-sized blocks of local lime-
stone founded on the rock; the second and third, of five courses each; and the fourth, which was broken,
had three courses still preserved. The faces of each stage were stepped like the faces of the mastabas of
the period and consequently had a slight batter, about like the core-structure of the Chephren mastabas,
or a little less. The steps had been dressed in the stone after the construction and corresponded roughly
to the courses of the masonry; but as the lines of the steps were straight (level) and the lines of the
courses rather irregular, the two did not coincide. The carelessness with which the courses were laid
seems to indicate that the structure, like the cores of the Chephren mastabas, was intended to be cased
with some better stone.¹
Against the eastern face of the lowest stage, a temple had been built of crude brick. On this face
the lowest step of the pyramid had been omitted to obtain a flat surface for the crude-brick wall. Owing
to the proximity of the back of pyramid 111-a, the temple was much wider in the north to south direc-
tion than it was long (east to west).
As already stated, the burial chambers of pyramid III-b were cleared out by Vyse.² The inner
room contained a granite sarcophagus of small size, remains of wooden boards, and fragments of a skull
and other bones which Vyse judged to be those of a young woman. A fragment of inscribed stone was
found in the anteroom and bore the two signs “endowed with life” which usually follow royal names.
On one of the limestone slabs composing the roof of the burial chamber were a number of hieroglyphic
signs written in red, some of which Vyse copied.³ These include the name of Mycerinus in a cartouche,
Pl. XI, No. xvii; and the whole was probably the name of the crew “Mycerinus-is-drunk.”
In the debris of the temple, we found nothing which might assist in the identification. One small
fragment of a statue might even have been intrusive. The other objects were exclusively fragments of
pottery .
Thus the name of the owner of the pyramid is lost. Nor do we know the names of any other mem-
bers of the family of Mycerinus with which, by inference, the owner of pyramid III-b might be identified.
We may say, however, that she was a young female who died after the death of Mycerinus and was
probably a second wife of the king.
( A ) THEEXCAVATION
OF THE TEMPLE
OF PYRAMIDIII-b
When we approached the excavation of the temple of pyramid III-b the ground was encumbered on
the side next to pyramid III-a with a mass of debris sloping down from that pyramid towards the mid-
dle of the space between the two pyramids. This debris consisted mostly of broken stone and was the
result of recent destructive work on the pyramid III-a Under this broken stone the old debris of decay
of the temple of pyramid III-b lay intact. It sloped from near the top of the first stage of the pyramid
eastwards towards the base of pyramid III-a and had received its form through the action of the pre-
vailing north wind which eddies around the Third Pyramid and sweeps between these small pyramids.
For
¹ the plan of the pyramid and its burial chambers as well as the measurements, see Vyse, Pyramids of GizehII, pp. 41 and 124.
²L.c., pp. 46-49. 3 L. c., p. 48.
64 MYCERINUS
The surface debris, largely of sand mixed with decayed bits of limestone, was an even layer of about
20 cm. over the whole. Under the top debris lay a surface of decay, and below that the rooms of the
temple were filled with decayed mud brick mixed with a little sand. On the floor was a layer of ashes,
coals, and dust.
On Wednesday, March 9th, 1910, we began clearing away the recent limestone debris. We worked
on this until noon of the 10th, resumed work on the 11th and by 4 p.m. had removed all the upper debris
to the surface of decay. The removal of the mud debris began at noon on April 5th and continued until
the afternoon of April 7th when the temple was clear. Thus four working days were employed in the
excavation with a force of about fifty men.
(B) DESCRIPTION
OF THE TEMPLE
OF PYRAMID
III-b
(1) Massive Stone Temple -Mycerinus
At the temple of pyramid 1III-b, as at all the other temples hitherto described, a beginning at least
had been made with the construction of a massive stone foundation for the temple, and the temple had
then been built of crude brick over this foundation. The exact.extent of the foundation was not traced,
but some of the stones were visible in intrusive holes. This condition is parallel to that at the Mycerinus
pyramid temple, the valley temple, and the temple of pyramid 111-a and justifies the conclusion that
Mycerinus had planned for pyramid III-b a stone temple with granite-cased limestone walls. This
temple was obviously less advanced at the death of Mycerinus than any af the others and was therefore
probably begun after them. But it is to be noted that work on all four of these temples was proceeding
simultaneously at the death of the king.
(2) The Crude-Brick Temple- Shepseskaf

The crude-brick temple of pyramid III-b like the other crude-brick temples of the Mycerinus ceme-
tery, was presumably built by Shepseskaf. Being about the same size as the crude-brick funerary
chapels attached to the old mastabas in the western part of the Cheops cemetery, it presented the
modest simplicity of these chapels and resembled especially the chapel of G 1203, the tomb of Prince
Ka-nofer, which had been built in a narrow space between two mastabas.
The entrance was from the north, from the pathway bounded by the 80 cm. rubble wall which led
along the northern side of these small pyramids as already described. This path, it will be remembered,
led off from the eastern end of the northern side, opposite the entrance to the temple of pyramid 111-a
towards the Mycerinus temple. On the outside of the temple, the entrance doorway opened in the
middle of a broad shallow recess in the north wall placed a little east of the middle. The threshold was
a single slab of limestone; the single-leaf door opened inwards and rested on a stone socket (not found)
against the inner end of the western jamb.
The anteroom (1), entered by the outer doorway, had two other doorways, one in the west wall
leading to room (2), and one in the south wall leading to the open court (3). The doorway into room (2)
had a small stone threshold, but appears not to have been closed by a door. Room (2) may have been
some sort of magazine, or a kitchen, or may have been occupied by a watchman. The wall between the
first two rooms and the third is about 25 cm. thinner between (2) and (3) than it is between (1) and
(3), as if room (2) had been widened by cutting back the wall.
The court (3),judging by its size and the analogy with other temples and chapels, was not roofed over.
It was a plain room, nearly square, with a mud-plastered floor. The plaster of the walls had been almost
entirely worn away - another proof of the absence of a roof. The doorway from room (1), and that
into room (4), had no traces of doors.
The wide outer offering room (4) was entered from the north by the doorway leading from the court
and gave entrance to the inner offering room ( 5 ) and the magazine (6) by two separate doorways in the
west wall. In the northeastern corner was an offering bench not entirely preserved, but clearly of the
form of the offering bench in the northwestern corner of the hall of niches in the queen’s temple. The
stone basin on the floor and the upright front slab were still in place.
The inner offering room (5) was entered by a doorway in the middle of the eastern wall, which was
recessed on the outside, in room (4), but apparently not closed by a door. In the western wall there
was a compound niche near the southern end. The rest of this wall, as well as part of the mud floor,
had been destroyed by treasure-seekers. It is impossible therefore to reconstruct the system of niches
used in the west wall, but the niche at the south end was doubtless one of a series. This room is op-
posite the middle of the pyramid. Theoretically it should have been opposite the burial chamber; but
as so often happens in Giza tombs, the burial chamber lies to the north. The curious position of the
burial chambers in this pyramid led Vyse to search for another chamber farther east, but his search was
vain.
The magazine or secondary offering room (6) lies just south of the primary offering room and is entered
also by a doorway, apparently not closed by a door, from the outer offering room (4). The inner rooms
were heavily plastered with mud and coated with white plaster (plaster of Paris).
3. THE TEMPLE OF PYRAMID III-c

(PLS. VI, VII; AND PLS.75, 76.)
Pyramid III-c, the third or westernmost of the three small pyramids south of the Third Pyramid,
is separated from III-b by a space of about 13.60 meters, as compared with 10.15 m. between 111-a
and III-b. Pyramid III-c is a step pyramid similar to III-b as explained in section 2.¹ We cleared out
the passage and the burial chambers in April 1907, but have nothing to add to the record made by Vyse
and Perring. The large inner chamber had not been finished, and Vyse was of the opinion that the
burial place had never been occupied. He found the passage and the adjoining part of the anteroom
filled with sand and rubbish which had fallen in from the entrance; and on the floor of the anteroom,
masons’ debris, pounding stones, and some decayed wood. We found much the same conditions in 1907.
The evidence is by no means sufficient to justify Vyse’s conclusion, and the evidence of the chapel leaves
no doubt that the burial place was actually used.
Nothing was found in the pyramid or in the chapel which would give a hint as to the name, rank, age,
or sex of the owner of the pyramid.
( A ) THEEXCAVATION
OF THE TEMPLE III-c
OF PYRAMID
In the month of July, 1923, when the guards at our camp at the Pyramids were changed in order to
give them a vacation, I detained the outgoing guards for a short time and proceeded to clear the mass
of huge stone blocks lying against the eastern face of the pyramid. The pyramid was more seriously
damaged than III-b. The fourth or top stage was demolished; the northern half of the second and third
stages had been thrown down; and the upper northern face of the first stage was partly broken away.
The stone blocks from these damaged parts lay in confusion around the eastern, northern, and western
faces of the pyramid. Vyse had difficulties with the stones on the north when he searched for the en-
trance. On the east, the stones embedded in sand and rubbish lay in a fan-shaped mound against the
northern half of the face, sloping sharply to the ground-level south of the pyramid. Underneath this
modern surface debris, a shallow layer of old surface debris sloped southwards, showing that the dam-
age to the pyramid had been done long after the decay of the temple. Underneath this in turn lay the
surface of decay of the mud-brick temple sloping from the north to the south.
On Friday, July 6th, we began removing the fallen blocks of stone, employing twenty-eight of our
trained Egyptian foremen. On July 17th, forty boys from the pyramid villages were added to carry
out the sand and rubbish, and the removal of the stones continued until the 21st when the surface of
decay was exposed. Thus the preliminary work of clearing away the surface debris required twelve
working days, more than either of the other two small temples. The excavation of the debris of decay
from the rooms began in the late afternoon of the 21st and continued until July 28th, being six working
days.
The debris of decay had been penetrated by an excavation made after the fall of stones from the
pyramid, perhaps within the last hundred years. This excavation had been begun on the west where it
For
¹ the plan of the pyramid and the subterranean chambers, see Vyse, Pyramids of Gizeh
II,pp. 41, 126.
66 MYCERINUS
had exposed the face of the pyramid in the inner offering room (7) and penetrated downwards to rock.
From this larger hole a trench had been dug eastwards across rooms (6) and ( 5 ) , cutting through the
lower floors. I n the eastern side of room ( 5 ) , the trench, grown shallow, turned northwards for about
two meters, and, passing through the eastern wall of the temple to pyramid III-b, became a tunnel forced
in the lowest course of that pyramid.
The debris in the undisturbed rooms consisted largely of decayed mud brick, especially in the nar-
row rooms and near the walls of the open court, room (3). No evidence of a burning of the roof was
found. The mass of walls and debris had been denuded by water and wind passing from north to south,
so that the walls and floors a t the southeastern corner, rooms (8) and (9), were worn away to a point
below the floor level.
I n the portico of the court, a large circular basin of limestone stood against the south wall between the
second and third columns. It was 106 cm. in diameter and 85 cm. high. I n room (6), in the southwestern
corner, was a rectangular basis of mud brick. I n front of this and before the door to room (9), on the
floor stood a. rectangular offering basin of the form usual in this period, but uninscribed. This offering
basin seemed to be in its original place.
I n addition to these two uninscribed stone basins, a number of pottery vessels and small model offer-
ing jars and bowls were found in the r o o m , as follows:
Room (2), in floor debris:

1. Traditional offering jar of coarse red ware, type IV-3.
2. Four or more rude trays, coarse red-brown ware, red wash, type XXVI-2; two were red (hard-baked)
and two or more were brown (soft-baked); the red wash was laid on the upper surface and the under-
side of the rim but not on the bottom; 23-7-2.
3. Six small model jars, of coarse red-brown ware, type XLIII.
4. Two model bowls, of coarse red-brown ware, type XLIV.
5. Part of the neck of a R. P. shoulder jar, type XVIII-1 (?).
6. A hammer stone, a flint nodule, with both ends bruised by pounding.
Room (4), in debris in western end; in upper debris and in the big limestone basin, apparently thrown into the
room from room (7).
7. Lower part of low bowl-stand, red-brown ware, red wash; type XXII-2; no holes.
8. Fragment from the side of a R. P. flaring bowl of type XXXIX-2.
9. Fragment from the side of a R. P. flaring bowl of type XXXIX-1.
10. Fragment from the recurved rim of a R. P. bowl of type XXXIII-1.
11. 278 small model offering jars of various subtypes of type XLIII.
12. 620 small model offering bowls, type XLIV.
Room (6), in floor debris:
13. Small bag-like jar with rimless neck, of red-brown ware, with a wash, the original color of which is not clear,
probably drab, wheel-made.
14. 34 small model offering jars, type XLIII.
15. 76 small model offering bowls, type XLIV.
( B ) DESCRIPTION
OF THE TEMPLE
OF PYRAMID
III-c
The site of the pyramid and the temple of III-c was cleared to rock before construction, and the
pyramid was founded directly on the rock. The site of the temple was packed with gravel, but the
slope of the rock, a fall of about 185 cm. from north to south, was never completely compensated, so
that the floors still show a fall of 60-65 cm. from north to south. The walls were founded in trenches in
this packed floor.
The rooms consisted of the following:
(a) Entrance doorway in middle of north wall; north wall not recessed for doorway (cf. III-b); slab threshold
of three stones, of which the inner stone is 15 cm. lower forming a step; closed by a two-leaved wooden
door on the inside, opening inwards.
(b) Room (1), entrance corridor with west end walled off to form room (2); doorway in south wall at east end
leading to room (3).
(c) Room (2), small room formed in west end of room (1) by cross wall bonded with the other walls; cf. III-b.
(d) Room (3), large open court with series of one compound and three simple niches around the western,
northern, and eastern faces; the entrance from room (1) appears not to have been closed by a door;
the southern side is taken by the portico.
(e) Room (4), the portico with three wooden columns on circular limestone bases along the southern side of
the court; east and west, opposite the columns, a rectangular anta in the wall; between the western
and the middle columns, against the south wall, a large circular basin of limestone (diam., 105 cm.;
height, 80 cm.).
(f) Room (5), anteroom to hall of niches, room (6) , doorway from east end of room (4) (portico), doorway
in south end of west side, leads to hall of niches; doorway in south end leads to room (8); no evidences
of doors in these doorways, but doorway from room (4) probably closed by wooden door opening in-
wards into room (5).
(g) Room (6), hall of niches, with complex system of niches as in room (9) of temple 111-a doorway from
room (5) opens in middle of east wall and probably had a wooden door swinging into the hall of
niches; doorway in middle of west side leads to inner offering room (7), a third doorway in south wall
leads to room (9), in the southwest corner, a rectangular basis of crude brick, 55 x 35 cm. and 30 cm.
high, was built against the plastered surface of the room (cf. room (9) in 111-u); in front of this basis,
on the floor stands a square limestone basin (60 x 65 cm.) of the usual type but uninscribed.
( h ) Room (7), the main offering room, greatly damaged by thieves’ excavation, doorway from room (6)
enters at south end of east wall, west wall only 90 cm. thick, was probably niched.
(i) Room (8), corridor leading from room (5) to rooms (9) and (10); doorway in north end leading from
(5) and another in south end of west wall leading to (9).
( j ) Room (9), anteroom (?) to room (10); doorway from corridor (8) as just stated; another in the north wall
connecting with room (6) (hall of niches); a third doorway in the west wall leads to room (10).
( k ) Room (10), secondary offering-room (?) or magazine, entered from room (9); walls plain without evidence
of niches, table-altars or shelves; cf. room (6) in III-band perhapsroom(10)inIII-a.
The stairway and its anteroom, rooms (4)and (5),inIII-aaretheonlypartsofIII-a which are not
represented in temple III-c. It appears that the plan of III-b presents all that is functionally necessary
in a funerary temple. The temples of III-aa n d III-c present these same functional apartments, but
with accessory features like the portico at the end of the court of offerings.
Like 111-a, the walls of the temple of III-c have been repeatedly plastered with a yellow mud
plaster. Over this a thin layer of fine white plaster had been laid.
The spaces between the walls were filled with a layer of clean debris packed hard on the underlying
“gebel.” This packed layer had been plastered with mud to form the first floor. The first layer of yel-
low plaster was laid from the first floor upwards. On this first floor after it had become footworn, a
fresh layer of clean debris largely limestone chips (masons’ spills) fifteen centimeters deep, was laid
down, and on that a fresh floor of mud plaster. The second floor was only slightly footworn.
There were only two minor alterations in the structure: -
(a) The doorway to the entrance magazine, room (2), had been blocked with a wall of crude brick, as often
in the mastaba chapels.
(b) In the southwestern corner of the portico, room (4), on the southern wall, there appeared to have been a
niche or the opening of a doorway to room (7); the eastern side of this niche or doorway was plastered
in continuation of the south wall to a depth of 10-15 cm. southwards and the eastern wall to a similar
depth on the opposite side of the doorway or niche; but the lines of doorway and niche could not be
traced any further and certainly did not show in room (7); the space between the two plastered strips
had been filled with brickwork and the surface of this brickwork coated with yellow plaster like the main
wall; probably this added brickwork and plaster represented some slight change in plan made before
the completion of the temple.
68 MYCERINUS
4. COMPARISON OF THE PLANS OF THE TEMPLES OF PYRAMIDS

III-a, III-b, AND III-c
A comparison of the plans of the temples of the three small pyramids south of the Third Pyramid
show the following facts:
Apartments III-aI I I - b III-c
Room Room Room
Entrance corridor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (8) (1) (1)
Entrance magazine (kitchen?) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (6-7) (2) (2)
Court of slaughter, usually with niches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (1) (3) (3)
Court portico . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (2) .. (4)
Anteroom of hall of niches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (3) .. (5)
Anteroom of stairway to roof . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (4) .. ..
Stairway to roof . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (5) .. ..
Hall of niches with offering tables and basin . . . . . . . . . . . . . (9) (4) (6)
Inner offering room . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (12) (5) (7)
Corridor to secondary offering (?) room . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (10a) .. (8)
Anteroom to secondary offering room or magazine . . . . . . . . . . (11) .. (9)
Secondary offering place (in 111-a) or magazine (?) . . . . . . . . . (10b) (6) (10)
I n the mud-brick chapels of the mastabas of the Cheops cemetery, the apartments are usually re-
duced to :
(1) Court; (2) Anteroom (often omitted); (3) Magazine; (4)Offering room.
I n the case of the mastabas of Dynasty V, the exterior mud-brick chapel usually contains (1)
Court; (2) Magazines, one or two.
CHAPTER V
BUILDING MATERIALS AND CONSTRUCTION
IT was my original intention to have the building materials and the construction of the Mycerinus temples
described by Dr. C. S. Fisher, who made plans of the temples (except III-c) and took notes in view of writing this
chapter. Unfortunately Dr. Fisher’s work with the Eckley B. Coxe, Jr., Egyptian Expedition made it impos-
sible for him to carry out the original intention, and I find myself compelled to give briefly the essential facts.
A certain poverty in the use of architectural expressions will be evident as the material is necessarily described
from the archaeological standpoint.
1. BUILDING MATERIALS
Stone was the building material used in the temples begun during the reign of Mycerinus - num-
mulitic limestone, red granite, and black granite. The building material in the temples erected by
Shepseskaf was white limestone or crude brick with stone and wood accessories. The later additions,
such as the screen wall and the blockings of the doorways, were also of crude brick, but the extensive
restoration of the inner part of the pyramid temple in Dynasty VI, was of nummulitic limestone.
( A ) LIMESTONE
The basis of the Mycerinus temples and of the Third Pyramid was the local coarse nummulitic lime-
stone. The core of the pyramid, the foundation platforms of the temples, and the massive core walls
were all of this stone. It is in general the same as the strata in the quarry southeast of the Third Pyra-
mid, which is of nearly sufficient size to have supplied the whole. Slight variations of color and texture
make it possible, however, that some stones were taken from another quarry. But no stone occurs
which may not be duplicated in the strata of the pyramid plateau.
The limestone used in the inner part of the pyramid temple (Dynasty VI) is also nummulitic lime-
stone of the pyramid plateau, but that is certainly not from the Mycerinus quarry. Some of the stones
have a softer texture and are yellowish in color.
Fine white limestone from Turah was used in the upper courses of the pyramid casing, above the
granite, and in the kernel-structure of the inner temple, but elsewhere only as an accessory:-
(1) In the valley temple, the threshold slabs of the Shepseskaf temple of crude brick, the rectangular basin
in the court, and the bases of the columns in the portico.
(2) In the pyramid temple, three threshold stones, of which one was in doorway (12) and the other two in
the magazine corridor, a kerb socket in doorway (21), two door-lintels in the northern magazines, some
of the packing stones used between the granite casing and the core walls and the unexplained niche-
like stone at the western end of the entrance corridor.
(3) In the temple of 111-a, the column bases, the threshold slabs, the kerb sockets for doors, and the offer-
ing tables.
(4) In the temple of III-b, the offering basin in room (3).
(5) In the temple of III-c, the column bases, the threshold slabs in the entrance doorway, the great circular
basin in room (4), and the rectangular basin in room (6).
The limestone had been cut in quarries, the nummulitic usually in enormous blocks. By traces left
on the terraces of the Mycerinus quarry and in the quarry of the Second Pyramid, the method of cut-
ting is fully shown to have been that universally used for limestone in ancient Egypt. This was the
method of isolating a block by trenches in the rock and breaking it loose by splitting along the cleavage
line of the strata.
The trenches in the Chephren quarry average about 60 cm. in width and descend to 30-40 cm. below
the cleavage surface along which the blocks had been split off. Before the removal of the blocks, the
trenches must have exceeded a meter in depth, and their width is just about sufficient to have permitted
a stone cutter to work standing in the trench. Unfinished trenches in the Mycerinus quarry show that
the trench was excavated by cutting a very narrow trench or trough with a copper chisel along each
side of the wide trench and smashing the ridge between with a heavy stone hammer. The method of
70 MYCERINUS
separating the blocks from the bed can only be surmised. It is usually taken for granted that wedges
were used in one way or another. The long rectangular excisions in the large limestone blocks in the
pyramid temple suggest that wooden beams were employed. The excisions extend the length of one
edge only of the blocks, are 16 cm. x 16 cm. in section, and always occur a t a thin stratum which is
stained red.¹ This excision was manifestly made in the quarry, and I am inclined to think that when the
block had been isolated by trenches, a groove 16 cm. x 16 cm. was cut near the bottom of the trench
along one side of the block; a wooden beam of about the size of the groove was wedged fast in it; the
trench filled with water (the ends could be easily dammed with mud); and the beam swelling in the
water lifted the stone from its bed.
It is to be noted that by this method of quarrying, blocks of limestone of any desired dimensions and
of approximately uniform size might be obtained. The trenches in the Chephren quarry prove that
blocks about 270 cm. square were cut over a considerable area. On the other hand, the removal of stone
from the Mycerinus quarry by terracing produced stones varying greatly in length, but of about the
same width and height. I n the second and third courses of the pyramid temple where the stones ap-
pear most uniform, the length ranges from 330 cm. to 630 cm. Of the larger stones, four measure 610 ± 2 0
cm. ; seven, 510 20
± cm.; six, 470 ±
20
cm.; and five, 400 ± 2 0 cm. Four stones of the core walls were
of remarkable size. The largest was in the great pier between the northwestern quarter of the court and
magazines (15) to (20). This gigantic stone measured 8.5 x 5.3 x 3 meters which, after deducting two
excisions made after the stone was in place, gives about 130 cubic meters (about 220 tons). Two other
blocks in the southern pier between the court and room (10) measured 7.9 x 3.75 x 2.58 meters and 7.5
x 4 x 2.46 meters respectively, making 76 cubic meters and 73.8 cubic meters or about 125 tons each.
The fourth stone was in the angle of the wall north of the doorway between the entrance corridor and
the court and measured 8 x 4.20 x 1.8 meters, making about 60 cubic meters or 100 tons. These
enormous stones were quarried by the trench method and without doubt in the adjacent quarry. One
of the two stones in the southern pier shows the bottom of one of the trenches cut for the superimposed
layer of stone, and the other has cracked across the middle after being set in place.
( B ) RED GRANITEAND BLACKGRANITE

The limestone core walls of the pyramid temple were already partly cased with granite when My-
cerinus died, and no doubt it is admissible that Mycerinus had designed to case his pyramid, the pyra-
mid 111-a, the walls of the pyramid temple, the valley temple, and the temple of pyramid 111-a in
granite after the manner of the walls of the two temples of Chephren.
It was only on the pyramids, however, and in the pyramid temple that any part of the granite casing
had been built. We found the unfinished black granite casing of the northern corridor, (13), still in
place on both walls. On the northern wall four adjoining blocks and one isolated block, while on the
southern wall, six stones of the first and three of the second course stood as set by the masons. Aside
from this room, only one other block was found in place - in the southern end of the portico. I n room
(24) behind the broken southern casing wall of crude brick, another black granite block was uncovered,
but it was found to be displaced and broken. And all along the core walls in the court and the entrance
corridor, dressed emplacements in the floor and in the core walls proved that the casing had been begun
in at least six places in these two apartments, that many blocks of the first course had been set in place
by the builders, but were afterwards removed by those who plundered the temple for its stone. I n both
these apartments, many fragments of black granite were found in the debris of the breaks in the crude-
brick casing, showing that the casing had been of black granite like the blocks still in place.
In the debris of the portico, we found four more or less complete casing blocks and a door lintel of
red granite, and it was evident that the casing indicated by the cuts in the walls of the portico and the
outer offering-room (8) had been of red granite. On the analogy of the Chephren valley temple, the
pillars and antae should be reconstructed of the same material (Fig. 10). The marks on the walls show
that the casing of these two rooms had been completed.
section 2a,
¹See (2),below.
BUILDING MATERIALS AND CONSTRUCTION 71
The red granite of both temple and pyramid has the characteristic appearance of Assuan granite
and was brought down in ships as described in the autobiographies of the Old Kingdom. The black
granite has the same consistency as the red and was of course also from Assuan. It occurs not only in
the temple casing but also here and there among the red granite casing blocks of the pyramid. Many of
the blocks of granite in or from the pyramid casing were carefully examined when we removed the mass
of them from above the pyramid temple, and aside from one hole bored with a cylinder borer, no trace
was found of the use of metal tools, except on those blocks which had been split or partially split by
Arab workmen of the 12th-13th century A.D. The stones split by the Arabs bore lines of wedge-shaped
FIGURE
10
cuts, evidently made with the iron or steel chisels found among the stones, and presented the char-
acteristic surfaces of split granite. The surfaces of the stones untouched by the Arabs, that is the great
majority, showed only the marks of hammering and rubbing with stone implements. Moreover the
undressed surfaces of some of these intact stones bore the characteristic weathering of the natural
granite boulders as seen to-day in the granite deposits of the First Cataract. It seems to me probable
that in Dynasty IV the greater part, if not all, of the granite blocks, were not quarried in the modern
way, nor in the manner of the obelisks of the New Kingdom, but taken directly from the piled masses of
boulders a t Assuan in which the blocks lay already separated by internal splitting and weathering. TO
work these blocks loose one by one was no difficult matter, and the proximity of the water greatly facili-
tated transportation. The quality of those boulders was sometimes no doubt inferior to the living rock
cut for obelisks of the New Kingdom, but was usually perfectly sound, as I personally observed during
the breaking of many of the them for the great dam a t Assuan. Granite weathers, hard as it is, and a
number of the casing blocks in the Third Pyramid show a slight deterioration of the surface, but I have
not noted one which had become unsound while in place. In the debris before the pyramid, however,
we found four or five unsound blocks which crumbled a t a blow or two of a heavy hammer, but these had
lain for centuries in salty debris exposed to rain and heat.
72 MYCERINUS
The largest single block of granite was red, set in the fourth course of the pyramid casing opposite
room (29). It measured 5.17 meters long by 0.98 meters high. The width could not be measured, but
the stones which could be measured varied from 1.50 m. to 2.65 m. in average width, the longer the stone
the greater its width. I estimated the width of the large block at a minimum of 1.9 m. but it may have
been over 2.5 m. This estimate gives from 9.6 to 12.7 cubic meters or 26 to 34 tons. The pillars in the
portico appear to have been slightly smaller, about 5 to 6 cubic meters or 11 to 16 tons.
( C ) CRUDEBRICK
Crude brick was the material used by Shepseskaf in finishing the pyramid temples of Mycerinus,
and all five of the completed temples were of that material. Crude brick was also used in the screen
walls, and in the other alterations in these crude-brick temples as well as in the restoration of the Val-
ley temple in Dynasty VI, but not in the restoration of the inner part of the pyramid temple. The
manufacture of crude brick is known in detail from the observation of the methods of modern Egyptian
brickmakers and is confirmed by the ancient models of brickmaking, and by bricks and brick moulds
found in excavations.
(1) Preparation of the Dough for Bricks
Ancient bricks are for the most part of black Nile mud, but some of them have a lighter color and
the mud in them was palpably mixed with other materials. Straw occurs in some bricks, but is by no
means universal or even prevalent. Modern bricks show similar differences in color, and usually con-
tain straw. At the present day, the variations in color are due almost entirely to the natural color of
the deposit from which the mud is taken. I n some places the old deposits of Nile mud are shot with
sand, and a t others, especiallynear the edge of the desert, with strata of fine rain-washed detritus
from the desert above. The only material which is now deliberately added to the mud is dust and
broken straw, by preference the sweepings of the threshing-floor ; but even street-sweepings, which
usually contain a certain amount of wind blown straw, are used by poor people. The ancient mixtures
may have been less accidental in character, as they have a greater range towards yellow than the modern
mixtures.
At present the mud is mixed in a nearly circular hole in the ground, if possible that from which the
mud is being cut. The mortar, mixed carefully and kneaded by use of the short hoe and by treading
with the feet, is prepared in the morning and lies all day and over night in the hole. The next morning,
it is rapidly removed on circular mats, with two handles, which are sprinkled with dust to prevent the
mud sticking. It is laid out in long bars on dust sprinkled ground alongside the place where the bricks
are to lie. Meanwhile another lot of mud is mixed in the hole in the ground to lie until the follow-
ing day. The amount of mud mixed in one batch is sufficient for 2000 to 3000 bricks, and if more are
required two or more mixing places are prepared, each to turn out one batch.
(2) Making the Bricks

The bricks of the Mycerinus temples were made in the well-known Egyptian brick mould which is
used also a t the present day. This is a wooden box open on both top and bottom and with one side
extended and dressed to form a handle level with the top of the mould. The process of manufacture was
anciently much the same as to-day; as the marks on the bricks, the examples of ancient moulds, and the
models of brickyards fully prove.
The process probably varies a little from locality to locality and from craftsman to craftsman, but,
as I have observed it among the brickmakers of Coptos, it is mainly as follows:
(a) The brickmakers working in pairs squat on each side of the long bar of mud dough placed on the ground
as described above; one takes from his right and one from his left and both shuffie back a pace after
each brick is made.
(b) A lump of dough is torn off the bar and roughly formed as a brick, using dust to keep the mud from
sticking t o the fingers;
(c) The wooden mould is set on the ground lengthwise or parallel to the bar of dough having been dipped in
water to remove the mud of the preceding brick;
(d) Some brickmakers dip the brick in water to prevent it sticking in the mould, while others trust simply to
wetting the mould; the rough brick is then slammed sharply into the form and pressed down; the
surplus mud on top is removed by scraping with the hand or with a stick; it is a t this point that
the long finger marks seen on ancient bricks were made; the bottom of the brick takes a print of the
ground under the mould;
(e) The mould is then lifted, dipped in water as the brickmaker shuffles backwards to the place of the next
brick, and the process is repeated.
(f) When the end of the dough is reached, two long lines of bricks lie end to end on each side and are left to
dry. The drying process takes several days at least, and the bricks are turned over in the process.
(g) A pair of brickmakers and a mud mixer will produce from 4000 to 6000 bricks a day, but the usual pro-
duction is less owing to the conditions under which they work. They work only on order. That is,
when a man wishes to build he engages the usual gang of three, provides the place and the materials,
and as his facilities and means are often only equal to one mixing place the gang is limited to 2000 to
3000 bricks a day on that job. Often, however, they may have two or even three such jobs going at
one time and reach their maximum.'
(3) Sizes of Bricks in the Mycerinus Temples

Owing to the crushing of the heavier walls and the general destruction and decay, it was in many
places impossible to distinguish the individual bricks in the walls of the Mycerinus temples. A certain
amount of variation in size was no doubt caused by moisture and pressure after the bricks were laid.
In almost all Egyptian brickwork, the size of the individual bricks made in the same mould varies
slightly, due to carelessness in lifting the mould, to settling while wet, to accidents during the drying
process and the subsequent transport, and in part to trimming by the mason. The bricks used in the
walls of Shepseskaf varied from 34 to 41 cm. in length, 16 to 20 cm. in width, and 9 to 12 cm. in thickness.
The most common size was about 40 x 20 x 12 cm. Bricks of different consistency and from different
moulds were observed side by side in the same wall. The essential feature of the proportions of these,
as of all Egyptian bricks, is that the length of the brick was approximately twice the width, at any rate
when laid with plastered joints.
The larger size, about 40 x 20 x 12 cm., was also used in the screen wall built probably in Dynasty
V, and was found moreover in the mastabas of the Giza cemetery. But in the cemetery a smaller size
was more usual.
A warning must be given that the size of the bricks is a very unreliable indication of date. It can
only be used at one locality and under special circumstances. Conclusions drawn at one site should not
be transferred to another.
2. MASONRY AND CONSTRUCTION
The types of masonry and the methods of construction used at the Mycerinus temples varied
according to the purpose of the structure and the material of which it was built: -
(a) Stone structures -
(1) Foundation platform;
(2) Core walls - pyramids, walls of pyramid temple and valley temple.
(3) Casings and pillars - pyramids and pyramid temple.
(4)Simple free walls - the inner part of the pyramid temple.
(b) Crude-brick structures -
(1) Foundations walls - all temples of Shepseskaf.
(2) Casing walls - substitute for stone casing at pyramid and valley temples.
(3) Simple free walls with wood and limestone accessories.
(A) STONESTRUCTURES
Except for the inner part of the pyramid temple, all stone structures were erected by Mycerinus.
(1) The Foundation Platform
The foundation platform of the pyramid temple, the causeway, and as much of the platform of the
valley temple as had been built, were parts of one continuous construction. It consisted of enormous
We
¹ have found it impossible when building camp-huts to buy ready-made bricks except as a favor from some one who was
planning to build, and have been obliged to employ brickmakers to make our own bricks like everyone else in Egypt.
74 MYCERINUS
blocks of limestone, apparently as they came from the quarry but bruised by transport and loosely set
together without any binding material. The interstices were filled with masons’ limestone chips,
debris, or quarry debris. The surface of the bed rock had been dressed but not leveled to take this
platform.
The platform varied in depth to equalize the irregularity of the bed rock, and produce an approxi-
mately level surface. As already stated, the bed rock under the southwestern quarter of the pyramid
temple rose in a knoll, the top of which was about 90 cm. above the floor level of the court. Over the
area of this knoll, the core walls were usually laid on the surface of the rock which had then been cut
away between the walls to admit the paving slabs which formed the floors of the rooms; but the southern
wall of room (8) had been founded in a trench cut in this rock stratum. The southern side of the knoll
sloped gently away to the south. The eastern and northern sides, however, descended abruptly along
a line which crossed the court from the south, about eight meters east of the screen wall, to a point
about four meters north of the central pathway where it turned sharply westward to the northern side
of the pillar socket (E 4). From there, the line was traced northwestwards under the northern pier of
the portico and under room (24) to the northern end of room (28); but the cliff became much lower in
this direction. The abrupt side of the knoll was deepest north of the central pathway where its top
was 110 cm. and its bottom 362 cm. below the court floor, giving a height of 252 cm. for the cliff. At the
northeastern corner of the court, outside, the platform consisted of two courses of great blocks and the
bottom of the lower course was 435 cm. below the court floor. As the top of the upper course was 86
cm. below the floor, the depth of the foundation platform was 349 cm. Wherever the Arab treasure-
hunters had penetrated the platform, we found two courses of stone; but we observed that close to
the abrupt side of the knoll, in rooms (24, 13,26, and 28), the platform was only one course deep. Where
there were two courses, the joints were broken but the stones of both courses were laid with large cracks
occasionally 50 cm. wide, which had been packed with limestone rubbish.
As nearly as could be determined the transport of these immense blocks from the adjacent Mycerinus
quarry took place, as usual, by dragging the stones on sledges out through the low southern side of the
quarry and up the natural slope, either east or west of the quarry, to the place where each was to be
set. No trace was found of any causeway other than the great one. The foundations of the valley
temple were growing from the end of the causeway outwards and it is probable that the stones used there
had been dragged down the causeway, especially as an opening had been left in the superstructure of
the west wall at the end of the causeway.
The marks on the lower edges of these stones show that they were manoeuvred into place by means
of large wooden (?) levers.
(2) The Limestone Core Walls
The walls of the two Mycerinus temples were also built of massive limestone blocks, even larger
than the average used in the foundations. As already stated above (p. 70), four of these stones were
of monstrous size, 60 to 130 cubic meters, with calculated weights of 100 to 220 tons.
The surface of the platform was dressed level on the lines of the core wall, not continuously but for
each stone separately. I n the southwestern quarter, rooms (7),(8), and (10), the rock was sufficiently
high to take the preliminary dressing. The south wall of room (8), north wall of room (10), was in a
trench about 80 cm. deep cut in the rock, and about 70 cm. wider on the south than the wall. On the
north side of the wall the rock had been further cut away to a depth of 28 cm. to take the granite floor of
room (8). The core walls were then laid in these prepared places directly on the rock or on the massive
foundation platform. As the blocks rested in the walls, the tops, the bottoms, and the ends were seen
to be dressed flat, and the stones to be closely fitted with fairly fine joints, badly weathered in places.
The joints had all been closed with a pink plaster made of sulphate of lime and, sand, and the stones
appeared to have been adjusted in place by “floating” on plaster as was certainly done in the case of
granite blocks.
The stones which were much longer than they were wide or high were laid generally as stretchers in
all three courses; but in the core walls of the entrance corridor the stones were shorter, between 3.5
and 4 meters long, and were laid as headers in the bottom course. The stones of the second course in
all the walls were generally slightly longer than those of the first course, and those of the third course
were more narrow than those of the first two courses. The four enormous blocks mentioned above were
in the bottom course (first course). The joints were well broken from course to course and the corners
were properly bonded.
The blocks of stone in the core walls, like those in the foundations, had been brought up on sledges
from the adjacent quarry, still with the rough surfaces left by quarrying. Each stone had probably been
turned over in loading on the sledge so that its strata ran vertically. Brought to its intended place in the
wall, the exposed side which was to be the bottom and the end which was to fit the end of the stone already
set were dressed flat. The block appears to have been then turned over on its long axis to fall into the
place prepared and was adjusted with wooden levers, probably having been “floated” on plaster. The
place for the next block was then prepared by dressing the exposed end of the stone just set and the
floor or the top of the course below. The process of dressing the floor for the stones singly has produced
a very uneven base, but as applied to the tops of the courses has resulted in fairly even but not level
lines. There is a slight slope downwards from west to east in the great outside walls; and at various
places there are small steps in the course lines, in particular in the northern core wall of the court. The
great piers which form the western side of the portico (8) and those which bound the western side of the
court north and south of the portico, were manifestly set before the rest of the core walls. These con-
tain three of the four enormous stones so often mentioned and their course levels do not correspond with
those of the other core walls. These irregularities may be illustrated by the following series of course
levels :
Court South Room 7-8 8,S, 8
S. wall pier 7s door S. E. end W. wall
Rock basis . . . . . . 61.04 m. 61.64 m. 61.27 m. 61.58 m. 61.58 m. 61.37 m.
Top of c. 1 . . . . . 62.08 m. 64.20 m. 62.49 m. 62.42 m. 63.21 m. 63.35 m.
Top of c. 2 . . . . . 64.46 m. 65.17 m. 64.14 m. 64.26 m. 65.06 m. 65.15 m.
Top of c. 3 . . . . . 66.16 m. (none) 65.89 m. 65.89 m. (none) 66.82 m.
Similar differences were found in the levels of the corresponding walls on the north. The step in the
northern wall of the court is 5 cm. high in the top of the first course and 10 cm. high in the top of the
second. All these walls are shown by the carefully drawn outlines in the plan to have been very irregu-
lar, indeed crooked in their lateral lines, a fact which is explained by the nature of the walls which
were merely to act as supports for the granite casing. The granite blocks already set prove that in
places the limestones wall cut away on both sides would have been only 30-50 cm. thick.
These huge stones exhibit three different kinds of excisions -
(1) A rectangular excision, about 16 x 16 cm. running the length of one edge only; this edge was sometimes
the bottom edge and sometimes the top edge, but always at a reddish stratum in the stone.
(2) One to five rectangular excisions, from 20-30 cm. long, 10-15 cm. wide, and 10-15 cm. deep, aIways in
one lower edge;
(3) A sloping excision about 30 cm. long in one top edge of a few stones of the second course.
The long excision No. 1, above, was manifestly a quarry cut as it was sometimes above and sometimes
below in the wall, and in at least one case the stone above had five rectangular excisions of type No. 2,
adjoining the long excision. I reconstruct the long excision as one used in separating the block from the
bed in the quarry by cleavage. Probably a wooden beam was wedged in the cut and swollen with water.
The rectangular cuts No. 2, I interpret as lever holds for adjusting the stone in place in the wall by means
of large wooden beams operated on the same simple principles as those which we apply to the use of such
levers in our own excavations. The sloping excisions No. 3 in the top of the second course I think were
also to facilitate the use of levers in adjusting the stones of the third course.
It is to be noted that the stones rest in the walls with the natural strata horizontal and usually with
that side up which was upwards in the quarry. Those stones which have the quarry ledge on the
upper edge have probably been turned over the wrong way in setting, but still have the strata. horizontal.
One exception to the horizontal position of the strata was presented by the first stone on the west in the
76 MYCERINUS
wall between corridors (13) and (15). In this block the strata run vertically and it is to be noted that
the levelling line in red and the inscription attached to it also run vertically. The only explanation is
that this stone once stood in a core wall on which the levelling lines had been already drawn and had
then as an afterthought been shifted to its present place. The gap in the limestone wall in which the
doorway (25) was built appears to me to be the place from which this stone was removed. In that
case, the gap left for the doorway was originally much smaller and was enlarged by removing this stone.
Another gap, perhaps originally left for the stairway to the roof, is seen in this same core wall opposite
stairway (23). It was afterwards closed with light masonry when the crude-brick temple was built.
From the quarry to the wall, the stones were dragged on sledges. The great blocks weighing from
100 to 200 tons, although not so heavy as the greatest of the granite obelisks of the New Kingdom,¹ give
evidence of the ability of the Egyptians to deal with great weights as early as Dynasty IV. In compari-
son with these colossal blocks, the handling of the smaller stones of 10-30 tons was a simple matter. It
is, I think, almost impossible to escape the conclusion that these huge stones were turned over twice,
once in the quarry in loading on the sledge and once in unloading the stone into its place in the wall,
For all the stones of the first course, the sledge was dragged on the surface of the rock or the foundation
platform. For the second and third courses, construction planes of rubble packed with limestone rub-
bish were used, on which the sledges were dragged up to the higher levels. The condition in which the
use of these construction planes left the spaces between the walls was clearly proved by the unfinished
room (10). This was completely filled to the top of the second course with worn boulders and rubbish
which formed the construction platform on which the stones of course three had been dragged to their
places, but this platform covered another platform at a lower level. The approach to these platforms
was through a gap left in the western wall of room (10), and I conclude that this gap was reached on the
outside by an inclined plane. Apparently the wall served by these platforms was the southern wall of
room (8), but perhaps also the back part of the southern pier of the portico. The stones of the first
course of the wall of room (8) had been dragged along the rock to the edge of the trench in which that
course was set. After this course was laid, the space was filled in to the top of course one with limestone
rubbish, and the stones of course two dragged across the hard packed surface of this plane. After
course two was in place, the space was filled with worn limestone boulders to the top of that course and
the stones of course three were dragged over the hard packed surface of this plane. It is to be noted
that in the foundation platform of the causeway, which had been used also as a construction plane, the
irregularities of the top of this platform had been filled with limestone rubbish, the surface of which
was worn and darkened by usage.
The effect of this method of construction was to leave the rooms of the temple completely filled with
the material of the construction platforms when the core walls had been finished. It is obvious that this
material had to be removed before the granite casing could be begun. Similar construction planes and
platforms had to be built, at any rate for the granite courses, above the second course and for the roof,
filling the rooms a second time up to the roof. This second set of platforms was removed gradually in
dressing the surfaces of the granite casing from the top down. The same process was observed in the un-
finished limestone rooms of the inner temple (see p. 21). In the case of the great open court, the planes
were probably confined to a sufficient width along the walls. The repeated handling of light masses of
construction material of this sort is no great matter. The large room (10) could have been emptied by 100
men in five or'six days. The material when removed was not carried far away, but left close by to be used
again or it was simply transferred from one part of the temple to another. The limestone boulders were
all rounded and worn by repeated use. The worn boulders in the later construction plane south of the
inner temple were probably boulders previously used in the Mycerinus work; and the rubble used in the
walls of room (36), and in the retaining wall north of the entrance corridor, probably also came from
the material of the construction planes.
The interior and the exterior faces of the core walls had been marked with horizontal parallel red
lines, one Egyptian ell apart. A t irregular intervals, pendent isosceles triangles were drawn on the un-
Engelbach,
¹ The Aswan Obelisk, p. 9, calculates the weights of nine obelisks a t the following figures - 1168 tons, 507 tons,
455 tons, 323 tons, 331 tons, 227 tons, 193 tons, 121 tons, and 143 tons.
dersides of these lines, forming vertical rows, but not exactly in a vertical line. These vertical rows
were usually one to two meters from the ends of the walls and sometimes on long walls at intermediate
points as well. One of the triangles, as observed in three places- that of the 3-ell mark-was filled in solid
with red paint. These red lines, which are known to be levelling lines, have suffered greatly where exposed
to the weather and had been partially cut away wherever the granite casing had been set. The vertical
distance between the ell lines varied from 50 to 54 cm., tested both by telescopic level and by dead
measurement, and the levels above our arbitrary datum line also varied as much as seven centimeters.
For example, the 5-ell line was at level 63.76 meters in room (10) and at 63.83 meters in room (13). The
zero mark as calculated from the ell lines in rooms (10 inside and out), (13), (14), (15), (19), (20 inside
and out), (24), (27), and the great court, was between 61.17 and 61.19 meters; and the 1-ell mark on
the southern face of the entrance corridor at the east end gave a zero of 61.165 meters (plus or minus 5
millimeters). The zero mark would have been just about level with the top of the foundation platform
where the causeway joined the entrance doorway. It was not found marked, however, at any point. In
the court, the zero line was slightly below the top of the foundation platform, and the floor of the court
in front of the portico was about at the l-ell level. Further west the floor rose to 63.14 m. (just under
the 4-ell level) in the granite pavement in room (29); and the base of the pyramid casing at this point
was 62.04 m. (just under the 2-ell level). Under the southern side of the portico, the rock surface rose
above the l-ell mark.
The irregularities of the levelling lines is illustrated by the following list of levels:
Room (13) S. wall Room (13) N. wall Room (10) Court

west east west east south N.W. corner
7-ell mark . . . . . . 64.69 m. .... .... .... 64.79 m. ....
6-ell mark. . . . . . . 64.36 m. 64.385 m. 64.37 m. 64.36 m. 64.27 m. ....
5-ell mark . . . . . . 63.823 m. 63.835 m. 63.83 m. 63.83 m. 63.76 m. ....
4-ell mark . . . . . . 63.29 m. 63.28 m. 63.33 m. 63.32 m. .... ....
3-ell mark . . . . . . 62.765 m. 62.76 m. .... 62.80 m. .... 62.75 m.
In room (10), where the levelling lines were especially well preserved on the north and the south
walls, the lines from 3-ells to 7-ells were marked on the north wall and the triangle of the lowest mark,
3-ells, was in solid red. On the south wall, the lines and marks for 5-ells to 7-ells were plain, but no
line could be found below the 5-ell marks. The 4-ell marks would have fallen about in the top of course
one of the core wall. It was clear that the 3-ell line on the north wall had been marked before the
making of the “first construction plane” in this room and that the lines on the second course both north
and south had been made after the “first plane” and before the “second plane.” Probably the ell
lines on the second course were fixed by dead measurement from the 3-ell line, which could easily have
been exposed a t the two ends. The lines on the south wall on the second course could have been fixed
by a secondary levelling operation from the north wall.
Professor Borchardt¹ reports two zero lines from the pyramid of King Ne-weser-re of Dynasty V,
one at the level of the foundation platform and the other at the level of the top of the pavement. At
the Mycerinus temple, the building had not advanced so far as to require the drawing of the second
set of levelling lines which would naturally have been placed on the granite casing. In our temple
therefore we have found only one zero level indicated by the marks preserved.
I would reconstruct the process of levelling at the Mycerinus pyramid temple as follows:
(a) The zero mark was fixed on the top of the foundation platform at the entrance, probably on one side,
and after the construction of course 1 of the core walls.
(b) The marks for ells 1 to 3 were set on the core wall by dead measurement from zero.
See
¹ Das Grabdenkmal des Königs Ne-weser-re’,p. 154. Professor Borchardt has recovered from the Abu Sfr temples four very
interesting technical terms used by the Egyptian architects in levelling, and a fifth is recorded by Professor Petrie (Medump.12b):
“zero” ............... nfrw . . . . . . . . . . . . . . “belowzero” ...... mD
Hr
nfrw .........
line’’
‘‘zero . . . . . . . . . . . m t p n nfrw . . . . . . . . Xrnnfrw(Medum)..
“above zero” ......... Hr

nfrw ............
78 MYCERINUS
(c) The 3-ell mark was taken as the starting point for the levelling and was carried across the corridor and
along both walls to the court and from there throughout the temple. The triangles of the 3-ell line
were the only ones found filled in solid with red.
(d) Having fixed the 3-ell mark at each convenient point, the other ell marks at that point were fixed by dead
measurement up and down.
(e) The instruments used in the levelling were:
(1) A stout cord, perhaps the same cord used in linear measurements on building sites and fields.¹
(2) A wooden isosceles triangle, with a hole in the middle of the odd side for attaching a plummet string.
(3) A plumb-bob on a string.
(4) Possibly a long straight-edge of wood to which one or more triangles may have been attached; it
would also have been possible to have the triangles marked on the side of a broad straight-edge.
(f) The cord was stretched horizontally along the wall, with one end on the 3-ell mark, and levelled by
holding the base of the wooden triangle, odd side up, along the cord so that the string of the plumb-bob
bisected the pendent angle between the equal sides, perhaps marked with a straight vertical line; the
accuracy of the operation would be proportional to the size of the wooden triangle and would have
been greatly increased by the use of the straight-edge mentioned above.
(g) When the cord was adjusted and stretched very taut, a red line nearly one centimeter thick was drawn
along the cord; in some cases, in the Giza mastabas, the splashing of the red paint indicates that the
cord was smeared with red paint and snapped against the wall.
In addition to the levelling lines, the ell marks, and the triangles, every stone appears to have borne
an inscription in red paint, repeated, on both long sides. These were near the top of the stone and be-
tween two of the levelling lines, but not necessarily connected with them. We found it difficult to
determine whether the inscriptions or the levelling lines were made first. The inscriptions were for
the greater part concealed behind the brick casing and were recovered in 1923 by cutting away the
casing. They are given in Pl. XI carefully copied by Mr. Alan Rowe. The list is as follows:
(1) Wall between rooms (13) and (24), second course, first stone on west, western end of stone:
i. On face in room (13).
ii. On face in room (24).
aprwMnkAwra-txwwADtsA.
Distinguishing mark, antilope.
(2) Same wall between rooms (13) and (24) second course second stone from west, eastern end of stone:
iii. On face in room (13).
iv. On face in room (24).
aprw MnkAwra-txw nDs (?) sA.
Distinguishing mark, wDa.
(3) Wall between rooms (13) and (15), first course, first stone on west, runs vertically about in middle:
v. On face in room (15).
aprw MnkAwra-txw nDssA.
Distinguishing mark, Axw-bird
?( or aA-bird).
(4) Same wall between rooms (13) and (15) second course, third stone from west, east end:
vi. On face in room (13).
The only legible mark is sA.
(5) Wall between rooms (14) and (26), second course:
vii. On face in room (14).
aprwMnkAwra-txw nDssA.
Distinguishing mark, not preserved.
(6) Same wall between room (20) and room (36) and (37), second course, third stone from corner:
viii. On face in room (20).
aprwMnkAwratxwwADtsA.
Distinguishing mark, Jackal-with-feather, Cynopolis-nome.
(7) Same wall between rooms (20) and (37 N), first course, second stone from corner:
ix. On face in room (20).
x. On face in (37 N).
aprwMnkAwr-txwwADtsA.
Distinguishing mark, Itp.
Forthe New Kingdom, see Borchardt, Aeg. Zeit. 42, p. 70. The object represented by the sign ##sA, may represent the same cord,
¹
taking the end loops as handles and the side loops as tags marking the ells. See the form of the sign in Dynasty I, Petrie, R. T. I.
Pl.
IX, 1-5; XI, 6 , 16; XXI, 28; XXXI, 46.
(8) Wall between rooms (16) and (20) and exterior, second course, second stone from corner:
xi. On face in room (19).
aprw MnkAwra-txw nDs (?) sA.
Distinguishing mark, Axw-bird (or Ibis).
(9) Wall between rooms (27) and (22), second course:
xii. On face in room (27).
aprwMnkAwra-txw . . . . .
Distinguishing mark, not preserved.
(10) Wall between rooms (10) and (37 S.), second course, third stone from corner.
xiii. On face in (37 S).
aprwMnkAwra-txwwADtsA.
Distinguishing mark, wAD
(11) Great court, north of doorway (12), on west face near corner of pier:
xiv. On face in court, facing east.
aprw MnkAwra-txw nDssA.
Distinguishing mark, a bird.
The signs which I have noted as distinguishing marks are usually after the inscription and of larger
relative size than the signs in the inscriptions; but in two cases, the distinguishing mark was in front
(Nos. vii and xii), in two cases underneath (Nos. ii and x), and in one case (No. xiii) both before and
behind but not aligned with the inscription. A full list of these marks and a discussion of their mean-
ing is given in Appendix E.
The levelling lines of the first course which appear to have been drawn first would have served pri-
marily in levelling the top of that course and similarly the levelling lines of the second and third courses
served the tops of those courses. In corridor (13), which had a sloping floor, special red lines were drawn
to mark the tops of the sloping courses of the granite casing (see Pl. II). The line for the top of the first
course had been almost entirely cut away in preparing the core wall for the casing, but the greater part of
the line for the top of the second course was preserved. It began four centimeters under the western end
of the 5-ell mark and sloped down to cross the 4-ell line 830 cm. from its western end, making a fall of 48.5
cm. in 830 cm. of length or one ell in 17 ells (895 cm.). The line sloped on downward toward the 3-ell
mark, but ran behind the crude-brick casing, to reappear again on the core wall forming the side of the
doorway (12). The vertical distance between the two lines was 90 cm., not an even ell, or two ells, like
the levelling lines. It seemed clear that the levelling lines had been used to set the sloping course lines;
and in the rest of the temple where the floors were flat, the levelling lines could also have been used to
dress the tops of the courses of the casing. In rooms (7) and (8), where the casing was finished, the top
of the courses did not coincide with the ell-lines, but special course-lines for the casing need not neces-
sarily be assumed. See Appendix E.
(3) Wall-Casings and Pillars
The condition of the granite casing has already been described: 1, the finished but entirely de-
stroyed red granite casing in rooms (7) and (8), 2, the unfinished but destroyed casing of black granite
in the entrance corridor and the court, 3, the black granite block in place in the southern end of the
portico, 4, the displaced black granite block in room (24), and 5, the unfinished black granite casing
still. in place on both sides of corridor (13). From the point of view of construction no distinction
need be made between the red and the black granite. The evidence for the finished casing has long
been known from the valley temple of Chephren.¹ The unfinished casing of the Mycerinus temple has
now afforded important additional evidence of the method of construction.
First of all, the top of the foundation platform along the face of the core wall was dressed for each
casing stone separately. The stone must, I think, have been dragged up and placed face down, prob-
ably on wooden beams, opposite the place it was to occupy in the wall. The stone had already been
roughly dressed on the sides and front. On the front, a low ridge, 5-10 cm. wide and 3-5 cm. high, had
been left on the four edges. While lying thus the bottom only of the first stone was dressed flat; the
See
¹ especially Hoelscher, Chephren.
80 MYCERINUS
floor of the place to be occupied was dressed flat, and the crevices in the foundation platform chinked
with limestone chips and white plaster. The core wall was also hollowed out to take the bulging un-
dressed back of the stone; or, when the stone was a short one, the space was filled with a limestone slab,
or rubble, set in the core wall with plaster. It was uncertain whether or not one side of the first casing
stone was dressed before setting, but the second side was clearly seen not to have been dressed in the
solitary block in room (7). The outer sides of the end stones in the three rows in corridor (13) were also
undressed. There was no trace of a guiding line for the face of the finished casing to be found on the
foundation platform; and it is probable that a stretched cord served this purpose.
The bottom of the stone and the place for it having been thus prepared, the next step is a matter of
surmise. I would suggest that the granite block was then turned over on its lower edge as a fulcrum,
FIGURE
11
until it dropped into place in the wall, on a layer of plaster. The stones of the first course of the casing
in the corridor were very irregular in size, but measured from 1.4 cubic meters to 1.8 cubic meters.
Mr. W. P. Pollard of the Chemical Laboratory of the Egyptian Government has kindly ascertained for
me that this stone weighs about 2,900 kilogrammes to the cubic meter. Thus the stones weighed from
4,060 to 5,220’kilogrammes each, or from 4 to 5.2 tons. As a matter of practical experience, we have,
during the excavation of this temple, repeatedly turned over, partly with wooden levers and partly by
hand, granite blocks of this weight with a gang of 10 to 12 men. I would point out that the ridges,
especially that on the top edge, would greatly facilitate this process. In a few cases once the stone had
dropped in place, it required little or no adjustment; but in many cases, two lever-holes were cut in the
foundation platform under the front edge of the stone as it lay after dropping. These lever-holes
measure about 20 cm. long by 12-20 cm. wide, and 5-8 cm. deep and usually lie under the face-line of
the casing but sometimes entirely in front of that line. These holes prove that the final adjustment
was made in these instances by levering with wooden beams. The layer of plaster of which we found
abundant evidence in all emplacements, served to ((float”the stone and facilitate the adjustment. It is
well known that granite blocks ((floated”in this manner can be shoved about by a few men even with-
out levers; and it is to be presumed that some of the stones which were without lever-holes were so
adjusted by hand.
FIGURE
12
FIGURE
13
82 MYCERINUS
When the first stone was set, the side against which the next stone was to abut was dressed flat. The
next stone was brought up, laid on its face on the wooden beams, and dressed flat both on the bottom
and on the side which was to join the dressed side of the first stone. The emplacement for the second
stone, having been prepared by dressing the floor and cutting out or filling in the core wall, was flooded
with plaster; the second stone was then turned over and set in place against the dressed side of the first
stone. This process was continued until the first course was finished.
The second course was laid in a similar manner, but without doubt from the top of a construction
plane instead of from the top of the foundation platform. In room (13), while the work on the second
course of the southern casing was in progress, the continuation of that on the first course of the opposite
wall must have been hampered. That this was actually the case is shown by the fact that the fifth stone
in the northern wall, stone (Na 5), was set in place with an interval of 135 cm. between it and the pre-
ceding stone (Na 4). The explanation seems to be that when the continuation of work on the first
northern course was interrupted by the plane for the second southern course, the masons working on
the northern wall discontinued and began again further east, byond the end of the plane. For reasons
which will immediately appear, I conclude that the plane used on the second course on the south ap-
proached from the west (the break in the wall which afterwards became doorway (25)), and that the
second course was being built from west to east. It seems now an inexplicable piece of muddling to have
begun the second course before the first was finished; but it is possible that Mycerinus died at this time
and that during the last weeks of the construction, the work was disorganized.
The top of the first course was prepared for the second course one stone at a time. In room (13),
the second course began in the middle of the wall, and three stones of the course were found in place.
The top of course one west of the western stone of course two was still rough (undressed); but east of
the eastern stone of course two, the top of course one had been dressed flat for a distance of 120 cm. The
stone which was intended for this dressed place was certainly the unset stone which we found cast down
on the bare limestone floor, against the core wall just east of the eastern stone of course one of this casing
and covered by the crude-brick casing of Shepseskaf. This unset stone had a measured length of 119
cm. If the inclined plane had approached from the east, it would hardly have been possible to roll
this unset stone off on the bare floor of the corridor so close to the casing already in place, but if it
be assumed that the plane approached from the west, the position of the unset stone would be the
one.
The most noticeable difference between the first and the second course lies in the absence of lever-
holes for adjusting the stones of the second course. In working levers on top of a construction plane,
it was of course easy to dig under the edge of the casing block and to use a fragment of hard stone as a
fulcrum. One of the three stones of the second course shows the usual ridge around the edges of the
face; another has this ridge and also two rough lever knobs on the lower edge; and the third has a flat
face, which may however have been dressed after the stone was set. The stones of the second course,
like those of the first, had been (‘floated’’on plaster, and the close joints of both courses were filled with
a film of plaster and pointed.
The faces of all these granite blocks, including the one abandoned before setting, bore inscriptions
in red paint. In one place, the plaster used in setting course two had run down over the inscription on
the stone below; in another, the writing was over the splash of plaster. But the presence of a similar
inscription on the unset stone proves that these inscriptions were painted on the stone before setting,
and where the inscription was written over the plaster, it had no doubt been rewritten after setting the
stone. Probably the inscription, having been placed on more than one side of the stone, was rewritten
horizontally on the face after the stone had been set; for some signs were found upside down on the
face and the complete inscription was in several instances found on the undressed top or side.
The red inscriptions on the granite casing blocks consisted of four elements of which one, like the
red inscriptions on the blocks of the core wall, was a “distinguishing mark.” This distinguishing mark
was not regularly placed with reference to the rest of the inscription, but was sometimes in front, some-
times behind, sometimes above or below, and was often repeated on the same face. As the stones were
dressed on the spot to fit the place, as the masons began in the middle of the wall in two cases, and
as they began at several places simultaneously in the walls of the entrance corridor and the court, it
is very doubtful to my mind whether these distinguishing marks could have served to indicate the place
of the stone in the wall.¹ The first element in the inscription was the word gs. The four stones on the
north wall of corridor (13) all bore the word gs, and as second element the word imy-wrt, but the two
were separated by a space. The stones of the south wall in both courses had for the first element the
word gs, and for the second the word imn (?), but on stones S b 2, S a 4 and S a 7 , the gs was separated
by other signs from the word imn (?) while in Sb 3, the word imn (?) was omitted or illegible. The third
element was the same on all preserved inscriptions and read : hmwt smyt. The first interpretation which
suggests itself is that the words gs imy-wrt and gs imn (?) designate the two sides of the corridor; but
the gs imy-wrt side is the northern side and the other is the southern side, and I fail to see how the terms,
both meaning “right-hand side,” can apply. Furthermore what was the object in rewriting an inscrip-
tion designating the place of the stone after the stone was in place? On the other hand, the word gs
(det., house) ‘‘administration
(?),” “estate,” or something similar, has a meaning which may more
probably belong to the word in our inscription; cf. the following titles:
(a) imy-rA
gs (det., house) “overseer of the gs.”²
( b ) imy-rA
gs-imy-wrt
aA
Xr
(or Xr
aA).³
gs
( c ) imy-rA (det., house) Hryt-ntr “overseer of the gs (det., house) of the necropolis.”
(d) Hry-sStA
n rA-aA
m gswy (det., house);
imy-rA s-t (pl.)tAmHw m gswy (det., house).
It seems therefore that gsimy-wrt and gs imn (?) may designate two different administrative depart-
ments, probably of the royal estates. The stones were marked after rough dressing and before setting
perhaps to permit a control of the work to be credited to each and to save disputes as to which build-
ing gang the stones were assignable. If that supposition be correct, then the addition of hmwt smyt may
be taken as a qualification of the other terms, that is the gs-imy-wrt of the hmwt smyt (“desert work-
shop”?) and the gs-imn (?) of the Hmwtsmyt.
The inscriptions have been carefully copied in fac-simile and repeatedly collated by Mr. Alan Rowe.
His copies are reproduced in Pl. XII. The stones in the northern wall of corridor (13) are designated
N(orth)a(=course1) and a number counting from the left or west. Those in the southern wall are
designated S a for the first course, S b for the second course, and the numbers read from left (east) to
right (west). See Appendix E.
When the granite casing wall was finished, as in rooms (7) and (8), and the roofing stones laid in place,
the rooms must have been filled to the roof with the debris of the construction plane. This debris would
have been removed from the top down and afforded a standing place for the workmen dressing the walls.
I conclude that the granite casing was dressed from the top down as the construction was removed layer
by layer at the convenience of the workmen, analogous to the practice in limestone building (see below).
The pavement, doubtless of stone, was laid after the dressing of the walls, in the same way as the pave-
ment and floors made for the brick-cased walls. In room (13), the crude-brick casing wall descended to
the foundation platform and the floor had been formed by filling in the space between the crude-brick
casing walls with about 60 cm. of limestone chips and covering this layer with mud plaster. This was
true also of the entrance corridor and the great court, but in the great court a stone pavement had been
laid on the mud.
Owing to the irregular floor in corridor (13), the height of the granite blocks of the first course varied
considerably, but the height nowhere exceeded a meter. The top of the first course, however, was
dressed to an even sloping line and the course line for the top of the second course was 87-88 cm. above
the dressed top of the first course. In rooms (7) and (8), the emplacement marks on the walls indicated
a much greater height for the courses of red granite casing in those two rooms, as is shown by the follow-
See
¹ Borchardt, Sa ’hure I, pp. 92 and 96. See
² Murray, Index of Names and Titles, p. xxiv.
3 See Sethe, Urk. I, p. 47. 4 Maritte, Mastabas, p. 538; Lepsius, Denkmäler, II 34 e.
5 See for both, Borchardt Ne-wser-re’, p. 113.
84 MYCERINUS
ing table. The last column gives course heights from the Chephren valley temple, of which those in
brackets are from the hall of pillars:
Height of Room (7) Room (8) Chephren
Course 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158 cm. 183 cm. 172 cm.
Course 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ?113 cm. 130 cm. 154 cm.
Course 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ?112 cm. 120 cm. 111 cm.
Course 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115 cm. ... 105 cm.
Course 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ?105 cm. ... 104 cm.
Height of architrave . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ?100 cm. ... [100] cm.
From floor to bottom of architrave . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 367 cm. ... [418] cm.
From rock to bottom of architrave (top of pillar) . . . . . . 510 cm. ... ...
From paved floor to ceiling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 467 ± cm. 433 cm. [518] cm.
From paved floor to top of core wall as preserved . . . . . . 421 cm. 514 cm. ...
The red granite casing blocks found complete measured:

(1) Exposed face, 105 x 72 cm.; thickness, 88 cm. (Fig. 14.)
(2) Exposed face, 107 x 73 cm.; thickness, 67 cm.
In order to correspond with the course heights, these must have been placed upright in the fourth or
fifth course. Examples of blocks placed upright in the suggested position are S b 2 in corridor (13),
the isolated block in the southern end of the portico, room (7), and the red granite blocks in the west
wall of the hall of pillars in the Chephren valley temple.
In the portico a large fragment of a red granite lintel was found which I concluded had roofed the
doorway between the portico and the offering room. On the underside was a rectangular socket for the
upper socket block of the doorpost, and in the roof of the socket was a cylindrical hole, bored with a
tube borer, to take the upper end of the doorpost. The height of the block was about 99 cm., - 84 cm.
the height of the inside face plus 15 cm. the height of the ledge at the top of the door. Thus the top of
the doorway was probably 99 cm. below the ceiling of the offering room (8), and therefore 334 cm. above
the floor of that room. The lintel was 101 cm. thick, but as the other face had been split off, it may
originally have been 110-130 cm. thick. The door jamb as reconstructed from the emplacement marks
would have been about 90 cm. wide, a measure entirely compatible with the supposed thickness of the
lintel. The length of the lintel, which would have fixed the width of the doorway, was quite indeter-
minable.
The marks on the floor of the western end of room (8), seen by Vyse and still visible, are the em-
placements of three granite casing blocks, not the prints of pedestals. The middle stone is thicker than
the other two and I reconstruct with a compound niche¹ to correspond with the thickness of the stones.
The square pillars and the antae in the portico were probably also of red granite on the analogy of
the Chephren valley temple. The sockets in the floor indicated two rows:
(1) Eastern row of four pillars and two antae.
(2) Western row of two pillars and two antae.
The sockets in which they stood were sunk in the rock, which here forms the foundation of the temple,
to a depth of 99-105 cm. (about two Egyptian ells) and were about 105 cm. square. The bottom of the
sockets in the eastern row varied from 119 cm. to 136 cm. in depth below the floor of the portico, and
the western sockets from 130 cm. to 148 cm. I calculate the height of the pillars from socket bottom
to architrave at 456 cm. to 415 cm. according to the depth of the socket, or 367 cm. above the floor. I
think there can be very little doubt that they were monolithic like the Chephren pillars.
The manner of the erection of these monoliths is indicated by the form of the sockets. The front or
eastern side of the socket has been cut away to form a slope descending from the east, of the same width
as the socket (100-105 cm.), but varying in length from 120 cm. to 150 cm. The slope descends below
the level of the bottom of the socket so as to form a slight step (3-5 cm. high) just inside the eastern side
of the socket. The process of erection I would reconstruct as follows (see Figs. 15, 16) :
See
¹ Fig. 10, p. 71.
Figure16
Figure14
4
Figure15
86 MYCERINUS
(1) The pillar, rough-dressed but not smooth, was dragged up on a sledge until it was beside the slope and
the socket, with its butt approximately opposite the front third of the socket; being already 30-50 cm.
above the floor, the pillar was then rolled over perhaps upon three wooden beams of height equal to
that of the sledge; these beams were perpendicular to the side of the sledge; the pillar was then ma-
noeuvred into place so that the butt end projected beyond the edge of the socket; the middle beam
was not far from the center of gravity, perhaps a little west of it; the western beam was then worked
out from under the stone, perhaps by breaking slightly the limestone under it, and the pillar left prac-
tically teetering on the middle beam; the weight to be lifted would have been small and by levering
one end and pressing down on the other, the pillar would have been easily revolved on the middle beam
as a fulcrum, until it rested on the slope with its lower edge against the step a t the bottom of the slope.
(2) The pillar at this stage made an angle of from 35" to 41" with the horizontal according to the slope of the
socket in question; a t any of these angles an effective pull could have been exerted with ropes held by
men standing on the floor to the west or better on top of the massive walls; these stones weighed from
13-14 tons each but at that angle far less power was required to turn the stone on its lower edge than
that required to lift the weight of the stone; the movement of the pillar would have been guided and
restrained by ropes held by men standing in the court to the east; the rough surface of the pillar would
have prevented the ropes from slipping, and the sides of the socket would also have assisted in guiding
the pillar into place.
(3) The sides of the socket have a thin layer of plaster, and it is probable that a thick layer of plaster was
put in the bottom of the socket before setting the pillar to facilitate the final adjustment of the pillar
by twisting it, if necessary, while standing; the plaster also served to fix the pillar in place; the slope
was filled either with a single stone or with rubble and plaster.
(4) The architrave and the roofing slabs were mounted from an inclined plane and construction platform;
the architrave stones resting on the tops of the pillars were from 300 cm. to 370 cm. long measuring
from the middle of one socket to the middle of another; the middle space in each row is wider (370 cm.) ;
the width of the architrave was that of the pillars (ca. 100 cm.); and the height should have been
the same on the analogy of the Chephren temple, but the marks on the wall indicate a height of 54 cm.
(5) The final stage was the dressing of the pillars probably done a t the same time as the dressing of the casing.
I infer that
(a) In spite of the differencesin height of the casing-courses in the two rooms, the casings of rooms (7) and
(8) were built first and from the same construction planes.
(b) The construction planes were then removed, a t least as far as the doorway to room (8), and the pil-
lars erected.
(c) The construction planes were then rebuilt for the architraves and roof of the portico.
(d) The casings and the pillars were dressed by workmen standing on the construction platform, which
was removed as the smoothing of the walls and the pillars progressed, working downwards.
But it is possible that room (8) was finished before the portico was begun, in which case the planes
would have been twice removed before the final clearance.
The roofing of the portico and the offering room is to be reconstructed on the analogy of the valley
temple of Chephren. In the portico the square red granite architraves ran north and south over the
tops of the pillars and the antae; and on these the roofing slabs were laid running east and west. The
front edge of the portico roof was probably quite plain and square cut.¹
The dressing of the granite at the Mycerinus pyramid and temples, wherever it was found and in
whatever state of completion, showed traces of only three processes - hammering, rubbing, and boring
with a cylindrical borer. The cylindrical or tubular borer was used, as far as our evidence goes, only
for boring sockets to take the ends of doorposts and the ends of bolts, and consequently was not of
general utility in construction? The hammering and the rubbing processes were however everywhere
in evidence, especially in the casing of the Third Pyramid where large ridges had been worked out by
pounding and rubbing, and these ridges were often partly broken off by smashing blows with the point
of impact on the upper side of the ridge. Three types of stone implement were found in and about the
temples :
(1) A large two-handled hammer or rubber.
(2) A large hammer which was used with a wooden handle.
(3) Rough hammers and rubbers held in the hand, or in both hands.
Cf.
¹ Professor Borchardt's reconstructions of the temple of Sahura.
See
² Chapters VII
and VIII.
These hammers and rubbers are described, in Chapter X, section 7. The processes performed were
smashing blows to knock off projections, tapping blows to bruise and crush the surface, and rubbing
motions. The irregular lumps of very compact black granite of which a score or more were found in the
unfinished room (10) have a bruised surface like that produced by the bruising and rubbing on the un-
finished statuettes and were apparently used both for bruising and rubbing. Most of them would have
required both hands to operate, and many of them had been split by pounding. Their used surfaces are
all rounded, and I imagine the final flat dressing was carried out with a flat faced stone of larger size,
perhaps a rectangular slab of granite worked by two men.
(4) Free-Standing Walls
With one exception the granite walls of Dynasty IV appear to have been cased core walls like those
of the Mycerinus temple. The exception is the court of the Chephren pyramid temple, called by Dr.
Hoeischer the “Statuen-Hof”¹ which is stated to have been of granite, although not so shown in the
plan. Free-standing walls of limestone occur in this temple in the inner magazines west of this room
and are common in the mastaba chapels of the period. The earliest example of this type of masonry
is, I believe, the pyramid temple of Sneferuw at Medûm.² That temple was of limestone, perfectly
preserved and entirely uninscribed except for the graffiti of visitors, the earliest of whom were of Dynasty
XVIII. The area of the temple was very small, about 8.95 meters long (measured on the plan) from
the base line of the pyramid and 8.65 meters wide, and the workmanship is described by Professor Petrie
as “solid and sound but not refined.” “The stone is left rough’’ or partially dressed “in many parts.”
The masonry and the unfinished condition of the temple correspond very closely with the inner part of
the Mycerinus pyramid temple built in Dynasty VI, and the temple is so small that a doubt arises in
my mind whether this pyramid temple of Sneferuw was the original temple. This type of structure
may assuredly be expected in the time of Sneferuw, and I regret that I do not feel safe in using it as direct
evidence for the period.³
The inner part of the Mycerinus pyramid temple is of limestone, and consists as already described
of two very different structures, one in Turah limestone and the other in local limestone. The kernel
structure of white limestone (see Fig. 7, p. 23), which I ascribe to Shepseskaf, resembles in its masonry
some of the mastaba chapels of Dynasty IV, especially those in the southern division of the great Giza
cemetery. The walls were unfortunately not preserved above course 2; and as the masonry of the foun-
dations built around the massive granite pavement of Mycerinus was not normal, a retaining wall had
been constructed, and as it rose the space between it and the mass of granite had been filled with rather
carefully laid rubble. The noticeable point is that the top of each course was levelled and smooth, that
the facing line of the next course above was scored both on the foundation platform and on each course,
exactly as in the chapels of white limestone in the cemetery of Dynasty IV. The niche, or niches, are
shown by the preserved niched stone to have been built of long stones set on end as in those chapels.
The second structure, of the poorer nummulitic limestone, had been left undisturbed by the quar-
rymen and was practically intact (see Pls. I-III). It was built against the kernel structure wherever the
two came in contact and was thus clearly later in date as well as different in material. The type of
masonry is that of the chapels built of the same material, belonging to the mastabas of Dynasties V and
VI: The walls are of two types, a thinner wall which is a single stone thick and a thicker wall generally
two stones thick (the south wall of room (27), the wall between rooms (27) and (26), the wall between
rooms (26), (27), and (28), and the northern wall of the whole structure). The blocks of the single-stone
wall are usually large and run lengthwise in the first two or even three courses, but the courses are of
two stones (see Pl. II section 0-P). The two-stone walls have occasionally alternate one-stone and
two-stone courses, as in south wall of room (27) (see Pl.II, section K-L), and occasionally a single stone
set at the ends of a course as the eastern wall of room (28).
¹
Hoelscher, Chephren, p. 64. Petrie,
² Medum, pp. 8 and 9, and Pl. IV.
Since
³ writing the above the temple of Zoser at Saqqara has been excavated by Mr. Firth and proves the construction of free-
standing limestone walls at the beginning of Dyn.III.
88 MYCERINUS
All the stones in this later structure were laid rough by methods similar to those described for the
granite casing, but without being “floated” on plaster. It may be recalled that the rooms (27), (30) to
(35) had not been finished. In the doorways of these rooms, the sockets for the upper door-blocks had
been cut in the lintels and the wooden blocks set in these sockets with reddish plaster before the lintels
were mounted and while the walls were still undressed. Although the roofs had been laid, the surfaces of
the walls were bulging and uneven leaving narrow crooked spaces between, in room (30) so narrow that
a man passes through with some inconvenience. When excavated these rooms were found filled to the
roof or nearly to the roof with masons’ debris deposited in layers about equal in height to the correspond-
ing courses, and it was clear that these layers served as construction platforms for the courses of the
walls. In rooms (30) and (31), the dressing of the surfaces of the walls had been begun at the top and
the construction platform had been partially removed. In room (27), the same condition of the process
of dressing was observed, but there the whole of the construction plane had been removed to make way
for the Roman communal burial. The conclusion is obvious that the walls were dressed from the top
down. The tool marks on the surfaces in process of dressing prove that the implements used were
the chisel of hardened copper and the pear-headed wooden mallet of which numerous examples were
found in the Giza mastabas. The chisel which left a groove about 14 mm. wide was similar to those
actual copper blades found in the Senezem-ib complex in the great cemetery. This consisted of a heavy
rectangular shaft about 12 cm. long and a broad cutting edge about 14 mm. wide. Such chisels, as is
well-known, were set in sockets at the end of a wooden handle.¹ The finished rooms, (26) and (28),
show that the final dressing was done by rubbing with stone, and that the surfaces were finally sized
with fine plaster. In dressing back the walls the excess of the stone at the bottom was left projecting
and was dressed level with the floor. The floor consisted of stone slabs fitted to the stones built in the
walls.
The plan seems not to have been marked on the foundation platform as was done for the better
structures of Dynasty IV, nor could we find any trace of facing lines on the courses.
In five of the six square pillars in room (27), the shaft consisted of two stones, a tall stone, 220-
270 cm. high, and a short upper stone, 95-45 cm. high. The sixth pillar, that on the south, had two
small stones instead of one. The usual square architrave ran north and south across the tops of
pillars. The eastern ends of the eastern row of roofing slabs rested in a groove cut in the old core wall
of the outer temple; and the western ends of the western row must have rested in a groove cut in the
white limestone wall of the kernel structure, which rose considerably higher than the roof of room (27).
The sides of the pillars, like the wall surfaces of this room had not been completely dressed, but were
more advanced than the walls. The pillar in room (26) was a monolith and rested on a large block of
stone which descended to the rock. The upper surface of this stone had been dressed to form a low
square pedestal about 5 cm. high for the monolithic pillar and the flanges on the four sides of the pedestal
had been dressed to form part of the paved floor of the room. The architrave and the roofing slabs were
built as in room (27), but the western ends of the western row of roofing slabs rested on the contemporary
wall between rooms (26) and (28). The surfaces of the walls and the pillar in room (26) had been finely
dressed and sized with plaster.
Room (26) had the only window found in any of the temples. For a time I thought that a slot in
the upper part of the west wall of room (28) was also a window, but a more careful examination proved
this supposed window was only an empty place from which a stone of the wall had been removed. The
window in room (26) consisted of a narrow horizontal slot at the top of the wall, over the doorway to
room (27) and just under the roof. It opened into an irregular vertical shaft which descended between
the southern roofing slab of room (26) and the northern roofing slab of room (27), so that the light fell
vertically on the sloping bottom of the slot and was reflected into the room.
An inclined plane of much worn limestone boulders rested against the western wall of the outer
temple and led from the ground northwards to the top of the walls of the inner temple. This was built
against the crude-brick casing of the outer temple and against the broken end of that casing - the broken
end left after the old inner temple of crude brick had been removed - as well as against the limestone
See
¹ Chapter IX, Copper Vessels and Implements, for remarks on the hardening of copper.
walls of the later inner temple. It had manifestly been used to bring up the roofing slabs of room (27)
and perhaps of the whole inner temple. Another plane may have led up to the roof from the north,
but this would have been removed on account of the exit from room (26) to the pyramid enclosure.
(B) CRUDE-BRICK
CONSTRUCTION
The use of crude brick in the temples built by Shepseskaf, in the screen walls, in the various altera-
tions, and in the valley temple of Dynasty VI, presented in general the characteristics of other struc-
tures of crude brick built in the Old Kingdom.
(1) Bonding
Ordinary Egyptian brickwork has carefully bonded faces with header and stretcher courses in alter-
nation, usually three header courses to one stretcher course, but sometimes with one header and one
stretcher course in strict alternation. In the brickwork of the Mycerinus temples, the alternating
header and stretcher courses in the exposed faces and the bonding are more carefully executed than in
FIGURE
17
ordinary brickwork. The bonding depends on the fact that at the corners two courses of headers alter-
nate with two courses of stretchers. The alternation of one header course with one stretcher course in
the rest of the wall brings a header continuation of one of the two stretcher courses and a stretcher con-
tinuation of the other; and the same is true of the continuation of the two header courses. Thus every
other joint in a header course is broken by a stretcher above each joint and the alternate joints in the
same header course are broken by a stretcher below each joint (see Pl. V, 7). For example, in the
southern half of the eastern wall in III-a, the courses counted from above consisted of:
Course 1, all headers from corner. Course 5, all headers from the corner.
Course 2, all stretchers from corner. Course 6, all stretchers from the corner.
Course 3, one stretcher followed by headers. Course 7, one stretcher followed by headers, and
Course 4,one header followed by stretchers. so on.
This is a really beautiful system of face bonding as may be seen from the drawings (Pl. V, 7 and Fig.
17). Another fine example was the high southern casing wall of corridor (13) in the pyramid temple
(Figs. 11-13), but there a certain amount of irregularity was introduced in the lower courses. And in
general in long walls the use of defective and trimmed bricks was apt to affect the regularity of the
bonding in places.
90 MYCERINUS
The internal bond appears to have been theoretically quite as fine as the facing bond, but the exe-
cution was defective. It has been repeatedly observed that the work of the Egyptian mason was care-
less and slipshod where it was hidden from direct observation. On taking down the wall mentioned
above, the southern half of the eastern wall of room (9) in the temple of 111-a, it was seen that the wall
had the thickness of three and one-half lengths of a brick. Each course had headers in both faces or
stretchers in both faces. Behind the faces, the bricks were generally laid as headers; but this left in
each course an extra half-brick width which was filled with a line of stretchers running the length of the
wall. The position of this line of stretchers was shifted in each succeeding course half a brick towards
one face or the other so that looking at a section the lines of stretchers formed a zigzag running from the
top of the wall to the bottom. These internal stretchers together with the stretchers on the faces tied
the wall solidly in the longitudinal direction while the headers, both those in the wall and those on the
faces, tied the wall crosswise. A few courses were laid quite regularly according to this system of bond-
ing, but almost always there were irregularities, a half-brick inserted instead of a whole one, the place
for an internal stretcher filled with lumps of mud, and once a header laid diagonally in the place of two
FIGURE
18
headers. This was the system when the thickness of a wall was an even number of bricks plus one half
brick. When the thickness of the wall was exactly an even number of bricks, a course which had stretch-
ers in one face had headers in the other and vice versa; but the internal bond was similar to the other
width of wall (see Pl. V, 6 ) . The system of bonding lent itself readily to niche-work in the face of the
wall (see Fig. 18).
The casing walls built against the older stone walls had the same bonding of the face as the other
walls, but behind the face the bricks were almost exclusively headers (Figs. 11, 12) laid very loosely and
carelessly.
The crude bricks were laid in thick mud plaster of about the same consistency as the bricks them-
selves, and increased greatly the cohesion inherent in the system of bonding.¹ The brickwork was in
all cases covered with a thick mud plaster, 1-4 cm. thick which in turn was coated with a layer of white
plaster. The mud plaster commonly used on the walls of the temples built by Shepseskaf was a yellow-
ish mixture and quite characteristic. But on the later walls, black mud plaster was used. The Egyptian
architect seems never to have been willing to admit the presence of brickwork in his walls. At the same
time, the plastering was a great protection against weathering.
(2) Foundations of Crude-Brick Walls

The ordinary Egyptian manner of preparing the foundations of a crude-brick structure at the
present day is to lay out the plan with strings or cords fastened to pegs, or bricks, or stones, to clear
away the soft surface rubbish in the lines of the walls, t o mark the corners of walls and doorways with
dry bricks, and then t o lay the first course in mud mortar directly on the ground, leaving spaces for the
doorways. When the ground is uneven, the first course often consists of bricks set on edge in the lowest
In connection with the Egyptian crude-brick walls, I would call attention to the khalûfu walls of the Sudan. Khalûfa are great
¹
rectangular clumps of mud like the hand-made lump which the Egyptian brick-maker prepares for the mold, but much larger and
thicker. These are laid wet in the wall and dry in place; and each course must dry before the next is laid. The slowness of the pro-
ceeding is admirably adapted to the temperament of the Sudanese, and the wall is surprisingly solid and enduring.
places, leaning more or less and even turned on the side in the higher places, so that the top of the course
is practically level. It is seldom that foundation trenches are dug for crude-brick walls.
In all the crude-brick walls of the Mycerinus temples, including those of the small pyramids but not
the screen walls founded on an older pavement, the bases of the walls lay from one to seven courses
below the living floor of the temple. In the pyramid temple, the crude-brick walls were founded on
the rock platform; and the floors were filled in and plastered or paved after the construction of the walls.
In corridor (13) the floor was 46 cm. above the foot of the wall. In the other crude-brick temples the
foundation floor was prepared either (1) by clearing the desert surface (III-c) or (2) by laying down
a hard packed layer of gravel and rubbish over the foundation platform of the unfinished stone temple
(M. V. T., III-a,and III-b). On this earthen platform the plan of the building was laid out by the
architect using cords to guide the lines and leaving spaces for the doorways. These foundations varied
FIGURE
19
in depth with the varying level of the platform, but reached a nearly common level at the height of the
projected floors. Thus, for example, the walls in the northern half of the temple 111-a, are only from
one to two bricks deeper than the floors, while at the southeast corner they reach to seven courses below
the floor. The gaps in the doorways were usually, but not always, bridged with thresholds of limestone
slabs at the projected floor level (Fig. 19). After the walls were built, the foundation compartments were
filled with hard packed gravel and rubbish to the projected floor level, which was plastered with mud. It
is not quite certain whether the superstructure walls were built before filling in the foundations or
afterwards, but I think afterwards. The floors in the Mycerinus valley temple varied somewhat in
the various parts of the temple, quite apart from the difference of level between the western sanctuary
and the court. In the temples of the small pyramids, III-aa n d III-b, the floors were fairly level. In
that of III-c the floors sloped with the slope of the foundation platform from north to south, but less
steeply.
(3) Roofing
On the top of the corridor walls of the valley temple and on some of the magazine walls, we found
the ends of decayed wooden logs about 20 cm. in diameter and 50 cm. long from the face of the wall to
the end of the log. These logs were not set close together but separated by a space varying from 15
92 MYCERINUS
to 19 cm (Fig. 20). As found the logs were sunk to a depth of about 5 cm. in the tops of the walls, but
this may have been due to pressure. The separation of the logs proves conclusively that a layer of planks
or reeds or palm-leaf stems was laid over the logs to support the bricks and mud which protected the roof
from rain. This type of roof is wonderfully effective in the Egyptian climate as long as the wood lasts,
but is unsuited for covering wide spaces owing to the weakness of the logs. It is to be noted that all
the roofed rooms in the five crude-brick temples were less than 320 cm. in width, except the portico and
the anteroom of the vestibule of the Mycerinus valley temple. The logs were laid across the smaller
dimension of each room.
In the wide vestibule room (III-377), the roof was carried on rafters supported by wooden columns
which rested on four alabaster bases set in two rows. The bases were square blocks, the tops of which
had been dressed down leaving a circular disc rising a couple of centimeters above the floor. The two
porticos in the temples of III-a and III-c had no wall on the side towards the court to support the roof;
and the rafters on this side were held up by wooden columns resting on circular limestone bases. The
outer ends of the roofing logs rested on these rafters. In the case of the great portico of the valley
temple, the character of the roof supports was not clear. The presence of the two pairs of antae in the
northern and the southern walls led us at first to reconstruct the room on the analogy of the portico
of the pyramid temple, with two rows of square crude-brick pillars corresponding in width to the antae,
an eastern row of four pillars and two antae and a western row of two pillars and two antae. But
a careful search failed to show any trace of the foundations of crude-brick pillars, and a consideration
of the strength of a square pillar the width of the antae led to the conclusion that such a pillar was
impracticable. It was finally decided that although square pillars may have been marked in the original
plan, the roof had been supported by wooden columns of the same number and arrangement as the sup-
posed square pillars (Figs. 21, 22). These must have rested on stone bases which, on the analogy of
the vestibule room, should have been of alabaster. But the use of limestone is not to be excluded; and
the fact that exactly six limestone bases were found in the second temple seems to indicate that these
were the original six bases of the portico of Dynasty IV. The six wooden columns bore two lines of north
to south rafters, which in turn carried the east to west roofing beams (or logs).
In the Chephren valley temple¹ the architraves were held in place by copper (?) dovetails with a
heavy round pin extending vertically downwards from the underside. The copper (?) dovetail was
placed in a hollow on the top of each granite pillar so that the pin and half the height of the dovetail
were sunk in the pillar, while the upper half of the dovetail crossing the joint between two architrave
stones was sunk to half of the remaining height in the bottoms of the two stones - one half in one stone
and the other in the other stone. On the upper side of the joint, the ends of the two architrave stones
were joined by another copper (?) dovetail. In the case of this granite temple where the architraves
had to stand the strain of mounting the heavy roofing slabs, such a system of internal ties was much
more necessary than in a wooden roofed temple. Nevertheless, the Egyptian was very fond of ties in
woodwork, and it is altogether probable that the rafters of the rooms with columns were fastened to the
columns and to each other. I would reconstruct the columns with a block between the top of the column
and the rafters because the grain of the column running vertically was perhaps unsuited to the strain
of a dovetail or other tie. The grain of the block would run in the direction of the grain of the rafters
and the block would have been held on the top of the column by a heavy pin in the column resting in
a hole in the bottom of the block. The rafters were probably dovetailed to the block and to each other
as in the case of the granite structure with wooden dovetails, but some other tie may have been used.
It is needless to say that no trace of the rafters or of the ties was found.
There is another type of roof used in Dynasty IV in crude-brick structures, that is, the leaning course
vault. But, while this vault would have been suitable for roofing the small rooms of the lesser temples,
no actual evidence was found of its use. The walIs had, however, been so denuded that the absence of
evidence was not decisive.
Chephren, p. 43.
Hoelscher,
¹
FIGURE
20
FIGURE
21
FIGURE
22
[93]
94 MYCERINUS
(4) Doors and Windows

It may be said at once that no windows either for light or air were discovered anywhere in the
Mycerinus temples of crude brick. As Egyptian windows were usually at the top of the walls, all possi-
bility of determining the presence and the form of the windows was lost with the destruction of the
upper part of all walls. It must be assumed, however, that some of the rooms were provided with
windows. In the chapels of the mastabas in the great cemetery, two types of windows have been found
in crude-brick structures. One is the embrasure window, widening inwards and usually horizontal; the
other is the multiple slot window, which consists of five to seven vertical slots each half a brick wide
and five to seven courses high, left in the brickwork at the end of the room. The embrasure window
usually accompanies the wooden roof, while the multiple slot window seems to be peculiar to the rooms
roofed with the leaning course vault. Both were set high in the wall, the multiple slot window not so
high as the other, and the former would have been in evidence in the Mycerinus temples if it had been
used. It is therefore almost certain that the embrasure window was the type employed in those
temples.
The doorways on the other hand were fairly well preserved, so that the doors could be confidently
reconstructed. The doorways all have broad jambs. They fall into two types, those with stone thresh-
olds, and those with mud floors. Four of the stone thresholds in the valley temple were of a particular
(III-2),
(III-2)
to
construction - in the doorways from (III-1)
to and
from
(III-4) (III-20),
and that
in the later screen wall. All these were alike, but the best preserved was in the doorway from (III-1) to
(III-2), bridging the doorway gap in the foundation wall. This consists of two broad slabs of fine white
limestone, about 12 cm. thick. The outline of the jamb is grooved in a way which indicates that the
broad jamb was cased with an upright slab of wood or stone about 15 or 20 cm. thick (see Fig. 19).
The cased jamb ended at the edge of the outer threshold slab; and in the adjoining edge of the second
slab, on each side, was a hole of the form of a quarter circle, which either formed the socket for the door-
post or contained a kerb socket. The door was of the two-leaf type, and a small hole bored in the second
slab immediately north of the middle line between the socket holes was evidently for receiving the end
of a vertical bolt which locked the northern leaf of the door on the inside. The simple grooves on the
ends of the second slab probably served to hold the leaves of the door when open. The doorway in the
later screen wall was also of the two-leaf type, but the other two were of the one-leaf type, also with a
cased jamb. It seems necessary to reconstruct the top of the cased jamb with a lintel of the same ma-
terial as the casing, wood or stone.
Three doorways in the temple of pyramid III-a also had stone thresholds - the entrance doorway,
that from the entrance corridor (8) to the court portico (2), and that from the court portico (2) to the
anteroom (3). These three were all different. The threshold of the entrance doorway was similar to
the two-slab threshold of the valley temple but had a step inside the doorway against which the leaves
closed. The threshold from (8) to (2) lay between the broad jambs only and consisted of three small
slabs laid on the gravel packing but rising 4 cm. above the floor. The crude-brick door-jambs were
built on the ends of the stone threshold; and the door socket was set in the mud floor in the inner angle
of the jamb toward room (2). The third threshold from (2) to (3) likewise stretched between the broad
door jambs only and consisted of two slabs, the second of which was cracked, set in the mud floor be-
tween the brick jambs (not under them) and rising 5 cm. above the mud floor.
The remaining doorways were plastered with mud on a level with the contiguous floors and had
stone door sockets of the kerbed form set in the floor in the angles of the jambs.
The kerb socket for door posts consists of a curving rim of limestone, a segment of an ellipse, open
on the side next to the narrow end of the jamb and also on that next to the wall. The inner side of the
kerb is sloping, so that the doorpost, as it settled by the weight of the door, is forced inwards against
the end of the jamb and the wall. This feature was probably of especial importance in preventing play
in the doorpost, when the end of the post began to wear. I would suggest that the extra length of the
upper end of the doorpost, which extends usually into a hole above the upper socket block was intended
to allow for the sinking of the doorpost through wear. The door must have been hung high on the post
to allow for this sinking, leaving a space between the bottom of the door and the floor. This space was
usually closed in the mastabas by a step or high threshold stone rising 5-15 cm. above the floor. The
steps, 4-5 cm. high, formed by the thresholds of three of the doorways of the temple of III-a, served this
purpose, but none was observed in the valley temple.
The door leaves were of the type so well known in both stone and wood, in actual examples as well
as in models and pictures. The door leaf consisted of vertical boards held together by horizontal bat-
tens on the inside only. The battens were morticed to the round door posts, fastened with pegs in the
mortice joints, and sometimes strengthened with copper bands. The fact that this type of door was
used in the crude-brick temples built by Shepseskaf, was fully proved by the marks left in the plaster
of two doorways in the temple of III-a, from room (3) to room (9) and from room (9) to room (10).
The wearing mark of the doorpost was plain on the narrow end of the jamb, and the prints of the battens
on the wall, caused by slamming the leaves back in opening the door. In the doorway from room (3)
to room (9), three battens were marked, about 28 cm. apart with the lowest about 33 cm. above the
floor. In the doorway from room (9) to room (10), two similarly spaced battens were visible.
The closed doors were fastened on the inside by bars probably operated by strings passing through
a hole, or holes, in the door leaf. The bar was locked in place in all probability by one of the trick-lock
devices of the ancient Egyptians: The best is that known to have been used in later times, in which
certain pegs dropped into place in holes in the bar, when the bar was pulled into place by a string from
the outside; in opening the door, these pegs were pushed up out of the bar by a rather large key which
had a duplicate set of pegs to that set in the lock. In the double-leaf door, the bar slid in wooden clamps
or brackets back and forth across the opening between the two leaves. It is probable that the hole in
the middle of the floor of the threshold was used for fastening one leaf of the door before the other leaf
was closed. In the case of the one-leaf door, the lock was of a similar character, but the bar slid into
a hole in the wall behind the angle of the jamb. In the Mycerinus temples this hole appears to have been
in the brickwork of the uncased doors, but in stone structures in the door casing. In the mastabas, but
very rarely, a stone with a hole was set in the brickwork to take the end of the bar.
The roofs of the doorways were seen in several cases in the valley temple, where the brickwork
above the door had sunk down in the doorway by decay. These roofs were always of wood, but were
so badly rotted that the shape of the wooden elements could not be determined. I would reconstruct
them as planks like the lintels of the cased doorways, but possibly they were of logs, or planks reinforced
with logs. The brickwork was continued above the lintel to the height of the wall, which, in the door-
ways of the valley temple, was nearly a meter higher than the doorways. If the roofing were of logs,
at least one plank must have crossed the top of the doorway to take the socket holes of the doorposts.
In the houses in the court of the valley temple, two stone lintels, limestone slabs, were preserved over
narrow doorways in rooms (1-306) and (307); and, in the Giza cemetery, one ordinary doorway was
roofed with a thin stone slab (G 1351), but there, the weight was reduced by an arch in the brickwork
above.
The doors all open inwards, and when closed the two sides of the door were covered by the broad
jamb and the top by the lintel. The bottom was also covered in those doorways which had the step
threshold of which evidence was found in the temple of III-a, but not in the Mycerinus valley temple.
The bars, locks, and battens were on the inside, and only the latch strings hung out through the two
small holes in the door. Thus the essential fittings of the door were protected and made difficult of
access to plunderers. In the case of crude-brick walls and wooden doors, a determined thief could
always have found his way in.
CHAPTER VI
OBJECTS FOUND I N THE MYCERINUS TEMPLES
1. THE USE OF FUNERARY TEMPLES AS DEPOSITORIES. OF OBJECTS
( A ) FUNCTIONAL
PARTS
OF AN EGYPTIAN
TOMB
THEsignificance of the occurrence of large numbers of objects in the Mycerinus temples can only be
understood in the light of the history of Egyptian tomb forms and funerary customs. At present our
knowledge of these subjects is derived from a great number of private graves of the predynastic period,
and from both royal and private tombs of Dynasties I-VI. It is clear that the Egyptian tomb, at least
from Dynasty I onwards, consisted of two chief parts:
(1) The burial place (substructure) ;
(2) The offering place consisting of a superstructure which protected the burial place and a chapel.
The burial place was beneath the surface of the ground with a few very rare exceptions (Menes
Tomb and Cheops Pyramid), and its form developed pari passu with the growth of power over hard
materials from a simple open pit dug in gravel, by many stages to a rock-cut chamber, deep underground,
entered by means of a vertical rock-cut shaft. In the simple predynastic pit, the body was laid in a
contracted position on its side, protected by cloth, skins, and mats, while in the more important rock-
cut chambers of the Old Kingdom, it was placed in a granite coffin, extended on its back, mummified
in the imperfect early manner, and wrapped in cloth.
I n the Old Kingdom the offering place consisted of a massive superstructure (pyramid, mastaba, or
natural rock dressed to imitate a mastaba) and a chapel either outside or inside the outer wall of the
superstructure. The development of the offering place which proceeded along with that of the burial
place and was influenced by it, was also based on the growth of the technical powers of the Egyptian
craftsmen and in particular on those of the masons. It must be remembered that the main thread of
the development will be manifested by the tombs of the rulers and the great men for whose benefit ad-
vances in technical skill were made.¹ The tombs of the lesser men and of the poor will imitate as far
as possible the forms developed in the large tombs, and the ordinary workmen will eventually learn the
technical acquirements of the royal craftsmen. Both rich and poor cling in varying degrees to forms and
practices which have become fixed or traditional; and all forms old and new must satisfy the functional
requirements founded on basic ideas, fundamental religious beliefs.
Now the offering place can only be traced at present from Dynasty I onwards, because the super-
structures of the predynastic graves which were probably of earth or of mats and wood, have been de-
stroyed by exposure and by the plundering of the pits. In Dynasty I, the large burial pit, whether
entered from above or by a stairway, was covered with a rectangular bench-like structure with sloping
faces, always of crude brick and apparently never more than two meters high. This superstructure is
usually designated by the modern Arabic word mastaba meaning “bench,” and that word is the most
convenient name for the tomb form which predominated during the first six dynasties.
From Dynasty I to Dynasty 111, the exterior faces of the large crude-brick mastabas were usually
built with recessed brickwork, presenting a series of offering niches which imitate doorways in form
and are now called false doors. I n the smaller mastabas, the niches were usually omitted from the desert
side and sometimes from all but the valley side. An essential feature of the larger mastaba was the en-
closing wall which surrounded it at a distance of 50-100 cm. on the north, the south, and the desert side,
but at a greater distance on the valley side where it was broken by an entrance. The valley side was
clearly that at which the offerings were made, and the wider space on that side represents functionally
the offering room. In the royal mastabas two of the niches on the valley side were especially marked by
See
¹ Reisner, Naga-’d-Dêr
I, p. 11.
OBJECTS FOUND I N THE MYCERINUS TEMPLES 97
large round-topped stones (stelae), inscribed with the Horus-title and name of the king.¹ The smallest
mastabas have at least two niches on the valley face; and the subsequent history of the crude-brick
mastaba shows that the southern niche was the more important of the two, being in Dynasty III much
larger than the other and opposite the subterranean burial place. Still later the southern niche was
developed into the offering chapel which is so conspicuous a feature of the mastaba of the Old Kingdom.
I n all the mastabas of Dynasty I and Dynasty 11, the niches on all sides were of exactly equal di-
mensions although, as noted above, the niches of the valley face were the most important - those ac-
tually used for the offering ceremonies. On the valley face itself, the niches were again of equal size as
far as they have been preserved; but the fact that only two stelae were found in any one of the royal
tombs of Abydos proves that two of the niches were more especially used for the offerings. The south-
ernmost of these two niches in conformity with the later history is marked as the more essential by the
fact that the entrance to the tomb enclosure was at the southern end.² In the later mastaba of Hesy
(late Dynasty III),³ the first addition to the mastaba had a wooden stela in each of the eleven niches of
the valley face, but the entrance was at the southern end, while a secondary niche had been made in the
outside face of this enclosing wall. The final conclusion must be, I think, that even in Dynasty I, two
of the niches on the valley face were the most important, possibly the southern one already in practice
more important than the other, and that in royal tombs each of these two niches contained a stela with
the name of the king.
The increase in size of the southern niche in Dynasty III appears due to the introduction of the long
stairway type of burial place in which the length of the stairway, running down from the north, forced
the burial chamber under the southern end of the mastaba. This development followed by the custom
of building the wife’s mastaba abutting on the northern end of that of the husband led eventually to
the differentiation of the southern niche as the husband’s niche and the northern niche as the wife’s.
Such was the beginning of the development of the offering place as far as now traceable, the function
of which was filled by the temples of the pyramids. The offering niche in these temples is no longer at
the southern end of the superstructure but in the middle. The southern position was due to the desire
to bring the main offering niche, the false door of the tomb, opposite the burial chamber. One of the
essential functions of the superstructure was to prevent the access of thieves to the burial chamber. In
the pyramid this function required that the burial place should be approximately in or under the center
of the mass of masonry, and consequently the same desire which brought the chapel at the southern end
of the mastaba, dictated placing the pyramid temple in the center of the valley face opposite the burial
chamber, quite apart from any architectural considerations. The niches of the exterior faces of the
mastaba appear to be represented in the pyramid temples by the niches of the court, while the chief
offering niche of the mastaba is to be found in the wide portico and the deep offering room which prob-
ably terminated in a false door or stela of some sort.
( B ) TYPESOF OBJECTSPLACED
IN THE BURIALCHAMBERS
AND THEIR PURPOSE
Now for all periods previous to Dynasty IV, practically the whole body of the archaeological material,
except the bare structures of the mastabas or pyramids, was found in the burial chambers of the tombs.
After the burial, these chambers had been sealed up and were intended to remain inviolate to the end of
time. The objects placed in the chambers were originally practical utensils of daily life taken from actual
usage or from new stocks intended for use. The spirit of the object was supposed to serve the spirit
of the owner of the grave in the other world. As time went on, the custom of making new objects for
the graves grew, owing to two causes: ( a ) Models were substituted in poor graves for the more expen-
sive objects; (b) Certain objects which had gone out of daily use were made especially to put in the
graves as a matter of tradition. But it must be kept clearly in mind that all the objects found in the
burial chambers represent things which were once in use in daily life and were intended to convey their
Petrie,
¹ R. T . I, p. 6b. Professor Petrie was unaware at the time of the existence of the niched mastaba in Dynasty I and thought
of these stelae as standing isolated on the desert surface.
²
Reisner, p. 6 and Petrie, Tarkhan II, Pl.
Naga-’d-Dêr
I, XVIII.
³Quibell,TombofHesy,Pl.I.
98 MYCERINUS
spirit forms to the other world for the use of the spirit of the owner. The same purpose must be ascribed
to the subsidiary bodies in the predynastic graves (stili-burial) - wives or servants whose souls were
sent into the other world to serve the soul of their lord and master. The burials in the complexes
around the large tombs of Dynasty I may be assumed to have been of the same character, although the
evidence that the bodies in these were buried at the time of the chief burial is not conclusive. In Dy-
nasty II, the use of these surface complexes appear to have ceased, and the tomb of Khasekhemuwy
contains an underground complex of over fifty loculi. Some of these loculi were necessary for the funer-
ary furniture, but it may be surmised that others were intended, at least theoretically, for subsidiary
burials (sâti-burials), replacing the surface complexes of Dynasty I. Similar underground loculi have
been found in the pyramid of Zoser, in the pyramid at Zawiat-el-Aryan, and in certain large private
tombs of Dynasty III (perhaps also of Dynasty II?).¹ I n time, just as models of objects were sub-
stitutes for the actual objects, so figures in stone and wood of members of the family came to be
substituted for their actual persons. Thus taking the whole interval from the Predynastic Period to
Dynasty IV, the objects found in the burial chambers were of three classes:
(1) Objects used in daily life and bodies of members of the family including servants.
(2) Models of such objects and figures of members of the family including servants.
(3) Objects which had once been in daily use but had been displaced by others and were made especially
for the grave as a matter of tradition.
The common purpose of all three classes was to supply the necessities of the spirit of the dead in the
other world, necessities which were approximately the same as those on earth.
(C) FUNCTION
OF THE OFFERINGPLACE THEREWITH
AND OBJECTSASSOCIATED
When the offering places are examined, it becomes clear that they also served the purpose of supply-
ing the spirit with the daily necessities of life in the other world. The obvious difference between the
funerary offerings of the burial chamber and those of the chapel was that the food and drink in the burial
chamber could never be renewed, while those in the chapel were, by prescription, to be made daily.
Thus, in Dynasties V and VI and later, the food in the burial place was placed, more or less mummified,
in stone cases of the form of legs of meat and dressed fowls, in order to preserve the simulacra at least
of the necessary articles of food. On the other hand, in order to maintain the daily offerings in the
chapel, endowments were created and ka-priests appointed. Food offerings (rahma) are still made at
Egyptian graves and custom prescribes that, after the ceremony, the food may not be eaten by the
offerers or their family, but must be given away. A similar custom probably held sway in the Old
Kingdom and led, for reasons of ceremony, to the use of miniature offerings of bread and beer; for
thousands of small model vessels, suitable for this purpose, are found cast outside the endowed chapels
in the Giza cemeteries. Even before the introduction of miniature offerings, the permanent equipment
of the offering place need not have been very extensive. To obtain an idea of what equipment was usual
and what was possible, it is necessary to consider the evidences preserved, although they are very frag-
mentary for the first three dynasties:
(1) Dynasty I:
(a) Offering niches or “false-doors” were placed on the valley face of the mastaba or on all faces; the
most significantfact is the use of a stela in the offering niche, giving only the name of the owner or
his name and title. The most necessary part of the offering recitation was the name of the recipient.
(b) One example has been reported of the occurrence of vessels which may have been part of the equip-
ment of the chapel.²
There are also loculi in the Third Pyramid which are entirely in harmony with forms of the older burial chambers; but no
¹
such loculi have been noted in any of the four pyramids just previous to Mycerinus (Sneferuw, Cheops, Dedefra, and Chephren), and
Professor Borchardt is of the opinion that these loculi were made in the Saite period when the wooden coffin of Mycerinus was placed
in the tomb.
Petrie,
² R. T.I,p. 15a. The northern stela of King Qay’a(Q) was found over subsidiary grave No. 3 and “near it on the south
were dozens of large pieces of alabaster bowls and one of diorite” inscribed with the name of “the sm-priest of the temple of Qa.”
The vessels were similar to those found in the burial place.
(2) Dynasty II:

(a) Offering niches as in Dynasty I. The two stelae of Peribsen¹ prove the continuation of the use of
stelae in the niches, still bearing only name and title.
(b) Another possible case of chapel equipment is reported.²
(3) Dynasty 111: the true stairway mastaba:
(a) Offering niches as in Dynasties 1-11; often reduced to two, in which case the southern niche is the
larger.
(b) Evidence of chapel equipment is lacking.
(4) Dynasties III-IV: transition from stairway to shaft mastaba: the material is derived from mastabas
of the time of Khaba, Sneferuw, and Cheops, in particular the tomb of Hesy.
(a) It is clear that in the time between the stelae of Peribsen and the earliest shaft mastaba, a consider-
able advance had been made in powers of the Egyptian craftsman, especially in drawing, painting,
and sculpture. Moreover the use of stone in architecture was developing towards its highest point
at the time of these monuments of the transition period from Dynasty III to Dynasty IV.
i. The tomb of Hesy has a wooden slab in each of the eleven niches of the offering room; each slab
has a figure of Hesy, standing or seated, inscribed in relief with his name and titles and with a
short list of offerings, incense, food, and drink, but no offering formula.
The walls of this room were decorated with paintings of objects such as are included in the ordi-
nary burial furniture, beds, boxes, games, utensils, jars of oils and ointment, etc., a sort of
pictorial list.
ii. The temple of the pyramid of Medum was of limestone, found by Professor Petrie in perfect con-
dition, but was uninscribed and had no stela, as usually understood; but in the inner room was
an offering stone between two uninscribed round-topped stones which appear to occupy the
places usually taken by the pair of obelisks before the false door in tombs of Dynasties V and
VI. The later pyramid temples of Dynasty I V showed no traces of such stones but only of a
stela against the pyramid. The outer offering room in front of the pyramid may be restored
by a false door (stela) on the wall next to the pyramid.
iii. The tombs of Rahotep and Neferma’at at Medum have the southern niche enlarged to a room
cased with stone; the false door in the back wall sets the “norm” for the later development;
the slab above the door corresponds to the seated scene of the Hesy panels with its inscriptions.
The walls are decorated with scenes from life. An abbreviated form of the lists of the Hesy
chapel is found on the sides of the false door. The northern niche in the Neferma’at mastaba
was decorated for his wife, Atet. These cased niches were blocked by a brickwork addition
around the whole mastaba and remained hidden from view; and in them were placed the ka-
statues of the man and wife.
iv. The earliest stone mastabas at’Giza (the Cheops mastabas) have two- or three-room chapels of
crude brick on the southern end of the valley face and a niche in the brick wall adjoining the
mastaba; in this niche, set in the face of the mastaba, was a slab with a seated figure before a
table inscribed with name and titles similar to the Hesy slab and exactly like the tablet above
the false door in the Medum tombs. The Merib-tomb (Lepsius 24, now in Berlin) was originally
of this type with slab set in the southern end of the valley face and a crude-brick chapel; the
later stone chapel, built round the southern end of the mastaba and more nearly of the type of
the Medum mastabas, was actually built in the reign of Chephren.
(b) The objects fround in the chapels are: altar (of various forms) and basin, placed before the chief
niche or the false door; large basin, placed in the outer court (later a stone ring for tying sacri-
ficial animals is found beside the basin); one or two tall stands for libation bowls, usually one on
each side of the altar, of pottery or stone; and occasionally, in Dynasty V and VI, two obelisks
instead of bowl stands.
In the mud-brick chapels of the Cheops mastabas there was usually one room provided with a wooden
door which was evidently some sort of magazine. In the magazine of G 2001, the tomb of Prince
Wep-em-nofret, there were five or six pots and pans of pottery of the usual types found in the
burial places; but ordinarily the magazines were quite empty.
From this brief survey it is clear that the function of the offering place was not only to provide the
same food and drink as was placed in the burial chamber but also to provide the utensils of daily life.
It must be understood that a magical formula was necessary in the chapel for the conveyance of all
classes of objects to the use of the spirit and, as is proved by inscriptions inside the burial places of
Dynasties V and VI, similar formulas were helpful there as well as in the chapel. From Dynasty I to
the time of the Hesy panels and the Cheops stelae the inscriptions on the false door or stelae omitted
¹Petrie,R.T.II,PI.XXXI.
Petrie
² and Wainwright, TarkhanII, p. 4, - found “a great stack of pottery against the outside of the enclosing wall”
a t the
doorway of mastaba 2038. These were of the ordinary types found in graves of this period, traditional-ceremonjal in character.
100 MYCERINUS
all formulas. The earliest wall inscriptions are mere pictures of objects (tomb of Hesy), and it was not
until Dynasty IV that the objects were shown in actual use as well as in written or illustrated lists,
and that the offering formulas which had probably been recited from predynastic times and had be-
come traditional, were actually inscribed on the false door.
(D)INTRODUCTION
OF KA-STATUES
AND RELIEFS
At the time when the offering room was reaching its full development, its functional fitness was in-
creased by the introduction of statues of the dead, so-called ka-statues. In the Medum tombs these
were walled up in the enlarged offering niche; in the Chephren period at Giza they were placed in spe-
cially constructed chambers behind the niche; in the tomb of the lector-priest Ka’ar, commonly called
the “Sheikh-el-Beled,” the statues of himself and his wife were set in a broad niche in the southern
wall of an exterior chapel; and in the time of Hesy, the statue chamber was merely a walled up end of
an offering room of the last addition to the mastaba. Later, the statue chamber or serdab, became a sep-
arate structure in the body of the mastaba somewhere near the offering room and usually connected
with it by a small slot-like window; but statues were still put behind the niche or in the walled ends of
the room, or even standing free in the chapel. It is quite evident that the special closed rooms were
only used to protect the statues from injury, that the essential feature was the proximity of the statues
to the offering place. I n several tombs the statue is carved in the niche, as if in the act of issuing from
the false door. By the addition of statues in which the ka might reside, nothing was changed in the
fundamental ideas attached to the offering place. The statues were added simply because the technical
means of the craftsmen permitted the creation of simulacra of the dead just as they now permitted
the representation of scenes from life in painting and relief on the walls. The newly acquired technical
powers were also utilized to improve the functional efficiency of the furniture in the burial place,
first by means of so-called reserve-heads, then by statues similar to those placed in the serdab, by means
of carved or painted lists on the walls, and, finally, at the end of the Old Kingdom, by models of the
same sorts of scenes as were carved on the walls of the offering places.
I n the case of the temples of Chephren and Mycerinus, the walls appear never to have borne the
scenes from life which are seen in the mastaba chapels and in the pyramid temples of Dynasty V. The
German work at the Second Pyramid¹ revealed no traces of reliefs. The only inscriptions were the
names and titles, incised around the two outer doors of the valley temple and the doors in the court of
the pyramid temple. At the Third Pyramid, the evidence is destroyed by the decay of the crude brick;
and such plastered areas as remained intact were in corridors and magazines which would not neces-
sarily have been painted. The only contemporary inscriptions found there were those of the Shepseskaf
decree and a few fragments of an alabaster stela. Now the Chephren temple was cased in granite, and
the Mycerinus temple was intended to have been cased in the same way. At this time the sculpturing
of reliefs in wood and limestone was practically at its culmination; but the architectural use of granite
was recent, and the sculptors had not become sufficiently expert in the cutting of this harder material
to make wall scenes in relief on granite a practical possibility. I n fact, the cutting away of the back-
ground always presented a serious difficulty, and it is probable that the sunk relief, so popular in later
ages, came into use as a solution of this difficulty. Thus the relief scenes were omitted from the Cheph-
ren temple for technical reasons and were, probably for the same reason, never intended to be used in
the Mycerinus temple.
While the working of reliefs in hard stone was still undeveloped, the carving of hard-stone figures
in the round had reached its highest level. Ka-statues of both hard and soft stones have therefore been
found in numbers in the temples of both the Second and the Third Pyramids and some were no doubt
placed in the temples of the First Pyramid. These statues stood partly in the exposed rooms of the
sanctuary and partly in hidden rooms or rooms closed with doors or door blocks. Altars, libation stands,
and offering basins are also attested, and the general service equipment is proved to have been not un-
like those of the larger mastabas of Dynasty IV.
Hoelscher,
¹ Das Grabdenkmal des Königs
Chephren, pp. 15, 28, Figs. 5, 16.
OBJECTS FOUND IN THE MYCERINUS TEMPLES 101
( E ) FURNITURE TEMPLES
OF THE FUNERARY OF MYCERINUS
I n addition to these well proved characteristic features of funerary offering places, the temples of
Mycerinus contained a great equipment of stone vessels, pottery, and other objects, which had been
placed in retired magazines behind wooden doors. These wooden doors had, however, after no great
time been replaced by blocking walls of crude brick. Similar magazines were found in the temples of
the Second Pyramid together with traces of stone bowls and other objects, especially mace heads.
The evidence from the pyramids of Dynasty V a t Abusir, excavated by the German Expedition, confirms
the conclusion that during Dynasties IV and V an equipment similar to that of the burial equipment
was placed in accessible magazines in the funerary temples. These were manifestly not necessary to
the ordinary food offerings and magic recitations but may have been intended for special ceremonies
and formulas which have escaped us. But in any case these special ceremonies were probably not main-
tained for any long period, for in the Mycerinus temples the magazines were after a time closed with
crude-brick walls.
The evidences found of the original contents of the magazines of the pyramid temples of Dynasties
IV and V prove the presence of vessels of pottery, stone, bronze, and faience, of mace heads, sets of
magical implements for “the opening of the mouth,” bronze and flint implements, and various other
objects of less permanent materials. From these a more complete equipment may be presumed, includ-
ing also beds, chairs, tables, boxes, games, writing materials, clothing, and weapons, perhaps even royal
insignia of precious metals and personal ornaments.
The contents of the burial chambers of the pyramids have not been so fully recorded as those of the
temple magazines, owing to the activities of a long series of ancient and modern plunderers and in part
to the lack of archaeological knowledge of the early explorers.¹ The broken vessels found by Perring
in the Zoser tomb undoubtedly belonged to the funerary equipment of the tomb. Yet no record ap-
pears of their forms or numbers, and, for all that I can ascertain, they may be still lying in this passage.
In the inner rooms of the Third Pyramid, Vyse and Perring found only the granite sarcophagus, the
broken wooden coffin-lid, and some human bones, but apparently nothing of the original burial equipment.
There can be no doubt, however, from the analogy of the older royal tombs and of the private mastabas
of Dynasty IV that the burial equipment of the Third Pyramid was similar to that outlined for the
temple magazines including, certainly in this case, personal ornaments and royal insignia.
In this connection a comparison of the floor areas of the burial chambers and the temple magazines
of the Third Pyramid is of interest:
sq. m.
Pyramid burial place:
Floor area of burial chamber, less sarcophagus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15.09
Floor area of loculi-chamber and loculi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22.53
Total floor area of burial chambers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37.62
Floor area of large outer apartment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54.00
Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91.62
Pyramid temple magazines:
Floor area of the magazines for objects and statues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68.92
Intended floor area of the unfinished magazines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48.95
Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117.87
Valley temple magazines:
Floor area of the furniture magazines on north . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77.25
Floor area of the statue magazines on south . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88.89
Total(innertemple) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166.14
Floor area of vestibule magazines (service equipment?) ................................. 84.00
Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250.14
For example, Perring records (Vyse, Pyramids of Gizeh
¹ II,
p. 47) that the lower passages (loculi passages) of the Zoser pyramid
“were nearly filled with broken vases composed of marble and of alabaster, with fragments of sarcophagi, and with broken stones,
upon which stars, a common ornament of Egyptian ceilings, were observed.” These vessels have now (1929) been rediscovered by
Mr. C. M. Firth.
102 MYCERINUS
The figures which give the effective areas devoted to furniture are probably 54 sq. m. in the burial
chambers, 68 in the pyramid temple, and 77 in the valley temple. The figures for the temples are
perhaps to be increased by the areas of the shelves or second floors in the smaller magazines. The larger
areas in the temple magazines indicate that a greater amount of pottery and stone vessels was included
in the temple equipments than in the burial chamber.
2. DATE OF THE OBJECTS FOUND IN THE MYCERINUS TEMPLES

The examination of the history of the construction of the Mycerinus temples, especially with rela-
tion to the decree of Shepseskaf, led to the conclusion that the unfinished stone buildings as originally
planned, had been finished by Shepseskaf in crude brick. The operations carried out by Shepseskaf
required only a few months with the resources at the command of a king of Egypt. And it may be
premised that Shepseskaf hastened the work in order to free himself for the construction of his own
tomb. The actual deposition of the objects in the temples probably took place in the first or early in
the second year of Shepseskaf. Therefore all the objects found in the older deposits in the temple, and
especially those in the magazines, were made in the first year of Shepseskaf or were of an earlier date.
Those which were manifestly of the reign of Mycerinus were the statues of Mycerinus himself, many of
which were placed still unfinished in the temples, and the stone vessels. Of still earlier manufacture
were a few objects inscribed with the names of earlier kings, notably the set of magic implements in-
scribed with the name of Cheops, and a few stone bowls.
Now of all the objects found in the Mycerinus temples, only the statues and one painted pottery
jar bore the name of the king, while two flint wands were found, one inscribed with the name of Cheops
and the other with the name of Khamerernebty, probably the mother of Mycerinus. Not a single one
of the hundreds of stone vessels bore the name of Mycerinus, but five vessels bore older names:
(1) A flint bowl with the figure of a seated cat-headed goddess scratched on one side with the Horus-name
Nebra before her. The name Nebra has been partially erased and the Horus-name Hetepsekhemuwy
inserted between it and the goddess.
(2) A diorite bowl with a Horus-name scratched inside. The name is nearly illegible but seems to me to be
Hetepsekhemuwy. (Fig. 57, No. 37.)
(3) A diorite bowl with the cartouche and name of Sneferuw scratched inside. (Fig. 57, No. 38.)
(4) A diorite bowl with the name of Sneferuw scratched inside, without a cartouche. (Fig. 57, No. 2.)
(5) An alabaster cylindrical jar fragment, incised with the corner of a rectangular frame and the double
crown of Egypt; the rest of the figure and frame was broken off (not found).
I n the temples of Chephren, where few objects were found except for the statues discovered by Mariette,
eight hard stone mace heads were the only objects on which the name of the king was found. None
of the stone vessels bore his name; but
(6) One fragment was inscribed with the name of King Sened of Dynasty II.¹
The temple of Sahura also yielded no objects with the name of the king but contained
(7) One stone vessel with the name of the Horus Khaba and
(8) Five vessels with the name of Sneferuw (Borchardt, Sahure I , p. 114).
This material must be judged in the light of the occurrence of the older names in the royal tombs of
Abydos (Petrie, R. T. I , p. 5 and 11, p. 3). For example:
(9) Alabaster bowl with name of Narmer (WHa-mr) found in the tomb of Zet (R. T.I , Pl. IV, 2).
(10) Another of Narmer re-used in the tomb of Den (Wdy-mw),” (R. T.I , p. 5a, p. 16b end).
(11) Calcite vase with the name of Den (Wdy-mw)reinscribed with the name of Azabmerpaba (ad-ib-Mry-pi-biA)
(12) Crystal bowl with the name of Den (Wdy-mw) reinscribed with the name of Azabmerpaba (-Mry-pi-biA)
provenience not given. (R. T.I , Pl. V, 9.)
(13) Red limestone vase with name of Den (Wdy-mw) reinscribed with the name of Azabmerpaba (-Mry-pi-biA),
provenience not given (R. T.I , Pl. IV, No. 12).
(14) Alabaster jar inscribed with the name of Azabmerpaba (-Mry-pi-biA) which has been erased,found in the
tomb of Mersekha (Smrxt). (R. T.I , Pl. VI, 11; R. T.11, Pl. XLVI, 7.)
See
¹ Professor Steindorff in Hoelscher, Das Grabdenkmal des Konigs Chephren, p. 116.
(15) Bowl of volcanic ash, inscribed with the name of the palace of Nebra, erased and reinscribed with the
name of Neterymuw; found in the tomb of Peribsen (R. T . II,Pl.VIII, 12).
(16) Three fragments of bowls, inscribed with the name of Hetepsekhemuwy and found in the tomb of Perib-
sen (R.T.II,Pl.VIII,8-10).¹
It is difficult to discover from R.T.IandII, the number of stone vessels found in the individual
tombs at Abydos or even where some of the inscribed vessels were found. The tombs are identified by
the inscribed labels of wood and ivory, by the jar sealings, and a few other objects, but of the large
numbers of vessels found in the tombs only a very few appear to have been marked with the name of the
owner of the tomb. In any case only the more important objects were so marked while the greater part
of the names on the stone vessels were those of earlier kings. The difference between this practice and
that of Dynasties IV and V lies in the fact that while a few stone vessels in Dynasties I and IIhad the
names of the owner of the tomb, no stone vessels at all have been found in the temples of Chephren,
Mycerinus, Sahura, Neferirkara or Neweserra which bore the name of any of these kings. But some
other objects, the statues, the mace heads of Chephren, the painted pottery jar of Mycerinus, the inlaid
wooden jars of Neferirkara and Mycerinus, were inscribed with the names of the owner of the tomb.
The vessels bearing the names of earlier kings were inscribed in four ways:
(a) With the name of an earlier king, Nos. 2-10, 15, and 17, above.
(b) With the name of an earlier king erased, No. 14 above. (Evidence, however, inconclusive owing to frag-
mentary condition of example.)
(c) With the name of an earlier king erased, and the name of the owner of the tomb inserted. No. 11 and
perhaps Nos. 12 and 13 above.
(d) With the name of an earlier king erased, and reinscribed with the name of a later king who was also older
than the king of the tomb. Nos. 1 and 16.
Now the vessels inscribed with the names of previous kings must have been in some accessible place
and not in the burial chambers. And the reinscribed vessels of class (d) above must have been twice
found in an accessible place. Professor Petrie suggests (R. T. 11, p. 26b) that the inscribed stone ves-
sels had been taken from the palace furniture, which might well have included objects inscribed with
older names and inherited with the rest of the contents of the palace magazines.² This is a plausible
and reasonable explanation, at any rate for the early period. But a doubt as to Dynasties IV and V
is raised by the objects with names of kings of Dynasty II found in the temples of Chephren and Mycer-
inus. These might rather have been taken from old equipment dedicated to some temple on its renewal
by a later king, or removed from the magazines of a funerary temple on the occasion of some restoration.
The occurrence in the tombs of private persons of objects, especially stone vessels, bearing royal
names, is to be explained in a different manner. These were presentation objects given by the king
as marks of favor.³ Examples of such royal vessels found in private tombs may be cited as follows:
(17) Alabaster vase with Horus-name of Narmer (WHa-mr?) in Grave B 13. Petrie, R. T . I I , p. 4 and Pl.II.
(18) Five marble bowls with the name of the Horus Khaba, in stairway mastaba Z 500 at Zawiat-el-Aryan.
(19) Diorite bowl with the name of Horus Nebrna’at, in pit-mastaba N 739 at Naga-ed-Dêr.
(20) Diorite bowl with the Horus name of Sneferuw, in pit-mastaba A (Kamena), Quibell, El Kab, p. 4.
(21) Diorite bowl with name of Sneferuw, in pit-mastaba 301, Quibell, El Kab, p. 5.
(22) Diorite bowl with name of Sneferuw, in pit-mastaba 288, Quibell, El Kab, p. 5.
(23) Alabaster bowl with the name of Sneferuw, in pit-mastaba R 64 (Shepses). Garstang, Third Egyptian
Dynasty, pp. 49, 50, pl. 25.
By inscription No. 15,the order is Nebra, Neterymuw, Peribsen; by No. 16, Hetepsekhemuwy, Peribsen; by No. 1, our flint
¹
bowl, it is Nebra, Hetepsekhemuwy. These three seem to require one of the two following orders:
(a) Nebra (b) Nebra
Neterymuw Hetepsekhemuwy
Hetepsekhemuw y Netery muw
Peribsen Peribsen
Now the inscription on the shoulder of the famous kneeling statuette in the Cairo Museum reads as follows: Hetepsekhemuwy,
Nebra, Neterymuw. It is certain that Nebra was the first of these three kings in time and that Hetepsekhemuwy was the most im-
portant to the official represented by the statue. It is clear that the order on the statuette is not the chronological order. The priest-
hood (?) of Hetepsekhemuwy as the most important, was probably that of the last king of three to die, and I would adopt the order
(a) above, placing Nebra first, Neterymuw second, Hetepsekhernuwy third, and Peribsen fourth, in this group.
I have
² been told by British officials sent into Darfur at the time of the overthrow of Ali Dinâr,
that the doorways of the palace
and almost all the furniture were marked with the name and title of the Sultan. It is also said that his favorite method of rewarding
his officials was to give them a sword marked also with his own name and title.
³ See foot note 2 regardingAli Dinâr.
104 MYCERINUS
The records of our expedition also include an alabaster jar of Unas found in a pit tomb at Naga-ed-Dêr
and a diorite bowl of Teti found in a mastaba at Giza.
From the evidence of the inscribed objects found in the Mycerinus temples and other tombs, the
conclusion is certain that a few objects found in these ancient tombs were of an earlier period. The
question therefore arises: Were other objects which were not inscribed, also of earlier date, taken, like
the older inscribed objects, from some palace or temple magazine?
In the chapters on the stone vessels and the pottery, the great body of type forms of all vessels is
shown to be of the archaeological group of Dynasty IV, falling into place in the development of the two
crafts in question and presenting degenerate modifications of the older traditional types, especially
those of Dynasty 111. At the same time about half the stone forms have been found in the temple of
Sahura of Dynasty V and many of the pottery types are known in Dynasties IV and V. But in addi-
tion to the stone vessels inscribed with older names, five examples of older types were found which can-
not be traced later than Dynasty I:
(a) Type 11, recorded in the Early and the Middle Predynastic periods but not later, two examples, both
basalt as the older examples.
(b) Type IV, b, recorded from M. P. to Dynasty I, one example of volcanic ash, an Early Dynastic material.
(c) Type VI, b, recorded Dynasty 0-Dynasty I, one of alabaster, the old material of the type.
(d) Type VII, a, recorded Dynasty 0-Dynasty I, one of alabaster, the old material, but the form rather
degenerate.
Thus of the 537 stone vessels in the Mycerinus valley temple, only the five inscribed vessels were proved
to be earlier work and five others cannot be connected with the archaeological group of Dynasties III
and IV. Admitting that the whole ten were earlier work they form only 1.86 per cent of the vessels in
the temple. I n the case of the pottery, there were only two of the hundreds of examples which have not
been found in Dynasty IV and these two have been proved for Dynasty III in which they occurred as
ceremonial-traditional forms.
Thus no doubt whatever would have arisen except for an opinion expressed by Professor Steindorf
that the bulk of the stone vessels in the Chephren temples had been removed and placed in the Mycerinus
valley temple, because :
(a) he was under the impression that stone vessels with the name of Chephren were found in the Mycerinus
valley temple and
(b) only a few fragments of stone vessels were found in the Chephren temple.
But no fragment of any stone vessel bearing the name of Chephren was found in a layer of the Mycerinus
temples. A silver seal of an official of Chephren was found, a fact which requires no explanation, and
a few fragments of a statue of Chephren. These fragments were found, however, in one of the later
workshops where statues of both Mycerinus and Chephren had been broken up to manufacture the
small model vessels placed in the tombs of Dynasties V and VI. This shop was on the surface of decay
of the mud-brick temple under the last series of houses. Similar workshops with fragments of statues
of Chephren were found in the great cemetery north of the Second Pyramid, notably in the offering
chapel of the mastaba of Duwanera, the nearest mastaba in the field. I n the early deposits of the
Mycerinus temple, dated to the time of Shepseskaf, no fragment with the name of Chephren was found.
As to the second reason, the paucity of vessels in the Chephren temple, that is otherwise explainable by
the exposed position of the temple and the nearly total destruction of the magazines. The number of
vessels compares approximately with the numbers found at the Mycerinus pyramid temple and most of
the Abusfr temples. Finally, Mycerinus is hardly likely to have made a complete clearance of his
father’s temple, for Chephren was, in all human probability, the father of Mycerinus. As far as actual
evidence is concerned, Mycerinus was no more impious towards his predecessors than any other king
whose tomb furniture has been recovered, and the character given him by the classical authors cannot
be used as an argument for his violation of the tomb of Chephren.
Thus Professor Steindorff’s theory is actually devoid of all supporting evidence. Many of the stone
vessels with which his theory was solely concerned were in an unfinished condition like the pyramid,
Hoelscher,
¹ Chephren, p. 104.
the two temples, and the statues, a condition undoubtedly caused by the unexpected death of the king.
Most of the objects of all classes found in the temples belonged demonstrably to the archaeological group
of Dynasty IV as the descendant of the group of Dynasty III and the ancestor of the group of Dynasty
V. All the facts lead naturally to the conclusion that the great mass of the objects found in the Myceri-
nus valley temple and many of those in the pyramid temple were made for Mycerinus either during
his reign or in the first year of Shepseskaf.
3. ARCHAEOLOGICAL VALUE OF THE OBJECTS FOUND IN THE MYCERINUS TEMPLES
The examination into the date of the objects in the temples of Mycerinus gave the following con-
clusions :
(a) A few objects inscribed with older names are to be assigned to earlier reigns.
(b) The objects requiring a longer time to manufacture, that is, the statues and stone vessels, are of the reign
of Mycerinus.
(c) The objects which might be quickly and easily manufactured were mostly made in the first year or two
of the reign of Shepseskaf.
For all practical purposes, the objects made for the temples by Mycerinus and Shepseskaf belong to one
archaeological group and may be considered together as characteristic of the last part of Dynasty IV.
I n considering the archaeological bearing of funerary furniture, the underlying fundamental ideas
must be carefully distinguished from the physical means employed to satisfy the requirements of those
ideas. All the tombs discovered in Egypt are based on one conception of life after death, a life similar
in its physical needs to the life on earth. I n the graves of the Neolithic Period, the grave furniture
consisted of vessels, weapons, implements, and utensils used in daily life, and, whatever conceptions
were added in later times, the equipments found in the tombs prove that the belief in the similarity of
the two lives always persisted. Thus all tombs are examples of the one permanent practice of providing
the means of life after death for the souls of the dead.
The permanent practice was carried out in some form or other by all, rich or poor, strong or weak,
male or female,, but the form varied from tomb to tomb and from age to age. The rich and the strong
and, in particular, the kings, had naturally at their disposal the means for obtaining the best materials
and employing the finest craftsmen both on their tombs and on the equipment. Thus the development of
the arts and crafts and of changes in the outward form of the practice may be best traced in the evidence
preserved in the great tombs. The graves of the poor only followed the development in imitation of the
great after the spread of new technical means and new forms. Therefore, in periods of growth, the small
tombs and their contents always showed a chronological drag in taking up the course of the development
of their time, so that the great tombs and the small tombs, in periods of rapid technical progress gener-
ally showed considerable differences in style. For example, alongside the great stairway tombs of Dy-
nasty 111,the greater part of the poor graves were open, brick-lined graves like those of the great people
of the early part of Dynasty I, except that they were smaller and usually roofed with stone slabs.
The objects placed in the graves of both rich and poor were not always taken from the daily life of
the period of the grave. Two factors, the belief in magic and the force of tradition modified in time the
practical expression of the fundamental idea. The necessities after life might be supplied by magical
models of real objects, and these models placed in the graves with the proper spoken words might become
efficient substitutes for the actual objects. Thus, in the Old Kingdom, pictures on the walls of the tombs,
and, in the Middle Kingdom, wooden models of scenes from life, are based on this idea. But the first
expression of this belief in magical substitutes is found in the poor graves of the Predynastic Period
where mud models of cattle, people, boats, weapons, and other objects permitted the provision of an
equipment beyond the means of the daily life of the owner. I n the further development of the idea, the
use of models became common and was practised through the course of history by almost all classes,
both rich and poor. But in all these cases the model stood for something used in the daily life of the
period and so it represents for all practical purposes the development of life in Egypt.
106 MYCERINUS
The effects of tradition on the forms of the tombs and especially on the funerary equipment, were
entirely different in character from those produced by the use of magic. ‘Tradition in this case means
the handing down from generation to generation of practices established by long usage. The best illus-
tration of the effect of tradition is shown in the case of the sacrificial flint knife. This was a broad
blade with a curving edge, the lower part of which was wrapped round with thong or covered with
shrunk raw hide to form a handle and was used in the Neolithic Period to cut the throat and to dress
the carcase of all slaughtered animals. When the use of copper knives had come in, flint knives of this
form still continued to be made and used because by long custom the flint knife was regarded as the only
proper instrument for sacrificial slaughter. As flint knives were displaced in daily use by copper knives,
the fine art of chipping flint declined and was lost; but the priests still demanded sacrificial knives of
flint. The forms of Dynasty I, large, curving blades, were roughly chipped and already impractical
for cutting the throat of the bull of sacrifice.¹ Those of Dynasty IV, as shown by the examples from the
Mycerinus temples, were directly descended from the sacrificial flint knives of Dynasty I? But I
conclude that in Dynasty I, and probably before Dynasty I, the actual sacrifice was already executed
with practical metal knives. The ceremonial flints found in graves were probably merely “ghost-knives”
the immaterial projections of which were intended to be used in the spirit world for the sacrificial slaughter
of the spirits of animals.
The effect of tradition, as just shown, is to preserve the use of obsolete objects as part of the funerary
furniture. Now in primitive communities where the necessities of life show little change, and the daily
utensils are permanent and indispensable requirements of life, objects do not become obsolete except
for serious cause. As far as I have been able to observe, the cause in ancient Egypt was always some
great advance in technical knowledge, the discovery of the practical use of hardened copper, the inven-
tion of the mechanical stone borer, and that of the potter’s wheel. The primary mark that objects have
become obsolete and are used in graves merely from the force of tradition, is the deterioration of their
workmanship. I n the case of the flint knives of Dynasty I their crude forms are proof of the loss of the
art of flint chipping. It had become impossible for flint chippers to dispose of their wares in competition
with copper implements, and the flint workers were replaced in the life of the community by the copper
workers. The craft was lost with the death of the craftsmen. And it may be said in general that a lost
art is only one which has ceased to find a demand in practical life. I n a community where the physical
conditions of life are unchanging, the cessation of a demand for certain objects is due to the functional
substitution of similar objects produced by a new craft or imported from outside the cultural unit.
When a craft was maintained by a demand for obsolete objects required for traditional funerary pur-
poses, and not for actual usage, then the objects necessarily deteriorated in workmanship; but when the
craft had merely made a technical advance and, as a result, was producing an object of more serviceable
form with the same function, then the increased power of the craft was sometimes used to produce ex-
tremely fine or richly decorated ceremonial examples of the older form. Examples of the influence of
tradition on the deterioration or the elaboration of classes of objects may be cited as follows:
(a) Deterioration of fiint knives from the late Predynastic Period and onwards as a result of the substitution
of metal working for flint chipping.
(b) Deterioration of the hand-made pottery in the early Dynastic Period owing to the invention of the me-
chanical stone borer, and still further in Dynasties III
a n d I V owing to the invention of the potter’s
wheel.
(c) The elaboration of the slate paint palettes of Dynasty I, when the common palette was going out of use
in favor of the heavier mortar palette of hard stone. The ordinary slate palettes were appearing in the
poorer graves in degenerate forms and less often a t the same time that the increase in the skill of the
stone carvers permitted the elaboration of the ceremonial palettes of the kings.
(d) The elaboration of the bulbous stone mace head with reliefs in a manner similar to the slate paint palettes
at the same time and for a similar reason. Stone-headed maces had gone out of general use owing to the
introduction of copper weapons; but the bulbous mace head, which had been used for the ceremonial
execution of prisoners of war and was retained by tradition as the necessary implement of this cere-
mony, never deteriorated. Its use was reserved for the one person prescribed as the actor in the cere-
¹SeeReisner,Naga-’d-DêrI,Pl.40.
See Chapter X, section 1.
²
mony, the king, and, as the stone-working craft by which it was produced was a living craft through-
out the whole history of Egypt, the later examples, like the mace heads of Chephren, are as fine as any
ever made, although not decorated after the manner of the ceremonial maces of Narmer.
The same conclusion as to the effect of tradition on burial furniture may be stated in another way.
The lost crafts were maintained by the demand for the classes of objects which the older people had
always seen placed in the graves. As the objects were for show, not use, they deteriorated in work-
manship and, as a result, the craft degenerated. Increased skill in a craft, or a new craft using the same
materials, was often employed to manufacture examples of forms which had in practical life been func-
tionally superseded by new forms. Objects produced for actual use by a growing or a living craft in-
creased or maintained a t a high level the excellence of their forms and workmnnship.
When the equipment of the Mycerinus temples is examined in the light of the foregoing exposition,
the objects are found to fall into the following classes:
(a) Practical products of living crafts - statues, wheel-made pottery, copper implements, stone hammers.
(b) Older functional forms maintained as a matter of tradition by a dying craft, objects which might have
been well made by the use of allied living crafts - stone vessels.
(c) Degenerate products of dead crafts - flint knives, hand-made pottery.
Reduced to its ultimate limits, the classification shows only two great groups, (1) ceremonial-traditional
objects made solely for the grave and (2) practical objects used in daily life.
CHAPTER VII
THE STATUARY
Previous to the excavation of the temples of Mycerinus, only thirteen statues and statuettes were
known of kings of Dynasty IV, and these pieces presented no more than five faces, Cheops, Radedef,
two of Chephren and a very poor one of Mycerinus. In the temples of Mycerinus, the Harvard-Boston
Expedition found seventeen statues equal in preservation to the thirteen already known of Dynasty IV
and in addition fifteen statuettes presenting eight stages in the creation of a statue. Five of the seven-
teen statues were practically perfect, and two were nearly complete, giving us seven portraits of Myce-
rinus, one of the queen, and eight faces of Hathor and the nome-deities. I n addition to these, two other
heads were found, making a total of eighteen faces carved by the royal sculptors of Dynasty IV, of which
ten were portraits of the king and his family. This rich material made it necessary to revise the history
of Egyptian art during its great creative period, the Fourth Dynasty, and led to the immediate abandon-
ment of a number of theories which had been confidently advanced in regard to that period.
1. LIST OF THE STATUARY FOUND IN THE MYCERINUS TEMPLES
The list of statues, statuettes, and fragments found in the temples of the Third Pyramid is as follows:
( A ) THEPYRAMID (M. P. T.)

TEMPLE
(1) Great statue of Mycerinus, over life-size, of clear translucent alabaster; broken and incomplete; see
Pls. 12, 13, 14, 15, 16a.
( a ) The head was found outside the northern wall opposite room (20), about three meters from the drain
hole in the wall; see p. 22 and Pl. 8; Reg. No. 07-4-9.
(b) The left shoulder was found with the head; see p. 22 and Pl. 8; Reg. No. 07-4-10.
(c) A fragment of the body was found nearer the drain hole; see p. 23; Reg. No. 074-13.
( d ) Three fragments of the body and shoulder, embedded in sand in the inner end of the drain hole, in
room (20); see p. 18 and Pl. 8 b; Reg. No. 07-1-70, 71, 72.
(e) The large fragment of the knees and part of the basis, found in sand in room (15); see p. 18 and
Pl. 7 b, d ; Reg. No. 07-1-77.
( f ) Fragments of basis and toes with part of inscribed name of Mycerinus, in sand in quarry.
(2) Smaller statue of Mycerinus, seated, about two thirds life-size, of opaque alabaster; broken and incom-
plete; see Pls. 16 b, c, d , and 17 c.
( a ) Two fragments of torso found with the head of the great statue, outside the drain hole; see p. 22 and
Pl. 8 c ; Reg. No. 07-4-11, 12.
(b) One fragment of torso, in inner end of drain hole, in room (20), with fragments of great statue; see
p. 18 and Pl. 8 b; Reg. No. 07-1-73.
(c) Four fragments of basis, feet, hips, and apron, in the sand in room (15), west of knees of great statue;
see p. 18 and Pl. 7 b ; Reg. No. 07-1-74, 75, 76, and 79.
(d) Fragment of thigh, high in sand above room (15) ; see p. 17; Reg. No. 07-1-22.
(3) Small fragment of slate statue, in rubbish in room (9); see p. 16; Reg. No. 07-1-29.
(4) Small fragment of alabaster statue, found with No. 3; Reg. No. 07-1-28.
(5) Small fragment of copper statue (?), found with No. 3; Reg. No. 07-1-30.
(6) Few minute fragments of alabaster, in floor debris of court; see p. 14.
(7) Few minute fragments of slate and alabaster, in debris of portico; see p. 15.
( B ) THETEMPLE
OF PYRAMID
111-a, THE QUEEN’STEMPLE
(M. Q. T.)
(8) Statue of the Queen, life-size, of clear translucent alabaster; fragments only, see Pl. 17 d.
( a ) Seven fragments of face and wig with vulture on head; found in room (9) in stratum No. 5; see
p. 56; Reg. No. 10-3-00.
(b) Ten fragments of right hand and arm, in rooms (3) and (9) in stratum No. 5; see p. 56; Reg. No.
10-3-00.
Beautifully polished like the great statue of Mycerinus.
THE STATUARY 109
(C) THE MYCERINUS

VALLEYTEMPLE
(M. V. T.)
(9) Nome triad, Hathor, Mycerinus, and the Hare-nome.
Hathor seated in the middle; Mycerinus with crown of upper Egypt, standing on left embraced by the
goddess, holding mace in right hand; and female figure representing the Hare-nome standing on right
of goddess with anx-sign in left hand; see Pls. 38 a, 39, 40.
Dark amorphous slate; about two fifths life-size.
Painted, traces of red on king’s face, of yellow on female faces, of black on hair parts, of green and yel-
low on necklaces, of black and green on king’s belt.
Inscribed on top of basis,
(a) In front of Mycerinus:
“Horus Kay-khet; King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Men-kauw-ra; beloved of Hathor, mistress
of the Sycamore Tree.”
(b) In front of nome-goddess:
“Recitation: I have given to you all good, all offerings, all foods which are in the South forever.’’
(c) Faintly legible on front of king’s belt, the name “Men-kauw-ra.”
Found in southern magazine-corridor (111-4), practically on floor with statues Nos. 10-12; see pp. 35,
42 and Pls. 36, 37.
(10) Nome triad, Mycerinus, Hathor, and the Theban nome.
Mycerinus with crown of Upper Egypt, standing in the middle; Hathor standing on his right; and a male
figure representing the Theban nome standing on his left; see Pls. 38 b, 41,42; all three have the left
foot advanced and the arms hanging a t sides.
Dark amorphous slate; slightly larger scale than No. 9.
Coloring similar to No. 9.
King’s beard broken off and not found.
Inscribed on top of basis (Pl. 46 c ) ,
( a ) In front of king and Hathor, signs facing to right:
“King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Men-kauw-ra; Horus, Kay-khet ;beloved of Hathor, mistress
of the Sycamore Tree, in all her seats.”
(b) In front of the nome-god, signs facing to left:
“Recitation: I have given to you all things which are in the South, all food, all offerings, since
thou hast appeared as King of Upper and Lower Egypt forever.,’
(c) Painted on front of king’s belt : “Men-kauw-ra.”
Found with No. 9, on west side of room facing north.
Now in Cairo Museum.
(11) Nome triad, Mycerinus, Hathor and Jackal-nome.
Mycerinus with crown of Upper Egypt, standing in middle, with left foot advanced and arms hanging;
Hathor on his right, standing with left foot slightly advanced, with left arm around king’s back and
left hand on his left arm, with right hand hanging, holding seal; goddess representing the Jackal-nome
on king’s left, standing with feet together, with right arm around king (at Hathor’s left), with left hand
hanging and holding seal; see Pls. 38 c, 43.
Dark amorphous slate; slightly larger than No. 10.
Coloring similar to No. 9, but not so well preserved.
Inscribed (Pl. 46 e),
( a ) On top of basis, in front of king and Hathor, signs facing to right:
“King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Men-kauw-ra; beloved of Hathor, mistress of the Sycamore
Tree, in all her seats.”
(b) On top of basis, in front of nome-goddess, signs facing to left:
“Recitation: I have given to you all good things and all offerings which are in the South (for) you
have appeared as King of Upper and Lower Egypt forever.’’
(c) Name painted on king’s belt, now very faint.
Found with No. 9 on west side of room, south of No. 10 and facing north.
(12) Nome triad, Mycerinus, Hathor, and nome of Diospolis parua.
Mycerinus wearing crown of Upper Egypt, standing in middle, left foot well forward, left hand hanging
closed a t side, right hand open, held by Hathor’s left hand; Hathor on king’s right, standing with left
foot slightly advanced, right hand hanging and closed, left hand holding open hand of king; goddess
representing the nome of Diospolis parva on king’s right, standing with feet together, hands hanging
closed at sides; see Pls. 38 d , 44, 45.
Dark amorphous slate; in size, the largest of the four triads.
Coloring similar to No. 9 but not so well preserved.
Inscribed (Pl. 46 a, b ) ,
(a) On top of basis, in front of king and Hathor, signs facing to right:
“Horus, Kay-khet; King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Men-kauw-ra; beloved of Hathor, mistress
of the Sycamore Tree, in all her seats.”
110 MYCERINUS
(b) On top of basis, in front of nome-figure, signs facing to left:
“Recitation: I have given to you every good thing and all offeringswhich are in the South (for)
you have appeared as King of Upper and Lower Egypt forever.”
(c) Painted name on king’s belt, scaled off.
Found with No. 9, just behind it to the north and facing south.
(13) Shattered nome triad, Mycerinus, Hathor, and a nome (male).
Mycerinus in the middle, standing, left foot advanced, left hand hanging closed at side, right hand held
by Hathor’s left (cf. No. 12); Hathor on right of king, standing, left foot advanced, right hand hang-
ing closed at side, left hand holding king’s right; god representing a nome (name broken off) on left of
king, standing with left foot advanced, right arm around back of king with hand open on king’s right
shoulder, left hand hanging (broken off); see Pl. 46 f.
Slate as Nos. 9-12; slightly larger scale than No. 12.
Coloring completely lost.
Heads and feet broken away,except chin of Hathor ; hands, arms, legs, and other parts damaged or missing.
Found in upper part of debris of decay (mud) in court, four meters east of entrance to portico and two
meters north of axis of court; see pp. 37, 49 and Pl. 32 f.
(14) Fragment of nome triad.
Large fragment from left lower part of back of triad; seated figure in middle and standing male figure
on left of seated figure; probably like No. 9; see Pl. 64 h.
Slate like Nos. 9-13.
No trace of color.
Found in thieves’ hole in room (111-4) in sand below the water level, about 50 cm. below base of the slate
pair, No. 17.
(15) Fragments of other nome triads, of slate.
Fragments of other triads of slate were found,
( a ) In SE quarter of portico (III-1) near the floor of the Second Temple of crude brick;
(b) Under the walls of the last series of houses (1-5 t o 1-10) above the southern wall and on the sur-
face of decay of the First Temple; Pl. 64 g.
(c) Three larger pieces, in sand outside southern wall of First Temple a t a depth of 150 cm.; see p. 36
(Dec. 15).
(16) Fragments of nome triads (?), of alabaster.
A number of very small fragments of alabaster statues which seem to be parts of triads similar to the
slate triads suggest that the nome triads of Lower Egypt were of alabaster. But as alabaster and slate
were concealed under the paint so that the finished triads would have looked alike, this conclusion is
probably fallacious and the fragments represent only small ka-statuettes, singly or in groups of the
usual character.
Found with No. 15b.
(17) Pair statue of king and queen.
King on right of queen; both standing with left foot advanced; king with closed hands hanging a t his
sides; the queen has her right arm around king’s waist with her left hand resting on his arm; king
wears the royal headdress but no uraeus; see Pls. 55-60.
Dark amorphous slate; unfinished, in state VII with the feet and lower part of legs in state VI.
Traces of conventional colors on king’s face.
Not inscribed, being in states VI-VII, but undoubtedly Mycerinus and Khamerernebty 11.
Found in hole dug by treasure-hunters of the Moslem Period; two meters below floor of corridor (III-4)
(where the triads were found) in sand and debris with feet at water level; apparently thrown into the hole
by the treasure-hunters before they began the next hole on the west; see p. 37 (Jan. 18-19) and Pl. 54.
(18) Life-size statue of Mycerinus (in Cairo Museum).
Mycerinus wearing royal headdress and uraeus, seated on a plain block basis; right hand closed on knee
with thumb up, holding “handkerchief”; left hand open palm down on left knee; see Pls. 48,49.
Opaque alabaster; life-size; broken but nearly complete; three large pieces, head, torso, and legs with
basis; arms shattered but right arm nearly complete; not quite finished.
No trace of coloring.
Inscribed on top of basis beside right foot:
“King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Men-kauw-ra.”
Found as follows :
( a ) Basis in portico (II-1) on the floor of the Second Temple, the northernmost of a row of four ala-
baster bases (Nos. 18-21); shifted slightly from their places in the portico (III-1) of the First
Temple; see p. 36 and Pl. 47 a.
(b) Torso in debris a little above floor in middle of same room directly east of No. 19.
(c) Head practically on floor immediately in front of No. 19.
( d ) Part of arm was found in court in house (I-323), on February 23, 1910 (the rest was found in 1908).
THE STATUARY 111
(19) Inscribed alabaster statue-basis of Mycerinus.
Part of a life-size seated statue; plain block basis with lower part of thighs, legs, and feet; see PI. 47.
Clear translucent alabaster.
No trace of coloring preserved, except blue in hieroglyphics.
Inscribed,
(a) On front of basis beside right leg and foot:
“Horus, Kay-khet; King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Lord of the Two Crowns, Ka; Golden
Horus, Netery Men-kauw-ra, endowed with life forever; King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Men-
r ntr nfr nb).”
kauw-ra, shining brighter than any other good god (stwt
(b) On front of basis beside left leg and foot:
“King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Lord of the Two Crowns, Ka; Golden Horus, Netery
Men-kauw-ra, endowed with life forever; Hor[us Kay-khet], shining brighter than any other
good god.’’
(c) On the right side of basis engraved, from top to bottom:
Above, two flying hawks, facing each other, each carrying a seal in its claws.
Under these, toward front of basis:
Under the hawks, toward back of basis:
“Horus, Kay-khet,” facing the other name.
Between the two names, from top to bottom and facing to back, (1) “Nekhbet,” (2) vulture with
wAs-staff, (3) the sign nb, (4)the straight-stemmed lily (?) of El-Kab.
Between the lily (?) and the names stand the signs, “endowed with life, endurance, and prosperity.”
Below these is a straight horizontal line and below that, two Nile gods facing each other, the one
on the right holding the papyrus plant of Lower Egypt and the other the plant of Upper Egypt.
Above, the stem of the plants twine about the sign for “union” to form the conventional arms
of United Egypt.
The whole is enclosed in a rectangular frame with the sign for ‘sky” at the top.
( d ) On the left side of the basis the same design and inscriptions occur as on the right, except that in
the middle field, “Buto” replaces “Nekhbet,” the uraeus replaces the vulture, and the three-
stemmed papyrus plant replaces the lily (?), leaving no space for the four signs, “endowed with
life, endurance, and prosperity,” which are therefore omitted.
(e) The back of the basis bears one horizontal line of inscription at the top, reading from left to right,
“Horus, Kay-khet,” not in a frame. Below this, the arms of Egypt are engraved as on the sides
of the basis but without the Nile gods. The whole is enclosed in a plain rectangular frame.
Found in the portico (II-1) with Nos. 18,20,21, the second from the north and just north of the doorway
to (11-2); see p. 36 and PI. 47 a.
(20) Basis of unfinished statue of Mycerinus.
Seated figure of Mycerinus, over life-size; plain block basis with lower part of thighs, legs (incomplete),
and feet.
Clear alabaster (not so good as No. 19), was still in state VI, when it was hastily finished, polished, and
partly inscribed, leaving sawing marks still visible between the legs; saw marks filled with greenish
paste (pumice?) stained with copper oxide.
No trace of color.
Inscribed,
On projection of basis beside right foot:
Found in portico (Ii-1) with Nos. 18, 19, and 21, the second from the south, south of doorway to (11-2);
see p. 36 and PI. 47 a.
Still a t pyramids.
(21) Basis of unfinished statue of Mycerinus.
Like No. 20 in material, lack of coloring, and condition of completion; smaller than No. 20, about life-
size, and a little better preserved, showing part of lap.
Saw marks and one boring mark between the legs.
Inscribed: exactly like No. 20.
Found in portico (II-1) with Nos. 18-20, the first on the south; see p. 36 and Pl. 47 a.
Still a t pyramids.
(22) Head of Mycerinus, headdress with triple pleating.
Perhaps belongs to basis No. 19; wears the pleated royal headdress with uraeus; the pleats are in
groups of three, one broad pleat between two narrow pleats, as in the Great Sphinx; the edge of the
hair is represented in relief, projecting from the headdress onto the forehead and temples; see PIs.
50, 51.
Clear translucent alabaster, about life-size ; sides of headdress, nose, and right eye damaged.
Found in portico (II-1) beside southern side of No. 19; see p. 36 and PI. 47 a.
112 MYCERINUS
(23) Youthful head of king or prince.
Immature features; close-fitting cap (?) grooved (to take a covering of plaster or metal or to represent
hair?); uraeus in front; conventional royal beard; see Pls. 52, 53.
Clear translucent alabaster; a little less than the size of a grown man; possibly belonged to No. 21, in
which case it is a youthful portrait of Mycerinus; it appears to me too small for No. 21; as fragments
of other statues of similar size were found, including a fragment from the side of a basis with the end of
the name of Shepseskaf, it is possible that this head is a portrait of Shepseskaf.
No trace of coloring.
Found in portico (II-1) in upper debris of decay on eastern side of portico north of entrance doorway;
see p. 36 (July 16) and Pl. 47 a.
(24) Fragments of alabaster statue of Mycerinus.
Less than life-size; face shows features of Mycerinus; Pl. 64 b.
Clear alabaster.
Found scattered,
( a ) Fragment, lower part of face from eyes to beard; in debris under last series of houses over room
(111-12); see p. 37 (Jan. 13).
(b) Twelve fragments, back of head, knee, ankle, etc.; in mud debris in room (I-320)) p. 38 (Feb. 13).
(25) Unfinished statuette, state I .
Seated statuette; roughly blocked by bruising with a stone pounder (held in the hand?) and rubbing;
traces of sculptor’s guiding lines in red paint, marking hands and face; see Pl. 62 a.
Diorite, translucent; height, 35 cm.
Found in mud debrisabovefloorinmagazine(III-3); (08-7-1); see p. 35 (July 7).
(26) Unfinished statuette, state I I .
Seated statuette; face, lower arms, hands, and basis, roughly defined; red lines on face, arms, and hands
for next stage; see Pl. 62 b.
Found practically on floor of magazine (111-3); (08-7-8); see p. 36 (July 13).
(27) Unfinished statuette, state III.
Seated statuette; head and right arm carried a stage further; the headdress is now distinctly that of a
king; no red lines visible; see Pl. 62 c.
Found on floor of Second Temple in (11-2) a t west end (08-7-24); with Nos. 29, 32, and 39, near Nos.
38 and 45; see p. 36 (July 17) and Pl. 61 a, b.
(28) Unfinished seated statuette of the king, state I V .
Legs beginning to be distinguished; no red lines preserved; see Pl. 62 e.
Diorite, translucent; height, 35 (?) cm.
Found under crushed north wall of magazine (III-3);Pl. 61 d ; (10-1-20): p. 37 (Jan. 21).
(29) Unfinished seated statuette of the king, state IV.
Like No. 28, see Pl. 62 d.
Found on floor of Second Temple in (11-2) a t west end (08-7-23); with Nos. 27, 32, and 39, near Nos.
38 and 45; see p. 36 (July 17) and Pl. 61 a, b.
(30) Unfinished seated statuette of the king, state I V .
Head and torso, only; see Pl. 62 i.
Found in mud debris under room (I-4), over magazine (III-18); (10-1-4.), see p. 37 (July 14).
(31) Unfinished seated statuette of the king, state IV.
Legs a little more developed than No. 28, the face a little less; see Pl. 62 h.
Found in northern end of magazine corridor (111-4), in debris about level with foot of Sixth Dynasty wall;
with Nos. 35, 37, and 43 (08-7-12); see p. 36 (July 14) and Pl. 61 c.
(32) Unfinished sealed statuette of the king, state V .
Recognizably a portrait of Mycerinus; see Pl. 62 f.
Found in II-2(08-7-25), with Nos. 27, 29, and 39, near Nos. 38 and 45; see p. 36 and Pl. 61 a, b.
(33) Unfinished seated statuette of the king, state V.
About like No. 32; broken in two and damaged about the bottom; feet missing; see Pl. 62 h.
Fine hard pink limestone (?); height, 20 cm.
Found in mud debris in southeastern corner of portico (111-1); (08-7-11): p. 36 (July 13).
THE STATUARY 113
(34) Unfinished seated statuette of the king, stafe V .
See Pl. 63 a.
Fine hard reddish stone; height, 16 cm.
Found in magazine (III-3) in mud debris about 20 cm. above the floor (08-7-2); see p. 35.
(35) Unfinished seated statuette of the king, state V I .
Lacks only the details (fingers and toes) and the final polishing; see Pl. 62g.
Found in northern end of corridor (111-4) with Nos. 31,37, and 43 (08-7-3) ; see p. 36 (July 14)and PI. 61c.
(36) Unfinished seated statuette of the king, state V I .
Torso and head; see Pl. 62 i.
Found in mud debris above (111-18) at foot of walls of (1-4); (10-1-15); see p. 37 (Jan. 12)
(37) Seated statuette of the king, state V I I .
Finished but uninscribed; see Pl. 63 a.
Fine hard red stone with two thin white veins; height, 20 cm.
Found in north end of corridor (111-4) with Nos. 31,35, and 43 (08-7-14) ; see p. 36 (July 14) and Pl.61c.
(38) Seated statuette of the king, state V I I .
Finished but uninscribed; broken in two; right arm, left forearm, and feet missing; beard and nose
damaged; see P1. 63 c.
Found on floor of Second Temple in west end of (11-2)) with No. 45 just east of Nos. 27, 29, 32, and 39
(08-7-22); see p. 36 (July 17) and P1. 61 a, b.
(39) Seated statuette of Mycerinus, state VII-VIII.
Usual seated attitude with royal headdress and uraeus; legs left unpolished (state VI).
Diorite; height, 20 cm.
Inscribed,
(a) On front of basis beside right leg and foot:
“Horus, Kay-khet; King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Men-kauw-ra”; no frame to Horus name.
(b) On front of basis beside left leg and foot:
‘(Belovedof Sokar foremost of [Helkenet.”
Found on the floor of Second Temple at western end of (11-2) with Nos. 27,29, and 32, near Nos. 38 and
45 (08-7-26); see p. 36 (July 17) and P1. 61 a, b.
(40) Standing statuette of the king, state VII-VIII.
Standing with left foot advanced, hands hanging closed at sides; nearly finished state; head missing,
rest in four pieces, much damaged; see P1. 63 d.
Black and white porphyry; height, 32+ cm.
Found scattered in court debris in (1410, 319, and 395); see Nos. 42 and 46; see p. 37 (April 2).
(41) Standing statuette of a woman (the queen?),state V I I .
Standing, feet together; full, short wig (?), parted in middle; arms hanging with hands open, palms
against thighs; rectangular supporting pillar at back reaching to base of wig; broken in three pieces;
arms knocked off; mouth and nose, damaged; see P1. 63 k.
Grey granite; height, 55 cm.
Found as follows (1910, No. 4) :
(a) Legs with base, found in mud debris over (111-18) under house walls; see p. 37 (Jan. 12).
(b) The other two pieces, body and head, found in debris in room (1-318); see p. 38 (Feb. 18).
(42) Basis of seated statuette of a man.
See P1. 62 j; feet broken off.
Diorite, translucent; height, 20+ cm.
Inscribed,
(a) On top and front of seat, to right of figure:
1,
‘(King’sson of his body beloved
(b) In corresponding position to left :
79
(( King’s son of his body, lector-priest of his father
Found in floor debris of court in (1-395) with Nos. 40 and 46; see p. 38 (April 2).
(43) Squatting statuette of anum-wer-kauw.
Seated on ground with left foot flat on ground and left knee in the air; right leg resting with its right side
on the ground and the sole of the right foot against the side of the left foot; left hand open cupped over
left knee; right hand open palm down on right knee; broad flaring wig, parted in middle, ears exposed;
bead necklace; short skirt; cf. the somewhat similar attitude of the statue pictured in Hierakonpolis I
(Quibell and Green), P1. 11; see P1. 63b, e.
114 MYCERINUS
Fine white limestone; height, 50 cm.; cracked and fragment missing from right corner of basis.
Inscribed with rudely scratched hieroglyphics,
( a ) On top of basis between legs:
“The chief lector-priest, Khnum-wer-kauw, his (good) name (is) Yekuw.”
(b) On front edge of basis:
“The sole companion, the chief lector-priest, the leader of the mysteries of the god’s road (?)
, the Spsy of the King of Lower Egypt, the overseer of the residence of the Pharaoh,
controller of the dA-t, Khnum-wer-ka[uw-.”
Found in the northern end of corridor (111-4) with Nos. 31, 35, and 37;’ (08-7-15); see p. 36 (July 14).
(44) Seaied statuette of a man; head and torso.
Head and torso with arms broken off; short wig covering ears; pillar support at back reaching to back of
head; see P1.63 f.
Red granite; height, 40+ cm.
Found outside western wall of Second Temple, about 120 cm. from corner, in mud debris just above foot
of rubble wall which protects temple from rainwater; deposited after the construction of the Second
Temple; (09-12-1); see p. 36 (Dec. 30).
(45) Crouching jackal.
Crouching jackal in the usual position with forepaws extended and tail hanging down; the edge of the
basis is unpolished, as if the figure had rested in a depression in another stone, while the position of the
tail would also suggest that the jackal had rested on a high pedestal or other stone object; see P1.64 a.
Two pieces, battered head and rear half of body.
Dark slate like the triads and pair statue; width of basis, 12 cm.; length of larger piece, 20 cm.; original
total length, 60-80 cm.; the head and neck have been used as a hammer or rubbing stone.
Found in room (11-2) on the floor of the Second Temple, with No. 38, just east of Nos. 27,29,32, and 39,
(08-7-22a); see p. 36 (July 17).
(46) Fragments of standing statuette of a man, alabaster.
Standing with left foot advanced; hands hanging closed at sides; right overlappingend of skirt is pleated;
broad wig, with incised lines; see P1. 64 f, i.
Many pieces, incomplete and irreparable.
Poor, heavily veined calcareous alabaster; the largest piece, from waist to thighs, has a height of 14 cm.
Found in court debris (1-395) with Nos. 40 and 42; see p. 38 (April 2).
(47) Fragments of two forepaws of a lion, alabaster.
Probably from the feet of a throne on which sat a statue (like the famous Chephren statue); see Pl.64c.
Clear alabaster; width, about 12 cm.
Found as follows :
(a) One in upper mud debris in filling of (I-19) over walls of northern magazines; see p. 37 (Jan. 18).
(b) Under room (I-10) on south wall of temple; see p. 37 (Jan. 16).
(48) Standing ivory statuette of Mycerinus.
Head, arms, hands, right thigh, and feet, missing; in traditional standing attitude with left foot ad-
vanced, arms hanging, and probably hands closed at sides; royal pleated skirt; see P1. 63 g-j.
Ivory; height, 14+ cm.
Inscribed on front of belt, which is decorated with incised lozenge pattern:
Found in lower part of brickwork which blocked the door of (11-2 to 111-4), on the side towards (111-4),
on removing that door block; see p. 37 (Jan. 27).
(49) A r m of a wooden statue, about life-size; bent left arm, probably from a standing statue in the traditional
attitude.
Found in debris in room (1-23); see p. 37 (Jan. 20) and P1. 32 a.
(50) Five crystal eyes set in copper, probably from one wooden statue and three statuettes.
(a) Large crystal eye (length, 4 cm.), set in copper frame, to the outside of which cling fibres of wood im-
pregnated with copper oxide; left eye.
Front, highly polished; back, matt and convex; details painted on back - corner of eye red; white
of eye white; iris and pupil not preserved; backed with white plaster.
Found in (111-3) in debris (July 21, 1908).
(b) Small crystal eye set in bronze frame; length of crystal, 2.1 cm.; length of frame, 2.8 cm.; wood
fibres clinging to outside of frame; left eye.
Front, polished; back, flat except for defect in stone older than manufacture; shallow circular hole
filled with black to form pupil; iris, painted dark red; white of eye, painted white; corners, prob-
ably light red; backed with white plaster.
Found in (III-17), debris (1908).
(c) Small crystal eye set in copper frame and also part of the copper frame of a second eye; length of
frame, 3.2 cm.; wood fibres clinging to outside of frame; right eye, and frame of left eye.
THE STATUARY 115
Polished and painted like b, above.
Found in (111-7), debris (1908).
(d) Crystal eye, a trifle larger than c but otherwise like it; right eye.
Found in (I-11), below floor of room, see p. 37 (Jan. 11).
(51) Fragment of standing statuette of man.
Basis and lower legs; left foot advanced; supporting pillar, a t back.
Diorite; height, 10+ cm.
Inscribed on back of support, rude hieroglyphics :
(“
m -t.”
Found in debris in room (I-318), see p. 38 (Feb. 18). See statuette No. 41.
(52) Fragment of seated statuette of Mycerinus (?), state V I .
Waist to below knees; right hand closed on right knee; left hand open on left knee; unfinished.
Hard pink-drab limestone (?); height, 7+ cm. ; length, 9 cm.
Found in debris in room (1-32).
2. THE TECHNIQUE OF THE STATUARY
The unfinished condition of many of the statues and especially of the seated diorite statuettes found
in the Valley Temple make it possible to fix a t least eight states in the production of a statue. Examples
of these eight states are given above in Nos. 25-39. The earlier states, I-IV, show red lines drawn by
the master to guide the apprentices in cutting away the stone. It is obvious that after each marking
with lines the cutting proceeded until the lines were reached or obliterated, when the master drew a
new set of lines to guide the next advance. These pauses for drawing the red lines marked the actual
stages of the process, and the terms “state I , ” “ s t a t e II,”
etc., strictly taken should apply to the statue
a t these pauses. Possibly none of the figures which I have designated as being in a particular state was
in such a state in the strict sense of the word; for we have a series of statuettes in which the work was
accidentally interrupted, probably between the real states. The more advanced stages, which I call
states V-VIII, which were probably executed by the master himself, are not marked with red lines.
Nevertheless, state VI, the rough finished figure and state VII, the finished but uninscribed figure, rep-
resented well-defined stages in the process and are probably states in the strict sense. And it is quite
clear that in the case of the Mycerinus statues, some examples (Nos. 17, 18, 20, 21, 39, and 40) were
partly in state VI and partly in state VII, or partly in VII and partly in VIII, or even (No. 39) show
evidence of three states, VI, VII, and VIII.
State I is represented by only one example, No. 25, and shows the rough blocking of the stone, with
the seated form and the block seat vaguely indicated, without distinguishing face, arms, and legs.
The surfaces are roughly pitted as if bruised by pounding with a hard stone held in the hand; but the
pits have been partly smoothed away and in places are filled with a pastelike substance as if some sort
of grinding powder had been used with water. This smoothing has certainly been done with a rubbing
stone. There are traces of lines 2-5 mm. broad, drawn in red paint and marking the outline of the right
arm. These guiding lines are clearer on No. 26, and it is obvious that the master craftsmen marked
out each advance in the carving and left the rough blocking to be done by an apprentice, as is the rule
in Egyptian crafts in all times.
State II again has only one example, No. 26. The blocking-in has proceeded so far as to outline the
face, the right arm, and the seat. The surfaces show the same marks of bruising and rubbing as those
of state I. The red lines are clear, outlining for the next stage, the face, the right arm, and the lower
outer edge of the left arm. I n the smoothing of the walls in the rock-cut chambers of the mastabas, the
surfaces smeared with red were to be cut away, and it is to be presumed that these red lines on the
statuettes were also to be cut away. I n any case, it must be remembered that they were understood
by the apprentice according to a customary code, like that of the mysterious marks which a modern
tailor makes on a garment in fitting it.
State III is presented in No. 27. Here the right arm with its closed fist, the face with its beard, and
the wig have taken more definite outlines, while the left arm with its open hand is roughly blocked.
The red guide-lines are especially clear on the upper edge of the right forearm, which is not yet rounded,
116 MYCERINUS
and on the front right edge of the basis. The surfaces show the same treatment as in the preceding
stages.
Four examples show slight variations of state IV, Nos. 28, 29, 30, and 31. Here two points are to
be noticed, the treatment of the face and that of the legs. The advance in working the head appears
in the small lump on top, which is to become the uraeus. The middle part of the face has been rubbed
into four almost flat surfaces, the forehead, the top of the nose, a surface from the tip of the nose to
the point of the chin, and a surface from the chin to the end of the beard. The sides of the face have
been treated in a similar manner, but the planes are not so large nor so clearly defined. The groove
which separates the legs has been rubbed with long strokes of a sharp stone or a slab-rubber with curv-
ing edge. A faint trace of the red line is still visible on the right arm of No. 29.
State V is represented by three examples, Nos. 32-34, all slightly different. The face, especially in
No. 32, is already discerned to bear the characteristic features of Mycerinus. Traces of bruising on the
surfaces are still visible, but much less pronounced than in the earlier states. The blows must have been
very light taps not to have broken off the nose, beard, and similar protruding parts. The rubbing
process must have been chiefly used for this and subsequent states. No signs of red lines are discoverable.
State VI, examples Nos. 35 and 36, is the final rough-surfaced state before polishing. The surfaces
indicate a continuation of the fine bruising and rubbing processes of state V. The statuette is an un-
mistakable portrait of Mycerinus. The toes and fingers are not yet distinguished, and the lines about
the eyes are vague. These finer details were apparently worked out during the polishing.
The finishing state, No. VII, is seen in statuettes Nos. 37 and 38. These two have a dull polish, from
which all traces of the bruising process have disappeared. The details are more or less distinguishable,
and it is obvious that the refining process might be continued for a longer or shorter time, according to
the quality of work desired in the final statue. This is the state in which the final form of the statue was
reached, and the excellence of the whole depended on the time and labor spent on this stage. All the
large statues of Mycerinus and four of the statuettes had reached or passed state VII.
The fully inscribed state I call state No. VIII. The four triads and the alabaster statues repre-
sented by Nos. 22 and 19, were in this state. Of the statuettes, there is only the basis, No. 39, and that
had been polished and inscribed without having been brought to perfection in state VII. The alabaster
statues, Nos. 1, 2, 18, 20, and 21, and the slate pair, No. 17, were at various stages in state VII. The
slate pair was never inscribed, and the alabaster figures received only the words “King of Upper and
Lower Egypt, Men-kauw-ra” engraved beside the feet on the top of the basis.
The large statues, as just stated, were all in state VII
or VIII, and the marks of the preliminary proc-
esses had been largely effaced by the finishing. But sufficient traces were found to prove that in gen-
eral the technique was the same as that of the small figures. On the bases of the unfinished alabaster
statues, and in particular on that of No. 20, the pitting of the surface caused by the bruising process
had not been entirely smoothed away and is still visible to the eye under the fine scratches produced by
the polishing process. Likewise the back of the slab which supports the slate pair, the sides of its basis,
and the front of the slab between the figures bear distinct marks of the bruising process. The alabaster
statues show much more clearly than the statuettes the scratching of the surface caused by the use of
rubbing stones in smoothing, probably with wet pumice. The final polishing was, perhaps, a dry process.
In addition to these processes, common to all statues, the large figures of Mycerinus bear evidences
of the use of metal tools, as follows:
(a) The statue, No. 20, shows saw-cuts between the legs. The insides of the legs have been polished, but the
front of the basis between the legs has been only roughly smoothed by bruising (hammering). In this
bruised surface, there are four series of saw-cuts in vertical planes. One of the four series follows closely
the inside contour of the left leg and another that of the right leg. Between these two, the other cuts
lay in two or more vertical planes. The series along the inside of the right leg consisted of at least two
cuts produced by a separate operation. Each cut was slightly curving in its long section, as if made by
rubbing a slightly curved edge up and down. In some of the cuts, a hard pale greenish paste was found
which seemed to be a grinding powder (pumice?) stained with copper oxide. The conclusion is obvious
that the saw was a broad copper blade about 4 mm. thick (measured by the width of the cuts) with a
slightly curved edge and not necessarily more than 4-8 cm. in length. It must have been attached to a
THE STATUARY 117
stout wooden handle. The distance from cutting edge to handle must have been at least 15 cm., in
order that the handle might clear the front of the legs. The form thus prescribed is that of the model
copper blade found with model chisels, drills, adzes, and other tools in the tomb of Impy (G 2381 A),
who was an “overseer of works.’’
The result of this sawing operation was to separate the stone which it was desired to cut away into vertical
slices. These slices may have been cut free at the top and bottom by the cylindrical borer noted in the
next paragraph. In any case they were broken loose and the rough places where they were attached
at the back were being pounded down flat, preparatory to polishing when the statue was hastily pol-
ished for the funeral.
(b) Statue No. 18, now in Cairo, shows a circular groove on the face of the seat between the knees just under
the edge of the skirt; and statue No. 21, a similar groove between the heels. This is plainly the typical
groove left by the hollow cylindrical borer of copper (diam., 4.6 cm.; thickness of metal, 5 mm.) after
breaking off the core and partially smoothing down the surface. The intention was to smooth away
the groove entirely. The borer was used of course with wet pumice like the saw just described and was
probably turned with a crank-handle like the stone borer. It may be noted, however, that a fairly
effective action could have been obtained by turning the cylinder back and forth between the palms
of the hands, especially if weighted and used vertically. The holes produced by the cylindrical borer,
as seen in stone vessels, have very fine striation marks, as if the turning had been continuously in one
direction, and even blocks of granite have been found with these boring holes.
(c) Small holes were bored with a drill, probably also of metal, and used with pumice. The most common of
these are the nostrils of all the statues, but the most remarkable are the two fine holes bored one a t
each corner of the mouth of the great alabaster statue, No. 1. This drill may have been the common
bow-drill with wooden top and copper point, but was more probably the hand-drill of the type used by
the borers of seals.¹
Thus the technical processes used in carving hard stone statues were of the simplest sort, as must
be the case when steel is not available. The chief operations were:
(1) Pounding with a stone.
Used in all stages until the statue was ready for finishing. I am uncertain whether the process is to be
identified in the tomb scenes where the making of statues is represented.
( a ) Steindorff, Grab des Tî, Pl. 134.
Between a scene of stone-boring and one of work on a wooden (?) statue, two craftsmen sitting on
high stools are engaged on a seated statue under the label: “the working by the stone-worker
(Hmwty),” “statue,” “stone-worker.” The two workmen, one in front and one behind the
statue, are apparently hammering with a stone held between two sticks. The other statues to
the left may be of wood or limestone; and the statue of which we are speaking was probably of
limestone.
(b) Davies, Deir-el-Gebrawi I, Pl. XVI.
Five “stone-masons (Xrty-ntr)”
are engaged in dressing a beam, probably of limestone. Four of
them are using chisels and the heavy stone-mason’s mallet. The fifth is engaged in removing a
protuberance with what appear to be two round-edged axes, which is absurd. The carpenter’s
mallet is slender and light, and the carpenter’s axe has a nearly straight edge (see same plate,
above). This is probably a representation of the same implement as that of the Ti-tomb but
heavier, a stone axe-head held between two sticks. Stone axe-heads with a groove around the
butt are well known in the Old Kingdom.
(c) Newberry, Rekhmara, Pl. XX.
Two of the workmen engaged on the granite (?) statues of the king hold a small implement (a
stone?) in one hand and appear to be tapping it with a second implement. But the operation is
obscure.
(2) Rubbing with stones of various forms and sizes held in the hand, probably accompanied by the use of a
grinding paste.
The chief process used in the finishing stage but also employed in the preceding stages together with
pounding. Examples of the process are represented in the tombs.
( a ) Steindorff, Grab des Tî, Pl. 134.
Two men kneeling are rubbing a standing limestone (?) statue. The scene is labeled “statue” and
“polishing by the sculptor.”
(b) Newberry, Rekhmara, Pl. XX.
The men at work on the sphinx are using stones of two shapes, one with an edge and one circular
with flat (?) or concave (?) surface, while an apprentice stands with a bowl of paste and a stick
ready to smear grinding paste as required by the rubbers. Just below, the two men a t work on
the altar use circular rubbing stones, while the apprentice holds the bowl of paste on top of
the altar beside one of the workmen.
See
¹ Steindorff, Grub des Tî,PI. 133.
118 MYCERINUS
(3) Sawing by means of a copper blade of fan-shape fixed in a long wooden handle and worked by rubbing up
and down or back and forth, accompanied by the use of grinding paste.
Used as far as discoverable only on the large alabaster statues for removing surplus stone from between
the knees, but adapted to other uses. No representations are known to me.
(4) Boring by means of a hollow tube of copper, turned either by rolling between the hands or with a crank (as
the stone-borer), used with grinding paste (emery?).
Traces found only in alabaster statues, Nos. 18 and 21, but elsewhere in granite blocks; and suitable for
use on hard stone statues.¹ Used also in boring stone vessels, especially cylindrical jars; possibly rep-
resented in Grab des Tî, Pl. 134.
(5) Drilling with a copper or stone point with grinding paste.
Evidences found in the nostrils, ears, and especially a t the corners of the mouth of the large alabaster
statue, No. 1. A hand-drill is shown in the Tî-tomb (1. c., Pl. 133) used in boring a stone seal; and a
blow-drill in the same plate used on wood.
(6) Rubbing with a copper (?) point, with grinding paste.
The evidence is doubtful. The implement is shown in Rekhmara, Pl. XX - a long slender shaft with a
bulbous head probably also of metal to give weight to the implement. Two men are shown at work
inscribing the back of a standing granite (?) statue of the king - one a scribe with brush and palette
and the other working with the implement in question. The workman holds the shaft close to the
point. The inscriptions on the Mycerinus statues have been made by bruising the stone with a small
implement probably of stone and then dressing the outlines of the bruised surface by rubbing possibly
with this weighted point, or with a sharp stone. Some of the signs on the slate triads show slips of a
sharp point.
3. THE CANON OF PROPORTIONS
The canon of proportions used in wall reliefs was pointed out by Lepsius² and is proved by unfinished
walls on which the red proportion lines are still visible. Such walls are known from the mastabas of the
Old Kingdom and from the great rock-cut tombs of the nomarchs of the Middle Kingdom. In the Old
Kingdom mastabas the proportions were measured on a vertical line in the axis of the human figure by
means of dots and cross lines. The lateral measurements were marked by dots on the cross lines. These
red lines show that the height of the human figure from the sole of the foot to the base of the hair or
wig on the forehead was divided into six units. The length of the advanced foot was more than one unit;
that of the other was about one unit. To the knee was two units and to the base of the neck was five
and a third. The seated figure had five units from the soles of the feet to the base of the hair. In the
Middle Kingdom the examples of unfinished walls show a rectangular network of red lines, the unit of
which is approximately one third of the old unit, so that the height of the standing figure is 18 units and
of the seated figure 15. But on this network the figure was outlined freehand and the lateral measure-
ments of the Old Kingdom artist no longer appear. The network was probably used already in the Old
Kingdom for complicated scenes, and it continued in use to the end of Egyptian history. The number
of units was changed again about Dynasty XXVI when the height of the standing figure was divided
into 21 units to the base of the hair (21¼ units to the top of the head).³
In the reliefs, whether the Old Kingdom system of marking the chief canonical proportions was used
or the later network, the figures were outlined by eye, and there are many examples of re-drawing where
the eye of the master or of the craftsman was not satisfied with the first attempt. The details of the
face and the clothing were also drawn in red or sometimes black lines, which disappeared of course in
the process of rubbing in these details, and the final finishing was greatly dependent on the skill of the
craftsman. The various degrees of excellence in the reliefs arose from the exactness of eye and the
practised coordination of hand and eye of the different craftsmen. Therefore, the measurements of the
figures in the reliefs and especially the measurements of details show variations from those normal pro-
portions which have been established by the examination of unfinished reliefs. It is especially to be
noted that the canon of proportion did not prevent the drawing of unusual bodies or of bodies in unusual
postures, such as dwarfs, the fat old boat builder, and the lean herdsman in the reliefs at Meir, men
struggling with cattle, bending down to receive loads on their backs, or fighting in boats.
See
¹ Petrie, Pyramids and Temples of Gizeh, Pl. XIV; Hoelscher, Chephren, Blatt XIV; and elsewhere.
Denkmliler,
² Erg. I , p. 234.
See
³ Edgar, Sculptors’ Studies, p. 12.
THE STATUARY 119
The unfinished statuettes of the Saïte to Roman periods, although few in number, seem to present
the system of marking the principal measurements, used in the Mycerinus statues.¹ The sculptor’s
models of this late period, in addition to this system, show on some examples the network of 21 units
incised or drawn on the back with special marks to indicate certain details; and it is quite clear that
the canon was intended to be used in statues as well as in reliefs.
The measurements of the Mycerinus statues show as close an approximation to the canon of the Old
Kingdom reliefs as could be expected. The large size of the feet is not out of harmony with the earlier
reliefs. The small size of the head in proportion to the massive shoulders is shown by all the statues,
including the small diorite statuette found at Saqqarah. The same relation between head and shoulders
is seen in the statue of Rahotep from Medûm (in Cairo); and the workmanship of that statue, as well
as of the Mycerinus statues, is so fine that the form given must be assumed to have been intentional.
In all probability Mycerinus and Rahotep were actually distinguished by unusually heavy shoulders.
Rahotep was a member of the royal family of Dynasty IV.
4. COMPARISON WITH EARLlER STATUARY

The significance of the statues of Chephren and Mycerinus in the development of Egyptian sculp-
ture appears only when they are compared with previous works. As far as possible, like must be com-
pared with like, figures in soft materials (limestone, wood, ivory) with one another, and similarly figures
in hard materials, figures of royal persons, and figures of private persons, in each case with one another.
It has been observed that technical gains in all the crafts in Egypt have been made in the service of
royalty, and these gains have become available for other grades of persons only after the lapse of some
time. Royal statuary is always of better quality and often of a different type from the private work
of the same reign. There is also a tendency for skill to develop more rapidly in softer and more tractable
materials so that a high excellence may be exhibited by limestone statues of the same class while the
granite statues still present a rude and primitive appearance. In other words, in studying a formative
period like that of Egyptian sculpture previous to Chephren, the development should be traced if pos-
sible in four parallel lines, (1) royal statues in soft materials, (2) royal statues in hard materials,
(3) private statues in soft materials, and (4) private statues in hard materials. The separate objects
used in this study should be accurately dated. But unfortunately the greater part of the early examples
of private statuary have been discovered in museum collections without indication of their origin, and
have been dated by their form and workmanship.
The earliest reproductions of the human figure in Egypt are the figures in mud, pottery, and ivory
which have been found in private graves belonging to village communities of the Predynastic Period.
These figures are rude in workmanship and uncouth in form like the figures made by primitive men in
other countries and other times. Along with them must be grouped the representations of both men
and animals which occur in the line drawings on pottery, and in relief on slate palettes, ivory combs, and
other objects of the same period. The development of sculpture in the round is inseparably bound up
with the development of drawing and of sculpture in relief. The technical processes which gave the
Egyptians power over stone took their origin in the making of the stone vessels, the stone mace-heads,
and the slate palettes of the earliest predynastic times, and something of the characteristic Egyptian
sense of form is perceptible in all these products of the stone workers’ craft. The increase of skill both
in the technical processes and in the delineation of forms may be followed down into the Early Dynastic
Period to the wonderful carvings on the palettes and mace-heads found at Hierakonpolis.²
( A ) THEEARLY
DYNASTIC
SCULPTURE
The sculpture of the Early Dynastic Period is represented by a number of reliefs carved on slate
palettes, mace-heads and vessels of stone, and various objects of ivory, and by figures of men and ani-
mals in ivory, stone, and faience.³ Among these are the following:
Edgar,
¹ Sculptors’ Studies, p. iii.
Quibell
² and Green, Hierakonpolis.
See
³ in general, Capart, Primitive Art in E g y p t .
120 MYCERINUS
(1) A number of ivory figures of men and women found a t Hierakonpolis¹andAbydos.²

(2) Three limestone,statues of the god Min, from Coptos.³
(3) Two limestone statues of a kneeling man (one decayed), from Hierakonpolis.
(4) Limestone standing statue of a man, from Hierakonpolis.
(5) Limestone statuette of a squatting man (body decayed), from Hierakonpolis.
A great increase of skill over the Predynastic Period is shown by all these sculptures, but especially by
the smaller figures and by the reliefs which are also on a small scale in all cases. The head of the squat-
ting statuette of limestone is quite as good as the ivory carvings and the better preserved of the two
kneeling statues appears to have been of similar merit. The three statues of Min and the standing
statue from Hierakonpolis are unfortunately badly preserved, but they were probably not much differ-
ent in quality. The workmanship of all these figures, statues, and statuettes, although they are executed
in soft materials, is far from that of Dynasty IV. In the form, especially in the faces, a human likeness
has been attained of such merit that opinions have even been expressed as to the race of some of the
persons represented, but the surfaces show a lack of modelling, a simplification, which, combined with
the stiffness of attitude, marks them as products of a craft not far from the primitive. The reliefs show
that the craftsmen of that time had the same difficulties in representing the human form in profile as
the sculptors of the Old Kingdom; and that the early dynastic solution of these difficulties appears tra-
ditional in the Old Kingdom. Whenever it was possible to represent the nearer arm behind the body,
the breast was represented en face with the rest of the figure in profile. When the hands are holding some-
thing in front of the body, the same awkward drawing of the back of the shoulder is seen as occurs in
later times. The inner side of the foot is shown, two left feet or two right feet on each figure, but the
hands are usually correctly drawn as right and left on each person. I would suggest that some part of
the failure of the later sculptors of relief may have been due to the fixing of traditional forms at this
early period when the skill of the craftsmen was not fully developed.
The attitudes of the figures in the reliefs are familiar from the Old Kingdom sculptures, but the
clothing of both the king and the'ordinary man are different in certain features. The statues and figures
present peculiarities both in the attitudes and the clothing. The statues of Min, the kneeling statues
and figures, and the ivory figures of a man clothed with a cloak, have their analogies in later times. The
standing statues and figures in most cases have the arms hanging at the sides with the hands open or
closed in various combinations. The males have the left foot advanced, while the females have the
feet together in the usual later manner. The most notable feature of the early dynastic attitudes is
the placing of the left hand and forearm in some instances on the chest in males and under the breasts
in females. This position occurs in the standing limestone statue from Hierakonpolis as well as in both
male and female ivory statuettes.
III
( B ) STONESTATUESOF DYNASTY
The earliest dated stone statues now known are the following:
(aa) Seated statue in white limestone of King Zoser, found by Mr. C. M. Firth, Chief Inspector of the Egyp-
tian Department of Antiquities, in charge of government excavations at Saqqarah, in its original posi-
tion in a serdab built against the Step Pyramid. This is a ka-statue in which the king is represented
clothed in a cloak, with a divine headdress and over it the royal nms-headdress. The right hand is
closed on the breast holding the edge of the cloak. The left hand is open palm down on the left knee.
The throne has moldings on the side to represent a wooden frame.
Fragments of an alabaster statue and a black granite (?) head from same place.
(bb) Two seated statuettes, inscribed with the name of King Khasekhem found by Mr. J. E. Quibell a t
Hierakonpolis, one of fine hard limestone, the other of slate. Both have the left arm across the front
of the body with the clenched hand near the right elbow, while the right hand rests closed, with thumb
up, on the right thigh. The throne has moldings on the side like the Zoser statue.
Quibell
¹ and Green, Hierakonpolis, Pls. V-XII. Petrie,
² Abydos II, Pls. II and XIII.
Petrie,
³ Koptos, Pls. III and IV; Capart, Primitive Art, Fig. 166.
4 Quibell and Green, Hierakonpolis, Pls. I and II, and p. 35.
5 L. c., Pl. LVII and p. 15. 6 L. c., Pl. V and p. 36.
7 Quibell and Green, Hierakonpolis, p. 16a, Pls. LVII, VIII (a man), IX (a woman); Petrie, Abydos II, Pl. II, 5 (a woman).
8 L. c., Pls. XXXIX-XLI.
THE STATUARY 121
The workmanship of these three is royal. The modelling of the mouth is perhaps a little better than the
earlier figures, but the same simplification of the surfaces is evident as before. Unfortunately the rela-
tion in time of Zoser and Khasekhem is in dispute, and the conclusions to be drawn concerning the
development of sculpture in the round depend on whether Khasekhem was the predecessor of Khasekhe-
muwy of Dynasty II or one of the kings of Dynasty 111. As will be pointed out in the chapter on stone
vessels, the arts and crafts of Khasekhemuwy are intimately connected with those of Dynasty 111, and
the stone vessels of Khasekhem belong to this group. Whether therefore Khasekhem precedes or fol-
lows Zoser, the statues mentioned above are of the cultural group which begins with Khasekhemuwy, or
perhaps with his predecessor if that predecessor was Khasekhem. Although the cultural group does
not coincide exactly with a dynastic period, I have designated it Dynasty III with the understanding
that this period in the history of Egyptian sculpture may include the end of Dynasty II
Nearest to these in workmanship are the two statues of the “king’s daughter,” Redyzet:
(cc) Two figures of the Princess Redyzet, a perfect seated statuette of diorite in Turin (No. 3035) and a lime-
stone torso with head, in Brussels. These have the open left hand and fore-arm on the front of the
body under the breasts while the right hand lies open on the right knee. The sides of the throne are
molded to represent a wooden chair, with bent wood support around the inside of the frame.
There is no apparent difference in the quality of the two. Comparable in workmanship are the following :
(dd) Two standing statues of Sepa and one of his wife Nesa, all three of limestone (Louvre, Nos. A 36, 37, 38).
The male figures have the left foot advanced, while the female has the feet together. The woman has
the left arm across the front of the body with the hand open against the right side, while the right
hand hangs open against the right thigh. The man also has the right hand hanging open against the
thigh and the left arm across the front of the body, but the left hand grasps a staff the end of which
rests on the ground. This attitude of the man is not intended to represent the usual standing statue
with the left arm outstretched grasping a staff. It is to be noted that two of the five panels of Hesy
show Hesy seated or standing holding the scribe’s staff against the chest, while others show him with
the arm extended holding the same implement.
Sepa appears to have been a high official, not of the blood royal. The statues are probably therefore of
Dynasty 111,but towards the end of the Dynasty and possibly as late as the reign of Sneferuw.
In addition to these statues of better workmanship, there is a group of crude statuettes to which Pro-
fessor Steindorff first called attention with the designation ‘‘archaic.” Two of these represent an official
named Nezemankh, identified by Weill with a man whose name and titles were read by Professor Sethe
on a jar sealing from Bêt Khallâf.¹ The sealings were found by Professor Garstang in the crude-brick
stairway-mastaba, K 5, along with sealings of an official of King Zoser, and are certainly dated to Dynasty
111. If this very plausible identification be correct, as I believe, then the two statuettes of Nezemankh
are of Dynasty 111, and are the earliest dated private statues known to us. Their form and quality are
therefore of the greatest importance for comparison with the other material both royal and private.
(ee) Seated granite statuette of Nezemankh (Louvre, A. 39); hands folded in lap; sides of chair of wooden
type with bent wood supports; height, 61 cm.²
(ff) Seated black granite statuette of Nezemankh (Leyden, D 93); left hand closed on front of body; right
hand closed with knuckles up, on right knee; chair with bent wood supports; height, 79 cm.³
These two exhibit the private work of Dynasty III in hard stone, while the one statue of Khasekhem,
the fragments of alabaster and granite (?) of Zoser, and the diorite statue of Princess Redyzet give the
royal work of the same period in hard stone. There are no essential differences in attitudes or work-
manship between these two figures of Nezemankh and a number of undated statuettes of granite marked
as “archaic”; and I would place the latter likewise in Dynasty 111:
(gg) Seated black granite statuette of Ankh (?) (Leyden, D 94); left hand closed on front of body; right
hand open palm down on right knee; chair with bent wood supports; height, 62 c m .
¹Weill,IIeetIIIe Dynasties, p. 181; Garstang, Mahâsna and Bêt Khallâf, p. 26b.

Capart,
² Rec. Mon. Egypt. I, PI. I.
3 L.c., Pl.II.
4 L.c., Pl.III.
122 MYCERINUS
(hh) Seated red granite statuette of boat carpenter Aperankhuw (?) (British Museum, 70 a ) ; left hand on
breast grasping the handle of an adze (cf. Hesy reliefs and statue of Sepa); right hand open palm down
on right knee; chair with bent wood supports; height, 66 cm.;¹ supposed to be from Giza where there
are tombs of Dynasty IIi south of the Third Pyramid area.
(ii) Basis of a seated red granite statuette (Cairo Museum); left arm across front of body with hand open
against right side; right hand open palm down on right knee;² chair with bent wood supports on
four sides.
( j j ) Seated red granite statuette of a woman (Naples Museum); left arm across front of body with hand
open against right side; right hand open palm down on right knee; chair with bent wood supports;
height, 44.5 cm.³
( k k ) Seated limestone statuette of a man (Berlin Museum); left arm across front of body with left hand
closed on right breast; right hand on right knee but broken away with knees; chair with bent wood
supports; height, 42 c m .
Three others are mentioned by Weill in IIe et IIIe Dynasties, p. 187, but I have not seen them even in
photographs :
(ll)Turin, No. 3065; Petrie’s Photo. Turin, Nos. 2 and 3.
(mm) Bologna, No. 1826; Petrie’s Photo. Turin, No. 4.
(nn) University College, London; Capart’s Photo. Nos. 470 and 520.
The statuette of Akhet-a’a in Berlin, of which only the basis is preserved, is of the same general type
as those just enumerated but judging from the reliefs which came from the same tomb is to be dated
towards the end of Dynasty III possibly as late as Sneferuw. In Dynasty IV, two types of relief have
been found, one high and bold and the other very low and delicate, representing two schools of work
probably each connected with a different locality. The Akhet-a’a reliefs are of the bold type and come
from a mastaba which seems to have been close to the Amten tomb between Abusir and Saqqarah.
(oo)Basis of seated granite statuette of Akhet-a’a (Berlin Museum); left arm brought across front of body
hand missing; right hand open palm down on right knee; chair with bent wood supports.
Finally, there is the much discussed kneeling figure in red granite in the Cairo Museum, which has
the names of Hetepsekhemuwy, Nebra, and Neterymuw inscribed on the back of the right shoulder:
( p p ) Kneeling statuette of a man in red granite (Cairo Museum); hands open palms down on knees; height,
39 cm.; found in 1888 at Mitrahineh (in Ptah Temple?).’
Professor Borchardt reads the name doubtfully Hetep-di-ef. The man represented was probably a funer-
ary priest of the three kings of Dynasty II whose names are on the shoulder. The inscription proves
that the statuette is later in date than any of these kings, but nothing more. The workmanship and
the style of the hieroglyphics cannot in my opinion be used as proof of any more exact dating than the
period of Dynasty III (including the end of Dynasty 11).
The form of chair with bent wood supports occurs in the Nezemankh statuettes and, as Professor
Steindorff has pointed out, is represented on the walls of the tombs of Medûm of the time of Sneferuw
or of Cheops. The plain wooden throne is shown by the royal statues of Zoser and Khasekhem, and later
by the statuette of Amten. Thus in Dynasty III, the plain frame seems to be used for kings and the
bent wood frame for persons of lesser station in life.
Making due allowance for the obduracy of the material and the station of persons represented by the
“archaic” statuettes, and noting the differencesof workmanship in these figures, they are of the quality
and the forms which might be expected in the period of the royal works of Zoser and Khasekhem. In
Dynasty V, examples are known of granite statues which, differing in attitudes, are as rude and simple
in modelling as the earlier statuettes. The differences in execution of the “archaic” statuettes mani-
festly imply that several different sculptors were active. But the similarities of attitude and of chair
Weill,
¹ IIeetIlIe Dynasties, p. 255 and Pl. I. ²Borchardt, Cat. Gen., Statuen, No. 2.
³Capart,l.c.,II,Pl.LI, 4 Steindorff, Zeitschrift für Aegyptische Sprache, 1920, p. 26.
5 For the Amten statuette see next section. 6 Weill, 1. c., PI. VI.
7 Borchardt, Cat. Gen., Statuen, No. 1.
8 The left arm on the front of the body with the hand on the breast or the right side of the body is characteristic. One figure
in the Cairo Museum (No. 176) dated by Professor Borchardt to Dynasty IV has this attitude. It is certainly not “archaic.”
THE STATUARY 123
indicate that all were products of one school and of one period; and the obvious conclusion is that the
majority, probably all of them, were made in Dynasty 111.
( C ) FIGURES
OF THE EARLY
PARTOF DYNASTY
IV
I have already mentioned the statues of Princess Redyzet, of Sepa, Nesa, and Akheta'a as being
possibly as late as the time of Sneferuw, the first king of Dynasty IV. The next dated piece is the ivory
statuette of Cheops found by Professor Petrie in the temple of Abydos. The Harvard-Boston Expedi-
tion has found fragments of small alabaster statues inscribed with the name of Cheops, but not large
enough to determine the attitudes or the workmanship. Three other figures have been found which
are of the reign of either Snef eruw or Cheops :
(i) Granite seated statuette of Amten (Berlin, NO. 1106); right hand closed on breast; left hand open palm
down on left knee; chair with plain wooden frame like the Zoser and the Khasekhem statues, and in-
scribed on sides and back; found by Lepsius in the serdab of the Amten tomb between Abusir and
Saqqarah. Now in Berlin.¹
(ii) Limestone seated statue of Prince Rahotep (Cairo Museum); hands as Amten statuette, right closed on
breast, left open on knee; plain block throne without molding; found in the serdab of tomb a t Medûm
with the following statue.
(iii) Limestone seated statue of Nofret, wife of Rahotep (Cairo Museum); arms folded under her tunic with
the right hand only visible resting open palm inwards under the left breast; plain block throne without
molding; found with the statue of Rahotep.
(iv) Seated ivory figure of Cheops; crown of Lower Egypt on the head; right hand clasped on breast holding
whip; left hand open palm down on left knee; plain block throne.² Now in Cairo.
Mention must also be made of the standing statue of a woman found in the Galarza tomb at Giza and
probably representing the mother of Chephren, although the other statues in the tomb were of the
Chephren types.
(v) Standing limestone statue of the mother (?) of Chephren (Cairo Museum); clothed in a curious pleated
robe which passes twice around the body; right hand exposed rests on the chest above the breast in-
stead of below; left arm hangs a t the side, with the hand open palm inwards against the left hip.³
The most instructive of these figures are the two statues of Rahotep and Nofret, which after the time
of Cheops would probably have been joined in a group. The excellence of their modelling is no doubt
due to the softness of the material, but it foreshadows the workmanship in hard stone of the time of
Chephren and Mycerinus.
The attitudes of all these are characterized by the position of the right hand on the breast while the
left rests open on the knee. The first instance which we have of this position is in the limestone statue
of Zoser of Dynasty III. But the examples seem to show that the attitude was that generally used in
seated male statues in the early part of Dynasty IV.
5. THE ATTITUDES OF STATUES AND STATUETTES
( A ) THESTANDING FIGURES
AND SEATED OF MYCERINUS
The Mycerinus statues and statuettes include two standing figures of the king, one standing figure
of the queen (?),21 seated figures of the king, one pair statue with standing figures of the king and queen,
and five triads of the king, Hathor and a deity representing one of the nomes of Egypt. The standing
figures of the king in the porphyry statuette (No. 40),in the ivory statuette, and usually in the groups,
have the left foot advanced and the arms hanging with the hands closed at the hips. No. 41, a woman,
has the feet together, but the queen in the pair statue and the goddess in the triads have the left foot
slightly advanced. The seated figures of the king all have the arms bent at the elbows with the left
hand flat, palm down on the left thigh, and the right hand closed, resting thumb up on the right thigh,
Lepsius,
¹ Denkmäler, II, 120, Text I , p. 144. ²Petrie,AbydosII,Pl.XIII.
³
Daressy, Annales X, p. 43 and a plate. 4 Or three, if the wooden statue was standing.
5 The wooden statue (No. 44) had the left arm bent.
124 MYCERINUS
holding the “handkerchief.” The pair statue shows the queen with her right arm around the king and
her left hand on his left arm; while the six examples of the nome groups present at least five different
attitudes in the groups :
9.1 Hathor seated, embracing the king in the attitude of the queen in the pair statue except that he stands
on her left; the Hare-nome stands free on the right of Hathor.
10. Hathor on the right, king in middle, and the Theban nome on the left; all stand free with left foot ad-
vanced; the two males have the hands closed, while the hands of ‘Hathor are open with the palms
against the hips.
11. Hathor on the right with her left arm behind the king and her left hand clasping his left upper arm; the
king in the middle with hanging arms and closed hands; the Jackal-nome on the left, with her right
arm about the king symmetrical with the left arm and hand of Hathor; the two goddesses have the
free arm hanging with a seal in the hand.
12. Hathor on the right with her left hand clasping the right hand of the king and her right hand closed on
her hip; the king in the middle, clasping the left hand of Hathor with his right and having the left hand
closed on his hip; on the left, the nome of Diospolis parva stands free with closed hands.
13. Hathor on right clasping king’s left hand as in No. 12; king in middle as in No. 12; but nome-god (male)
on left hand has his left arm behind the king with his left hand clasping top of king’s right shoulder.
14. Hathor probably seated in the middle like No. 9, and a male figure stands on her left, but the group is too
fragmentary to permit the fixing of the attitudes.
( B ) OTHERROYALSTATUESOF DYNASTIES
IV TO VI
The royal statues of Dynasties IV to VI which may be compared with these Mycerinus statues
include :
(a) Seated ivory figure of Cheops found in the temple of Abydos.²
(b) Seven seated statues of Chephren, five of diorite, one of slate, and one of alabaster; six were found in the
Sphinx Temple and one in the temple of Ptah at Mitrahineh.³
(c) Fragment of a standing slate statue of Chephren, about life-size, from Sphinx Temple.
( d ) Pair statue of Bast and Chephren, diorite, incomplete, from Sphinx Temple; both seated; Bast has her
left hand open on her thigh, and the right arm was probably around the king, who sits on her right.
Height, 53 c m .
(e) Seated diorite statuette of Mycerinus, from Ptah Temple at Mitrahineh; height, 55 c m .
(f) Seven badly preserved limestone statues of the family of Chephren from the Galarza tomb at Giza.’
(g)Seated alabaster statuette of an unnamed king (perhaps Dedefra), from the Ptah Temple at Mitrahineh.
Height, 64 c m .
(h) Seated granite statuette of Neweserra (Dynasty V) from the Ptah Temple at Mitrahineh.
(i) Lower part of standing granite statue of Neweserra, with the right hand closed on hip and the left arm
probably on breast, found in the lake a t Karnak by Legrain; height, 61 cm. Of dark stone.
(j) Seated alabaster statue of Menkauwhor (Dynasty V), wrapped in heb-sed garment, from the Ptah Temple
a t Mitrahineh; height, 48 c m .
(k)Basis of a seated statuette of Pepy (Dynasty VI) bought at Kom-el-Ahmar; grey stone; height, 26 c m .
( E ) Standing copper pair of Pepy I and his son, from Hierakonpolis; the king a little more than life-size;
right hand closed a t right hip, left extended holding staff; prince with both hands closed a t h i p s .
With two exceptions, the alabaster statue of Menkauwhor (j) and the copper statue of Pepy I ( I ) ,
these royal figures show the same attitude as the Mycerinus statues. The variation in the Menkauwhor
statue is due to the fact that he is represented in the garment of the heb-sed festival. The Pepy statue
is of metal and presents a tradition derived from sculpture in wood, not s t o n e .
See
¹ list on p. 109. ²Petrie,AbydosII,Pl.XIII.
Borchardt,
³ Cat. Gen., Statuen, Nos. 9, 10, 13, 14, 15, 17, and 41. 4 L. c., No. 16.
5 L. c.,
No. 11. 6 L. c., No. 42.
7 Daressy, Annales, X, pp. 41-49. 8 Borchardt, i, No. 39.

9 L. c., No. 38. 10 Legrain, Cat. Gen., Statues, No. 42003.
11 Borchardt, 1. c., No. 40. 12 L. c., No. 43.
13 Quibell, Hierakonpolis, II, PI. L.
14 The upper part of an alabaster statue published by Professor Petrie in Ancient Egypt, 1923, Part I, is not included in the above
list of royal statues. It is not of the workmanship of the statues of Dynasty IV and is certainly not a portrait of Mycerinus, as any
one will perceive who compares it with our plates. The absence of the uraeus, the nondescript feathered garment on the back, the
careful sparing of the face from damage, all raise grave suspicions of the genuineness of the piece. Personally I am of the opinion
that the piece is a modern forgery. Professor Petrie refrains from informing us when and where it was purchased or by whom.
THE STATUARY 125
(C) ATTITUDES
IN PRIVATE
STATUES
OF DYNASTIES
V AND VI
The seated attitude and the standing attitude are usual in the stone statues and statuettes of Dy-
nasties V and VI. The chief variation is in the attitude of the seated figure and consists in turning the
closed right hand over so that the knuckles are upward. In Borchardt’s catalogue of the statues in the
Cairo Museum, 61 Old Kingdom figures have the traditional attitude while 36 present the variation just
mentioned. The standing attitude is almost universal in stone figures (34 single and 10 in groups), while
the attitude of the Pepy statue is traditional in wooden figures (9 examples). In the group attitudes of
the Old Kingdom there is a great variation. The attitude of the slate pair is repeated by two groups
in the Cairo Museum.¹ Of the twelve other groups, many similarities may be observed in the attitudes
of the triads, Nos. 9-14, and other similarities may well have been represented in the triads which have
been destroyed.² Thus it may be said in general that the attitudes of the Mycerinus and the Chephren
statues were the prevailing traditional types for royal persons and subjects used ,by the sculptors of
Dynasties V and VI.
(D)CHRONOLOGICAL
ORDEROF ATTITUDES
USED BY EGYPTIAN
SCULPTORS
The figures and statues cited in this and the preceding section show clearly that three different posi-
tions of the hands and arms were traditional at three different periods:
(1) The left hand on the front of the body is characteristic of all the so-called “archaic” statues which date
from Dynasty III and probably as late as the reign of Sneferuw. This was one of the attitudes of the
ivory figures of the Early Dynastic Period, the true archaic period.
(2) The right hand on the front of the body is characteristic of Cheops statues and was probably the tradition
during his reign.³
(3) The right hand closed on the right knee of the seated statue with the left hand open on the left knee first
appears in the royal statues of Chephren. The standing statue of the same period had the arms hang-
ing and the hands closed at the hips, thumb forward.
The wooden statues of Dynasties V and VI often followed the traditional standing and seated attitudes
in tone. But these are to be regarded as mere substitutes for stone statues, and the special attitude
in wood of the standing statue of a man was that of the Sheikh-el-Beled. There are at least nine exam-
ples of this attitude among the statues of the Cairo Museum and many others are known. The wooden
statues of women and children did not differ in attitude from the stone statues.
( E ) INFLUENCE
OF THE STATUES
OF CHEPHREN ON PRIVATE
AND MYCERINUS STATUES
OF
V AND VI
DYNASTIES
There are 100 seated figures of men in the Cairo Museum of the Old Kingdom, including those in
groups. Of these, 60 follow the traditional Chephren position and 36 present only a slight variation in
the position of the closed right hand, which is turned palm down instead of with the thumb up. Of these
36, at least 31 were from Saqqarah and are to be dated to Dynasty V. I suggest that they were made by
one sculptor or a small group of sculptors who lived at Memphis and had adopted this slight variation
from the Giza tradition. The Giza tradition was probably the official tradition, as the only royal
statue of Dynasty V, that of Neweserra (h, above), presents the Chephren attitude. After deducting
these two groups, the 60 of the Giza school and the 36 of the Saqqarah school, only four of the 100
statues remain which present other variations. In two of these it is the left hand which is closed on the
knee and in two (one of them from Abydos) both hands are closed. The male standing figures and the
seated female single figures present almost no variations. Two of the single standing statues of women
have the left foot slightly advanced like the queen in the Mycerinus slate pair; and one female in a
standing pair statue with a man has her hands closed at her side like her male companion.
c.,
Borchardt,
¹ 1. Nos. 105 and 151.
²
See Borchardt, l. c., Nos. 6, 22, 101, 151, 158, 55, 89, 125, 84, 95, 100, 105, 107, 123. It is to be noted that in No. 107, the
man standing holds with his left hand the right elbow of the seated woman, his mother.
The
³ statue of Zoser found by Mr. C. M. Firth a t the Step Pyramid in 1924 shows this same attitude in Dynasty 111.
4 See Borchardt, 1. c., Nos. 148 and 380, seated; Nos. 125, 155, and 270 standing.
6 See Borchardt, 1. c., Nos. 64,87, 102, and 219.
6 See 1. c., Nos. 271, 274, and 275.
126 MYCERINUS
( F ) SUMMARY
The present evidence is fairly clear. Two of the dated pieces, those of Nezemankh and of King
Khasekhem, have wooden chairs and the left arm in front of the body but are of very different work-
manship. That of Zoser, having also a wooden chair, has the right arm in front of the body. The
Khasekhem and Zoser figures present the royal work of Dynasty 111,and the Nezemankh statuettes the
private work of the same period. There is no good reason for dating any of the other archaic statuettes
previous to this period. It is quite possible that no hard stone statuettes, royal or private, were made
before Dynasty III or at any rate before the last two reigns of Dynasty 11, but the evidence does not
force that conclusion. The royal statues of Dynasty III (Zoser and Khasekhem) show that a few royal
craftsmen had already attained the power of carving very good and probably fairly life-like portraits.
It is to be presumed that they made figures of almost all of the kings of that dynasty. The lesser crafts-
men, taking granite as their favorite material, met the demand of the official class with a much ruder
product, which imitated the attitudes and the forms of the royal statuettes. The statues of Redyzet
and Sepa on the other hand are of a much more tractable material (limestone) and are probably from
the end of the dynasty or from the time of Sneferuw.¹ The next step is presented by the limestone
statues of Prince Rahotep and his wife Nofert, who were of the family of Sneferuw but were probably
interred in the reign of Cheops, which exhibit many of the high qualities of Egyptian sculpture at its
best.
The craftsmen of the time of Cheops, and perhaps a little earlier, gave their seated statues a new
form, so that clearly in that time the archaic tradition was not felt to be binding. As far as our present
evidence goes, it was the sculptor or the group of sculptors who worked for Chephren and then for My-
cerinus, who found a form more acceptable to the Egyptian court of that day as conveying the correct
impression of royalty. Chephren, for whom the first work was executed by this new school, had 22 or
23 life-size statues in his Valley Temple alone, and probably as many more in his Pyramid Temple,
while the many fragments of smaller statues indicate a total of between 100 and 200. Mycerinus had
perhaps even more. The triads alone must have numbered 42. Thus between 200 and 400 statues and
statuettes, mostly of alabnster and diorite, were carved, probably by a single generation of sculptors.
These craftsmen must have had a large number of apprentices, who would become master sculptors
in the course of such abundant employment. Thus Dynasty V opened with a numerous school of sculp-
tors trained in the workshops of Chephren and Mycerinus. At the same time the development of stone
architecture during the building of the pyramids of Dynasty IV led to an extensive exploitation of the
quarries, especially of the beds of fine white limestone at Turah, and had produced improved methods of
cutting stone and created a great body of expert quarrymen and transport workers. For all practical
purposes, the pyramid workshops were great schools of the crafts and laid the foundations for the de-
velopment of sculpture and architecture in the following periods.
The creation of a large body of sculptors and the provision of the soft white limestone of Turah,
reduced the cost of making statues and created all the circumstances which permitted, almost forced,
the great expansion of Egyptian sculpture in Dynasties V and VI. Every great official at Giza and
Saqqarah had his life-size portrait statues placed in his tomb, and practically every minor official man-
aged to obtain statues of some sort. Farther away from the capital city, statues and statuettes occur
infrequently. Never again were so many statues made in any period of Egyptian art, and never again
were statues within the reach of persons of moderate means. The sculptors naturally copied the forms
of their masters, the creators of the statues of Chephren and Mycerinus, and except for the one slight in-
novation of the craftsmen of Saqqarah, these forms became the traditions of Egypt of the Old Kingdom.
It is curious that so few of the statues of the kings of Dynasty V have been found. The serdabs of
the pyramid temples of Abusir must have contained numbers of statues. The German expedition which
excavated the pyramids a t Abusir found only one small fragment, the mouth of a nearly life-size and
beautifully modelled statue in alabaster in the Sun Temple of Weserkaf, but discovered five statue-
It
¹ was the use of the soft fine-grained Turah limestone, which permitted the expansion of Egyptian sculpture in Dynasty V, after
the great activity in hard stone in Dynasty IV.
THE STATUARY 127
niches in each of the pyramid temples as well as storerooms with wide floor areas. These temples, like
the pyramid temple of Chephren, had been inwardly greatly destroyed, and the statues which they once
contained, had been exposed to the destructive inclinations of the local inhabitants for thousands of
years. Thus, the few examples of royal statues of this period come from elsewhere.¹
I n later times, after the Old Kingdom, the attitude of the standing statue persisted to the very end
as the predominating type. The seated statues of the Middle Kingdom and the New Kingdom generally
followed the Saqqarah variation with the right hand turned down. Other forms were also introduced,
and the pages of catalogues, such as Legrain’s great find at Karnak, present a variety of attitudes in con-
trast to the almost monotonous material of Borchardt’s catalogue of the statues of the Old Kingdom.
6. THE COLORING OF THE MYCERINUS STATUES
The traces left on the statues of Mycerinus, in particular on the slate pair and the triads, prove that
all his statues were painted or intended to be painted in the ordinary conventional colors of the Old King-
dom private statues. The best examples of this coloring are perhaps the statues of Rahotep and his
wife, Nofert, from Medûm, and now in the Cairo Museum.² When the coloring was perfect, the ma-
terial of which the statue was made was of course indistinguishable, and the examples of limestone
statues show that the finer modelling was slightly obscured. From a modern artistic point of view the
coloring of ancient statues seems a denial of artistic appreciation, and there is no doubt that artistic
appreciation was not considered in the intent of the sculptor. He was a realist producing a practical
implement, according to the ideas of the time, for securing a satisfactory future life to the man por-
trayed. The portrait must be a replica of the man in order properly to serve his spirit after death. For
that purpose the color was essential, and, if it was laid on with an elementary sense of the use of paint,
a t any rate it supplied those qualities which, to the Egyptian eye and mind, were necessary to complete
an image of the man or woman. A few of the statues were placed in the open rooms of the temple, but
most of them were interned in cells in the masonry, never to be seen after they were set in place.
7. COMPARISON OF THE PORTRAITS OF MYCERINUS AND CHEPHREN

The statues Nos. 1, 9-12, 17, 18, and 22 offer eight portraits of Mycerinus for comparison. The
identification of all of them is certain. Six directly by inscriptions, No. 22 by its attribution to the in-
scribed basis No. 19, and No. 17, the slate pair, by its unfinished condition and its provenience. I n ad-
dition to these eight, the youthful head is possibly also a portrait of Mycerinus, belonging to inscribed
basis No. 21. The head of the small diorite statuette found at Memphis and those of the statuettes of
the Mycerinus Valley Temple, are of secondary importance.
Of the queen of Mycerinus, Khamerernebty 11, the face in the slate pair is the only one which is
actually a portrait. But in all periods, the Egyptian craftsmen represented the faces of the gods and
goddesses in the likeness of the king, “the good god” who ruled Egypt, and his queen. Thus the face
of the Theban nome in triad No. 10 is similar to the face of Mycerinus in the same triad, and the faces
of the goddess Hathor and the female nomes are patently the face of the queen in the slate pair. Thus
in reality the seven faces of the goddesses and nomes in the four triads may be counted as portraits of
the queen.
The first point which strikes the attention is that no two of the principal portraits of Mycerinus are
exact duplicates. The three large alabaster statues, Nos. 1, 18, and 22, present a certain general resem-
blance, especially about the mouth with its full and slightly drooping lower lip; but the face is wider
and more rounded in No. 1 than in No. 18, and in No. 22, it is almost corpulent. The four faces of the
king in the triads, which are smaller but vary little in size, also differ from one another, although all have
the drooping lower lip, the round nose, and the bulging eyes of Mycerinus. The face in the triad of the
Hare-nome, No. 9, is nearly like that of the great alabaster statue, No. 1 ; but the other three have lines
The
¹ seated statue of Neweserra, Cairo Museum, No. 38; the seated heb-sed statue of Menkauwhor, Cairo, No. 40; and the lower
part of the statue of Neweserra, Cairo, No. 420003. There are also several statuettes dedicated by kings of the Middle Kingdom.
which bear the names of kings of Dynasty V.
Borchardt,
² l. c., Nos. 3 and 4.
138 MYCERINUS
or modelling about the mouth and a higher arching of the eyebrows, which give those faces a leaner and
more severe expression. Now the face of the king in the slate pair is of the severe type of the three
triads Nos. 10-12 and is most nearly like that of No. 12; and all these five examples of the leaner type
of face have the drooping underlip, the rounded nose, and the bulging eyes of the other portraits. The
conclusion seems obvious to me that the portraits of Mycerinus present two versions of the king’s face,
such as would be most plausibly ascribed to two differentsculptors. I designate hereafter the two ver-
sions of the face and the two sculptors by the letters A (the severe type) and B (the softer rounded type).
Now the examples of type B in the alabaster statues Nos. 1, 18, and 22 present minor variations as
noted above, and the same may be said of the examples of type A in the slate triads and the pair statue.
The variations in the examples of B, if the youthful head, No. 23, be taken as a portrait of Mycerinus,
would seem to present the face of the king in four differentstages of his life from youth to full maturity
(3540 years old). But the variations in the examples of B seem to favor another explanation. The
alabaster statue, No. 18, was manifestly not far advanced in state VII, when it was hastily polished and
inscribed merely with the name of the king. The only alabaster head which was completely finished
was No. 22. It seems therefore that the variations in type B were partly due to the unfinished condition
of the statues. I n general the variations in both groups appear to me to be due to the different degrees
of care which were devoted to the working up of the details in state VII. I n the case of type A, I sus-
pect that the triads lacked the touch of the master, a t any rate in the case of triad No. 10.
The portrait of Chephren is now known from five faces, the face of the Great Sphinx, that of the
famous diorite statue, the smaller face of the slate statue (Borchardt’s No. 15), the quarter-size face of
the alabaster statue from Memphis (Borchardt’s No. 41), and probably the diorite face from the Siglin
Excavations at the Second Pyramid (Chephren, Blatt XIV). Other fragments from the Siglin excava-
tions and from those of the Harvard-Boston expedition are probably also parts of the face of Chephren
statuettes. These faces of Chephren present a family resemblance to the faces of Mycerinus as does
also the face of the Chephren queen (Siglin fragment No. 56) to the queen of Mycerinus; and I have no
doubt that Chephren was the father of Mycerinus and his queen (Khamerernebty I) the mother of the
queen of Mycerinus (Khamerernebty 11). But the faces of the two kings have distinct differences, for
the faces of Chephren have higher cheek bones and more slender jaws.
Now the portraits of Chephren show again two versions of the face differentiated like the two ver-
sions of the face of Mycerinus. The larger statues, the Sphinx, the great diorite statue, and the slate
statue, present the lean severe face of type A of Mycerinus while the alabaster statue and the diorite
head (Siglin fragment No. 1) have the softer contours of type B. Yet the examples of both types of
the Chephren portrait differ from the examples of the corresponding types of Mycerinus. It may be
added that these differences are not caused by the varying qualities of the stones of which the statues
were made, as both style A and style B occur in the same three stones, alabaster, diorite, and slate,
although style B occurs more often in alabaster in the Mycerinus statues. Thus the examination of the
Chephren portraits strengthens the conclusion that the two styles A and B arose from the individual
characteristics of two different sculptors and leads to the further deduction that these two sculptors,
or a t least they and their pupils, worked for both Chephren and Mycerinus.
I would assign to sculptor A, the creator of the more severe type of portrait, the following works:
1. The Great Sphinx, cut in the natural nummulitic limestone.
2. The famous diorite statue of Chephren found in the Chephren Valley Temple and now in the Cairo
Museum.
3. The slate statue of Chephren, found with No. 2.
4. Various fragments from Chephren pyramid temple,¹ No. 7 of alabaster, and perhaps No. 2 of hard stone.
Also alabaster fragments found by the Harvard-Boston Expedition in workshops in the great cemetery,
associated with fragments bearing the name of Chephren.
5 . The beautiful slate pair of Mycerinus and the queen, No. 17, in my list.
6. Mycerinus triad, No. 10, slate.
See
¹ Borchardt in Hoelscher, Chephren, pp. 92-104.
THE STATUARY 129
Perhaps by apprentices of A:
9. The very small head in pink limestone from Chephren pyramid temple.¹
10. The Mycerinus statuette, No. 37, fine hard white-veined red stone.
To sculptor B, whose works are softer and more delicately modelled, I would assign the following:
1. The alabaster statue of Chephren, found at Memphis.
2. The Siglin head, probably Chephren, diorite.²
3. Various fragments of the Siglin Expedition, probably Chephren.³
4. The great statue of Mycerinus, No. 1, alabaster.
5. The complete statue of Mycerinus, No. 18 (in Cairo), alabaster.
6. The finished statue, Nos. 19+22, of Mycerinus, alabaster.
7. The youthful head of Mycerinus or Shepseskaf, No. 23, alabaster.
8. The Mycerinus triad, No. 9, slate.
Perhaps by his apprentices :
9. The small statuette of Mycerinus from Memphis, diorite.
10. The unfinished statuettes of Mycerinus, Nos. 32, 35, 36, and perhaps the whole series Nos. 25-31, all of
diorite.
Thus in the reign of Chephren, the larger statues of the king known to us are by sculptor A, while in
the reign of Mycerinus, the larger statues, except the slate pair which is less than life-size, are by sculptor
B. It may perhaps be concluded that sculptor A was the elder and was chief sculptor in the time of
Chephren, that the great activity of sculptor B was in the reign of Mycerinus; but the examples of
statues preserved to us are only a small part of the large number made for these two kings.
Unfortunately no stone statue of Sneferuw or of Cheops has been yet brought to light to enable us
to carry the history of the statuary of this great period a step further back. The fragments found by M.
Chassinat at Abu Roash show, I think, that one at least of the same men worked for Radadef as for Cheph-
ren and Mycerinus. The statues of Prince Rahotep and his wife Nofert from Medûm are in limestone,
a much more tractable material than the slate, alabaster, and diorite of the Chephren and Mycerinus
statues. Nevertheless they were probably the work of the royal sculptor of the time of Cheops and as
far as can now be seen should represent the style of the immediate predecessor of sculptors A and B. It
is possible that the first statues of great excellence in hard materials were made by this predecessor; but
if not, the art of the delicate modelling of hard-stone portraits was created by one of the two Chephren
sculptors, probably by A.
The most striking result of the above examination of the portraits of Chephren and Mycerinus is
the conclusion that sculptor A carved three of the greatest known works of Egyptian art:
The Great Sphinx.
The famous Chephren statue in diorite.
The beautiful slate pair of Mycerinus and Queen Khamerernebty 11.
As manifested by these works, this nameless sculptor A was a very great and courageous artist who
probably exercised a decisive influence on Egyptian sculpture in this period. The sculptor B, his pupil
or his rival whichever he may have been, was perhaps a greater craftsman even than A. The wonderful
modelling of the faces in his alabaster statues of Mycerinus surpasses that of the faces carved by A, and
his treatment of the muscles, tendons, and patella in the knees of the large alabaster statue of Mycerinus
(No. 1) is unexampled in the history of Egyptian art. Judging solely by the material now available,
sculptor A appears to me to be a roadbreaker, not so much an idealist as the creator of the formula of a
type of face which influenced all his work. Sculptor B, in spite of the softness and plasticity of his work,
was a realist, striving for a life-like portrait of the face he was reproducing. Whatever may have gone
before them, these two men were without doubt the teachers of the swarm of sculptors in the round
who flourished in Dynasty V, and were responsible for the great expansion of Egyptian statuary which
followed immediately on their activity under Chephren and Mycerinus.
¹
See Borchardt, 1. c., No. 3. See Borchardt, l. c., No. 1.
²
³See Borchardt, 1. c., No. 5, diorite, and No. 8, alabaster.

CHAPTER VIII
STONE VESSELS
1. HISTORY OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF EGYPTIAN STONE VESSELS FROM THE

PREDYNASTIC PERIOD TO DYNASTY V
(A) THE STONEVESSELSOF THE PERIOD

PREDYNASTIC
STONEvessels are rare in ordinary graves in all periods of Egyptian history, except ,during the first
three dynasties. Their occurrence in predynastic graves is indicated by the following examples of
cemeteries of that period :
1. El-Amrah (incomplete record). .................................... 33 vessels 108 graves
2. El-Mahasna (empty graves omitted) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 “ 132 “
3. Ballâs (mss. notes; all graves) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 “ 401 “
4. El-Ahaiwah (mss. notes; all graves) .............................. 12 “ 285 “
5. Mesa'eed (mss. notes; all graves) ................................. 20

_
“ 728 “
Totals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 “ 1654 “
The number of pottery vessels in the cemeteries of which I possess complete records is nearly one hun-
dred times the number of stone vessels. The proportion varies greatly from cemetery to cemetery ac-
cording to the apparent wealth of the community. I n each cemetery the stone vessels occurred usually
in the richer graves, and often in groups of two to seven in single graves. Thus:
Graves T 5, T 16, and 743 at Naqada¹ each contained five stone vessels.
Grave 17: 83 at Khor Ambukol² contained seven.
Grave b 62 at El-Amrah³ contained five.
And other examples might be cited.

The most characteristic material used for stone vessels in the Predynastic Period is basalt; but ala-
baster, limestone (especially pink), red and white breccia, porphyry, and syenite also occur.
The vessels have been hollowed by boring. The boring marks are coarser and less regular than in
the later stone vessels and appear to have been produced by a different method of boring, perhaps not
by using the crank-borer represented in the reliefs of the Old Kingdom. The hole bored by the pre-
dynastic borer is'of two forms: (1) straight sided with fine striation marks due to a continuous boring
from top to bottom with one stone; and (2) concave sided with broad concave grooves finely striated
due to boring with stones of different sizes or rubbing with a stone held in the hand. The interior has
seldom been dressed smooth except in bowls. The exterior surface has usually been beautifully dressed
by rubbing, not turning. The holes in the pierced handles have been drilled from both sides and show
a good deal of play in the tool.
The Predynastic Period covered a considerable length of time, and a distinction must be drawn be-
tween the vessels of the Early Predynastic (E. P.), the Middle Predynastic (M. P.), and the Late Pre-
dynastic (L. p.). A fourth division comprises the so-called Dynasty 0, which is intimately connected
with that part of Dynasty I which was previous to the death of Menes or, perhaps, previous to King Zer.
The vessels are here classified into twelve principal types, for the sake of convenience. Types I-
VIII are jars of various sorts; types IX-XI are cups, dishes, and bowls; and type XII includes the
tables. Some other classification might easily have been found, but this seems to me practical for the
purpose. A few vessels of peculiar form, '(fancy" vessels as they have been labeled by Professor
Petrie, have not been included - sack-like jars, frog form pots, etc. The types which can be definitely
described as predynastic are only six in number, types I, 11, 111, IV, IX, and X. I n addition, types V,
Naqada and
Petrie,
¹ Ballâs, pp. 19-20.
Reisner,
² Nub. Arch. Sur. 1907-08, p. 125.
MacIver
³ and Mace, El-Amrah and Abydos, p. 20.
STONE VESSELS 131
V I a, and XI are each represented by one or two examples which are, however, modifications of types
aIIn d I V and certainly not the forms attached to these types in Dynasty I. The above types occur
in the different predynastic periods as follows :
(a) Early Predynastic (E. P.) ........................ Types I and II alone.
(b) Middle Predynastic (M. P.) ...................... Types I and IIcontinue.
Types III,IV,andIX begin.
Types V, VI a, and X I occur sporadically.
(c) Late Predynastic (L. P.) ......................... Types I, 111, IV, and IX continue.
Type X a begins.
( d ) Dynasty 0 - Menes (Dynasty 0) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Types I, 111, IV, V, IX, and X continue.
Types VI b, VII, and VIII begin.
The poverty of the type forms of the Predynastic Period, and especially of the E. P., is striking in
comparison with Dynasty 0 and, as will appear later, the forms of Dynasty 0 are few in comparison
with those of the Early Dynastic Period when a multitude of sub-types are represented by examples
in the tombs.
It is to be noted that:
(1) The E. P. and the M. P. are firmly tied together by types I and 11.
(2) The M. P. and the L. P. are joined by types I, III, IV, a n d I X .
(3) The L. P. and Dynasty 0 are connected by the same types - I, 111, IV, IX, and X.
Dynasty 0 and the archaeological group of Menes are admittedly one. The group of Menes has from
the first been recognized as intimately joined to that of the succeeding kings of Dynasty I. Thus the
types of stone vessels developed progressively from the E. P. to the Early Dynastic Period, indicating
that the Egyptians of Dynasty I were the historical descendants of those of the E. P. This conclusion
applies also to the pottery, the flints, the copper weapons and tools, and both grave and burial types.
Thus the archaeological evidence proves that the Egyptians from the E. P. to the Dynastic Period are
one race developing from the use of stone to the full practical use of metal. There is no evidence of the
introduction of foreign culture and, I believe, no archaeological evidence of the influx of a foreign race,
the so-called “dynastic race.” I am aware of the results of the measurements of bones, but the soma-
tological material is very defective, and the results of the anatomists are far from conclusive.
(1) Type PD-I. Cylindrical J a r

The cylindrical jar begins certainly in the Early Predynastic Period. The variations of the form are
almost as many as there are jars, and all are rather irregular and clumsy. Predynastic cylindrical jars
are characterized by the absence of the cord in relief around the neck. The materials are ivory, basalt,
limestone, and alabaster. I suggest that the form is a natural one for wood or ivory and that the stone
forms were derived from earlier wood or ivory jars. The following examples may be cited:
Type PD-I
(1) Ayrton and Loat, El-Mahasna, grave H 29, two ivory, one alabaster, and one limestone. Early Pre-
dynastic (Fig. 23, Nos. 1 4 ) .
(2) Reisner, Nub. Arch. Sur. 1907-08, Pl. 64 b,
Grave 17:6, Nos. 3 and 10 (both alabaster). Early Predynastic.
Grave 17:83, Nos. 2, 3, 4, two of alabaster and one of basalt. Middle Predynastic.
(3) Petrie, Diospolis parva,
Grave B 102, three alabaster and one limestone. Early-Middle Predynastic (Fig. 23, No. 5).
Grave B 122 (Pl. VI), material not given, grave not described.
Grave U 290, one basalt, grave not described.
Grave U 384,one basalt, grave not described.
(4) MacIver, El-Amrah, grave a 16, one “stone” jar; and a 95, three basalt. Both Middle Predynastic (Fig.
23, No. 6).
(5) Harvard-Boston Expedition, mss. notes on Mesa’eed, grave 28, No. 1, alabaster. Middle Predynastic
(Fig. 23, No. 7).
(6) Hearst Expedition, mss. notes on Ballâs,
Grave 30, No. 2, limestone. Middle Predynastic.
Grave 144, No. 7, alabaster. Late Predynastic.
132 MYCERINUS
(7) Petrie, Naqada and Ballâs,
Pl.
X, 3-11. The insufficiency of the published record renders the dating of
these examples very difficult. None of them appears to be earlier than the Late Predynastic.
(8) Harvard-Boston Expedition, mss. notes on Naga-’I-Hai, grave 2131, basalt. Late Predynastic (Fig. 23,
No. 8).
Other examples were found by our expedition in the graves of the Early and Middle Predynastic Periods
in Cem. 6000 a t Naga-’d-Dêr, but none a t all in the Late Predynastic Cemetery a t El-Ahaiwah.
(2) Type PD-11. Egg-Shaped Jar with Foot and Handles

The egg-shaped jar occurs in both bulging and slender elongated examples, and almost always with
foot and two horizontally pierced handles. The examples without foot had, I believe, a foot made of
a separate piece, perhaps wood. The examples without foot and those without handles are rare. The
most usual material is basalt, but breccia and limestone also occur.
The type is well attested in the Early Predynastic Period and again in the Middle Predynastic Period,
but it is doubtful whether any examples have been found in the Late Predynastic Period. After that
VESSELS,TYPESI,II.Scale¼
23. PD STONE
FIGURE
time I know of none except the two from the Mycerinus valley temple. The bulging variation seems
to be the original type-form, while the elongated examples are generally of the Middle Predynastic
Period. The foot is curious and difficult to explain. The stone and metal vessels with foot of the Early
Dynastic Period and Old Kingdom are usually compounded of a jar or a bowl with a stand or a ring-
stand. The broad foot of the hes-jars and of the narrow cylindrical jars is produced by splaying the
lower part of the body of the jar. But these predynastic jars have a foot more like that of the cups and
goblets of the New Kingdom. A few copies in black polished pottery are known, but are later than the
Early Predynastic Period. The one ivory jar of this type is of the elongated form and comes from a
grave not earlier than the late Middle Predynastic Period (see below, example No. 12). The form ob-
viously suggests an egg (ostrich egg) or a gourd on a small ring stand of wood or cloth; but in the ab-
sence of any examples speculation is futile. The type occurs in stone in the Early Predynastic Period;
it presents the first examples of vessels with two handles horizontally pierced, and has a foot of unique
form.
The examples are:
Type PD-II
a, bulging form with foot and handles.
(1) Petrie and Quibell, Naqada, Pl. IX, form H 70, from graves 218 and 271, late Middle Predynastic; form
72, from graves 271, late Middle Predynastic, and 1241, Middle Predynastic; form 69, miniature,
from grave T 4, Middle Predynastic.
STONE VESSELS 133
(2) MacIver, El-Amrah, grave B 144, basalt, Early Predynastic; a 66, limestone, Middle Predynastic; grave
a 33, basalt, miniature, late Middle Predynastic; grave a 68, miniature, late Middle Predynastic.
(3) Petrie, Diospolis parva, Pl. IX 5 and 7, basalt, from grave B 56, Early Predynastic (Fig. 23, Nos. 9 and
10).
(4) Ayrton and Loat, El-Mahasna, grave H 30, basalt, Early Predynastic.
( 5 ) Reisner, Nub. Arch. Sur. 1907-08, grave 17:83, two of basalt and one of breccia, Middle Predynastic;
grave 17 :50, basalt, Middle Predynastic.
(6) Harvard-Boston Expedition, mss. notes on Mesa’eed, grave 20, basalt, Early Predynastic ; grave 981, lime-
stone, late Middle Predynastic.
Type PD-II
b, bulging form with handles but no foot.
(7) Petrie and Quibell, Naqadn, Pl. XII, form S 71, from grave T 5 , Middle Predynastic (Fig. 23, No. 11).
Type PD-II
c, slender form (sometimes elongated) with foot and handles.
(8) Petrie and Quibell, Naqada, Pl. IX, form H 67, from grave 271, late Middle Predynastic; form 71, from
grave T 4, Middle Predynastic.
(9) MacIver, El-Amrah, grave b 220, basalt, late Middle Predynastic.
(10) Petrie, Diospolis parva, Pl. IX, 6, limestone, irregular form, from grave B 133 (not described) ; grave 56,
basalt (Pl. V), Early Predynastic.
(11) Peet, Cemeteries of Abydos II, Pl.
X X V I I , g r a v e U1, Middle Predynastic.
(12) Ayrton and Loat, El-Mahasna, grave H 38, limestone, Middle-Late Predynastic; grave H 23, ivory,
Middle-Late Predynastic.
(13) Reisner, Nub. Arch. Sur. 1907-08, grave 17 :83, basalt, Middle Predynastic.
(14) Hearst Expedition, mss. notes on Ballâs, grave 309, basalt, Middle Predynastic.
(15) Harvard-Boston Expedition, mss. notes on Mesa’eed, grave 29, basalt, Early Predynastic (Fig. 23, No. 12);
grave 744, basalt, Middle Predynastic.
Type PD-II
d, slender form without foot.
(16) Petrie and Quibell, Naqada, Pl. IX, form H 62, no provenience discoverable (Fig. 23, No. 13).
Type PD-II
e, slender form with foot but no handles.
(17) Petrie and Quibell, Naqada, Pl. XII, form S 62, graves 1417 and 1487, Middle Predynastic.
(18) Quibell and Green, Hierakonpolis, Pl. LXIV, 16, basalt, from “prehistoric cemetery” (p. 50b); No. 20,
twin vase of same type, basalt, same provenience.
(19) Petrie, Diospolis parva, Pl. TX, 18, basalt, grave U 134, not described (Fig. 23, No. 14).
(3) T y p e PD-III. Spheroidal J a r with T w o Horizontal Handles
Professor Petrie in Naqada and Ballâs, Pl. VIII, forms H 1-5, reproduces a series of spheroidal jars
with two horizontal handles, but a painstaking search of the text has revealed the provenience of only
one example. These jars are now well known from the beautiful vessels found in the royal tombs a t
Naqada and Abydos, and a number of examples are dated with certainty to Dynasty I. In the Middle
Predynastic Period the form was freely used for a fine series of painted pottery vessels and persisted
into the Late Predynastic. Some of the pottery examples are painted with obvious imitations of hard
stone, and possibly even those with spirals or zones of wavy lines are also intended to be imitations of
hard stone. These facts suggest that the form was originally a stone form. One example in stone is
recorded from the Middle Predynastic Period (pottery form in same tomb), five others from the late
Middle Predynastic or early Late Predynastic. Two miniature jars are from about the same period.
Thus there can be no doubt that the type belongs to the predynastic corpus. It is to be noted that all
the examples are of the round-bottomed type; but cf. Type PD-IV d, miniatures.
TypePD-IIIIa(1), round-bottomed, large forms:

(1) Petrie and Quibell, Naqada, Pl. VIII, form H 2, from grave 430, Middle Predynastic (Fig. 24, No. 1).
(2) Petrie, Diospolis parva, grave b 217, breccia, late Middle Predynastic (Fig. 24, No. 2).
(3) Harvard-Boston Expedition, mss. notes on Mesa’eed, four of limestone, from grave 982, late Middle
Predynastic.
Type PD-III a (2), round-bottomed, miniature forms (Fig. 24, No. 3).
(4) Petrie, Diospolis parva, two limestone, from grave b 62, late Middle Predynastic.
( 5 ) Hearst Expedition, mss. notes on Ballâs, grave 3, limestone, late Middle Predynastic.
(6) Firth, Nub. Arch. Sur. 1909-10, Pl. 28 a 2, breccia, from grave 102-199, Late Predynastic.
(7) Harvard-Boston Expedition, mss. notes on Mesa’eed, alabaster, from grave 873, Late Predynastic.
134 MYCERINUS
(4) Type PD-IV. Barrel-Shaped Jar with and without Handles

The barrel-shaped jar has usually two horizontally pierced handles, and this variation is probably
to be marked as the original type. The majority of the examples have a flat disc base, but many have
only a plain flat base. The widest part of the jar is usually at or near the middle (Type PD-IV a),
especially in the earlier form, but is higher up in others (Type PD-IV b), forming often a true shoulder
jar. Type IV has not been recorded before the Middle Predynastic Period. The most usual material
among the older jars is basalt; but porphyry, syenite, and breccia also occur.
The following examples may be cited:
TypeP D - I V a (1), barrel-shaped with disc base. Fig. 24, Nos. 4-6.
(1) Petrie and Quibell, Naqada, PI. VIII, forms H 28, 29, materials not given, from graves T 5 (three) and
1241, Middle Predynastic; from graves T 16,421, and 1247, Late Predynastic.
(2) Quibell and Green, Hierakonpolis II,
PI.
LXVII,
diorite (?) from the “painted tomb,’’ Late Predynastic,
or Dynasty 0.
(3) MacIver, El-Amrah, grave b 119 (“stone”), b 62 (two of marble), b 225 (basalt), all late Middle Predynas-
tic; grave b 232, breccia, Late Predynastic.
(4) Hearst Expedition, mss. notes on Ballâs, graves 91 and 121, both of basalt, Late Predynastic.
(5) Harvard-Boston Expedition, mss. notes on Mesa’eed, grave 47, two basalt and one limestone, Middle
Predynastic (Fig. 24, Nos. 4, 5, 6).
Type PD-IV a (2), barrel-shaped with plain flat base. Fig. 24, Nos. 7, 8.
(6) Petrie and Quibell, Naqada, PI. VIII, forms H 25, 26, 13, from graves T 5, T 14, Middle Predynastic;
grave B 99, late Middle Predynastic; graves 421 and 1247, Late Predynastic to Dynasty 0.
(7) Petrie, Diospolis parva, grave B 75 (grave not described).
(8) MacIver, El-Amrah, grave a 118, limestone, late Middle Predynastic.
(9) Peet, Cemeteries of AbydosI,PI. III, 6, breccia, from grave E 272, Late Predynastic.
(10) Hearst Expedition, mss. notes on El-Ahaiwah, grave 213, basalt, Late Predynastic.
(1 1) Harvard-Boston Expedition, mss. notes on Mesa’eed, grave 10, basalt, Middle Predynastic (Fig. 24, No. 7).
Grave 651, limestone, late Middle Predynastic.
Grave 829, limestone, Late Predynastic.
Grave 925, porphyry, Late Predynastic.
(12) Harvard-Boston Expedition, mss. notes on Naga-’l-Hai, grave 615, basalt, Dynasty 0 (Fig. 24, No. 8).
Type PD-IV b (1), swelling above middle, disc base. Fig. 25, Nos. 1, 2.
(13) Petrie and Quibell, Naqada, PI. VIII, forms H 3245, from graves 743 (four limestone), T 16, 1247, Late
Predynastic; grave 185, very Late Predynastic or Dynasty 0 (Fig. 25, Nos. 1, 2).
(14) MacIver, El-Amrah, graves 46 (basalt), b 62 (two, one breccia), b 87 (basalt), b 224 (“stone”), late Mid-
dle Predynastic; graves 76 (“stone”), b 189 (two of “stone”), Late Predynastic.
(15) Peet, Cemeteries ofAbydosI,PI.III, 5, graves E 12 (not described) and 169 (Late Predynastic).
(16) Petrie and Wainwright, Labyrinth, Gerzeh and Mazghuneh, PI. VI 6, two examples, from grave 142, Late
Predynastic; PI. VIII, 3, from graves G 31, 93, 154.
Type PD-IV b (2), swelling above middle flat base.
(17) Petrie and Wainwright, Labyrinth, Gerzeh and Mazghuneh, PI.VIII 1, two examples, from grave 142,
Dynasty 0.
Type PD-IV, miniature jars. Fig. 25, No. 3.
Form PD-IV a :
(18) MacIver, El-Amrah, form H 7, limestone, from grave b 88, Middle Predynastic; stone, from grave b 235,
Late Predynastic.
(19) Peet, Cemeteries of Abydos 8, basalt, from grave E 272, Late Predynastic.
PI.
I,
II,
Form PD-IV b:
(20) Petrie, Diospolis parva, form H 24 (PI. IX 2), from graves U 311 and B 328.
(21) MacIver, El-Amrah, from grave b 233, Late Predynastic.
(22) Petrie and Wainwright, Labyrinth, Gerzeh and Mazghuneh, PI.VIII 4, from grave 16.
Form PD-IV c, broad form:
(23) Petrie and Quibell, Naqada, PI. VIII, form H 41, limestone, from grave 743, Late Predynastic (Fig. 25,
No. 3).
(24) Petrie, Diospolis parva, four examples, from graves B 57 (L. P.), B 328 (not described), B 378 (two; L. P.).
(25) Reisner, Nub. Arch. Sur. 1907-08, grave 17 :15, limestone, Middle Predynastic.
(26) Hearst Expedition, mss. notes on El-Ahaiwah, breccia, from grave 66, Dynasty 0.
(27) Petrie and Wainwright, Labyrinth, Gerzeh and Mazghuneh, PI.VIII 5-8, from graves 31, 85, 170, 105,
145 (date uncertain).
STONE VESSELS 135
FIGURE
24. PDSTONEVESSELS,TYPESIII,IV,V,VI,IX-XI.Scale¼
25. PD STONEVESSELS,TYPESIV,V,VI,VII,VIII.Scale¼
FIGURE
(5) Type PD-V. Jar without Handles

The type of jar without handles is practically unknown in the Predynastic Period. I know of four
examples, which are only Type IV a without handles. These examples are therefore rather modifications
of Type IV than a new and separate type. I introduce Type V here merely because of its later importance.
Type PD-Va equals PD-IV a and b, without handles: Fig. 25, Nos. 4, 5.
(1) Harvard-Boston Expedition, mss. notes o n Mesa'eed, basalt, grave 49; probably late Middle Predynastic
(Fig. 24, No. 9).
(2) Petrie, Diospolis parva, PI. VII, basalt, from U 384,doubtful form, perhaps even a rude cylindrical jar.
(3) MacIver, El-Amrah, type IV b without handles, miniature, from grave
189;
a Late Predynastic.
(4) Petrie and Wainwright, Labyrinth, Gerzeh and Mazghuneh, Pl. VII, 10, 11, from graves G 88 and 83
(date ?) (Fig. 25, Nos. 4, 5).
136 MYCERINUS
(6) Type PD-VI. Vertical Jar with Handles

The vertical jar with two handles and a slight swelling below the rim occurs in two variations which
are apparently not connected - one in basalt and the other in alabaster or limestone. The basalt form
has been found in only a few examples, none of them earlier than the late Middle Predynastic Period,
and appears to have been a degeneration or modification of type II d.
Type PD-VI a, basalt, irregular form: Fig. 24, No. 10.
(1) Petrie and Quibell, Naqada and Ballâs, Pl. IX, form H 63, no provenience given.
(2) Petrie, Diospolis parva, Pl. I X 4, basalt, grave U 135, grave not described (Fig. 24, No. 10).
(3) MacIver, EE-Amrah, graves a 95 and b 87, both basalt and late Middle Predynastic.
The form which occurs in alabaster or limestone seems to be a cheap or degenerate variation of
type IV b. It has usually been recorded from graves of Dynasty 0 or Dynasty I. The only example
which might be as early as the Late Predynastic Period is that found by Mr. Green in the “painted
tomb” at Hierakonpolis (5, below). Professor Petrie dates that tomb to S. D. 63, or Late Predynastic.
Some of the forms on which this conclusion was based (R 1 e; R 94; W 41) have certainly a range which
reaches below S. D. 63, even in Egypt, while the other forms such as B 42, P 40, and D 8 may be dated
in Nubia as late as Dynasty I. It is to be noted that Hierakonpolis is within the Nubian sphere of in-
fluence. The brick lining of the grave, the partition, and the stone vessel of type VI b, would ordinarily
be dated to Dynasty 0 at the earliest. As a result, I would date the “painted tomb” to Dynasty 0, not
to the Late Predynastic Period.
Type PD-VI b, alabaster or limestone, regular form: Fig. 25, Nos. 6, 7.
(4) Petrie and Quibell, Naqada, Pl. IX, forms 51-55; No. 52 is shown by Pl. V to be from grave B 874,
Dynasty 0 (Fig. 25, Nos. 6, 7).
(5) Quibell and Green, Hierakonpolis II,Pl. L X V I I , limestone, from the “painted
tomb,” Late Predynastic.
(6) Harvard-Boston Expedition, mss. notes on Mesa’eed, grave 679, Dynasty 0.
(7) Type PD-VII. Wavy-Handled

Jar
In the Late Predynastic Period, a small shouldered jar (Petrie’s type W 41-47) of grey-surfaced pot-
tery is of frequent occurrence. This jar has two ledge handles of wavy outline and has been derived
by Professor Petrie quite correctly from the larger bulging forms of Middle Predynastic date. Two
copies in stone of the later form have been recorded by Mr. Wainwright at El-Gerzeh, where one of
them occurs associated with the corresponding pottery form. The pottery form is dated by Mr. Wain-
wright to the Late Predynastic Period (S. D. 58-63), and the stone forms are presumably assigned by
him to the same period. The graves are not described. Elsewhere this form is definitely dated to Dy-
nasty I, and in view of the defect in the publication, I feel unable to date these examples previous to
Dynasty 0.
Type PD-VII, wavy-handled jar, two ledge handles :
(1) Petrie and Wainwright, Labyrinth, Gerxeh and Maxghuneh, Pl. VIII 2, from graves 25 (cf. Pl. X I 19 b) and
148 (Fig. 25, No. 8).
(8) Type PD-VIII. Pointed Jar

The pointed conical jar with contracted mouth furnished with roll rim is well known in black-topped
and in red-polished pottery from the late Middle Predynastic and the Late Predynastic Periods.¹ Of
the stone form a few examples only are known, and one of these is certainly dated to the time of Zet
(Dynasty I). The only predynastic examples are those miniature forms recorded by Mr. Wainwright
at Gerzeh, which he dates to S. D. 57-60, 63, that is, Middle to Late Predynastic; but he does not
describe the graves in any way, and I am unable to date these jars before Dynasty 0 (see preceding
paragraph).
Type PD-VIII
a , pointed jars:
(1) Petrie and Wainwright, Labyrinth, Gerxeh and Maxghuneh, Pl.
VIII, 12-14, graves G 123, 126, 145,146,
and 203 (Fig. 25, Nos. 9, 10).
¹ Petrie’s forms
See B 39 and P 98.
STONE VESSELS 137
(9) T y p e PD-IX. Round-Bottomed Saucers and Bowls

Stone cups, saucers, and bowls are among the rare forms of the Predynastic Period. The only ex-
amples known previous to the Late Predynastic are the round-bottomed shape. I find two round-
bottomed bowls which may be as early as the Middle Predynastic Period, but one of these with a stick
handle is clearly a fancy form and ought, strictly speaking, to be excluded. The round-bottomed form
of bowl or cup is fairly common in pottery of the black-topped, the red-polished, and the coarse wares.
The saucers of coarse ware are often used as containers of copper ore or of galena.
Type PD-IX, round-bottomed saucers:
(1) Reisner, Nub. Arch. Sur. 1907-08, grave 17:68, alabaster, with stick handle, Middle Predynastic.
(2) MacIver, El-Amrah, alabaster, from grave a 85, late Middle Predynastic (MacIver, “before S. D. 41”).
(3) Petrie, Diospolis parva, PI. IX, 19, from H 57, Late Predynastic (Petrie), (Fig. 24, No. 11).
(4) Hearst Expedition, mss. notes on El-Ahaiwah, grave A 192, alabaster, Late Predynastic; grave 226, ala-
baster, Dynasties 0-I.
(10) T y p e PD-X. Flat-Bottomed Saucers and Bowls

As stated in the preceding paragraph I know of only two bowls, both of them small cups or saucers,
previous to the Late Predynastic Period, and both of these are round-bottomed shapes. In the Late
Predynastic Period, a few crude flat-bottomed cups or saucers with plain rims have been recorded of
about the same technique and finish as the corresponding round-bottomed saucers. The fine cleanly
cut bowls with flat bottoms do not appear until the very end of the Late Predynastic Period. It may
be doubted whether any example occurs previous to Dynasty 0. All these early fine bowls have the
straight-sided conical form with plain rim.
Type PD-X a, flat-bottomed saucers and cups, of crude form:
(1) Petrie and Quibell, Naqada, PI. XII, form S 49 (small), alabaster, from T 16, Late Predynastic.
(2) Petrie, Diospolis parva, PI. IX, 19, from grave H 51, Late Predynastic (?) (Fig. 24, No. 12); grave B 57,
alabaster (PI. Vl), Late Predynastic or later.
(3) Hearst Expedition, mss. notes on El-Ahaiwah, graves A 45, A 69, A 118, all alabaster, and about Dynasty 0.
(4) Harvard-Boston Expedition, mss. notes on Mesa’eed, grave 925, pink limestone, Late Predynastic.
Type PD-X a (2), flat-bottomed bowls, of fine form:
(5) Petrie and Wainwright, Labyrinth, Gerxeh and Maxghuneh, PI. VIII, 15-21, thirteen examples, probably
Dynasties 0-I (Fig. 25, Nos. 11-15).
(11) Type PD-XI. Cups and Bowls with External Rim

In Dynasty I the bowls with external rim make their first appearance in two definite forms (see
below, type 1-X), one of which presents a rounded external rim apparently for trying on a cloth or
parchment cover. But all these early dynastic examples (until Dynasty 111) have flat bottoms. It is
therefore improbable that the two isolated examples of round-bottomed bowls recorded at Diospolis
parva have any connection with the later rimmed bowls.
Type PD-XI, round-bottomed cups with external rim :
(1) Petrie, Diospolis parva, PI. IX, 17, 18,from grave B 122, late Middle Predynastic; grave B 500, grave not
described (Fig. 24, No. 13).
(12) T y p e PD-XII. Tables

No example of a table in stone has been found in any predynastic grave. Tables make their appear-
ance at the very end of the Predynastic Period in pottery, high forms with dished tops. And the earliest
stone tables of Dynasty I are also dish-topped, but not so high as the older pottery tables.
( B ) STONEVESSELSOF DYNASTY
I
In the Early Dynastic Period, the manufacture of stone vessels received such an impetus that even
the poorest graves of the latter half of DynastyI,of Dynasty II, and Dynasty III usually contained at
least one stone vessel,¹ while the royal tombs of Naqada and Abydos and the important private mastabas
¹SeeReisner Naga-’d-DêrI,pp.99-101.
138 MYCERINUS
of the first, three dynasties have yielded a large number of beautifully worked jars, pans, and bowls in
a, great variety of types and materials.
I n comparing the stone vessels of the Early Dynastic Period with those of the Predynastic, two
conclusions are obvious :
(1) Certain types of Dynasty I are the same as earlier types, or are developments of earlier types, so that
the archaeological continuity of the two groups is clear - types I, 111,and IV.
(2) The forms of the Early Dynastic Period are larger and much more finely worked than those of the Pre-
dynastic Period.
The advance in technical skill presented by the early dynastic vessels is manifested in the symmetry and
proportions of the forms, the internal smoothing, the external polish, and the thinness of the walls of
some examples. The climax was reached perhaps in the thin, highly polished alabaster bowls and pans
of private graves of Dynasty III Facility in the handling of hard stones, which was one of the racial
characteristics of the Egyptians and the source of the artistic merit of their later sculpture, was already
discernible in the stone vessels of types II
and III
of the Early and Middle Predynastic Periods and in
the other stone implements of the same age (mace-heads and slate palettes). When the dated examples
of the Early Dynastic Period are compared with the earlier pieces, the only technical difference appears
in a slightly greater regularity of the boring marks, and I would ascribe this regularity to the adoption
of a better borer, the weighted stone-borer turned with a crank, as represented in the reliefs of the Old
Kingdom. The improvement in the forms and the finish of the stone vessels of Dynasty I is to be as-
cribed not merely to the invention of the mechanical stone-borer, whose greatest effect was the cheapen-
ing of the process, but also to a general high development of technical skill in the craftsmen - a skill
to which the ceremonial slate palettes and mace-heads of Hierakonpolis bear witness. This develop-
ment in skill arose out of the demand for ostentatious objects both practical and ceremonial created by
the establishment of the monarchy and the accumulation of wealth in the hands of the royal family -
a striking example of what human progress owes to the differentiation of wealth. Another result of the
new political and economic conditions was the provision of abundant supplies of various hard stones
from newly opened beds and quarries, some of them in remote districts, a fact proved by the profusion
of materials used in the stone vessels. Thus the great extension of the manufacture of stone vessels in
Dynasty I was one of the most characteristic features of the general development of that time and was
due to the cheapening of the process of manufacture by: (1) the invention of the mechanical stone-
borer; (2) the provision of an abundant supply of various hard stones; (3) the development and spread
of a high degree of technical skill fostered by the political conditions and the accumulation of wealth in
the hands of the royal family and the court.
The first proved evidence of expansion in the manufacture of stone vessels is given by the tomb of
Menes at Naqada. The vessels from this tomb are beautifully formed and finished; but one striking
fact is to be noted, no bowl with an internal rim is reported from that tomb, nor any with a sharply
contracted mouth. The tomb of Narmer has not been found, but vessels with sharply contracted mouth
and internal rim appear in the tomb of Zer, the third king, and in all royal tombs thereafter. The ves-
sels from Dynasty 0 belong clearly to the Menes group and present the prototypes of the simpler forms
of the Menes tomb. Strictly taken,, therefore, Dynasty 0 and Menes form one archaeological group,
and should be marked as the connecting group between the Predynastic Period and Dynasty I. The
tomb of Menes marks the types which belong to this period as:
Type I a, b, c .......................................... Cylindrical jars with cord, etc.
Type III a, b . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Spheroidal jars, flat and round bottom.
Type I V a . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Barrel-jar with handle, rare, fancy.
Type V . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Small shoulder jars, rare.
Type X a . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bowls, flat bottom, plain rim.
This is a very small group of forms for a royal tomb, and if the two rare forms are omitted, it is reduced
to three common forms. The private graves of Dynasty 0 and early Dynasty I naturally present a dif-
ferent group of types, for even the private tombs of early Dynasty I, because they were private graves,
represent a stage in the development which is earlier than that of Menes, the royal tomb of their time.
(a) ROYAL
TOMBS ( b ) PRIVATE TOMBS
Naga-’d-Dêr
I
Zet Aby. all Khas. Myc. Aby. M Giza Dyn. I Dyn. II Hesy
% % % % % % % % %
Alabaster.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 18 48 58 60 47 53 64 67
Lst. +marble.. . . . . . . . . . . 39 36 14 9 6 22 7 S ..
Slate.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 8 ? 0.6 16 19 27 12 ..
Volcanic ash. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 11 ? 0.5 4 1 13 14 ..
+
Porphyry syenite breccia 10+ 11 24? 14 6 7 .. 1 ?
Basalt.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 5 ? 4 6 3 .. 1 ..
Crystal.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 8 0.4 .. .. 1 .. .. ..
Serpentine.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 3 .. .. .. 1 .. ..
Diorite .................... .. 14 14 .. .. .. .. ?
140 MYCERINUS
(3) The variety of non-calcareous stones does not vary greatly, but the numbers of vessels of slate, volcanic
ash, crystal, and serpentine decrease to the vanishing point in the Mycerinus temple. ,At the same
time the porphyries and related stones increase :
Zet Aby. Kha. Myc.
% % % %
+ +
Porphyry + syenite granite breccia. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 11 24 16
Diorite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
__
..
__
14
__
12
__
10 11 38 28
(4) The great change in the materials used in the royal tombs was the introduction of diorite in the tomb
of Khasekhemuwy, to become one of the characteristic features of the private tombs of Dynasty 111.
It had occurred in scattered examples in Dynasty I.
( 5 ) In the private tombs, the percentage of alabaster rises in Dynasty III, but otherwise it varies greatly
according to the wealth or poverty of the tombs. Cemetery M at Abydos, which was the least important
socially of the three First Dynasty cemeteries, has the highest percentage of alabnster, and the small
graves of Dynasty III at Naga-’d-Dêr seldom yielded any other stone.
(6) The combined alabaster and limestone figures for the private graves are:
Naga-’d-DêrI
Aby. M. Giza Dyn. I Dyn. II Hesy
% % % % %
+
Alabaster + limestone marble. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 69 60 72 67
Allother stones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 31 40 28 33
(7) Porphyry, syenite, and breccia occurred in Cem. M (Abydos) and in the Giza graves, but only one ex-
ample (breccia) is shown in the remaining columns. The most important non-calcareous stones in the
private graves were slate and volcanic ash:
Naga-’d-Dêr
I
Aby. M. Giza Dyn. I Dyn. II Hesy
% % % % %
Slate.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 19 27 12 ..
Volcanic ash.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
__
1
__
13
__
14
__
..
__
20 20 40 26 ..
The total amount of slate and volcanic, ash in the tomb of Zet was 12 per cent, and in all the royal tombs at
Abydos, 19 per cent. The remarkable excess of the percentage of these stones at Naga-’d-Dêr was prob-
ably due to local conditions. At any rate no other plausible explanation presents itself to my mind.
It must be remembered that any comparison of this sort suffers greatly from the unfortunate manner
in which so many of the royal tombs at Abydos were excavated before Professor Petrie rescued what was
left. The figures from the Mycerinus temples and the private graves are dependable and subject only
to the chances of preservation, which are often curiously incalculable. But these chances would not
affect appreciably the proportional frequency of the commoner stones.
The chief forms of all twelve of my types were established in Dynasty I or before, and the following
list will show the range of these and of the sub-types:
Inclusive limits
Type of occurrence
Ic Plain cylindrical jar. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . E. P. to Dyn. VI.
a Fine cylindrical jar with cord in relief. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dyn. I to Dyn. V
b Cylindrical jar with ridge or band. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dyn. I to Dyn. V
d Slender splay-footed cylindrical jar. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dyn. III to Dyn. VI
e Models of types b, c, and d . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dyn. IV to Dyn. VI
II a, b Egg-shaped jar with foot and two horizontal handles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . E. P. to M. P. (Myc.)
c, d Elongated variation of type II a . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . M. P. (Myc.)
III a Spheroidal jar with two horizontal handles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . M. P. to Myc.
b Spheroidal jar with two handles, flat bottom. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dyn. I to Myc.
C Quasi-spheroidal jar with shoulder and handles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Khas. to Dyn. V
IV Barrel-shaped or shoulder jar with two horizontal handles
a (1) Barrel-shaped with disc-base. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . M. P. to Dyn. I
a (2) Barrel-shaped with plain flat base. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . M. P. to Dyn. I
b (1) Swelling above the middle, disc-base. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . L. M. P. to Dyn. I
b (2) Swelling above the middle, plain flat base. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dyn. 0toDyn. II
a-c Extra. Miniature forms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . M. P. to Dyn. I
C Broad form, disc-base.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dyn. I
d Shouldered form, disc-base . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dyn. I
e Broad-shouldered form, broad disc-mouth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Khas. to Dyn. V
STONE VESSELS 141
Inclusive limits
Type of occurrence
V Shouldered jar and quasi-shouldered jar
a Same as type IV a and b, without handles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . L. P. to Dyn. 0
a (1) True-shouldered jar, larger forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dyn. I to Myc.
a (2) True-shouldered jar, miniature and small. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dyn. I to Myc.
a Extra. Large, round-shouldered wine-jar, pottery form. . . . . . . . . . . . Khas. to Dyn. III
b (1) Truncated ovoid or barrel-shaped jar, large. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dyn. I to Dyn. III
b (2) Truncated ovoid or barrel-shaped jar, small. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dyn. I to Dyn. V
c (1) Broad-shouldered jar, high form. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dyn. I to Dyn. V
c (2) Broad-shouldered jar, squat form. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dyn. I to Dyn. V
d Jar with flaring foot, hes-vase form. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D y n . I to D y n . III
e Type IV e, without the handles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dyn. IIIto Myc.
VI Swelling vertical jar with two knob handles
a Tall slender modification of type II c. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . M. P.
b Tall form. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dyn. 0 to Dyn. I
c Squat form.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dyn. 0 to Dyn. I
VII Wavy-handled jar
a Two ledge handles, often pierced horizontally. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dyn. 0 to Dyn. I
b Continuous wavy ledge, often pierced horizontally. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dyn. I
VIII Pointed jar
a Miniature copies of pottery form with roll-rim. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dyn. 0 to Dyn. I
b Short neck, convex base. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Myc.
c No neck or rim, wavy body. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Myc.
d Neck with tapering base, pottery form. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Myc. to Dyn. VI
IX Round-bottomed saucers and bowls, plain rims
a Clumsy saucers and cups. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . M. P. to Myc.
a (1) Shallow plates and dished table tops. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dyn. I to Dyn. III
a (2) Flat table tops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dyn. IIIto Dyn. IV
b Round-bottomed bowls. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dyn. I to Dyn. I V
X Flat-bottomed saucers and bowls
a Plain rims, clumsy forms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . L. P. to Dyn. IV
a (1) Fine forms, flaring plain rim or slightly contracted . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dyn. 0 to Myc.
a (2) Fine “conical” forms. .........................................
Small slender “conical cup” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Dyn. 0 to Dyn. II
Khas. to Myc.
a (3)
b (1) Flaring form, with concave sides. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dyn. I to Dyn. III
b (2) Contracted mouth, concave body. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dyn. I
b (3) Cup with internal ledge. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dyn. I
b (4) Shallow flaring form with cup hollow. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dyn. IIIto Myc.
c Contracted mouth, internal rim. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Zer to Dyn. V
d High bowl-jars with internal rim. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Khas. to Dyn. V
e (1) Cups with contracted mouth and spout. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dyn. I to Dyn. III
e (2) Open cups with spout. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dyn. I to Myc.
e (3) Bowl-jar with spout. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dyn. III to Myc.
XI Bowls and cups with external rims (isolated examples in PD)
a (1) Bowls with ledge rim. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dyn. I
a (2) Deep bowls with external roll-rim. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dyn. II
a (3) Basin, contracted mouth, rim . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dyn. III
a (4) Basin, contracted mouth, rim, short tubular spout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Khas. to Dyn. III
b (1) Bowl with grooved rim, cord often in relief. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dyn. I to Dyn. III
b (2) Bowl, upright recurved rim (relief-cord, Khas.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Khas. to Dyn. V
b (3) Same as b (2), with round bottom.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dyn. III to Myc.
b (4) Flaring recurved rim, flat bottom. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Myc.
b (5) Same as b (4), with round bottom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sneferuw to Dyn. V
b (6) Exaggerated flaring rim, round bottom, spout. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Myc. to Dyn. VI
c (1) Small cup, with grooved rim, contracted mouth. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dyn. I to Dyn. II
c (2) Small cup, with band-rim on contracted mouth. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Khas. to Dyn. V
XII Tables and table tops
a Dish-topped tables (see also type IX a (2)). ...................... Dyn. I to Dyn. III
b Flat-topped tables (see also type IX a (3)) ...................... Khas. to Dyn. VI.
Thus eleven of the twelve types are represented in Dynasty I, and forty of the seventy mentionable
sub-types. Of the forty sub-types of Dynasty I.
14% MYCERINUS
14 are not found after that time, or only in sporadic examples;
2 persisted to DynastyIi;
1 persisted to Khasekhemuwy;
8 persisted to Dynasty 111;
16 persisted to Mycerinus or later.
__
40
Of the thirty sub-types which do not occur in Dynasty I,

6 ceased in the Predynastic Period or in Dynasty 0;
1 appears only in Dynasty 11;
9 were first noted in the tomb of Khasekhemuwy;
7 were first noted in Dynasty 111;
1 was first noted in the time of Sneferuw;
1 was first noted in Dynasty IV;
5 were first noted in the Mycerinus collection, but may have been earlier.
__
30
These facts show clearly the dependence of all the later stone vessels on the forms of Dynasty I and in
particular on those established in or before the reign of Zer, third king of the dynasty. The chief modi-
fications of the forms of Dynasty I were introduced in the reign of Khasekhemuwy and in Dynasty 111.
The great modification of the early forms seems to have taken place in the reign of Khasekhemuwy,
and all the vessels of Dynasties IIIand IV are dominated by the special forms of Khasekhemuwy.
(1) Type 1-I. Cylindrical Jar

In Dynasty I the cylindrical jar, the descendant of predynastic type I, is second only to the flat-
bottomed bowls in numbers. Most of the early examples have a cord in relief around the shaft a little
below the prominent rim. Among the earlier tombs, a good many of these jars have straight vertical
sides and are distinctly wide in form; but later the more slender form with slightly concave sides pre-
dominates, and it is this concave form which persists into Dynasties II-IV. Examples occur in prac-
tically every tomb of Dynasty I :
(1) Reisner, Naga-’d-Dêr I , p. 101.
(2) De Morgan, Tombeau royale, p. 180 (Fig. 26, Nos. 1, 2).
(3) Petrie, R. T. 11, Pls. XLVI-LIII (Fig. 26, Nos. 3-12).
(4) Petrie, Abydos I , Pls. XLII-XLVII, Cemetery M.
(5) Petrie, Gixeh and Rifeh, Pls. VA-VD.
(6) MacIver, El-Amrah, pp. 25 ff.
(7) Petrie, Tarkhan
I and II.
(8) Junker, Turah.
It is noteworthy that no example of this type was found a t Hierakonpolis.
(2) Type 1-III. Spheroidal Jar with Horizontal Handles

of Dynasty I is the same as predynastic type III except that it occurs in two forms, (a) with
Type III
round bottom and (b) with flat bottom, often with a ring base or a disc base. Both forms are also
represented in miniature examples. The large examples occur exclusively in royal tombs, or a t Hiera-
konpolis.
Type Ia, with round bottom:
1-II
(1) De Morgan, Tombeau royale, Fig. 655 (Fig. 27, No. 1), five examples in hard stones altered by heat;
Fig. 582, granite, unfinished.
(2) Quibell and Green, Hierakonpolis, Pl. XXX, 1 and 2, porphyry, unfinished; Pl.XXXVII, syenite.
(3) Petrie, R. T. II, Pl. XLIX, 129 (Fig. 27, No. 2), porphyry, tomb T (Den = Wdy-mw) and Q, three ex-
amples; 130, porphyry, tomb U (Mersekha = Semerkhet); 131 (Fig. 27, No. 3), syenite, tombO
(Zer); 132, syenite, tomb U (Mersekha = Semerkhet); Pl.LIII D, 455 (Fig. 27, No. 4), breccia, tomb Y
(Merneit).
4
Figure26
E
Dyn.IStoeVsl,TypeI.Scal¼
A
n
[143]
144 MYCERINUS
Type b, with flat bottom:
1-III
(4) De Morgan, Tombeau royale, Fig. 657 (Fig. 27, No. 5), 664, and 656 (Fig. 27, No. 6), all of porphyry,
(5) Quibell and Green, Hierakonpolis, PI. XLVIII a, two diorite, one porphyry, and one serpentine, from
main deposit.
Cf. also Petrie, R. T. II,Pl. XLVII B, 72 and LI A, 203.
FIGURE ¼
27. TYPE1-III. SCALE
(3) Type I-IV. Swelling or Shouldered Jar with Horizontal Handles

I n Dynasty I the old predynastic type of barrel-shaped jar with horizontal handles (type PD-IV a)
has practically disappeared. One true example (Fig. 28, No. 1)was found in the tomb of Den (Wdy-mw)
and a decorated ceremonial example in the tomb of Menes (Fig. 28, No. 2 ) . Several examples have been
recorded of the later form with the swelling above the middle and several of the true shouldered type.
But these few examples are all from the royal tombs or from the Hierakonpolis temple. They have not
been found in private graves of Dynasty I. Functionally, the type PD-IV was probably replaced in
private graves by types 1-Iand1-VI. It may be noted that it was the true shouldered jar which
persisted into Dynasties IIand I I I .
Type 1-IV a (1) , the barrel-shaped jar with two handles, disc base :
(1) Petrie, R. T. II,P l . XLVIII B, 125, porphyry, tomb T (Den = Wdy-mw) (Fig. 28, No. 1).
(2) De Morgan, Tombeau royale, Fig. 659, pottery imitation; Fig. 665, pink limestone, decorated fat example.
Type 1-IV b (1), the jar with swelling above the middle:
(3) Petrie, R. T. I I , PI. LI A, 204, 205 (Fig,.28, No. 2), serpentine, from tomb Y (Merneit); PI. XLVIII B,
122 (Fig. 28, No. 3), 123, 124, 126, porphyry, from tomb T (Den = Wdy-mw).
(4) Quibell and Green, Hierakonpolis
I, Pl. XXXIII, 2 ,3 ,6 ; PI. XVII, serpentine, handles in form of animal-
head.
Type 1-IV c, broad form (see type1-III b):
( 5 ) Petrie, R. T. II,PI. XLVII B, 72 (Fig. 28, No. 4), basalt, from tomb X (Azab = Andy-ib); Pl. LI A,
203, serpentine, from tomb O (Zer).
Type 1-IV d, shouldered form:
(6) Petrie, R. T. II, Pl.
XLVIII B, 127 (Fig. 28, No. 5), porphyry, from tomb T (Den = Wdy-mw).
STONE VESSELS 145
(4) Type I-V. Bulging or Shouldered Jar without Handles

The shouldered jar and the bulging jar without handles are not necessarily connected with the older
handled forms, but are probably derived from pottery forms of Dynasty I. Even the early examples do
not have the disc base and are distinguished by the roll-rim, a detail natural to pottery, around the nar-
row mouth. The earliest examples are from Cem. B a t Abydos and the tomb of Menes. A few are
28. DYN.I. STONE

FIGURE VESSELS,TYPES
IV, V. SCALE ¼
recorded from the royal tombs of Abydos and a small number from the private graves a t Naga-’d-Dêr
and Tarkhan. But none was found in Cem. M a t Abydos, or in our Dynasty I graves, while the only
examples from Turah were from an unrecorded grave. The shoulder jar is designated type 1-V a.
Type 1-V a (1), true shoulder jar: Fig. 28, No. 6.
(1)Petrie,R.T.II, Pl. LI E, 278, 283 (Fig. 28, No. 6), and 284, marble, from Cem. B (two) and tomb T
(Den = Wdy-mw), and three or four other fragments may be from similar jars.
146 MYCERINUS
Type 1-V a (3), true shoulder jar, miniature:
(2) De Morgan, Tombeau royale, Fig. 661, 662, “geobertite.”
(3) Petrie, R. T. II, Pl.
LI E, 281 (Fig. 28, No. 7), marble, from 0 2, 0, T, W, eleven examples, also
alabaster, serpentine, and colored limestone; Pl. LI H, 329, alabaster, from tomb 0 (Zer).
(4) Petrie, Gizeh and Rifeh, Pl. V D, 67, magnesite, from Giza tomb (time of Zer).
A small type of shoulder jar was developed for private graves and rapidly became traditional, so
that it took on ruder forms, truncated ovoid or barrel-shaped. These small crude forms became espe-
cially common in Dynasty II and are here designated type 1-V b.
Type 1-V b (1), truncated ovoid or barrel-shaped jar, large:
(5) Petrie, R. T. I I , Pl. LI H, 330, 333, 334 (Fig. 28, No. 8), alabaster, from tomb Y (Merneit); Pl. LI E,
282, marble, from tomb T (Den).
(6) Daressy, Annales V I , p. 104, from Giza tomb of the time of Zet; this is clearly a copy of the pottery
form type I X of Naga-’d-Dêr I and type 94 of Tarkhan.
Type 1-V b (2), truncated ovoid or barrel-shaped jar, small:
(7) Reisner, Naga-’d-Dêr I , p. 105, type III b 1, 3, 4, 7, type IV 2, and V 2.
(8) Petrie and Wainwright, Tarkhan I , Pl. XLIII and XLIV, type 77, nine to eleven examples of Dynasty I;
type 78, four or five examples of Dynasty I ; Mr. Wainwright dates the whole collection, I understand,
to Dynasty I, but I am convinced that the greater part of the examples are later.
Another new type of shouldered jar which belongs to Dynasty I, but is more common later, is the
squat jar with a narrow rimmed mouth and wide shoulders often flat on top. The form is a difficult one
for stone, owing to the narrow mouth, and it is frequently made in two pieces. Probably the form is
derived from pottery prototypes.¹ A few examples which may be dated as early as Dynasty I are grouped
below as type 1-V c.
Type
1-V wide-shouldered form, higher form:
c (1),
(9) Petrie, R.T.II,Pl. LI E, 285 (Fig. 28, No. 9), marble, from tomb Q (Qa).
(10) Petrie and Wainwright, Tarkhan I , Pl. XLIV, type 81 f, 81 h, 81 n, three examples of Dynasty I; see
note under (8) above.
Type 1-V c (2), wide-shouldered form, squat form:
(11) Petrie and Wainwright, Tarkhan I , Pl. XLIV, type 81 t, one example of Dynasty I, see (8) above.
(12) Daressy, Annales V I , p. 104, time of Zet (Fig. 28, No. 10).
A third type of shouldered jar introduced in Dynasty I is that with concave stem and flaring foot.
The form is much more frequent in pottery than in stone, but in both materials was probably derived
from a copper prototype. This is really the early form of the hes-jar and is designated type 1-V d.
Type 1-V d, shoulder jar with concave lower part and flaring foot:
(13) Daressy, Annales V I , p. 104, time of Zet.
(14) Petrie and Wainwright, Tarkhan I , Pl. XXXVIII, type 31, graves 176 and 178; Tarkhan 11, grave 1973;
all of late Dynasty I or early Dynasty 11. Pl. XXVII, type 90 (Fig. 28, No. 11).
( 5 ) Type I-VI. Swelling J a r with Two Knob Handles

The swelling jar with two knob handles pierced horizontally has been noted above under type PD-
VI as occurring in Dynasty 0. It is, however, more frequent in Dynasty I, when it was made in two
variations, (a) the slender tall form of type PD-VI, and (b) a fat squat form. The squat form appears
to present about the same relation to the spheroidal jar (PD-III) as the tall jar shows to the barrel-
shaped handled jar (PD-IV b). Neither variation is recorded by Professor Petrie from the royal tombs
and both seem therefore to have been cheap forms used only for private persons. Amelineau gives one
example “from Om el-Ga’ab,” but does not deign any further information.
Type 1-VI b, tall form with knob handles:
(1) Reisner, Naga-’d-Dêr I , p. 106, type XI, alabaster.
(2) Petrie and Wainwright, Tarkhan I , Pl. XLIII, type 71, about nine examples of Dynasty I, alabaster
(Fig. 29, No. 1).
(3) Hearst Expedition, mss. notes on El-Ahaiwah, graves 26, 61, and 226, Dynasty 0-I, alabaster.
(4) Harvard-Boston Expedition, Fisher’s mss. notes on Zawiat-el-Aryan, graves 113, 116, and 136 (Fig. 29,
No. 2), alabaster, Dynasty I.
¹Cf.Reisner, Naga-’d-DêrI, p. 95, types IX, XI-XIV.
STONE VESSELS 147
(5) Harvard-Boston Expedition, mss. notes on Mesa’eed, graves 229 and 679, alabaster, Dynasty 0-I.
(6) Junker, Turah, graves 72, 95, 184, alabaster, Dynasty I ; another example said to be of volcanic ash is
not discoverable in the tomb list.
(7) Firth, Nub. Arch. Sur. 1908-09,grave 89:77, alabaster; grave 99:72, small, serpentine (?).
(8) Amelineau, Fouilles d’Abydos 1895-96, Pl. XXII.
Type 1-VI c, squat form:
(9) Petrie nhd Quibell, Naqada, Pl. IX, form S 56, no provenience.
(10) Petrie, Abydos I, Pl. XLV, tomb M 16, alabaster.
(11) Petrie and Wainwright, T a r k h a nI, Pl. X L I I I , types 72, 73, seven examples (Fig. 29, No. 3).
(12) Harvard-Boston Expedition, Fisher’s rnss. notes on Zawiat-el-Aryan, grave 103, alabaster.
(13) Junker, Turah, graves 179 (two examples), and 74, all of alabaster.
(6) Type1-VII. Wavy-Handled Jar

The wavy-handled stone jars of Dynasty I are of two forms, ( a ) shouldered form with two ledge
handles of wavy outline, being the same as PD-VII, and ( b ) tall jar with a continuous wavy ledge
29. DYN.I. STONEVESSELS,TYPES

FIGURE VI, VII, VIII. SCALE ¼
around the upper part. The ledges of both are often pierced vertically with two pairs of holes. The
form with two wavy handles was copied, as stated above, from the late ledge-handled pottery jar
(Petrie’s type W 41). Associated with this type W 41, and also with still later pottery, occurs a taller
pottery jar with a continuous wavy ledge or ridge around the swelling of the slight shoulder (Petrie’s
type W 51-62). This second pottery jar, W 51, also was copied in Dynasty I in stone and is here des-
ignated type 1-VI1 b.
The known occurrences of this jar constitute a curious record. No example was found in Cem. M
at Abydos, in our Dynasty I tombs at El-Ahaiwah, Ballâs, Naga-’d-Dêr, Mesa’eed, Naga-’l-Hai, and
Zawiat-el-Aryan, in Junker’s cemetery at Turah, or in the subsidiary tombs of the Giza mastaba of
the time of Zet. But at Tarkhan six examples were found, most of them, it is true, broken and incom-
plete. At Abydos, the only examples were five from the tombs of Merneit and Den. The records of the
royal tombs are, however, far from complete, during Amelineau’swork, and no conclusion can be drawn
from the curious facts except that the wavy-handled jar is certainly a vessel of ceremonial ostentation
not usually obtainable by private persons.
Type 1-VI1 a, jar with two wavy ledge handles:
(1)Petrie,R.T.II, Pl. A, 206 (Fig. 29, No. 5 ) , serpentine; Pl. LII, 355 (Fig. 29, No. 6), alabaster; Pl. LIII F,
483 (Fig. 29, No. 4), grey limestone; all from tomb Y (Merneit); another example, No. 483, from tomb
T (Den).
(2) Daressy, Annales VI, p. 104, from the Giza tomb of the time of Zet.
148 MYCERINUS
(3) Quibell and Green, Hierakonpolis I, PI. XXXIII, Nos. 4 and 5, alabaster, from main deposit.
(4) Petrie and Wainwright, Tarkhan I, Pl. XXXIX, type 50, from graves 53, 1023; Tarkhan 11, graves 1804
and 1933.
Type 1-VI1 b, jar with continuous wavy ridge:
(5) Petrie, R. T . II,Pl. X L V I I B, 76 (Fig. 29, No. 7), basalt, from Y 5 (subsidiary to Merneit); Pl.
LII, 353
(Fig. 29, No. 8), alabaster, tomb Y (Merneit).
(6) Petrie and Wainwright, Tarkhan I, Pl. XXXIX, 51, graves 36, 315, 1023.
(7) Type I-VIII. Jar with Pointed Base

The jar with pointed base is the same as that described as PD-VIII and was derived, as already stated,
from a pottery form. Only a few examples have been found, and the type was not widely distributed.
Type 1-VI11 a, jar with pointed base:
(1) Daressy, Annales V I , p. 104, from the Giza tomb of the time of Zet (pottery ?).
(2) Harvard-Boston Expedition, rnss. notes on Mesa’eed, grave 948, Dynasty I (Fig. 29, No. 9).
( 8 ) Type 1-IX.
Round-Bottomed Dishes and Bowls
Dishes, bowls, and cups are especially numerous in Dynasty I, but the round-bottomed forms are
not common. They vary from flattish plates to shallow bowls, never very deep in proportion to the
diameter. The rim is always plain and usually tapering to a blunt edge. The platters were surely
functional tables and may have been mounted on low bases of the same or of a different material. In
view of the deeply dished forms of the pottery tables, even the deeper, but still shallow, dishes may have
served the same purpose as the platters. The materials recorded are basalt, volcanic ash, crystal, por-
phyry, limestone, and alabaster.
Type 1-IX a (1), shallow platters and dishes, round bottom:
(1) Petrie, R. T . 11, Pl. XLVI, 1-6, crystal, from tombs T (Den = Wdy-mw), U (Semerkhet), Q (Qa),
six
examples.
XLVII A, 66, basalt, tomb Q (Qa).
Pl.
XLVIII,
Pl. 84-86, porphyry or quartzite, tombs Z (Zet), T (Den).
Pl.
XLIX A, 137, 138 (Fig. 30, No. 1), 142, 143 (Fig. 30, No. 3), tombs Y (Merneit), U (Semerkhet),
Q(Qa), five examples.
PI. F,
LI 289-294, alabaster, tombs B, O(Zer),
(Zet),
Z
Y (Merneit), six examples.
LIII
Pl. B, 399-402, fine limestone, tombs Q (Qa)
and Z (Zet), four examples.
LIII
Pl. G, 485, 486, No. 400 = (Fig. 30, No. 2), limestone, tomb Q (Qa).
(2) Petrie, Gizeh and Rifeh, Pl. V C, 34, alabaster, time of Zet.
(3) Junker, Turah, graves 372, 338, 549.
(4) Reisner, Naga-’d-Dêr
I, p. 111, type XXVI a, 9.
( 5 ) Petrie and Wainwright, Tarkhan I, Pl. XXXII, types 6, 7, six examples, four alabaster, one slate, one
pink limestone; Tarkhan 11, graves 1957, 2050.
Type 1-IX b, bowls, round bottom:
(6) Petrie, R. T . II,Pl. LI F, 311, LIII B, 416, 417, LIII G, 492 - one limestone from tomb Q(Qa), one
limestone from grave Q 21, and one dolomite marble, one breccia, one buff limestone from tomb U
(Semerkhet) .
(9) Type I-X. Flat-Bottomed Dishes and Bowls
The flat-bottomed dishes and bowls form the most characteristic feature of the corpus of early
dynastic stone vessels and are even more numerous than the cylindrical jars. The new fine forms came
in during Dynasty 0 as straight-sided bowls with plain rims or mouths. The forms with internal rim
and those with sharply contracted mouth were probably introduced after the time of Menes, because
no example of either is recorded from the tomb of Menes. But several bowls with gently contracted
mouth are noted from that tomb. By the time of Zer, the third king, however, the forms with internal
rim and contracted mouth had become common, and combinations of these details gave rise to a large
number of forms :
(A) Plain rim, (1) with flaring mouth, and (x) straight sides;),
or (y) convex sides;( type X a (1)
or (z) concave sides; type X b (1)
(2) with contracted mouth and (x) straight sides;
}
or (y) convex sides; t y p e X a ( 2 )
or (z) concave sides; type X b (2)
Figure30
w
E
DYN.IStoneVsl,TypeIX,c.Sale¼
n
[149]
150 MYCERINUS
(B) Internal rim, sharp or rounded, with contracted mouth, and (x) straight sides; type X c.
(C) External rim, see type XI.

or (y) convex sides; }
These variations are multiplied by differences in the proportions, in the convexity of the sides, and in
the exactness of the workmanship of the individual examples.
The examples are so numerous that I give first of all the general references:
Type 1-X a and c, bowls, with flat bottom, with both plain and internal rim.
(1) De Morgan, Tombeau royale, pp. 175-179 - all plain rims (Fig. 30, Nos. 7-9).
(2) Petrie, R. T.II, Pls. XLVI-LIII (Fig. 30, Nos. 4-6, 10-19).
(3) Petrie, Gizeh and Rifeh, Pls. V A-D.
(4) Daressy, Annales V I , p. 104.
I, pp. 107-111.
(6) Petrie, Abydos I , Pls. XLII-XLVII, Cem. M; also R. T. II,Pl. X X X I I I .
(7) MacIver, El-Amrah, pp. 25 ff.
(8) Petrie and Wainwright, T a r k h a nI a n d II, dating often incorrect.
(9) Junker, Turah.
(10) Quihell, Cat. gén., Archaic Objects, Nos. 11896-1 1935.
31. DYN.I. STONE

FIGURE TYPEX b, X e. SCALE ¼
VESSELS,
The general outlines of practically all these stone bowls are found in pottery forms; but the details,
such as the sharply marked internal rim and the circular depression in the bottom, are peculiar to stone
vessels, the results of technical processes.
Particular attention is to be directed to a deep bowl with concave sides, flaring mouth, and plain rim,
derived apparently from older pottery forms.¹
Type 1-X b (1), flaring, with plain rim and concave sides:
(11) De Morgan, Tombeau royale, Fig. 615, crystal.
(12) Petrie, R. T. 11, Nos. 51, 52 (Fig. 31, No. 2), 140, 233, 234 (Fig. 31, No. 1),
235, 236, 302, 303, 304,
404,
405, 406, 459, 460; basalt (2), volcanic ash (1), marble ( 5 ) , alabaster (3), fine limestone (3), grey
limestone (2); from Cem.B(1), tombs O(7), Z(3), Y (3), U (1), X (1).
Abydos I, Pl.
IX, 3, alabaster (0)(Fig. 31, No. 4).
See
¹ Professor Petrie’s types R 26, N 30,C 14, C 24-40, C 44, R 17, B 16-19.
STONE VESSELS 151
V D, 68, 72, 76, porphyry, serpentine, and syenite, time of Zet.
(13) Petrie, Gizeh and Rifeh, Pl.
(14) Petrie, R. T. II,
Pl.
XXXIII, one with concave-convex sides from grave M 1, porphyry.
Abydos I, PI. XLIV, from grave M 17, breccia (Fig. 31, No. 3).
The last example cited appears to form the transition to a modification of this type, which has a con-
tracted mouth. Two of the examples with contracted mouth occurred in this very grave M 1.
T y p e 1-Xb (2), with concave-convex sides and contracted mouth:
(15) Petrie, R. T. II,
Pl.
XXXIII, two of alabaster, from M 1; Abydos
I, Pls. XLIV and XLVII, three
examples, one breccia and two alabaster from Cem. M (Fig. 31, Nos. 5, 6).
(16) Petrie, R. T. 11, No. 488, common limestone, from tomb Z.
Both these forms appear natural to the technique of copper vessels and type X b (1) is well known
in copper as early as Dynasty 11. A third form with a ledge inside and an angle outside, also like a
copper form, may be the ancestor of the flaring bowl with cup hollow which occurs in Dynasty III.
T y p e 1-Xb (3), cup with interior ledge:
(17) Petrie, R. T. II,Pl. LI F, 305 (Fig. 31, No. 7), alabaster, from tomb O(Zer).
The small bowls or cups with open spout form an unusual but interesting group.
Type l-X e (1), small bowl with sharply Contracted mouth and open spout:
(18) Petrie, R. T. 11, No. 265 (Fig. 31, No. 8), marble, from tomb T (Den).
T y p e 1-X e (2), cups with slightly contracted mouth and open spout:
(19) Petrie, Abydos I,PI.XLVIII, grave M 24, pink marble (Fig. 31, No. 9).
(20) Junker, Turah, grave 372, alabaster.
(21) Petrie and Wainwright, Turkhan I , type 25 c, grave 126.
(10) Type 1-XI. Bowls with External Rim

Bowls with external rim were also new forms, introduced in Dynasty I. The forms present two
sub-types, (a) flaring bowls with straight or slightly concave sides and ledge rim, and (b) cups and bowls
with hollow groove between rim and body. The small cups with contracted mouth and a band rim in the
top of the mouth are characteristic of Dynasty 111. I know of no certain example before that time.
The small magnesite cup registered in Professor Petrie’s Gixeh and Rifeh, Pl. V D, 91, came from a
((tombon the hill” (on p. 5 a) and is of Dynasty 111.
The bowls with ledge rim have been found only in Cem. B, in the tombs of Zer and Wdy-mw, and in
Cem. M a t Abydos. The form is clearly derived from the similar pottery bowls of the Late Predynastic
Period (Petrie’stypeL10)and Dynasty I.¹ The type begins and ends in Dynasty I, if the records can
be trusted.
Type
1-XI a (1) (x), with straight sides, ledge rim:
(1) Petrie, R. T. 11, No. 88 (Fig. 32, No. 1), red porphyry, from Cem. B; No. 53, basalt, from grave B 15;
No. 54, basalt, and No. 194, serpentine, both from tomb O(Zer); Pl. XXXIII, alabaster, from grave
M 1.
Type 1-XI a (1) (z), with concave sides, ledge rim:
(2) Petrie, R. T. I I , No. 403 (Fig. 32, No. Z), fine limestone, from tomb O(Zer); No. 140 (Fig. 32, No. 3),
volcanic ash, from tomb 0.
Type 1-XI a (1) (y), with convex sides, ledge rim:
(3) Petrie, R. T. 11, No. 412 (Fig. 32, No. 4), fine limestone, from tomb T (Den = Wdy-mw).
The cups and bowls with external rim and a hollow groove between rim and body were apparently
so formed to permit the tying on of a cover of cloth or parchment by means of a cord passing around
the groove. A number of examples have the cord represented in relief, as in the case of the cylindrical
jars, and one example shows as many as three turns of the cord. The sides are generally straight, and
the flat base is narrow. Two variations are found, (1) the large bowl, which afterwards developed into
the bowl with recurved rim, and (2) the small cup, which afterwards gave rise to the cup with low band
rim on the contracted mouth. There are two other minor variations, one a large basin with heavy rim
See
¹ Cem. M in Petrie, R. T.II.
152 MYCERINUS
and shallow groove (Petrie, R. T . 11, No. 71) and the other a rimless bowl with a very shallow broad
groove below the mouth, filled with four cards in relief.
Type 1-XI b (1), bowls with groove below external rim, large:
(4) Petrie, R. T. 11, No. 69 (Fig. 32, No. 5), basalt, from tomb 0 (Zer);
No. 70 (Fig. 32, No. 6), basalt, with cord, from tomb B 16;
No. 71 (Fig. 32, No. 7), basalt, heavy rim, from tomb Z (Zet);
No. 276, dolomite marble, from tomb Q (Qa);
No. 328, alabaster, triple cord, from tomb Y (Merneit);
No. 454, fine limestone, plain rim, quadruple cord, from tomb T (Den = Wdy-mw).
32. DYN.I. STONEVESSELS,TYPESXI

FIGURE AND XII. SCALE ¼
Type 1-XI c (1), cups with groove below external rim, small:
(5) Petrie, R. T. 11, No. 121, porphyry, from tomb U (Mersekha = Semerkhet);
No. 201 (Fig. 32, No. 8) serpentine, from tomb U (Semerkhet);
No. 275 (Fig. 32, No. 9), marble, cord, tomb Q (Qay’a);
No. 277, marble, from tombs 0 (Zer), T (Den), U (Semerkhet), 5 examples.
No. 279, marble, from tomb Q (Qay’a);
No. 280, marble, from tomb U (Semerkhet), O (Zer), and T (Den).
No. 453 (Fig. 32, No. 10), fine limestone, cord, from tomb T (Den = Wdy-mw).
(6) Petrie, Gizeh and Rifeh, Pl. V C-D, Nos. 53 (serpentine), 87 (limestone), 91 (magnesite), time of Zet.
(11) Type 1-XII.

Tables
I n the Late Predynastic Period, towards the end (Dynasty 0), a series of pebble-polished pottery
tables was made and these were of one piece, broad and high with dished top. The examples in stone
of Dynasty I also have a dished top and, although much lower than the pottery tables, are clearly
copied from the pottery form. Some of the stone examples are so low that the support is little more than
a disc base. Sometimes the stone examples were made in two pieces, and it is therefore possible that
the platters and shallow pans (type 1-IX a) were the tops of such tables. The flat-topped table is un-
known in Dynasty I and really belongs to Dynasty 111.
STONE VESSELS 153
Type 1-XI1 a, dish-topped tables:
(1) De Morgan, Tombeau royale, Figs. 679, 680, alabaster.
(2) Petrie, R. T.II, No. 413, fine limestone, from tombs Z
(Zet) and Y (Merneit), (Fig. 32, No. 11).
I, p. 111, type XXVI c (cf. XXVI a 9).
(C) STONEVESSELSOF DYNASTY

II
The tombs of seven of the eight kings of Dynasty I have been excavated and identified, but those of
only two kings of the equally l o n g D y n a s t y II. Unfortunately the published reports of the vessels
found during the first excavation of these two tombs by M. Amelineau are not very good, and Professor
Petrie was able to publish only such things as Amelineau overlooked. Altogether the reports, good and
bad, give thirty-five stone vessels from the tomb of Peribsen and four or five hundred from that of
Khasekhemuwy. Khasekhemuwy was without doubt the last king of Dynasty II; Peribsen was cer-
tainly not before the middle of the dynasty and may have been the immediate predeceseor of Khasek-
hemuwy. I n addition t o these two royal tombs, two private mastaba tombs have been reported, which
contained jar sealings with the Horus-name of Netery-muwy, a king of Dynasty II.¹The tomb de-
scribed by Professor Petrie was never completely excavated, but he gives excellent drawings of all the
stone forms. Of the “large quantities of stone bowls” found by Mr. Quibell in the Saqqarah tomb, only
one is represented.² Probably other tombs of the archaic cemetery reported by Mr. Quibell are also of
Dynasty 11, but the published material is insufficient to enable me to separate the tombs of Dynasty
from those of Dynasty III;
II and only a small part of the stone vessels found in these tombs are
represented. Of larger tombs, there remain the mastabas with corbelled chambers, which are reported
in Naga-’d-Dêr
I, which I dated on archaeological grounds to Dynasty 11. Among the smaller tombs
of Dynasty II, Ireckon the subordinate corbel-graves a t Naga-’d-Dêr, El-Amrah, and Turah, and many
of the graves reported in Tarlchan I . The authors of Tarlchan I date the whole of their material pre-
vious to Dynasty 11,but their classification of the pottery on which they depend appears to me contrary
to the evidence.
I n DynastyasII inDynastyI, a certain number of types are known only in royal tombs, the spheroi-
dal jar with handles (type 2-III), the shoulder jar with handles (type 2-IV), and the flat-topped table
(type 2-XI1 b). Taking all the vessels both from royal and private tombs, a comparison reveals the
fact that the vessels from the tomb of Peribsen and from the private tombs approximate in their forms
to those of Dynasty I, but the vessels from the tomb of Khasekhemuwy, the last king of Dynasty 11, are
like those from the great stairway mastabas of the time of Zoser and Sanekht of Dynasty 111. The
ceremonial-traditional character of the Khasekhemuwy group is strikingly shown by the rude alabaster
cylindrical jars.³ Thus the degeneration of the forms of Dynasty I practically reached its climax in the
reign of the last king of Dynasty II and became wide-spread during Dynasty 111. But associated with
the degenerate examples of the older forms in the tomb of Khasekhemuwy, nine new sub-types appear :
(1) Type 2-111 c, quasi-spheroidal jar with two handles, flat bottom, and strongly marked shoulders, rather
like type V c with’handles.
(2) Type 2-IV e, shoulder jar with wide flat rim, and two handles, a modification of type IV d.
(3) Type 2-Va extra, large wine jar (pottery form).
(4) Type 2-X a (3), “conical cups” derived from the “conical” bowls of Dynasty I.
(5) Type 2-X d, bowl jar, flat bottom, internal rim, derived from the deep bowls with internal rim of Dy-
nasty I, but with characteristic upright sides.
(6) Type 2-XI a (4), deep basin with short tubular spout, external rim, flat base.
(7) Type 2-XI b (2), bowl, flat bottom, upright recurved rim, cord in relief in hollow of rim, derived from
type XI b (1), with grooved rim.
(8) Type 2-XI c (2), small cup with band rim on contracted mouth, derived from the small cup with grooved
rim, type XI c (1).
(9) Type 2-XI1 b, flat-topped tables.
Quibell,
¹ Archaic Tombs, No. 2302, and Petrie, Gizeh and Rifeh, p. 7.
The
² forms of these two tombs prove that the development of the burial place in the northland followed a different course from
that in the south. At the time when the south was using the corbelled mud-brick chamber with a stairway from the valley side, the
north was using a chamber roofed with stone slabs and later a chamber cut in the rock, both approached by a stairway from the
valley side. The stairway from the north developed first in the north, and the ordinary stairway type of Dynasty III occurs in both
north and south.
³Amelineau,
Fouilles I-III.
d’Abydos
1896-97,
Pls.
154 MYCERINUS
These new forms together with the degenerate forms of type I, and V b, and the old forms of type V a,
V c, IX, and X, were passed on to Dynasty 111. This fact is again in accordance with the principle laid
down in Naga-’d-Dêr
I, p. 11, that the main thread of development lies in the great tombs, and especially
in the royal tombs. New features and forms introduced in a royal tomb would not normally appear in
private tombs until the succeeding generation.
The vessels from the tomb of Peribsen (marked with ** in the following lists), although nearer those
of Dynasty I than are the vessels of the private tombs, are noticeably less accurate in form and less well
33. DYN.11. TYPEI A-C.

FIGURE SCALE ¼
finished than the earlier vessels. They, as well as the vessels of Khasekhemuwy, exhibit a number of
hard stones; but it is to be noted that the materials used in the Khasekhemuwy vessels (marked with *
in the following lists) include a proportion of diorite as do the private tombs of Dynasty 111. I n the
private tombs of Dynasty 11,alabaster predominates and a t Naga-’d-Dêr is the material of 64 per cent
of all vessels and a t Tarkhan of even more.
I n DynastyII a s i n Dynasty I , the cylindrical jar is one of the most common forms. The sides of
the well-made jars are almost always slightly concave. Examples still occur with cord or ridge around
the neck, but the majority are plain forms, often quite rude and sometimes mere dummies. The tomb
of Peribsen yielded, with one exception, only the ruder forms; that of Khasekhemuwy ten good jars,
four of them with cord or ridge, and seventy-eight poor jars, most of them dummies. The forms with
cord persisted into Dynasty III, as will be shown, but the traditional-ceremonial character of the type
was already manifest in Dynasty 11. The examples are almost exclusively of alabaster.
Type 2-1 a, with cord:
I, p. 101, type I a, twenty-one examples (eighteen of alabaster).
(2) Petrie and Wainwright, Tarkhan I , five to ten examples of types 53-55, alabaster.
*(3) Amelineau, Fouilles d’Abydos1896-97, PI. X, 14 (Fig. 33, No. 1) and XI 2, two of blue-veined marble,
Khasekhemuwy.
Type 2-1 b, with ridge:
(4) Reisner, Naga-’d-Dêr I , p. 101, type I b, five examples of alabaster.
(5) Petrie and Wainwright, Tarkhan I , one example of type 60.
(6) Petrie, Gizeh and Rifeh, Pl. VI B, 95 (Fig. 33, No. 3).
*(7) Amelineau, Fouilles d’Abydos 1896-97, PI. IV, 15 (Fig. 33, No. 2) and XV, 4, two of alabaster, Khasek-
hemuwy.
Type 2-1 c, without cord or ridge, many dummies:
**(8) Petrie, R. T.II, PI. XLVII 49, squat, well-made crystal jar, Peribsen.
**(9) Amelineau, Fouilles d’Abydos
1897-98, Pl.
XLIX, 5-9, five dummies of alabaster, Peribsen.
STONE VESSELS 155
(10) Reisner, I, p. 101, types I c-h, forty examples (thirty-nine of alabaster; one of volcanic ash).
Naga-'d-Dêr
(11) Petrie, Gizeh and Rifeh, Pl. VI B, tomb dated to Netery-muw, but never properly excavated (possibly
later).
(12) Petrie and Wainwright, Tarkhan I, thirty-seven to forty examples of types 60-64, alabaster (some
dummies).
*(13) Petrie, Abydos X, 22-35, fourteen dummies of alabaster, Khasekhemuwy (Fig. 33, Nos. 4, 5, 6).
Pl.
I,
*(14) Amelineau, Fouilles d'Abydos, 1896-97, Pls. I and II, sixty-four examples of alabaster, mostly dummies;
Pl. IV, 19, Pl. V, 14, Pl. VI, 2+ 8, Pl. XI, 19, Pl. XV, 1, Pl. XVI, 4, six well-made examples (four
of alabaster; two of marble) ; tomb of Khasekhemuwy.
(1) Type 2-III. Spheroidal Jar with Handles

The spheroidal jar with handles in Dynasty II has been found only in royal tombs. The round-
bottomed form of the Predynastic Period occurs and also the flat-bottomed form introduced in Dy-
nasty I. A third form appears in the tomb of Khasekhemuwy, the quasi-spheroidal jar with high
shoulder, which became common in Dynasty III and in the Mycerinus collection. The material is, as
heretofore, of some hard stone.
Type2-III a, spheroidal jar with round bottom:
**(1)Amelineau, Fouilles d'Abydos, 1897-98, Pl. XLIX, 14, porphyry, tomb ,of Peribsen (Fig. 34, No. 1).
*(2) Amelineau, Fouilles d'Abydos 1896-97, Pl. XIV, 3, porphyry (or similar stone).
Type 2-111 b, spheroidal jar with flat bottom:
*(3) Amelineau,Fouilles d'Abydos 1896-97, Pl. XIV, 17, 18, two examples of porphyry (Fig. 34, No. 2).
Type 2-111 c, quasi-spheroidal jar with flat bottom and high shoulder.
*(4) Amelineau, Fouilles d'Abydos 1896-97, Pl. X , 15, marble; Pl. XII, 19 (Fig. 34, No. 3), breccia, with
unpierced handles; Pl. XIV, 15 and 20 (Fig. 34, No. 4), both porphyry; total of four jars, tomb of
Khasekhemuwy.
( 2 ) Type 2-IV. Shoulder Jar with Two Horizontal Handles

Only two examples of shoulder jars with handles have been recorded from Dynasty 11. Both of
these are from the tomb of Khasekhemuwy and the form, like type 2-III, appears to have been used
only in royal tombs. Probably it was merely an expensive form obtainable only by the very wealthy.
One of these jars is of the old type 1-IV b without the disc base. The other is of a new form closely
related to type 1-IV d, but taller and again without the disc base. This new form, type 2-IV e, con-
tinued to be made throughout Dynasty III and appears in numbers in the Mycerinus collection. I n
this particular, as in so many others, the styles of the private tombs of Dynasty III seem to have been
set by the last king of Dynasty 11.
Type 2-IV b (2), two-handled jar with swelling above the middle = type 1-IV b.
*(1) Amtslineau, Fouilles d'Abydos 1896-97, Pl. XIV, 21, porphyry, Khasekhemuwy (Fig. 34, No. 5).
Type 2-IV e, tall shoulder jar with two handles.
*(2) Amelineau, Fouilles d'Abydos 1896-97, Pl. XVI 2, alabaster, Khasekhemuwy (Fig. 34, No. 6).
(3) Type 2-V. Bulging or Shouldered Jar

In regard to the shouldered jars, the tomb of Peribsen fails entirely, but that of Khasekhemuwy pre-
sents a satisfactory number of examples. Especial attention must be called to the copies in alabaster of
the large wine jars, both of plain form and of that with cord net in relief. At first view these forms might
seem to constitute a bond with Dynasty I because of the fragments found by Amelineau (see below),
but the other known examples are:
(a) the jar with net in relief found a t Saqqara, Quibell, Tomb of Hesy, Pl. XXVII; and
(b) the plain jar found by Quibell at Ballâs, Petrie and Quibell, Naqada, PI. XVI S, 160, in tomb B 567,
with an enormous mass of fragments of stone vessels.
The Hesy tomb is certainly close to the end of Dynasty III and the Ballâs tomb, or rather the deposit,
is also probably of Dynasty 111.
Type 2-V extra, tall wine jars:
*(1) Amelineau, Fouilles d'Abydos 1896-97, Pl. XV, 2, 3, one perfect example of the plain form and nine
others; p. 245, one example with cord net in relief; all of alabaster, tomb of Khasekhemuwy.
156 MYCERINUS
Besides the large wine jars of Khasekhemuwy, both that tomb and the private tombs show a number
of small to medium-sized jars of shoulder shape and of the barrel or truncated ovoid shape. I n particu-
lar, the small barrel-shaped or truncated ovoid variation has become very common, and many of them
are practically dummies, proving the ceremonial-traditional character of this form. The material is
usually alabaster.
Type 2-V a (1), medium-sized jar, both fat and slender:
**(2) Amélineau, Fouilles d’Abydos, 1897-98, Pl. XLVIII, 1, jar of copper, not stone, but mentioned for com-
parison; tomb of Peribsen.
(3) Reisner, Naga-’d-Dêr I , p. 105, types II
and IX, three examples, alabaster.
*(4) Amélineau, Fouilles d’Abydos 1896-97, PI. VI, 13 (Fig. 34, No. 7), 19, 20 (Fig. 34, No. 9), 21 (Fig. 34,
No. 8), alabaster; PI. XI, 14, 23, blue-veined marble, Khasekhemuwy.
Type 2-V a (2), small shoulder jar:
(5) Reisner, Naga-’d-Dêr I , p. 105, types VI and VIII, eight examples of alabaster.
(6) Mace, Naga-’d-Dêr I I , Fig. 93.
(7) Petrie and Wainwright, Tarkhan I , PI. XLIII, type 77, seven to eleven examples, alabaster.
*(8) Amélineau, Fouilles d’Abydos 1896-97, PI. XIV, 10, 14, 19, three of porphyry; Pl. XVI, 6 (Fig. 34, No.
10), 9 (Fig. 34, No. 11), two of alabaster; total, six examples; tomb of Khasekhemuwy.
*(9) Petrie, Abydos I , PI. IX, 6, 7 (Fig. 34, Nos. 12, 13); R.T.II, PI. IX, 8, 9, 10, four of dolomite marble,
Khasekhemuwy .
Type 2-V b (2), truncated ovoid or barrel-shaped jar, small, often dummy:
(10) Reisner, Naga-’d-Dêr I , p. 105, types III b 2, 4-7, IV 1, V 2, 4, seventeenexamples, alabaster.
a 1-5, III
(11) Petrie and Wainwright, Tarkhan I , PI. XLIV, type 78, thirty-seven to forty examples, alabaster.
*(12) Amélineau,Fouilles d’Abydos 1896-97, Pl. XIV, 16, porphyry; PI. XX, 21 (Fig. 34, No. 14), alabaster;
tomb of Khasekhemuwy .
NOTE : Scattered examples in Naqada (Ballâs Cemetery), El-Kab, and El-Amrah.
The wide sharp-shouldered jar, of which several examples were noted in Dynasty I, has become a
characteristic form of Dynasty II, especially in the squat form, and continued in use throughout Dy-
nasty 111. The squat form occurs in two variations, one with straight sloping sides and the other with
convex sides.
Type 2-V c (1), wide sharp-shouldered jar, high form:
(13) Reisner, Naga-’d-Dêr I , p. 105, type VIII 1, alabaster.
(14) Petrie and Wainwright, Tarkhan I , PI. XLIV, type 81 b, d, f , h, k, nine examples, alabaster.
(15) MacIver, El-Amrah, grave b 10, PI. XVI, 2.
*(16) Amélineau, Fouilles d’Abydos 1896-97, PI. X, 13, dolomite marble; Pl. XI, 15, 21, 26, 30, blue-veined
marble, Khasekhemuwy.
*(17) Petrie, Abydos I , Pl. IX, 9, 10, dolomite marble, Khasekhemuwy (Fig. 34, Nos. 15, 16).
Type 2-V c (2), wide sharp-shouldered jar, squat form:
(18) MacIver, El Amrah, graves b 54 (three), b 55, b 142 (three), b 12, and b 70, nine examples, alabaster.
(19) Reisner, Naga-’d-D&rI , p. 105, type VIII 2-5, four examples of alabaster.
(20) Petrie and Wainwright, Tarkhan I , Pl. XLIV, type 80 p, t, and type 81 m-x, thirty-three examples,
alabaster.
*(21) Amélineau,Fouilles d’Abydos 1896-97, Pl. X, 5, dolomite marble; PI. XI, 5,17,22, blue-veined limestone
(No. 17 has convex sides); PI. XII, 4 ,6 , red and white breccia; Pl. XIV, 4, porphyry, seven examples,
Khasekhemuwy.
*(22) Petrie, Abydos I, PI. IX, 5, 12, dolomite marble and alabaster, Khasekhemuwy (Fig. 34, Nos. 17, 18).
The rare type of shouldered jar with concave lower part and flaring foot, copied probably from the
copper hes-jar, and already noted in Dynasty I, occurs in Dynasty IIin a few examples one of which
was in the tomb of Khasekhemuwy.
Type 2-V d, shouldered jar of hes-vase form:
I, p. 105, type X, one example, alabaster.
(24) Petrie and Wainwright, Tarkhan I , PI. XXXVIII, type 31, graves 176, 178, Dynasties 1-11.
“(25) Amélineau,Fouilles d’Abydos 1896-97, PI. XVI, 3, alabaster (?), Khasekhemuwy (Fig. 34, No. 19).
Scale1/4
m
Figure34
m
Dyn.IStoneVselI,StoneVsel,TypesI,V .
158 MYCERINUS
(4) T y p e 2-IX. Round-Bottomed Dishes and Bowls

The round-bottomed dishes and bowls are, as usual, not very numerous. One example was recorded
by Petrie from the tomb of Peribsen. None, however, appears to have been found by Amélineau in
either of the two royal tombs a t Abydos; but the photographs, the only record which M. Amélineau
gives us of the vessels, have been trimmed, show in many cases only the mouths from above, and per-
35. DYN.11. VARIATIONSOF TYPESIX

FIGURE AND %
X. SCALE
mit no definite statement. I n the private tombs the shallow platters are still found, which served the
same purpose as tables and were perhaps mounted on stands of stone or wood. I n the tomb of Khasek-
hemuwy, flat-topped tables occur for the first time and associated with them a number of flat discs
which may be taken as the equivalent of the older dished platters.
Deeper bowls with round bottoms also appear in the private graves.
Type 2-IX a (2), platters and shallow dishes:

(1) Reisner, Naga-'d-Dêr I, p. 111, type XXVI, eleven examples, eight of slate, two of limestone, and one
of alabaster.
**(2) Petrie, R. T. I I , Pl. XLIX, 141, volcanic ash, tomb of Peribsen (Fig. 35, No. 1).
(3) Petrie and Wainwright, Tarkhan I , type 6, five examples of limestone.
STONE VESSELS 159
Type 2-IX a (2), flat platters, or table-tops:

*(4) Amélineau,Fouilles d’Abydos 1896-97, Pl. III and IV, twenty or more examples of alabaster, Khasek-
hemuwy.
Type 2-IX b, round-bottomed bowls:
(5) Reisner, Naga-’d-DêrI , p. 111, type XXIV, six examples, alabaster (Fig. 35, No. 2).
(6) Petrie and Wainwright, Tarkhan I, Pl. XXXVIII, type 27 c.
(7) Mace, Naga-’d-Dêr11, Fig. 93, No. 1.
(8) Petrie, Gizeh and Rifeh, Pl. VI C , 98, limestone, tomb dated to Netery-muw, but never properly exca-
vated.
(5) Type 2-X. Flat-Bottomed Dishes and Bowls
The most numerous class of stone vessels in Dynasty II is the flat-bottomed bowl. I n his report on
the tomb of Khasekhemuwy, M. Amélineau represented 165 dishes, bowls, and cups, and he would add
about 116 to that number, making about 281 vessels of this type.¹ Many of these are finely finished
examples and’with those of Peribsen show that the craft was maintained about on a level with that of
Dynasty I. But the convex-sided bowls, especially the deeper forms, are increasing in frequency. At
the same time, a number of heavy examples in the tomb of Khasekhemuwy indicate that even the bowls
were becoming traditional-ceremonial in character, like most of the other types. The variations in form
are produced by similar combinations of details as in Dynasty I.
Hard stones are used for the vessels of the two royal tombs, and the fact must be noted that diorite
has become a marked feature of the Khasekhemuwy collection. This is again a case in which that tomb
set an example to be followed by the succeeding private tombs of Dynasty 111. Alabaster is, however,
more frequently used in Dynasty II than any other stone, in the royal tombs as well as in the larger
private tombs. At Naga-’d-Dêr, the alabaster bowls formed 25 per cent of the flat-bottomed bowls
(type X a and c) of Dynasty I and 46 per cent of those of Dynasty 11. The proportion of alabaster ves-
sels increases, however, with the poverty of the graves, and it is unusual to find anything but alabaster
or limestone in the vessels of the small graves.
The following list attempts to distinguish between the bowls with plain rim and those with internal
rim, but in the case of the mass of vessels reported by M. Amélineau it is quite impossible to distinguish
the rims of a large number of bowls.
Type 2-X a (1), flat-bottomed bowl with plain rim:
**(1) Amélineau, Fouilles d’Abydos 1897-98, Pl. XLVIII, 5-7, slate; Pl. L, 2, alabaster; tomb of Peribsen.
**(2) Petrie, R. T . 11, Pl. XLVII, 28 (Fig. 35, No. 4), 39, crystal; Pl. XLVIII, 89 (Fig. 35, No. 3), porphyry;
tomb of Peribsen.
**(3) Quibell, Cat. gén., Archaic Objects, No. 14445, limestone, inscribed with name of Peribsen, from Améli-
neau’s excavations.
(4) Reisner, Naga-’d-Dêr I , pp. 107-111, types XX b-d, XXI (oval), XXIII, and XXV; forty-three
examples, twenty of alabaster, three of slate, eight of volcanic ash, eleven of limestone, and one of
blue-veined limestone.
(5) Petrie and Wainwright, Tarkhan I, Pls. XXXII-XXXVIII, types 7,8,10,12-14, 17-20, 26,27, barring
mistakes due to the failure to represent all the rims, twenty-eight to thirty-four vessels, seventeen
to twenty-three of alabaster, ten of various limestones, one of dolomite marble.
*(6) Amélineau,Fouilles d’Abydos 1896-97:
Pl. V, 1-24, alabaster, twenty-four.
Pl. IX, 1, 3-7, diorite, six.
Pl. VIII, 20, 21, diorite, two.
Pl. X, 12, 16, blue-veined marble, two.
Pl. XII, 12, 14-18, 20, 21, breccia, eight.
Pl.
XIV, 1, 7, porphyry or granite, two.
Pl. XXI, 11, 12, crystal, two.
Total, forty-six vessels, probably more on PI. XIII; original total over ninety-two vessels; tomb of
Khasekhemuwy.
Type 2-X c, flat-bottomed bowl with internal rim:
**(7) Amélineau, Fouilles d’Abydos 1897-98, Pl. XLVIII, 3, alabaster; Pl. XLIX, 1,3,4 , blue-veined marble;
Pl. XLIX, 2, 10-13, alabaster; Pl. L, 1, alabaster; total ten vessels from tomb of Peribsen.
**(8) Petrie, R. T . 11, XLVII-LIII, Nos. 158, 160 (Fig. 35, No. 10), 161, 173, 175, five of volcanic ash; No.
440, colored limestone; Nos. 443 (Fig. 35, No. 9), 481, dolomite marble; Nos. 110 (Fig. 35, No. 5),
497, syenite; see duplicate list, p. 45; ten examples, from tomb of Peribsen.
¹Amélineau, Fouilles d’Abydos 1896-97, p. 221.
160 MYCERINUS
**(9) Quibell, Cat. gén., Archaic Objects, Nos. 14446, 14447 (Fig. 35, No. 7), one of pink and black-veined lime-
stone and the other of alabaster, inscribed with the name of Peribsen.
(10) Reisner, Naga-’d-Dêr I , pp. 107-1 11, types XVII and XVIII, seventy-five examples,thirty-five alabaster,
eighteen slate, nineteen volcanic ash, and one each of blue-veined limestone, marble, and breccia.
(11) Petrie, Gizeh and Rifeh, Pl. VI B, 96 (Fig. 35, No. 14), 97 (Fig. 35, No. 11), alabaster; Pl. VI C, 99-
122 (120 = Fig. 35, No. 8), alabaster except one slate; from tomb dated to Netery-muw, but never
properly excavated.
(12) Petrie and Wainwright, Tarkhan I , Pls. XXXII-XXXVIII, types 7 k, 9, 21-25, barring mistakes due
to failure to represent all the rims, thirty-eight vessels, thirty-one of alabaster, four of dolomite
marble, two of limestone, and one of breccia.
*( 13) Amélineau, Fouilles d’Abydos 1896-97:
Pl. VI, 1, 3, 7, 9-12, 14-18, 22, 23, alabaster, fourteen.
Pl. VII, 1-18, alabaster, eighteen.
Pl. VIII, 3, 4, dolomite marble, two.
Pl. VIII, 9, 10, 12-19, diorite, ten.
Pl. IX, 9, 10, 12-16, 18-20, 23, 26, 27, diorite, thirteen.
Pl. X, 1-4, 6-11, 17, 18, dolomite marble, twelve.
Pl. XI, 6, 8, 27-29, blue-veined marble, five.
Pl. XII, 1-3, 5, 7-11, 13, red and white breccia, ten.
Pl. XIII, twenty-four bowls of porphyry and similar stones, but the rims are not determinable.
Pl. XIV, 2, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11, 12, porphyry, seven.
Pl. XVI, 1, alabaster, one.
Total, ninety-two bowls, or counting those on Pl. XIII, one hundred and sixteen bowls; adding those
undrawn, one hundred and eighty-four or two hundred and thirty-two vessels,from tomb of Khasekh-
emuwy.
*(14) Petrie, Abydos I, Pl. IX, 13-15 (Fig. 35, Nos. 6, 12, 13), one translucent diorite and two of syenite, tomb
of Khasekhemuwy.
Special mention must be made of a tall bowl, almost a jar, with contracted mouth so hollowed and
dressed as to form an internal rim, which appears in the tomb of Khasekhemuwy and is a characteristic
type of Dynasty 111. This seems to have developed from the deep bowls with contracted mouth, but
the older bowls have a greater width in proportion to the height and a smaller base in proportion to the
width of the mouth. The nearest forms of an earlier date are presented by the bowl of Peribsen,¹ and
one from Gizeh,² time of Netery-muw.
Type 2-X d, bowl-jar, with internal rim (Fig. 35, Nos. 14, 15) :
*( 15) Amélineau, Fouilles d’Abydos 1896-97:
Pl. VIII, 1, 11, diorite.
Pl. IX, 2 (Fig. 35, No. 15), 8, 11, 17, 22 (?), 24, 25, diorite.
Pl. XI, 9, blue-veined marble.
Pl. XIII, 4, 5, porphyry or granite.
Pl. XIV, 13, porphyry or granite.
Total, twelve or thirteen examples.
The deep cup-bowl with concave sides and flaring mouth with plain rim has been found in only one
grave of Dynasty 11, the large stairway corbel tomb, N 3017, the largest tomb in Cem. N 3000 a t Naga-
’d-Dêr. No example in stone was found a t Tarkhan in either Dynasties I o r II, or in either of the two
royal tombs a t Abydos; but the form occurs in copper in both the royal tombs. Moreover, the stone
type is recorded in Dynasty III a t Bêt Khallâf and a t Zawiat-el-Aryan (see next section). No doubt
can therefore be entertained that this form is a rare type of Dynasty 11.
Type 2-X b (1) (z), deep bowl with concave sides and flaring mouth:
(16) Reisner, Naga-’d-Dêr I , p. 109, type XIX, red and white breccia (Fig. 35, No. 16).
Closely allied to this form is the similar cup form with straight sides and narrow base, which becomes
prominent among the stone vessels of Khasekhemuwy and among the corpus of Dynasty 111. The form
originated in the time of Menes or even in Dynasty 0, but in the royal tombs of Dynasty I a t Abydos
it is rare and seems to have been replaced by the concave-sided bowls and cups (see preceding paragraph).
In the tomb of Khasekhemuwy the form is revived, but in a smaller and more slender variation, an in-
Petrie,
¹ R. T. II, p. 173. Petrie,
² Gizeh and Pl. VI B, 96.
Rifeh,
STONE VESSELS 161
verted truncated cone, easily distinguishable a t sight from the forms of the Menes tomb. I n this par-
ticular, as in so many others, the forms of the Khasekhemuwy tomb set the fashion for Dynasty 111.
Type 2-X a (3), straight-sided “conical” cup:
*( 17) Amélneau, Fouilles d’Abydos 1896-97:
Pl. IV, 8, 9, 13, 14, alabaster.
PI. VII, 19-27, alabaster, nine examples (Fig. 35, Nos. 17, 18).
PI. VIII, 7, diorite.
(18) Reisner, Naga-’d-D&r I , p. 109, type XX a, two examples of volcanic ash.
The small cups or bowls with contracted rim and open spout are not common, but five were found
a t Naga-’d-Der, including one with external band rim. The deeper cup-forms with spout occur in
Dynasty III and in the Mycerinus temple.¹
Type 2-X e (1) and (2), small bowls and cups with open spout:
(19) Reisner, Naga-’d-Dêr I , p. 110, type XXII, five examples, two small bowls with contracted mouth,
one of slate and one of volcanic ash (the latter with grooved rim); three cups, one of slate, and two
of limestone.
36. DYN.II. TYPESXI

FIGURE AND XII. SCALE ¼
(6) Type 2-XI. Bowl with External Rim

The bowl with ledge rim found in Dynasty I has not been recorded in Dynasty 11. But one example
of another form with a low roll rim was found a t Naga-’d-Dêr, a copy of a pottery form (type XXI a)
which occurred in the same cemetery.
Type 2-XI a (2), deep bowl with external roll rim.
(1) Reisner, Naga-’d-Dêr I , p. 107, type XIV, one of basalt (Fig. 36, No. 1).
Related to this form but more exactly to a pottery form of Dynasty III is a bowl with contracted
mouth and low rim, which occurs with spout in the tomb of Khasekhemuwy.² This stone form has been
Cf.
¹ the spouted oopper form from Khasekhemuwy, R. T. II, Pl. IX, 13, 14.
Garstang,
² Mahâsna and Bêt Khallâj, Pl. XXX, 19.
162 MYCERINUS
found in tombs of Dynasty III both with and without the spout and makes another bond between the
vessels of Khasekhemuwy and those of Dynasty 111.
Type 2-XI a (4), deep bowl with external rim and short tubular spout :
* ( 2 ) Amélineau, Fouilles d’Abydos 1896-97, Pl. XVI, 5, one of alabaster (Fig. 36, No. 2).
The cups and bowls with hollow groove between rim and body are not numerous in Dynasty 11. A
few examples of both the larger and the small forms have been recorded in private graves. The tomb
of Khasekhemuwy, however, provides us with three different forms, which show the transition from
the older vessels to those of Dynasty 111:
No. (3), below, type 2-XI b (1), the larger groove type of Dynasty I.
*No. (4), below, type 2-XI b (2), the new large type of Dynasty 111, with upright recurved rim and cord in
relief on rim (like type 1-XI b (1)).
*No. (7), below, type 2-XI e (1), grooved rim, small forms.
No. (9), below, type 2-XI c (2), the degenerate form of type 2-XI c (1), in which the groove has disappeared,
and the vessel has become a squat cup with band rim on the contracted mouth.
No. (4)connects the tomb with Dynasty I, and Nos. (7) and (8) set examples which were followed by
Dynasty 111.
Type 2-XI b (1), grooved rims, large forms:
(3) Reisner, Naga-’d-Dêr I , p. 107, type XVI, volcanic ash (Fig. 36, No. 3).
Type 2-XI b (2), deep bowl with upright recurved rim ( = type 3-XI c) :
*(4) Amélineau, Fouilles d’Abydos 1896-97, Pl. XXII, 1, 5, two of marble (limestone?), with double cord and
knot in relief, Khasekhemuwy (Fig. 36, No. 4).
Type 2-XI c (1), grooved rim, small forms:
(5) Reisner, Naga-’d-Dêr I , p. 107, type XV, six examples, three of limestone, two of alabaster, one of
volcanic ash (Fig. 36, No. 7).
(6) Petrie and Wainwright, Tarkhan I , PI. XXXVIII, type 42, f (Fig. 36, No. 8), g, three of alabaster; type
34, one of alabaster (Fig. 36, No. 5).
*(7) Petrie, Abydos I , PI. IX, Khasekhemuwy, dolomite marble (Fig. 36, No. 6).
Type 2-XI c (2), small squat cup with band rim on top of contracted mouth (corruption of type 2-XI c (1), above):
*(8) Amélineau,Fouilles d’Abydos 1896-97, PI. V, 15 (Fig. 36, No. 9), alabaster; Pl. XI, 3, blue-veined marble,
Khasekhemuwy.
(9) Petrie and Wainwright, Tarkhan I , PI. XXXVIII, type 42, three examples, two of alabaster and one of
limestone (Fig. 36, No. 10) (type 42 p).
(7) T y p e 2-XII. Tables

The dish-topped tables must have continued in use during Dynasty II. Several examples have
been recorded a t Tarkhan from graves which I would date to Dynasty II, and five examples were found
in the Hennekht mastaba a t Bêt Khallâf, which is dated to Dynasty 111. The dished platters, type
2-IX a (1), must be considered as another evidence of the existence of the type in Dynasty 11, as these,
ately either with or without supporting stands, may have served the same purpose as the tables.
Type 2-XI1 a, dish-topped tables:
(1) Petrie and Wainwright, Tarkhan I , Pl. XXXII, type 5, two examples of limestone and part of a third
of alabaster.
(2) Hearst Expedition, mss. notes on Naga-’d-Dêr, grave 523, one of limestone, Dynasties II-III (Fig. 36,
No. 11).
No flat-topped table has been recorded in a private grave of Dynasty II, but the tomb of Khasek-
hemuwy yielded a number of flat-topped tables and flat table-tops (see 2-IX a (2)). This type immedi-
ately thereafter, in Dynasty 111, appeared in private graves and entirely displaced the dish-topped table.
Type 2-XI1 b, flat-topped tables:
*(3) Amélineau, Fouilles d’Abydos 1896-97, PI. III 1-16; PI. IV 1-7, 10-12, 16-18; PI. X 21, seven tables
and over twenty-two table-tops, of alabaster; it is possible that some of these were slightly dished,
but Amélineau’sphotographs do not give decisive evidence on this point (Fig. 36, No. 12).
STONE VESSELS 163
(D) STONEVESSELSOF DYNASTYIII

A far greater number of large graves are known from Dynasty IIIt h a n f r o m DynastyI, and these
compensate in a way for the absence of royal tombs. First of all the whole class of stairway tombs with
underground chambers a t Ballâs, El-Kab, Reqaqna, Bêt Khallâf, Naga-'d-Dêr, Zawiat-el-Aryan, and
Giza may be reckoned to Dynasty 111,and most of these are of large size, while two are almost royal in
their dimensions. To these are to be added several mastabas a t Zawiat-el-Aryan, which are dated to the
Horus Khaba. I n addition to the larger graves, two cemeteries of quite small graves were excavated
by the Hearst Expedition a t Naga-'d-Dêr and others elsewhere have been recorded in the publications
dealing with the sites mentioned above.
One of the characteristic features of the large graves is the frequent occurrence of the harder stones,
diorite, porphyry, syenite, and granite, but especially diorite. I n the small graves these harder stones
are rare, and alabaster predominates as in Dynasty 11. It will be remembered that diorite was intro-
duced in the tomb of Khasekhemuwy.
The forms which give to the corpus of stone vessels of Dynasty III its characteristic appearance are
as follows:
(1) Type 3-1 d . ............................. Cyl. jar, splay foot, concave sides.
*(2) “ “ III c. ............................ Quasi-spheroidal jar.
*(3) “ “ IV e . ............................ Shoulder jar, two handles, wide flat rim.
"(4) “ “ V a extra ........................ Large wine jar.
(5) “ “ V e . ............................. Like IV e, without handles.
*(6) “ “ X a (4). ......................... "Conical cup."
(7) “ “ X b (3). ......................... Shallow flaring bowl with cup-hollow.
*(8) “ “ X d . ............................ Bowl-jar with internal rim.
(9) “ “ X e (3). ......................... Bowl-jar with spout.
(10) “ “ X I a (3). ........................ Small basin with external rim.
"(11) " “ XI a (4). ........................ Same as XI a (3) with short tubular spout.
*(12) " “ X I b (2). ........................ Bowl, upright recurved rim, flat bottom.
(13) “ “ XI b (3). ........................ Same as X I b (2) with round bottom.
*(14) '' '' X I c (2). ........................ Small cup with band-rim on contracted mouth.
*(15) '' '' XI1 b . . .......................... Flat-topped table.
* Occurred in tomb of Khasekhemuwy.
Of the seventy sub-types mentioned in the list on p. 140 (Section on Dynasty I), thirty-eight occur in
Dynasty III, divided as follows:
15 forms just mentioned of which nine were already noted in the tomb of Khasekhemuwy.
7 old forms which do not occur after Dynasty 111.
16 old forms which persisted until Dynasty IV or later.
__
38
Of the fifteen characteristic sub-types, nine were found, as stated, in the tomb of Khasekhemuwy
(marked with a * in the above list). Of the remaining six,
(1) Type 3-1 d was the splay-footed cylindrical jar which appears first in Dynasty III and becomes the pre-
dominating form of this type in Dynasties IV-VI.
(5) Type 3-V e was type 3-IV e without the handles, occurs in a few examples in Dynasty I I I and is very
common in the Mycerinus collection.
(7) Type 3-X b (4) was a rare form of which one example is known from Dynasty 111, one from Dynasty
IV, and several from the Mycerinus collection. The form occurs in pottery in Dynasties IV-VI, but
appears to have been a metal form (Professor Garstang).
(9) Type 3-X e (3), bowl-jar with spout, was like all vessels with spout a rare form, but was copied in the
Giza stone models. The original form was the copper ewer.
(10) Type 3-XI a (3), basin with external rim, was the same as 3-XI a (4) but without the spout. It also
was a rare form which did not occur later.
(13) Type 3-XI b (3), bowl with upright recurved rim and round bottom, appears to have been introduced
in the type of Khaba. It is a modification of type 3-XI b (2) and occurs in the Mycerinus collection.
Of the fifteen new forms, twelve were passed on to the Mycerinus collection and sixteen of the old
forms, making a total of twenty-eight forms passed on from Dynasty III to the Mycerinus collection.
164 MYCERINUS
These facts make it plain that the corpus of stone vessels of Dynasty III both in the materials em-
ployed and in the forms, was the immediate descendant of the corpus of the tomb of Khasekhemuwy.
Some of these “new forms” may conceivably have been introduced between the time of Peribsen and
that of Khasekhemuwy, but the interval was probably not long, as Khasekhemuwy may have been the
immediate successor of Peribsen. The private tombs of Dynasty II present variations of the older forms
of Dynasty I; and the private tombs dated to Dynasty III by the names of Zoser, Sanekht, Nebka, and
Khaba contained the characteristic sub-types of the tomb of Khasekhemuwy. On the present evidence,
the conclusion seems justified that most, if not all, the characteristic sub-types of Dynasty 111, which
were assembled in the tomb of Khasekhemuwy, actually originated in his reign. The fact that the sub-
types of Khasekhemuwy first appeared in private graves in the following generation is entirely in ac-
cordance with the principles which I have repeatedly stated, that the line of development lies in the
great tombs, that new fashions and forms were created for the royal family and imitated thereafter by
lesser men.
A few of the finer forms of the cylindrical jar with cord, and properly hollowed, still occur in Dy-
nasty 111, but a majority of the examples of that period are rude in form and imperfectly hollowed.
Dummy jars occur with only a suggestion of hollowing, and the type has clearly become traditional-
ceremonial. On the other hand, the later fine form, slender with flaring foot, makes its appearance and
this is the form passed on t o Dynasties V-VI.
Type 3-1, a and b, better forms with cord or ridge:
(1) Garstang, Mahdsna and Bêt Khallâf, Pl. XIII, 9, from K 1, Netery-khet (Fig. 37, No. 1).
(2) Garstang, Third Egyptian Dynasty, Pl. X, 29,30, from R 1.
(3) Mace, Naga-’d-Dêr 11,p. 42, Nos. 1-4, see text.
(4) Petrie and Quibell, Naqada and Ballâs, p. 15 a, No. 23, Pl. V 23, Pl. X S, 1 b.
(5) Quibell, Tomb of Hesy, Pl. XXVII, 13, at least one example, alabaster (Fig. 37, No. 2).
Type 3-1 c, plain forms, often rude and only slightly bored:
(6) Garstang, Mahdsna and B&tKhallâf, Pl. XXII, from K 2, thirteen forms (Fig. 37, Nos. 3, 4,6, 7); Pl.
XXVII, 11-13 (Fig. 37, Nos. 5, 8), from K 4. Third Egyptian Dynasty, Pl. X, 27, 28, 31, from R 1
and R 40; Pl. 7 shows eight examples from R 40.
(7) Mace, Naga-’d-Dêr II, p. 42, Nos. 5-11, twelve examples from small graves.
(8) Petrie and Quibell, Naqada, pp. 4-8, stairway tombs, nine examples are mentioned.
(9) Quibell, El-Kab, pp. 7-10, stairway tombs, “vertical jars” in four tombs.
(10) Hearst Expedition, mss. notes on Naga-’d-Dêr, five alabaster from stairway N 587; and two alabaster
from shaft mastaba N 561 (earlier than Sneferuw mastaba).
(11) Harvard-Boston Expedition, mss. notes on Zawiat-el-Aryan, twenty-five examples (ten dummies), ala-
baster from mastaba Z 500, time of Khaba.
(12) Quibell, Tomb of Hesy, Pl. XXVII, 9, 10, not more than twenty, alabaster.
Type 3-1 d, slender form with flaring foot:
(13) Garstang, Mahdsna and Bêt Khallâf, Pl. XI, two alabaster, from K 1 (Fig. 37, Nos. 9, 10).
(2) Type 3-III. Spheroidal Jar with Horizontal Handles

The old spheroidal jar with two horizontal handles still occurs in Dynasty III and is still made of
the harder stones, porphyry, syenite, etc. Originating in the Middle Predynastic Period, it had become
a ceremonial jar long before Dynasty III and from Dynasty I down had been found only in royal tombs,
except in miniature form. Four examples have been recorded from large stairway tombs and one
miniature from another. The flat-bottomed form of this jar was introduced in Dynasty I, and several
examples are ascribed to Dynasty 111. The more common flat-bottomed vessel of this type (3-111 c),
which has a higher form with squared shoulder, intermediate between the spheroidal jar with round
bottom and the true shouldered jar with handles (type 3-IV e), was introduced in the tomb of Khasek-
hemuwy. I n general, the Third Dynasty vessels of this type are badly finished, with unpierced handles
and rudimentary boring.
Type 3-111 a, round-bottomed spheroidal jar :
(1) Garstang, Mahdsna and Bêt Khallâf, PI. XXVII, 1 (Fig. 38, No. 1), syenite, from K 5 ; Pl. XXIV, from
K 4;Pl. XX, alabaster, from K 2. Third Egyptian Dynasty, Pl. IX, 9 (Fig. 38, No. 2), 10, diorite and
breccia, from R 1.
I
FIGURE37. DYN. 111. STONEVESSELS, ¼

TYPEI. SCALE
FIGURE
38. DYN. III. STONEVESSELS,
TYPESIII AND ¼
IV. SCALE
[165]
166 MYCERINUS
(2) Petrie, Gizeh and Rifeh, Pl. VI D, 121, diminutive variation, from mastaba T.
(3) Harvard-Boston Expedition, mss. notes on Zawiat-el-Aryan, one porphyry from mastaba Z 500, time
of Khaba.
Type 3-111 b, flat-bottomed spheroidal jar:
(4) Garstang, Mahdsna and BêtKhallâf, Pl. XXVII, 2, (Fig. 38, No. 3), syenite, from K 5.
(5) Harvard-Boston Expedition, mss. notes on Zawiat-el-Aryan, seven examples of porphyry from mastaba
Z 500, time of Khaba.
Type 3-111 c, quasi-spheroidal jar with shoulder, flat bottom:
(6) Garstang, MahâsnaandBêtKhallâf, Pl. XX, breccia, from K 2. Third Egyptian Dynasty, PI. IX, 11
(Fig. 38, No. 4), breccia, from R 1; PI. VII shows two examples from that tomb.
(7) Quibell, Tomb of Hesy, Pl. XXVII, 2 (Fig. 38, No. 5) and 5, eleven examples, all heavy, of porphyry or
gabbro, late stairway.
(8) Hearst Expedition, mss. notes on Naga-’d-Dêr, porphyry, from late stairway tomb N 689.
(9) Harvard-Boston Expedition, mss. notes on Zawiat-el-Aryan, one example, porphyry, from Z 500, time
of Khaba.
(3) T y p e 3-IV. Shoulder Jar with Horizontal Handles

Curiously enough, two examples of the old predynastic barrel-shaped jar with two horizontal handles
have been found in a cemetery of Dynasties II-III.
Type 3-IV a, old form of handled jar = PD-IV a :
(1) Mace, Naga-’d-Dêr 11, p. 44, No. 8, found in the surface débris, porphyry.
(2) Hearst Expedition, mss. notes of Cem. N 500 at Naga-’d-Dêr, grave 639, contracted burial in wooden box
with coarse pottery jars (see Mace, Naga-’d-Dêr I I , Fig. 86, No. 11), pink limestone.
Considering the materials and technique of these jars, I have no doubt that both were actually pre-
dynastic jars, re-used for burial purposes a t a time when the use of stone vessels was largely a matter
of tradition.
The characteristic jar of type IV is the later form with the true shoulder and wide disc mouth like
those so common in the Mycerinus temples.
Type 3-IV d, two-handled shoulder jar, high form:

(3) Quibell and Green, Hierakonpolis, Pl. XXXVI, granite, unpierced handles, boring unfinished, inscribed
with the name of Khasekhem.
(4) Garstang, MahâsnaandBêtKhallâf,Pl. XXVII, 3, syenite, from the large stairway mastaba K 5 (Fig.
38, No. 8).
(5) Mace, Naga-’d-DêrII, p. 44,No. 7, from a small brick-lined grave with mastaba, alabaster, with four
other alabaster vessels (Fig. 38, No. 7).
(6) Petrie and Quibell, Naqada, p. 6 a, stairway tomb 522, probably refers to H 40, but provenience of H
40 is not discoverable from the publication.
(7) Quibell, El-Kab, PI. X, 29, from stairway tomb No. 5 (?), according to text, p. 8 (misprint?).
(8) Quibell, Tomb of Hesy, Pl. XXVII, 3, from large stairway mastaba (end of Dynasty 111), alabaster (Fig.
38, No. 6).
(9) Hearst Expedition, mss. notes on Naga-’d-Dêr, grave 553; shaft mastaba N 561 (earlier than Sneferuw
mastaba) ; both alabaster.
(10) Harvard-Boston Expedition, mss. notes on Zawiat-el-Aryan, three of alabaster, one with dummy handles,
from Z 500, time of Khaba.
This type is represented among the vessels on the wall of the Hesy tomb (Quibell, Tomb of Hesy, PI.
XV) and a t Medûm in a tomb of the next period (Petrie, Medum, Pl. XV, left-hand side), where they
are labelled as containers of oils or perfumes.
(4) T y p e 3-V. Shoulder Jar without Handles
The shoulder jars, although not so common as in Dynasty 11, are fairly well represented, as in
the tomb of Khasekhemuwy. A few large forms have been found in the great stairway tombs; but the
smaller forms, especially the barrel-shaped jar and the squat jar, are numerous in the first half of the
dynasty. One large jar, imitating a pottery wine jar with network of cords, was found in the tomb of
Hesy (a late stairway tomb).
STONE VESSELS 167
Type 3-V extra, tall jar:
(1) Quibell, Tomb of Hesy, Pl. XXVII, 11, alabaster; cf. the jars from the tomb of Khasekhemuwy (type
2-V extra).
Type 3-V a (1), large or medium-sized jar :
(2) Garstang, Third Egyptian Dynasty, Pl. XI, four different forms, alabaster, from R 1 and R 40 (Fig. 39,
Nos. 14).
(3) Quibell and Green, Hierakonpolis, PI. XXXVII, alabaster, inscribed with the name of Khasekhem (?).
FIGURE
39. DYN.111. STONE ¼
VESSELS,TYPEV A (1). SCALE
(4) Hearst Expedition, mss. notes on Naga-’d-Dêr, from late stairway tomb, N 587, alabaster (h., 24 cm.).
(5) Harvard-Boston Expedition, mss. notes on Zawiat-el-Aryan, two of alabaster, from mastaba Z 500 (time
of Khaba), barrel-shaped.
(6) Quibell, Tomb of Hesy, Pl. XXVII, 12, two of alabaster.
Type 3-V a (2) , small-shouldered jar :
(7) Mace, Naga-’d-Dêr 11, p. 44, Fig. 101, Nos. 3-6 (Fig. 40, No. 1),Fig. 102, Nos. 4,5,six examples of ala-
baster, from small brick-lined graves.
(8) Hearst Expedition, mss. notes on Naga-’d-Dêr, three examples from small graves N 513, 536, and 637,
alabaster.
168 MYCERINUS
Type 3-V b (2), truncated ovoid or barrel-shaped jar, small:
(9) Garstang, Third Egyptian Dynasty, Pl. IX, 23, three examples from R 40 (see PI. VII). Mahâsna and
Bêt Khallâf, PI. XXVII, 9, 10, from K 4 (Fig. 40, Nos. 2, 3).
(10) Mace, Naga-’d-D&r I I , p. 45, Fig. 102, Nos. 1-4, twelve examples, alabaster, from small brick-lined
graves.
(11) Hearst Expedition, mss. notes on Naga-’d-Dêr, one from stairway N 599 and nineteen from small graves.
Type 3-V c (1), sharp-shouldered jar, high form:
(12) Petrie and Quibell, Naqada, p. 5a, stairway tomb 162, PI. XI, 26, and from small tombs 260 and 275
(p. 7b).
(13) Garstang, Third Egyptian Dynasty, Pl. VIII, 1 and Pl. IX, 12 (Fig. 40, No. 4), from stairway R 40.
(14) Petrie, Gizeh and Rifeh, Pl. VI E, 143, from large stairway mastaba T.
(15) Hearst Expedition, mss. notes on Naga-’d-Dêr, one from stairway N 593, and from small grave N 581.
FIGURE40.DYN.III. STONEVESSELS,TYPESVA-E. SCALE¼

Type 3-V c (2), sharp-shouldered jar, squat form:
(16) Garstang, Mahâsna and Bêt Khallâf, PI. IX, 22 (Fig. 40, No. 5) from R 40 and, according to PI. VII,
three other examples from same tomb.
(17) Mace, Naga-’d-D&rI I , p. 44, Fig. 101, Nos. 1, 2, two examples only.
(18) Hearst Expedition, mss. notes on Naga-’d-Dêr, one from the early stairway N 573, and eight from small
graves.
NOTE:This small ceremonial jar was not found in later stairway tombs at Naga-’d-Dêr or in the grave
of the time of Khaba at Zawiat-el-Aryan.
Type 3-V d, hes-form jar:
(19) Mace, Naga-’d-Dêr
II, Pl. XLVI a, 12 (Fig. 40, No. 6).
Type 3-V e, broad-shouldered jar with ledge rim around mouth. (See 2-IV e) :
(20) Hearst Expedition, mss. notes on Naga-’d-Dêr, one from the shaft grave N 739, time of Snefcruw (Fig.
40, No. 7).
See also the vessels represented on the walls of the tombs in Professor Petrie’s M e d u m , PIs. XIII and
XV, and in Mr. Quibell’s T o m b of Hesy, Pls. X X I and XXII.
( 5 ) T y p e 3-IX. Round-Bottomed Dish and Bowl

The round-bottomed platters and bowls have almost disappeared in Dynasty 111, except those with
recurved rims (see type 3-XI, below).
Type 3-IX a (1), round-bottomed platter:
(1) Garstang, Third Egyptian Dynasty, PI. IX, 17, from R I (Fig. 41, No. 1).
(2) Hearst Expedition, mss. notes on Naga-’d-Dêr, one alabaster, from N 561, previous to Sneferuw.
(3) Harvard-Boston Expedition, mss. notes on Zawiat-el-Aryan, three heavy of alabaster, from mastaba Z 500,
time of Khaba (total alabaster bowls, thirty-three) .
Type 3-IX b, round-bottomed bowl:
(4) Petrie, Gizeh and Rifeh, Pl. VI D, 127, alabaster, from mastaba T (Fig. 41, No. 2).
(5) Harvard-Boston Expedition, mss. notes on Zawiat-el-Aryan, two deep bowls, alabaster , from mastaba
Z 500, time of Khaba.
w
Scale¼
4
Figure41
Dyn.I StoneVselsTypesIXand.
170 MYCERINUS
(6) Type 3-X. Flat-Bottomed Bowl

I n Dynasty 111, as in Dynasty 11, the flat-bottomed bowls are more common than any other type
of vessels. The variations of form may be described by the same symbols and combinations of symbols
a s i n D y n a s t i e s I a n d II. But the group of bowls of Dynasty III on close examination proves to have
a different appearance from that of the group of Dynasty I or of Dynasty II down to Khasekhemuwy.
It is indeed nearly identical in its forms to the Khasekhemuwy group. There are more examples with
convex sides, and the convexity is usually greater; fewer examples with sharp internal rim, and the
slope of the rim is different; and the proportion of deep vessels has increased. A very characteristic
form is the conical cup, both straight sided and concave sided, which is widely distributed, but occurs
in no great numbers in any one grave. Another form which requires special notice is the wide bow
with internal rim, one of the finer forms, which was found in six examples a t Zawiat-el-Aryan, and bears
the name of the Horus Khaba.¹ The materials of this bowl are veined marble and diorite. The same
form in diorite occurs also with the name of Sneferuw (Dynasty IV).
The following references give the main material for the flat-bottomed stone bowls of Dynasty 111,
showing the examples with internal rim as distinguished from those with plain rim, but not attempting
to mark the variations which merge into each other.
Type 3-X a (1), plain rim:
(1) Garstang, Mahâsna and BêtKhallâf, Pl. XII, 18 (Fig. 41, No. 5), 19, breccia and alabaster, from K 1;
Pl. XIV, 15 (Fig. 41, No. 3), 16-19, 20 (Fig. 41, No. 4), 24, alabaster, from K 1; Pl. XXI, 4, 6, 8, 9,
11, alabaster, from K 2; PI. XXVII, 4, alabaster from K 5.
Third Egyptian Dynasty, Pl. VIII, 2, 8, diorite, from R 40; Pl. IX, 16, 18 (breccia), 19,20, alabaster,
from R 40.
(2) Petrie, Gizeh and Rifeh, Pl. VI D-E, 123 (alabaster), 134, from mastaba T.
(3) Mace, Naga-’d-Dêr 11, p. 43, Fig. 98, NOS.7-10 (10 is diorite; rest, alabaster), six examples from small
graves.
(4) Quibell, Tomb of Hesy, P1. XXVII, 7, five examples of alabaster.
(5) Hearst Expedition, mss. notes on Naga-’d-Dêr, one of alabaster, from stairway N 587; one of alabaster
(platter), from N 561, previous to Sneferuw mastaba.
(6) Harvard-Boston Expedition, mss. notes on Zawiat-el-Aryan, twenty-five of alabaster, from mastaba Z 500,
time of Khaba.
Type 3-X c, with internal rim:
(7) Garstang, Mahâsna and Bêt Khallâf, Pl. XII, 1-17 ( 2 ,4 , 5 ,6 , 14 = Fig. 41, Nos. 1 0 ,6 ,9 ,7 ,8 ) , porphyry,
syenite, and breccia, from K 1; Pl. XIII, 1-8 (Fig. 41, No. 11), 10-12, alabaster, from K 1; Pl. XXI,
1, 2, 3, 5, 7, alabaster, from K 2; PI. XXVII, 7, alabaster, from K 5.
Third Egyptian Dynasty, Pl. VIII, 3-7, diorite and porphyry, many examples from R 1; PI. IX, 15,
alabaster, from R 40.
(8) Petrie, Gizeh and Rifeh, Pl. VI B-E, 97,100-120 (alabaster), 125 (alabaster), 126 (syenite), 128 (syenite),
129 (alabaster), 130 (syenite), 131 (alabaster), 132 (diorite), 133 (alabaster), 138 (limestone), 139
(limestone), 140 (porphyry), 142 (diorite), 144 (diorite).
(9) Mace, Naga-’d-Dêr 11, p. 43, Fig. 98, Nos. 1-6; all of alabaster, seven examples from small graves.
(10) Quibell, Tomb of Hesy, Pl. XXVII, 4, 8, fourteen examples of diorite and porphyry.
(11) Hearst Expedition, mss. notes on Naga-’d-Dêr, three of alabaster and one of porphyry, from stairway
N 587; one of porphyry, from stairway N 573 and one of dark diorite (?), from stairway N 599;
one translucent diorite, from stairway N 689; one translucent diorite, from shaft mastaba N 739, in-
scribed with Horus name of Sneferuw.
(12) Harvard-Boston Expedition, mss. notes on Zawiat-el-Aryan, ten examples of diorite, three of alabaster,
and five of veined marble; the marble bowls are inscribed with the name of Horus Khaba.
Of the more unusual forms, the following may be noted for comparison with Dynasties I and 11:
Type 3-X a (3), deep cup with straight sides and plain mouth, “conical
cup”:
(13) Garstang, Mahâsna and B8t Khallâf, Pl. XIV, 21-23, alabaster, three from K 1 (Fig. 41, Nos. 13, 14).
Third Egyptian Dynasty, Pl. X, 32, alabaster, from R 40.
(14) Petrie, Gizeh and Rifeh, Pl. VI D, 124, syenite, from mastaba T; I also saw a number more from this
same tomb among the vessels found by Mr. Covington.
(15) Mace, Naga-’d-Dêr II, p. 43, Fig. 100, No. 2, alabaster.
(16) Hearst Expedition, mss. notes on Naga-’d-Dêr, two from stairway mastaba N 587, one from stairway
mastaba N 593; and three others from the small graves N 511, N 546, N 547; all of alabaster.
(17) Harvard-Boston Expedition, mss. notes on Zawiat-el-Aryan, three of alabaster, from Z 500, time of Khaba.
See
¹ Gauthier, Livre des rois, I, p. 42.
STONE VESSELS 171
Type 3-X b (1) (z), deep cup with flaring plain mouth and concave sides :
(18) Garstang, MahâsnaandBêtKhallâf, PI. XXI, 14, alabaster, from K 2,
(19) Harvard-Boston Expedition, mss. notes on Zawiat-el-Aryan, one of alabaster, from Z 500, time of Khaba.
Type 3-X e (2) and (3), cup with spout:
(20) Garstang, MahâsnaandBêtKhallâf, PI. XXI, 10, 12, alabaster, from K 2; a bowl-jar with spout (Fig.
41, No. 15).
(21) Quibell, El-Kub, PI. X, 26, from stairway tomb 2 and No. 19 from small grave L 166 (Fig. 41, No. 16).
(22) Hearst Expedition, mss. notes on Naga-’d-Dêr, from shaft mastaba, 564.
The deep bowl-jar of the Khasekhemuwy tomb may be noted especially, although in my lists its
predecessors have not been distinguished from the other flat-bottomed bowls with internal rim.
Type 3-X d, bowl-jar with internal rim:
(23) Garstang, MahâsnaandBêtKhallâf, PI. XXVII, 8, one of alabaster, from K 5.
(24) Petrie, Gizeh and Rifeh, PI. VI E, 145, diorite (Fig. 41, No. 18).
(25) Mace, Naga-’d-Dêr 11, Fig. 100, Nos. 1, 2, both of alabaster, from small graves.
(26) Hearst Expedition, mss. notes on Naga-’d-Dêr, one diorite, from stairway N 573; and two of alabaster,
from small graves N 531 and N 541.
(27) Harvard-Boston Expedition, mss. notes on Zawiat-el-Aryan, one of diorite, from Z 500, time of Khaba.
A single example of a very curious form was found in a stairway mastaba a t Naga-’d-Dêr, which
must be mentioned here as it occurs also in the Mycerinus collection. Professor Garstang found a
similar bowl a t Reqaqna (Dynasty IV) and noted the obvious suggestion of metal technique in its de-
tails. Professor Petrie has recorded a curious form l which may be connected with type X b (4). If so,
the older stone form may have been copied from an older form of the copper vessel from which type X
b (4)was copied.
Type 3-X b (4),flaring cup with concave sides and a cup hollow in bottom, inside:
(28) Hearst Expedition, mss. notes on Naga-’d-Dêr, alabaster (diam., 15 cm.), from late stairway mastaba
N 587 (Fig. 41, No. 19).
(7) Type 3-XI. Bowl with External Rim

I n Dynasty 111, the bowls with external rim imitate closely the sub-types found in the tomb of
Khasekhemuwy. Type 2-XI a (4) of that tomb, the deep bowl with external rim and short tubular
spout, recurs in Dynasty III and, further, the same form without a spout. As already stated, similar
pottery forms are known from Dynasty I,² and the exact form from Dynasty III.³ Nevertheless, the
form seems more naturally explained as a copper form.
Type 3-XI a (3), deep bowl with contracted mouth’and low external rim, flat base, without spout:
(1) Garstang, Mahâsna and Bêt Khallâf, PI. XIV, 25, alabaster, from K 1 (Fig. 42, No. 1).
(2) Hearst Expedition, mss. notes on Naga-’d-Dêr, two examples of alabaster, from stairway N 587; one
alabaster, from small grave N 634.
Type 3-XI a (4), deep bowl with contracted mouth and low external rim, flat base, with short tubular spout.
(3) Garstang, Mahâsna and Bêt Khallâf, Pl. XIII, 13, 14 (Fig. 42, Nos. 2, 3) and Pl. XXI, 13, all alabaster,
from K 1 and K 2.
Third Egyptian Dynasty, PI. X , 33, alabaster, from R 1.
(4) Quibell, Tomb of Hesy, PI. XXVII, 1, three examples of alabaster, from late stairway tomb.
(5) Hearst Expedition, mss. notes on Naga-’d-Dêr, one of alabaster, from stairway N 599.
(6) Harvard-Boston Expedition, mss. notes on Zawiat-el-Aryan, one alabaster, from Z 500, time of Khaba.
One example of the bowl with grooved rim has been found a t Bêt Khallâf and is nearly a duplicate
of .the bowl with grooved rim found by Petrie in the tomb of Khasekhemuwy.
Type 3-XI b (1), bowl with grooved rim:
(7) Garstang, Mahâsna and Bêt Khallâf, Pl. XXVII, 5, alabaster, from K 5 (Fig. 42, No. 4).
But in general, the grooved bowls and cups have given way to the modified forms of Khasekhemuwy.
The bowl with upright recurved rim occurs without the cord in relief and with both flat and round
Petrie,
¹ Royal Tombs I I , Pl. LI F, 305, from tomb 0. See
² Reisner, Naga-’d-Dêr I, p. 97.
See
³ Garstang, Mahâsna
and Pl. XXX, 19.
Bêt
Khallâf,
172 MYCERINUS
bottom. It was impossible to determine the bottom of the Khasekhemuwy bowls from the photographs
in the publication, but they were no doubt flat, as the round-bottomed form does not appear in Dy-
nasty III until late, probably in the time of Khaba.
Type 3-XI b (2), deep bowl with upright recurved rim and flat base:
(8) Garstang, Third Egyptian Dynasty, Pl. IX, 14, alabaster, from R 40 (Fig. 42, No. 5).
(9) Hearst Expedition, mss. notes on Naga-’d-Dêr, one of diorite, from shaft mastaba N 561, earlier than
Sneferuw (Fig. 42, No. 6); one of diorite and two of alabaster, from small graves N 545, N 555
(diorite, Fig. 42, No. 7), and N 572.
Type 3-XI b (3), same as above with round bottom:
(10) Quibell, El-Kab, Pl. X, 33, diorite, from stairway 8 (Fig. 42, No. 8).
(11) Quibell, Tomb of Hesy, Pl. XXVII, 19, one of alabaster (see below), (Fig. 42, No. 9).
NOTE:This form is also a pottery form of the tomb of Hesy.
(12) Harvard-Boston Expedition, mss. notes on Zawiat-el-Aryan, two examples of diorite, from Z 500, time
of Khaba.
This bowl with upright recurved rim is the manifest predecessor of the beautiful bowls with flaring
recurved rim which occur in Dynasties IV-VI. Its origin is obscure, perhaps, as suggested, derived
from the stone bowl with grooved rim, or perhaps from a copper form. The earliest examples of pottery
forms are:
(a) Garstang, Third Egyptian Dynasty, Pl. XIII, 1.
( b ) Quibell, Tomb of Hesy, Pl. XXVII, 19.
(c) Petrie, Gizeh and Rifeh, Pl. VI D, 122, from mastaba T.
In the time of Sneferuw, the pottery bowls with recurved rim became more common,¹ and were found
in almost all the Cheops and Chephren mastabas a t Giza. All these pottery forms have a round bottom
like the late stone form 3-XI b (3). Judging from all this material, examples of the wheel-made pottery
type are known from the latter part of Dynasty III, and the potter’s wheel probably came into use in
DynastyIII o r l a t e i n D y n a s t y II.
In Dynasty III, the small squat cup with contracted mouth and grooved rim has been replaced by
the Khasekhemuwy form in which the groove has disappeared and the rim has become a low band on
top of the contracted mouth.
Type 3-XI c (2), squat cup with band rim:
(13) Garstang, Mahâsna and Bêt Khallâf, Pl. XXVII, 6 (Fig. 42, No. 11),alabaster, from K 5; No. 14, large
alabaster, from K 4; Pl. XI, one of diorite (?), from K 2.
Third Egyptian Dynasty, Pl. IX, 13,21 (Fig. 42, No. IO), three examples, alabaster, breccia, and porphyry
(cf. Pl. VII), from R 40.
(14) Quibell, El-Kab, Pl. X, 17, 18, 30, 44, one of ivory, from stairway 2; one of alabaster, from stairway 8;
one of diorite, from small grave L 206; and fifteen others from the small tombs summarily described
or Pl. XXVII.
(15) Mace, Naga-’d-Dêr II, p. 43, Fig. 100, Nos. 4-6, seven examples, all alabaster, from small graves.
(16) Petrie, Gizeh and Rifeh, Pl. VI E, 137, porphyry, from mastaba T.
(17) Hearst Expedition, mss. notes on Naga-’d-Dêr, one alabaster, from stairway N 587; two alabaster, from
stairway N 599; three examples, diorite, from shaft mastaba N 561, previous to Sneferuw; and
thirteen examples from small graves, seven of alabaster, four of diorite, one of breccia, and one of
limestone.
(8) T y p e 3-XII. Table

With Dynasty III, the flat-topped table, which was apparently introduced by Khasekhemuwy, be-
came fairly common. But a few examples of the older dish-topped table have been found in the earliest
graves of this period. The flat-topped table occurs also in Dynasty IV and as late as Dynasty VI, but
the great period of this shape begins with Khasekhemuwy and ends early in Dynasty IV.
Type 3-XI1 a, dish-topped table:
(1) Garstang, Mahâsna and Bêt Khallâf, Pl. XXIX, 1 (Fig. 42, No. 12), 2, 3, 5 (Fig. 42, No. 13), 6, ala-
baster, from K 1, K 3, K 5.
See
¹ Petrie, Meydum and Memphis, Pl. XXV.
Scale¼
A
Figure42
0
DYN.I StoneVsl,TypesXIand I.
[173]
U
174 MYCERINUS
Type 3-XI1 b, flat-topped table:
(2) Garstang, Mahâsna
and Pl. XXIX, 7, 8 (Fig. 42, No. 14), 9 (Fig. 42, No. 15), alabaster,
Bêt
Khallâf,
from K 1, K 2, K 5.
Third Egyptian Dynasty, Pl. VIII, seven examples of alabaster, from R 1 and R 40.
(3) Quibell, El-Kab, Pl. X, 49, from stairway 6.
(4) Mace, Naga-’d-DêrII, p. 46, two examples, from small graves.
(5) Petrie and Quibell, Naqada and Ballâs, pp. 4-7, Pl. XVI, Nos. 167-170, from stairway tombs, B 201,
265, 353, 524, 764.
(6) Quibell, Tomb of Hesy, Pl. XXVII, 6, thirteen of alabaster and three of porphyry.
(7) Hearst Expedition, rnss. notes on Naga-’d-Dêr, six of alabaster, from the stairway tombs N 573, N 587,
N 599, and N 689; two of alabaster, from the shaft tomb N 561 and N 739 (time of Khaba); and five
of alabaster and two of limestone, from small graves.
(8) Harvard-Boston Expedition, mss. notes on Zawiat-el-Aryan, three alabaster, from Z 500, time of Khaba.
( E ) STONEVESSELSOF DYNASTY
IV
Dynasty IV witnessed a great change in the use of stone vessels in Egypt. The ceremonial-tradi-
tional character of many forms was exhibited by numerous examples of Dynasty III cited above,
although some fine examples continued to be placed in the great stairway and early shaft tombs. The
reign of Sneferuw brought the end of the old tradition of placing many stone vessels in the grave. A
number of fairly well made diorite bowls inscribed with his name have been found widely distributed
through Upper Egypt, and one very fine group of vessels was recorded from the tomb of Kamena at
El-Kab. I n this group was one of the beautiful round-bottomed bowls with flaring recurved rim made
of translucent diorite of which a few examples occur in Dynasties V and VI. This form is the one great
addition to the corpus of stone vessels known to us in Dynasty IV. But after the reign of Sneferuw,
the great mastabas in the royal cemeteries of Cheops and Chephren a t Giza contained few stone vessels,
and these seldom polished, while stone models, often quite rude, occurred in numbers and in a variety
of forms in these same mastabas. I n the smaller graves of Dynasty IV, stone vessels are extremely rare,
as rare as in any period of Egyptian history. The only stone types of the older period which are well
represented in Dynasty V are the cylindrical jar with flaring foot (and lid) and the bowl with recurved
rim (now often with a spout). Isolated examples of a few other older types have been found in Dynasty
V- the quasi-spheroidal ,jar with two handles, the flaring cup, and the small cup with band-rim; but
the most common vessels of this dynasty have new forms - the beautiful tapering jars, the similar jar
with flat base, and the small jars with collar, all of which are copies of pottery or metal forms of Dynasty
IV. Thus the use of stone vessels of the old traditional forms in private tombs came practically to an
end with the reign of Sneferuw. The fact that the tradition was maintained for the royal tombs of
both Dynasties IV and V emphasizes its abandonment in private graves.
The significance of this rather sudden decline in the manufacture of the old traditional forms of stone
vessels becomes clear when the fact is noted that contemporaneous with the decline of stone vessels
came the spread of the use of wheel-made pottery of fine forms, copying especially the types of stone
vessels with recurved rim. The question as to when the potter’s wheel came into general use is not easy
to answer. The manufacture of practicable and beautiful stone vessels diminished little in Dynasty II,
when stone vessels were certainly still being made for daily use. The vessels in the small graves of
Dynasty III are generally of a ceremonial character and appear to have been made for funerary pur-
poses, not for daily life. The conclusion seems obvious that pottery had taken the place of stone ves-
sels in daily life early in Dynasty 111, but the new wheel-made pottery does not appear until the very
end of that Dynasty. The conclusions which I think most plausible are: (1) that the potter’s wheel
was invented or introduced towards the end of Dynasty II; (2) that wheel-made pottery was intro-
duced for the purposes of daily life immediately after; (3) that the traditional forms of both stone
and pottery vessels, steadily degenerating, continued to be made for the grave during Dynasty III;
(4)that a t the end of Dynasty III the wheel-made pottery, having been long in use, began to be placed
in the graves; (5) that the traditional forms of stone vessels came practically to an end at the close of
the reign of Sneferuw; (6) that at Giza, stone models were substituted from the reign of Cheops
down; (7) that in Dynasty V, in Upper Egypt, a revival of the manufacture of very fine forms took place,
STONE VESSELS 175
but these were usually quite small models, and followed generally the forms of the Giza models. The
two larger forms are copies of wheel-made pottery jars of Dynasties IV-VI.

The cylindrical jar has taken on definitely the slender concave form with splayed foot. A few ex-
amples of the older form still occur, especially in dummy jars and in small models of alabaster and lime-
stone. One example of the later disk lid is recorded, and the shape is in general a transition to the fine
small jars of Dynasties V-VI and later. Needless to say, the cord around the neck has a t last disappeared.
FIGURE
43. DYN.IV. STONE ¼
VESSELS.SCALE
Type 4-1, c-d, cylindrical jar and dummy jar:

(1) Quibell, EZ-Kab, PI. X , 48, three from the Kamena tomb, mastaba A, reign of Sneferuw or Cheops; two
from mastaba B (later than A); two from mastaba C, pits 4 and 5 (later than B); one each from 318,
88, and 233. All of alabaster.
(2) Garstang, Third Egyptian Dynasty, PIs. 24, XXXII, one of alabaster and one of breccia, from R 63
(built just previous to R 64, date of Sneferuw or Cheops); PI. XXXI, two of alabaster, from R 92,
dated to Chephren or next reign.
(3) Petrie, Meydum and Memphis, Pl. XXIV, 6, 8, 9 (Fig. 43, Nos. 2, 1), alabaster, from shaft tomb 55
(No. 8 of pronounced splay form, has two small horizontal handles just under the rim, and also a
disk lid); Nos. 11-13, 15, fifteen of limestone and one of alabaster, all dummies, from shaft tomb 50.
(4) Harvard-Boston Expedition, mss. notes on great cemetery ut Giza Pyramids; one of alabaster from each
of the Chephren mastabas, G 4240 and G 4640 (Fig. 43, No. 3). This represents the total from eight
mastabas.
Type 4-1 e, model jar :
(5) Harvard-Boston Expedition, mss. notes on the great cemetery at Giza Pyramids.
G 4631 B, one fine alabaster, Dynasty V (Fig. 44, No. 2).
176 MYCERINUS
G 4530 A, one fine splay jar and one rude old form jar, limestone, Chephren (Fig. 44, Nos. 3, 6);
twelve, splay and straight forms, white limestone, Chephren.
G 5733 E, three of alabaster, both forms, Dynasty V (Fig. 44, Nos. 4, 5).
G 4520 B, one fine form, six, splay form, alabaster, Chephren (Fig. 44, No. 1).
Other examples of both forms and of some very rude forms were found in the mastabas, G 4341 A,
G 4631 B, and G 4733 E, all of Dynasty V.
(2) Type 4-III. Spheroidal Jar with Handles

The spheroidal jar with handles has also practically ceased, except for the examples in royal tombs.
Type 4-111, spheroidal jar with round bottom and undercut handles:
(1) Petrie, Meydum and Memphis (III),Pl. XXIV, 14, granite, from shaft tomb 50 (Fig. 43, No. 4).
(3) Type 4-IV. Shoulder Jar with Handles

The shoulder jar with horizontal handles has not been found in any private grave of Dynasty IV,
but does occur in the Mycerinus collection. A t Giza we found one small model, however, of a shoulder
FIGURE
44. DYN.IV-V. MODELSTONEVESSELS
jar with neck and two side handles, which seemed to be a model of the two-handled pottery jar (Fig.
44, No. 7). There were also two stone models of a one-handled necked jar (Fig. 44, Nos. 8, 9) also a
copy of a pottery form. Both these pottery forms occurred in the Cheops and Chephren mastabas.
(4) Type 4-V. Shoulder Jar without Handles

The shoulder jars also have practically disappeared. But the small stone models of a number of
different shapes (Fig. 44, Nos. 10, 11, 12) occur in the Chephren and later mastabas a t Giza. Some of
these are duplicated in pottery models and all seem to be imitations of pottery rather than stone forms.
The form with collar and small flat base, which is so characteristic a feature of the fine models of Dy-
nasties V-VI, occurs in both stone and pottery (Fig. 44, Nos. 13, 14).
STONE VESSELS 177
(5) Type 4-IX. Round-Bottomed Platter and Bowl

A few examples of round-bottomed platters and bowls occur as well as a large number of stone mod-
els, a t Giza only. The earlier vessels are well finished, but the later ones and the models are merely
smoothed.
Type 4-IX b, bowl:
(1) Petrie, Meydum and Memphis, Pl. XXIV, 1-3, alabaster, from shaft tomb 55 (Fig. 43, No. 5).
Type 4-IX c, bowl with internal rim:
(2) Harvard-Boston Expedition, mss. notes on the great cemetery at Giza Pyramids.
G 4640, alabaster, tapering body, sharp internal rim, contracted mouth, new form (Fig. 43, No. 6).
Type 4-IX d, models of platters, dishes, and bowls:
(3) Harvard-Boston Expedition, mss. notes on the great cemetery at Giza Pyramids, numerous examples in
alabaster and limestone, from the Chephren mastabas, G 4140 (Fig. 44, No. 18), G 4340 (Fig. 44,
No. 15), G 4520, and G 4530 (Fig. 44, Nos. 16, 17); also from the mastabas of Dynasty V, G 4631 B
(Fig. 44, Nos. 19,20), G 4733 E, etc.
(6) Type 4-X. Flat-Bottomed Dish and Bowl

The examples of flat-bottomed bowls and models are more numerous than those with round bottom,
as always heretofore. The earlier examples are again well finished, while the later are, in general, rude
and unpolished.
Type 4-X a (1) , plain rim :
(1) Harvard-Boston Expedition, mss. notes on Giza, one alabaster (diam., 24.6 cm.), from G 4640 (Fig. 43,
No. 7), Chephren; one diorite (diam., 18.2 cm.), from G 4733 E, Dynasty V.
Models: All the flat-bottomed model dishes have plain rim, or are dummies.
G 4140, fifteen, alabaster, Chephren (Fig. 44, Nos. 21-23).
G 4340, one, alabaster, Chephren (Fig. 44, No. 24).
G 4530, fifty of white limestone, Chephren.
G 4631 B, twelve, alabaster, Dynasty V (Fig. 44, Nos. 25-27).
G 4733 E, sixty-nine, alabaster, Dynasty V.
Type 4-X c, with internal rim, pans and bowls:
(2) Quibell, El-Kab, Pl. X, 35 (Pl.III), one from mastaba A (Kamena, time of Sneferuw or Chephren); one
from mastaba B (later than A), three from mastaba C (later than B), one from mastaba E, and four
from mastaba 288 (one with name of Sneferuw); one each from shaft tombs 318 and 319; all these
are of diorite.
(3) Garstang, Third Egyptian Dynasty, P1.25, one of alabaster, inscribed with name of Sneferuw,fromR64;
Pl. 31, one of diorite from R 92, dated to Chephren.
(4) Hearst Expedition, mss. notes on Naga-'d-Dêr, one of diorite from shaft tomb N 604.
(5) Harvard-Boston Expedition, mss. notes on Giza, two of alabaster (diam., 30 and 33 cm.), from mastaba
G4440, Chephren (Fig. 43, No. 8).
Type 4-X d, with internal rim, deep cup or open jar (bowl-jar) :
(6) Quibell, El-Kab, Pl. X, 39, one slate from mastaba 288; one alabaster (?) from shaft tomb 88; and one
from shaft 204 (?).
(7) Garstang, Third Egyptian Dynasty, Pls. 24, and XXXII, one diorite from R 63 (older than 64); one
diorite from R 94 (probably Chephren or later) (Fig. 43, No. 9).
Some of the more unusual variations of the flat-bottomed bowls which occurred in Dynasty III
are found also in Dynasty IV, but most of them only as models not as actual vessels.
Type 4-X a (3), straight-sided conical cup, models:
(8) Petrie, Meydum and Memphis, Pl. XXIV, 5, alabaster, from shaft tomb 55.
(9) Harvard-Boston Expedition, mss. notes on the great cemetery at Giza Pyramids, one alabaster from G 4140
and eight alabaster from G 4340, Chephsen (Fig. 44, Nos. 28,29).
See also herein cups of Cheops, p. 233.
Type 4-X e (3), cup with spout, models only, copying copper forms of Dynasties III-IV:
(10) Harvard-Boston Expedition, mss. notes on the great cemetery at Giza Pyramids, two ewer-form of ala-
baster from G 4140 and G 4530 (Fig. 44, No. 31), Chephren.
One example again occurs in Dynasty IV of the alabaster cup with concave sides and hollow in the
bottom, of which one example was noted in Dynasty 111.
Type 4-X b (4), flaring cup with concave sides and a cup-hollow in bottom inside (see Dynasty 111, same type) :
(11) Garstang, Third Egyptian Dynasty, Pl. XXXII, alabaster, from R 63, time of Sneferuw or Chephren;
Garstang notes that this is a copper form (Fig. 43, No. 10).
178 MYCERINUS
(7) T y p e 4-XI. C u p and Bowl with Recurved Rim

The two forms of cups and bowls with recurved rim still occur. But the small squat cup with low
band rim on the contracted mouth is recorded only in Upper Egypt a t El-Kab. Three examples of the
larger bowls are known, of which one, with upright rim, has a flat base, and two, one with upright and
one with flaring rim, have round bottoms. The bowl with flaring recurved rim is of translucent diorite
- a typical example of the beautiful bowls of Dynasties V and VI.
Type 4-XI b (3), deep bowl with upright recurved rim, round bottom:
(1) Quibell, El-Kab, Pl. X, 33 (Pl.III), one of porphyry from mastaba A (Kamena; name of Sneferuw),
(Fig. 43, No. 11).
Type 4-XI b (5), wide bowl with flaring recurved rim, round bottom:
(2) Quibell, El-Kab, Pl.III, one of translucent diorite, from mastaba A (Kamena; name of Sneferuw) (Fig.
43, No. 12).
Type 4-XI b (6), model as b (5) with spout: (3) Harvard-Boston Expedition, rnss. notes, limestone from G 4530
(Fig. 44, No. 30), Chephren.
Type 4-XI c (2), small squat cup with band rim on contracted mouth:
(4) Quibell, El-Kab, Pl. X, 44, one porphyry from mastaba C (later than Sneferuw) (Fig. 43, No. 13); one
diorite from shaft grave 319; one of “stone” from shaft grave 88.
(8) T y p e 4-XII. Flat-Topped Table

The flat-topped tables occur in most cemeteries of Dynasty IV, and in model forms in the Giza
mastabas.
Type 4-XI1 a, flat-topped table:
(1) Quibell, El-Kab, Pl. X, 49 (Fig. 43, No. 14), one of alabaster from mastaba A (Kamena; time of Sneferuw);
one in mastaba B, two in mastaba C, and one each in the shaft tombs 288 (time of Sneferuw) and 319,
all of alabaster.
(2) Garstang, Third Egyptian Dynasty, Pls. 24 and XXXII, alabaster, from R 63 (previous to R 64); Pl.
25, one alabaster from R 64 (time of Sneferuw).
(3) Harvard-Boston Expedition, mss. notes on Giza, one alabaster (diam., 47 cm.) from G 4440 (Chephren);
one alabaster (diam., 38 cm.) from N 4640 (Chephren).
Type 4-XI1 c, flat-topped table, models:
(4) Harvard-Boston Expedition, mss. notes on Giza, one of alabaster (diam., 10.5 cm.) from G 4530 (Cheph-
ren) (Fig. 44, No. 32) ; one of alabaster (diam., 17 cm.) from G 4631 B (Dynasty V), (Fig. 44, No. 33);
two alabaster (diam., 9.6 cm. and 6.7 cm.), from G 4733 E (Dynasty V) (Fig. 44, Nos. 34,35).
(9) T y p e 4-XIII. Bowl-Stands and Jar-Stands

The bowl-stands and jar-stands are represented in the models, but always with the bowl or jar at-
tached and made of the same piece of stone.
Type 4-XI11 a, bowl-stands, models :
(1) Harvard-Boston Expedition, mss. notes on Giza, G 4733 E, two, one of alabaster and one of limestone
(Fig. 44, Nos. 36, 37).
Type 4-XI11 b, jar-stands, models:
(2) Harvard-Boston Expedition, mss. notes on Giza, G 4520, two examples of alabaster; G 4631, one of ala-
baster (Fig. 44, No. 13).
2. STONE VESSELS OF MYCERINUS
( A ) PROVENIENCE
(SEE Pls. 66 b, c; 32 d; 71 f.)
The majority of the stone vessels were found in the valley temple magazines north of the central
offering room, especially in rooms (111, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13). The vessels with very few exceptions
were broken, but the fragments were on the floor of the Dynasty IV mud-brick temple (the first mud-
brick temple). Although broken, many complete vessels were pieced together from the fragments. It
is possible that the breakage was done intentionally a t the time when the vessels were deposited; but
part a t least was due to the decay of the structure and to plundering. The middle rooms, (8), (14), and
(15), had been entirely cleared out except for some fragments under the edges of the walls. The débris
of the courtyard in the northwest quarter opposite these rooms contained a large number of fragments
of stone vessels, some of which fitted on fragments found in the rooms. The fragments in the courtyard
STONE VESSELS 179
were under the house walls, proving that the plundering of the magazines took place in Dynasty V. Other
fragments were found scattered even as far as the house walls east of the front wall of the temple. A
fragment of the hard stone squat jar, No. 64, found in (III,7), was recovered in (I, 3); and a fragment
of the flint bowl of Ra-neb, from (111, 7), was found in floor debris in the northwest corner of the court.
Fragments were found in the debris of the latest houses, and I believe, therefore, that the theft of stone
fragments for the manufacture of model saucers continued during Dynasty VI. Many unfinished exam-
ples of stone models were found, and, while most of them were undoubtedly made of fragments of
statues, some of the saucers may have been made of fragments of vessels.
( B ) DATE OF THE STONE

VESSELS
A few of the stone vessels were inscribed, and in every such case the inscription gave the name of an
earlier king. The examples were as follows:
(1) Pl. 70 c. A bowl made of a flint nodule. The last inscription consists of a figure of a cat-headed goddess
seated facing to right and immediately in front of her a hawk with the double crown on a frame which
contains the Horus name, Hetep-sekhemuwy. This was incised on an erasure, To the right of the
Horus frame, a partly erased inscription is seen, hawk and frame containing the name, Ra-neb. Traces
of inscription are also visible above the seated goddess and a little to the left, which seem to indicate
a third Horus name entirely erased. The conclusion results that Hetep-sekhemuwy was later in date
than Ra-neb; that on the Cairo statue (No. 1) the order of the three names should be read: Ra-neb,
Netery-muw, and Hetep-sekhemuwy (see p. 103, note 1). That is, the name of the living king was
placed first, then the oldest and then the predecessor of the living king.
(2) Fig. 57, No. 37. A diorite bowl with a Horus name scratched inside. The name is illegible, but the
traces suggest Hetep-sekhemuwy.
(3) Fig. 57, No. 38. A diorite bowl with the name of Sneferuw in a cartouche scratched on the inside.
(4) Fig. 57, No. 2. A diorite bowl with the name of Sneferuw without a cartouche; scratched.
(5) Fig. 46, No. 99. Fragment of an alabaster cylindrical jar incised with the corner of a rectangular frame;
inside the frame is the double crown of a figure, but the rest was never found.
No stone vessel was found with the name of Mycerinus himself.
On pp. 102-105, the significance of these older names has been discussed, and the conclusion drawn
that the greater part of the stone vessels were made for the Mycerinus tomb and although many of them
were still unfinished, all were placed in the temple by Shepseskaf as they were.
(C) TECHNIQUE
OF THE STONEVESSELS
I n general it may be said that, while almost all the forms of stone vessels are related to older forms
of Dynasties I-III, the examples found in the Mycerinus temples, in common with those found in
Dynasty IV mastabas, are generally crude and heavy. The walls are thick, and the smoothing is care-
less, even in finished specimens. I n other words, the technique of the vessels of this period shows a
general deterioration.
At the same time, the pottery of Dynasty V, especially in the large mastabas, shows a variety of fine
practical forms beautifully made on the wheel. Thus it is clear that for ordinary household purposes
the new pottery had displaced the stone vessels and that the stone vessels found in the tombs were made
for funerary purposes as a matter of tradition. They were not taken from palace furniture, but were
made for the grave. The fact that a few examples of beautifully finished vessels have been found in this
and later periods shows that the crudeness of the work was not due to lack of skill but to haste and
carelessness.
The methods of boring stone vessels with a boring stone fixed in a forked shaft weighted a t the top
and turned by a crank¹continued to be used for all sorts of vessels.² The cylindrical hole was enlarged
by rubbing with a stone held in the hand. The outside seems to have been finished by rubbing, but
some of the unfinished hard stone vessels showed bruising marks as if they had been roughly formed
before boring by hammering. No evidence was found of turning, such as concentric scratches on the
outside of the vessel.
See
I, p. 1.
²
See Davies, Gebrâwi
I, Pls. XIII, XIV, XXIV; Steindorff, Grub des Ti, P1.134:
180 MYCERINUS
I n addition to the stone borer, a cylindrical tube borer was also used, especially for limestone and
alabaster. The cutting edge appears to have been flat and left a groove about three millimeters wide.¹
I n two cases where no attempt had been made to smooth away the stump of the core, the groove con-
tained a fine gritty powder, not unlike pumice, tinged with green copper oxide. From this, it is to be
concluded that the tube was of copper or of some alloy composed largely of copper. The tube may have
been weighted with stones and worked by a crank handle or turned back and forth between the palms of
the hands. The grooves on the cores and on the unsmoothed sides appear to be spiral, as if the turn-
ing were continuous in one direction. The outside surface was finished by rubbing, as in the case of
the stone-bored vessels.
The holes in the handles had been bored from both sides and are widened a t the entrances by the
lateral play of the borer. They may have been made by a flint or copper drill set in the end of a round
stick and turned by hand.² Pumice-like powder was probably used to increase the bite of the point.
( D ) MATERIALS
The total number of stone vessels, actually pieced together and drawn, from fragments found in the
Mycerinus valley temple, was 546. In addition there was a large number of unattached fragments
representing a t least a hundred vessels or more. When the plundering and scattering are taken into
account, it may be reasonably assumed that several hundred vessels have entirely disappeared and the
whole number of vessels originally in the magazines of the valley temple was something over 800. At
the pyramid temple, the vessels actually represented by the fragments found was less than 100. The
magazine spaces in the pyramid temple were altogether much less than a t the valley temple, and it
may be concluded that the original number of stone vessels a t the pyramid temple was also much less,
possibly 200 or 300. For the present statistical purpose I take the 537 vessels drawn from the remains
a t the valley temple. The number of these is so great that the percentages based on them will prob-
ably not be far removed from the original percentages. I n any case these vessels form the most reliable
body of evidence now available.
The following table shows the numbers and the percentages of the vessels arranged according to
material :
Material Types Forms Number Per cent
Alabaster. ...................................... 11 27 310 56.78
Porphyry and syenite.. ........................... 6 12 79 14.47
Diorite.. ....................................... 8 22 74 13.55
Blue-veined limestone. ........................... 4 6 50 9.16
Basalt .......................................... 4 8 21 3.85
Slate.. ......................................... 3 3 3 .55
Red and white breccia. ........................... 2 3 3 .55
Volcanic ash.. ................................... 2 3 3 .55
Rose quartz-crystal .............................. 1 1 1 .18
Flint.. ......................................... 1 1 1 .18
Yellow limestone. ................................ 1 1 1 .18
__
Totals ..................................... 33 42 546 100.00
The significance of these percentages has already been discussed in the section on Stone Vessels of Dy-
nasty I (p. 139). Diorite, although known in scattered examples in the royal tombs of Dynasty I, was
greatly favored in the tomb of Khasekhemuwy and became popular in the large tombs of Dynasty III.
The blue-veined limestone is, I believe, included in the “grey marble” mentioned by Petrie, the “mar-
ble” of Naga-’d-Dêr
I, the blue marble of Khasekhemuwy, and the veined marble of the Khaba ves-
sels. Like the diorite, it was more frequent in the tomb of Khasekhemuwy than previously. The basalt
is the same coarse brown stone as that of the Predynastic Period and the Abydos tombs. The slate,
the breccia, and the volcanic ash were materials much more frequent in the Early Dynastic Period and
See
¹ Yetrie, Pyramids, Pl. XIV, 7, 8, p. 175, bottom.
See
² bow-drill used on wood. Steindorff, Grub des Ti,PI. 133; inscription See also hand drilling of
stone, l.c., inscription ;also Davies, Gebrâwi
I, Pl.
XIII, Reg. 3.
FIGURE
45
ALABASTER.TYPEI. SCALEFigure45Alabster.TypeI.Scale1/0
FIGURE 46
ALABASTER.TYPEI. SCALEFigure46Alabster.TypeI.Scale1/0
[181]
182 MYCERINUS
were evidently no longer in common use in the time of Mycerinus. The slate and ash which were so
often employed for the large bowls of Dynasty I were really unsuited for use by reason of their fragility.
The red and white breccia was very hard and seems never to have been quarried in large pieces, but
FIGURE
48
ALABASTER. TYPE IV. SCALE 1/10
picked up as small boulders on the desert. The two vessels, one of quartz-crystal and the other of flint,
were, of course, tours deforce of technical skill. The flint bowl was made in Dynasty II or before.
The distribution of the type-forms among the various materials was as follows:
(1) Alabaster: total, 310 vessels = 56.78 per cent of all,
Number Percent Per cent
Type of group of all
V a, b, c, e Shoulder jar, no handles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140 45.16 25.64

I a, b, c, d Cylindrical jar. ............................ 105 33.87 19.23
IV e Shoulder jar, rim, handles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 12.90 7.33
X a, b Bowl and cup, flat bottom.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 3.23 1.83
XI b Bowl, recurved rim.. ....................... 5 1.61 .92
VIII a, b, c Pointed jar, Pl. 67 a (4/7); 68 b (2/3) . . . . . . . . . . . 3 .97 .55
XII b Flat-topped table, PI. 68 (row 1, No. 3); 69 e . 2 .65 .37
XIII b Jar-stand, Pl. 68 a (row 1, No. 5; row 2, No. 2) 2 .65 .37
VI b Jar with knob handles, PI. 67 b (row 1, No. 2) . 1 .32 .18
VII a Jar with ledge handles, Pl. 67 b (row 1, No. 1). 1 .32 .18
IX a Dish with round bottom, Pl. 68 a (row 5, No. 2) 1 .32 .18
__ __
Totals.. ................................ 310 100.00 56.78
STONE VESSELS 183
FIGURE 49
ALABASTER.TYPEV. SCALE1/10
FIGURE50
TYPES.SCALE1/10
ALABASTER.MISCELLANEOUS
(2) Porphyry and syenite: total, 79 vessels = 14.47 per cent of all,
Number Per cent Per cent
Type of group of all
III a, b, c Spheroidal jar with handles, Pl. 70 a . ......... 3 6 45.57 6.59
V c, e Shoulder jar, no handles, Pl. 70 b ............ 29 36.71 5.31
Ic Cylindrical jar, Pl. 69 d .................... 10 12.65 1.83
XI b Bowl, recurved rim, Pl. 70 b (2; 2) .......... 2 2.53 .37
IV e Shoulder jar, rim, handles, Pl. 70 a (2) ....... 1 1.27 .18
IX b Deep bowl with round bottom, Pl. 70 b (3) ... __1 1.27 .18
Totals.. ................................ 79 100.00 14.47
FIGURE51
ALABASTER.TYPEV c . SCALE1/10
FIGURE52
ALABASTER.MODELVESSELSAND Two OTHERS. SCALE1/10
[184]
I
FIGURE 53
1/10
HARDSTONE.TYPESI, IV, V, IX, XI. SCALE
FIGURE54
1/10
HARDSTONE.TYPEVE. SCALE
FIGURE55
1/10
HARDSTONE.TYPE111. SCALE
[185]
186 MYCERINUS
(3) Diorite: total, 74 vessels = 13.55 per cent of all, Per cent Per cent
Type Number of groups of all
X a, b, c Bowl, flat bottom, PI. 69 b . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 55.40 7.51
XI b, c Bowl, recurved rim, PI. 69 a (2-3) . . . . . . . . . . . 11 14.90 2.02
IX a, b, c Dish, round bottom, PI. 69 a (4/1,3-6). ........ 12 16.20 2.20
III b, c Spheroidal jar with handles, PI. 70 a (1/1, 2, 4; 2/1) 4 5.40 .73
V b, c, e Shoulder jar, no handles, PI. 69 a (1/1;1/4; 2/7) . . . 3 4.05 .55
Ic Cylindrical jar, PI. 69 d (1/2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 1.305 .18
IV e Shoulder jar, rim, handles, PI. 70 a (2/2) . . . . . . . . 1 1.305 .18
XII b Flat-topped table, PI. 69 c (No. 2) . . . . . . . . . . . 1 1.305 .18
__
Totals.. ................................ 74 100.00 13.55
FIGURE
56
DIORITE. MISCELLANEOUS 1/10
TYPES. SCALE
FIGURE
57
DIORITE.TYPESIX 1/10
AND X. SCALE
STONE VESSELS 187
(4) Blue-veined limestone: total, 50 vessels = 9.16 per cent of all, Per cent Per cent
Type Number of group of all
v c Shoulder jar, squat, Pl. 68 d ................ 45 90.00 8.24
IV e Shoulder jar, rim, handles, Pl. 70 d (1/4, 5; 2/3) . . 3 6.00 .55
III c Quasi-spheroidal jar, handles, PI. 70 a (3/3) ..... 1 2.00 .18
XC Bowl, flat bottom, Pl. 68 d (1/3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 2.00 .18
__
Totals.. ................................ 50 100.00 9.16
FIGURE58
BLUE-VEINED
LIMESTONE.
TYPES111, IV, V, AND 1/10
X. SCALE
(5) Basalt: total, 21 vessels = 3.91 per cent of all, Per cent Per cent
Type Number of group of all
X a, c Bowl, flat bottom, PI. 70 d (1/1-3; 2/1-3,5; 3/1-2,5) 11 52.381 2.05
I b, c Cylindrical jar, PI. 70 d (4/1-6)............... 6 28.571 1.12
II a, b Egg-shaped jar, foot, handles, Pl. 70 d 2/4; 3/3) . . 2 9.524 .37
IX b Bowl, round bottom, Pl. 70 d (1/4, 5) . . . . . . . . . 2 9.524 .37
__
Totals.. ................................ 21 100.00 3.91
FIGURE59
BASALT.MISCELLANEOUS 1/10
TYPES.SCALE
188 MYCERINUS
(6) Slate: total, 3 vessels = 0.56 per cent of all,
Ic Cylindrical jar, Pl. 70 d (4/7) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
v c Squat shoulder jar, no handles, Pl. 70 b (3/3) . . . 1
Xa Bowl, flat bottom, PI. 70 d (3/4) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
__
Total.. ................................. 3
FIGURE60
STONES.SCALE1/10
MISCELLANEOUS
(7) Red and white breccia: total, 3 vessels = 0.56 per cent of all,
III c Quasi-spheroidal jar, handles, Pl. 68 b (1/1) . . . . 1
Vb Barrel-shaped jar, Pl. 68 b (1/2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
v c Squat shoulder jar, Pl. 68 b 1/3) .............. 1
__
Total.. ................................. 3
(8) Volcanic ash: total, 3 vessels = 0.56 per cent of all,

I V a, Jar, two handles, old type, Pl. 70 b (1/6; 1/7) .... 2
Vb Barrel-shaped jar, no handles, Pl. 70 b (1/1) .... 1
__
Total.. ................................. 3
(9) Rose quartz-crystal: one example = 0.19 per cent of all,

Ic Cylindrical jar, Pl. 68 b (3/2)
(10) Flint: one example = 0.19 per cent of all,

Xa Flat-bottomed bowl with plain rim, inscribed, PI. 70 c
(11) Yellow limestone: one example = 0.19 per cent of all,

XI e (2) Small squat cup with band-rim on contracted mouth.
Thus alabaster was used for the greatest number of forms, but mainly for the four types of jars, exclud-
ing squat jars with handles, but including a large number of shoulder jars both with and without handles.
The porphyry and syenite were used mainly for the spheroidal and quasi-spheroidal jars, for shoulder
jars without handles, and for cylindrical jars. Diorite was used chiefly for bowls and cups; blue-veined
limestone, for squat shoulder jars without handles; and basalt, for bowls and cylindrical jars.
STONE VESSELS 189
(E) FORMS
OF THE MYCERINUS
STONEVESSELS
The 546 stone vessels sufficiently recovered to be drawn were divided among thirteen different types
which presented 36 sub-types or variations. These thirteen types were represented by various numbers
of examples as follows :
Number Per cent Number Per cent
Type I, cylindrical jar:
a. With cord in relief. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 0.37
b. With plain band or ridge. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 1.10
c. Plain forms and dummies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109 19.96
d. Splay-footed forms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 1.28 124 22.71
Type 11, egg-shaped jar with foot and handles:
a. Same as PD-II
a . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 1 0.18
c. Same as PD-IIc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. __
1 0.18
__
2 0.37
Type 111 , spheroidal jar with handles:
a. Round bottom. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 2.56
b. Flat bottom.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 .55
c. Quasi-spheroidal jar = 3-IIIc . . . . . . . . . . 25 4.58 42 7.69
Type IV, swelling and shoulder jar, handles:
a. Swelling form = 1-IV a.. . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 2 0.37
e. Tall form = 3-IV e . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 8.24 47 8.61
Type V, swelling and shoulder jar, no handles:
a. True shoulder jar.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 0.18
b. Truncated ovoid or barrel-shaped. . . . . . . . 40 7.33
c. Broad shoulder jar, squat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169 30.95
e. Form IV e, without handles. . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
__
2.02
__
221 40.48
Type VI, swelling jar with knob-handles:
b. Tall form = 1-VI b. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . __
1 0.18
__
1 0.18
Type VII, degenerate wavy-handled jar :
a. Two handles, pierced vertically. . . . . . . . . . __
1 0.18
__
1 0.18
Type VIII, pointed jar:
b. Short neck, convex base. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 0.18
c. Neckless, wavy body.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 0.18
d. Neck (?), with conical base. . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 0.18 3 0.55
Type IX, round-bottomed dish and bowl:
a. Shallow saucer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 0.73
b. Deep cup and bowl . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 1.10 16 2.93
c. With internal rim.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . __
6 1.10
__
Type X, flat-bottomed dish and bowl:

a. Plain rim, cup and bowl . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 3.30
b (4). Plain rim with cup hollow. . . . . . . . . . . 3 0.55
a (3). “Conical cup’’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 1.28
c. Internal rim.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 6.41
c (5). Deep bowl, with spout. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 0.18
e (3). Tall bowl-jar with spout. . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 0.18 65 11.90
Type XI, bowl and cup with external rim:
b (2). Flat bottom, upright recurved rim. . . . 3 0.55
b (3). Round bottom, upright recurved rim. . 3 0.55
b (4). Flat bottom, flaring recurved rim. . . . . 2 0.37
b ( 5 ) . Round bottom, flaring recurved rim. . . 5 0.92
b (6). Round bottom, exaggerated flaring rim
andspout.. . .. . . . .... . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 0.19
e (2). Squat cup with band-rim on contracted
mouth.. . . . . .. . .. . . . . . .. ... .. .... __
5 0.92
__
19 3.48
Type XII b, flat-topped table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. __

3 0.55
__
3 0.55
Type XIII b, jar-stand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . __2 0.37

__
2 0.37
__
Totals. . . . . . . , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 546 100.00

190 MYCERINUS
A clearer view of the relative importance of the chief sub-types in the Mycerinus valley temple col-
lection is gained when they are arranged in the order of their frequency:
Period before
Type Number Per cent Mycerinus
(1) V c Broad shoulder squat jar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169 30.95 Dyn. I to Dyn. III
(2) I a-d Cylindrical jar ............................ 124 22.71 E. P. to Dyn. III
(3) IV e Tall shoulder jar, two handles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 8.24 Khas. to Dyn. III
(4) V b (2) Truncated ovoid jar ....................... 40 7.33 Dyn. I to Dyn. III
(5) X c Bowl, flat bottom, internal rim . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 6.41 Zer to Dyn. III
(6) III c Quasi-spheroidal jar, handles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 4.58 Khas. to Dyn. III
(7) X a Cup and bowl, flat bottom, plain rim . . . . . . . . 18 3.30 Dyn. 0 to Dyn. III
(8) III a, b Spheroidal jar, flat and round bottom . . . . . . . . 17 3.11 a. M. P. to Dyn. III
b. Dyn. I to Dyn. III
(9) X I b (2-6) Bowl with recurved rim .................... 14 2.56 (2) Khas. to Dyn. III
(3) Khaba to Myc.
(4) Not found.
(5) Sneferuw-Myc.
(6) Not found.
(10) V e Tall shoulder jar without handles . . . . . . . . . . . 11 2.02 Dyn. III
(11) I X a, b Round-bottomed cup and bowl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 1.83 D y n .ItoD y n .III
IX c Same with internal rim ...................... 6 1.10 Not found
(12) X a (3) Slender conical cup ........................ 7 1.28 Khas. to Dyn. III
(13) X I c (2) Small squat cup, band-rim . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 .92 Khas. to Dyn. III
(14) XII b Flat-topped table ......................... 3 .55 Khas. to Dyn. III
(15) X b (4) Bowl, flaring with cup hollow.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 .55 Dyn. III
(16) VIII b-d Pointed jar ............................... 3 .55 Not found
(17) XIII Jar-stand ................................. 2 .37 Not found
(18) II a, b Egg-shaped jar, foot, handles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 .37 E. P. to M. P.
(19) IV b Swelling jar with two handles.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 .37 M. P. to Dyn. I.
(20) VI b Jar with two knob handles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 .18 Dyn. 0 to Dyn. I
(21) VII a Degenerate wavy-handled jar. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 .18 Dyn. 0 to Dyn. I
(22) V a (2) True shoulder jar. ......................... 1 .18 Dyn. I to Dyn. III
(23) X c (5) Cup with open spout. ...................... 1 .18 Not found
(24) X e (3) Bowl-jar with spout. ....................... 1 .18 Dyn. III
__ __
546 100.00
It will be noted that: (I) twenty-seven of the forty-two forms mentioned above occurred in graves
of Dynasty I I I ; (2) all the forms represented by more than three examples occurred in Dynasty 111;
(3) six forms appear to have been introduced by Khasekhemuwy; three forms, in Dynasty I I I ; one,
in the reign of Khaba; one, in the reign of Sneferuw; and four forms, in Dynasty IV; thus fifteen of
the sub-types of the Mycerinus collection have not been found in Dynasty I ; (4) Type II, represented
by two examples, has not been found after the Middle Predynastic Period; three sub-types, not after
Dynasty I ; thus five forms are archaic and disconnected from the rest.
Considered functionally, these vessels may be grouped in three divisions. It must be remembered
that some of them are not really practicable vessels, but are grouped according to the function of the
vessels for which they stand :
Number Per cent
Group A . Jars used as containers of oils, perfumes, etc. :
Type I Cylindrical jar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124 22.71
Type III Spheroidal and quasi-spheroidal jar ............................ 42 7.69
Type IV Shoulder jar with two handles ................................ 47 8.61
Type V Shoulder jar, including squat jar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221 40.48
Type VIII Pointed jar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 .55
__
437 80.04
Obsolete forms:
Type II Jar with foot and two handles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 .37
Type VI Jar with two knob handles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 .18
Type VII Jar with degenerate wavy handles.. ............................ 1 .18
__
441 80.77
STONE VESSELS 191
Group B. Cups and bowls, drinking and libation vessels: Number Per cent
Type IX Round-bottomed cup and bowl ................................ 16 2.93

Type X Flat-bottomed cup and bowl .................................. 65 11.90
Type XI b Bowl with recurved rim ...................................... 14 2.56
__
95 17.39
Type XI c Cup (perhaps for ointment) .................................. 5 .92
__
100 18.31
Group C . Tables and jar-stands:
Type XII Flat-topped table ........................................... 3 0.55
Type XIII Jar-stand ................................................... 2 0.36
__
5 0.92
Thus the jars of various sorts make 81 per cent of the total, while the bowls and cups make only
17 per cent. The following table shows the relative percentages of these functional groups in the previ-
ous dynasties. The figures for the royal tombs of Dynasty I at Abydos (abbrev. Aby.) are taken from
Professor Petrie’s plates and the list in Royal Tombs 11 of undrawn vessels.
Naga-’d-D&rI
Aby. Aby. M. Dyn. I Dyn. II Khas. Hesy Myc.
Per cent Per cent Per cent Per cent Per cent Per cent Per cent
Group A . . . . . 19.89 43.01 35.00 39.84 24.68 51.22 80.77
Group B . .... 79.84 55.915 61.67 60.16 71.67 28.05 18.31
Group C . . . . . .27 .... 1.67 .... 1.50 19.51 .92
Group D (wine jars) ? .... .... .... 2.15 1.22 ....
The weak point in all these statistics is in the absence of an exact record for the Abydos royal tombs,
including Khasekhemuwy. In the first and fifth columns, therefore, the figures are unreliable, and it is
to be assumed that the number of cylindrical jars should be increased in each of these two columns so
that Group A would become 35 per cent to 45 per cent with a corresponding reduction in Group B. I
think the conclusion may be drawn that these functional groups remained fairly constant from Dynasty
I to Dynasty 111, but towards the end of Dynasty III the jars (Group A) became predominant. Thus
the great excess of Group A in the Mycerinus collection is the result of a tendency manifested in the
preceding dynasty.
(1) Type I . Cylindrical Jar
The cylindrical jar was the second in point of numbers in the Mycerinus collection. It is one of the
well known forms of all the earlier periods¹and has a long history after Dynasty IV. Although none
of the earlier examples have been found with their contents intact, the function of the jar as a container
for oils and perfumes is quite clear from the reliefs of Dynasties III and IV² where it appears as the
determinative for these substances. These reliefs also show us how the jars were closed with a cloth or
piece of hide or gold leaf drawn over the top and tied with a string about the neck below the rim. I n
some cases the string was secured with a seal of mud or perhaps wax. It is to be noted that neither the
cylindrical nor any other form appears to be reserved for a particular kind of oil or perfume. I n this
connection, the fact may be recalled that Professor Petrie found certain cylindrical jars of pottery to
contain fat, or fat mixed with mud.³
The material most commonly used for the Mycerinus cylindrical jars was alabaster:
Number Per cent
Alabaster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105 = 84.67
Porphyry and syenite. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 = 8.06
Basalt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 = 4.84
Diorite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1= .81
Slate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1= .81
Rose quartz. . ................................................................. 1= .81
__ __
124 100.00
See
¹ type PD-I, 1-I,2-I,3-I,and4-I.
See
² especially Petrie, Medum, Pls. XIII-XV; and Quibell, Tomb of Hesy, Pls. XXI and X.
3 Petrie and Quibell, Naqada and Ballâs, p. 39.
192 MYCERINUS
And indeed alabaster was the material always used by preference for this type of jar from the Predynastic
Period downwards.
The type is represented by six variations of the form (7 examples of I d) :
Number
(a) Type I a, cord in relief around neck. .................................................. 2
Alabaster, Fig. 45, No. 1; Fig. 46, No. 46
(b) Type I b (1), plain band in relief around neck. .......................................... 4
Alabaster, Fig. 45, Nos. 10, 26, 27, 36
(c) Type I b (2), ridge around neck. ...................................................... 2
Alabaster, Fig. 45, No. 37
Basalt, Fig. 59, No. 22
(d) Type I c (1), plain body with heavy rim. .............................................. 109
Alabaster, Fig. 45, Nos. 2-9, 11-25, 28-35, 38
Fig.46,Nos.39-45, 47-99 .................................. 92
Porphyry, Fig. 53, Nos. 1-8 .. ........................................ 8
Syenite, Fig. 53, No. 9 . . ............................................. 1
Diorite, Fig. 56, No. 1 4 . . ............................................ 1
Basalt, Fig. 59, Nos. 17-21. .......................................... 5
Rose quartz-crystal, Fig. 60, No. 7 . . .................................. 1
Slate, Fig. 60, No. 8 . . ............................................... 1
(e) Type I c (2), plain body, rimless mouth. ............................................... 5
Alabaster, Fig. 47, Nos. 102-105
(f) Type I c (3), plain body, rimless mouth, line around mouth. .............................. 2
__

Porphyry, Fig. 53, No. 10
Total ............................................................... 124
It may be added that examples of cylindrical jars made of copper probably also occurred.
(2) Type I I . Egg-Shaped Jar (Old Form)

The egg-shaped jar with flat rim, small foot stand, and two handles is one of the original early pre-
dynastic stone forms (PD-11). I n the Predynastic Period the type usually occurs in basalt, but also in
limestone; and basalt is the material used in the two examples of the Mycerinus collection. No other
example of this type is known to me after the Predynastic Period, and its reappearance in the Myceri-
nus valley temple comes as a surprise. One of the examples, although incomplete, appears to be of the
typical predynastic form, while the other presents a degeneration of that form. The temptation is to
assume that these two jars were taken from some older sanctuary or cemetery. In that case, the other
basalt vessels might be assumed to be of the same origin; but. basalt was used freely in Dynasty I,
and the group, as a whole, could not be previous to that time.
The egg-shaped jar with foot stand and handles belongs functionally with the other small, handled
jars which are proved to have contained oils and perfumes. But its origin is clearly different from that
of the other stone jars. The suggestion that it originated in a mounted ostrich-egg vessel is obvious
and attractive; but it must then be assumed that the handles were developed in the stone form by
analogy, perhaps, with the barrel-shaped stone vessel.
The two vessels constitute 0.37 per cent of the total number, and both are of basalt (i.e., 100per cent
of the type). The examples are as follows:
Number
(a) Type II a, true egg-shaped (old form) ................................................... 1
( b ) Type II c, slender, degenerate form ..................................................... 1
(3) Type I I I . Squat Jar with Two Handles

The squat jar with two handles is the descendant of the spheroidal jar with two handles, which
began in the Middle Predynastic Period and continued to Dynasty 111. The two main variations of the
Mycerinus collection are Third Dynasty types, 3-111 a and 3-111 c. The type 3-111 c, the quasi-
spheroidal jar, is especially common; but three examples occur with disk base, and for these no proto-
type is known nearer than Dynasty I , type 1-III b.
STONE VESSELS 193
The reliefs and paintings of Dynasty III place this type functionally with the containers of oils and
perfumes. The pictured examples are represented as closed and sealed like the other perfume jars.
In numbers the squat jar with handles takes fifth place in the Mycerinus collection (7.69 per cent).
In most cases the handles were not pierced, but three examples had pierced handles and three undercut
handles. The examples were very rude as a rule and badly finished; the hollows were seldom worked
out. This type was always a hard-stone form; and in our collection, also, 95 per cent of the examples
are of porphyry and diorite.
Number Per cent
Porphyry and syenite ............................................................ 36 = 85.71
Diorite ......................................................................... 4 = 9.52
Blue-veined limestone. ........................................................... 1 = 2.38
Red and white breccia. .......................................................... 1 = 2.38
- -
Totals ....................................................................... 42 = 100.00
The variations corresponding to those of Dynasties 1-III are as follows:

Number
Type III a, round bottom. ................................................................ 14
Porphyry, Fig. 55, Nos. 1-14
Type III b,disk base ..................................................................... 3
Porphyry, Fig. 55, No. 15 (pierced)
Diorite, Fig. 56, Nos. 22, 23 (pierced)
Type III c, flat bottom (quasi-spheroidal) .................................................. 25
Porphyry, Fig. 55, Nos. 16-35 and one other. .............................. 21
Diorite, Fig. 56, Nos. 24 (pierced), 25 .................................... 2
Blue-veined limestone, Fig. 58, No. 4 . . ................................... 1
Red and white breccia, Fig. 60, No. 3 (undercut handles) ..................... 1
(4) Type IV. Shoulder Jar with Handles

The older forms of shoulder jar with two horizontal handles was replaced in Dynasty III by a new
variation, a taller jar with marked shoulder and wide rim; and it is this Third Dynasty form which is
most common in the Mycerinus collection. But two small examples were found in our collection similar to
the older type of Dynasty I, and the Late Predynastic Period, both of volcanic ash and one with disk base.
The taller shoulder jar with horizontal handles usually has the mouth and rim of a separate piece
cemented to the body. As many of these rim pieces were broken and incomplete, they could not always
be identified with their jars, and a number of jars had to be drawn without the rim, but it must be as-
sumed that these also had a rim like the others. The shapes vary considerably in proportions and in the
curvature of the sides; but the type is virtually that of Dynasty 111, as stated above. That type is
evidently descended from the two-handled jars of Dynasty I,¹ and these in turn from the two-handled
barrel-shaped jars of the Middle Predynastic Period (PD-IV a and b).
The taller shoulder jar with handles is represented by 45 examples which constitute 8.24 per cent of
the total vessels in the Mycerinus collection. The material most commonly employed is alabaster.
Number Per cent
Alabaster ....................................................................... 40 = 89.0
Blue-veined limestone. ........................................................... 3 = 6.8
Porphyry.. ..................................................................... 1 = 2.1
Diorite.. ....................................................................... 1 = 2.1
- -
Totals. .................................................................... 45 = 100.00
Number
Type IV a (1) and (2), old types with disk base or plain base. ................................. 2
Volcanic ash, Fig. 60, No. 4 (disk base), No. 5 (plain base)
Type IV e, shoulder jar with two handles (rim usually separate) ............................... 45
Alabaster, Fig. 48, Nos. 1-37 and three others.. ............................ 40
Porphyry, Fig. 53, No. 1 2 . . ............................................. 1
Diorite, Fig. 56, No. 26 (handles unpierced) ............................... 1
Blue-veined limestone, Fig. 58, Nos. 1-3. .................................. 3
Cf.
¹ type 1-IV c, d.
194 MYCERINUS
(5) Type V . Shoulder Jar without Handles

The shoulder jar occurs in the usual variations of Dynasty 111. The true shoulder jar is certainly
present in one example (type V a), but eleven vessels have the form of the handled jar (type IV e),
without the handles, and the rim is often a separate piece, as in that type. The body without the flat
rim occurs also in Dynasty III and has been included by me under the deep bowls with internal rim
(type 3-X d). The form with flat rim, of which one example was found in Dynasty III (type 3-V e),
is here designated type V e following the precedent set for Dynasty 111.
The most numerous of the jars without handles is the truncated ovoid or barrel-shaped type (V b).
This was one of the characteristic features of the stone vessels of Dynasties II and III but examples
are known as early as Dynasty I. The jars of the Mycerinus collection are of the traditional-ceremonial
form of Dynasty 111. The barrel-shaped jar is represented in the Hesy painting, although perhaps in
a large size.¹ I n the Mycerinus collection there are forty examples of this form, constituting 7.33 per
cent of the whole. The favorite material was alabaster as in Dynasties II and 111.
Number
Type V a (2), true shoulder jar ............................................................ 1
Type V b (2), truncated ovoid or barrel-shaped jar ........................................... 40
Alabaster, Fig. 49, Nos. 1-37.. ........................................... 37
Diorite, Fig. 56, No. 1 5 . . ................................................ 1
Volcanic ash, Fig. 60, No. 6 .............................................. 1
Red and white breccia, Fig. 60, No. 1 ...................................... 1
Type V e, form of the handled jar IV e, without handles ...................................... 11
Alabaster, Fig. 50, Nos. 4-10.. ............................................ 7
Syenite, Fig. 53, No. 1 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Porphyry, Fig. 53, Nos. 16, 1 7 . . .......................................... 2
Diorite, Fig. 56, No. 1 6 . . ................................................ 1
__
Total ..................................................................... 52
There remains another variety of the shoulder jar, the squat jar with wide sharply marked shoulder,
which has been noted in Dynasties 1-IIIunder the designation V c. The variations of this form are
very numerous in the Mycerinus collection, amounting to 169 vessels or 30.95 per cent. Curiously
enough, the Mycerinus collection introduces a new variation of this squat jar, one of which had a rounded
bottom. I n my review of the stone vessels of Dynasties 1-III, I have grouped two forms of the squat
jar together, one with straight sides from shoulder to flat base and the other with very convex sides be-
tween shoulder and flat base. The angle made between side and base in this second form is very blunt
and often obscure and in the Mycerinus collection it has sometimes disappeared, giving rise to the new
form, of which eight examples occur. The older straight-sided form is represented on the walls of the
Hesy tomb.² The materials used for these jars were in the following proportions:
Va Vb Per cent Vc Per cent Ve Per cent Total V Per cent
Alabaster. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 37 = 92.5 95 = 56.21 7 = 63.64 140 = 63.35
Blue-veined limestone. . . . . . . . . .... 45 = 26.63 ..... 45 = 20.36
Porphyry and syenite. . . . . . . . . . .... 26 = 15.39 3 = 27.27 29 = 13.12
Diorite.. .................... 1 = 2.5 1 = .59 1 = 9.09 3 = 1.36
Red and white breccia. . . . . . . . . 1 = 2.5 1 = .59 ..... 2= .91
Volcanic ash.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 = 2.5 ...... ..... 1= .45
Slate. ....................... .... 1= .59 ..... 1= .45
__
Totals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 40 = 100.0 169 = 100.00 11 = 100.00 221 = 100.00

See
¹ Quibell, Tomb of Hesy, Pl. XXI on left.
Quibell,
² c., Pl. XXI.
l.
STONE VESSELS 195
Type V c (1) and (2), high and squat forms with flat base ................................... 161
Alabaster, Fig. 50, Nos. 11-13; Fig. 51, Nos. 1-4, 6-12, 14-32, 35, 36, 38-71,
and 21 others .................................................... 90
Porphyry, Fig. 54, Nos. 1-5, 7-25, and one other ......................... 25
Diorite, Fig. 56, No. 21.. ............................................. 1
Blue-veined limestone, Fig. 52, No. 41; Fig. 58, Nos. 7 4 8 ................. 44
Slate, Fig. 60, No. 9 . . ................................................ 1
Red and white breccia, Fig. 60, No. 2 . . ................................ 1
Type V c (3) squat forms with rounded base.. .............................................. 8
Alabaster, Fig. 51, Nos. 5, 13, 33, 34, 3 7 . . .............................. 5
Porphyry, Fig. 54, No. 6 . . ............................................ 1
Blue-veined limestone, Fig. 58, Nos. 5, 6 . . .............................. 2
__
Total .................................................................. 169
(6) Type V I . Swelling Vertical Jar with Two Knob Handles

The vertical jar with two horizontally pierced knob handles was one of the few forms which covered
the interval between the Late Predynastic Period and Dynasty I, but it ceased in Dynasty I. As in the
case of the extinct older types II
a n d V I I , one example of this type VI was found in the valley temple.
Number
Type VI b, swelling jar with two knob handles, pierced horizontally. ............................ 1
AIabaster, Fig. 50, No. 2
(7) Type V I I . Wavy-Handled Jar

The wavy-handled jar was used in Dynasty I in two forms, both represented by pottery forms-
(a) the swelling jar with two wavy ledge handles, often pierced vertically, and (b) that with a continuous
wavy ridge. The Mycerinus collection presents one alabaster jar which is not exactly the same as the
type 1-VI1 a, but is obviously descended from it. The two small ledge handles set on the swelling upper
part are pierced vertically, each with two holes.
Number
Type VII a, degenerate wavy-handled jar ................................................... 1
(8) Type V I I I . Pointed Jar

I n the Late Predynastic Period and in the early part of Dynasty I a pottery jar with roll rim and
pointed base was copied in alabaster, and the known examples I have collected above under type PD-
VIII and 1-VIII. In Dynasties V and VI, another pottery jar with pointed base, but with a neck
between the shoulder and the roll rim, was copied in stone, and many examples have been recorded.
In the Mycerinus collection two forms of pointed jars were found which differ from both of the types
just mentioned, but also copied, no doubt, from pottery forms. The base of a thin pointed jar from the
valley temple is given in Fig. 52, No. 40, and this was probably of the pottery form, type VIII.
Number
Type VIII b, pointed jar with short neck. ................................................... 1
Alabaster, Fig, 50, No. 14.. .............................................. 1 .
Type VIII c, pointed jar with wavy body (no neck or rim; edge of mouth pierced). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Alabaster, Fig. 50, No. 15.. .............................................. 1
Type VIII d, pointed jar of pottery form. .................................................... 1
Alabaster, Fig. 52, No. 40,............................................... 1
__
Total.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
(9) Type I X . Round-Bottomed Dish and Bowl

The round-bottomed cups, dishes, and bowls are not numerous in the Mycerinus collection, a fact
entirely in accord with the occurrence of these forms in Dynasties IIa n d III. Nearly all the examples
are small cups, not well finished, and six have an internal rim. It is especially to be noted that these
traditional forms are associated with small models like those from the large Giza mastabas.
196 MYCERINUS
The total number of examples is 16, being 2.93 per cent of the whole collection. The materials
are as follows:
Number Per cent
Diorite. .......................................... 12 = 75.00
Basalt.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 = 12.50
Alabaster.. ....................................... 1 = 6.25
Porphyry.. ....................................... 1 = 6.25
__ __
16 = 100
Number
Type I X a, shallow saucers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Alabaster, Fig. 50, No. 3 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Diorite, Fig. 57, Nos. 6-8.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
__
4
Type IX b, (1), deep cups, tapering base . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Diorite, Fig. 57, No. 9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Basalt, Fig. 59, Nos. 11, 12. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
__
3
Type IX b, (2) globular cups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Diorite, Fig. 56, Nos. 4, 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Type IX b, (3) deep bowl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Porphyry, Fig. 53, No. 11. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Type IX e, saucers and bowls with internal rim often vaguely defined ........................ 6
Diorite, Fig. 57, Nos. 1-5, 1 0 . . .......................................... 6
__
Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
(10) T y p e X . Flat-Bottomed Bowl

The flat-bottomed cups and bowls are much more numerous than the round-bottomed bowls, pre-
senting another resemblance to Dynasties IIandIII. But the percentage is smaller than in any of the
preceding archaeological groups from Dynasty I to Dynasty 111,and the small forms predominate. This
fact indicates a further degeneration caused by the traditional-ceremonial character of all these vessels.
Out of a total of sixty-five flat-bottomed cups and bowls, thirty-six have the internal rim, but this
rim is in many examples hardly more than a flattening of the inside of the mouth, sometimes slightly
emphasized by an incised line.
Taking the flat-bottomed cups and bowls all together, the materials were as follows:
Type X, total vessels Number Per cent
Diorite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 = 63.00
Alabaster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 = 15.38
Basalt. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 = 16.92
Blue-veined limestone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 = 1.54
Slate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 = 1.54
Flint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 = 1.54
__ ___
65 = 100.00
Thus this is the one type of stone vessels in which diorite predominates, and, if the thirty-six bowls
with internal rim be examined alone, the preponderance of diorite becomes still more striking, as is
shown by the following table:
Type X c Number Per cent
Diorite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 = 91.7
Basalt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 = 5.5
Blue-veined limestone. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 = 2.8
__ ___
36 = 100.00
It is to be noted that type X is better maintained than any other type of bowl, and that fact is undoubt-
edly connected with the special ceremonial use of the bowl with internal rim, which is shown by the
occurrence of the inscribed examples of the reigns of Khaba and Sneferuw. Diorite and veined marble
were the materials employed in the Khaba bowls; diorite and alabaster in the Sneferuw bowls.
STONE VESSELS 197
Type X a. plain rim Number
(a) Bowl. small base. incipient contraction of mouth ..................................... 2
Alabaster. Fig. 50. No . 33 ................................................... 1
Diorite. Fig. 57. No . 17 ..................................................... 1
(b) Bowl. wide base .................................................................. 3
Diorite, Fig. 57, No . 12 ..................................................... 1
Basalt, Fig . 59, No . 6 ....................................................... 1
Flint cup .................................................................. 1
Alabaster, Fig. 50, No. 25 .....

(c) cup ............................................................................
Diorite, Fig. 57, Nos. 13-15 ..................................................

Basalt, Fig. 59, N o s . 1 , 4 , 5 ..................................................
1
3
3
7
(d) Cup with contractedmouth ........................................................ 2

Slate, Fig. 60, No . 10 ....................................................... 1
Basalt, Fig. 59, No . 7 ....................................................... 1
(e) Cup with vertical sides ............................................................ 4
Alabaster, Fig. 50, Nos. 18, 19 ............................................... 2
Basalt, Fig. 59, Nos . 13, 14 .................................................. 2
Total ....................................................................... 18
Type X b (4),flaring cup with concave sides and cup-hollow in bottom inside (copper form) . . . . . . 3
Alabaster, Fig. 50, Nos.23,24 ............................................... 2
Diorite, Fig. 57, No . 11 ..................................................... 1
Type X a (3), deep cup with straight sides and plain mouth, “conical cup” .................... 7
Alabaster, Fig. 50, Nos. 20, 26-28 ............................................ 4
Diorite, Fig. 57, Nos . 1-3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Type X e (3), deep bowl, with contracted mouth and spout ..................................... 1
Basalt, Fig. 59, No . 9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Total, type X a, b, e (3) ...................................................... 29
Type X c, internal rim, often vaguely defined

(1) Shallow bowls .................................................................... 8
Diorite, Fig. 57, Nos. 16, 24-28, 37,40 ........................................ 8
(2) Shallow bowls, small .............................................................. 5
Diorite, Fig. 57, 29-33 ...................................................... 5
(3) Deeper forms with small base ...................................................... 15

Diorite, Fig. 57, Nos. 34-36,38,39,41-48 .................................... 13
Basalt, Fig. 59, Nos . 2 , 3 ................................................... 2
(4) Deep forms, vague rim (line) ....................................................... 7

Diorite, Fig. 57, Nos. 18-23 ................................................ 6
Blue-veined limestone, Fig. 58, No . 49 ....................................... 1
Total ....................................................................... 35
TypeX c (5), cupwithspout ............................................................. 1

Basalt, Fig. 59, No. 8 ...................................................... 1
Total, type X c .............................................................. 36
(11) Type X I . Cup and Bowl with External Rim

The cups and bowls with external rim follow approximately the forms of Dynasty III. The deep
rimmed bowl with and without spout of Dynasty III (3-XI a (3) and (4)) were wanting On the other .
hand, the bowls with flaring recurved rim are represented in three variations, of which one, type XI b
(4), is very similar to the grooved rim bowl of Dynasty I .
198 MYCERINUS
The number of vessels of this type is small. as usual in Dynasty III. The majority are of diorite.
followed by alabaster. porphyry. and yellow limestone :
Number Per cent
Diorite ......................................... 11 = 57.9
Alabaster ....................................... 5 = 26.31
Porphyry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 = 10.52
Yellow limestone ................................ 1 = 5.27
__ ___
19 = 100.00
Number
Type XI b (2) . Bowl with flat bottom and upright recurved rim .............................. 3
Alabaster, Fig. 50, No . 30 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Diorite, Fig. 56, Nos. 12, 13 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Type XI b (3) . Bowl with round bottom and upright recurved rim ............................ 3
Alabaster, Fig . 50, No . 22 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Porphyry, Fig . 53, No . 13 ............................................ 1
Diorite, Fig. 56, No . 9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Type XI b (4) . Bowl with flat bottom and flaring recurved rim ............................... 2
Alabaster, Fig. 50, No . 31 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Diorite, Fig. 56, No . 11 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Type XI b (5). Bowl with round bottom and flaring recurved rim ............................. 5
Alabaster, Fig . 50, Nos. 21 (abnormally deep), 29 ...................... 2
Porphyry, Fig. 53, No . 14 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Diorite, Fig. 56, Nos . 8, 10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Type XI b (6) . Bowl with round bottom, exaggerated flaring rim and spout .................... 1
Diorite, Fig . 56, No . 7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Type XI c (2). Squat cup with band-rim on contracted mouth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Diorite, Fig. 56, Nos. ..........................................
17-20 4
Yellow limestone, Fig. 58, No . 50 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Total, type XI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
(12) Type X I I . Table

The flat-topped tables of Dynasty III are also represented in the Mycerinus group, but by only
three examples .
Number
Type XII
b. Flat-topped table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Alabaster, Fig . 50, Nos. 34,35 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Diorite, Fig. 56, No . 6 (perfect) .......................................... 1
(13) Type X I I I . Jar-Stand

I n the Old Kingdom, two types of pottery stands are known, ( a ) a tall slender stand with flaring
base and (b) a short “ring-stand.” Both were hollow right through from top to bottom, and the tall
stand was used to support bowls, while the short stand held round-bottomed jars. One form of the
short stand was found in Dynasty I.¹
The earliest examples 1 know of the tall bowl-stand are:
(1) One from the tomb of Khasekhemuwy, Amélineau, Fouilles d’Abydos 1896-97, PI. XXIV, 12 (though the
Coptic jar on the same plate raises a suspicion).
(2) One from the stairway tomb K 5, Garstang, Mahâsna and Bêt Khallâf, Pl. XXXI, 30.
They are very common in the Giza mastabas and examples were found standing before the offering
.
place with bowl in position Several examples of stand and bowl in one piece of stone are in the museums .
The ring-stand for jars is also known in Old Kingdom pottery; and in grave N 568 a t Naga-’d-Dêr of
Dynasties V-VI, a diorite jar and stand in one piece was found with other small stone vessels.
See
I, p. 98. Type XXVIII; and Petrie, R.T. I, Pl.
XL, Nos. 13-15.
STONE VESSELS 199
I n the Mycerinus collection, two examples of stone jar-stands were found which resemble in outline
the basis of the jar from N 568, just mentioned. These Mycerinus stands are not like the similar pot-
tery forms, hollow from top to bottom, but have been bored from both top and bottom leaving a parti-
tion in the middle. Both are of alabaster.
Number
Type XIII b. Jar-stand ................................................................... 2

Alabaster, Fig. 50, Nos. 16, 17 .......................................... 2
(14) Stone Models of Vessels

A number of stone models of vessels were found in the Mycerinus valley temple, which present the
forms found in the great cemetery west of the Cheops pyramid. Almost all of these forms have been
dated by their provenience to the time of Chephren, and there is no a priori reason why all the models
in the valley temple should not be ascribed to the original furniture. But only a very few examples
(Fig. 52, No. 32, from 111-12 and a dummy cylinder-jar from III-21) were found on the floors of maga-
zines. Several were recorded from the floor débris of the court and may have belonged to the temple
furniture (Fig. 52, Nos. 1, 4, 5, 10,18),but the great majority were on the floors of the later houses in
association with the fragments of statues and stone vessels under conditions corresponding to those of
the work-shops in the great cemetery, used for making these models during Dynasties V-VI. The models
inscribed with the name of the “king’s son, Kay” were found in a pot under the floor of the Queen’s
Pyramid (Pyramid 111-a).
The forms are, with a few exceptions, those of the stone vessels:
(1) Models of type I, cylindrical jar,
Fig. 52, Nos. 8-22, alabaster, except Nos. 9, 12, 15,19,20, which are limestone. Nos. 19-22 are boring
cores from a tubular borer and only slightly worked; the others were probably made from similar
cores.
(2) Models of type V, shoulder jar,
Fig. 52, Nos. 1-5, all of alabaster. Nos. 3-5 are ordinary variations of the shoulder jar. No. 2 is the
hes-vase form with the peculiar neck which appears in the pottery models of Dynasty IV. No. 1 is
the same form on a jar-stand (see type XIII b).
Fig. 52, Nos. 6,7. These two are really vessels, not models, and belong to the series of small collared jars
of Dynasties V-VI (see, for example, Garstang, MahâsnaandBêtKhallâf, PI. XXXVIII, 1 4 and
passim).
(3) Models of type IX, round-bottomed dishe and bowl,
Fig. 52, Nos. 32, 33, 35-39, alabaster and limestone (Nos. 35, 36, 39).
(4) Models of type X a, flat-bottomed bowl,
Fig. 52, Nos. 29, 30, 34, all of alabaster.
(5) Models of type X a (3), “conical cup,”
Fig. 52, Nos. 23-28, 31, all alabaster except 27 (crystal). Nos. 26-28 and 31 are from the Kay group.
No. 27 is from the original furniture, part of one of the groups of magical models which rest in holes
in a stone slab.
The other two drawings in this figure are stone vessels. No. 40 is the base of a pointed jar of alabaster
(type VIII c). No. 41 is type V c, of blue-veined limestone.
3. THE STONE VESSELS OF SAHURA
The stone vessels of the Mycerinus temple present the survival, for the funerary service of a royal
tomb, of the corpus of traditional forms of Dynasty III which were derived in turn from the older forms
of Dynasty I. Many of these forms were also used in private graves of Dynasty IV but in greatly
diminished numbers. I n the private graves of Dynasty V, these forms had been almost entirely re-
placed by new forms. Yet in the temple of Sahura a t Abusîr, the older forms were again found under
much the same circumstances as in the Mycerinus temple.¹ They were in the magazines, mostly
See
¹ Borchardt, Sa’hurê, Vol. I, pp. 115-118.
200 MYCERINUS
broken, and included five bowls with the names of earlier kings, one of Khaba, two of Sneferuw, and
two with titles only. The types represented are as follows:
Sa’hurê
I
Type Examples Per cent Per cent
Ia Cylinder jar with cord Fig. 146, 1-5.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 = 8.33
c Cylinder jar without cord “ 149, 1-4, 6, 7. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 = 10.00
d Cylinder jar, splay foot “ 148, 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . - - 12 20.00
1 = 1.67
III c Quasi-spheroidal jar “ 157, 2
..................... 1 1.67
IV e Shoulder jar, handles “ 150, 1 . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 1.67
V b (2) Small barrel-jar “ 150, 3 ..................... 1 = 1.67
c (1) Broad jar, high form “ 158, 2. .................... 1 = 1.67
(2) Broad jar, squat form “ 150, 2; 159, 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . - 2=- 3.33 4 6.67
IX b Bowl, round base, plain rim “ 157, 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 = 1.67
c Same with internal rim “ 153, 2-4. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . - 3=- 5.00 4 6.67
X a (1) Bowl, flat base, plain rim “
147, 2; 149, 5; 153, 5, 6, 8,
10, 1 1 ; 157, 3 ............ 8 = 13.33
a (3) "Conical cup'' “ 154, 2 , 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 = 3.33
b (4) Flaring bowl, cup-hollow “ 151, 1 . .................... 1 = 1.67
c Bowl, internal rim “ 147, 1, 3-5; 149, 8; 153, 1, 7,
9,12; 154,1; 158,1; 159,2 12 = 20.00
d Bowl-jar “ 155, 1 , 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 = 3.33
e (3) Bowl-jar with spout “ 162, 1, 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . __2 = 3.33 27 45.00
XI b (2) Bowl, flat bottom, upright re-
curved rim " 155, 3 . .................... 1 = 1.67
b (5) Bowl, round bottom, flaring
recurved rim “ 152, 2 ..................... 1 = 1.67
c (2) Cup, band-rim onmouth “ 155, 2 . . .................... 1 = 1.67
__ ___
3
__
5.00
52 86.67
Miscellaneous fragments, forms not exactly determined. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 13.33
__ ___
Totals,. .................................... 60 100.00
These vessels present seven of the thirteen types of the Mycerinus collection and only nineteen sub-
types instead of forty-two. All of these sub-types occur in the Mycerinus collection and all except type
IX c are known types of Dynasty 111. The one exception is a poor round-bottomed bowl with an internal
rim for which the only precedent is found in rude bowls of the Mycerinus collection. Some of the flat-
bottomed bowls of type X c with internal rim have the rim merely indicated, not carefully worked out
as in the examples of Dynasty III and previously. As in the Mycerinus collection, the bowls, five in
number, with the names of preceding kings are the only ones which certainly belong to an earlier period,
the reigns of Khaba and Sneferuw. The group as a whole is manifestly not the production of Dynasty
111, much less of an earlier dynasty, and the rude careless finish of most of the examples makes it clear
that these vessels were made not far from the time of Mycerinus and in all probability during the
reign of Sahura himself. The five earlier bowls, and perhaps the fine cylindrical jars with cord, were
included from earlier deposits in the same way that similar older material was placed in the Mycerinus
magazines.
The number of the vessels of each type is not given by Dr. Borchardt, probably because the sorting
of the fragments was not finished when the book was published. The percentage numbers have there-
fore little value. Nevertheless I have given them above for the sub-types and give now the percentages
of the materials of the sixty examples noted in the book:
Number Per cent
Diorite ................................................................. 26 = 43.33
Alabaster ............................................................... 19 = 31.67
Grey sand (?) stone (limestone?). ......................................... 6 = 10.00
Slate ................................................................... 5 = 8.33
Porphyry ............................................................... 3 = 5.00
Yellow sand (?) stone. ................................................... 1 = 1.67
__ ___
60 = 100.00
STONE VESSELS 201
There were twelve different kinds of stone in the Mycerinus collection, and here there are but six, a
considerable impoverishment. This impoverishment, like that of the forms, would be inexplicable if
these vessels were stolen from older tombs.
These two collections of stone vessels, from the temple of Mycerinus and from that of Sahura, place
before our eyes the dying stages of the old traditional stone forms, which have been traced above from
the Early Predynastic Period to the reign of Sahura. The expansion of the manufacture of stone vessels
began in Dynasty 0, quickly reached its culmination in the early part of Dynasty I, received a second
development in the time of Khasekhemuwy and Dynasty 111, and died away under the influence of the
use of the potter’s wheel early in Dynasty IV. The Mycerinus pottery shows that the potter’s wheel
was in general use in Dynasty IV. The Mycerinus collection of stone vessels was the result of an at-
tempt to construct for the king’s tomb a set of these old forms which had by tradition been placed in
the tombs since Dynasty I. The forms as they had been handed down in the royal workshops from
Dynasty III to Dynasty IV, were probably carried almost wholly in the memories of individual crafts-
men. The vessels of Sneferuw, Cheops, Chephren,.and Radedef, if they were available, would no doubt
give us the stages of the degeneration from the fine forms of Dynasty III to those of the Mycerinus col-
lection. No one would maintain for a moment that the craftsmen of Mycerinus were unable to make
fine vessels, finer even than those of the early dynasties, but that would have required a special effort.
It would not have been like the work of the early craftsmen who made similar vessels for daily use and
exercised a trained skill in the manufacture of stone vessels as a matter of habit. The vessels of Myceri-
nus appear ruder than was perhaps intended, as many of them were unfinished. And such an accident
as the failure to finish a set of royal vessels would certainly accelerate the degeneration of the craft.
Sahura died from twenty-five to thirty years after Mycerinus, and the same hasty workmanship is shown
in his stone vessels as in those of Mycerinus. The forms have fallen to a little over half the number
used by the craftsmen of Mycerinus, and the variety of stones employed to just one half. Like Myceri-
nus, he attempted to enrich his collection with a few earlier vessels; but the Sahura collection presents the
logical continuation of the degeneration shown in the Mycerinus collection. Probably, if the material
of the other royal tombs of Dynasty V were preserved, the degeneration might be traced to a still later
stage, but for all practical purposes, the manufacture of the old traditional corpus of stone vessels was
dead when the funerary equipment was placed in the magazines of the valley temple of Mycerinus.¹
A number of fragments of stone vessels, especially bowls of the traditional form (Type X c), were found in the temples of both
¹
Neweserra and Neferirkara but, aside from one bowl and two flat-topped tables, were not published (see Borchardt, Grabdenkmal des
Königs Ne-user-re’, p. 139, and Grabdenkmal des Königs Nefer-ir-ke’-re’, p. 68).
CHAPTER IX
THE POTTERY OF THE MYCERINUS VALLEY TEMPLE
THEstone vessels of the Mycerinus temples presented dying forms of the traditional types which had
been living forms a century or more before the time of Mycerinus. The craft of making these vessels
had been displaced by the potter's wheel, and, while Dynasties I-III had been the age of stone vessels,
Dynasties IV-VI was the age of wheel-made pottery. Thus the pottery vessels in the Mycerinus
temples belonged to a living craft and were intimately connected with the pottery vessels found in
private graves of Dynasties IV-VI. The vessels of the pyramid temple were few in number, mostly in
a fragmentary condition. This chapter therefore deals almost exclusively with the large collection found
in the valley temple.
The forms employed by a living craft introduced after centuries of technical development will be,
( a ) old forms maintained for ceremonial-traditional purposes, ( b ) new forms arising out of the new
technique or new material, or ( c ) new forms derived from older forms of other crafts - in the case of
pottery from forms natural to stone vessels and copper vessels. The old traditional forms among
the pottery vessels of the Mycerinus collection fall into three groups:
(1) The impractical funerary vessels of coarse ware (group 1 on p. 207) consisting of four types with 218 ex-
amples ( = 48+ %).
(2) The more or less impractical copies of older forms in better wares (group 2 on p. 207) consisting of six
types with 24 examples (= 5+ %).
(3) The practical vessels of older forms adopted by the new craft and incorporated with the body of living
vessels (group 3 on p. 207) consisting of nine types with 91 examples (= 20+ %).
Thus the total number of vessels of the old forms was 333 (= 73.67%), but of these, 91 vessels (or
20+ % of all) were of living practical forms. The new forms which cannot be traced to the period before
the introduction of the potter's wheel, are given in group 4 on p. 208, consisting of twenty-three types
with 119 vessels (= 26+ %). The greater part of this number is made up of the slender pointed jars, the
jar-stands, and the bowls and basins, particularly those with recurved rim (total, 101 vessels).
Dividing the vessels according to their use in daily life, those which are of living forms amounted
to 210 (= 46+ %) and those which were not in daily use, to 242 ( = 53+ %). Nearly all the types
represented by both the practical and the traditional vessels were also found in the Giza mastabas;
and the conclusion is clear that while the stone vessels belonged to a past age, the pottery was part of
the archaeological group of Dynasties IV-V.
1. PROVENIENCE OF THE POTTERY
The pottery of the Mycerinus valley temple would be expected to fall into two groups, those vessels
which belonged to the original furniture of the first period of services in the temple (i.e., Shepseskaf and
perhaps his successor) and those vessels which were found in the débris of the later temple (i.e., Dy-
nasties V-VI). An examination of the facts shows, however, that this grouping is of no practical value.
(A) THEEARLIER
POTTERY
The following compartments of the first temple contained pottery vessels which were either in
the original position or so deposited that they must have belonged either to the original furniture or to
the first period of temple services:
(1) Mag. a layer of smashed vessels on the floor at the western end: PI. 71 g.
III-10,
Type XXX, deep tapering bowl, two or more.
“
XXXIII, bowl, recurved rim, round bottom, two or more.
“
XXXVI, bowl, recurved rim and spout, one.
“
XXXVII, bowl, recurved rim, flat bottom, two or more.
THE POTTERY OF THE MYCERINUS VALLEY TEMPLE 203
(2) Offering room, 111-2, in floor debris of the first temple, under the floor of the second temple:
Type III (1), two large bulging jars.
“ XLIII, small model jar.
“
XLIV, two small model bowls.
(3) In door block, from 111-2 to 1114:
Type X (1) and (2), two small shoulder jars.
(4) Under the same door block:
Type IV, large fragment of jar which has been used to carry white plaster.
(5) Mag. 111-6, in floor debris, under bulge of wall:
Type IV (2), coarse offering jar.
(6) Mag. 111-7, in floor debris, under bulge of wall:
Type XXV, coarse “flower-pot."
(7) Mag. 111-19, in northwest corner on 20 cm. of debris, perhaps intrusive and in that case from the early
occupation of the temple:
Type 111, large R. W. jar.
“
IV (1) and (2), three coarse R. W. offering jars.
“
V ( 5 ) , small W. S. R. jar.
“
I X (1), pointed R. W. jar.
“
XXII (1), tall R. W. bowl-stand.
“
XXV (Z), two mud ((flower-pots."
“
XXVII ( 5 ) , shallow, round-bottomed bowl, R. W.
“
XXXIX (1), flaring R. W. bowl.
“
XXXIII (3), three-legged bowl, R. W.
(8) External corridor, III-21, practically on floor, opposite sanctuary and probably from temple:
Type IV (4),coarse offering jar, R. W.
“
XVII (1), R. P. jar, flat bottom, flaring neck.
“
XXV (3), mud “flower-pot."
“
X X X (2), two big R. W. basins.
Opposite great court,
Type IV (5), two coarse offering jars.
“
V (4),bulging R. W. jar.
“
VIII (1), slender pointed W. S. R. jar.
“
XXV, seven mud “flower-pots."
“
XXXIII (1), bowl, recurved rim, round bottom, R. P.
“
XXXIV (1), large basin, flat bottom, R. P.
Opposite sanctuary, upper debris,
Type VIII (2), slender pointed W. S. R. jar.
“
XV (3), spherical jar, R. P.
“
XXV (3), three mud "flower-pots."
“
XXXII (3), deep bowl, tapering round base, R. P.
(9) Mag. 111-379, on floor:
Type IV (3), coarse R. W. jar.
“
XXII (1), tall bowl-stand, R. P.
“
XLII (1), tray, wide flat rim, circular, R. W.
“
XXXIX, bases of two or more, flat-bottomed, flaring bowls,
(10) Mag. Corridor 111-380, on floor:
Type XLI (1), flat-bottomed bowl with wide ledge rim, R. W.
(11) Mag. 111-382, on floor:
Type V (3), small jar, R. W.
These deposits give us types III, IV, V, VIII, IX, X, XVII, XXII, XXV, XXVII, XXX, XXXII,
XXXIII, XXXIV, XXXVI, XXXVII, XXXIX, XLI, XLII, XLIII, and XLIV, or twenty-one of
the forty-four types, and seventeen of the twenty-one occur in more than three examples. But the
vessels found in the floor debris of the court should be added to these as certainly belonging to the first
period of occupation of the temple:
(12) Room 1-18 (1-57 b), on lower floor (Pl. 32 b):
Type XXV (1), three stacks of two pots each, mud “flower-pots."
“
XXVI (1), two stacks of four trays each.
(13) Room 1-21, on floor of court :
Types III, XXXII (2),XLIII (3),XLIV (2).
(14) Room 1-22, under floor, in debris of court:
Types IV (4), XVIII (5), XXII (2), XXV, XXVII (4), XXXIX (3), XLIII (3).
204 MYCERINUS
(15) Room 1-24 sub:
Type II(1).
(16) Room 1-25, in floor debris of court:
Types XIX (1), XXII (2), XXV (5), XXVII (3), XXXI (1), XXXVII (2).
Types I V and VIII (3).
(18) Room I-36,
in
floor
débris
of court:
Types XXVII (4), XXXII (2).
Type XV (2), R. P.
(20) Room I-40) under floor of lower granary:
Types II
(1),
III
XXV
(3),
XXVI
XXVII
(2),
(1), (1, 3), X X X I I (2).
(21) Room I-55) in floor debris of court:
Types IV, XXV, XLIII (2).
TypesIV,VIII(1),XXV (2,4),XXIX(1)
Types XXXIV (1), XXXIX (2)
TypesIII,XVIII(3), XXXI(1).
(25) Room 1-301, under floor:
Types V (2) and XXV (5).
(26) Room 1-302, under floor (PI. 34 a):
Types XVI (1), XXIV (2), XXV (4), XXVI (1), XXVII (2),
XXX (1, 2), XXXII (1, 2, 3),
XXXIII (1, 2), xxv (1), XXXVI (1),
XXXVII (1).
Types V (2, 6), XXV (5), XXXI (1), XXXIX (3), XL (1).
Types III (3), XXV (5, seven), XXXI (1), XXXIX (2).
Types VIII (1), XVIII (5, four), XXV (5), XXXVI (1), XXXVII (2, three), XLIII (2).
Type XL (1).
Types VIII
(1),
XXVI (1).
Types XXXII (2), XXV (5, five).
(33) Room 1-316, on floor of court:
Types VIII (1), XXXIX (3).
Types XI (1), XXI (1), XXV (5, three).
Types V (3), VIII
(1).
Type XV (1).
Types IV, VII(2), XXV (5, two), XXVIII (3), XXXIX (1).
T y p eI (1).
Type VIII (3).
(40) Room 1-355, under floor, (i.e., in magazine):
Type XXIII (1, two).
(41) Room 1-356, under floor (i.e.,
in magazine):
Type XXIII (2, five).
(42) Room 1-357, under floor (i.e., in magazine):
Type XXII (2).
Types I V (2, three), III, X, XIV (1, 2), XVIII (1), XLIII (2, 5, 7), XLIV (3, twelve).
Types III (2, 5), V (3, two), VIII (1),XIX (2, 3), XXV (5), XXXIX.

Types III
(2), X V (2), XXV (5),XXVII (2).
Types XV (2), XXV (5), XXXII (2).
Type V (4).
These deposits are certainly not later than the occupation of the first temple and belong to the same
archaeological group as the temple furniture. They give the following list of pottery forms:
Types I, 11, 111, IV, V, VII, VIII, X;
XI, XIV, xv, XVI, XVIII, XIX;
XXI, XXII, XXIII, XXIV, xxv, XXVI, XXVII, XXIX, x x x ;
XXXI, XXXII, XXXIII, XXXIV, xxxv, XXXVI, XXXVII, XXXIX, XL;
XLIII, XLIV.
That is, 34 of the 44 types were found in debris of early date. Of the remaining ten types, four were
among those previously listed from the magazines. Thus only six types, - VI, XII, XIII, XX, XXVIII,
and XXXVIII, were not proved to belong to the archaeological group of the first temple. These six
types were represented by only seven vessels, or 1.5 per cent of all the vessels.
(1) Type VI contains a single small R. W. jar with ovoid body, long concave neck, which was found in 1-21
debris with types III and V.
(2) Type XII contains a single small globular jar of B. P. ware, which was found in 1-54 debris, with types
IV, XIX, XXIV, and XXV.
(3) Type XIII contains a single small flat-bottomed shoulder jar of B. P. ware, which was found in 1-305
with types V, VII, and XXV.
(4) Type XX contains a single squat jar with bulging base of R. P. ware, which was found alone in 1-325.
(5) Type XXVIII contains two hemispherical bowls of R. P. ware, one alone in 1-331, the other in 1-20
with types V, XXV, and XLIII.
(6) Type XXXVIII contains a single flat-bottomed bowl with ledge rim found in 1-18 with types 111, V,
XXV, and XXXVI.
Thus 43 of the 44 types (all except type XX) were found either in old debris or associated with the early
types and may belong to the archaeological group of Shepseskaf and the early part of Dynasty V.
( B ) THELATERPOTTERY
It has been shown in the last paragraph that all the types represented by more than one example
are of the earlier period. This fact does not preclude the possibility that some of the examples which
were found in the upper debris were of a later date; but in view of the disturbance of the older deposits
in the later search for stone, none of these examples from the upper debris can be proved by their posi-
tion to have been of the later period of the temple. It is only by comparison with the pottery found in
the mastabas of Dynasties V-VI that some of the types can be shown to have continued in use in the
time of the second temple. But admitting this possibility, the pottery of the later period has little
significance for the present purpose in comparison with the pottery of the earlier period, and its dis-
cussion must be left for the publication of the Giza mastabas.
2. THE TYPES OF THE POTTERY FROM THE MYCERINUS VALLEY TEMPLE

The pottery vessels found in the Mycerinus valley temple have here been classified in forty-two
types and two additional types of models. Excluding the models, the total number of vessels, the forms
of which could be recognized, was 452, but the unrecognizable potsherds represent a far larger number,
although probably less than double. I n the descriptive provenience list (see p. 208-229), I have ar-
ranged these vessels in the following groups:
206 MYCERINUS
Types Subtypes Number Per cent
Group A, types I-XI, jars of R. W., Db. W., W. S. R. wares. 11 30 135 29.86
Group B, '' XII-XIV, jars of B. P. ware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 4 4 .88
Group C, '' XV-XX, jars of R. P. ware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 15 30 6.64
Group D, '' XXI-XXIV, bowl-stands and jar-stands . . . 4 9 26 5.75
Group E, '' XXV-XXVI, "flower-pots" and trays . . . . . 2 7 158 34.96
Group F, '' XXVII-XLII, basins and bowls . . . . . . . . . .__ 16 31 99 21.90
42 96 452 100.00
Group G, types XLIII, XLIV, model jars and bowls ....... 2 16 48 ....
If the types be arranged according to function and the traditional-ceremonial vessels classified under
their original functions, the groups appear as follows :
Total No.
Number Per cent of Vessels Per cent
Group a, large jars, containers of wine, beer, water, or grain,
Type I Wine jars. ............................. 2 .44
'' II Jars, wine, beer, or water.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 .66
'' III Bulging jars, grain or water. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 5.75
'' IV Traditional jar.. ........................ 53 11.73
'' XV Globular jars, water, grain. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 1.11 89 19.69
Group b, medium-sized
and small jars for oil, milk, etc.,
Type V Ovoid, with or without neck.. . . . . 23 5.09
Types VI-IX Bottle-jars, various forms. . . . . . . . 24 5.31
Type X Shoulder jar, flat base. . . . . . . . . . . 2 .44
“ XI Squat jars with spout.. . . . . . . . . . . 2 .44
Types XII-XIV Small jars of B. P. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 .88
Type XVI R. P. shoulder jars, round base . . . 3 .66
''XVII-XVIII R. P. jars, flat base. . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 2.21
'' XIX, XX Squat jars, R. P. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 2.65 80 17.70
Group c, large basins, for beer-making, storing liquids, etc.,
Type XXIX Round bottom. ..................... 1 .22
" XXX Bent sides, tapering base.. . . . . . . . . . . . 7 1.55
'' XXXIV Flat bottom.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 .66
" XXXV Flat bottom, spout.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 .44 13 2.88
Group d, basins and bowls,
Types XXVII-XXVIII Flaring, round base. . . . . . . . 12 2.65
Type XXXI Hemispherical, swell rim. . . . 5 1.10
Types XXXII-XXXIII Recurved rim, round base. . . 25 5.53
Type XXXVI Recurved rim, spout, flat base 6 1.33
" XXXVII Recurved rim, flat base. . . . . 12 2.65
“ XXXVIII Ledge-rim, flat base. . . . . . . . 1 .22
" XXXIX Flaring side, flat base. . . . . . . 16 3.54
" XLI Small basin with wide rim. . . 1 .22 78 17.25
Group e, trays, practical and ceremonial,
Type XXVI Coarse oval traditional trays . . . . . . . . . . . 13 2.88
''XLII Circular, practical.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 .22 14 3.10
Group f, baking-pots (?),
Type XXV Traditional "flower-pot" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .145 32.08 145 32.08
Group g, bowl-stands and jar-stands,
Type XXI Bowl and stand. ..................... 1 .22
'' XXII Tall bowl-stand.. .................... 9 1.99
" XXIII Bowl-stands, traditional. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 1.55
" XXIV Jar-stands, ring-stands.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 1.99 26 5.75
Group h, brazier (? or lid?),
Type XL Body like a bowl with flat bottom, straight
flaring side, rim; but with two rings on bottom
and two rectangular holes in sides. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 1.55
__
452 100.00
The chief types in point of numbers were:
Type Number Per cent
(1) Type XXV Coarse “flower.pot,” traditional baking-pot (?). . . . . . . . . . . . . 145 32.08
(2) " IV Coarse offering jar. traditional form ....................... 53 11.73
(3) " III Large bulging jar. liquids or grain ......................... 26 5.75
(4) “ v Medium-sized ovoid jar (beer. oil. milk) .................... 23 5.09
(5) " VIII Slender pointed jar. flaring neck. new form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 3.98
(6) '' XXXIX Pan. flat base. flaring sides ............................... 16 3.54
(7) " XXXII Bowl. round base. low recurved rim ....................... 15 3.32
(8) '' XXVI Coarse oval tray. traditional form ......................... 13 2.88
(9) '' XXXVII Small basin. flat bottom. recurved rim ..................... 12 2.65
(10) “ XIX Squat shouldered jar. R . P............................... 11 2.43
(11) '' XXVII Bowl. round bottom. drooping rim ........................ 10 2.21
(12) “ XXXIII Bowl. round base. high flaring recurved rim . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 2.21
(13) “ XVIII Jar. shouldered. flat base. R . P........................... 9 1.99
(14) “ XXII Bowl-stand. slender form ................................. 9 1.99
(15) “ XXIV Jar-stand. ring form ..................................... 9 1.99
(16) “ XXIII Bowl-stand. short form with diaphragm .................... 7 1.55
(17) '' XXX Basin. bent sides ........................................ 7 1.55
(18) " XL Brazier (?). with two rings and two holes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 1.55
(19) “ XXXVI Small basin. spout. flat bottom. recurved rim . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 1.33
(20) " xv Globular jar. large and medium-large sizes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 1.11
(21) “ XXXI Bowl. round base. swell rim inside. degen. recurved . . . . . . . . . . 5 1.11
(22) Types 11. VII. XVI. XXXIV. each with three examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 2.65
(23) '' I. IX. X. XI. XIV. XXVIII. XXXV. each with two examples . . . . . . . . 14 3.09
(24) “ VI. XII, XIII, XVII, XX, XXI, XXIX, XXXVIII, XLI, XLII (one
example of each) ................................................... __
10 2.21
452 100.00
The above list throws into relief the ceremonial character of the pottery devoted to the first temple .
The rude impractical vessels number 218 and make up 48.23 per cent of the whole number of vessels:
Group 1. Number Per cent
(2) .
(1) Type XXV
IV
(8) '' XXVI
"Flower-pots.'. .........................................
Traditional offering jars ..................................
Coarse oval trays .......................................
145
53
13
32.08
11.73
2.87
(16) '' XXIII Bowl-stands with diaphragm ............................. __
7 1.55
__
218 48.23
I n addition to these obviously degenerate forms. a number of others are also of known older types,
although still well made and conceivably practical :
Group 2. Number P e r cent
(23)TypeI Tall wine jar with cord ................................... 2 .44

(22) " II Tall jar. smooth tapering body ............................ 3 .66
(22) “ VII Small jar with flaring mouth .............................. 3 .66
(23) '' X Small shoulder jar. flat base .............................. 2 .44
(13) “ XVIII-5 Small shoulder jar. flat base .............................. 3 .66
(10) “ XIX Squat shouldered jar .................................... 11
__
2.43
__
24 5.31
Other vessels were certainly practical and continued to be made during Dynasties IV-VI for the burials
in the Giza mastabas. and were nevertheless derived or descended from older forms:
Group 3. Number Per cent
(3) Type III Large bulging jars .................................. 26 5.74
(4) " v Medium-sized ovoid jars ............................ 23 5.08
(24) " VI Small ovoid jar. long concave neck . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 .22
(20) “ xv Large globular jars ................................. 5 1.10
(13) '' XVIII-1 to 4 Shouldered jars. neck. flat. base ...................... 6 1.32
(14) " XXII Bowl-stands ....................................... 9 1.99
(22) '' XXXIV Large basins. flat bottom. roll rim .................... 3 .66
(23) " XXXV Large basins. spout. flat bottom ...................... 2 .44
(6) '' XXXIX Flaring pans. flat bottom ............................ 16
__
3.53
91 20.13
208 MYCERINUS
Thus altogether eighteen of the forty-two types and 333 ( = 73.67%) of the 542 vessels may be char-
acterized as traditional forms whose origins can be traced into the past, many of them to Dynasty I,
and through the forms of Dynasty I to the Predynastic Period.
It is important to note on the other hand the relations of these forms to those of Dynasties IV-VI.
All the degenerate types of groups I, XXV, IV, XXVI, and XXIII, are represented among the vessels
of each of the three Dynasties IV-VI in the Giza mastabas and elsewhere; but only type IV is common,
being found both in the burial chambers and in the deposits of periodical offerings. Type X X V seldom
occurs in the burial chambers, and the other two are altogether rare. Of the second group of better-
made pots., type I has not been found in any of the Giza mastabas; but types 11,VII, X, XVIII-5, and
XIX occur, all infrequently except types X and XVIII-5. All the types of the third group, 111,V, VI,
XVIII-1 to 4, XXII, XXXIV, XXXV, and XXXIX, are well represented, although the large basins
naturally occur in only a few examples (due to breakage). Thus of the old traditional forms, it is only
type I, the old wine jar, which was not found in the private graves of Dynasties IV-VI.
The remainder of the vessels of the Mycerinus valley temple is composed of types characteristic of
the new wheel-made pottery (see p. 174) which was so widely used during Dynasties IV-VI:
Group 4, Number Per cent
Type VIII Slender pointed jar, long neck, Db. W. or W. S. R.. . . . . . . . . . 18 3.98
" IX Slender pointed jar, short neck, Db. W. or W. S. R. . . . . . . . . . 2 .44
‘ XI Small squat jar with spout. .............................. 2 .44
" XII-XIVSmall B. P. jar. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 .88
“ XVI R. P. jar with neck and round base. ....................... 3 .66
" XVII R. P. jar with neck and flat base. ......................... 1 .22
‘ xx Squat jar with bulging base. ............................. 1 .22
“ XXI Tall bowl-stand with bent-rimmed bowl. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 .22
" XXIV Jar-stand or ring-stand, Db. W., W. S. R., or R. W .......... 9 1.99
" XXVII Round-bottomed bowl, drooping rim, R. P. or R. W. . . . . . . . . 10 2.21
" XXVIII Round-bottomed bowl, internal rim, R. P. or R. W. . . . . . . . . 2 .44
" XXIX Round-bottomed basin, R. P. or R. W. .................... 1 .22
“ xxx Round-bottomed basin, bent sides, tapering base, R. P.. . . . . . 7 1.55
" XXXI Round-bottomedbasin, swell rim inside, R. P. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 1.11
" XXXII Round-bottomed bowl, low recurved rim, R. P. or R. W. . . . . 15 3.32
" XXXIII Round-bottomed bowl, high recurved rim, R. P. or R. W.. . . . 10 2.21
" XXXVI Flat-bottomed basin, spout, recurved rim, R. P. . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 1.33
" XXXVII Flat-bottomed bowl, recurved rim, R. P.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 2.65
" XXXVIII Flat-bottomed bowl, ledge-rim, R. P. ...................... 1 .22
“ XL Brazier (?), two rings on base, two holes in side. . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 1.55
(' XLI Flat-bottomed basin, small, wide ledge-rim. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 .22
" XLII Circular tray, wide ledge-rim, three knob feet. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
__
.22
119 26.33
Thus about one quarter of the vessels are not traceable directly to older pottery forms, but probably
all of them could be traced to older types in other materials, stone and copper. This group belongs
then to the living group of Dynasties IV-VI which was produced by the invention of the potter's wheel,
and all the members of the group have been found in the Giza mastabas. The twenty-four types of the
group with their sum of 119 vessels comprise over half of the practical vessels of the Mycerinus collec-
tion. But all the practical vessels of group 3 are also living forms of Dynasties IV-VI. Consequently
all the practical vessels of groups 3 and 4 belong to the corpus of vessels in use in those dynasties.
In view of the facts stated above, it is obvious that all the vessels of the Mycerinus collection (except
type I), belong to the archaeological group of Dynasties IV-VI. Nevertheless the whole corpus of
pottery of Dynasties IV-VI is not represented in that collection, and the type-forms found in tombs
later than Dynasty IV show variations from the same type-forms of the 'Mycerinus collection.
OF R. W., DB. W.,

(A) JARS AND W. S. R. WARES
(1) Type I. Wine Jar
The tall wine jar without a cord in relief has been found as early as Dynasty 0. The forms with and
without cord occurred in practically every known royal tomb of Dynasties I and 11, including that of
Khasekhemuwy. In private tombs these forms have been found as follows:
(1) Reisner, Naga-’d-Dêr I , p. 91, type I, Dynasty I, both slender and wide forms.
(2) Petrie, Abydos I , Pls. XXXVI-XLI, Cem. M., Dynasty I.
(3) Petrie and Wainwright, Tarkhan I , Pls. LIV-LVI, Dynasties I and 11.
(4) Junker, Turah, pp. 31, 32, Dynasties 0 to 11.
(5) Quibell, Archaic Tombs, p. 17, Pls. XXV and XXXIX, see especially tombs 2171 (Neterymuw?), 2302
(Neterymuw?), 2322 (Nebka?), 2337, 2407 (alabaster), 2498 and tomb of Hesy (alabaster), - Dyn-
asties II-III.
(6) Garstang, MahâsnaandBêtKhallâf, PI. XXXI from K 1 and K 5, both from time of Neterykhet.
FIGURE
61
POTTERY, TYPE I. SCALE ¼
I n general the wider form with cord in relief is earlier and the slender almost cylindrical form is later,
but slender forms occur also in Dynasty I, and some wider forms in Dynasties IIandIII. The wide
form of the type was found in the tomb of Khasekhemuwy,¹ and the very narrow form in the earlier
tomb of Peribsen.² One of the Mycerinus examples was of the swelling slender type, while the other
was of the degenerate slender variation.
Type I, tall wine jars of traditional forms,
(1) Fig. 61, No. 1, slender swelling form, flat base, cord around shoulder; fine hard brownish drab ware
pebble smoothed; potmark on shoulder incised before baking. P1. 71 c .
+ From I-355
debris,
No.
372.³
(2) Fig. 61, No. 2, degenerate slender form, round base, cord around shouIder and around base; fine hard
brown-drab ware, smooth.
+FromI-332sub, floor debris of court, No. 358.
See
¹ Amélineau, Fouilles d’Abydos1896-97, PI.XXIV. See
² Petrie, Abydos I , P1. VII.
In
³ the following lists, the examples marked + have been reproduced in the drawings of pottery types.
210 MYCERINUS
(2) Type I I . Tall Jar with Tapering Body and Round Base
This tall jar is obviously descended from the tall jar of drab ware which is commonly found in the
graves of Dynasty 0.¹ The intervening variations between that jar and the Mycerinus jar are as follows:
(1) Petrie, Abydos I , Pls. XXXVI-XL, Cem. M., Dynasty I.
(2) Reisner, Naga-’d-Dêr I , p. 92, type TV, Dynasties I and 11.
(3) Garstang, Mahâsna andBêtKhallâf, P1. XXXI, Nos. 27, 28, Dynasty 111.
(4) Quibell, Archaic Tombs, P1. XXXIX C and D, Dynasties II-III.
This type is closely related in origin to typeIV, but instead of degenerating like typeIV it remained a prac-
tical vessel throughout the Old Kingdom, but the later examples were usually of W. S. R. or R. P. ware.
Type 11, tall jar with tapering body, rounded base, very short neck and roll rim around mouth, of fine, hard
pink-drab ware.
Fig. 62, No. 1,
+FromI-56, débris in granary, No. 114. PI. 71 e.
I-24,under the floor,No. i.
1-40, under the granary, No. 108.
(3) Type I I I . Large Bulging Jar

The very wide bulging jar with the rounded base and the short neck with roll rim, suitable for grain
or water, is rare in the records of Dynasty I. In that dynasty a very similar jar with narrow flat base
is more frequent. The material is usually not hard baked, and the walls are thin so that vessels of this
type suffer greatly from breakage.
The examples are as follows:
(1) Reisner, Naga-’d-Dêr I , p. 92, type 111, all of Dynasty 11.
(2) Petrie and Wainwright, Tarkhan. I , PI. LVII, No. 82 c.
(3) Quibell, Archaic Tombs, PI. XXXIX, type B.
No two of these large jars are exactly alike, but they must be grouped as functionally the same. The
number of examples in the Mycerinus collection was large, but most of them were badly broken.
Type 111, large bulging jar, rounded base; of good red-brown ware with black fracture, smooth surface, and
red or drab wash.
(1) Fig. 62, No. 2,
+FromIII-2, in débris under floor of second temple, red wash, two examples.
(2) Fig. 62, No. 3,
+FromI-40 sub, No. 109, red wash.
III-11, high up in débris, No. IV.
1-21, débris; drab wash; h., 50 cm.; repaired in antiquity.
1-307, on floor, No. 2, drab wash.
I-384,sub, NO.7.
1-391, sub, No. 3, red wash.
(3) Fig. 63, No. 1,
+ From 1-56, Nos. 112 and 113, drab wash, two examples.
I-308sub,No. ii, drab wash, two examples.
1-318, No. iv, drab wash.
(4) Fig. 63, No. 2,
+FromI-30, No. 40, drab wash.
(5) Fig. 63, No. 3,
+FromI-30, No. 41, drab wash.
1-70, No. 256, h., 46 cm., red wash.
I-384sub, NO.8.
(6) General types, badly broken examples:
From 111-5, No. 32, red wash.
III-19, No. 11, red wash.
1-18, débris, Nos. 24, 25, 28; red surface, two examples.
I-21sub, NO.175.
I-26sub, NO.142.
I-60sub, NO.236.
I-307 onfloor, No. 3.
I-366,No.iii.
Professor
¹ Petsie’s L 36.
FIGURE
62
POTTERY,TYPESII SCALE ¼
AND III.
FIGURE
63
POTTERY, TYPE III.
SCALE ¼
[211]
a12 MYCERINUS
The total number of identifiable examples was twenty-four, 5.27 per cent of the identified pottery.
Similar large bulging jars were always in use probably for the same purpose as these jars, but the form
and the material were different.
(4) T y p e I V . Traditional Offering Jar

The traditional offering jar has a long history,¹ extending from the Late Predynastic Period to the
Middle Kingdom. Being always from Dynasty I down a traditional-ceremonial vessel, type IV presents
great variations in form in the same tomb - see for example Mr. Mace’s remarks in Naga-’d-Dêr 11,p. 38.
A good illustration of this fact may be found in varied forms found in the very homogeneous group of
FIGURE
64
POTTERY, TYPE IV. SCALE ¼
Third Dynasty stairway tombs a t Bêt Khallâf.² Our present type IV and especially the subtypes (3-5)
are closely related to type II in origin. Subtypes IV (I) and (2) may be directly descended from the
ancestors of type II or even from those of type I. The actual examples noted herewith represent only a
part of the vessels of type IV, as the débris in almost every room contained potsherds of this general
type. Their original number was probably not less than that of type XXV, but the latter were more
compact and less easily shattered. The number noted was fifty-three, 11.73 per cent, next to type
XXV in frequency.
Type IV, traditional offering jar, hand-made or imitating hand manufacture; of coarse red-brown ware with
black fracture; surface, wet-smoothed by hand; usually vertical dressing marks on base.
(1) Fig. 64, No. 1, tall form with rim, Pl. 72 a (4/3).
+ From I-364, No. i.
(2) Fig. 64, No. 2, tall form without rim,
+ From IIi-19, Nos. 8 and 7, two examples.
(3) Fig. 64, No. 3, short form with rim,
+FromIII-6, No. 62.
high up in debris,
III-11, No. i.
III-19, NO. 12.
Court, north of stone basin, floor débris.
III-379,No.iii, floor of magazine.
¹Reisner, Naga-’d-DêrI, p. 93, type V, and Mace, Naga-’d-Dêr 11, p. 38.
²Garstang,l.c. (Pls. XXX; XXXI, 9,10,29-34). Other examples of Dynasties II and III may be found in Mr. Quibell’s Archaic
Tombs, Pl. XXXIX, type M.
I-21sub, NO. 63.
1-308 debris, No. 315.
1-359 debris, No. 378b.
1-361 debris, Nos. i and ii, two examples.
I-366sub, NO. 373.
1-367 debris, No. ii.
(4) Fig. 64, No. 4, short form with rudimentary rim,
+ From 111-21, Nos. 57, 59, two examples. Pl. 72 a (4/1).
1-22 sub, Nos. 66-72, seven examples. Pl. 71 h.
1-364 sub, No. iii, four examples.
1-365, No. ii.
(5) Fig. 64, No. 5, short form without rim,
+FromIII-21, No. 368, two examples. Pl. 72 a (4/2).
General type,
From 111-4, under door block, No. 40; traces of white plaster on inside.
1-18 debris, No. 26.
1-34 floor debris of court, No. 52.
1-51 debris, Nos. 124, 127, five examples.
1-52 debris, Nos. 128, 129, two examples.
1-54 lower debris, No. 147.
1-55 sub, Nos. 152, 153, two examples.
I-56sub, NO. 255.
1-303 debris, No. 277.
1-304 debris, No. 313.
I-306 debris, No. 305.
1-314 diibris, No. 329.
1-321 debris, No. iii.
1-331 sub, No. iii.
1-366 sub, No. ii, two examples.
( 5 ) Types V , V I , and V I I . Small Jars
Six variations of jar with bulging shoulder, tapering rounded base, and short, or very short, neck are
grouped under type V. Twenty-four of these (5.27 per cent) were registered, making the type tied with
type 111 in point of frequency. Type VI, represented by one example, had an ovoid body with longer
concave neck, while type VII, with three examples, was a small globular jar with flaring mouth. The
types are difficult to trace before Dynasty IV.¹ The form of type V is common in the mastabas a t Giza
in R. W., W. S. R., and R. P. wares. The examples of the three types in the Mycerinus collection are as
follows:
Type V, small jar, with bulging shoulder, tapering rounded base, and short, or very short, neck; of ordinary
red or brown ware with black fracture; wet-smoothed surface; whitish-green or drab slip.
(1) Fig. 65, No. 1,
+ From 1-314 debris, No. 318. PI. 72 a (½).
I-18sub, NO. 58.
(2) Fig. 65, No. 2,
+ From 1-304 sub, No. 5. PI. 72 a (1/7).
111-382 on mag. floor, No. i. Pl. 72 a (1/3).
1-301 sub, No. iv.
(3) Fig. 65, No. 3,
+Fromi-326 debris, No. i. PI. 72 a (1/6).
1-328 debris, No. i.
I-321 debris, No. iv, two examples.
I-384sub, NO. 6.
(4) Fig. 65, No. 4,
+ From 111-21 E, No. 367.
1-396 sub, No. i. Pl. 72 a (1/5).
See
¹ Quibell, Archaic Tombs, Pl. XXXIX, type F.
214 MYCERINUS
(5) Fig. 65, No. 5,
+ From No. 9.
III-19,
1-20 debris, No. 15, wash faded or wanting.
I-28 sub, No. 165.
(6) Fig. 65, No. 6,
+From 1-304, No. 9, potmark.
1-305 debris, No. 307.
(7) Fig. 65, No. 7,
+ From 1-321 sub, No. vi, with nearly globular body. Pl. 72 a (3/5).
General type,
From top of wall between 1-6 and south wall, No. 35.
I-21
sub, NO.62.
Type VI, small jar, ovoid body, longer concave neck; ordinary red-brown ware, wet-smoothed surface.
(1) Fig. 65, No. 8,
+ FromI-21 débris, No. 13. Pl. 72 a (1/1).
Type VII, small jar, globular body, neck and flaring mouth; of red-brown ware with red or drab wash on wet-
smoothed surface.
(1) Fig. 65, No. 9,
+From 1-305 debris, No. 308, red wash.
1-331 sub, No. ii.
(2) Fig. 65, No. 10,
+From 1-30 debris, No. 43, drab wash.
(6) Types VIIIandIX. Pointed Jars with Neck

Type VIII with bulging rounded shoulder, tapering pointed base, and wide flaring neck with roll-
rim around mouth, is a characteristic form of Dynasties I V and V. As far as I know, it has never been
recorded previous to Dynasty IV. The vessels are always of the whitish-drab ware (“Keneh ware”)
or the imitation of that ware (W. S. R. ware). The same form copied in alabaster is one of the common
and characteristic types of the stone vessels of Dynasties V and VI. Type VIII-3 differs from VIII-1
solely in the straighter form of the neck and is also one of the common alabaster forms of Dynasties
V-VI.¹ Type VIII was represented in the Mycerinus collection by eighteen examples or 3.97 per cent
of all; type IX, by only two examples.
Type VIII, jar, rounded shoulder, tapering pointed base, wide flaring neck, roll-rim; of whitish-drab ware
or of red ware with heavy whitish-drab slip.
(1) Fig. 65, No. 11,
+From 1-321 sub, No. v. Pl. 72 a (1/4).
111-21 E, NO.369.
I-18sub, NO.56.
1-51 debris, No. 123.
1-56 sub, No. 253; smoke stained.
1-307 debris, No. iv.
1-310 sub, No. vi.
1-314 sub, No. ii.
I-316sub, NO.359.
1-317 on the floor, Nos. vi-x, five jars.
I-359debris,No.378a.
I-384sub, NO.5.
(2) Fig. 65, No. 12,
+ FromIII-21, No. ii. PI. 71 h.
(3) Fig. 65, No. 13,
+ FromIII-19, No. 1, with straight neck.
Type IX, jar, with short flaring neck, tapering body (swelling), and pointed base.
(1) Fig. 65, No. 14,
+From 1-34 sub (floor debris of court), No. 53.
1-335 sub, No. i.
¹See for both and IX, Garstang, MahâsnaandBêtKhallâf, Pls. XXXIV-XXXVIII.
VIII
4
Scale1/4
0
Figure65
Potery,T pesVtoXI.
[215]
216 MYCERINUS
(7) Type X . Small Shouldered Jar with Flat Base

Type X is the same form as the red polished type XVIII, but has an unpolished red wash. For the
history of the form see type XVIII.
Type X, small shouldered jar with short neck and flat base, of red ware; wet-smoothed; red wash.
(1) Fig. 65, No. 15,
+FromIII-4, floor débris.
(2) Fig. 65, No. 16,
+ From 1114, floor débris.
(8) Type X I . Small Squat Jar with Spout

Small bowls with contracted mouth and cups, both with open spout, have been recorded in stone
in Dynasties I-III The two squat jars found in the Mycerinus valley temple were different from either
of these forms, which have both a short tubular spout. A larger vessel, a basin with external rim and
short tubular spout, is known in stone¹ and in pottery in Dynasty 111. Thus an historical predecessor
of these two forms is sought in vain. I n Dynasty-IV, a number of forms with spout, often derived from
the copper ewer, have been found a t Giza, and the two vessels of our type X I are probably related to
these imitations of copper forms.
Type XI, squat jar with spout,
(1) Fig. 65, No. 17, squat jar with narrow rimless mouth, flat base, and tubular spout; of drab ware.
+From 1-317 sub, No. 349.
(2) Fig. 65, No. 18, very squat jar (jar-bowl), contracted rimless mouth, flat base, short tubular spout;
of W. S. R. ware.
+From 1-33 débris, No. 54.
(9) Types XII-XIV. Black Polished Jars

Black polished pottery is almost always an impractical, soft, and fragile ware. The examples of this
material are rare in all periods and often imitative of stone forms.
Type XII, small globular jar with neck and roll-rim on mouth (cf. type VII) ;
of soft dark grey ware; polished black slip.
(1) Fig. 66, No. 1,
+ From 1-54 débris, No. 146.
Type XIII, small shouldered jar, short neck, flat base (cf. R. P. XVIII);
of soft dark grey ware; polished black slip.
(1) Fig. 66, No. 2,
+FromI-305 débris, No. 309.
Type XIV, small squat jar with bulging base (cf. R. P. XX); of soft dark
grey ware; polished black slip.
(1) Fig. 66, No. 3,
+ From 1-366 sub., No. 374.
(2) Fig. 66, No. 4, FIGURE 66
+FromI-366 sub, No. iv. POTTERY
(B.P.), TYPESXII
ToXIV.SCALE¼
(10) Types XV-XX. Jars, Red Polished Ware
Red polished brown or red ware is well represented in the Predynastic Period and is known from
all the early dynasties; but its frequency declined during the great period of stone vessels, especially
for jars. The ware was revived with the advent of wheel-made pottery, as a harder ware with bright
red polish for bowls and sometimes jars, and a softer ware with dark red polish for jars. The jars of
the Mycerinus collection are of this softer ware with dark red polish except types XVI-XIX.
Type XV is of globular form, without exact historical predecessors.²
Type XV (1), large globular jar with roll-rim on mouth; red-brown ware, red wash, pebble burnished.
Fig. 67, No. 2,
+ From 1-329 sub, No. i.
See
¹ stone vessels, type XIa (4).
See,
² however, Garstang, MahâsnaandBêtKhallâf, Pl. XXX, 20, unpolished.
Type XV (2), medium-sized globular jar with flaring mouth; hard thin red ware, red wash, pebble burnished.
Fig. 67, No. 1,
+ From 1-38 sub, No. 257.
111-21, No. iii.
I-391
sub, NO.2.
I-392sub, NO.1.
Type XVI contains the ovoid, round-bottomed jars of various sizes, and is an Old Kingdom group.
Type XVI, round-bottomed jar with neck,
(1) Fig. 67, No. 3, ovoid jar, conical neck, roll-rim; hard thin red ware, red wash, burnished,
+ From I-302 sub, No. 35. PI. 72 b (1/2).
(2) Fig. 67, No. 4, smaller ovoid jar, with neck (cf. type V (6)), red-brown ware, dark red wash, burnished,
+ From 1-303 debris, No. 275.
(3) Fig. 67, No. 5, very small slender jar with tapering base; red-brown ware, red wash, bright polish,
+ From I-391sub,No.iii. PI. 72 a (4/4).
FIGURE67
(R.P.), TYPESXV AND XVI. SCALE
POTTERY 1/4
Type XVII is similar to type VIII with the bottom truncated to form a flat base. It belongs to
the archaeological group of Dynasties V-VI and like type VIII was copied in alabaster.¹
Type XVII, shoulder jar, flat base, flaring neck with roll-rim; red ware, red wash, pebble burnished.
(1) Fig. 68, No. 1,
+ From 111-21, No. 60. PI. 72 a (3/1).
¹SeeGarstang,MahâsnaandBêtKhallâf, Pl. XXXVI, 16, 17.
218 MYCERINUS
Type XVIII contains the shouldered jars with flat base. Subtypes (I) to (4) are practical jars
descended from type-forms of Dynasties II-III¹ and are well-known in Dynasties IV-VI. The sub-
type ( 5 ) consists of model jars which are probably descended from the type K of Quibell’s Archaic
Tombs.
FIGURE68
(R.P.), TYPESXVII AND XVIII. SCALE1/4
POTTERY
Type XVIII (1), jar, sloping shoulder, short flaring neck? flat base; red ware, red wash, burnished.
Fig. 68, No. 2,
(2) Jar, bulging shoulder, neck (rim missing), flat base; red-brown ware, red wash, burnished.
Fig. 68, No. 3,
+ From 1-366 sub, No. 383.
(3) Jar, swelling shoulder, no neck, roll-rim, small flat bottom; brown ware, red wash, dull burnish.
Fig. 68, No. 4,
1-60 sub, Nos. 237,238, two jars.
Quibell,
See
¹ Archaic Tombs, PI. XXXIX, forms G and L,
(4) Jar, round shoulder, wide body, short neck, wide rim, flat bottom; red-brown ware, red wash, burn-
ished (a common form in the Giza mastabas).
Fig. 68, No. 5,
+ From 1-324 sub, No. 365.
(5) Model jar, shoulder, neck, flat base; red-brown ware, red wash, dull burnish.
Fig. 68, No. 6,
+FromI-310 sub, No. 1. Pl. 72 a (2/5).
I-22
sub, NO.82.
Fig. 68, No. 7,
+FromI-310 sub, No. 2.
Fig. 68, No. 8,
+ From I-310 sub, No. 3.
Types XIX and XX contain the squat-shouldered jars. These are undoubtedly descended from the
squat pottery jars of Dynasty I.¹The form occurs also in Dynasties V-VI, and even later.² This pot-
FIGURE69
(R.P.), TYPES
POTTERY 1/4
XIX AND XX. SCALE
tery jar was copied in stone (Type 1-V c) in which case the examples were often made in two pieces on
account of the difficulty of boring. The form of the pottery jar presented by Quibell’s type I³ which
has a ridge around the shoulder appears to be copied from the two-piece stone jar.
Type XIX, squat broad shoulder jar; flat or convex base; red or brown ware, red wash, dull pebble burnish.
(1) Fig. 69, No. 1, high form, convex base,
+ From 1-25 sub, No. 1. Pl. 72 a (2/1).
(2) Fig. 69, No. 2, wide base,
I-384 sub, Nos. 1, 2, two jars.
(3) Fig. 69, No. 3, low squat form,
+ From I-326 débris, No. ii. Pl. 72 a (2/4).
I-384sub, NO.9.
General type,
From I 4 sub, No. ii.
Between 1-6 and south wall, No. 34.
I-8 débris, Nos. 32, 33, two examples.
1-51 debris, No. 123.
I-307 débris, No. iii.
Type XX, squat jar with bulging base (rare Old Kingdom form).
(1) Fig. 69, No. 4,
+ From I-325 débris, No. 352. Pl. 72 a (2/2).
(11) Types XXI-XXI V . Bowl-Stands and Jar-Stands

The pottery stands are of two types, the taller bowl-stands, and the low ring-stands for jars. The tall
slender bowl-stand (types XXI and XXII (1)) was probably descended from the dished-topped pottery
table of Dynasty 0, but the intermediate forms are wanting between that time and Khasekhemuwy,
the last king of Dynasty
II.
The earliest examples appear to be those of Khasekhemuwy and the stair-
way tombs of BêtKhallâf 4 (see p. 198). The lower bowl-stands with concave sides (types XXII @),and
¹Cf.Reisner,Naga-’d-DêrI, p. 95. 3 See Quibell, Archaic Tombs.
See
² Garstang, MahásnaandBêtKhallâf, Pl. XLI, K 2. 4 See Garstang, l.c.,PI.XXXI, No. 30.
220 MYCERINUS
XXIII) were probably derived by lost forms from the low stands with flaring base, found in Dynasty I.¹
The ring-stands or jar-stands are represented by stone examples,² but I know of no pottery forms before
Dynasty IV. After that time pottery jar-stands occur continuously with little change of form, until
the Ptolemaic Period and perhaps later. The favorite form of the bowl-stand in Dynasties IV-VI a t
Giza was the tall slender form, type XXII (1), of which so many degenerate examples occur in the inter-
mediate period between Dynasties VI and XI.
I n the Mycerinus valley temple, none of these types were very numerous. The ring-stands (type
XXIV) had the largest number with 9 examples. Taken together, they amounted to 25 stands, 5.53
per cent of all. The material of types X X I and XXII was ordinary R. P. ware; type XXIII, ordinary
red-brown ware, with or without red wash; and type XXIV, drab ware, red ware with drab wash
(W. S. R.), or red ware.
Type XXI, tall stand, slender stem (lower part missing); bowl with six bent spouts; all of one piece; red-
brown ware, red wash, pebble burnished.
(1) Fig. 70, No. 1,
+ From 1-317 sub, No. 350.
Type XXII, bowl-stand, taller and shorter, often with two or three holes in shaft; red-brown ware, red wash,
burnished.
(1) Fig. 70, No. 2, taller form,
+ From 111-19, No. 6, no burnish, no holes.
III-379, No. i.
I-28sub.
(2) Fig. 70, No. 3, shorter form with concave sides,
+ From court, floor debris above stone pathway, No. 33. PI. 72 a (3/3).
I-22sub, NO.75.
I-25sub, NO.9.
I-307sub, NO.361.
I-355 débris, No. 389.
I-357 sub, No. 390,
Type XXIII, bowl-stand, shorter form with concave sides; bottom partly closed by a diaphragm; of ordi-
nary red-brown ware, either with or without red wash (see type XXII (2)).
(1) Fig. 70, Nos. 4, 5,
+ From 1-355, No. i, two stands.
+ From 1-356, No. 379, five stands.
Type XXIV, ring-stand or jar-stand.
(1) Fig. 70, No. 6, drab ware,
+From 1-18 sub, No. 57.
1-318 debris, No. i.
(2) Fig. 70, No. 7, drab ware,
+From 1-302 sub, No. 50. Pl. 72 b (2/2),.
(3) Fig. 70, No. 8, red ware with drab wash (W. S. R.),
+From 1-21 sub, No. 64.
1-51 debris, No. 116.
(4) Fig. 70, No. 9, red ware with drab wash (W. S. R.),
+FromI-54débris, No. 143.
(5) Fig. 70, No. 10, red ware, wet-smoothed,
+ From court, floor debris, north of pathway, No. 35.
1-51 debris, No. 118.
(12) Types X X V , X X V I . “Flower-Pot” and Tray

Type XXV is the traditional open pot, of “flower-pot” form with thick walls, and here with flat
bottom, of poorly baked Nile mud. The type appears to have begun with the heavy coarse pans of
similar ware which have been found in the Late Predynastic Period. The intervening form between that
and the present vessel has been traced in Naga-’d-Dêr I , p. 98, which is to be emended by adding that,
alongside the heavy coarse round-bottomed form marked 3-5, a form better even than 6 has now been
recorded from Dynasties II
and III.³
Our form is between the Saqqara vessels and the form marked 6
See
¹ Reisner, I, p. 98, type XIS; and Petrie, R.
Naga-’d-Dêr T. XL, Nos. 13-15.
I, Pl.
See
² stone vessels, type XIII. Quibell,
³ Archaic Tombs, Pl. XXXIX, Types 0 and P.
FIGURE 70
TYPESXXI TO XXIV. SCALE
POTTERY, 1/4
FIGURE71
POTTERY,
TYPESXXV AND XXVI. SCALE 1/4
[221]
222 MYCERINUS
in Naga-’d-Dêr. As was the case with our type IV and with traditional pottery in general, many
variations of the type occur side by side in the same period and indeed in the same grave. This type
continued to be made in the New Kingdom. It is the most numerous of all in the Mycerinus collection,
containing 145 vessels or 32.08 per cent (practically one third). This fact was due in part to the com-
pact form of the pot which ensures that even when broken, enough remains to be recognized.
Type XXV, open “flower-pot” with thick walls and flat bottom; of coarse poorly baked mud ware.
(1) Fig. 71, No. 1, tall slender form with flat mouth,
+ From court, floor debris north of pathway.
I-57b on lowest floor, Nos. 117-122, three stacks of two pots each.
(2) Fig. 71, No. 2, broader tall form, flat mouth,
+ From III-19, No. 4.
I-20sub, NOS.59-60, two pots.
I-56 sub, Nos.243-248, nine pots; Nos. 245 and 248 have an X as potmark outside; No.
246 has a stroke as potmark inside; three pots are of subtype (4).
(3) Fig. 71, No. 3, tall flaring form with beveled mouth,
+ From III-21, Nos. 58 andi, four pots. PI. 71 d.
III-11, high up in debris, Nos. ii, iii, two examples.
Above corridor 21 between 1-6 to 1-10 and south wall, No. 36.
1-27 on floor, No. 161, two pots.
1-30 debris, Nos. 38, 39, two pots.
I 4 0 sub, Nos. 92-97, six pots.
(4) Fig. 71, No. 4, shorter slender jar, flaring, beveled mouth,
+ From I-302 sub, Nos. 1-4, 21, 25-30, 33, 34, thirteen pots mostly of subtype (4), see subtype (3)
above.
I 4 sub, No. vi.
1-52 debris, Nos. 130, 131, potmark X inside.
1-56 sub, Nos. 249-252, three examples, see subtype (2) above. Pl. 71 e.
1-304 sub, No. 13, five pots.
1-306 debris, No. 306, hole in bottom.
1-303 debris, No. 276.
(5) Fig. 71, No. 5, short thick form, flaring beveled mouth,
+From 1-25 sub, No. 10; also Nos. 4, 5, 7, four pots.
1-51 debris, No. 126.
I-301sub,No. ii.
1-304 debris, Nos. 311, 312, two pots.
1-305, Nos. 1, 2, under floor; No. 310 in debris, total, three pots.
I-307debris,No. i, four pots.
I-308sub, No. i, seven pots.
I-310sub, NO.V, two pots.
1-317 sub, No. xii, three pots; on the floor, Nos. i-iv, five pots; total, eight pots.
I-318
debris, No. ii, ten pots.
I-321debris,No. ii.
I-322sub, No. i.
1-327 debris, No. 357, two pots.
I-331debris ofcourt, No. i, two examples.
I-364debris,No. ii.
I-365 sub, No. iv; debris, No. i, three pots; total, four pots.
I-366sub, No. i, two pots.
3,
I-384
sub,
Nos.
4,
two pots.
1-391 sub, No. 1, six pots.
1-392 sub, No. 3, three pots.
General type,
From 111-7 in floor debris, No. 64.
III-19, NO.10.
111-21, No. 367, seven pots.
I-9 debris, Nos. 30, 31, two pots.
1-20 debris, Nos. 16-18, three pots.
I-22sub, NO.74.
I-36sub, NO.48.
I-55sub, NO.151.
I-367debris,No. i.
Type XXVI is a coarse oval tray with vertical sides and the general character of a traditional-
ceremonial vessel. The oval tray is probably descended from the coarse oval pans of the Late Pre-
dynastic Period and Dynasty I.¹ Coarse round trays have also been found in Dynasties II and III.²
Type XXVI, oval tray with vertical sides; of coarse red-brown ware, hand-made.
(1) Fig. 71, No. 6,
+ From I-57b on lowest floor, No. 183, two stacks of four each, leaning against the wall.
1-40 sub, No. 100.
(2) Fig. 71, No. 7, larger form,
+ From 1-302 sub, No. 47.
I-307debris, No. ii.
I-314sub, No. i.
(13) Types XXVII-XLII. Basins and Bowls

The seven types XXVII-XXXIII are bowls and basins with round bases, while the nine types
XXXIV-XLII are similar vessels with flat bottoms. These forms all belong to the wheel-made group
which appeared in Dynasty 111. The round-bottomed forms appear to have been in greater favor in
Dynasty III and in the reign of Sneferuw.³ It was in that period that the round-bottomed stone bowls
with recurved rims came into use, but the flat-bottomed stone forms were earlier. In the Giza mastabas
the round-bottomed bowl with recurved rim continued to be the favored form, but an occasional ex-
ample with flat bottom also occurred. In general in those mastabas the Mycerinus types prevailed in
much the same proportions as in the Mycerinus temples, and the group of bowls and basins is a fairly
characteristic set of vessels of Dynasties IV-VI.
Type XXVII, bowl, round bottom, shallow, flaring with drooping or molded rim; red-brown ware, red wash
(does not always cover bottom of bowl), burnished; examples in the Giza mastabas.
(1) Fig. 72, No. 1, deeper form with drooping rim,
+ From 1 4 0 sub, No. 111.
(2) Fig. 72, No. 2, conical base, rim molded on outside,

+ From 1-302 sub, Nos. 41, 46, two examples.
sub,
I-391 NO.4.
(3) Fig. 72, No. 3, very shallow with drooping rim,
+ From 1-25 sub, No. 6.
I 4 0 sub, No. 101.
(4) Fig. 72, No. 4, very shallow, rim molded on underside,
1-36 sub, No. 51, unburnished.
(5) Fig. 72, No. 5, shallow, with rim molded on upper side,
+From III-19, No. 3.
Type XXVIII, bowl, round bottom, deep, internal rim; red-brown ware, red wash, pebble burnished,
(1) Fig. 72, No. 6, conical base, well-marked internal rim,
(2) Fig. 72, No. 7, hemispherical, very slight rim,
Type XXIX, large basin, swell rim, outlined on outside; red-brown ware, red wash, burnished.
(1) Fig. 73, No. 1,
+ From 1-56 sub, No. 254.
See
¹ Petrie, Abydos I , Pl. XL, 21.
See
² Quibell, Archaic Tombs,PI. XXXIX and Garstang, MahâsnaandBêtKhallâf, Pl. XXX.
³See Petrie, Meydum and Memphis, PI. XXV.
224 MYCERINUS
Type XXX, large basin, bent sides, tapering rounded base; red-brown ware, red wash, burnished or un-
burnished;¹ occurs in Giza mastabas of Dynasties V-VI.
(1) Fig. 73, No. 2, larger size,
+ From 1-302 sub, Nos. 43, 44, two examples. Pl. 72 b (4/1).
III-10, on floor, two or more examples.
111-21, Nos. 55, 56, unburnished, two examples.
(2) Fig. 73, No. 3, smaller form,
+ From 1-302 sub, No. 51. Pl. 72 b (4/3).
Type XXXI, bowl, rounded base, swell rim inside, degenerate form of recurved rim; red-brown ware, red
wash, burnished or unburnished.
(1) Fig. 74, No. 1,
+From 1-25 sub, No. 3, R. P. Pl. 72 a (2/6).
1-60 sub, No. 334 (R. P.), 335 (unburnished), two examples.
1-304 sub, No. 2, unburnished.
I-308sub, No. iii, R. P.
Type XXXII, bowl, deep with tapering rounded base, low recurved rim; red-brown ware, red wash, pebble
burnished; types of Giza mastabas.
(1) Fig. 74, No. 2, nearly like the stone form with low upright recurved rim,²
+ From 1-302 sub, No. 40. Pl. 72 b (3/3).
(2) Fig. 74, No. 3, slight flaring low rim,
+ From 1-302 sub, Nos. 48, 22, two examples. Pl. 72 b (3/1).
I-21sub, NO.22.
I-40sub, NO.99.
1-51 debris, Nos. 120, 122, two examples.
1-314, Nos. 323, 324, two examples.
(3) Fig. 74, No. 4, rim molded on outside:
111-21, No. iv.
I-11 sub, No. ii.
Type XXXIII, bowl, round bottom, high recurved rim; red-brown ware, red wash, pebble burnished;
common type in Giza mastabas.
(1) Fig. 74, No. 5, flaring recurved rim,
+ From 1-302 sub, No. 38. Pl. 72 b (3/2).
111-21, NO.366.
III-10 floor, two or more.
1-4 sub, No. vi.
1-355 debris, No. 389.
(2) Fig. 74, No. 6, very high recurved rim with double curvature, anomalous example,’
+ From 1-302 sub, No. 49. Pl. 72 b (1/1).
(3) Fig. 14, No. 7, very flaring shallow recurved rim and three knob feet on bottom,
+ From III-19, No. 5, unburnished.
Type XXXIV, large basin, flat bottom, roll-rim; red-brown ware, red wash, pebble burnished.
(1) Fig. 75, No. 1,
+ From 111-21 E, No. 369, perfect.
1-57 sub, No. 241, broken.
1-307 on floor, No. 363, broken.
Type XXXV, large basin with short tubular spout, flat bottom, external roll-rim; red-brown ware, red wash,
pebble burnished.
(1) Fig. 76, No. 1,
+FromI-302 sub, Nos. 31, 32. Pl. 72 b (4/2).
See
¹ Petrie, Meydum and Memphis, Pl. XXVI, 53.
²
Cf. Petrie, Meydum and Memphis, Pl. XXV, 17, 18.
Cf.
³ Petrie, Meydum and Memphis, 1.c.
4 Cf. stone bowls with cord in relief in grooved rim; Petrie, Meydum and Memphis, Pl. XXV, 1.
5 Cf. Petrie, Meydum and Memphis, Pl. XXV, 7, 15.
6 See stone vessels, Type XIb (5).

7 Cf. Petrie, Meydum and Memphis, 1. c., 6, 7.
8 See the stone vessels, Type 2-XIa (4),from tomb of Khasekhemuwy and Type 3-XIa (4), and also the pottery example in
Professor Garstang’s MahâsnaandBêtKhallâf, Pl. XXX, 19, from the stairway mastaba K 2 of Dynasty 111; a few examples oc-
curred in the Giza mastabas.
FIGURE 72 FIGURE73
TYPESXXVII AND XXVIII. SCALE1/4
POTTERY, POTTERY, 1/4
TYPESXXIX AND XXX. SCALE
FIGURE74
2/4
TYPESXXXI TO XXXIII. SCALE
POTTERY,
[225]
226 MYCERINUS
Type XXXVI, basin with short tubular spout, flat bottom, low recurved rim; red-brown ware, red wash,
pebble burnished; common form in the Giza mastabas.
(1) Fig. 77, No. 1,
+ From 1-302 sub, Nos. 36, 37, 45, three examples. Pl.72b(2/5;2/3;2/1).
I-310sub,No.viii.
III-10, on floor.
I 4 sub, No. vi.
(2) Fig. 77, No. 2, bulging shoulder; incomplete example, spout doubtful,
FIGURE
75
POTTERY,
TYPEXXXIV. SCALE 1/4
Type XXXVII, basin, low recurved rim, flat bottom; red-brown ware, red wash, pebble burnished; also in
Giza mastabas.
(1) Fig. 77, No. 3, better developed rim,
+ From 1-302 sub, Nos. 23, 24, 42, three examples. Pl.72b(1/3).
1-302 debris, No. 258.
III-10 on floor, two examples.
I 4 sub, No. vi.
See also XXXVI (2).
(2) Fig. 77, No. 4, rudimentary recurved rim,
+
From
I-25
sub, No. 2.
1-307 debris, No. v.
I-310sub,No.vii, three examples.
1-318 debris, No. v.
Type XXXVIII, bowl with ledge-rim, flat bottom; red-brown ware, red wash, pebble burnished.
(1) Fig. 78, No. 1,
Type XXXIX, flaring bowl, half-roll rim on underside of edge (except subtype No. 3); red-brown ware, red
wash, burnished or unburnished; occurs in Giza mastabas; cf. ledge-rimmed bowls of Dynasties0-1.
(1) Fig. 78, No. 2, low very flaring form, unburnished,
+From III-19, No. 2.
1-51 debris, No. 125.
1-331 sub, No. iv.
I
FIGURE
76 FIGURE77
POTTERY, 1/4
TYPEXXXV. SCALE POTTERY, 1/4
TYPESXXXVI AND XXXVII. SCALE
FIGURE
78
POTTERY, 1/4
TYPESXXXVIII TO XLII. SCALE
[227]
228 MYCERINUS
(2) Fig. 78, No. 3, higher form,
+ From 1-57 sub, No. 240, burnished.
1-32 debris, No. 55, unburnished.
1-54 debris, No. 145, unburnished.
1-304 debris, Nos. 300, 301, unburnished, two examples.
1-308 debris, No. iv, burnished.
(3) Fig. 78, No. 4, high form without roll-rim,
+ From 1-30 sub, No. 11, burnished; Nos. 7, 8, 12, unburnished; four examples.
(4) Fig. 78, No. 5, large form with lines on inside,
+ From 1-316 sub, No. 364, unburnished.
Type XL, bowl-shaped vessel (brazier? or lid?), straight flaring sides, external roll-rim, flat bottom; two
rectangular holes in the side (opposite each other); two rings on bottom (opposite each other and half way
between the two holes) ; red-brown ware, red wash, unburnished, unless otherwise stated.
(1) Fig. 78, No. 6,
+ From 1-17 debris, No. 314. Pl.72a(3/4).
III-11 high up in débris, No. v.
I-302sub,No.10.
I-304sub, NO.6.
I-311sub, No. i, burnished.
I-321
debris, No. i.
I-326 débris, No. 356, burnished.
Type XLI, small basin, straight flaring sides, flat ledge-rim, flat bottom; red-brown ware, red wash, burn-
ished.
(1) Fig. 78, No. 7,
+ From 111-380 floor of magazine corridor, No. i.
Type XLII, tray with three knob-feet, straight flaring sides, wide flat ledge-rim, flat bottom; red-brown
ware, red wash.
(1) Fig. 78, No. 8,
+ From 111-379 floor of magazine, No. ii.
(14) Types X L I I I , X L I V . Models of Jars and Bowls
The small pottery models of jars and bowls were very numerous, especially in the dkbris of the rooms.
These models are found in the burial chambers of the Giza mastabas in limitednumbers but in the
débris of the chapels and in the dump heaps thrown out from the chapels, they occur in great quantities.
Beside the entrance to the pyramid temple of Mycerinus on the north, a deposit of several thousands
thrown out from the temple represented the accumulation of years. They appear therefore to have
been used in general in the periodical (“daily”) presentation of offeringsto the dead, in both the royal
and the private chapels. When they were placed in burial chambers, they were almost always accom-
panied by stone models.
I n the Mycerinus valley temple, a few models of both jars and bowls were found in the offering
room (111-2) in the floor dkbris. Very few were found in the dkbris of the magazines, but on the other
hand about 40-50 were lying on the floors in magazines (16, 17, and 18) of the pyramid temple. I
give a representative set of the manifold forms of these models.
Type XLIII, small model jar, flat bottom; ordinary red-brown ware, wheel-made.
(1) Fig. 79, No. 1, shoulder and rim,
+ From 111-2 floor débris, No. 44.
(2) Fig. 79, No. 2, shoulder but no rim,
+ From 1-366 sub, No. 386.
I-310sub, NO. X.
I-55sub, NO.154.
(3) Fig. 79, No. 3, sharp shoulder, rim,
+FromI-20débris, No. 19.
I-372
under
wall of second temple, No. v.
(4) Fig. 79, No. 4, ruder form of No. (3),
+ From I-367sub,No.iii.
(5) Fig. 79, No. 5, goblet-shaped,
+From 1-21 sub, No. 172.
T H E POTTERY OF THE MYCERINUS VALLEY TEMPLE 229
(6) Fig. 79, No. 6, goblet-shaped, larger,

+From 1-366 sub, No. 387.
I-367sub, NO. 388.
(7) Fig. 79, No. 7, concave cylindrical form,,
+ From 1-366 sub, No. 385.
(8) Fig. 79, No. 8, cylindrical,
+From 1-22 sub, No. 77.
(9) Fig. 79, No. 9, wavy form,
+From 1-367 sub, No. iv.
FIGURE79
POTTERY, 1/4
TYPEXLIII. SCALE
FIGURE80
POTTERY, 1/4
TYPEXLIV. SCALE
(10) Fig. 79, No. 10, sharply bulging base,

I-318debris,No.iii.
(11) Fig. 79, No. 11, swelling lower part,
(12) Fig. 79, No. 12, swelling middle part,
+ From 1-367 sub, No. 388.
Type XLIV, small model bowl, flat bottom, ordinary red-brown ware, wheel-made.
(1) Fig. 80, No. 1, fine copy of flaring bowl,
+ From 1-366 sub, twelve examples of varying sizes.
(2) Fig. 80, No. 2, low flaring form,
+FromIII-2 floor debris, Nos. 45, 46, two examples.
(3) Fig. 80, No. 3, very low flaring form,
1-372 sub, under second temple, No. i, eleven examples.
(4) Fig. 80, No. 4,
+ From 1-304 debris, No. 302, four examples.
CHAPTER X
OTHER OBJECTS FOUND I N THE MYCERINUS TEMPLES
1. FLINT KNIVES, SCRAPERS, AND FLAKES
A NUMBER of flint implements were found in the temples of Mycerinus, (a) in the pyramid temple,
twenty-five, many of them unbroken, on the floors of the magazines (16-18), ( b ) in the valley temple,
six on the floor of the offering room (111-2) and many fragments of knives and flakes in the débris of all
periods. Seventeen fragments of knives were found in the débris of the court a t the valley temple and
ninety-three flakes or chips. These were all roughly chipped after the manner of the ceremonial-tradi-
tional flints of Dynasties III-V, and were originally without doubt placed in the magazines as part of
the temple, furniture.
The forms presented were six in number:
Type I Broad knife without handle, one example, PI. 18 d, No. 3.

“II Broad knife with handle formed in the flint, PI. 18 d, No. 2; cf. also, d, No. 5; a, Nos. 3, 12.
“ III Narrow knife with handle formed in the flint, Pl. 18 a-b, Nos. 3 ,7 ,1 1 ; c, Nos. 7-11; d, Nos. 1,4,5.
“ IV Triangular flint (scraper?), PI. 18, a, No. 10; c, Nos. 1-4.
“ V Flint flake with one or both ends worked to a point, PI. 18 a-b, Nos. 2, 4-6 (fragmentary).
“ VI Flint flake, narrow with square ends, PI. 18 a-b, Nos. 1, 8; c, No. 6.
The broad knives are degenerate variations of the crude broad knives of DynastiesIandII.¹
These Early Dynastic broad knives are usually large and have a pronounced bend backwards, which
gives the cutting edge a fine curve. I n the later royal tombs of Dynasty II the curvature is lessened and
some examples of fine rather slender knives with curving back and front edge have been found.2 I n
the tomb of Khasekhemuwy, the last king of Dynasty 11,the knives were smaller and more clumsy with
still less curvature and straighter backs, sometimes even with slightly convex backs.³ As in the case
of the stone vessels, the flints of Dynasty III followed those of Khasekhemuwy, but flint knives are
rare in private graves of Dynasty 111. The Mycerinus flint knives follow the forms of Dynasty III
and present a further marked deterioration over the examples from the tomb of Khasekhemuwy. This
deterioration is most evident in the working of the handles of type II in the Mycerinus collection.
which are usually merely rudimentary. The one example of type I is probably a knife intended to be
of type II in which the working of the handle has been neglected.
Type IV, the triangular flint with worked edges, may also be traced from Dynasty I through Khase-
khemuwy and the Bêt Khallâf grave to the Mycerinus collection. Several variations of the form occur
both in the Mycerinus temples and earlier, one nearly triangular with equal sides and a point, a second
of a taller triangular form (isosceles) with a point, and a third similar to the second but with rounded
corners (nearly ovoid). The best formed examples are those of Khasekhemuwy. The flints of type IV
from Dynasty III, and from the Mycerinus group are distinctly less well worked than those of Khase-
khemuwy.
Type VI, the narrow flake, has the same history as the knives and scrapers (?) but in Dynasties I
and II including Khasekhemuwy, it is accompanied by a wider type - in which the ends were carefully
worked. In the Mycerinus collection this better form is wanting.
A seventh type interpreted by Mr. C. M. Firth as a crescent-shaped stone-borer, was found in the
tomb K 1a t Bêt Khallâf and in the Abydos temenos. No examples occurred in the Mycerinus temple,
or in the tombs of Dynasty I a t Abydos; and this flint was probably a practical implement which did
not become ceremonial.
¹SeeReisner,Naga-'d-DêrI, p. 112 and Pl. 40.
Petrie,
² Abydos I , Pls. XIV-XV.
³Amélineau, Nouvelles Fouilles 1896-97,Pl. XIX; and Petrie, 1. c.
4 See Garstang, Mahâsna and Bêt Khallâf, Pl. XV, on left below from K 1.
5 Garstang, 1. c. 6 Petrie, Abydos I , Pl. XXVI.
OTHER OBJECTS FOUND IN THE MYCERINUS TEMPLES 231
All the six types found in the Mycerinus collection also occurred in the mastabas of Dynasties IV and
V at Giza, types I-III being however very rare. The subsequent history is obscure. Professor Petrie
found flints at Kahûn, which he dates to Dynasty XII,¹ and flint knives of similar form to type II are
represented on the wall of the tombs of this dynasty at Beni Hasan.
Thus the flints like the stone vessels are impractical ceremonial-traditional objects, made only for
the tomb, by craftsmen practising a dead art. As I have said elsewhere, they were probably “ghost-
knives’’ for the slaughter of spirit cattle in the other world.
2. VESSELS AND IMPLEMENTS OF COPPER
All the objects of copper found in both the Mycerinus temples were heavily patinated, when not
entirely corroded by oxidation. As far as recognizable, they consisted of vessels, models of vessels, and
tools or implements.
Two large vessels were found as follows:
(1) A large hes-vase; height, 34 cm.; found in the floor debris of the court of the valley temple, one meter
south of the stone pathway about opposite the stone basin. This came without doubt from one of the
temple magazines. PI. 65 d.
(2) A large elliptical pan or tray in fragments; diam. ca. 40 x 30 cm.; h., 7 cm.; upside down on the wall
dividing magazines (111-6) and (111-7), about 40 cm. above the floor, evidently displaced by plunder-
ing from magazine (111-7); under it was the set of magical implements of Cheops; the exact form was
indeterminable. PI. 61 e.
Seventeen models of copper vessels were also recorded, of which fourteen were basins and three jars.
All these except three basins were found on the wall between magazines (111-6) and (111-7) under the
copper pan No. 2, above:
(3) A model hes-vase badly corroded; height, 15 cm. PI. 65 e.
(4) A small model jar, egg-shaped body, narrow flat base, short neck, wide disk-rim; height, 7.4 cm. PI. 65 e.
(5) A model shoulder jar, flat base, roll-rim around mouth; height, 8.4 cm. PI. 65 f.
(6) A stack of six deep model basins; height, 5.6 cm.; diam. 9 cm. PI. 65 f.
(7) Three similar basins in floor debris of room (III-20), opposite room (111-6). Pl. 65 e.
(8) Five shallow model pans; height, 2.8 cm.; diam., 7.6 cm.
Another object of copper was a sheath for the tapering end of a squared wooden beam, perhaps a
roofing beam from the outer offering room (II-1):
(9) Copper sheath for a beam; length, ca. 50 cm.; large end, 17 x 17 cm.; small end, 10 x 10 cm.; found
in upper débrisin magazine(III-16).
Two heavy practical copper blades were found, both unfortunately broken and incomplete. The
breaking was intentional, but whether by the directors of the funeral of Mycerinus or by the later
plunderers was indeterminable. Both were found in the plunderers’ débris in the western side of the
court outside magazine (111-3).
(10) Axe blade with curving cutting edge; back part broken off and missing, was probably straight with
square corners like the models found in the tomb of Impy (G 2381 A); height, 14.6 cm. (original);
width, 6.6+ cm. (originally about 13.8 cm. according to the models); thickness, 0.5 cm.; found in
the lower debris in room (1-338). PI. 65 i.
(11) Adze blade with slightly curving cutting edge; back end broken off and missing, was probably semicircular
like the adzes from the Senezemib group,² but may have been tapering and square cut like the earlier
adzes; length, 13.6 + cm. (originally, ca. 20 cm.); width, 6.4 cm.; thickness, 0.5 cm.; found sticking
to No. 9. Pl. 65 i.
(12) Two or more adze blades of the form of those illustrated in Annales X I I I , pl. XI; slightly smaller than
No. 11, about the size of the Senezemib adzes; found with chisels and other copper implements corroded
in a mass, under the wall of room (I-50), in upper surface of the floor debris of court, together with
the amulets and beads described on p. 235; the mass was wrapped in a coarse cloth (or sack) which
had decayed but left a print of its weave on the copper oxide. Pl. 65 g.
(13) Small adze blade of same form as No. 12; length, 9.6 cm.; width of cutting edge, 4 cm.; width of butt,
2.2 cm.; width of neck of butt, 1.4 cm.; thickness, about 0.3 cm.; from magazine (111-6). PI. 65 h.
Petrie,
¹ Kahun, Gurob and Hawara, Pl. XVI. Annales
² X I I I , PI. XI, 18.
232 MYCERINUS
Several practical chisels were found which, like the adze, were of the same form as the corresponding
tool of the Senezemib group:
(14) Heavy broad chisel with rectangular shaft and wide cutting edge (like Photo. A 838 from G 2381 Z);
usual measurements, 15 cm. X 1.5-1.6 cm. wide and 3-5 mm. thick;
( a ) One or more examples in the mass of corroded implements found in (1-50 sub), see No. 12, above.
( b ) One or more examples in the mass of corroded implements found in pyramid temple magazine (18).
(15) Long narrow chisel (?), with widened cutting edge and flat rectangular shaft, tapering from near butt to
the cutting edge; length, 17 cm.; width near butt, 1 cm.; thickness, 0.3 cm.; found in Mycerinus val-
ley temple magazine (111-7), under the crushed wall.
(16) Pointed chisel or drill with broad rectangular shaft and blunt point; length, 5.8+ cm. (originally, 10-
12 cm.); width, 1 cm.; thickness, 0.3-0.4 cm.; found in floor debris of court under (I-39), No. 45. Pos-
sibly one or more of same type in corroded mass from pyramid temple magazine (18).
One or two other fragments were found which might have been parts of chisels or drills.
(17) Point, similar to No. 16; length, 7 cm.; width, 0.6 cm.; thickness, 0.3 cm.; found in floor debris in
(III-2), NO. 36.
(18) Twisted fragment; length, 5 cm.; from (1-54) debris, No. 156.
(19) Long pointed shaft, round; length, 22.5 cm.; diam., 0.75 cm. from (I-55), under the granary, No. 155.
Two single-barbed harpoons were also recorded, both light and small.
(20) Single barbed harpoon, plain tapering round shaft; length, 8.6 cm.; length of barb, 2.2 cm.; width at
point of barb, 1.2 cm.; diam. of shaft, from 0.6 cm. at barb to 0.3 cm. at tip; found in middle of court,
in floor debris, No. 347. Pl. 65 h.
(21) Similar harpoon, badly corroded; length, 5.3+ cm.; length of barb, 2 cm.; width at point of barb,
1 cm.; diam. of shaft, 0.6 cm.; found in (I-331), court debris, No. 353. Pl. 65 h.
The examples of practical tools of copper raises the question of the hardness of the metal in the ancient
Egyptian tools. The facts are quite clear and simple:
(1) Heavy practical adzes and chisels of copper have been found in numbers in tombs of the first six dynasties.
(2) Marks have been found on limestone in tombs and quarries of Dynasties IV-VI, which were obviously
made by the same copper tools as those found in the tombs. In particular, the chisel marks have the
same width as the copper chisels.
(3) The chemical analyses which have been made of these ancient tools have invariably revealed the fact
that they were soft copper.
The conclusion is quite clear these tools must have been used to cut limestone, and as soft copper is not
a practical material for that purpose, the copper in the tools has suffered some alteration by which the
factor which produced their hardening has been lost. That is, - the modern analyses of ancient copper
implements do not yield a decisive proof of the original state of those tools. I submitted the question in this
form to Professor T. W. Richards, Professor of Chemistry at Harvard University, and received from
him the following suggestions:
(a) The copper may have been hardened originally by the presence of small quantities of other substances
which have disappeared by oxidation in the course of several thousand years.
(b) The hardness of the copper may have been produced by hammering the tool while the metal was cooling.
This process produces an abnormal state of crystallization in which copper is harder than in the ordi-
nary state. The abnormal state, as is usual in metals, would have relaxed after a certain time and
the copper would have again assumed its ordinary soft state of crystallization.
Both these suggestions, Professor Richards informs me, require further investigation; but from an
archaeological point of view, the answer is perfectly sufficient. The modern analyses do not prove that
the Egyptian tools were of soft copper; and it remains for the metallurgist to decide the process by
which the copper was hardened and the reason for its softening in the course of five thousand years
or more.
Copper working in Dynasty IV was a living craft, and in accordance with that fact the copper ves-
sels and implements found in the Mycerinus temples are generally those of the period. The same types
are found in the mastabas of Dynasties IV-VI.
OTHER OBJECTS FOUND IN THE MYCERINUS TEMPLES 233
3. FLINT WANDS (“MOUTH-OPENERS”) AND ACCOMPANYING MODELS

The flint wand with fish-tail tip, which is called psS-kf “mouth opener,” is well known in collections
of Egyptian antiquities, where it rests in a depression in a slab of limestone or wood surrounded by
other depressions containing usually at least six dummy vases of stone. Although so often found by
illicit excavators and placed on the market for purchase, this slab and set of magical implements have
seldom been found by European excavators. Professor Petrie records one slab with two dummy vases
and part of a third from the tomb of Adu I, Dynasty VI.¹ This slab has places for four conical bowls,
set upright, two long-necked vases, lying down, a flint wand, and two small objects (perhaps flint
knives). At Giza, we found one in the court of the Senezemib complex (Reg. No. 13-1-536). That
slab had places for the flint wand, four conical bowls, and two tall jars, and it seems to be the usual
form of Dynasties IV-VI. In the debris of pit G 2327 A, in this same complex, we found a set of dum-
my vessels consisting of four conical bowls (two of slate, one of quartz crystal, and one of grey quartzite),
and two tall jars, one of crystal and the other of slate, but no flint wand. In the debris of shaft G
2381 Z, two conical bowls, one of crystal and one of slate, and two tall jars, one of crystal and one of
slate, were found but again without the wand. In the tomb of Impy, which we found intact, there were,
six conical bowls of slate; three conical bowls of crystal; one flaring bowl of clear quartzite; three tall
jars of slate, all with narrow flat base; two tall jars of crystal, withnarrow flat base; one tall jar of
crystal, with fine pointed base.
Again no wand or slab was found; but of course both of these might have been of wood. However, a
number of copper offering tables were in this tomb, several of which still had copper models attached,
either standing on the top or resting in holes in the top, and one table had two of the conical bowls,
one slate and one crystal, standing on the top. Therefore, the conclusion seems to be that in this tomb
(Dynasty VI) these dummy models were placed upright on offering tables.² Two of the tables had holes
in the top and the pointed jar of crystal may have been inserted in one of the holed tables. It is to be
noted that a number of other forms occurred among the bronze models, in addition to the conical bowls
and tall pointed jar, showing that the tables were set out with various groups of vessels. One intact set,
for example, had six conical bowls and a hes-jar; and in tombs of the Middle Kingdom at Bersheh we
found several sets of wooden slabs with two faience bowls and two faience hes-jars standing upright,
cemented in holes in the slab.
I n the pyramid temple of Mycerinus, a fragment of flint wand (Pl. 19 a) was found (Reg. No. 07-
1-80, from room (15) in hole in floor), inscribed: “Mother of the king, Khamerernebty.” The fragment
was from near the butt of the wand and measured 6.6 cm. long with a width of 4.3 cm. below and 4.7 cm.
above, owing to the taper of the shaft. The thickness was about 2-3 mm. in themiddle. One crystal
bowl and several alabaster bowls of the required size were also found in the pyramid temple, but it was
impossible to determine whether they had belonged to slab groups or were simply the ordinary models
which, of course, were also magical in character.
I n the valley temple, a full set consisting of flint wand, four conical bowls, one crystal and three
slate, and two tall jars, one of crystal and one of slate, were under the bronze tray mentioned in the
preceding section, found upside down on the wall between rooms (111-6) and (111-7). With these were
the model bronze vases (above, section 2, Nos. 3-7), and, as the tall stone jar models have flat bases,
the group bears a general resemblance to that of Impy (G 2381 A, Dynasty VI). Neither slab nor table
was found, and the whole set seems to have stood in the shallow pan, when it was dumped upside down
on the wall by plunderers (?). The remarkable point about this set is that the very beautiful flint wand
is inscribed: “The Horus, Mezeduw; the King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Khnum-Khuwf.” Thus
the flint wand, and perhaps the whole set, is marked as having once belonged to Cheops, presumably the
grandfather of Mycerinus. Pls. 61e, f; 65a, b.
A second flint wand was found in the offering room (111-2) of the valley temple. It was in the debris
above the unfinished statuettes found in the western end of the room (Statues Nos. 27,29,31,38,39, and
43). This wand was very rudely made with the clumsy heavily curved tips of the later wands (Pl. 65 c) .
See
¹ Petrie, Denderah, Pl. XXI and p. 8.
Earlier
² examples (Dynasty V) are given in Professor Borchardt’sNe-weser-re’, p. 130.
234 MYCERINUS
The Cheops wand'is of a very graceful fish-tail form and suggests the form of the fish-tail flints of
the Predynastic Period, except that the butt of the flint wand is cut off straight, while the predynastic
knives have a tapering butt, which was inserted in a wooden handle. Professor Petrie was the first, I
believe, to state that the fish-tail flint knife of the Predynastic Period was the ancestor of the flint wand.¹
He gives two examples of the intermediate form which belongs to the rude traditional-ceremonial flint
knives of Dynasty I.² It is to be noted that the flint wands were not chipped, but finely ground by the
technical methods of the stone engravers of the Old Kingdom. The flint wand had been handed down
by tradition as a chipped flint, degenerating in form after the fine chipping of flint had become a lost art,
and when its use as a magical implement was revived in Dynasty III or IV, the implement was im-
proved by the application of the skill in working stone which had developed in that period. The re-
semblance of the set of implements from (111-6, 7) to those of Impy of Dynasty VI is especially to be
noted. The use of these magical models was a living custom, and, as in similar instances previously
noted, the tradition of the Old Kingdom followed that of Dynasty IV.
4. CYLINDER SEALS
Three cylinder seals were found, but none of them in such associations as to assure the conclusion
that it was part of the original furniture of the temple.
(1) Silver cylinder seal, consisting of a tube of silver plate laid over a wooden core with a silver disk cov-
ering each end; pierced lengthwise with small hole; length, 4.3 cm.; diam., 2.2 cm.; edges damaged by
corrosion. Pl. 64, 1.
Inscribed with six vertical lines of well-drawn hieroglyphics, of which each alternate line beginning with
the Horus name of Chephren faces to right and every other line faces to left:
Line 1. The Horus Weser-ib, protected (?) of the White Crown. . . .
“
2. The Golden Horus Sekhem, Khafra, wearing the Two Crowns every day. . . .
“
3. The Horus Weser-ib, great god of. . . .
“
4. The King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Khafra, king (?), follower of Horus and Set, mighty (?)
every day. . ..
“ 5. The Horus Weser-ib, good god. . . .
“
6. . . . (?) Khafra, the making of a decree (for) the assistant of the scribe of the . . (?). .
Found in Mycerinus valley temple room (1-54) upper débris.
This seal is of the same type as a seal of an official of Ysesy, Dynasty V, and another of an official of
Pepy I. A much more rudely cut seal of sandstone, belonging to an official of Chephren, was found by
the German Expedition at Abu Sîr in front of the tomb of Weserkafankh. No very plausible deduction
can be made from the finding of this silver seal of an official of Chephren in the Mycerinus valley temple.
(2) Steatite cylinder-seal, pierced lengthwise; length, 4. 4 cm.; diam., 2 cm.; rudely incised. Pl. 64, j.
Engraved: Main field, two male figures back to back.
Below (or above), hare crouching upside down; to the right, an enemy lying in a bent atti-
tude; further to right, a man lying on his back between two Set-animals (?), facing in op-
posite directions with their feet towards the man.
Found in Mycerinus valley temple room (1-396) in old debris in NE quarter of court.
This type is presented by the cylinders Nos. 140-146 on Pl. V I of Professor Petrie's Scarabs and Cyl-
inders, especially Nos. 140 and 146. The type with figures is known from D y n a s t y I down.
Our seal
probably belonged to some one connected with the service in the first temple.
(3) Limestone cylinder-seal, pierced lengthwise; length, 4.3 cm.; diain., 2.6 cm.;very rudely incised and
badly worn. Pl. 64 k.
Incised with six vertical columns of doubtful signs.
Found in Mycerinus valley temple room (1-361) debris, a house in the city in front of the temple.
This type is again a known type of the Old Kingdom.' Our seal is probably from the period of the
second temple.
¹
See Petrie, Abydos I , p. 24.
²
Petrie, Abydos I , Pl. LI, 22, from the time of Den; Abydos II, PI. XLI, 33, from the temple.
3 See Petrie, Scarabs and Cylinders, Pl. TX, 5, 8. 4 See Newberry, Scarabs, Pl. V, 10.
5 See Borchardt, Ne-weser-re', p. 138. 6 See Petrie, R. T. II, Pl. XIV, 101-104.
7 See Petrie, Scarabs and Cylinders, PIs. V and VII.

OTHER OBJECTS FOUND I N THE MYCERINUS TEMPLES g.35
5. BEADS AND AMULETS

The beads found in the magazines at both temples were not numerous and mainly of one type, the
ordinary long slender tubular bead of blue, black, or faded faience, measuring from 2 to 4.6 cm. in
length and 3.5 to 5 mm. in diameter. These occurred in magazine (18) at the pyramid temple and in
the debris at various other places in that temple. In the Mycerinus valley temple a few were found
in the magazines and in three or four places in the debris of the court. This type is very common in
the Old and Middle Kingdoms and has a history which covers practically the whole of the dynastic
history of Egypt. The form, size, and glaze of the Mycerinus beads are those of the beads of the Old
Kingdom.
In addition to these beads, one lot of beads and amulets was found in association with the bag of
bronze tools mentioned in a preceding section (p. 231), under the walls of a circular granary and in the
surface of decay of the first series of rooms in the court. They are thus shown to date previous to the
reconstruction of the temple, that is to Dynasty V or the early part of Dynasty VI. This fact gives
them a great importance because the types are well known from Upper Egyptian graves. The lot con-
sisted of the following (Pl. 66 a):
(1) String of about 270 ring-beads of dark blue faience, diam., ca. 4 mm., thickness 1-1.5 mm.
(2) String of about 150 disk-beads of ostrich egg-shell, diam., ca. 5 mm., thickness, ca. 1.5 mm.
(3) Six tubular beads of glazed steatite; 25 X 8 mm.; 21 X 6 mm.; 16 x 5.5 mm.; 12.5 x 5.5 mm.;
10 X 4 mm.; 9.5 X 5 rnm.
(4) Five barrel-shaped “crumb-beads” of very dark blue faience body and light blue crumbs; length, ca.
13.5 mm. ; diam. ends, 2.5-3; diam. middle, 3-3.5 mm.
(5) Two slender barrel-shaped beads, one of dark blue and one of light blue faience; length, 18 x 5 mm.;
the light one broken.
(6) One thick barrel-shaped bead of pale amethyst; 16 X 9 mm.
(7) Open ring of ivory; 14 X 12 mm.
(8) Large pendant, heart (?)-shaped, alabaster; height, 33 mm.
(9) Amulet, lower leg, red carnelian; pierced through upper part; height, 16 mm.
(10) Amulet, animal head (hippopotamus.?) ; slate, pierced neck; length, 12 mm.
(11) Amulet, turtle, ivory; pierced through head; length, 16.5 mm.
(12) Amulet, fish, ivory; ring-shank on back, length, 17 mm.
(13) Amulet, Thoeris, ivory; pierced through shoulder; height, 16.5 mm.
(14) Amulet, horned animal head, ivory; hole in forehead; height, 19 mm.
(15) Amulets, six rude scarabs, blue faience; pierced lengthwise; length, 8 to 11 mm.
(16) Amulet, sacred eye, blue faience; ring-shank; length, 12 mm.
(17) Amulet, open hand, blue faience; pierced through wrist; length, 12 mm.
(18-25) Amulets, eight small faience amulets or parts of amulets, difficult to identify.
These amulets are well known from the Old Kingd0m.l At Naga-’d Der, we found similar sets of
amulets and beads of the same materials, ivory, carnelian, steatite, and faience, in about twelve graves
associated with stone vessels and pottery which were dated at that time, quite correctly, to Dynasty V.
With some variations in the forms and sizes of the amulets and with some additions, these amulets and
beads have been found in graves of Dynasties VI-XII, and occurred in numbers in the Egyptian graves
at Kerma.2 These images of divinities, divine animals, and symbols had, of course, the same protective
character as the later better formed amulets of stone and faience.
The circular stamp-seal, the so-called I‘ button-seal,” is commonly associated with the crude
amulets of Dynasties V-VIII, which include the scarab. It was not until Dynasty X I or thereabouts
that the scarab came to be accepted as the proper amulet for the protection of the seal and joined with
the stamp-seal to form the scarab-seal of the Middle Kingdom and later periods. It was without doubt
the union of the scarab and seal, which caused the seal to be modified from a circular to an elliptical
form. Other forms of amulet are also used for the seal, especially the frog, which was also one of the
old amulets of Dynasty V. But in the Old Kingdom the stamp-seal or button-seal with an amulet
is very rare.3 I am therefore in doubt about the date of the button-seal described below, which was
See
¹ Petrie, Deshasheh, P1.XXVI. 3 See Newberry, Scarabs, p. 57.
See
² Reisner, Kerma, IV-V, pp. 106 ff.; Garstang, MahâsnaandBêtKhallâf, P1.XXXIX.
236 MYCERINUS
found in the débris of decay of the second temple in 1908 and should therefore be not much later than
Dynasty VI.
(26) Button-seal of limestone, bearing on the top a human face with curiously striated hair or
wig (sphinx ?); pierced sideways by a small hole just below the ears; diam., 3.1 cm.
Engraved on seal side: two lizards or crocodiles, head to tail . . .
FIGURE
81
6. FAIENCE FRAGMENTS AND INLAYS
The moisture of the debris in the Mycerinus valley temple was unfavorable to the preservation of
Egyptian faience, and the few fragments found were in very bad condition. The conditions were better
at the Mycerinus pyramid temple, but there still fewer pieces were found.
The following are from the valley temple :
(1)In(III-8), fragments of a cylindrical cup, made of hard white paste, originally blue-glazed. The surface
had been divided horizontally into bands 9 mm. wide; every other band had been channelled out and
filled with black paste so that the outside was striped, with alternate horizontal bands of black, ap-
pearing purplish under the transparent blue glaze, and light blue, or green. Pl. 65 c (on left).
(2) In (III-16), several large fragments from a wooden hes-jar similar to those found by the Germans a t Abu
Sîr.¹ Pl. 65 c (on right). The inlays mentioned below were probably from this jar or similar jars.
(3) In (III-20), with fragments of stone vessels - a faience inlay in the form of a bull, from the Horus name
of Mycerinus. See No. 2, above.
(4) In (1-21 sub), in floor débris of court, six fragments of small inlays. See No. 2, above.
(5) In (1-26 sub), No. 140, in floor débris of court, a complete inlay, the sign for “king of Upper Egypt.” See
No. 2, above.
(6) In (I-301 sub), several fragments of faience, probably inlays. See No. 2, above.
(7) In (111-2), under the floor of the second temple, six small fragments of a faience vase of unrecognizable
form.
The following was from the pyramid temple :

(8) Mycerinus pyramid temple (10), in the sweepings from the temple, a large fine blue inlay, broken. The
complete form was unclear, but the inlay was flat not curving. Pl. 20 h.
These few fragments of faience are clearly in the line of development from the crude vessels of
Dynasty I to the fine jars of Dynasty V, and resemble in particular the ceremonial hes-vases of Neferir-
kara. The technique, was similar to that of the later faience.2
7. STONE HAMMERS
The greater part of the excavation in the limestone rock at the Giza cemetery was carried out by
means of copper chisels, mallets, and stone hammers. In the quarry north of the Second Pyramid and
at other places, the stratum of stone was divided by trenches about 20 cm. wide, and the stone between
the trenches lifted by splitting along the line of the horizontal stratum. The excavation of the rock for
burial shafts and other purposes was also begun by the cutting of trenches, and in these trenches the
chisel marks show a blade like the broad chisel found in the Senezemib group, with a cutting edge about
16 mm. wide. The stone between the trenches was then broken away with hammers of hard stone. Four
or five of these hammers were found in the cemetery and were of heavy axe form with a short broad
back and a longer blunt edged front part. A depression around the body near the blunt end permitted
the hammer to be bound to a divided stick or a pair of sticks. Smaller hammers of similar form were
also found, and, in addition to these, a number of pounding stones which appeared to have been held
in the hand. One example was found of a two-handled hammer of limestone, the use of which has been
a puzzle on account of the material. It was broken, and the possibility arises that this particular ex-
ample was found impractical.
In the pyramid temple, in magazine (17), on the floor, was found a heavy two-handled granite
hammer of the same form as the limestone hammer just mentioned. The handles and the body were of
one piece of granite. The body was 31 cm. high, with a diameter of 18 cm. across the bottom and
¹See Borchardt, Neferirke’re‘, p. 60, Pls. 3-5. ²See Reisner, Kerma, IV-V, pp. 136-143.
OTHER OBJECTS FOUND I N THE MYCERINUS TEMPLES 237
14.3 cm. across the top surface. The sides were slightly concave, so that the diameter of the body was
13.8 cm. On each of two sides, the stone swelled to a width of 21.4 cm., and in each of these swellings or
knobs, a hole had been worked so that the knobs were transformed into handles (see Pl. 20, a-c). The in-
sides of the handles had been worn shiny by usage, and the wider lower surfaceof the hammer was bruised
by use as a pounder. Now the granite casing of the pyramid had been dressed flat, after the stones
were in the wall, by pounding and had been finished by rubbing. This great hammer by its weight,
its form, and its material, was suitable for dressing granite by pounding, and the marks of its usage
leave no doubt that it had actually been used for that purpose.
It is difficult to escape the conclusion that this heavy stone hammer was part of the original furni-
ture of the temple. Its function as a builder’s implement brings it into the same class as the axes, adzes,
and chisels found in the temples and also in the mastabas of Dynasties IV-VI. Indeed, the use of tools
and models of tools as part of the funerary equipment was general from the Predynastic Period down,
and such objects were found in almost all the royal tombs at Abydos.
Other stone hammers and rubbers were found in the two temples, but none of these could be said to
be part of the funerary furniture. About thirty hammers or rubbers of very compact black granite (?)
were found in the unfinished compartment of the Mycerinus pyramid temple and had evidently been
used on the granite casing either of the pyramid or of rooms (7) and (8). These had not been formed but
were quite rough, except on the surface which showed usage. They were of many different shapes and
sizes, but all were fairly heavy. Many were chipped or broken by impact on another hard material.
The used surfaces were invariably rounded like an irregular segment of the surface of a sphere; and
these surfaces were both bruised and rubbed. It is clear that they had been used both for pounding
(hammering) and rubbing.
8. MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTS
A number of miscellaneous objects were found which include :

( a ) Shells. (e) Color. (h) A stone muller.
(b) Bone point. ( f ) Mud jar-stoppers. (i) A stone headrest.
(c) Ivory bracelet. (g)Wood and charcoal. (j) A painted pot.
(d) Plaster cones.
( a ) SHELLS
The half mussel-shell is well known in all periods as a container for color, kohl, and similar materials.
A number were found at both temples, one containing blue color, under circumstances which prove that
such shells were part of the original funerary equipment. The significant examples were as follows:
(1) Fifteen half mussel-shells from pyramid temple magazine (18),No. 10. See PI. 20 h. One of these con-
tained blue color.
(2) One half of a mussel-shell, from Mycerinus valley temple room (I-302 sub), No. 39.
(3) Two half mussel-shells, from Mycerinus valley temple room (304 sub), Nos. 3, 4.
(b) BONEPOINT
Bone points occur naturally in all periods of Egyptian history. They are among the primitive im-
plements of the Predynastic Period and, because of their cheapness and practicality, never went out
of use.
(4) The point of a very fine bone awl or piercer; length, 4.5+ cm.; greatest diameter, 8 x 6.5 mm., oval;
polished by use; found in the debris in the portico of the pyramid temple. Pl. 20 h.
(c) IVORY
BRACELET
Ivory bracelets, like bone points, have been found frequently in graves of the Predynastic Period
and even more frequently of the Early Dynastic Period. They occur in all later periods but never so
frequently as in the Early Dynastic. I n Nubia and in particular at Kerma, they are more common in
the graves of the Middle Kingdom than in Egypt.
(5) One third of an ivory bracelet; original diameter about 7 cm.; triangular section with rounded corners,
6 mm. high and 5 mm. wide; found in debris of the portico at the pyramid temple. Pl. 20 h.
238 MYCERINUS
(d) PLASTER
CONES
Three cone-like objects of fine white plaster (plaster of Paris) were found, the purpose of which I have
not been able to determine. Pl. 20 i.
(6) A cone of fine white plaster; height, 7 cm.; diam. of base, 4.3 cm.; slightly irregular, but all surfaces
smoothed while wet; not a cake from the bottom of a jar; found in pyramid temple, magazine (16),
No. 4.
(7) A cylinder of white plaster with conoidal end; height, 8 cm.; diam. of base, 5.3 cm.; sides have vertical
striations as if formed in a hole in wood; conoidal end and bottom smoothed wet; the bottom is un-
even and not vertical to the long axis; found in pyramid temple, magazine (18), No. 2.
(8) A fragment similar to No. 7; found in debris in same room.
(e) COLOR
(9) In a mussel-shell in pyramid temple, magazine (18),No. 1, was a thick layer of blue coloring matter, the
fine granular blue which is used in the wall paintings of the mastabas.
(10) Under the bronze tray on the wall between Mycerinus valley temple (111-6) and (111-7), Mr. Bates
noted a mass of lumps of yellow matter (mustard color), which resembled also the yellow used in
the wall paintings and in particular for female statues.
(f) MUD JAR-STOPPERS

(11) The mud jar-stoppers with seals have been described on p. 19; a stopper without seal impressions was
also found in the pyramid temple, magazine (18), No. 17.
(g) WOODAND CHARCOAL
In addition to the wood used as accessories in the masonry, as roofing, and as supports for the plat-
forms in the masonry, a few recognizable pieces of decayed wood were found in various places. First
of all, the arm of a wooden statue was uncovered in the mud debris of room (1-23) at the Mycerinus
valley temple (see Statues, No. 49).
(12) Fragment of a decayed wooden board in pyramid temple, magazine (18), No. 15; about 60 x 60 cm.
and 2 cm. thick; possibly from the shelf.
(13) Fragments of decayed wood were found under the flint wand of Cheops (Mycerinus valley temple
III-7to8), which Mr. Bates thought might have been a slab or case for the wand.
(14) Fragments of decayed wood inside the silver seal cylinder of the official of Chephren proved that the core
had been of wood.
(15) Fragments of a wooden beam, inside the copper sheath, section 2, No. 9, above.
The paucity of the remains of wood was due of course to the decay of that material caused by the moisture
of the debris in which it lay.
Small bits of charcoal were found in many rooms in the Mycerinus valley temple, but the only sig-
nificant occurrence was in two magazines of the pyramid temple.
(16) A double handful of charcoal was found on the floor of pyramid temple, magazine (17), and about twice
that amount scattered over the floor of (18).
(h) STONEMULLER(?)
(17) On the floor of magazine (18) at the pyramid temple, a circular muller (?) of limestone was found, a
roughly worked implement; diam. of circular plate, 15 cm.; thickness of plate, 3.5 cm.; diameter of
central projection, at top, 6.5 cm.; total height, 9 cm.
(i) HEAD-REST
(18) On the floor of the room (1-27) at the Mycerinus valley temple was found a block head-rest of white lime-
stone; length, 20 cm.; height, 13.5 cm.; thickness, a t base, 6 cm.; the top is hollowed to a depth of
2.5 cm. This seems a very poor and rude head-rest for a royal tomb, and it was probably used in one
of the later houses.
(j) PAINTED POT
(19) In room (1-28) sub, in the floor debris of the court, two fragments of a painted pottery jar were found asso-
ciated with fragments of stone statues, stone vessels, flints, and faience inlays (from hes-jars), all without
doubt from the original equipment of the temple. This pottery jar was of red ware with white slip
(W. S. R. ware). The larger fragment had a yellow horizontal band on which was painted in broad
blue lines a cartouche containing the name of Mycerinus. The background in the cartouche was white
and the signs were blue. The back end of the cartouche, the last kl-sign of the name and the side
of the second kA-sign were preserved. The second fragment was illegible. This jar may have been
a hes-vase decorated like the hes-vases of wood inlaid with faience (see section 6, above).
CHAPTER XI
THE FAMILY OF MYCERINUS
THEdiscovery of the tombs of Hetep-heres I, the mother of Cheops, and of Meresankh 111, one of his
granddaughters, and the excavation of the royal cemetery of Cheops east of his pyramid have made so
much fresh material available in the last four years that the history of the royal family of Dynasty IV
has had to be rewritten. The tomb of Hetep-heres I gave the connection between Dynasty III and
Dynasty IV, and established the parentage of Cheops. The tomb of Meresankh III revealed the
fact that Hetep-heres II, a daughter of Cheops, was fair-haired or red-haired and yielded the family
relations of her line. Behind the names which have come to us, we see obscurely evidence of strife be-
tween the different branches of the family, marriages and deaths, intrigues in the harems of succeeding
kings, and bitter enmities. It may never be possible to work out all the details of the intricate family
affairs of the dynasty, but the main outline has become much clearer than before 1924.
The chief cause of strife arose undoubtedly from the plural marriages of King Cheops. Each king
married a number of wives of different standing with regard to the blood royal and a number of con-
cubines. The custom of brother and sister marriages was well established. No woman might ascend
the throne, and in the whole course of Egyptian history down to Ptolemaic times only two queens be-
came king - Sebek-neferuw of Dynasty XII and Hatshepsut of Dynasty XVIII. Nevertheless it was
through his mother or his wife that a king established his strongest claim to the inheritance of the
throne when the lady in question was herself of the blood royal. Of course, the accession of a king was
not solely by inheritance, but depended from time to time on the character and personal qualities of
the man or on harem intrigues of a type familiar to the historian, so that the kingship was in fact open
to minor members of the royal family or even to other persons entirely outside the family. The acces-
sion of a person not in the direct line was usually counted as the beginning of a new dynasty, and
almost invariably the founder of a dynasty sought to stabilize his de facto sovereignty by marrying a
woman of the direct line of the blood royal. Thus by tradition, or legally if one may use such a term,
the order of claims to the throne was as follows:
(a) That of a king’s son born of a marriage between a king and his sister, both being of the full blood royal.
(b) That of a king’s son born of a marriage between a king not of the full blood royal and a king’s daughter of
the blood royal.
(c) That of a king’s son born of a marriage between a king of the blood royal and a woman not of the full blood
royal.
(d) That of a strong man married to a king’s daughter of the full blood royal.
It is always the descent on the mother’s side which is significant for the strength of the heir’s claim
to the throne.
The order of the legitimate kings from the end of Dynasty III to Shepseskaf is now firmly estab-
lished :
(1) HUNI,last king of Dynasty 111; father of Hetep-heres I, wife of Sneferuw and mother of Cheops,
(2) SNEFERUW, first king of Dynasty IV; probably not of the full blood royal, but possibly a son of Huni by a
minor queen; married Hetep-heres I; father of Cheops.
(3) CHEOPS, son of Sneferuw and Hetep-heres I; father of Radedef and Chephren.
(4) RADEDEF, son of Cheops.
(5) CHEPHREN, son of Cheops; married his full sister, Khamerernebti I.
(6) MYCERINUS, son of Chephren and Khamerernebti I; married his full sister, Khamerernebti 11.
(7) SHEPSESKAF, son of Mycerinus.
In the list of kings in the temple of Abydos, Weserkaf, the first king of Dynasty V, succeeds Shepseskaf;
but in the Saqqarah list there appear to be four cartouches, one of which had contained the name of
Shepseskaf, between Mycerinus and Weserkaf. The Turin Papyrus seems also to give three kings,
240 MYCERINUS
whose names are lost, at the end of Dynasty IV, while the list of Manetho presents two names, Bicheris
and Thamthis. Thus the history of the second half of the dynasty is still obscure. The poverty mani-
fest in the latter part of the life of Chephren, the short reigns of Mycerinus and of Shepseskaf, the
transfer of the tomb of Shepseskaf to Dahshûr, where he received only a mastaba (not a pyramid), and
the large unfinished tomb east of the Mycerinus pyramid at Giza, all indicate a troubled period during
which other claimants to the throne, perhaps descendants of Radedef, may have set themselves up as
independent kings for short periods. No doubt it was this condition of public affairs which gave
Weserkaf the opportunity to seize the throne.
The story of Hetep-heres I, the mother of Dynasty IV, and the tragic plundering of her tomb is
told in another place.¹ She carried the blood royal through from Dynasty III to Dynasty IV, and it
was her son Cheops who came to the throne, and not the eldest son, Prince Kanofer of DahshQr. No
great difficulty appears to have arisen, and Cheops is shown to have been an extremely wealthy and
powerful king by his great pyramid, with the three pyramids of queens and the two great fields of mas-
tabas laid out in streets and rows, a veritable city of the spirits of the dead. The subsequent troubles
arose out of his marriages and in particular out of two of them. His four chief wives are known from
their tombs as follows:
(1) The favorite queen was undoubtedly the lady buried in the first small pyramid G I-a, whose name has
escaped us; she alone of the queens had a sun-bark buried beside her pyramid; she was, I imagine, a
daughter of Sneferuw and Hetep-heres I, a full sister of Cheops and the source of the main branch of his
family.
(2) The queen buried in the second small pyramid, G I-b; this pyramid is in line with the first pyramid and
equal to it in every way except that it is second in the line; her name also has not been found; I
imagine that she was the Libyan (?) lady who brought the fair hair into the family (Hetep-heres 11) and
would thus be the mother of the secondary branch of the family.
(3) Queen Henutsen, buried in the third small pyramid, G I-c; she was a daughter of Sneferuw; her pyramid
stands a meter or so back from the line of the first two, although equal to them in construction; in
Dynasty XXII she was identified with Isis and called Isis-henut-meruw (“Isis-Mistress-of-the-Pyr-
amids”). I consider her to have been a half-sister of Cheops.
(4) Queen Nefertkauw, the eldest daughter of Sneferuw, buried in mastaba G 7050; her mastaba is in the line
of the pyramids but set back several meters from the line of pyramid G I-c, and is decidedly in-
ferior to the mastabas of the sons and daughters of Cheops in the adjacent cemetery. Her relation to
Cheops is not absolutely certain.²
These four tombs are on the western side of Queens’ Street in the great royal cemetery of Cheops east
of his pyramid. At least two other ladies are mentioned in inscriptions, but their tombs have not been
identified :
(5) Queen Meryt-yetes, who passed from the harem of Sneferuw into that of Cheops and was still alive in
the reign of Chephren; she was probably only a beautiful concubine of no importance for the sub-
sequent history.
(6) Queen Sedyt, the mother of Prince Merib (of mastaba G 2100), who was a king’s daughter, but
whether married to Cheops or to one of his two sons is uncertain.
As far as I can now judge, it was the queen of pyramid G I-a who mothered the chief and direct
branch of the family, Chephren and his descendants, while the queen of pyramid G I-b was the foreign
lady who was the ancestress of the secondary line, Radedef and his descendants. The fourth queen,
Nefert-kauw, was the mother of Prince Neferma‘at of Giza and the grandmother of Neferma‘at’s son
Sneferuw-khaf; but neither of these appears to have attained importance in the family. They may be
dismissed after the fact is noted that in the three inscriptions found in their mastabas they derived their
descent from Sneferuw and never mention Cheops, the probable husband of Nefert-kauw.
A certain number of enlightening facts are known, some of them since many years and others from
the recent excavations. King Radedef succeeded his father Cheops. If my reconstruction is correct, his
+
claim by birth was not so great as that of the eldest son Ka-wa‘ab (mastaba G 7110 7120) or Chephren
(pyramid G 11). He left the royal cemetery at Giza, where his father had already provided two great
See
¹ Bulletin of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, May, 1927. See
² Ä. Z., 64, pp. 97-99.
THE FAMILY OF MYCERINUS 241
cities of mastabas for his family, as if he wished to separate himself from his brothers and sisters and
start a new royal cemetery at Abu Roash. Chephren, who followed Radedef, returned to Giza to build
his great pyramid, to carve the Sphinx, and to place himself with the rest of the family of Cheops. The
fair-haired Hetep-heres 11, whom I take to have been a daughter of the Libyan queen and a full sister
of Radedef, was married three times -first to Ka-wa‘ab, her eldest half-brother, second to Radedef, her
full [?] brother, and third to the great noble, Ankh-haf. Probably Ka-wa‘ab was already dead when
Radedef came to the throne. His granite sarcophagus was very roughly finished and the burial pit for
his wife (in mastaba G 7110) was never completed. And Radedef was certainly dead when Hetep-heres
II passed to Ankh-haf. In the tomb of her daughter, Meresankh 111, the blond Hetep-heres inscribes
herself as “daughter of the King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Cheops,” an unusual procedure which
can mean only that Cheops was long dead and another king on the throne. Her daughter, Meresankh
III, was probably married to Chephren; and Hetep-heres II imitated her half-brother and son-in-law
Chephren in adding her tomb to the cemetery of Cheops at Giza, where her mother was buried, as well
as her first and third husbands, to both of whom she had borne children. By this act she appears to
have separated herself definitely from the party of Radedef, which held no doubt to the cemetery at
Abu Roash.
Another son of Cheops whose tomb suggests a tragic fate was the wise man Hordedef (mastaba G
7210 + 7220), known from the drinking song of King Yentef and from the story of Cheops and the
magician Dedi. The granite coffin in which he had been buried stood unfinished in the burial chamber
with the red lines of the stone masons and the incomplete saw-cuts plainly visible. And in his tomb
chapel, all the inscriptions and reliefs had been chiseled away by an enemy.
Tentatively, I would group the chief sons and daughters of Cheops as follows:
(a) The main branch of the family:

+
(1) Prince Ka-wa‘ab, mastaba G 7110 7120; first husband of his half-sister, the blond Hetep-heres.
(2) King Chephren, pyramid G 11; married Khamerernebti, his full sister; Meresankh 111, his niece, and other
ladies.
(3) Prince Bordedef, mastaba G 7210 + 7220; whose inscriptions were destroyed.
+
(4) Prince Khnumbaf (?), mastaba G 7310 7320.
(5) Princess and Queen Meresankh II married Radedef (?), mastaba G 7410 +7420.
(6) Prince Khufuw-khaf, mastaba G 7130 + 7140.
+
(7) Prince Min-khaf, mastaba G 7430 7440.
(8) Princess and Queen Per[senti], rock-cut tomb L G 88.
( b ) The secondary branch of the family:

(1) King Radedef, pyramid at Abu Roash.
+
(2) Queen Hetep-heres the fair-haired; for whom was built mastaba G 7530 7540, but whose burial-place has
not been found; married Ka-wa‘ab and then Radedef; probably second wife of Radedef.
(3) Queen Khentenka, chief wife of Radedef.
(c) The third branch, descended from Queen Nefert-kauw, the eldest daughter of Sneferuw:
(1) Prince Neferma‘at of Giza, mastaba G 7060.
The secondary branch came first to the throne after the death of Cheops in the person of King
RADEDEF.He was, as I believe, a son of the Libyan queen and had married at least one of his sisters
of the main branch, perhaps Meresankh II a marriage which would have strengthened materially his
claim to the throne. He probably married his full sister, the blond Hetep-heres 11,after his accession,
with the object of increasing her rank from that of king’s daughter to king’s wife. Of the Queen Khent-
en-ka, we know only the name. Radedef seems to have reigned only a short time (Turin Papyrus, 8
years), and I think that the main branch of the family was in open enmity if not in active resistance to
his domination. On his death, his brother Chephren came to the throne, but Radedef’s family did not
accept the decision as final, and his son Bakara (Bicheris) made a more or less successful struggle for the
throne in later years.
242 MYCERINUS
CHEPHREN, who became the fourth king of the dynasty, judged by his works was only a little less
powerful than his father Cheops. He married the following ladies:
(a) Princess Khamerernebti I, his full sister of the main branch, who thus became queen and was to be later
mother of the king when her son Mycerinus came to the throne; buried in the Galarza tomb.
(b) Princess Meresankh 111, his niece of a mixed marriage between the two branches; buried in mastaba G 7530;
mother of Prince Nebemakhet.
(c) Queen Hezhekenuw, who appears in the tomb of her son Sekhemkara (L G 89), but was not of the royal
family.
(d) Princess Per[senti];
buried in L G 88; mother of Nekauwra.
Chephren built only one small pyramid for a queen, and that may never have been used. The name of
the person for whom it was intended has not been found. Only a few of his chief children have been
identified :
(1) First (?) eldest son, Prince Nekauwra; rock-cut tomb L G 87; mother, Queen Per[senti]; married Kannebti,
the granddaughter of a king, and had three children.
( 2 ) Second (?) eldest son, Prince Sekhemkara; rock-cut tomb L G 89; son of Queen Hezhekenuw; also mar-
ried a king’s granddaughter, Khufuw- . . . t, and had a son of his own name; he lived to the reign of
Sahura of Dynasty V.
(3) King MENKAUWRA, pyramid G 111; son of Khamerernebti I of the blood royal; married his full sister,
Khamerernebti 11.
(4) Queen Khamerernebti 11; probably buried in pyramid G 111-a; mentioned in Galarza tomb, and in the
tomb of her son Khuwnera.
(5) Prince Nebemakhet, rock-cut tomb L G 86; son of Meresankh III; married a king’s granddaughter, Nub-
hotep.
(6) Princess Shepseset-kauw,mentioned in tomb L G 86; daughter of Meresankh 111.
(7) Prince Duwanera, mentioned in tomb L G 86, and perhaps the Prince Duwanera of mastaba G 4510;
son of Meresankh 111.
(8) Prince Khnumbaf; mastaba G 5230.
It is quite clear that, of all the known princes, Menkaura had the clearest title to the throne. He cer-
tainly succeeded his father as King of Egypt.
King MYCERINUS was married in all probability to the three queens buried in the small pyramids
G 111-a, G III-b, and G III-c. No name was found in any of the three and thus we know the name of
only one of his wives, his full sister Khamerernebti 11. She was probably buried in the first of the small
pyramids, G 111-a. Her name occurs in the Galarza tomb and in the tomb of her son Khuwnera in the
Mycerinus quarry. The others were probably sisters or cousins. His chief children were :
(1) The eldest son, Prince Khuwnera, buried in a rock-cut tomb in the Mycerinus quarry; son of Khamer-
ernebti 11.
(2) King SHEPSESKAF, buried in the “Mastabatel-Faraon” at Saqqarah (identified by Prof. Jequier); he
completed the tomb of his father Mycerinus in year 2 of his reign.
(3) Prince Min-Yuwen, L G 92.
Thus, in the direct line, the descent of Mycerinus was as follows:

HUNI= x
SNEFERUW
=
I
Hetep-heres I
CHEOPS= y
CHEPHREN
= Khamerernebti I
= KhamerernebtiII.
MYCERINUS
King Mycerinus was of the purest blood royal on the side of his father and mother, and of his grand-
father and grandmother back to the mother of the dynasty, Hetep-heres I.
The date of Mycerinus and the chronology of Dynasty IV still present great difficulties. There can
be no doubt that the kings after Cheops recognised by the Abydos List and by three lists known
from contemporary private tombs were Radedef, Chephren, Mycerinus, and Shepseskaf, followed by
Weserkaf, the first king of Dynasty V. Three other important sources, no one of which is, however,
contemporary with Dynasty IV, add two or three more kings to the list of Dynasty IV, and it must be
admitted that the annals of the kings of Egypt had kept a record of these additional names. The three
private lists, and indeed all such lists taken from autobiographies, give the names of the kings with
whom the autobiographer had personal relations, so that the omission of the three kings from these
lists is not proof against their having ruled Egypt. The omission of the three unknown kings from the
Abydos List would seem to indicate that there was some flaw in the claims of these kings to the king-
ship. The Turin Papyrus, which follows the annals, inserts them, as does the Saqqarah List; and Man-
etho gives at least two of them by name. Unfortunately in both the Turin Papyrus and the Saqqarah
List the cartouches in question are broken away so that the names are not recoverable. Manetho gives
the names Bikheris, Thamphthis, and perhaps Seberkheres; but misplaces the name of Radedef
(Ratoises) and perhaps omits Shepseskaf (unless Seberkheres is identified as Shepseskaf).
It is necessary to examine the matter in detail, taking the Turin Papyrus as a basis.¹ Meyer's re-
construction (which gives Huni, 24 years; Sneferuw, 24 years; Cheops, 23 years; and Radedef, 8 years)
appears a safe basis for the first part of the dynasty. It is clear from the facts and inscriptions found
in the funerary temples of Mycerinus that Shepseskaf was his son and completed the Third Pyramid
and its temples in his own second year. Shepseskaf therefore succeeded his father immediately or after
only a few months of struggle with a claimant of the other branch of the family and, according to the
lists which give six kings to the dynasty, was the last of the family of Cheops, -that is, the last of the
main branch of the family. The following reconstructions show the chief possible ways of arranging
the kings according to the facts given in the Turin Papyrus (the numbers of the lines on the left refer
to the line numbers of column 3 in Meyer, op. cit., Tafel IV) :
T-1 Years T-2 Years T-3 Years T-4 Years T-5 Years
9. Sneferuw .... 24 Sneferuw .... 24 Sneferuw.. ... 24 Sneferuw.. ... 24 Sneferuw.. . 24
10. Cheops ...... 23 Cheops ...... 23 Cheops ...... 23 Cheops ...... 23 Cheops .... 23
11. Radedef ..... 8 Radedef ..... 8 Radedef ..... 8 Radedef ..... 8 Radedef ... 8
12. Chephren .... x Chephren .... x Chephren .... x Chephren .... x Chephren .. x
13. Mycerinus ... x X - 1 . . ....... x X-1 ........ x X-1 ........ x X-1 ....... x
14. Shepseskaf ... x Mycerinus . . . x X-2 ........ x X-2 ........ x Mycerinus . x
15. X-1 ........ 18* Shepseskaf ... 18* Mycerinus ... 18* X-3 ........ 18* X-2 ...... 18*
16. X-2 ........ 4 X-2 ........ 4 Shepseskaf. .. 4 Mycerinus ... 4 Shepseskaf. 4
17. X-3 ........ 2 X-3 ........ 2 X-3 ........ 2 Shepseskaf ... 2 X-3 ...... 2
* The number may be read 28 instead of 18.
It must be remembered that we are dealing mainly with probabilities. Certainty is at present beyond
hope. Reconstruction T-2, which gives 18 (28) years to Shepseskaf, and any similar reconstruction
must be ruled out. Shepseskaf by all the fragments of inscriptions and by the archaeological evidence
ruled much less than 10 years. Reconstructions T-1, T-4, and T-5 assign the 18 (28) years of the
papyrus to one of the three extra kings. It is inconceivable to me that a king who had 18 (28) regnal
years should have been omitted from any list. T-4 would set 4 years opposite the name of Mycerinus,
which is a sheer impossibility. Thus I conclude that T-3, which gives 18 years to Mycerinus and 4 to
Shepseskaf, is the most probable reconstruction for the Turin Papyrus, and I would read 18, not 28,
for Mycerinus.
The list of the kings given by the fragments of Manetho² was undoubtedly based on the ancient
annals and is now in a very corrupt form, but appears to group the kings of the secondary branch of
the family beginning with Radedef at the end of the dynasty.³ But Radedef (Ratoises) is out of
order, being sixth instead of third in the list; one king is omitted; and the name of the seventh king,
Ed. Meyer, Chronologie, p. 142.
See
¹
Meyer, op. cit., opposite p. 145.
See
²
Daressy, Bull. Institute Francaise. X I I , p. 204.
See
³
244 MYCERINUS
Seberkheres, is difficult to identify. Most scholars consider that Seberkheres is a mutilation of Shepses-
kaf, which is possible, and then the omitted king is X-2. Bikheris would be X-1, and Thamphthis,
X-3. But it requires too much ingenuity to make Shepseskaf into Seberkheres. Seberkheres is clearly
a name ending in ka-ra (cf. Menkheres), and possibly corrupted from Neferkara. I suggest therefore
that Seberkheres represents X-2 and that Shepseskaf is omitted, perhaps through some confusion
between Seberkheres (Neferkara) and Shepseskaf. The Manetho list is as follows:
As given Years Order corrected by T-3 Years Daressy’s order Years
1. Soris .................... 29 1. Soris.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 1. Soris (Sneferuw) ....... 29
2. Souphis I ............... 63 2. Souphis I ............ 63 2. Souphis I (Cheops) .... 63
3. Souphis II . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 5. Ratoises.. ............. 25 5. Ratoises (Radedef) .... 25
4. Menkheres . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 3. Souphis Ii ........... 66 3. Souphis II (Chephren) . 66
5. Ratoises ................. 25 6. Bikheris . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 6. Bikheris (Bakara) ..... 22
6. Bikheris . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 7. Seberkheres ........... 7 4. Menkheres (Mycerinus) . 63
7. Seberkheres . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 4. Menkheres . . . . . . . . . . . 63 8. Thamphthis (Dedefptah) 9
8. Thamphthis ............. 9 9. [Shepseskaf ............ X] 9. King D ( = X-2, omitted) x
9. Omitted king ............ x 8. Thamphthis .......... 9 7. Seberkheres (Shepseskaf) 7
Total ............... 277 [read 284]

.
The figures which give the years of the reigns are obviously fantastic, as will be shown later in this
discussion. Modifying Daressy’s suggestion, I take it that Manetho gave first the five kings of the
main branch, -Sneferuw, Cheops, Chephren, Mycerinus, and Shepseskaf,-of which the last name was
later omitted by copyists. Then he gave the four kings of the secondary line, -Radedef, Bakara (?),
Seberkheres (Neferkara?), and Thamphthis. Or alternately Thamphthis was of a third branch. If
Daressy’s order be set against the figures in the Turin Papyrus, then Thamphthis (Dedefptah?) re-
ceives 18 (28) years; king D (X-3), 4 years; and Se‘berkheres (Shepseskaf), 2 years. This reconstruc-
tion is open to the same objection as T-1, T-4, and T-5 above, in that it is incredible that a king named
Thamphthis (Dedefptah) should have ruled Egypt for 18 (28) years and left no trace of himself in a
period so rich in private and royal monuments as Dynasty IV.
Since the discovery of the tomb of Meresankh III in 1927, the problem may be approached from a
different angle. Meresankh III was a granddaughter of Cheops, on both sides, being a daughter of the
blond Hetep-heres II, herself a daughter of Cheops, and of Kawa‘ab the eldest son of Cheops. Kawa‘ab
was the first husband of Hetep-heres II and King Radedef was the second. Meresankh claims the
title “king’s daughter of his body” which cannot be taken literally as she was the child of Kawa‘ab.
But if she were a babe at the breast when Radedef married Hetep-heres 11, or if Meresankh was born
in the palace of Radedef after the marriage, the title would have been a natural courtesy title. I take
it that Meresankh III was born about the first year of Radedef, perhaps a little before or a little after.
Meresankh III was married to her uncle Chephren, as is proved by the estate names in the tomb of her
son, and she bore him at least five children. The eldest son, Prince Nebemakhet, was an adult man of
the rank of “lector-priest” as represented in the tomb prepared for his mother in the year of her death.
The tomb made for Meresankh is of the rock-cut type commonly used for members of the family of
Chephren who died after the accession of Mycerinus, and is actually nearest in form to two tombs,
Debehen (L D 90) and Prince Khuwnera son of Mycerinus, both of which were made in the latter part
of the reign of Mycerinus. Two inscriptions on the doorway of her tomb record that she died in the first
year of an unnamed king and was buried nine months later. I conclude from the type of tomb that
Meresankh III died in the first year of Shepseskaf, the nearest first year to the tombs, Debehen (L D 90)
and Khuwnera. Dr. Derry has made a careful examination of the skeleton of Meresankh and has given
his judgment that she was over fifty years of age and probably about fifty-five when she died. This
would give us about fifty-five years from the first year of Radedef to the first year of Shepseskaf. De-
ducting 8 years for Radedef, and 18 for Mycerinus, a total of 26 from the 55 years of Meresankh, we get
about 29 years for the intervening time, which includes the reign of Chephren and whatever there may
have been of the reigns of X-1 and X-2. That is, the two following reconstructions may be worked out
on the basis of T-1 and T-3 respectively:
Reconstruction A (on basis of T-1) : Reconstruction B (on basis of T-3) :

Years Years
1. Sneferuw .................. 24 1. Sneferuw ....................... 24
2. Cheops ................... 23 2. Cheops ........................ 23
3. Radedef .................. 8 3. Radedef ....................... 8
4. Chephren ................. 29 or 32 4. Chephren ......................
5. Mycerinus ................ 18 or 15 5. X-1 (Bakara?). ................. 29
6. Shepseskaf ................ 4 or 6 6. X-2 (Neferkara?) ...............
7. X-1 ( Bakara? ) ........... 18 or 28 7. Mycerinus ..................... 18
8. X-2 (Neferkara?) .......... 4 8. Shepseskaf ..................... 4
9. X-3 Dedefptah?) ......... 2 9. X-3 ( Thamphthis?) ............ 2
__ __
Total ................ 130 or 132 Total about ................ 108

or 142
Reconstruction A, based on T-1, I regard as extremely improbable but I select it for comparison with
reconstruction B, based on T-3, in considering the control aflorded by five lives recorded in private in-
scriptions. The five lives are as follows (Cf. Scharff, 0. L.Z., February, 1928) :
(a) QUEENMERYTYETES: known from an inscribed stone found at Giza; she was not a “king’s daughter” but
was married to Sneferuw and then Cheops and “honored
before” Chephren. She was a t least twelve years
old but perhaps still a virgin when Sneferuw died, and certainly not over thirty a t that time. She lived
into the reign of Chephren but how long is a matter of conjecture. Her age works out approximately the
same for both A and B :
Min. age Max. age Mean age
If 12 at death of Sneferuw .................................. 44 years 69 years 57 years
If 30 at death of Sneferuw ................................. 62 “ 87 “ 75 “
(b) PRINCE SEKHEMKARA: rock-cut tomb L G 89; as the second (?) eldest son of Chephren, he may have been
born before the accession of his father, certainly not long after; he was “honored before” Chephren,
Mycerinus, Shepseskaf, Weserkaf, and Sahura. Sahura ruled 12 years. Counting from the first year of
Chephren:
By A (T-1) ............................................ 83 years 94 years 88.5 years
B yB (T-3) ............................................ 61 “ 72 “ 66.5 “
(c) PTAHSHEPSES: mastaba at Saqqarah (Mariette, Mastabas, C 1, p. 110) : son-in-law of Weserkaf;¹ he was
born in the reign of Mycerinus, was a boy in the women’s apartments of the palace of Shepseskaf, married
Ma‘at-kha, the eldest daughter of Weserkaf, and lived to some time in the reign of Neweserra. I would
place his birth in the last five years of Mycerinus. Neweserra ruled about 32 years.
By A (T-1), if born in last year of Mycerinus ................... 72 years 102 years 87 years.
if born 5 years before death of Mycerinus ........... 77 “ 107 “ 92 “
By B (T-3), if born in last year of Mycerinus ................... 50 “ 80 “ 65 “
if born 5 years before death of Mycerinus ........... 55 “ 85 “ 70 “
(d) NETERPUWNESUT: tomb a t Giza reported by Gauthier in Annates, XXV, p. 180; “lord of honor” before
Radedef, Chephren, Mycerinus, Shepseskaf, Weserkaf, and Sahura. If we count his life as beginning in the
first year of Radedef, the limits of error are only plus or minus 5 years. As he probably died in the reign
of Sahura, the 12 years of that reign cover the year of his death.
By A (T-1), if born in year 5 of Radedef ............... 86 years 97 years 91.5 years
if born in year 18 of Cheops ............... 96 “ 107 “ 101.5 “
By B (T-3), if born in year 5 of Radedef ............... 64 “ 75 “ 69.5 “
if born in year 18 of Cheops ............... 74 “ 85 “ 79.5 “
(e) QUEENHETEP-HERESII: in the tomb of her daughter, Meresankh IIi (see preceding paragraphs),
G 7530: she was a daughter of Cheops and was alive in the first year of Shepseskaf when her daughter
Meresankh III died a t about 55 years of age. Meresankh, who was by her first husband and was born
about the beginning of the reign of Radedef, was perhaps her first-born child. At that time Hetep-heres IT
was not less than 12 and not more than 25 years of age. At the time of her daughter’s death about 55
years later, Hetep-heres II was between 67 and 80 years old. By both A and B, Hetep-heres II would have
been born between the last year of Sneferuw and the 12th year of Cheops.
¹ Sethe,
See Urkunden I, pp. 51-53. I have varied Sethe’s reconstruction of the career of Ptahshepses in the manner indicated
above.
246 MYCERINUS
The three lives, b, c, and d, are those which offer independent material on the period in question, and
the facts presented may be summarized as follows:
By A (T-1) ............................. (b) 83 years 94 years 88.5 years
(c) 72-77 “ 102-107 “ 87-92 “
(d) 86-96 “ 97-107 “ 91-101 “
By B (T-3) ............................ (b) 61 “ 72 “ 66.5 “

(c) 49-54 “ 79-84 “ 64-69 “
(d) 64-74 “ 75-85 “ 69-79 “
By Manetho, taking latest possible date of birth and earliest possible date of death, we get the following
absolute minimal lives :
Order T-3 Daressy's order
(a) If 12 at death of Sneferuw .................................. 101 101
(b) If born last year of Chephren ............................... 102 +x 102 +x
(c) If born last year of Mycerinus ............................... 53 +x 60 +x
(d) If born last year of Radedef ................................. 168 +x 168 +x
(e) If born last year of Cheops .................................. 173 + 184 +
Except for life c, the figures by Manetho are simply fantastic; and life c is made reasonable because
only reigns are involved for which reasonable figures are given. Any chronological arrangement based
on Manetho requires no further consideration. The three persons of greatest value, b, c, and d, certainly
lived longer than the ordinary man, but we have no proof that they attained the extreme ages indicated
by both the minimum and the mean figures for reconstruction A (T-I). In the preceding pages I came
to the conclusion that T-1 was improbable because a reign as long as 18 (28) years was incredible for one
of the missing kings. From the present examination of the three lives, b, c, and d, this reconstruction
again appears improbable, and could only be saved by making the reigns of X-I, X-2, and X-3 contem-
porary or partly contemporary with Chephren, Mycerinus, and Shepseskaf. That solution brings us,
however, practically to reconstruction B (T-3), which I have myself adopted.
The above discussion has dealt largely with approximations and probabilities and is therefore man-
ifestly subject to modification by fresh material from the excavations. Moreover, the basis is Professor
Meyer's reconstruction of the Turin Papyrus; and the basis may be broken up by some fresh combina-
tion of the fragments of that document. In conclusion, I give the chronological reconstruction of
Dynasty IV which I have now adopted as a working hypothesis:
DYNASTY IV: Years
1. Sneferuw ....................................................... 24¹
2. Cheops ......................................................... 23¹
3. Radedef ........................................................ 8¹
4. Chephren .................................................. 29 to 23
5. X-1 (Bikheris-Bakara?) ...................................... 0 to 5
6. X-2 (Seberkheres-Neferkara?) ................................ 0 to 1
7. Mycerinus. ..................................................... 181
8. Shepseskaf ...................................................... 4¹
9. X-3 (Thamphthis-Dedefptah?) .................................... 2¹
__
Total ............... 108
-
Average reign of six legitimate kings 16.6 to 17.6 years.
-
Average reign including three usurpers 12 years.
DYNASTYV (see Dr. Scharff, 0. L. Z., February, 1928, p. 78) : Years
1. Weserkaf ....................................................... 7
2. Sahura ......................................................... 12
3. Neferirkara. ..................................................... (12?)
4. Shepseskara ..................................................... 7
5. Khaneferra ..................................................... (4?)
6. Newesera ....................................................... (32?)
7. Menkauwhor .................................................... 8
8. Dedkara ........................................................ 28
9. Wenes (Unas) ................................................... 30
__
Total.. ............ 140
Average reign of nine kings - 15.5 years.
Figures
¹ taken from the Turin Papyrus.
The absolute date of Dynasty IV, it must be admitted, is still a point on which the material available
permits no decision. The dates which have been given for the beginning of the dynasty vary from
Meyer’s 2840 B.C. to Petrie’s 4803 B.C. The difficulty arises out of two periods in Egyptian chron-
ology left obscure by lacunae in the lists and by the paucity of contemporary documents- (a) the
period between the end of Dynasty XII and the beginning of Dynasty XVIII which includes the Hyk-
sos period, and (b) the period between the end of Dynasty VI and the beginning of Dynasty XI. Pro-
fessor Meyer’s date for Dynasty IV was based on a scientific attempt to bridge the first gap (the Hyksos
period) by means of the accumulating differences between the calendar year and the solar year, which
amount to one calendar year in 1460 solar years (the so-called Sothic Period). He relied on a hieratic
papyrus from Kahun published by Professor Borchardt, in which temple officials were notified that the
heliacal rising of the star Sothis (Sirius) was to fall on the sixteenth day of the seventh month in year
seven of Sesostris 111,and a reconstruction of four Sothic periods backwards from July 19, A.D. 140-144.
In my opinion that attempt has failed because, primarily, of the shortness of the period indicated by
that method for Dynasties XIII-XVII. I believe that the only method which remains is that of an ad-
dition of the known lengths of the reigns beginning with Dynasty XVIII and working back into the
past, to which are to be added reasoned estimates of the lengths of the unknown reigns. As members of
that addition, certain groups of reigns must figure with wide limits of error and these limits of error will
accumulate as the calculation approaches Dynasty I. For my present purpose, as an approximate
indication of the date of Mycerinus, I estimate that the first year of Sneferuw falls somewhere within
the period 3100-2900 B.C. (3000* 100 B.C.). Mycerinus died about 100 years later or about 2900±
100 B.C.
As I said early in this chapter, the division in the family of Cheops and the subsequent dynastic
troubles were due to rivalry for the throne among the children of his various wives. I have no doubt
that the three kings whose names are uncertain (X-1 = Bakara?; X-2 = Neferkara?; X-3 = Dedef-
ptah??) were descendants of Radedef and formed the leading persons of the secondary branch of the
family. The first reign to be seriously affected was that of Chephren. He had evidently intended to
build small pyramids for his queens along the southern side of his pyramid as did his son Mycerinus
after him, but he never carried out this intention. One small pyramid was certainly nearly finished
when he died but was probably never used. Very few of his family are buried in cased mastabas. Most
of them, Khamerernebti I, his chief queen, Prince Sekhemkara and Prince Nekauwra both claiming
the title of eldest son, Queen Per(senti) the mother of Nekauwra, Queen Meresankh III and her son,
Prince Nebemakhet -were buried in cheap rock-cut tombs. It is probable that all these rock-cut
tombs were prepared after the death of Chephren. In any case, Chephren had not prepared the cus-
tomary types of tombs for these members of his own family. His full resources were being taken by
the effort to complete his funerary monuments, only a little less in grandeur than those of Cheops.
Something happened to delay or prevent his completing the subsidiary tombs of his family, and I have
no doubt that the cause was the more or less open revolt of the descendants of Rndedef. The point on
which I feel doubt is whether Bakara (?)and X-2 had short reigns as rebels during the reign of Chephren
or whether they intervened between Chephren and Mycerinus with a few years of interlude during
which Mycerinus was seeking to establish his control of the kingdom. In any case, Mycerinus succeeded
to the troubles of his father, Chephren; and it was probably during the early part of his reign that the
rock-cut tombs of his father’s family, including that of his own mother Khamerernebti I, were excavated
in the cliff southeast of the Second Pyramid.
Once firmly in the saddle, Mycerinus began the preparation of a pyramid smaller than those of his
father and grandfather, but designed to be cased in Assuan granite, with two large granite-cased temples,
and three pyramids for his queens, at least one of which was to be cased in granite. The expenditure
contemplated was not much less than that of his ancestors, and the statues which he ordered were only
a little less in number and in size than those of his father Chephren. All this costly work was proceeding
when Mycerinus died quite unexpectedly. The pyramid was then cased in granite to about a third of its
height; the outer part of the pyramid temple was partly cased, the offering room in red granite and the
rest in black; the inner temple had been begun in red granite, but the limestone core-walls which were
248 MYCERINUS
to form the dividing walls of the rooms in the southeastern part of the outer temple had not yet been
set up. At the valley temple the limestone core-walls were all unfinished. At the pyramid of the chief
queen, the granite casing had been begun and the limestone foundations for the small temple had been
set in place. The cores only of the other two small pyramids had been constructed and were perhaps
incomplete. Many of the statues and vessels were unfinished and were deposited in the temples in all
stages of manufacture. His son Shepseskaf hurriedly finished the pyramid in limestone and the temples
in crude brick, set the unfinished statues and vessels in the temple magazines, and appears to have
endowed the funerary services of his father in the second year of his own reign.
When Mycerinus came to the throne a large part of his father’s immediate household was still alive.
The evidence is clear for Queen Khamerernebti I, the mother of Mycerinus, Queen Per(senti), Queen
Meresankh 111, and doubtful for Queen Hezhekenuw. Khamerernebti and Per(senti) were daughters
of Cheops (sisters of Chephren), while Meresankh was a granddaughter of Cheops and a niece of Cheph-
ren. Other persons of the older generation, that of Chephren, were no doubt still alive, with their
burial-places already prepared in the royal cemetery of Cheops. The blond Hetep-heres II, daughter of
Cheops, was certainly living, and perhaps her third husband Ankh-haf. We also know of others who
may have been witnesses of the accession of Mycerinus - Prince Khufuw-khaf, Prince Min-khaf,
Prince Duwanehor, and Prince Neferma’at of Giza. Of the royal princes and princesses, the brothers
and sisters of Mycerinus, we have the names of Prince Nekauwra, Prince Sekhemkara, Prince Nebem-
akhet, Prince Duwanera, Princess Khamerernebti II, and Princess Shepseset-kauw. A number of other
names may ultimately be assembled of royal children and grandchildren alive at the accession of
Mycerinus, but that must await the final reconstruction of the history of the whole Giza cemetery.
Most of the persons of the older generation died during the 18 years assigned to the reign of Mycerinus;
but at the death of Mycerinus, the blond Hetep-heres 11, daughter of Cheops, was still vigorous; her
daughter, Meresankh III widow of Chephren, Prince Sekhemkara, Prince Nebemakhet, Princess Shep-
seset-kauw, and probably other children of Chephren were also alive.
Queen Khamerernebti II, the full sister of Mycerinus, is fully documented by the inscriptions of the
Galarza tomb and the tomb of Khuwnera in the Mycerinus quarry, as the daughter of Khamerernebti I
and the wife of Mycerinus. We know only one of her children, Khuwnera, the son of Mycerinus. Her
tomb was probably the small pyramid G 111-a. In the floor of the temple of that pyramid was carefully
buried a small jar containing model stone vessels bearing the name of the “king’s son, Kay”; and it is
possible that Kay was another of her sons. Whether she was the mother of Shepseskaf or not, is un-
certain. Mycerinus had of course other queens, two of whom were probably buried in the small pyr-
amids G III-b and c. But the absence of inscriptions or reliefs in the crude-brick chapels of the pyramids
of the queens, the complete plundering of the burial chambers, and the lack of inscribed stone coffins,
have obscured our knowledge of their names and their personalities. The members of the immediate
family of Mycerinus whose portraits appear most clearly are Mycerinus himself, Queen Khamerernebti
11, and Prince Khuwnera. The queen is seen in the female figure of the slate pair and indeed in the
figures of the goddesses in the triads, which are manifestly carved in her likeness. She is also represented
in relief in the tomb of her son Prince Khuwnera. Prince Khuwnera is himself pictured in the same
tomb both as a boy and as a man, and is represented as a squatting scribe in a small statuette now in
Boston. Mycerinus is portrayed by the slate pair, the broken alabaster statue, the nearly complete
alabaster statue, the alabaster head (in Cairo), the king in the four slate triads, and by several unfinished
statuettes -a total of more than nine portraits. Whether the youthful alabaster head is a portrait of
Shepseskaf, as I thought for a long time, or is a portrait of Mycerinus as a young man must be left un-
determined. Our picture of Mycerinus is clear, a man with head proportionally small compared to the
large broad-shouldered body. His face was full, in later life with heavy lips and bulging eyes. The best
portrait of him is, I think, the large, fragmentary alabaster statue in Boston.
With Mycerinus, Egyptian sculptural art had reached its highest point in forms, technique, and the
use of hard stone. The same craftsmenwho had worked for Chephren, or many of them, were still active
and no appreciable advance had been made over the statues of the preceding generation. As for the
reliefs, the climax in limestone had been reached in the reign of Cheops or perhaps even as early as
Sneferuw. The carving of sunk reliefs in granite was used in making inscriptions as early as the reign of
Chephren; but this hard stone seems to have discouraged the carving of true reliefs during the whole
Old Kingdom. The high standard attained in both statuary and reliefs by the craftsmen who worked
for Mycerinus and his direct ancestors was to be maintained and widely distributed during Dynasties
V and VI, and to decline towards the end of Dynasty VI with a rapid deterioration in the succeeding
obscure period. But when Egyptian sculpture revived in Dynasties XI-XII, the influence of the forms
and of the technical methods of Dynasty IV is plainly visible and can be traced down to the end of
Egyptian art.
In architecture, likewise, the royal family of Dynasty IV played a great rôle. The first characteristic
Egyptian architecture was developed during Dynasties I and II, using crude brick with wooden door-
ways, columns, and roofs. The forms of the crude-brick architecture were translated into limestone by
Imhotep and used by him in the temples and chapels of the Step Pyramid at Saqqarah, the tomb of
Zoser, first king of Dynasty III.¹ Imhotep generally used small blocks of limestone in his finer masonry
and small blocks in the core of the pyramid. About eighty years later, Sneferuw and Cheops were using
much more massive blocks in the cores, in the casings, and in the wall masonry. The architects of Cheops
began the substitution of hard stone (basalt and granite) for limestone in walls and casings, and this de-
velopment was continued during the succeeding reigns of Dynasty IV. It was the use of this more
obdurate material, not yet perfectly mastered in the mass, which produced the archaic appearance of
the valley temple of Chephren (the granite temple beside the Great Sphinx) with its square granite pil-
lars. In Dynasty V the use of granite had been carried further, as is shown by the beautiful palm-
columns of the temple of King Sahura (excavated by the Germans at Abusîr). The thickness of the
walls, which is so characteristic and necessary in the larger forms of the crude-brick architecture, was
never eradicated from the stone architecture of Dynasty IV, and the imitation of the wooden parts of
the structure continued unabated to the end of the Old Kingdom. Shepseskaf, the son of Mycerinus
and the last king of the family descended from Sneferuw and Hetep-heres I, used the characteristic
massive masonry of Dynasty IV in his mastaba at Dahshûr (Mastabat-el-Faraon). But in Dynasty V
the pyramids had become smaller and far less solid in construction, although in other ways an advance
was made in the structural use of stone.
In metal working, in the manufacture of vessels of stone and pottery, in wood working, and in all
the other crafts, the men who worked for the royal family of Dynasty IV exibit an excellence which may
have been attained before their time but was certainly never excelled in later times. The beautiful
gold-cased furniture of Queen Hetep-heres I, the mother of Cheops, has now been recovered with all the
joints, tenons, and mortises of its woodwork preserved in the shrunken wood, or indicated by the marks
on the gold cases. The carrying chair in its graceful lines and restrained decoration is a singular tes-
timony to the skill of the craftsmen and their artistic sense. The silver anklets decorated with dragon
flies inlaid with turquoise, lapis lazuli, and carnelian would be a notable achievement for the jewelers of
any age. The panels inlaid with faience and gold, some in well-known and others in quite unexpected
patterns, the gold hieroglyphics on the carrying chair, the gold and copper toilet implements, and three
small gold vessels, and above all the wonderful reliefs on the door-jambs of the bed-canopy, reveal the
invention, the skill, and the distinguished taste of the family of Hetep-heres. For most of these objects
appear to have been taken from her own palace. Hetep-heres was the mother of Dynasty IV; and her
descendants were the kings under whom the Egyptian architects and sculptors were to produce the
most famous of Egyptian monuments -the pyramids of Giza, the Great Sphinx, and the portraits of
Chephren and Mycerinus.
The chief gods of this family, as recorded in their inscriptions, were Ra, Horus, Ptah, and Thoth;
the chief goddess was Hathor-Mistress-of-the-Sycamore-Tree, but the frog goddess Hekat was also a
favorite and Neith is mentioned. The god of the dead was Anubis. Osiris does not occur in any of the
inscriptions of the family. The temple services were probably similar to those of later times, consisting
of the care of the property of the god, the presentation of offerings and prayers for the well-being and
prosperity of the king and of individuals. The king was Horus, son of Ra, and when he died became Ra
See
¹ C. M. Firth in Annales, 1924-1930.
250 MYCERINUS
in the heavens. The temple services were probably similar to those of later times, and apart from the
care of the buildings, the statues, the altars, and the equipment of vessels and implements, consisted
of glorifications and the presentation of offerings intended to gratify and propitiate the gods. In ad-
dition to daily services there were great festivals in which the whole community participated. The
temple staff and the services were supported by endowments of lands and fixed proportions of various
Sources of royal income, and the king appears to have been the chief person named to the gods in the
temple ceremonies. In the great festivals held in temples of the capital city the king “appeared” in full
royal regalia or in a ceremonial dress of peculiar traditional form. But of course every participant in
the festivals and in the ordinary services profited in some way; and there was a multitude of private
offerings and prayers on behalf of individuals which were duly paid for and duly booked as part of the
income accruing t o the priests and officials of the temple. Each temple appears to have had its separate
and independent organization. As far as can be seen there was no national religious organization. The
two greatest religious functionaries of which we know were the high-priest of Ptah at Memphis and the
high-priest of Ra at Heliopolis.
The temple services were mainly for the benefit of the living. The provision of a satisfactory life
after death was secured by elaborate tombs of various kinds and by private endowments of agricultural
land. The belief which lay behind the funerary customs and practices is found all over the world. Life
after death went on as it did on earth. The spirit or ka of the dead had the same physical needs as when
living -food, drink, sleep, amusements, and sports, and the desire to see his family life going on around
him. The spirit lived as a member of a familiar community, not as an isolated soul dwelling in darkness
or among strangers. In the Egyptian prehistoric period the household furniture and the personal equip-
ment of the man or woman were buried in the grave, and that practice continued all through the first
six dynasties and with modifications until very late times. The pyramid age beginning with Dynasty
III was characterized by the use of elaborate tombs of the mastaba or pyramid type in which, in ad-
dition to the supply of food and furniture placed in the burial-chamber, an elaborate apparatus was in-
vented consisting of paintings, inscriptions, and painted reliefs placed on the walls of the offering
chambers in order to provide further for the daily necessities of the dead. I t was a futile endeavor on
the part of the men of the pyramid age to provide all the growing host of the spirit world for all time
with the simulacrum of the life they had enjoyed on earth. The endeavor was doomed to failure and
went far to ruin the economic basis of life of the Egyptian state during the Old Kingdom.
The written remains of the pyramid age are surprisingly abundant considering the antiquity of the
period. We have a large number of the funerary offering formulas, several copies of the early form of the
negative confession of the dead, the magical texts found in the pyramids of Dynasties V-VI, a number
of autobiographies of important men, several wills and testaments, four or five royal decrees, and certain
later copies of more ancient writings which include annals, wise sayings, medical recipes, and folk
stories. All these combine to give a general picture of the culture which the ruling family assisted to
create and in which they lived. The proverbs of Ptah-hotep were a characteristic product of this age of
simple human materialism, in which men lived for themselves and their immediate families. The in-
clination must be checked to read into this life the ideals or intellectual activities of our own time.
The administration of the country was on a simple monarchical basis. The king was a god and the
appointing power to all offices. Even offices which passed from father to son required royal confir-
mation of each heir in turn. The thing which was prized most highly by every biographer was the favor
of the king. The position of the king was secured primarily by the fighting forces of his clan and of
allied and subordinated clans. In Dynasty IV the military organization covered the whole country and
its boundaries with a network of garrisoned forts or fortified cities. The army was organized probably
on a tribal basis, with the central command at the capital city, and controlled by orders given in the name
of the king. Its work consisted mainly in the maintenance of the peace, the support of the civil authori-
ties, the protection of royal expeditions into the desert or into Nubia, and the suppression of revolt,
The commander-in-chief was usually but not always a prince of the royal family. The civil adminis-
tration appears to have been highly organized also, with a central authority at court and provincial
governors appointed by the king. The royal income consisted of that from the king’s personal estate
and from the biennial collection of taxes of various sorts. The administration of the king’s personal
estate was separate and was not essentially different from the administration of a private agricultural
estate. The income passed apparently with the tax receipts into a common treasury. In any case the
tax receipts were treated by the king as private income. The treasury as a receiving office was divided
into two departments, an Upper Egyptian treasury and a Lower Egyptian treasury, and these again
were subdivided into stores for gold and silver, cattle, grain, etc.; but all departments were under one
head which was in charge of all records of receipts and payments. Payments were made by written
orders given on the authority of the king through the chancellor. All the officials at court were paid
thus according to fixed allowances and standing orders. The method of payment of the provincial
governors and their staffs is obscure. The governors, who usually owned large private estates, may
have been nominally unpaid officials. But their subordinates were of course on salary, either paid from
local receipts or from the treasury; and it is natural to suppose that the provincial as well as the court
officials enjoyed perquisites which never appeared in the books of the treasury department, In ad-
dition to the ordinary administrative expenditures there was a constant stream of unusual payments
by the king -special favors shown to individuals, as when Mycerinus ordered fifty men to work on the
tomb of Debehen. In every reign there was also a series of endowments for temples and for funerary
chapels, and payments for new construction; and of course the king appears to have acquired new es-
tates from time to time, but whether by payment from the treasury or by confiscation remains uncertain.
The great pyramids built by the Department of Works give visible proof of the wonderful organiza-
tion and high efficiency of that department. One branch had charge of the exploitation of the mines and
quarries of Egypt and Sinai. At Magharah in Sinai, where copper and turquoise were obtained, and in
the alabaster quarry of Hatnub, inscriptions have been found recording visits of royal expeditions of
Dynasty IV. In the granite quarries of Wady Hammamât and Assuan the records include inscriptions
of Dynasties V and VI, but the Assuan deposits were certainly worked in Dynasty IV. The white lime-
stone of Turah, the nummulitic stone of Giza, the basalt of Abu Zabel, were also exploited; and at places
which cannot be so definitely named, gold, copper, various mineral colors, sulphate of lime, natron,
salt, and various other substances were systematically extracted. All these activities and the ensuing
transport of materials to the capital were among the duties of the public works service. In fact the
transport organization provided the nomenclature of a large department, the divisions of which were
called “crews,” further subdivided into watches; and these crews appear to have extracted the granite
blocks from the masses of stones at Assuan, to have transported them to the site of the structure for which
they were intended, and actually to have set them in place. The stone workers who prepared the granite
blocks for setting and dressed the walls after the structure was finished apparently belonged to a sepa-
rate division. The drawing of the plans, the marking of the plan on the foundations and of the leveling
lines on the walls were also the work of the department, but probably of a separate architectural divi-
sion. The public works department.constructed the pyramids and mastabas of the royal family, the
palaces, and the temples, and made the gardens, the canals, and the artificial lakes of the king’s estates.
The irrigation works in the provinces were under the provincial governors, who probably had works
organizations similar to that of the court and no doubt directly connected with the larger organization.
The trading expeditions to the Sudan were under the governor of Assuan but were directly re-
sponsible to the court. The inscriptions of the leaders of these expeditions give accounts of their travels
but unfortunately do not throw much light on the manner of trading. They supplied the king with
ivory, ostrich feathers, ebony and other woods, leopard and panther skins, resins and other vegetable
substances, gold, black slaves, and other products of the southland. Similar expeditions went by ship
from the Red Sea ports opposite Thebes to Punt (a land on the Somali coast?) and brought back similar
products. Other expeditions went by sea to the Syrian coast to obtain cedar of Lebanon and no doubt
much else. Olive oil was certainly imported from Palestine and Syria during Dynasty IV. Even a wider
trade with the Greek Isles may be suspected, but direct information is lacking. These trading expedi-
tions were entirely different from raiding parties or military expeditions looting foreign countries, and
were in fact royal merchandising parties sent out by the king in his personal capacity just as his private
estates were administered, but with the prestige of the king of Egypt and with the resources of his king-
252 MYCERINUS
dom. The goods brought back to Egypt went into the royal store-houses, not for sale but for the use of
the royal family and such persons as might be favored by the king with presents.
The work of the administration was controlled and regulated by a careful system of written records
and accounts. The head of every administrative department, the king’s estate, the king’s household,
every temple, and every judicial body, had a separate organization of scribes, and every higher official
had at least one writer attached to his office. Letters were written and documents prepared; copies were
made to be retained and other records were kept of all orders and transactions, including receipts and
expenditures in the most minute detail. It was probably the king’s personal office of scribes which kept
the clearing-house for all the administrative documents and general archives. The archives of the king
contained those records on which the annals such as the Palermo stone and the Turin Papyrus were
based, but it seems clear that certain great temple archives also kept copies of documents which em-
phasized the royal acts of greatest interest to the priests of the temples in question. Unfortunately, in
Egypt the material used was papyrus and most of these written records have decayed or been eaten by
white ants. In Babylonia, where the records were written on clay and baked, an enormous mass of such
documents has been preserved to us. It should never be forgotten that writing in both Egypt and
Babylonia was invented for practical purposes and came only secondarily to be used to preserve what
may now be called literary productions.
Such in brief was the Egypt of Dynasty IV, of the family descended from Sneferuw and Hetep-
heres I. The time was not far from the climax of the great creative period of Egyptian culture. The
high attainments of the Egyptians of that distant age exceed anything the world had known before in
architecture and sculpture; and the expenditure on mighty monuments which have resisted destruction
until our day exceeded that of any period of Egyptian history.
In considering the great work of this family it is of the highest historical interest to follow its effect
in the succeeding generations. During the next two dynasties, Dynasties V and VI, Egyptian culture
in all its phases was well maintained and in some ways still progressive. It is noticeable, however, that
the royal pyramids were less expensive, smaller in size and less solidly built; and the great fields of royal
mastabas, such as were laid out on a unified plan at Giza, are wanting. This change in the resources of
the royal family is symptomatic of the change in the general economic situation. Some of the finest and
most expensive mastabas of high officials were built at Saqqarah during Dynasties V and VI, and in
Upper Egypt the provincial leaders provided for themselves a series of well-cut and finely decorated
tombs hollowed in the limestone cliffs. Certainly the evidence points to a more general distribution of
wealth instead of the extreme concentration so marked in Dynasty IV. In Dynasty VI, especially to-
wards the end, a distinct loss of craftsmanship is visible in the sculpture. At the end of that dynasty
came the extraordinarily long reign of PepyII ( 9 4 y e a r s ) in which, except for the signs noted above, the
Egyptian monarchy seemed to be fixed on unalterable foundations. His successor, Mernera 11, ruled
a year or so and then, as far as we can see, came chaos. That was about three hundred years after the
death of Mycerinus. The Egyptian social state was built on a framework of clans each occupying its
own part of the valley and held in union by military power. The development of Egypt during the
pyramid age had resulted in the breakdown of the force which held the country together and the state
broke up into its tribal units or into small tribal confederations. This condition of decentralization lasted
for about three centuries. There appear to have been almost no great men during this period. The
multitude of tombs which have been excavated in Upper Egypt show a pitiful degeneration of the sculp-
tures of the Old Kingdom, and the whole grave furniture is on the same comparative level, although
many of the owners claim titles which in Dynasties IV-VI were held by royal princes and the highest
officials. It is manifest that no one commanded the resources necessary to the training of great crafts-
men. There was a dead level of wealth and of cultural attainment.
The cause has often been sought in some change in the river. The physical basis of life in Egypt
has always been the black agricultural land of the valley and its delta, and so it remains today. It is
obvious that any considerable drop in the level of the river bed would affect irrigation, but under a
stable government the necessary alterations could have been carried out in a few decades or less. Any
variation in the supply of water, which depended on climatic conditions in central Africa which are of
a very unchanging nature, would also have been only temporary. There is no evidence of any alteration
in the river or the climate which would justify ascribing to natural causes the impoverishment of Egypt
at the end of the pyramid age.
The cause of the long period of depression was certainly political, and the political cause was itself
due to economic reasons. I have said that the extravagance of the royal family of Dynasty IV exceeded
that of any other period. The pyramids are the outward and visible sign of this extravagance. From
the point of view of Egyptian culture, the effects of their construction were of incalculable benefit -the
training of craftsmen probably assembled from all over Egypt, the advance of technical methods, the
creation of new forms, the invention of tools, the disciplining of large bodies of workmen to united
action, and the development of a highly specialized department of public works. The workshops of the
Giza pyramids were in fact great schools of the arts and crafts from which knowledge was spread all
over Egypt. But on the other hand the unproductive use of bodies of twenty to fifty thousand workmen
during the century of the building of the pyramids must have made a great difference in the personal
estate and the resources of the kings. To make the matter clear, let US suppose that the same labor had
been expended on the making of irrigation and drainage canals and in bringing new land under cultiva-
tion. The cost in food and oversight would have been the same but an enormously productive property
would have been created which would have increased the wealth and power of the king. The labor was
no doubt forced Egyptian labor (corvée), a form of taxation which persisted until quite recent times, In
all probability the rations of these workmen were supplied from the royal treasury; and certainly the
great staff of overseers and master-craftsmen were both maintained and generously rewarded by the
king. Thus not only was the accumulation of a surplus by the king seriously affected, but the conditions
were prepared for widespread discontent both among the peasantry and among the provincial chiefs
whose resources were diminished by the withdrawal of able-bodied men from the fields.
Another factor in the dissipation of the king’s estate in Dynasty IV was the distribution of the landed
property among the numerous children of the monarch. In the case of Meresankh 111, a granddaughter
of Cheops, a list of eleven fields is preserved which from their names had been bequeathed by Cheops to
Hetep-heres II and passed on to her daughter’s funerary estate. We know the names of some thirty to
forty other estates from the mutilated and imperfect lists in the Giza mastabas; and it may be estimated
that several hundred fields of Cheops passed into funerary endowments. These were of course only a
part of the property distributed among his children. Similar facts are known for the reign of Chephren;
and a proportional distribution may be inferred for Radedef, Mycerinus, and Shepseskaf. In addition
there were grants of land to the funerary estates of the kings themselves, to temples, and to royal
favorites. The holdings of the king in agricultural land in the time of Cheops and Chephren must have
been very large, but we have no evidence of the method by which the kings acquired this land. If it was
acquired by purchase, it was a very wise use of the accumulated surplus of the royal revenue -a surplus
that was in the main physical, consisting of grain, cattle, serfs, metals, and other materials. If the land
was taken forcibly, and in that term I would include any quasi-judicial procedure in the king’s name,
then the acquisition must have led to widespread grievances among the land-holding class. In either
case, the property was dissipated by bequests and gifts instead of passing en bloc to strengthen the power
of his successor. It is almost axiomatic that the rivalry in ostentation between the two main branches
of the family of Cheops tended to increase the expenditure on tombs and grants of land.
The economic effect must not be overlooked of the funerary endowments, which assumed such great
proportions in Dynasty IV and continued unabated during Dynasties V and VI. The income of this
land was used to support a growing body of funerary priests who performed no productive service what-
ever and were of no military value in maintaining national discipline. By the end of Dynasty IV hun-
dreds of agricultural fields had passed from the possession of the royal family to that of private persons
whose only service was the bringing of sham offerings and the recitation of formulas to provide the spirits
of the dead with spirit food and drink. This example was followed by all well-to-do families at court and
in the provinces. The endowments were subdivided by inheritance during Dynasties V and VI to the
254 MYCERINUS
ultimate limit, and the personnel of the funerary service proportionally increased. The strength of the
royal family and of the land-owning families was weakened and a great number of small estates created.
The effect was a general leveling of the extreme inequalities of wealth visible in the reign of Cheops.
The breakdown of Dynasty IV, one of the greatest of the Egyptian dynasties, was inherent in the
extravagant constructions and the dissipation of the royal estate. The dissensions in the family
under these circumstances resulted in such military weakness that a coalition of three strong
men, Weserkaf, Sahura, and Neferirkara, who by Egyptian folk-tradition were brothers, was able to
displace the royal family of Sneferuw and Hetep-heres and take the throne as the first three kings of
Dynasty V. The new royal family of Dynasty V does not seem firmly established until the reign of the
sixth king, Neweserra. The antecedents of the family are obscure, but it is clear that Neweserra at
least was allied by marriage with the older family. During Dynasties V and VI the amount expended on
pyramid-building became less and less, a symptom rather of the decreasing wealth and power of the
kings than of a lessened desire for extravagant ostentation. The strength of the monarchy was visibly
diminished and the time came when, at the end of Dynasty VI, united Egypt yielded to the disruptive
influence of the tribal elements of which the population was composed.
The military monarchy of Egypt had been created by Menes, the first king of Dynasty I, and
firmly established by a civil administration brought to a high level by Menes and his successors. Our
knowledge is hampered by the paucity of details. But the resources and the power of the kings in-
creased with natural ups and downs until the time of Cheops. The period of great extravagance may
be said to have begun with Zoser, the first king of Dynasty III, and certainly reached its maximum in
the reigns of Cheops and Chephren. And from that time of maximum extravagance begins the decline
which ended in the dissolution of the military monarchy established by Menes. Traditionally, the
first six dynasties have been divided into an archaic or protodynastic period, which includes either
Dynasties I-II or Dynasties I-III, and into the Old Kingdom, which includes either Dynasties 111-VI
or Dynasties IV-VI. At present I divide them as follows:
a. Protodynastic Period, Dynasties I-II;
the period of crude-brick architecture.
b. Old Kingdom, Dynasties 111-VI; the period of stone architecture.
These divisions are cultural and may of course be varied by the view which the historian takes of the
cultural development. Politically the period is all one, the period of the rise and fall of the first orga-
nized administration of a united Egypt. Nothing comparable in extent and permanence was developed
in the nearly coeval monarchies of Mesopotamia. The first Egyptian monarchy lasted about a thou-
sand years, favored by the geographical situation of the land. The position of Mycerinus and his an-
cestors of Dynasty IV in the history of this monarchy is clear. Their time was the climax of the whole
period; but they preceded and induced the decline which ended with the disruption of the government.
The mighty monuments they built have persisted to our day and in some tombs the colors are still
bright after nearly five thousand years. They wasted the substance of the land, but the modern world
is richer in knowledge and in artistic possessions because of that very human failing.
APPENDICES
APPENDIX A
THE DEBEHEN INSCRIPTION AND THE HER-PYRAMID
THEwhole of the Debehen inscription turns on the meaning of the words rgsHr(det.,pyramid). This expression
has received generally the obvious translation “beside the Her-pyramid”
and the Her-pyramid has been variously
identified with that of Mycerinus, one of the small pyramids south of the Third Pyramid, and even with that of
Dedefra at Abu Roash. It is now certain that the name of the pyramid of Mycerinus was “Mycerinus-is-divine”
and the context of the Debehen inscription has always excluded the pyramid at Abu Roash. The suggestion of Pro-
fessor Breasted¹ that the Her-pyramid was one of the three small pyramids is made nearly impossible by the fact
that the ground under them on the north is two to three meters lower than the floor of the pyramid temple of the
Third Pyramid. They were far less advanced than the Third Pyramid at the death of Mycerinus, and it would be
impossible to see the Debehen tomb under the cliff from the top of any one of them as it stood during the con-
struction of the Third Pyramid. There remains the unfinished pyramid north of the Mycerinus valley temple.
This structure would satisfy the requirements of the inscription; but I am of the opinion that the unfinished
pyramid was begun by Shepseskaf after the death of Mycerinus. Moreover, the use of the name of a pyramid
without including the name of its owner is unusual in the Old Kingdom, and Hr alone would hardly be the name
of a pyramid.
The solution I think lies in the meaning of the word gs, which should not be translated “side,” but “domain,”
“estate,” “administration,” or something similar, as in the phrases gspr and gswpr. In the inscription of
Werekhwuw,²a priest of Mycerinus who lived in Dynasty V, the title imy-rAgsimy-wrtHr(pyramid)cA is claimed
by this man. This same expression gs imy-wrt occurs repeatedly in the quarry marks on the granite casing in the
Mycerinus pyramid temple, parallel to gsntr(?),gstr(?)nswt, and accompanied in all three cases by the words
hmwt smyt. There seems to me no reason to doubt that the gs imy-wrt was the name of a domain or administration
which along with other domains supplied craftsmen for the work on the pyramid and in the quarries, and probably
provided their rations. Now the Debehen inscription makes it clear that Mycerinus was going to the site of the
Third Pyramid. The conclusion is obvious that the preposition r in the phrase rgsHrmr(?) should be translated
“to,” “towards”; and the place referred to was the site of the Third Pyramid. The word gs seems to mean the
central working administration, almost the modern expression “works”; simply “the pyramid-cemeHr,
which included at the time the large pyramid and the three small pyramids. The word Hr is probably related to
Hry-t “cemetery,”“tomb.” The name gs imy-wrt probably continued in use to designate a department of works,
and the expression hr might also have been applied to another pyramid cemetery after Mycerinus; but the priest
Werekhwuw, who served the Third Pyramid, and was buried not far from the valley temple, may easily have
been alive in the reign of Mycerinus and served as the overseer of the gs imy-wrt, while it was employed on the
building of the Third Pyramid.
The text of the Debehen inscription is very imperfectly preserved, but is best given by Professor Sethe.³ With
the interpretation proposed above, the translation becomes:
Line 2. “As for this tomb, the king of Upper and Lower Egypt, Mycerinus [living forever] caused i t to be made, when
[His Majesty was upon] the road to the works of the pyramid cemetery in order to see the work of making the
pyramid “Mycerinus-is-divine.”
“
3. [His Majesty commanded to come] the director of [transport] together with the great-master-of-stone-workers
(High-priest of Memphis?) and the stone-workers.
‘‘ 4. They were standing before it (the Debehen tomb) in order to see the work of making [this tomb], [and His Ma-
jesty] assigned 50 men to work on it every day; and decreed to (?) them the completion of the wa’bat (i.e., a
part of the tomb).
‘‘ 5. His Majesty ordered that [no man should be taken] for any forced labor, other than working on it, until it was
finished.
‘‘ 6. His Majesty ordered moreover the clearing of the site ........................ this tomb.
‘‘ 7. His Majesty ordered ........................ in order to clear the site ........................
[His Majesty ordered] to come the two treasurers of the god; His Majesty said ................................
‘‘ 8. (Illegible except the words: that which they gave)
“ 9. (First half illegible)........................
His Majesty decided (?) that he would go round the works decreed (or, that he should go around, as Breasted
translates).
“ 10. ............................ in bringing (?) it, the bringing of stone from Turah in order to case therewith the chapel, together
with two false doors for this tomb.
‘‘ 11. By the master of transport, together with the great-master-of-stone-workers (high-priest of Memphis?) together
with the royal mason, i t was come
“ 12. ................................................ the bringing of a statue for me, living and very great
Breasted,
¹ Ancient Records I , p . 94, note c..
Sethe,
² Urkunden I , p. 47.
Sethe,
³ Urkunden I , pp. 15-21. See also Professor Breasted’s translation in Ancient Records I , p. 94.
258 APPENDICES
“ 13. ................................................ as a daily ration.
To-day i t is finished on its mountain together with its wa’bat.
“ 14. ......................... (hafl a line).
together with two statues of the assistant, of which one
“ 15. was of ........................ (and the other of) ................................................ feast of Apis in the temple
“ 16. ......................... (hafl a line)
[He made] these that he might be honored before his lord.
“ 17. ......................... (hafl a line) for my father and mother.
They built.
“ 18. (half a line gone) green cosmetic, black cosmetic........................
“ 19. (incomprehensible)
“ 20. An order of the king was made to the overseer of ........................ to make a tomb [100?]ells in length,
“ 21. 50 ells in width, and ............ells [in height] ................more than made my father while he was alive.
His Majesty gave moreover........................ (end of inscription, as far as executed).
The tomb mentioned in lines 20 and 21, is much larger than the Debehen tomb and must be a mastaba built for
Debehen by his son who appears to have prepared the inscription. This mastaba may have stood on the cliff
above the rock-cut tomb. Unfortunately the name of Debehen's son has not been preserved.
APPENDIX B
DESCRIPTION OF BURIALS AND OBJECTS FOUND IN THE COMMUNAL
BURIAL OF THE ROMAN PERIOD IN ROOM (27) OF THE
MYCERINUS PYRAMID TEMPLE
THEroom (27) is divided into seven spaces by the six columns which stand in a row across the middle of the room.
These spaces are lettered t, u, v,
w, x, y, and x from north to south. The space x, between the sixth pillar and the
south wall was left until the last for clearing on account of the apparent insecurity of the roof. In t (East) at
230 cm. from the roof, and 160 cm. below the surface of the drift sand, two human skulls, a human leg and pelvis,
and some leg bones of a camel were found scattered. Practically on the same level were the bodies:
No. 1. Wrapped in rough linen caked with resin, stiffened with a wooden rod up the back from feet to head.
Lying face down, head south. tu, E, -230 cm., Photo. C 454.
Nos. 2, 3. Like No. 1, and underneath it. Photo. C 455, 289, 290.
Nos. 4-10. Fragments of mummies similar to No. 1. Under break in roof. On the breast of No. 7, a small piece of
oxidized bronze. uvw, -230 cm. Photo. B 30, 31.
No. 11. Body wrapped in linen with painted plaster coating. On back, head west. u, E, -280 cm.
Nos. 12-17, 19. Mummies similar to No. 1. On back, head south. v, E, -280 cm.
No. 18. Skull of a cow, under foot of No. 11. w, E, -280 cm.
Nos. 20-22. Mummies similar to No. 1. Upright on feet against east wall. v, E, - 3 0 0 cm. (heads).
Nos. 23-32. Mummies similar to No. 1, lying a t various angles. Disturbed. Some scattered bones. Beside first
pillar on the north side, some large green glazed cylinder beads (07-2-11). tuv, -300 cm. In the
right hand of No. 23, (Photo. B 130) was a bronze coin (Roman), Photo. C 419. (07-2-95.)
Nos. 3 3 4 2 . Mummies and parts of mummies similar to No. 1. Nos. 33, 34 with heads west; No. 35 with head east;
Nos. 36-40 with heads south; No. 41 broken up; No. 42 head east. No. 40 was on a board. tuv,
-330 cm. Photo. C 299, 447,448.
On the same level in the sand:
07-2-12 Two-handled cooking pot of red-brown ware, ribbed. Photo. C 490, 424. Half filled with
organic matter and remains of insects. Diam. 22 cm. Beside No. 33.
07-2-13 Similar pot without handles. Photo. C. 496. Same contents as 07-2-12. Diam. 21.5 cm.
Beside No. 40.
07-2-14 Skull and other bones of a camel. Beside No. 40.
07-2-15 Long pole (from a mummy, or carrying-rod for a coffin). L. ca. 180 cm.
07-2-16 Strip of mummy cloth coated with plaster and painted. Beside No. 38.
07-2-17 Scarab of green glazed steatite. At the head of No. 40. Photo. C 2890 2/1, 4/1. Name of
Menkheperra.
07-2-18 Fragments of a large two-handled jar like Photo. B 220, of smooth brown ware.
07-2-19 Wooden mask from a coffin.
Nos. 4 3 4 4 . Omitted.
Nos. 4 5 4 6 . Mummies like No. 1. At angles, head NW.
No. 47. Mummy with reed stiffening between layers of wrappings. Head lost. On the neck, a mass of bead
necklaces and amulets.
07-2-20 String of small dark blue glazed ring-beads, with a small spiral shell a t intervals of from 18
to 25 beads. Longer series of small beads occur, but seem to be due to the breaking of the shells.
There were either three strings, or the same string passed three times around the neck. At places
there are groups of larger beads, but both sizes are on the same string.
07-2-21 String of similar small blue glazed ring-beads, with slender barrel-shaped white glazed beads
a t intervals of from 8 to 15 beads. One spiral shell in the middle in front.
07-2-22 String of larger bright blue ring-beads, with black glass ball-beads, slender barrel-shaped
white glazed beads a t irregular intervals (3 to 8 beads). One spiral shell.
07-2-23 String of split cowries (1. ca. 18 mm.), and bright blue glazed cylindrical beads (1. ca. 16 mm.),
alternating. One bead is a short twin cylindrical bead.
07-2-24 String of bright blue glazed cylindrical beads (1. ca. 16 mm.), separated by groups of colored
beads. These groups are very irregular, but usually contain two smaller cylindrical beads (1. ca.
10 mm.), with separators of colored ring-beads (sometimes missing). The colors are red, yellow,
green, and blue.
07-2-25 String of disk-beads (diam. 5 mm.), black glazed and white glazed alternating. Occasion-
ally two of a kind fall together, owing perhaps to breakage.
07-2-26 String of small red glazed ring-beads with single greenish-yellow ring-bead a t intervals of
two to four beads. Some blue beads break the order at intervals.
07-2-27 String of split cowries.
28 Carnelian bead, Photo. B 613, No. 1.
29 Two gilded bronze breast plates, Photo. B 613, Nos. 2 and 4.
30 Pomegranate, paste, Photo. B 613, No. 3.
31 Two-handled flask, green faience, Photo. B 613, NO. 5.
32 Naked boy, Haroeris, blue faience, Photo. B 613, NO. 6.
33 Naked boy, Haroeris, green faience, Photo. B 613, NO.9.
260 APPENDICES
34 Dog-headed ape, green faience, Photo. B 613, No. 7.
35 Finger-ring with scarab as bezel (was on finger). Photo. B 613, No. 8.
36 Four figures of Bes, bright blue glaze, Photo. B 613, Nos. 10, 14, 15, 16.
37 Large udat-eye, bright blue glaze with black iris and hair parts, Photo. B 613, No. 11.
38 Seated cat-headed goddess, large size, beautiful bright blue glaze, Photo. B 613, No. 12.
39 Small standing figure of cat-headed goddess, bright blue glaze, Photo. B 613, No. 13.
No. 48. Broken bones and boards, t, -330 cm.
No. 49. Mummy like No. 1. Wrappings decayed; on back, head west. t, -350 cm.
Nos. 50, 51. Skulls, at head of No. 53.
No. 52. Mummy wrapped as No. 1. On back, head south. vw, -350 cm. At feet, outside:
07-240 Figure of Bes, bright blue faience; h. 51 mm. Photo. C 421.
41 Udat-eye, blue faience; 1. 17 mm. Photo. C 421.
07-2-42 Blue beads, cylindrical, annular, and multiform annular. Photo. C 421, on left.
West of head:
07-2-43 Small blue Bes-figure, small blue udat, a date seed, some blue beads, cylindrical, annular, and
multiple annular. Photo. C 421, on right.
About 50 cm. west of feet:
07-2-44 Wooden figure of a girl (an ornament from a piece of furniture). H. 18 cm. (excl. dowels).
Photo. C 485, 486, 487.
No. 53. Broken mummy, like No. 1,in decayed coffinof plastered wood, stained red on the inside. vw,-350 cm.
On the pelvis :
07-2-45 A scarab of faded glazed steatite. Photo. C 2890, 2/4, 4/4; 419, 1/2.
At head of coffin, outside:
07-2-46 One-handled jug of red-brown ware with whitish slip. H. 17.5 cm. Photo. C 492, 493.
Between No. 52 and No. 53:
07-2-47 Fragment of skirt of alabaster statue.
Under feet of No. 52:
07-2-48 Fragment of basis of alabaster statue.
Nos. 54, 55. Mummies like No. 1. No. 54, a child, on back, head south; No. 55, adult, wrappings gone, on back,
head north. vw, floor level. Photo. C 302; B 96, 97.
No. 56. Body in a wooden coffin. Body was wrapped (1)in cloth (linen?), (2) in a reed mat, (3) in coarse cloth.
Laid in a thin wooden inner case, which was heavily plastered. This was in a heavy wooden coffin.
The bend a t the shoulders of the coffin was made by a mortised joint. The lid was fastened with
wooden mortises. The body was extended on the back, head west, hands on pelvis. The body was
a male (Dr. Elliot Smith and Dr. Derry), but beside it in the coffin were the bones of a very young
baby (perhaps intrusive). These bones were scattered through the coffin, having been disturbed, and
a number of small objects beside the legs of the man seemed to come from the baby.
07-249 Four bracelets of twisted fibre.
50 Two blue glazed plaques, with udat-eye in relief on one side. Photo. C 409.
51 Some blue beads and cowrie shells. Photo. C 409.
Outside the coffin on the south was:
07-2-52 A twin dish of wood. Photo. C 484.
At the feet, but whether in or out of the coffin unclear:
07-2-53 Udat-eye, blue glaze. L. 61.5 mm. Photo. C 2889, 406.
54 Figure of a cat-headed goddess, green faience. H. 48 mm. Photo. C 2889, 406.
55 Figure of a sow, greenish-blue faience. L. 36 mm. Photo. C 2889, 406.
56 Figure (broken) of Isis and Horus, green faience. H. 24 mm. Photo. C 2889, 406.
57, 58 Two figures of Bes, one green, one blue faience. H. 54 mm., and 25 mm. Photo. C 2889,
406.
59 Cylindrical beads, green faience.
60 Double cone beads, faceted, of horn (?).
61 Cowrie shells.
62 Skull of a monkey (?).
No. 57. Disturbed skeleton, fragments of wrappings, and reed mat (cf. No. 56). On back, head south. Was in a
wooden coffin.
No. 58. Mummy on back, head south. u, -350 cm.
On breast :
07-2-63 String of small shells and blue beads. Photo. C 422. See also 07-2-101.
Nos. 59-69. Mummies, like No. 1, more or less broken. Several bundles of reeds among them. wxx, -300 cm.
Scattered in the debris were the following:
07-2-64 Pair of gazelle horns.
65 Blue glazed amulet, seated cat-headed goddess, beautiful blue color; was at SE corner of
fifth pillar. Photo. B 612 above. H. 64.5 mm.
07-2-66 Two green glazed plaques, ca. 12 x 10 mm., with udat-eye on one side and waz incised on
the other. These were west of No. 65. Photo. B 612 above.
67 Scarab, green glazed steatite. Was beside No. 65 on the east. Photo. B 612, 2/4; C 2890,
1/2, 3/2.
68 Scarab, green glazed steatite. In black dirt north of 07-2-63. Photo. B 612, 3/3; C 2890,
2/2, 4/2.
69 Upper part of a figure of a cat-headed goddess, black paste, gilded. Photo. B 612, 2/1;
C 407.
70 Figure, cat-headed goddess, standing, dark blue faience. Photo. B 612, 2/8; C 407.
71 Five udat-eyes, blue glaze. Photo. B 612, 3/2, 4/1-4; C 407.
72 Ivory plaque, ca. 15 mm. square. Photo. B 612, 1/12; C 407.
73 Three electrum earrings. Photo. B 612, 1/8-10.
74 Barrel-shaped blue glazed beads. Photo. B 612.
APPENDICES 261
75 Cylindrical blue glazed beads. Photo. B 612.
76 Four carnelian beads. Photo. B 612, 1 / 1 4 .
77 Pebble pendant. Photo. B 612, 3/1.
78 Three small pendants. Photo. B 612, 1/5-7.
79 Amulet, head-rest, blue glaze. Photo. B 612, 1/11.
80 Small figure of a cat, blue glaze.
81 Miscellaneous beads.
82 Fragments of woven fibre (basket?).
83 Part of a sandal of woven fibre.
Nos. 70-79. Stack of ten mummies with reed or pole stiffening; heads mostly west. In x, between the fifth and sixth
pillars.
07-2-84 Small vase of clear glass. H. 37 mm. Photo. C 2879, 1/2. Above No. 71.
Beside left wrist of mummy No. 71:
07-2-85 Scarab, green glazed steatite. Photo. C 2890, 1/3, 3/3.
86 Scarab, green glazed steatite. Photo. C 2890, 2/3, 4/3.
87 Plaque, green glazed steatite, Menkheperra in rectangle on one side, two crocodiles on the
other. Photo. C 2879, 1/1.
88 Ivory plaque. Photo. C 2879, 3/1;
89 Bottle-amulet, blue glaze. Photo. C 2879, 2/2.
90 Two udat-eyes, blue glaze. Photo. C 2879, 3/2-3.
91 Cowrie shells and green glazed cylindrical beads. Photo. C 2879, 4/1-3, 5/1-6.
On the floor, west of No. 72:
07-2-92 Large two-handled jar of smooth drab-brown ware. Photo. B 220.
Beside the sixth pillar, on the north :
07-2-93 Large two-handled jar of red-brown ware. Photo. B 221.
Nos. 80-85. Stack of six mummies in decayed wooden coffins.
In the SW corner of the room, on the floor:
07-2-94¹ Large two-handled jar of smooth red-brown ware. Photo. B 220.
Below these and beside them on the east, was a confused mass of bones, cloth, and mummy cases, badly
decayed. On the floor were:
Nos. 86-87. Mummies, wrappings decayed, each lying on back, head south.
A number of beads, amulets, and other small objects, were collected from the mass of debris in various
parts of the room, as follows:
Between north wall and first pillar:
07-2-96 Bronze coin, Roman. Photo. C 419, 1/3.
97 Scarab, green glazed steatite. Photo. C 409.
98 Scarab, green glazed steatite, inscription worn off. Photo. C 409.
99 Bronze plate with four pegs (model table, or plate to be fastened to wood). Photo. C 409.
Between the second and third pillars:
07-2-101 Large udat-eye of bright blue glaze, with cowrie shells, spiral shells, cylindrical and ring-
beads of blue glaze. Photo. C 414, 2878.
In the same section, lower down:
07-2-102 Scarab, blue faience, lion and crocodile. Photo. C 415, 2890, 1/1, 3/1.
103 Figure, cat-headed goddess, blue faience. Photo. C 415.
104 Three udat-eyes of blue faience - two ca. 25 mm. long, and one ca. 10 mm. long. Photo.
C 415.
105 Cylindrical blue glazed beads. Photo. C 415.
Between the third and fourth pillars, perhaps belonging to No. 58:
07-2-106 Figure of cat-headed goddess, blue faience. H. 58 mm. Photo. C 422.
107 Figure of naked boy, Haroeris, worn blue faience. H. 36 mm. Photo. C 422.
108 Bronze coin, Roman. Photo. C 419, 1/1.
On floor debris, just south of third pillar:
07-2-109 Bracelet of split cowries, found together with heavy cord of twisted fibre. Photo. C 418.
110 Two blue faience finger-rings, broad bands, open work. Diam. 31 mm., and 28.5 mm.
Photo. C 418.
Between the fourth and fifth pillars, with a mass of painted cloth:
07-2-111 Small triangular bronze spear-head, with short hollow haft. L. 28 mm. Photo. C 417,
Pl. 23 e.
112 Figure of a cat-headed goddess, standing, green faience, H. 36 mm. Photo. C 417, Pl. 23 e.
07-2-113 Small udat-eye, of green faience. L. 10 mm.
114 Lot, split cowries, small spiral shells, and blue glazed beads of the following forms: cylin-
drical, annular, short twin cylindrical. Photo. C 417.
In debris between the sixth pillar and the wall:
07-2-115 Two udat-eyes of blue faience. L. 38 mm., and 25 mm. Photo. C 412.
116 Small plaque with incised udat-eye, blue faience. L. 11 mm. Photo. C 412.
117 Menat-amulet, green glaze. L. 18 mm. Photo. C 412.
118 Figure of cat-headed goddess, seated, blue glaze. H. 34 mm. Photo. C 412.
119 Figure of Isis seated, with Horus on her lap, very rudely cut, green faience. H. 30 mm.
Photo. C 412.
120 Cylindrical and ball-beads of blue-green faience. Photo. C 412.
07-2-95
¹ is the Roman coin found in the hand of the mummy No. 23, see above, pp. 20,259.
APPENDIX C
PROVENIENCE LIST OF OBJECTS FOUND IN THE MYCERINUS
VALLEY TEMPLE¹
I n the great court:

Middle, south of stone pathway: In surface layer of mud-debris,
No. i. . . . . . . . . Copper hes-vase, see Chap. X, 2, No. 1.
No. 347.. . . . . . Copper harpoon, single barbed, length, 8.6 cm., see Chap. X, 2, No. 19.
In floor debris,
No. iii. . . . . . . . Rough jar, R. W. IV-3.
Middle, over stone pathway: I n floor debris,
+ No. 33 . . . . . . . . Bowl-stand, R. W. XXII-2.
Middle, north of stone pathway: In upper mud-debris about on surface of decay of first temple,
No. ii. ... . . . . . Shattered nome triad, No. 13, slate.
In floor debris,
+ No. 34. . . . . . . . Coarse “flower-pot,” type XXV-1.
+ No. 35 . . . . . . . . Ring-stand, R. W. XXIV-5.
I n the sanctuary:
Room (III-1): In debris of decay on floor of second temple,
No. iii. . . . . . . . Alabaster basis, statue No. 21.
No. iv. . . . . . . . Alabaster basis, statue No. 20.
No. v . . . . . . . . Alabaster basis, statue No. 19.
No. vi. . . . . . . . Alabaster basis, statue No. 18.
No. vii. . . . . . . Alabaster, torso of statue No. 18.
No. viii. . . . . . . Alabaster, head of statue No. 18.
No. ix. . . . . . . . Alabaster, head of statue No. 22.
No. x.. . . . . . . . Alabaster, head of statue No. 23.
No. xi. . . . . . . . Slate, fragments of triad, statue No. 15.
No. xii . . . . . . . Yellow stone, unfinished statuette No. 33.
On mud floor of first temple,
No. i . . . . . . . . . Half of a mussel-shell.
No. ii. . . . . . . . Bits of blue-gray plaster from walls.
Room (111-2) : On floor of second temple,
No. i . . . . . . . . . Diorite, unfinished statuette, No. 27.
No. ii. . . . . . . . Diorite, unfinished statuette No. 29.
No. iii. . . . . . . . Diorite, unfinished statuette No. 32.
No. iv. . . . . . . . Diorite, unfinished statuette No. 39.
No. v . . . . . . . . Diorite, statuette No. 38.
No. vi. . . . . . . . Slate, fragments of jackal, No. 45.
No. vii . . . . . . . Water-worn offering slab and upright supports, alabaster.
No. viii. . . . . . . Four small model jars, alabaster; in NW. corner.
No. ix. . . . . . . . Six model bowls, alabaster; NW. corner.
No. x . . . . . . . . . Three flint flakes, type VI; NW. corner.
No. xi. . . . . . . . Granite jar, 111; in entrance doorway.
In debris of first temple, under wall of second temple,
Nos. 1-3. . . . . . Fragments of flint knives, type 111.
Nos. 4, 5. . . . . . Fragments of alabaster statues.
No. 6 . . . . . . . . . Fragment, bone of animal.
In floor debris of first temple,
No. 36.. . . . . . . Copper point, see Chap. X, 2, No. 16.
No. 37. . . . . . . . Four fragments of model jars, alabaster.
Nos. 38, 39 . . . Five small fragments of faience vase (?), Chap. X, 6, No. 7.
+ No. 44 . . . . . . . . Small model jar, R. W. XLIII-1.
+ Nos. 45, 46 . . . . Two model bowls, R. W. XLIV-2.
Nos. 47-52. . . . Eight fragments of vessels; 7 of alabaster, one of limestone; I, V-c, and X-a.
No. 53. . . . . . . . Small lump of malachite.
No. 54. . . . . . . . Fragment of a flint knife.
No. 63.. . . . . . . Two large jars, R. W. III-1.
Room (111-3) : On floor under bulged north wall,
No. i. . . . . . . . . Diorite, unfinished statuette, No. 28.
Near floor in debris,
.
No. ii. . . . . . . Diorite, unfinished statuette No. 25.
No. iii. . . . . . . . Diorite, unfinished statuette No. 26.
No. iv. . . . . . . . Hard reddish stone, unfinished statuette No. 34.
No. v . . . . . . . . Crystal eye from wooden statuette, No. 50 a.
Items
¹ preceded by a cross (+) are illustrated in Chapter IX, Pottery.
APPENDICES 263
Room (III-4): North end in surface debris of first temple,
No. viii. ...... Diorite, unfinished statuette No. 31.
No. ix. . . . . . . . Diorite, unfinished statuette No. 35.
No. x. ........ White-veined red stone, unfinished statuette No. 37.
No. xi. ....... Fine limestone, squatting statuette No. 43.
In lower part of door-block, door to (11-2),
No. vii . . . . . . . Ivory figure of Mycerinus, No. 48.
+ No. 41 . . . . . . . . Small shoulder jar, R. W. X-1.
+ No. 42 . . . . . . . . Small shoulder jar, R. W. X-2.
No. 43. ....... Fragment of vessel, black and white porphyry.
Under same door-block,
No. 40. ....... Fragments of coarse jar, R. W. IV, with remains of white plaster on the inside.
In middle or corridor, practically on floor,
No. i . ........ Slate triad No. 9, first on south.
No. ii. . . . . . . . Slate triad No. 10, second on south.
No. iii. ....... Slate triad No. 11, second on north.
No. iv. ....... Slate triad No. 12, first on north.
In thieves’ hole south of triads, and below the floor,
No. v . . . . . . . . Slate pair statue No. 17.
No. vi. . . . . . . . Fragment, slate triad No. 14.
Room (111-5) : In floor debris of first temple,
No. 31.. ...... Fragment, alabaster jar, type I-c.
No. 32.. ...... Potsherd, large jar, R. W. 111.
Room (111-6) : In floor debris under bulged wall,
+ No. 62 . . . . . . . . Rough jar, R. W. IV-3.
Room (111-7) : On the floor (original contents),
No. i. ....... Large number of fragments of stone vessels; about one-sixteenth of the whole corpus of stone
vessels.
In floor debris under bulged wall,
No. 1 . . ....... Copper chisel; length, 17 cm.; Chap. X, 2 (14).
No. 2 . . ....... Half of squat jar, alabaster, type V c .
Nos. 3-9. ..... Large fragments of alabaster vessels, types I c and V c.
No. 64. ....... Coarse “flower-pot,” type XXV.
Room (111-7 to 8) : on wall between, thrown out of (8),
No. i . ........ Decayed copper pan, Chap. X, 2, No. 2; upside down over Nos. ii-xiii.
No. ii. . . . . . . . Model hes-vase, copper, Chap. X, 2, No. 3.
No. iii. ....... Model jar, copper, Chap. X, 2, No. 4.
No. iv. . . . . . . . Model shoulder jar, copper, Chap. X, 2, No. 5.
No. v . . . . . . . . Six model bowls, copper, Chap. X, 2, No. 6.
No. vi. . . . . . . . Five model pans, copper, Chap. X, 2, No. 7.
No. vii. . . . . . . Flint wand of Cheops, Chap. X, 3.
No. viii. ...... Crystal, model jar.
No. ix. . . . . . . . Slate, model jar.
No. x.. ....... Crystal, model bowl.
No. xi. ....... Slate, two model bowls.
No. xii. . . . . . . Hematite, model bowl.
No. xiii . . . . . . . Yellow coloring matter.
Room (111-8) : On floor,
No. i . ........ Heavy layer of broken stone vessels, about one-third of the corpus of stone vessels.
No. ii. . . . . . . . Fragments of cylindrical cup of faience, Chap. X, 6 (1).
Room (III-9): On floor,
Nos. 22-30. . . . Nine large fragments of stone vessels; three marble and three alabaster; types I, 111, X.
Room (III-10): On floor,
Nos, 10-21. ... Twelve fragments of stone vessels; seven alabaster, one marble, two diorite, two porphyry;
types I, IV, V c, and X; and potsherds.
Room (III-11): High up in the debris,
No. i . ........ Traditional offering jar, R. W. IV-3.
Nos. ii, iii ..... Coarse “flower-pot,” type XXV-3, two examples.
No. iv. ....... Large jar, R. W. 111-2.
No. v . . . . . . . . Brazier (?), type R. W. XL.
Room (111-12) : On the floor,
No. i ......... A heavy layer of fragments of stone vessels, about one-third of the corpus of stone vessels, see
P1.66 b, c.
Room (111-14) : Under NW corner by doorway in floor debris,
No. 1. ........ Alabaster bowl-jar, type X d.
No. 2 . . ....... Diorite bowl with recurved rim, type XI b.
No. 3 . . ....... Lump of malachite.
Under south wall,
No. 4. ........ Large fragment of the leg of a large alabaster statue.
Room (111-16) : On floor,
No. i . . . . . . . . . Layer of fragments of stone vessels, about one-tenth of whole corpus of vessels.
On surface of decay,
No. ii. . . . . . . . Copper sheath for wooden beam.
Room (111-17) : In upper debris,
No. i. ........ Crystal eye from a wooden statuette, No. 50b.
264 APPENDICES
Room (111-18) : In upper debris, surface of decay of first temple,
Nos. i-iii . . . . . . Three statuettes, Nos. 30, 36, 41 a ; not close together.
And pottery, see room 14,below.
Room (III-19): In NW corner on 20 cm. of debris, a group of pottery,
+ No. 1 . . . . . . . . . Pointed jar, R. W. IX-1.
+ No. 2 . . . . . . . . . Flaring bowl, R. W. XXXIX-1.
+ No. 3 . . . . . . . . . Shallow bowl, R. W. XXVII-5.
+ No. 4 . . . . . . . . . Coarse “flower-pot,” type XXV-2.
+ No. 5 . . . . . . . . . Bowl with three knob feet, R. W. XXXIII-3.
+ No. 6 . . . . . . . . . Tall bowl-stand, R. W. XXII-1.
+ Nos. 7, 8 . . . . . . Two rough traditional offering jars, R. W. IV-2.
No.9
+ . . . . . . . . . Small jar, W. S. R. V-5.
No. 11. ....... Large jar, type 111.
+ No. 12 . . . . . . . . Rough offering jar, type R. W. IV-3.
Corridor (III-20), northern magazine corridor :
On floor opposite room (111-6),
No. i . . . . . . . . . The diorite offering table (type XII) and 45 fragments of stone vessels.
No. ii. . . . . . . . Three model bowls of bronze.
On floor between rooms (III-11) and (III-12),
Nos. 1-22. . . . . Fragments, 22, of stone vessels; alabaster, granite, grey limestone, diorite, and marble.
On floor, under east wall, between rooms (111-14) and (111-15).
No. iii. ....... Eight fragments of stone vessels.
Corridor (III-21), exterior corridor :
Opposite sanctuary, in debris on floor,
+ Nos. 55, 56 . . . . Two big basins, R. W. XXX-1.
+ Nos. 57, 59 . . . . Two rough jars, type R. W. I V 4 .
+ No. 58 . . . . . . . . Coarse “flower-pot,” type XXV-3.
+ No. 60 . . . . . . . . Shoulder jar, flat bottom, R. P. XVII-1.
No. 61.. . . . . . . Alabaster dummy jar.
Opposite great court, in debris above floor,
No. 366. . . . . . . Bowl with recurved rim, R. P. XXXIII-1.
No. 367a . . . . . . Seven coarse “flower-pots,” type XXV.
+No.367b..... Bulging jar, R. W. V-4.
+ No. 368 . . . . . . . Two tall coarse jars, R. W. IV-5.
+ No. 369a . . . . . . Large basin, R. P. XXXIV-1.
No. 369b . . . . . Pointed jar, W. S. R. VIII-1.
Opposite sanctuary in upper debris,
No. i . . . . . . . . . Three coarse “flower-pots,” type XXV-3.
+ No. ii . . . . . . . . Pointed jar, W. S. R. VIII-2.
No. iii. ....... Spherical jar, type R. P. XV-2.
No. iv. . . . . . . . Bowl, round bottom, rim, type R. P. XXXII-3.
In SW. angle over (III-21), in high debris,
No. 37.. . . . . . . Large basin, R. W. XXXIV-1.
Over (III-21), between rooms (I-1) to (I-10) and south wall,
No. 34.. . . . . . . Squat jar, flat bottom, type R. P. XIX.
No. 35.. ...... Bottom of small jar, R. W. V.
No. 36. ....... Coarse “flower-pot,” type XXV-3.
No. v . . . . . . . . Mass of fragments and chips from broken statues of Mycerinus, Chephren, and Shepseskaf -
a workshop for making model stone vessels.
Among the house walls, over southern magazines and exterior corridor:
Room (1-4) : In debris below floor level above (111-18) (q.v.),
No. i . . . . . . . . . Unfinished diorite statuette of Mycerinus, No. 30, upper half.
No. ii. . . . . . . . Diorite statuette of Mycerinus, No. 36, upper half.
No. iii. . . . . . . . Granite statuette of woman, No. 41a, lower part.
No. iv. . . . . . . . Fragments of statues and stone vessels.
No. v . . . . . . . . Potsherds of types XIX, XXV-4, XXXIII-1, XXXVI, and XXXVII.
Room (1-8) : In debris filling room,
Nos. 32, 33. . . . Bases of jars, R. P. XIX (?), two examples.
Room (I-9): In the debris filling room,
Nos. 30, 31. ... Two coarse “flower-pots,” type XXV.
Room (I-11): In debris below floor level,
No. i . . . . . . . . . Crystal eye, set in copper, from wooden statue, No. 50.
No. ii. . . . . . . . Small bowl, R. W. XXXII-3.
No. iii. ....... Flint flake, type V.
Over northern magazines and walls and northwest quarter of court:
Room (1-17) : In debris above floor,
+ No. 314 . . . . . . . Flaring bowl, two legs, R. W. XL-1.
Room (1-18) : In the debris above the floor,
No. 22.. . . . . . . Small jar, R. W. V-2.
+ No. 23 . . . . . . . . Basin, flat bottom, rim, R. P. XXXVI-2.
Nos. 24, 25. . . . Bases of large jars, R. W. 111,two examples.
NO. 26.. . . . . . . Rough jar, R. W. IV.
APPENDICES 265
No. 28. ....... Neck of large jar, R. W. III.
+ No. 29 . . . . . . . . Flat bottomed bowl, R. P. XXXVIII-1.
Under floor, upper layer,
No. 56.. ...... Pointed jar, Db. W. VIII-1.
+ No. 57 . . . . . . . . Ring-stand, Db. W. XXIV-1.
No. 58.. ...... Small jar, W. S. R. V-1.
On lower floor, above floor debris of court,
See room 1-57 b, Nos. 177-183.
Room (I-19): In debris above floor,
No. 4 7 . . ...... Tray, R. W. XXVI-1.
No. i . . . . . . . . . Fragment of alabaster lion’s paw.
Room (1-20) : In debris of room,
No. 15.. ...... Small jar, R. W. V-5.
Nos. 16-18. ... Two coarse “flower-pots,” type XXV.
+ No. 19 . . . . . . . . Small model jar, R. W. XLIII-6.
No. 20.. ...... Base of small jar, R. W. V (?).
+ No. 21 . . . . . . . . Bowl, round bottom, R. P. XXVIII-2.
Below floor, in court debris,
Nos. 59, 60. ... Two coarse “flower-pots,” type XXV-2.
No. 12.. ...... Large jar, W. S. R. 111-2.
+ No. 13 . . . . . . . . Small jar, R. W. VI-1.
No. 14. ....... Medium sized jar, R. W. V-6.
Below the floor,
No. 61.. ...... Bowl, high recurved rim, R. P. XXXIII-1.
No. 62.. ...... Small jar, R. W. V-7.
No. 63.. ...... Rough jar, R. W. IV-3.
No. 6 4 . . ...... Ring-stand, W. S. R. XXIV-3.
No. 65.. ...... Fragments of pan, R. W. XXXIII-1.
In floor debris of court,
+ Nos. 168, 169 .. Two model saucers, R. W. XLIV-2.
No. 170. ...... Tubular bead, faded blue faience, 21 x 5 mm.
No. 171.. ..... Lump of corroded copper.
No. 172. ...... Small model offering jar, R. W. XLIII-3.
No. 173 ....... Flint chip.
No. 174.. ..... Bowl, rim, R. P. XXXII-2.
No. 175.. ..... Fragment large jar, W. S. R. III.
No. 176.. ..... Bowl, flat bottom, R. W.
Nos. 184-225. . Forty-two large fragments of nearly as many stone vessels, types I, IV, V c, and X; mostly of
alabaster, but 5 diorite, 4 marble, 3 basalt, and 1 red and white breccia; also a mass of smaller
fragments from similar vessels.
Nos. 226-228. . Three sandstone cores from tube borings.
No. 229.. ..... Flint flake.
No. i . ........ Six fragments of small faience inlays from a hes-vase; Chap. X, 6, No. 4.
No. ii. . . . . . . . Three tubular beads, blue faience.
Room (1-22) : Under floor, in floor debris of court,
Nos. 66-72.. .. Seven rough jars, R. W. I V 4 .
Nos. 73, 76.. . . Two flaring bowls, R. W. XXXIX-1.
No. 75.. ...... Tall bowl-stand, R. W. XXII-2.
No. 77.. ...... Small model jar, R. W. XLIIT-2.
No. 78.. ...... Fragment of rim, R. W. bowl.
No. 79.. ...... Flaring bowl, R. P. XXXIX (?).
No. 80. ....... Flat pan, smoked exterior, R. W.
+ Nos. 81, 85 . . . Shallow bowl, R. P. XXVII-4.
No. 82.. ...... Base of jar, R. W. XVIII-5 (?).
Nos. 83, 84, 86-91. Misc. potsherds.
Room (1-23) : In debris in room,
No. i . . . . . . . . . Arm of statue, decayed wood, nearly life-size.
Room (1-24) : Under floor,
No. i . ........ Large jar, Db. W. II-1.
Room (1-25) : In debris of court,
+ No. 1 . . . . . . . . . Squat jar, R. P. XIX-1.
+ No. 2 . . . . . . . . . Bowl, flat bottom, rim, R. P. XXXVII-2.
+ No. 3 . . . . . . . . . Bowl, round bottom, swell rim, R. P. XXXI-1.
+ Nos. 4, 5, 7, 10. Four coarse “flower-pots,” type XXV-5.
+ No. 6 . . . . . . . . . Bowl, shallow, drooping rim, R. P. XXVII-3.
No. 8 . . ....... Small jar with tubular spout, W. S. R. XI-1.
No. 9 . . ....... Bowl-stand, R. W. XXII-2, but thicker and lower.
Room (1-26) : Under floor, in floor debris of court.
No. 133. ...... Large fragment of heavy porphyry squat jar, type III-a.
No. 134. ...... SmalI model jar of alabaster.
No. 135.. ..... Fragment of limestone vessel.
No. 136.. ..... Part of a flint knife,type III.
No. 137. ...... Six small lumps of malachite.
No. 138.. ..... Fragment of syenite jar, type 111.
266 APPENDICES
No. 140. . . . . . . Faience inlay, sign for “king of upper Egypt.”
No. 141.. . . . . . Fragment of arm of alabaster statue.
No. 142.. . . . . . Base of large jar, W. R. 111.
Nos. 157,158. . Two limestone cores from tube borings (for model dummy jars).
No. 159.. . . . . . Fragment of diorite bowl.
No. 160. . . . . . . Headrest, limestone, block form.
No. 161. . . . . . . Two coarse “flower-pots,” type XXV-3.
Under the floor,
Nos. 230-232. . Three fragments of vessels -alabaster, marble, limestone.
In upper debris of room,
No. 42. . . . . . . . Small model, cup of limestone.
Nos. 162-167. . Potsherds from jars of types IV, X, VIII, bowl-stand XXII-2, bowls, etc.
.
No. i. . . . . . . . Fragments of W. S. R. jar painted with name of Mycerinus.
No. ii. . . , . . . . Basketful of fragments of stone vessels.
Nos. 38, 39. Two coarse “flower-pots,” type XXV-3.
+ No. 40 . . . . . . . . Large jar, W. S. R. 1114.
+ No. 41 . . . . . . . . Large jar, W. S. R. 111-5.
+ No. 2 . . . . . . . . . Small jar, W. S. R. VII-2.
No. 11. . . . . . . . Coarse “flower-pot,” type XXV.
No. 55.. . . . . . . Flaring bowl, flat bottom, R. W. XXXIX-2.
No. i . . . . . . . . . Fragment of statuette No. 52.
+No.54........ Small pot with spout, W. S. R. XI-2.
Room (1-34) : In floor debris of court,
No. 46. . . . . . . . Limestone jar, canopic form; h., 26 cm.; diam., 18 cm.
No. 52.. . . . . . . Base of rough jar, R. W. IV.
+ No. 53 . . . . . . . . Pointed jar, W. S. R. VIII-3.
No. 48. . . . . . . . Coarse “flower-pot,” type XXV.
Nos. 49, 50. . . . Two bowls, round bottom, moulded rim, R. W. XXXII-2.
No. 51.. . . . . . . Shallow bowl, R. W. XXVII-4.
Room (1-38) : Under floor, in upper debris,
Nos. 1-15. . . . . Fifteen flints, 5 flint knives (fragments), 10 flakes.
Under floor, in floor debris of court,
+ No. 257 . . . . . . . Spherical jar, R. P. XV-2.
No. 44. . . . . . . . The base of a small model bowl of crystal (see Chap. X, 3).
No. 45.. . . . . . . A copper point (see Chap. X, 2, No. 15).
Room (140) : Under floor of lower granary,
Nos. 92-97. . . . Six coarse “flower-pots,” type XXV-3.
No. 99. . . . . . . . Bowl with rim, probably R. P. XXXII-2.
No. 100.. . . . . . Tray, R. W. XXVI-1.
No. 101. . . . . . . Shallow bowl, R. P. XXVII-3.
Nos. 102-107. . Potsherds, mainly bowls.
No. 108.. . . . . . Large jar, Db. W. II-1.
+ No. 109 . . . . . . . Large jar, R. W. III-2.
+No.111.......Bowl with rim, R. P. XXVII-1.
Room (1-50) : Under walls of room and over surface of decay of granary,
No. 1.. . . . . . . . Beads and amulets, see Chap. X, 5.
No. 2. . . . . . . . . Cloth bag containing oxidized mass of copper tools (adzes and chisels), see Chap. X, 2, Nos. 11
and 13.
No. 116.. . . . . . Ring-stand, W. S. R. XXIV-3.
No. 117.. . . . . . Ring-stand, Db. W. XXIV-1.
No. 118.. . . . . . Ring-stand, R. W. XXIV-5.
NOS.120, 122.. TWObowls, R. P. XXXII-2.
No. 121.. . . . . . Bowl with recurved rim, R. P. XXXIII-1.
No. 123.. . . . . . Squat jar, R. P. XIX.
Nos. 124, 127.. Two rough jars, R. W. IV.
No. 125.. . . . . . Flaring bowl, flat bottom, R. W. XXXIX-1.
No. 126. . . . . . . Coarse “flower-pot,” Lype XXV-5.
Nos. 128, 129. . Two rough jars, R. W. IV.
Nos. 130, 131. . Two coarse “flower-pots,” type XXV-4.
No. 132. . . . . . . Coarse bowl, a broader form of “flower-pot” type, fragment.
+ No. 143 . . . . . . . Ring-stand, W. S. R. XXIV-4.
+ No. 144 . . . . . . . Squat jar, R. P. XIX-2.
No. 145. . . . . . . Flaring bowl, R. W. XXXIX-2.
+ No.146. . . . . . . Small globular jar, B. P. XII-1.
No. 147.. . . . . . Rough jar, R. W. IV.
APPENDICES 267
No. 148. ...... Coarse “flower-pot,” type XXV.
No. 149. ...... Core from tube boring, diorite.
+ No. 150 . . . . . . . Silver cylinder seal of an official of Chephren, see Chap. X, 4, No. 1.
No. 156.. . . . . . Twisted copper chisel, length, 5 cm., see Chap. X, 2, No. 17.
Room (1-55) : Under floor of granary,
No. 16.. ...... Flint flake.
No. 17. ....... Fragment of W. S. R. jar with part of a lotus in green paint, see Chap. X, 8 j .
No. 18. ....... Long copper shaft ; length, 22.5 cm.; diam., 0.75 cm.; see Chap. X, 2, No. 18.
On floor of court,
No. 151. . . . . . . Coarse “flower-pot,” type XXV.
Nos. 152, 153.. Two rough jars, R. W. IV.
No. 154. ...... Small model jar, R. W. XLIII-2.
No. 155. ...... Large fragment of an alabaster basin.
Room (1-56) : In debris in granary,
+ Nos. 112, 113 . . Two large jars, W. S. R. 111-3.
+ No. 114 . . . . . . . Large jar, Db. W. II-1.
No. 115. . . . . . . Large jar, type uncertain.
Under the floor, in floor debris of court,
Nos. 243-252. . Nine coarse “flower-pots,” six of XXV-2 and four of XXV-3.
No. 253.. . . . . . Pointed jar, Db. W. VIII-1.
+ No. 254 . . . . . . . Basin, round bottom, R. P. XXIX-1.
No. 255.. . . . . . Rough jar, R. W. IV.
Room (I-57b): On floor of a room founded of floor debris of court, NW corner leaning against west wall,
Nos. 182, 183.. Two stacks of four trays each, R. W. XXVI-1.
Adjoining these but leaning against north wall,
Nos. 179-182. . Four stacks of two “flower-pots” each, type XXV-1.
No. 239.. . . . . . Fragment of large R. W. bowl (?).
+ No. 240 . . . . . . . Flaring bowl, R. P. XXXIX-2.
No. 241.. . . . . . Large basin, flat bottom, R.. W. XXXIV-l.
Nos. 234, 235.. Two bowls, R. P. XXXI-1 and R. W. XXXI-1.
No. 236.. ..... Large jar, W. S. R. 111.
Nos. 237, 238.. Jars, flat bottom, R. P. XVIII-3, two examples.
Room (1-62) : Outside room in floor debris or“court,
No. i . . . . . . . . . Ten fragments of alabaster vessels, types I, 111, IV d, V c, V e, etc.
No. 256. ...... Large jar, R. W. 111-5; h., over 48 cm.
I n southern part of court:

Room (I-301): In debris in room,
Nos. 263-269.. Seven flint flakes.
Nos. 270-274. . Fragments of 2 diorite bowls, type X, 2 alabaster jars, type V c, 1 alabaster jar, type I c.
No. i . . . . . . . . . Fragment from leg of an alabaster statue and piece from the skirt.
No. ii . . . . . . . . Fragments of faience inlays, see Chap. X, 6, No. 6.
Under the floor,
No. iii . . . . . . . . Coarse “flower-pot,” type XXV-5.
No. iv. . . . . . . . Small jar, W. S. R. V-2.
No. 258.. ..... Bowl, flat bottom, R. W. XXXVII-2.
Nos. 259-261.. . Three flint chips.
Under the floor,
+Nos.1-4...... Four coarse “flower-pots,” type XXV-4.
Nos. 5, 6. . . . . . Three flint chips.
Nos. 21, 25-30, 33, 34. Nine coarse “flower-pots,” type XXV-4.
+Nos.22,48.... TWObowls, R. P. XXXII-2.
+ Nos. 23, 24, 42 Three bowls, flat bottom, R. P. XXXVII-1.
+ Nos. 31, 32 . . . . Two deep basins with spout, R. P. XXXV-1.
+ No. 35 . . . . . . . . Short-necked jar, R. P. XVI-1.
+ Nos. 36, 37, 45. Basins with spout, R. P. XXXVI-1.
+ No. 38 . . . . . . . . Bowl with recurved rim, R. P. XXXIII-1.
No. 39. ....... Half of a mussel shell.
+ No. 40 . . . . . . . . Bowl, rim, R. P. XXXII-1.
+ Nos. 41, 46 . . . . Two bowls with low recurved rim, R. P. XXVII-2.
+ Nos. 43, 44 . . . . Pointed basins, rim, R. P. XXX-1, two examples.
+ No. 47 . . . . . . . . Flat tray, R.XXVI-1.
W.
+ N o . 4 9 .. . .. . . . Bowl, R. P. XXXIII-2.
+ No. 50 . . . . . . . . Ring-stand, Db. W. XXIV-2.
+ No. 51 . . . . . . . . Pointed basin, rim, R. P. XXX-2.
+ No. 52 . . . . . . . . Pointed basin, rim, R. P. XXXII-3.
No. 5 3 . . . . . . . . Flint chip.
+ No. 275 . . . . . . . Round bottomed jar with neck, R. P. XVI-2.
No. 276. . . . . . . Coarse “flower-pot,” type XXV-4.
No. 277.. ..... Rough jar, R. W. IV.
268 APPENDICES
Nos. 278-280. . Fragment of diorite bowl and two fragments of alabaster jars.
Nos. 281-283. . Fragments of three flint knives, type 111.
Nos. 284-294. . Flint flakes.
Nos. 295-296. . Fragments of flint knives, types IIa n d III.
Nos. 297-299. . Flint flakes.
Nos. 300-301. . Two bowls, flat bottom, R. W. XXXIX-2.
+ No. 302 . . . . . . . Model saucer, R. W. XLIV-2, four examples.
+ No. 303 . . . . . . . Model jar, R. W. XLIII-4.
Nos. 311, 312.. Coarse “flower-pots,” type XXV-5, two examples.
No. 313.. . . . . . Rough jar, R. W. IV.
Under the floor,
No. 1. . . . . . . . . Circular, dome-shaped lid of canopic jar, alabaster.
NO. 2 . . . . . . . . . Bowl, R. W. XXXI-1.
Nos. 3, 4. . . . . . Two half mussel shells.
+ No. 5 . . . . . . . . . Jar, W. S. R. V-2.
No. 6. . . . . . . . . Two-legged flaring brazier (?), R. W. XL-1.
Nos. 7,8, 11,12 Four flaring bowls, R. W. XXXIX-3, but smaller.
No. 9 . . . . . . . . . Small jar, R. W. V-6.
No. 13. . . . . . . . Five coarse “flower-pots,” type XXV-5.
No. 307.. . . . . . Jar, W. S. R. V-6.
+ No. 308 . . . . . . . Small globular pot, R. W. VII-1.
+ No. 309 . . . . . . . Small jar, flat bottom, B. P. XIII-1.
No. 310. . . . . . . Coarse “flower-pot,” type XXV-5.
Under the floor,
Nos. 1, 2. . . . . . Two coarse “flower-pots,” type XXV-5.
No. 304.. . . . . . Flint flake.
No. 305.. . . . . . Rough jar, R. W. IV.
No. 306. . . . . . . Coarse “flower-pot,” type XXV-4, with hole in bottom.
Room (1-307) : In debris on floor,
No. 1 . . . . . . . . . Tall basin, R. P. XXXIV-1.
No. 2.. . . . . . . . Large jar, W. S. R. III-2.
No. 3 . . . . . . . . . Large jar, R. W. 111.
No. 4 . . . . . . . . . Bowl-stand, R. P. XXII-2.
No. 5. . . . . . . . . Limestone jar, canopic form.
No. 6. . . . . . . . . Limestone basin, roughly rectangular.
In debris in room,
N o .i . . . . . . . . . Four coarse ‘(flower-pots,”type XXV-5.
No. ii . . . . . . . . Flat tray, R. W. XXVI-1.
No. iii. . . . . . . . Fragment of jar, R. P. XIX.
No. i v . . . . . . . . Pointed jar, W. S. R. VIII-1.
No. v . . . . . . . . Bowl, flat bottom, R. P. XXXVII-2.
No. vi. . . . . . . . Twenty-three flint flakes.
No. 315.. . . . . . Rough jar, R. W. IV-3.
No. 316.. . . . . . Fragment of flint knife, type 111.
Under the floor,
No. i . . . . . . . . . Seven coarse “flower-pots,” type XXV-5.
No. ii. . . . . . . . Two large jars, W. S. R. 111-3.
No. iii. . . . . . . . Bowl, round bottom, R. P. XXXI-1.
No. iv. . . . . . . . Bowl, flat bottom, R. P. XXXIX-2.
No. v . . . . . . . . Two flint flakes.
Room (1-310) : Under the floor,
+Nos. i-iv. . . . . . Four small jars, R. P. XVIII-5.
No. v. . . . . . . . . Two coarse “flower-pots,” type XXV-5.
No. v i . . . . . . . . Pointed jar, W. S. R. VIII-1.
No. vii . . . . . . . Three bowls, flat bottom, recurved rim, R. P. XXXVII-2.
No. viii. . . . . . . Bowl, flat, bottom, recurved rim, spout, R. P. XXXVI-1.
No. ix. . . . . . . . Five flint flakes.
No. x. . . . . . . . . Small model jar, R. W. XLIII-2.
No. xi. . . . . . . . Basis of porphyry statuette No. 40.
No. 1.. . . . . . . . Two-legged, flaring brazier (?), R. P. XL-1.
Nos. ii-v. . . . . . Fragments of four alabaster vessels.
No. 317.. . . . . . Fragment alabaster jar, type I-e.
+ No. 318 . . . . . . . Jar, W. S. R. V-1.
No. 319. . . . . . . Handle part of flint knife, type IIo r I I I .
No. 320.. . . . . . Boring core (dummy jar) of limestone.
Nos. 321, 322. . Two coarse “flower-pots,” type XXV-5.
Nos. 323, 324. . Two bowls, tapering base, R. P. XXXII-2.
No. 325.. . . . . . Small model jar, R. W. XLIII-4.
Nos. 326-328. . Three flint flakes.
No. 329.. . . . . . Rough jar, R. W. IV.
APPENDICES 269
Under the floor,

No. i. ........ Oval tray, R. W. XXVI-1.
No. ii . . . . . . . . Pointed jar, W. S. R. VIII-1.
No. iii. . . . . . . . One flint flake.
No. 294. ...... Fragment of alabaster jar, type I-c.
No. i. . . . . . . . . Limestone door socket, high up, in NW corner.
Under the floor,
Nos. 330,331.. Two bowls, tapering base, rim, R. P. XXXII-2.
Nos. 332, 333. . Two flint flakes.
On floor of court,
Nos. 1-5. ..... Five coarse “flower-pots,” type XXV-5.
Nos. 334, 335. . Two flint flakes.
No. 336.. . . . . . Blade of flint knife, type 111.
No. 337.. . . . . . Flint flake.
No. 338.. . . . . . Alabaster, model jar.
On floor of court,
+ No. 364 . . . . . . . Flaring bowl, flat bottom, R. W. XXXIX-3.
No. 351.. . . . . . Pointed jar, W. S. R. VIII-1.
Nos. 339-341. . Three flint flakes.
Nos. 342, 348. . Fragments of flint, wide flakes.
+ No. 349 . . . . . . . Squat pot with spout, Db. W. XI-1.
+ No. 350 . . . . . . . Tall bowl-stand, R. P. XXI-1.
No. xii . . . . . . . Three coarse “flower-pots,” type XXV-5.
On the floor of the room,
Nos. i-v . . . . . . Five coarse “flower-pots,” type XXV-5.
Nos. vi-x . . . . . Five pointed jars, W. S. R. VIII.
No. xi. . . . . . . . Alabaster jar, type V-c.
No. i . . . . . . . . . Ring-stand, Db. W. XXIV-1.
No. ii . . . . . . . . Two coarse “flower-pots,” type XXV-5.
No. iii . . . . . . . . Small model jar, R. W. XLIII-4.
No. iv. . . . . . . . Large jar, W. S. R. 111-3.
No. v . . . . . . . . Bowl, flat bottom, rim, R. P. XXXVII-2.
No. vi. . . . . . . . Fragment of flint knife.
No. vii. . . . . . . Fifteen flint flakes.
No. viii. . . . . . . Two fragments of statuette No. 41 (a woman).
No. ix. . . . . . . . Fragment of statuette, No. 51.
Nos. 343-346. . Four flint flakes.
No. i . . . . . . . . . Two fragments of statuette, No. 40.
Room (1-320) : Under floor, in court debris,
No. i . . . . . . . . . Deposit of fragments of a large alabaster statue, of which fifteen were large fragments; several
of these belonged to the arm of statue No. 18 and the rest to statue No. 24.
No. i . . . . . . . . . Two-legged brazier (?), R. W. XL-1.
No. ii . . . . . . . . Coarse “flower-pot,” type XXV-5.
No. iii . . . . . . . . Rough jar, R. W. IV.
No. iv. . . . . . . . Small jar, R. W. V-3.
Under the floor,
+ No. v . . . . . . . . Pointed jar, W. S. R. VIII-1.
No. vi. . . . . . Small jar, R. W. V.
N o . i . . . . . . . . . Coarse “flower-pot,” type XXV-5.
Room (1-323) : In upper debris in room,
No. i . . . . . . . . . Fragment of alabaster stela with name Ra-wer.
Room (1-324) : In debris in room, just above floor,
+ No. 365 . . . . . . . Shoulder jar, R. P. XVIII-4.
Room (1-325) : In debris in room, near floor,
+ No. 352 . . . . . . . Squat jar, R.. P. XX-1.
No. 356.. ..... Two-legged brazier (?), R. P. XL-1.
+ No. i . . . . . . . . . Small jar, R. W. V-3.
+ No. ii . . . . . . . . Small squat jar, R. P. XIX-3.
No. 357. ...... Two coarse “flower-pots,” type XXV-5.
Room (I-328): In debris in room,
No. i . . . . . . . . . Small jar, R. W. V-3.
Room (I-329): Under the floor,
+ No. i . . . . . . . . . Spherical jar, R. P. XV-1.
No. 353. . . . . . . Copper harpoon, single barb; length, 5.3 cm.; see Chap. X, 2, No. 20.
No. 354. ...... Curving piece of copper, unidentified purpose; length of arc, 8.5 cm.
+ No. 355 . . . . . . . Bowl, round bottom, R. P. XXVIII-3.
270 APPENDICES
No. i . . . . . . . . . Two coarse “flower-pots,” type XXV-5.
No. ii. . . . . . . . Small globular pot, R. W. VII-2.
No. iii.. . . . . . . Rough jar, R. W. IV.
No. iv. . . . . . . . Flaring bowl, flat bottom, R. W. XXXIX-1.
No. v . . . . . . . . Three flint flakes.
+ No. 358 . . . . . . . Tall wine jar, type Db. W. I-1.
No. i . . . . . . . . . Wrist of a life-size alabaster statue.
No. i . . . . . . . . . Several slabs of limestone set on edge as if to form a table.
No. i . . . . . . . . . Pointed jar, Db. W. VIII-3.
No. i . . . . . . . . . Copper axe blade, see Chap. X, 2, No. 9.
No. ii. . . . . . . . Copper adze blade, see Chap. X, 2, No. 10.
Houses in southern magazines of vestibule:
Room (1-355) : In debris filling room,
No. 370a.. . . . . Model jar, alabaster.
No. 370b . . . . . Twelve model jars (boring cores), limestone.
No. 370c.. . . . . Model bowl, alabaster.
No. 370d . . . . . Seventeen model bowls, limestone.
No. 371.. . . . . . Squat jar, porphyry, type 111.
+ No. 372 . . . . . . . Tall wine jar, Db. W. I-1.
No. 372b . . . . . Flaring bowl, R. W. XXXIX-1.
+ No. 389 . . . . . . . Bowl-stand, R. W. XXII-2.
No. 389b . . . . . Bowl with recurved rim, R. P. XXXIII-1.
Under the floor,
No. i . . . . . . . . . Two bowl-stands, R. W. XXIII-1.
Room (1-356) : Under the floor -i.e., in (III-356),
No. 379.. . . . . . Five bowl-stands, R. W. XXIII-2
Room (1-357) : under the floor -i.e., in (III-357),
No. 390.. . . . . . Bowl-stand, R. W. XXII-2.
Houses east of front of temple:
Room (1-359) : On floor of room,
No. 378a.. . . . . Base of pointed jar, W. S. R. VIII.
No. 378b . . . . . Rough jar, R. W. IV-3.
Room (I-361); In debris of room,
Nos. i, i i . . . . . . . Two rough jars, R. W. IV-3.
No. iii. . . . . . . . Steatite cylinder seal, see Chap. X, 4, No. 3.
Room (I-364): In debris above floor,
+No. i . . . . . . . . . Rough jar, R. W. IV-1.
No. ii . . . . . . . . Coarse “flower-pot,” type XXV-5.
Under the floor,
No. iii. . . . . . . . Rough jars (four), R. W. IV-4.
No. iv. . . . . . . . Mass of fragments of alabaster vessels and also of alabaster statues.
Room (1-365) : In debris above the floor,
No. i . . . . . . . . . Three coarse “flower-pots,” type XXV-5.
No. ii. . . . . . . . Rough jar, R. W. IV-4.
+ No. iii. . . . . . . . Shoulder jar, R. P. XVIII-1.
Under the floor,
No. iv. . . . . . . . Coarse “flower-pot,” type XXV-5.
Room (1-366) : In debris above the floor,
No. 376. . . . . . . Large R. P. jar.
Under floor,
No. i . . . . . . . . . Two coarse “flower-pots,” type XXV-5.
No. i i . . . . . . . . Two rough jars, R. W. IV.
iii . . . . . . . . Base of large jar, R. W. 111.
No.
+ No. iv . . . . . . . . Small jar, B. P. XIV-2.
No. 373.. . . . . . Rough jar, R. W. IV-3.
+ No. 374 . . . . . . . Small bag-like pot, B. P. XIV-1.
No. 375. . . . . . . Base of small R. P. jar, about like type X.
No. 384. . . . . . . Twelve small model bowls, R. W. XLIV-1.
Nos. 385-388. . Four model jars, R. W. XLIII-1, 6, and 7.
Room (1-367) : In debris on floor,
No. i . . . . . . . . . Coarse “flower-pot,” type XXV.
No. ii. . . . . . . . Rough jar, R. W. IV-3.
Under the floor,
+Nos.iii-vi .. . . Four model jars, R. W. XLIII-4, 6, 9, 12.
In houses in southern magazines of vestibule:
Room (1-372) : Under the wide wall assigned to second temple,
+ No. i . . . . . . . . . Eleven model bowls, R. W. XLIV-3.
No. ii. . . . . . . . Limestone boring core (model jar).
APPENDICES 271
No. iii. . . . . . . . Two model bowls, of limestone.
No. iv. ....... Two flint flakes.
No. v . . . . . . . . Small model jar, R. W. XLIII-3.
Under the floor,
No. vi. ....... Fragment of an alabaster statue.
No. i . . . . . . . . . Piece of alabaster slab with holes bored in it; from this the cores, with which small model jars
were made, were obtained by boring with the tube borer.
I n anteroom of vestibule:
No. 381.. . . . . . Small R. P. bulging jar.
No. i . . . . . . . . . Limestone decree of Pepy II (on east side of room, against the pier south of the outer doorway,
on about one meter of debris).
+ No. ii . . . . . . . . Greater part of the alabaster pointed vase, type VIII-b.
I n northern magazines of vestibule:

Room (111-379) : In upper debris,
+No.379. ...... Alabaster shoulder jar, type V a.
On the floor,
No. i . ........ Tall bowl-stand, R. P. XXII-1.
+ No. ii . . . . . . . . Flat-rimmed circular tray, R. W. XLII-1.
No. iii. . . . . . . . Rough jar, R. W. IV-3.
No. iv. ....... Bases of two flat-bottomed flaring bowls, type XXXIX.
Corridor (111-380) : On the floor,
No. i . . . . . . . . . Basin with horizontal rim, R. W. XLI-1.
No. i . . . . . . . . . Small jar, R. W. V-3.
Houses in the N E quarter of great court:
Room (1-384) : Under the floor, debris of court,
Nos. 1, 2. ..... Two squat jars, R. P. XIX-2.
Nos. 3, 4. ..... Two coarse “flower-pots,” type XXV-5.
No. 5 . . ....... Pointed jar, W. S. R . VIII-1.
No. 6 . . ....... Small jar, R. W. V-3.
No. 7 . . ....... Medium jar, R. W. III-2.
No. 8 . ........ Base of large jar, R. W. 111-5.
No. 9 . . . . . . . . . Small squat jar, R. P. XIX-3.
No. 10.. ...... Rase of a flaring bowl, R. W. XXXIX.
Room (1-391) : Under the floor, debris of court.
N o . 1 . ........ Six coarse “flower-pots,” type XXV-5.
No. 2 . . . . . . . . . Globular jar, R. P. XV-2.
+ No. 3 . . . . . . . . . Jar, ovoid with neck, R. P. XVI-3.
No. 4 . . ....... Bowl, flaring, R. W. XXVII-2.
No. 5. ........ Large fragment of a quartzite hammer.
No. 6 . ........ Fragment of an alabaster statue.
No. 1 . . ....... Globular jar, R. P. XV-2.
No. 2 . . ....... Bowl, R. P. XXXII-2 (inverted over mouth of No. 1).
No. 3. ........ Three coarse “flower-pots,” type XXV-5.
No. i . . . . . . . . . Twelve fragments of alabaster statues; one basis of diorite, statuette No. 42; broken porphyry
statuette No. 40; among the alabaster fragments, statuette No. 46.
No. i . ........ Small jar, Db. W. V-4.
No. ii. ........ Steatite cylinder seal, see Chap. X, 4, No 2.
APPENDIX D
RECONSTRUCTION OF BUILDING OPERATIONS AT THE
TEMPLE OF CHEPHREN
Dr. HOELSCHER, after describing the marks and the excisions found by him in the floors and the stones of the
Chephren temple, bases on these marks two reconstructions of building operations so different from those de-
scribed in Chap. V of this book, that I feel obliged to discuss them in detail. The three suppositions are as follows:
(1) That the Chephren masons used a sort of metal-shod wooden tongs drawn upwards and lifting the dead weight of
the block of granite in order to set it in place in the wall.
(2) That the Chephren masons used a simple wheel pulley.
(3) That the raising of monoliths was accomplished by means of a wooden platform.
The evidence cited for the use of tongs¹ consists of:

( a ) A series of holes in the pavement under the front edge of granite casing similar to those a t the Mycerinus pyramid
temple and a series of holes under the back edges of the same.
Comment : The second series of holes which Dr. Hoelscher assigned to the granite are actually, as shown by his de-
tailed plan (Blatt XVIII), under the front edge of the limestone core and were lever holds for adjusting the core
stones just as the front series were for adjusting the granite casing blocks. The theory of the tongs requires that
the holes of the two series should be opposite each other, while as a fact they are seldom or never opposite.
(b) Holes on the backs of the granite blocks and bosses on the front afforded holds for the tongs.
Comment: Evidence is actually given of only one hole low down on one side (front?) near the end of a block. The
idea of the bosses was, I think, taken from the granite casing of the Third Pyramid. Now of all the stones of the
pyramid casing handled by us, not one had bosses suitable for such a grip or had holes on the back or sides. Nor
did a single one of the black granite blocks found in the Mycerinus pyramid temple have bosses sufficient for the use
of tongs or any holes whatever. Moreover, the hollowing of the core-wall to take the rough back of the stone in the
Mycerinus pyramid temple made the use of tongs as described quite impossible.
Thus the theory of the use of tongs is in reality not justified even by the evidence at the Chephren temples and
is flatly contradicted by the evidence of the Mycerinus temple. It may be added that the lifting of a dead weight
of 5 to 7 tons of granite by the use presumably of simple wheel-pulleys and a scaffolding is not worked out by Dr.
Hoelscher beyond a single rope attached to the tongs, and certainly presents difficulties too great to appear plausi-
ble, in the face of the actual evidence.
For the use of the simple wheel-pulley, no evidence whatever is adduced. This pulley merely changes the
direction of the pull exerted, and I would be willing to admit that the Egyptians may have used a granite beam
with polished grooves for changing the direction of the pull.
The scaffolding which Dr. Hoelscher reconstructs was based on a very regular system of holes in the founda-
tion floor around the twelve statues in the upper court of the Chephren pyramid temple. Now there can be no
doubt that these holes were used to take the upright posts of a wooden scaffolding. The question arises whether
they were used to erect the statues or for some other purpose:
( a ) The statues were probably erected after the construction of the granite wall against which they stood with the back
plate of the statue in a niche in the wall; a bearing stone with polished and greased grooves set on top of this
wall would have served the purpose of changing the direction of the pull as well as one attached to a scaffolding.
If the statues were erected first, the wall further west must, in any case, have already been in place and would
have served equally well for setting the bearing stone.
(b) The sockets in the floor show that the monolithic statues were erected in the same manner as the monolithic pillars -
(1)tilted to an angle of 35"-45" with the front end resting on the front edge of the socket, and (2) then pulled over,
revolving on that edge. The fact that the Chephren sockets have no slopes would not materially affect the opera-
tion. Of course the use of a construction plane is not excluded.
(c) The statues were certainly in an unfinished state when erected, probably not further advanced than our statue V
(see Statues).
(d) Scaffolding is known to have been used by the sculptors in working on the finishing stages of large statues.² The
finishing of these large statues, requiring months of labor, demands the use of scaffolding.
It is for these reasons that I have felt compelled to reject Dr. Hoelscher’s ingenious reconstructions men-
tioned above. They seem to me in themselves impossible, and all the holes which gave rise to them can be ex-
plained logically and clearly by the use of levers, ropes, man-power, and sculptors' scaffolding; things which are
beyond doubt.
See
¹ Hoelscher, Chephren, pp. 71-76, Ills. 62-67.
²
See Newberry, Rekhmara, Pl. XX.
APPENDIX E
QUARRY MARKS AND MASONS’ MARKS ON PLS. XI AND XII
In ADDITION to the levelling lines, vertical lines for the horizontal measurements of the rooms were also found on
the limestone core-walls of the Mycerinus pyramid temple, accompanied in three cases by written notes (see
Borchardt, Ne-weser-re, p. 153), as follows (see Pl. XI, Copied by Mr. Alan Rowe) :
iv. I n room (24), north wall, second course, 95 cm. from the dressed end of the stone in (22); triangle pointing west;
red painted.
xii. I n room (27), east wall, second course, 898-903 cm. (about 17 ells) from the main E-W axis of the temple, painted
red line, 5 cm. wide, accompanied by the word rsy “South,” levelling lines of 5th and 6th ells, and crew-name
(see below). The levelling line for 5th ell was drawn over crew-name, the word rsy and the vertical mark.
xiv. I n great court ( 5 ) , west wall, first course, about a meter north of the north end of the portico (7), with crew-name
and remains of 2-ell line; painted.
xix. I n room ( I O ) , north wall, first and second courses, at 95 cm. from the dressed northwest corner of the room; with tri-
angles pointing east; all incised; see No. xx.
xx. I n room (IO), south wall, first course only, a t 25 cm. from undressed southwest corner of room; incised and painted
red. Nos. xix and xx are opposite each other, 24.6 meters west of the line of the c.b. casing in the court (5),and
may have marked the face of the projected granite casing of the west wall of room ( I O ) .
xxvb. On the same stone as No. xiv, on the south face in portico ( 7 ) ,a t 210 cm. (4 ells) from the eastern face of the stone;
painted line, 5 cm. wide; triangle, pointing west.
xxvii. Corridor ( I S ) , north wall, second course, first stone (after upright end stone) from west; painted red; with red ell-lines
of 5th and 6th ells and black sloping line marking top of second course of the projected granite casing; beside the
vertical line is the word mA (perhaps remains of smAa). The vertical line and the 6-ell line are drawn over older
graffiti, which seem to be the idle sketches of a skilled workman. The mA is of the time of the vertical line (fresher
than the graffiti).
xxviii. I n the great court (5), north wall, first course, second and third stones from east end of wall; a t 5.25 m. (10ells) from
the inner northeast corner of the core-walls, and 3.68 m. (7 ells) from the projected face of the granite casing in that
corner; a t 42 ells from the face of the granite casing on the west side of the court and 23.1 m. (44 ells) from the face
of the core-wall on the western side; painted vertical line, and painted 3-ell line. To the east of the vertical line and
under the 3-ell line, a red painted inscription: smAat-mAHat. . . (?). Underneath is written from east to west
“46ells, 45 ells, 44 ells.” East of the inscription is a sloping upright line with an irregular triangle on the east side,
60 cm. from the vertical line. On top of the 3-ell line is a short vertical line 24 cm. from the long vertical line.
At 80 cm. west of the long vertical line, is drawn a flight of three steps behind which is written ‘‘1 ell” (perhaps
the difference between the figures 44, 45, 46.)
Nos. xix and xx were incised with a fine point, and No. xx was overpainted in red. All the other vertical lines
were red painted, usually about the same width as the levelling lines but Nos. xii and xxvb were 5 cm. wide.
Triangles were drawn on the side in Nos. ix, xix, and xxvb (see also xxviii) and may have been drawn originally
on all vertical lines. Such triangles are well-known (see Borchardt, Nefer-ir-ke-re, pp. 52-55), but their significance
is unclear. Perhaps they mark the direction from which the distance was measured when the vertical line was set.
In mark No. xii, the word rsy “South,” if it belongs to the vertical line, must indicate the southern wall of
the room which was to stand north of that line and was never built (at any rate in stone). It i s possible that the
word is the distinguishing mark of the crew-name (see below).
No. xxviii is the most interesting of these marks. For the interpretation of the note, see Borchardt, Ne-weser-re,
p. 153. Borchardt translates the mark reproduced in No. xxix: “Sudliche Richtlinie des Grabhauses.” Our inscrip-
tion, which was weathered, gives the word smAat quite clearly followed by a sign which is not any of those used
for the cardinal points but may be the sign or . The next word is maHat, referring to the court or the temple;
and was possibly followed by another sign. The “46 ells, 45 ells, 44 ells” appear to refer to the limestone core-
wall at the NW angle of the court, for the distance from the vertical line to the eastern face of the western core-wall
of the court is 44 ells. Possibly the stepped figure indicates that this wall was to be stepped to permit a batter
in the granite casing of that wall. It is, I take it, only an accident that the distance southward to the main E-W
axis of the temple (noted by Mr. Rowe) is 45 ells while it is 44 and 46 ells respectively to the sides of the paved
pathway.
I n addition to the horizontal levelling lines and the vertical base lines, every limestone block in the core-walls
seems once to have borne a crew-name. This name was written in red paint on both sides of each stone and
originally may also have been written on the top. Mr. Rowe noted two cases, Nos. i and xii, in which the levelling
lines had been drawn over the crew-name; and after a joint examination, we were both agreed that the crew-
names were written on the stones previous to their being set in the walls. A confirmation of this conclusion is
found in the limestone block on the eastern side of doorway (14)which is set on end with the strata vertical instead
of horizontal, an abnormal position, and on this stone the inscription stands also on end, having been written
along the horizontal strata as in all other stones.
274 APPENDICES
Most of the crew-names which were preserved were foundbehind the crude-brick casing. The copies, made
by Mr. Alan Rowe, are reproduced in Pls. X I and XII, as follows:
(1) Wall between rooms (13) and ( 2 4 , second course, second stone from west, on each side of western end of stone:
i. On north face, in room (13).
ii. On south face, in room (24).
Inscription: aprw MnkAwra-txw wADt sA.
Distinguishing mark:antilope(?).
(2) Wall between rooms (13) and (24), second course, first stone from west, on each side of western end of stone:
iii. On north face in room (13).
iv. On south face in room (24).
Inscription: aprwMnkAwra-txwnDs (?)sA.
Distinguishing mark: the sign wDa.
(3) Wall between rooms (13) and (15), first course, first stone from east; a block set on end:
v. On northern side in room (15); inscription, upright.
Inscription: aprw MnkAwra-txwnds (?)sA.
Distinguishing mark: an ibis (?).
(4)Wall between rooms (13) and (15), second course, third stone from west, on east end of stone:
vi. On south face in room (13).
The only legible mark is the sign sA.
(5) Wall between rooms (14) and (26), second course, third stone from north end of wall:
vii. On the east face in room (14).
Inscription: aprw MnkAwra-txwnDs (?) sA.
Distinguishing mark : not preserved.
(6) Wall between rooms (20) and (36) to (37), same wall as last-named, second course, second stone from north:
viii. On east face in room (20).
Distinguishing mark : jackal with feather (Cynopolis nome?).
(7) Wall between rooms (20) and (37),same wall as last two, second course, first stone from north:
ix. On east face in room (20).
x. On west face in enclosure (37N).
Distinguishing mark:thesignfA(Atp).
(8) Wall north of rooms (16) to (20),second course, second stone from west:
xi. On south face in room (19).
Inscription: aprw MnkAwra-txwnDs (?)sA.
Distinguishing mark : ibis (?).
(9) Wall between rooms (22) and (27), second course, third block south of doorway (26):
xii. On west face in room (27), with end of inscription invisible behind the masonry of the later north wall of (27);
for levelling and vertical lines, see above, p. 273.
xv. On east face in room (22).
Distinguishing mark: wAt (“road”), not visible in No. xii.
(10) Wall between rooms (10) and (37S), second course, third stone from south:
xiii. On west wall in enclosure (37S).
Inscription: aprw MnkAwra-smrw wADt sA.
Distinguishing mark:DA(?wDA?), see drawing.
(11) Wall on west side of court ( 5 ) ,north of portico ( 7 ) ,first course, first stone a t corner of portico:
xiv. On east face in court (5).
Inscription: aprw MnkAwra-txwnDs (?) sA.
Distinguishing mark: ibis (?).
xxva. On same face higher up to left, a 5-ell line.
xxvb. On south face in portico, vertical line and 3-ell line.
For No. xv, see above No. 9.
(12) South wall of room (IO), second course, third stone from west:
xvi. I n middle of north face, above 5-ell line.
Inscription: aprwMnkAwra-smrw nDs (?)sA.
Distinguishing mark: not preserved.
xxiii. On same face, east end, 5-ell line and mark.
xxiv. On same face, west end, 5-ell and 6-ell lines and marks.
(13) Pyramid G 111-a (see Vyse, ThePyramidsofGizeh,II, p. 48):
xvii. On roofing slab in burial chamber.
Inscription: aprwMnkAwra-txwwADt(?)sA(?).
Distinguishing mark: not preserved (?); the restoration was suggested by Mr. Rowe.
Before discussing the crew-names, I continue here the list of marks on Pls. X I and XII, to permit, a complete
view of the material:
xviii. Room ( I O ) , south wall, second course, second stone from west.
Lines and marks for 5-ell, 6-ell, and 7-ell levels.
xix. Room (10),north wall, first and second courses, near northwest corner.
Incised vertical line and painted lines and marks for 2-ell, 3-ell, 5-ell, and 7-ell levels.
xx. Room (10), south wall, first course, a t 25 cm. from undressed southwest corner.
Vertical line, incised and painted (see p. 273).
APPENDICES 275
xxi. Room (IO), north wall, first course, second stone from west.
Ell-mark for 3-ell level.
xxii. Room (IO), east wall, second course, first stone from north.
Line and mark for 4-ell level,
xxiii. See No. 12, above.
xxiv. See No.12, above.
xxv. See No. 11, above, for both a and b.
xxvi. Room ( I S ) , south wall, second course, third stone from west (near unset granite block, S a 1).
Inscription: the sign smA-tAwy written twice, 80 cm. apart; and over the western sign, the word hmwt. The latter
word is anomalous on limestone. The sign smA-tAwy might be a distinguishing mark.
xxviii. See p. 273, above.
xxix. For comparison with No. xxviii, from Ne-weser-re, p. 153.
xxx. Room (36), south wall, second course, near doorway to room (26);Dyn. VI.
Obscure marks.
xxxi. Room (29), southern foundation wall of kernel structure, south face, fourth stone from east; Dyn. IV.
The sign ain, twice, once upside down; white limestone.
xxxii. Room (34), east face, small block of white stone in third foundation course of kernel structure.
Perhaps a date; the black outline is the edge of the stone; Dyn. IV.
xxxiii. Room (13),south face, under granite block S a 4, on limestone (in foundation platform).
Three disconnected signs: mr,ain, a n d nfr.
xxxiv. Room (29), limestone foundation block under granite pavement, on west face, seen in thieves’ hole.
The sign nfr(?) and an obscure mark.
xxxv. Room (34), east face, fourth foundation course of kernel structure.
The sign in written vertically.
xxxvi. Room (33), south wall, first course, third stone from west.
The sign gs and an ibis (?); Dyn. VI masonry; perhaps an older block reused.
The following were found on limestone blocks in Pyr.GIII-a and its temple and copied by Mr. Rowe:
xxxvii. Pyr. G 111-a, south face, a block in one of the lower courses.
The word wmt(?) between two gs-signs, irregularly placed.
xxxviii. Pyr. G 111-a, east face, a block about half way up; a triangle with four vertical strokes inside it.
xxxix. Pyr. G 111-a, west side, about half way up.
xl. Pyr. G 111-a, north face, near base: gs . . . .
xli, Temple of G 111-a, room (12), north side, limestone foundation block, = gs mhty and an obscure mark.
Returning to the subject of the crew-names, the words aprwMnkAwra-txw obviously mean “The working-
gang (named) Mycerinus-is-drunk ”; and aprw MnkAwra-smrw, “The working gang (named) Mycerinus-is-one-
who-excites-love” (see Prof. Sethe in Borchardt’s SahureII, pp. 85-86). The meaning of the word Cprw is fully
exposed by Prof. Sethe (loc. cit.) as “boat’s crew” and “working gang,” and in the temple of Sahura, such gangs
are represented with implements in their hands. Mr. Rowe has collected the following names of Cprw :
(1) Dyn. 11, Nefer-ka, Barsanti, Annales, VII, pp. 266-281.
(a) aprw NfrkA-sbA . .. anxw . . .: Inscription No. 1.
.
aprwNfrkAsbAnDs(?)sA . . : Inscription No. 28.
See also Inscriptions Nos. 41, 49, and 55.
“The gang, Neferka is a teacher (?).”
(b) aprwNfrkA-smrwSrrw: Inscriptions Nos. 19 and 20.
“The gang, Neferka is friendly . . . .”
(2) Dyn. IV, Cheops, found by Mr. Rowe in small chambers above the burial chamber; all the crew-names were written
on the limestone blocks in the side walls.
(a) Cprw Hr-mDdw-wab-tAwy: Inscription C 4, chamber 3, west wall.
‘(The gang. The Horus Mededuw-is-the-purifier-of-the-two-lands.”
(b) aprwHr-mDdw-wab: Inscription C 35 (chamber 4, west wall), C 51-56 (chamber 4, south wall).
“The gang, The Horus Mededuw-is-pure (or the purifier).”
(c) Cprw Xwfw-smrw: Inscription C 82, top chamber roof block.
“The gang, Cheops-excites-love.”
( d ) aprw Hdt-Xnm-xwfw-sxm(t) .. .: Inscription Nos. 1 (chamber 2, W), 5 (chamber 3, W), 36 (chamber 4, W),
40-48 (chamber 4, N), 87-88 (chamber 5).
“The gang, The-white-crown-of Khnumkhuwfuw-is-powerful . . . .”
(3) Dyn. IV, Mycerinus; see above.
(a) aprw MnkAwra-txw: Nos. i-xii, xiv, xv, xvii.
“The gang, Mycerinus-is-drunk.”
(b) aprw MnkAwra-smrw: Nos. xiii and xvi.
“The gang, Mycerinus-excites-love.”
(4) Dyn. V, Sahura; Borchardt, Xahure I I , pp. 85-86.
(a) Cprw Hr-nb Hr-txw: “The gang, The Gold-Horus Horus (Sahura) is drunk.”
(b) aprwSAHwra-mrw: “The gang, Sahura-is-beloved.”
(c) aprwSAHwra-Spssw: “The gang, Sahura-is-splendid.”
(5) Dyn. V, Neweserra: see loc. cit.
(a) aprw Nwsrra-smrw: “The gang, Neweserra-excites-love.”
(b) aprw NwSrra-mrw: “The gang, Neweserra-is-beloved.”
and so forth,
Prof. Sethe translates all these names as exclamations, “How-splendid-is-Sahura,”
276 APPENDICES
After the crew-name in the Mycerinus texts follows one of two phrases, wADtsA or nDs(?)sA. The word aprw
designated originally a boat crew, and would have been divided into watches (sA) named after the parts of the
ship. I n Egyptian (see Sethe, A.Z., 54, 3), the names used for the parts of the ship are given in the religious texts
of the Middle Kingdom (see Urk. V , p. 151).
The nomenclature of the boat watches was transferred to the watches or companies of priests and workmen,
and the names of these are preserved in Old Kingdom texts, in the tomb of Mereruka (see Daressy, Mem. de l’Inst.
Egypt., 1900, p. 555) and in the mastaba D 47 (see Mariette, Mastabas, p. 306). The list is as follows:
Ship-parts Watches Watches

M.K.: Meri, O.K.: D 47, O.K.
Starboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . imytwrt. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . imywrtsA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . sHDHm-kAimywrtsA.
sHDHm-kAsAimywrt.
Port ..................... wr . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . tAwrsA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . shDHm-kAsAtAwr.
tA
Bow ..................... wADt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . wADtsA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . sHDHm-kASAwAD(andwADsA)
Stern .................... imytnd5.t . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . nDstsA. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . sHDHm-kAsAnDs.
__ ..................... __ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . imy nfrt sA.
The fifth watch, sA

imy nfrt, occurs also on an obelisk from Saqqarah (Urk. I , p. 58).
I n the Mycerinus inscriptions, the words following the name of the crew are therefore wADtsA “bow-watch”
and nDssA “stern-watch.” The normal order of the words seems to be sAwADt and sAnDs. I n the case of sA
imy wrt, in D 47, two different men are called kh_dhm-klSIimywrt in one case and sHDHm-kAimywrtsA in the
other. I doubt whether the order indicates any essential difference in meaning. I n the list above, the word nDs
is qualified by a question mark. This was due to the difficulty of distinguishing between the sign nDs and the
sign wr; but after careful consideration, I believe the sign to be nDs.
The third element of these crew-inscriptions is the mark which I call the distinguishing mark. It was of a
slightly larger size than the other signs of the inscription, and was irregularly placed on the stone, usually after
the rest of the inscription but in two cases (Nos. vii and xii) before, in two cases (Nos. ii and x) underneath, and
in one case (No. xiii), before and behind but lower down.
The classification and distribution of the inscriptions was as follows :
I. The crew, Mycerinus-is-drunk;nine stones found in walls of E-W axis of temple.
(a)The bow-gang (wADtsA), found on four stone, p. 274, Nos. 1, 6, 7, 9.
(1) Distinguishing mark: antilope: (?); one stone, No. 1.
(2) Distinguishing mark: jackal with feather; one stone, No. 6.
(3) Distinguishing mark: fA(Atp); one stone, No. 7.
(4) Distinguishingmark: wAt(road); one stone, No. 9.
(b) The stern-gang (nDssA), found on five limestone blocks, p. 274, Nos. 2, 3, 5, 8, 11.
(5) Distinguishingmark: wDa; on one stone, No. 2.
(6) Distinguishing mark: ibis (?); on three stones, Nos. 3, 8, and 11.
(7) Not preserved on one stone, No. 5.
Stone No. 1 (bow-gang) and stone No. 2 (stern-gang) adjoin each other in the wall between rooms (13)and (24). In
the wall south of rooms (14) and (20), in the second course, the first and second stones are marked “bow-gang”
and the third, “stern-gang.” The other stones are isolated. The three
(?)”
“ibis blocks were also far apart.
II. The crew, Mycerinus-excites-love; two stones both in walk south of E-W axis of temple.
(a) The bow-gang (wADtsA), found on one stone, No. 10.
(8) Distinguishingmark: DA(wDA?); stone No. 10.
(b) The stern-gang (nDssA), found on one stone, No. 12.
(9) Distinguishingmark : not preserved.
It is clear that the whole construction force which built the temple was divided into crews (aprw) of which the
names of two are here preserved. For Cheops, we have the names of four, and for Sahura, three. The number of
crews used by Mycerinus is therefore not necessarily limited to these two. Each crew was divided into “watches”
(SA) of which normally there would be four or five, here represented by two names, the bow-watch (wADtsA) and
the stern-watch (nDssA). The numbers of workmen included in these organizations were extremely large. I would
estimate 200-250 men to each “watch,” or 800-1000 to each (‘crew.” Gangs of 200-250 men are unwieldy unless
subdivided in working gangs of 10-50 men, suitably led by overseers (see p. 11, gangs of 18 men used in removing
granite blocks from above inner temple). I suggest therefore that the distinguishing marks are the designations
of the smaller gangs which composed each of the “watches.”¹
The inscriptions on the granite blocks were also in red but were very different from those on the imestone
blocks (see Pl. XII). Each seems to have contained four elements which were written as if they were separate
marks, not parts of a sentence. The fullest inscriptions were usually on the front face of the stone but the blocks
S a 1(unset) and S a 3 had a full set of marks both in front and on top; and marks were found on the undressed
tops and sides of other stones. The list is as follows (written from right to left unless otherwise stated):
These
¹ signs may have formed sentences; but I do not believe that the circumstances permit the assumption that these distinguish-
ing marks were used to mark the place of the stones on the architect’s plan as in the case of the Abusir pavement (see Borchardt,
Sahure 11, pp. 91-96).
APPENDICES 277
Corridor (13).
Block:
N a 1. gs...imywrt...Hmwt...mark,ain written above, twice.
N a 2. gs.imy
wrt
.Hmwt
smyt
.mark,
b , above.
N a 3. gs...imywrt...Hmwtsmyt...mark,iT written above, twice.
On top, the sign swor nswt.
N a 4. gs . . . imywrt . . . The mark,m A . . . Hmwt smyt.
On top, the sign, ml.
S a 1. = Sbo: on the east side,
Hmwtsmyt...ibis(?)...imm(?)...gs (reversed direction).
On top, mark, ibis(?)...Hmwtsmyt...gs...imn(?)...mark,ibis(?), upside down.
S a 2. On front, the mark, Dam.
On undressed east face, gs . . the mark, Dam.
S a 3. On front, written on its side and crossing plaster of joint, Hmwt smyt . . .imn (?) .. . the mark, wAs, written vertically
and apart, above the other signs.
On top, the mark, wAs...gsimn(?)...Hmwtsmyt.
S a 4. gs . . . H m w t smyt . .. imn(?) . . . mark, ib, to the left.
S a 5. imn (?). . .rest illegible except for mark (?), HAt(?), above.
S a 6. Illegible.
S a 7. On front, mark, wr(Hw) followed by two strokes . . . gs . . . s w (or nswt) with tr (?) under it .. . i m n (?) with H m w t
under it . . . smyt.
On the undressed west face, the mark, wr(?)...gs...imn(?), written twice upside down and once from left to
right.
S b 1. Mark,sn...Hmwtsmyt...gsimn(?).
S b 2. gs. . . sw(nswt) with tr (?) underit...mark,Dam...Hmwtsmyt....imn(?); and out in front, dam, upside down.
S b 3. Mark, SnDwt (?) . ..gs . ..sw (nswt) tr (?) .. .Hmwt smyt. The mark is repeated on the top and on the west side.
Portico (7). South end: the isolated black granite block has a vertical line and a star on the face.
Room (24). On the front and west faces stands gs and Dam. On the front is also an obscure sign which may be imn (?).
The word gs is a constant element and may be assumed to have stood on every block. The term, hmwt smyt
“desert workshop’’ (or similar), is also a constant element occurring on every block on which the inscription is
legible. The phrase, imy wrt, stands on each of the four blocks set together on the north side of room (13), and
follows the word gs, but is not grouped with it. On the southern side of that room, the corresponding word is
imn (?) ( hawk on a standard) which appears in ten inscriptions on seven stones (S a 1, S a 3, S a 4, S a 5, S a 7,
S b 1 and S b 2) and is probably merely illegible on S b 3. But an additional element, sw(?nswt?)tr(?)(trwritten
under sw), is introduced after gs in S a 7 (front), S b 2, and S b 3, in two cases and probably in all three, in addi-
tion to imn(?). The sign, sw(?nswt?), occurs also inexplicably on top of N a 3. Finally every block had a fourth,
a variable, element, that which I call the distinguishing mark as in the limestone inscriptions. The marks of
N a 1 to N a 4 read from right to left: mAiTb(w)ain. Those of S a 2 to S a 7 read also from right to left:
wr(?hw?)...HAtib(det.?)wAsDam. And those of S b 0 to S. b 3 read also from right to left: SnDwtDamsnbA
(?Ax?). These rows of signs could be fitted into sentences but the attempt seems futile in view of the paucity
of the material. The sign Dam occurs twice in corridor (13) (S a 2 and S b 2) and a third time in room (24).
I n spite of Professor Borchardt’s clear evidence of the use of setting sentences for casing and paving slabs, I am
marks.’’
unconvinced of the application of that principle to the explanation of the ‘‘distinguishing The absence of
any designation of the courses, the fact that the casing had been begun in 32 places (including 77 stones in the
first course, and four stones of the second course, and the very small gaps in the east wall of the court casing),
all seem to me to be objections. The mere fact that the temple required at least five courses of about 215-250
stones each, with a total of 1200 to 1500 granite blocks, seems to me to make the suggested procedure im-
practical. I am unable, however, to suggest any very clear explanation, and must leave the facts for future
consideration.
APPENDIX F
LIST OF INSCRIPTIONS1
THEinscriptions found in the Mycerinus temples may be grouped in the following classes:
(a) Inscriptions left by the builders in the course of construction of the temples.
i. Painted on the limestone blocks (see pp. 63, 76a, 78b, 79, and App. E).
ii. Painted inscriptions on the granite blocks (see pp. 82c, 83, and App. E).
(b) Inscriptions on stone slabs or stelae which give royal records or decrees concerning the temples. Insc. Nos. 1-4,
below.
(c) Seal impressions on mud sealings made by royal officials in connection with the temple service, see pp. 19, 32.
(d) Inscriptions on objects made by Mycerinus or Shepseskaf and deposited in the temples.
i. On statues and statuettes, see pp. 108-115 (Nos. 2, 9-12, 18-21, 39, 42, 43, 48).
ii. On pottery vessel, see p. 238 (j).
iii. On vessel inlaid with faience, see p. 236.
( e ) Inscriptions on older objects deposited in the temples.
i. On flint wands, see pp. 18, 36, 233-234.
ii. On stone vessels, see pp. 102-104, 179.
(f) Inscriptions on objects found in the temples but not certainly belonging to the original deposits.
i. Seal cylinder of Chephren, see pp. 104c, 234.
ii. Model stone vessels of Prince Kay, see pp. 55, 199x.
iii. On private statuettes, see pp. 113-115 (Nos. 4144, 46, 51).
iv. On private stelae.
STELAEOF SHEPSESKAF
No. 1. The Decree of Shepseskaf
The original dedication of the temple is contained in the inscription on the large stela of King Shepseskaf.
This stela is preserved in eight fragments found in the debris of the portico of the pyramid temple (see pp. 13, 15,
and 31, and PI. 19b; No. 07-1-3 and 4). Seven of the fragments fit together to form the top and right side, while
the eighth fragment is from the left side. The stone is about 22 cm. thick, and I estimate its width a t 67 cm.,
its height a t over 85 cm., exclusive of the uninscribed lower edge. The stone is rather hard local nummulitic
limestone of a brownish color.
Across the rounded top runs horizontally from right to left a cartouche: nswt-bitySpss-kA-f.
Vertical line 1, with signs facing right: H r Spssy-Xt rnpt m xt sp tpy iptk A aw[t] . . . . “The Horus, Shepsesy-
khet, year after the first census, counting of the cattle, large and small, . . .”
Vertical line 2: ir-n-fmm n [w-fn i] t - f . At this point the line is interrupted by a cartouche which crosses
the middle of the stone horizontally and interrupts four or more lines. Inside the cartouche is the title and I
reconstruct as follows: nswt-bity [ra-mn-kAw]. “He made as his monument for his father, the king of Upper and
Lower Egypt, [Menkauwra]”. Below the interruption, line 2 continues with the words wdn, (det., bread, etc.).
The space above the horizontal cartouche was taken by one of those forms so common on the O.K. decrees
with horizontal and vertical lines combined. Immediately over the cartouche are two horizontal columns not
separated by a line: ir wdn (det., bread, beer, cake). . . .
wlhw (?) . . . . .
Thus in the year after the first census of his reign, Shepseskaf endowed the temple of his father, Mycerinus.
If the first census fell in the second year, the year here referred to is the third year of the reign. I conclude that
the temple was finished by Shepseskaf in his second or third year, probably in the third.
The eighth fragment from the left side bears parts of four vertical lines. Line X + 1 shows only the left
ends of three signs, the upper of which is the corner of the sign for pyramid. Line X + 2: begins with the lower
part of a cartouche, part of the name of the Third Pyramid: [ra-mn]-kAwntry n rdy . . . .
Line X + +
3: . . . n(?) - s n (?) H m w (det., m a n woman) r . . . . .
LineX +4: . . . t w nxt wabw-f ir ( ? ) m . . . . . .
The text is much too fragmentary to reconstruct but it is obviously dealing with the Mycerinus pyramid and with
the priests of the funerary service.
No. 2. The Stela at the Outer Entrance of MPT

The bottom part of a stela of the same stone and general character as No. 1 was found in a heap of debris
just outside the entrance to the Pyramid Temple, MPT (2). The upper part of the fragment was badly weathered
and broken off above the weathering. The stone was 23 cm. thick and 73 cm. wide. The height as preserved was
108 cm., but a t the bottom a space (4349 cm. high) was uninscribed and the longest line of inscription was only
30 cm. high. (See pp. 13, 31, PI. 19d; No. 07-1-21.)
¹See PI. A following p. 281.
APPENDICES 279
The fragment presents the ends of eight vertical lines of inscription with signs facing to the right.
Line 1: . . . ir r g s n s w t D d m d w - f . “. . ., made in the presence of the king who says.”
.
Line 2 : . . [nswt-bity ra-mn-kAw] m ra-mn-kAw-ntry. “.. . [Mycerinus] in the pyramid, Mycerinus-is-divine.”
Line 3: . . . wabwHr-fDt(Dt written under lines 3 and 4).
Line 4:. . . A(det.,abstract)-fnbDt (see line 3).
Line 5: . . . ra]-mn-kAw-ntry.
Line 6: . . . qsn. Line 7 : . . . w . Line 8 : . . . .t.
The text is sufficient to establish that we have a decree of some king concerning the pyramid of Mycerinus.
The similarity to the stone and cutting of the Shepseskaf stela suggested that this fragment might be part of that
stela. Even the lines are the same width. The text excludes, I think, that possibility. In any case, Stela No. 2 is
earlier than the decree of Dyn. VI, and may be by Shepseskaf.
No. 3. Decrees of Mernera (?)

In the portico, MPT (7), in the same debris as the Stela No. 1, we found forty-one fragments of thin lime-
stone slabs inscribed with decrees (see p. 15a, Pl. 19 e-i Pl. A, 2-5). After considerable labour certain fragments
were fitted together as shown on Pl. 19, but it was impossible to establish contacts between the larger fragments thus
constructed. I concluded that the fragments came from a t least two different stelae because of the different width
of the margin below. These decrees were manifestly of the form of known decrees of Dyn. VI (see No. 4, below)
(see Weill, Decrets
Royaux).
One fragment (Pl. 19 h) from the right-hand edge of one of the slabs bears in a frame the Horus-name anx-xaw
(Mernera) of Dyn. VI. One a t least of the stelae is to be dated to that reign. The other is probably of about the
same time (perhaps Pepy I).
On the basis of appearance and margin, I,assign Pl. 19, e, i, and g (Nos. 7 and 8, counted from left above) to
decree No. i, that with a wide border (4to 4.4 cm.) below, while I group Pl. 19 f and g (Nos. 6, 9-13) to decree
No. ii, with narrow lower border (ca. 3 cm.). There remain some unassigned fragments and the accuracy of the
grouping is of course open to question.
Decree No. i
The fragment Pl. 19
i (Pl. A, 3) of 14 pieces, measures 31 cm. high by 40 cm. wide, and comes from the right side
of the slab next to, or very close to, the date. A t the top are the determinatives of five vertical lines which represent
a list of officials, to whom the decree is to apply. In the extreme lower right corner is the word Dt, probably to be
read vertically [m Dt,
Awt]
cf. borchardt, ÄZ., 42, Pl. I. It is possible, I think, that we have here an exhorta-
tion, not a prohibition. The long list of prohibitions of the Dahshur decree is wanting, but the next line, a com-
pound line, bears some resemblance to line 21 of that decree (see Borchardt, ÄZ., 42, p. 10). Our decree, however,
is dealing with a different matter, the pyramid or the pyramid temple, not the pyramid city, and I interpret our
+
line as a command to assemble (or similar), a certain class of priests determined with man woman (perhaps
simply rmt) and another class determined with three men, in order to (r)
(a) “make the purification of your pyramid enceinte and your temple”
irt a b w n w imy-Hr-k Ht-ntr-k
(b) (‘that you may read the writing (rescript) to the craftsmen . . .
Sd[t]-ksS nHmwt . . .
The fragment Pl. 19 e (Pl. A, 2) consists of three pieces which join. This is from the lower left corner of the stela.
The maximum measurements are 44 cm. high by 25 cm. wide. On the right is a space with horizontal lines giving a
list of offerings each with the figure 1 a t the end. The words: . . . bAs1;...mDt1;and...aAwrt are legible. At
the bottom is the end of a horizontal line: . . . . t n-k. Left of a dividing line follows a broad vertical column of
smaIl signs. On half the width above stands d, rn(?) n, suggesting something like “ M y Majesty set the name
of”: ns[wt-bity ra-mn-kAw](det., king) Hr bnbnt tn m kAt ksty Hr Dd . . . (?)n . . . . “The King of Upper and Lower
.
Egypt on this cap-stone in the work of the sculptor and said (?) . . ‘Let not . . . . . .’ .” The negative may have
been followed by a double vertical line. After the break, a t the bottom, stands on the right n(?)-s. and on the left
tp-awy. The last vertical line gives the end of the usual formula; nswtDsrgsxtm. “The king himself was present
a t the sealing.”
+
These two pieces yield a height of over 44 cm., and a combined width of over 25 40 = 65 cm. These decrees
of Dyn. VI are usually much wider than their height and I assume that at least one section of 20-30 cm. is missing
between the two fragments (e and i). To this missing part I would assign the fragment (two pieces) Pl. 19 g, (Pl. A,
5 No. 7), because it also refers to bnbnt tn. Above on right several horizontal lines:
is
pw . . n
[bn]bnt tn
and on the left of the vertical, m kAt . .
. . . . Below this a horizontal line crosses the fragment: .i(ship)m(?)
. . . r iAbt
and there are other traces of signs along the lower broken edge.
Several other fragments on Pl. A, 5, as Nos. 8 and 10 may belong to decree No. i but they contain only iso-
lated words.
280 APPENDICES
Decree No. i deals with the pyramid of Mycerinus and in particular with the setting of a bnbnt, - the cap of a
pyramid or of an obelisk. I n mastabas of Dyn. VI at Giza, it was a common practice to set up two obelisks one on
each side of the false door and/or one on each side of the doorway to the inner offering room. These are usually
quite small, from 60-120 cm. in height. A pair of obelisks might have been set up in the inner sanctuary (Dyn. VI)
of the MPT but we found no trace of them. From later times several cap-stones of granite are known, inscribed
with the name of the king. These seem to have been set on pyramids. I think that the bnbnt referred to is the
cap-stone of the pyramid itself which had never been set in place by Shepseskaf when he completed his father’s
pyramid and temple, or was replaced for some reason a t the time of this decree.
Decree No. ii
The decree No. ii has a margin at the bottom of only 3 cm. and consists of the fragments, PI. 19 f , and g, Nos. 12
and 13 (PI. A, 4, 5). The largest of the fragments, PI. 19 f is 25.5 cm. high and 22 cm. wide and appears to be
from the left middle of the slab. The fragment (of four pieces) is divided by an incised vertical line down the
middle. To the left are traces of a horizontal line, below which are the ends of four or five horizontal lines bound-
ed by a vertical which reads: rg s x r - s n . Partially separated from the last-named vertical line comes another
vertical line: . . . nswt-bityra-mn-kAwm ra-mn-kAw-ntry. To the left of the middle incised line is a broad blank
space, the upper part of which is broken away. Then comes a narrow vertical line of inscription: . . . hr (pyra-
m i d ) - k Dt myw n t im . . . Two horizontal lines a t bottom: HnaSnwt . . . .
myttirytm[Dt(?)]
rnHH.
This relates apparently to a restoration of the temple, MPT.
The fragment, PI. 19, No. 13, is from the lower edge: to the right the ends of two horizontal lines read: . . . . sn
and . . . r-s To the left stand three horizontal lines: smr mr Ht . . . .
r irt rwDw[t(det.,stone)] tp m Hr . . . “ I n order to make the . . . . before the pyramid-enceinte (?)”.
The other fragments contain only isolated words and signs.
No. 4. Decree of Pepy 11

(Pl. A, 1.)
The decree of Pepy IIwas found high up in the debris of the anteroom of the valley temple (see p. 38, March 24).
I concluded that it had been on the wall of the later portal structure and had been brought down to the level at
which it lay by the action of sebbâkheen.
The inscription was very badly preserved as the stone was weathered. The stone measured 30 cm. high by
52 cm. long (and 8 cm. thick) while the rectangle containing the inscription measured 25 cm. high by 42 cm.
long. I n a broad line on the right stands: Hr ntry-xaw
HAt
sp
50 (?) ibdthat is the sixth (?) day of
3Axt
hrw
6(?),
the third month of the overflow season of the 50th (?) year of Pepy 11. On a horizontal line above stands the
usual formula: wD nswt “The King commands.” The name and title of the official or officials named is illegible
except for the name of the pyramid (ra-mn-kAw-ntry) to which he or they were attached. The tops of the first
three vertical lines of the text give the titles of three men:
(3) “The hereditary prince, king’s son, and imy-is, Akhet-em-hem
(?)”;
(4) “The nomarch, sole companion, imA-a, Pepy-Yema (imA)”;
(5) “The nomarch, sole companion, overseer of the Pharaoh’s garden, Khnum-hetep.”
Under these a horizontal line gives the name and titles of a fourth person :
(6) “The lector-priest, scribe . . . . iSfi(?).
Below this a large space shows now only isolated signs, but a t the bottom quite clear stands: “In the pyramid city
of the King of Upper and Lower Egypt Mycerinus-is-divine.”
Then follow seven vertical lines (Nos. 6-12). Line 6 begins with an illegible word, . .....rmTnbr-swp-Hr
iSfipn xft wDt [-nHmi]Dt. “[No] people shall [enter ?] it except this Yeshfi according to that which [My Majesty]
has commanded, forever (?)”
Line 7 : . . . . . . . dy-t pr rmT
nb . . . . Not very certain.
Line 8: evidently continues line 7: n nfr-kA-ra-mn-anx mr-n-ra-xa-nfr “ofthe pyramid of Pepy I and the pyramid
of Mernera.”
. . . . . . . .ritixtnbmnwt (det., pyramid) t n i w w D H m i x w t n t n w t t n
“. . . . in order to take anything from this pyramid city (for) My Majesty commands the protection
of this pyramid city.”
Line 9 : very difficult to see anything; perhaps below:nmrwtwabSd . . . “for the purpose of purifying and holding
services . . .”.
APPENDICES 281
Line 10: continues line 9, giving other purposes of entry and adds: “[for the King of Upper and Lower Egypt
Men]-kauw-[ra]
forever.”
Line 11: m w D Hr nswt-bity [Mn-kAw-ra] anx Dt r nHH. “AS is commanded for Mycerinus living forever and ever.”
Line 12: nswtD s r gs x t m “The king himself was present at the sealing.”
No. 5. Fragments of Inscribed Alabaster

In the debris of MVT two fragments of inscribed alabaster were found. One small irregular fragment, measuring
2 x 5.3 cm., which had been broken from the face of a larger monument (altar or stela), was found in the sand in
a thieves’ hole in the northern wall of the court (see p. 37, Jan. 1-7). It bore incised in two vertical columns the
names “Min-nakht” and “Ra-wer.” Below the left-hand column is the sign s(?). (Pl. A, 7.)
The other fragment, measuring 9.5 x 5 cm., was also broken from the face of a larger monument, perhaps the
same as the first-named fragment. It was found in the upper part of the debris of decay in the last series of rooms
of the southern side of the court (room 323) in association with fragments of statues of Mycerinus (later period
of plundering for stone) (see p. 38, Feb. 18-23 and Pl. 46 g). Down the middle of the fragment runs a raised
band inscribed . . . wrwHb . . . . On each side facing the raised band stood a figure of a man in relief with a plain
staff in the far hand and a f wand in the near hand, but only the staves and wands are in evidence. On the wand
stands a horizontal line of incised inscriptions: -smr a - w r .
Probably both fragments are from the tomb of Ra-wer excavated by Selîm Effendi Hasan north of the MVT,
No. 6. Limestone Lintel

Two fragments of yellowish limestone were parts of a lintel from a door or a false-door, and bore one of the
ordinary dy nswtHtp formulas used at Giza in Dyn. IV-VIII (see Pl. 64 d, e; Pl. A, 8). I connect this lintel with
the square burial pit in the southern wall of the vestibule room (III-377). The inscription is in relief and the
name is
?.
.
These two fragments were in the same disturbed debris as the decree (No. 4, above) of Pepy 11but lower down
(about 30 cm. above floor) in the doorway from (III-377) to the court. It is possible that the lintel belonged
to a c.b. mastaba of Dyn. V which was destroyed in the course of the restoration of PepyII(?). The finding of
the stone is recorded in the diary under date of March 26, 1910.
The inscription reads: “(1) May the king give an offering, Anubis foremost of the Hall of the Gods, May [he]
be buried in the westland in a good old age, honored [before the great god]. (2) Funerary offerings for him at the
beginning of the year, the Thoth-festival, the first of the year, the wAg-festival, and every day, the king’s clans-
man, Yerruw . . . . . . .,,.
No. 7. Inscription of the Cylinder Seal of Silver
The cylinder is described in p. 234 except for line 6, which reads: “Scribe of the archives (which are called)
irt-nD (?)-Hdt-Xafra (see Pl. A, 9). The golden Horus-name in line2is:wsr-sxmXafra.
PLATEA
BEARINGSTONE-DARKSLATE
6, Scale 5 cm
Line drawings of Inscriptions

INDEX
refer to paragraphs on page.
A Attitudes of Statues, 120-126

Abacus, 92-93 Axe-Blade, copper, 231c
Abd-el-Lateef, 8, 19 Axis, MVT, 46-47
adytum, of MPT, 8
Adze-blade, 231c B
Alabaster, Basalt, stone vessels,
column-bases, 40 P.D., 130b, 131-137 passim
heart amulet, 235 Dyn. I to Myc., per cents, 139c
statues, Myc. Nos. 1, 2,4, 6-8) 16) 18-24) 46, 47; 108-115 Myc., 187c
vessels, 130-201 passim Basin (Tank), rectangular in court,
percentage table, 139-140 MPT (5),12, 25c
Myc., types and per cents, 182 MVT, 40
wine-jars, 155c, 165c MQT (1), 58(c)
Ali Dinar, sultan Darfur, 103 note 2 mastabas, 99c
Basin, circular stone, 66a, 67a
Alterations, structural, Basin, small rectangular, see Offering Basin
MPT, 32b-c Basin,
MVT, 42-43, 51 see stone vessels, types X, XI, and models
MQT, 62 see pottery, types XXIX, XXX, XXXIV-XXXVII, XLI
temple III-c, 57c and models
Amelineau, E., 153-162, passim Basis, crude-brick,
Amethyst, bead, 236 (6) MQT (9 and 11), 61
Amulets, 235 temple III-c (6),66a, 67a
unidentified, 235 (18) see also Column-Bases
Roman, MPT (5),12-13 Bates, Oric, 4c, 34b
MPT (26),21 Battens, on doors, 95a
MPT (27), 20-21, App. B Beads, 235
MPT (28), 21 Beams, see Wood
Animal Head, amulet, 235 (10)and (14) Bearing Block, granite, 272, Pl. A, 6
anta, MPT (7), 70c, 84c, 86c Belt, inscribed, statues Nos. 9-12, 48
MVT (1), 41a Bench-Table, see Offering Bench
temple III-c, 67(e) Blue-Veined Limestone, see Limestone
Anteroom, Bonding, crude-brick, 89-90
MPT (26), 19c, 21a Bone Point, 237
MVT (III-377), 40a Borchardt, Ludwig, 4,34, 77c, 102c, 122b, 125a
MVT (II-1) , 4 6 4 7 Borer, see Stone-Borer, Tube-Borer, Drill
MQT (3 and 4), 57b, 59b-c Bow-Drill, 117
temple III-b (1),64c, 68 Bowls, stone, types IX, X, XI, and models
temple III-c (5 and 9), 67a-b, 68 pottery, types XXVII-XLII, and models
mastabas, 68 Bowl-Jar, stone, type X d, 141, 160b
Anthropoid Coffin, wood, Bowl-Stand, stone, type XIII, 198-199
G 111, burial chamber, 5a, 101b pottery, types XXI-XXIII, 219-220
MPT (27), 20a, 260 (No. 56), 261 (Nos. 80-85) Bracelet, ivory, 237
Approach to MPT, 25a Breccia, red and white, vessels,
Arab, P. D., 130b, 131-137 passim
chisels, 19b Dyn. I to Myc., 139c
coins, 19c Myc., 188
objects, 12b, c source of supply, 182
quarrymen, 19b, 24b-c, 31b Building Materials,
treasure-hunters, 12c, 18 (May 20), 22c, 24b-c, 34c, 37 limestone, 69-70
(Jan. 18), 48c granite, 70-72
Archaeological Group, the whole body of facts and objects crude-brick, 72-73
assembled for any one period Building Operations,
Dyn. 0 -Menes, 138c limestone, 73-79
Khasekhemuwy, 153, 161-162,201 granite, 79-89
late Dyn. IV, 105b crude-brick, 89-95
Archaic Statues, 121b a t Chephren temple, 272
Architrave, Building Periods,
MPT (7), 84 MPT, 29-33
Chephren temple, 92b MVT, 39-54
Ashes, MQT (6-7), 59 MQT, 56c
Assuan Granite, 71 temple III-b, 64
Athenian Coins, MPT (S), 13 temple III-c, 67c
286 INDEX
Burial Chambers, MVT (11-I), 4647, 92b
G 111, 5a, 101c MQT (2), 58c
G 111-a, 55b temple III-c (4), 67a
G III-b, 55b, 63b, 65a Column-Bases,
G III-C, 65b alabaster, 40, 92a
see also MPT (26-28) limestone, 41a, 4647, 67a, 92
Burial Shaft, O.K., intrusive, 48c Cones, plaster, unexplained, 238
Button-Seal, 235c Construction, methods of, 73-95
crude-brick, 89-95
C granite, casings, 79-84
Cairo Museum granite pillars, 84-87
statues Nos. 10-12, 18, 22, 27, 28, 30, 36, 38, 43; 109-114 limestone, core-walls, 74-79
Canon of Proportions, 118-119 limestone, free walls, 87-89
Capart, Jean, 119 note 3, 121-122 Construction Planes and Platforms,
Carnelian, amulet, 235 in debris, NE of MPT, 10a
Casing, masonry, MPT (37-S), 22, 29,88-89
granite, finished, MPT (7-8), 29, 70c, 84a MPT (7-8), 86b
granite, unfinished, MPT (S), (5), (9),(12), (IS), (24); 29, MPT (10),
15-17
70,79-83 MPT (IS), 82
crude-brick, MPT (I-5), (9), (12-24); 29, 30a-b, 90b MPT (30-35), 21, 88a
MVT, 39 general, 76
pyramid G 111,20a, 70b-c, 72a, 73c Copper, hardening of, 232b
G 111-a, 56c beam-sheath, 36 (July 18), 231b
Causeway, G III, 3, 25, 34-35, 72b chisels, limestone quarrying, 69-70
corridor, MPT (I), 6, 10-11, 13c, 14a, 25b dressing limestone wall, 88a
lower end, 34-35 from Senezemib complex, 88b
MVT (III-21), 4 3 4 4 eye-frames, wooden statues, 114 (No. 50)
MVT (11), 47 (3),53b frags., MPT (9),15c
Cemetery, royal, MPT (32), 21c
parts of, 3 4 ore (malachite), 238
Myc., 9, 56-66 prototypes of stone vessels,
Ceremonial-Traditional, applied to objects made in obedience 1-V d, 146
to tradition, they consist of degenerate forms made 1-X
c and e, 151a-b
solely for the grave, or of elaborate decorative forms 3-X b (4), 171b
made for temple or other ceremonial use, 106-107, saw, tube-borer, drill, and graver, used on statues, 116-115
153-154, 174, 201, 207-208 (pottery), 230-231 (flint) statues, 109 (No. 5), 124 (1)
Charcoal, 238c tools and implements, 231-232
vessels, 231
Chephren,
Cord in Relief, see stone vessels types I, V, and XI
cemetery, 4
cylinder-seal, 104c, 234 Core-walls, limestone, 74-79
family, 242 Cores, from tube-borer, 180a
mace-heads, 102c Corridors,
portraits, 127-129 MPT (1,3, IS, 15,28, SO), 12-14, 17-21, 23-27, 79-84
pyramid temple, 7, 272 MVT (21), 40a-b, 43-44
sculptors, 128-1 29 MVT (4 and 20), 41c, 42b
sphinx, 3 MVT (354 and 384), 40a
statues; frag. in MVT, 37 (Jan. IS); in Cairo, 119, 124, 125 causeway, 13-14, 25a, 35a-b, 43-44
valley temple, 34, 70c, 79c, 84a, 92b, 100 MQT (8),57a, 58b
Cheops, Court, open, in temples,
cemetery of, 3c, 99c MPT (5), 10-11, 25-26
family of, 240 ff. MVT (111),40c
flint wand, 36 (July 19), 233-234 MVT (11), 4 7 4 8
frag., alab. statuette, 123a MQT (1),58 (c)
ivory figure, 123a, 124b temple III-b (3), 64c
mastabas, 99b, c temple III-c (S), 67a
pyramid temple, 7b mastabas, 68
Chisel, copper, 232a, 69-70, 88a, b Crafts, 107, 202, 249
iron (Arab), 19b Crew-names, 63b, 78-79, App. E
Chronology, of Dyn. IV, 243-248 Crude-brick (c. b.),
construction, 89-95
City, see Pyramid City bonding, 89-90
Coffins, wood, MPT (27), 20 and App. B doors and windows, 94-95
wood, GIII, 5, 101b foundations, 90-91
granite, GIII, 101b roofing, 91-93
G III-b, 63b door-blocks, MPT, 32-33
Coins, MVT, 40a-b, 42b-c, 43c, 44a
Arab (Eiyubide), 19c door-casing, 94b
Roman, 20b in construction plane, 10
Athenian, 13 manufacture of c. b., 72-73
Color, statues, 108 (No. I), 109 (Nos. 127a-b
9-12), temple of Pepy 11,4 6 4 9
coloring matter, 237 temples of Shepseskaf, 30-31, 3945, 57-62, 64-65, 66-68,
Columns, wood, 89a
MVT (III-377), 40, 92a vault, 92c
MVT (111-I), 41a, 92b Crumb-beads, 235 (4)
INDEX 387
Crystal, MPT (5),25-26
vessels, 139c, 188b MQT (1),58b
models, 199 ( 5 ) ,233-234 Dressing,
statue-eyes, 114 (No. 50) of granite, 17, 26a, 71, 86-87, 236-237
Cup, see stone vessels types IX-XI; see Faience of limestone, 88a-b, 232
Cylinder-seals, 104c, 234-235 Drill, 117, 118 (5), 180a, 231-232
Cylinder-borer, see Tube-borer, 118 (4), 180 Duwanera, Prince, mastaba of, 104c
Dyn. 0, 131, 136-137, 138
D Dyn. I, 96, 98c, 102-103, 119-120, 127-153, 208-210
Dyn. II, 96-98, 99a, 102-103, 119-120, 162, 208-210
Daressy, Georges, on Dyn. IV, 243-244 Dyn. 111, 96-98, 99, 102-103, 120-123, 163-174, 174c
Davies, N. DeG., 117 Dyn. IV, 99, 100-102, 174-178, 240-254
Debehen, inscription, 5, App. A Dyn. V, 199-201, 124-126, 246c
Dedefra, see Radedef
Debris, E
“debris of decay,” mass of rubbish resulting from the decay Edgar, C. C., 119 note 1
of a building, see “surface of decay” Eiyubide, coins, 19c
“floor debris,” lowest layer of debris of decay, resting on Enclosure, G 111, inner, 3, 29; outer, 55-56
floor, and containing original deposits usually dis- G 111-a, b, c; 56 (3)
turbed by decay of building and/or by plundering Endowments, funerary, 253-254
“mason’s debris,” stone chips and other litter, produced by Excavation of Temples,
building operations, used for filling foundations, con- MPT, 9-12
struction planes, etc. or dumped to one side MVT, 35-38
“dumped debris,” any material thrown in as filling or cast MQT, 55-56
aside, falls in gravity slope of material temple III-b, 62-64
“disturbed
debris,” ancient deposits completely broken up temple III-c, 65-66
by building operations or by plundering cemetery of priests, 9
“surface debris,” the accumulation over a “surface of Excisions in Stone Blocks, 75
decay” and in particular, the modern accumulation Exterior Corridor, MVT (21),43-44, 47 ( 3 )
over drif t-sand Eye, amulet, faience, 235 (16)
debris in MPT, 12-24 statue, 114 (No. 50)
in MVT, 34-39,44-51b
in MQT, 56a F
in temple III-b, 63c Faience, beads and amulets, 235
in temple III-c, 65-66 vessels and inlays, 236
Decay, of MPT, 33 E. D. figures, 119c
of MVT, 44-50 Fire-place, 59
of granite, 71 Firth, C. M.,
Decree, see also Stelae, a t MPT, 4
Mernera, 41, App. F at Step Pyramid, 87 note 3, 101 note 1, 120 (aa), 125 note 3
Pepy 11,31, 38 (March 2 4 ,4 9 ( 1 ) 230c, 249
Pepy I (from Dahshur), 49 (1) Fish, amulet, ivory, 235 (12)
Denon, 8a Fish-tail Flint, 233-234
Diodorus Siculus, 4 Fisher, C. S., 4, 70a
Diorite, Flint Implements, 230-231
statues, Myc., Nos. 25-32, 35, 36, 38, 39, 42; 108-115, MPT, 17-18
124 (e) MVT, App. C passim
vessels, Dyn. I to Myc., 139-140 MQT, 56b
Myc., 186a Flint, inscribed bowl, 102, 179b, 188
Discovery of MVT, 34-35 wands, 18,36, 233-234
Doors, construction of, 95a Floating, stone on plaster, 74c, 82b-c
double-leafed, MPT (6), 26a Flooding of MVT, 4 4 4 5
MVT, 40a, 41a, b, 47a Floor,
MQT (8), 58; (3), 59; (9), 60; (10), 60 areas (burial chambers and temples), 101c
temple III-c (entrance), 66c debris, see Debris
see also, 94b mud-plastered,
single-leafed; all except those just mentioned MPT (1-3, 13-24), 91c, 30b, 83c
Door-blocks, MPT, 32-34 MVT (all rooms) 39c, 40a
MVT, 40a, b, 42b, c, 43c, 44a MQT (all except court), 62a, 58-59
Door-casings, 94b temple III-b (all rooms), 64-65
Door-locks, 95b temple III-c (all rooms), 66b, 67c
Door-posts, 26, 94b packing, 91c, 30b, 34c, 39c, 40a, 41a, 58b-c, 66c, 67c
Door-roofing, 95b sloping, MPT (5, 13, 28), MQT (1), and temple III-c
Door-sockets, stone paved, see Pavement
upper of wood, 27a, 88a Flower-pot, see pottery type XXV
lower of stone, 57a, 94b Foreign Race, 131
Doorways, in crude-brick, 94b Foundation,
Dovetails, in Chephren temple, 92b deposits, not found, 18
Drain, of crude-brick walls, 90-91
across pathway, MPT ( 5 ) ,25-26 platform (stone), 73-74c, 79c to 81
through N wall, MPT (20), 22-33 MPT, 10a, 25a, 34b
across causeway corridor, 44c MVT, 34b, 39b-c
to tank, MVT (court), 40 MQT, 56c
Drainage, temple III-b, 64a-b
plateau west of G 11,34 Fourmont, 8
288 INDEX
Functional, I
classification of stone vessels, 191-192 Inclined Plane, see Construction Plane
of pottery, 206 Inlay, faience, 236
parts of temple, 28c, 39, 57, 67-68 Inscriptions, see App. F
Funerary, priests of Myc., 9 incised, frag. in G III-b, 63b
endowments, 253-254 method of cutting, 118 (6)
pottery, 202, 207-208 on statues (Nos. 1, 2,9-12, 18-21, 39, 42, 43, 48), 108-113
Furniture, household, 101a on stone vessels, 102-104, 179
see also Decrees, Stelae, Seals, Sealings, Flint Wands
G painted, on limestone, 76a, 78b, 79, App. E
Galarza Tomb, 124(f), 248b on roof of chamber G III-b, 63
Gap in Masonry, on granite, 82c, 83, App. E
core-walls, MPT (10), 76b Ivory,
MVT (west wall), 39, 44 amulets, 235 (11-14)
crude-brick wall, MQT (5), 60 bracelet, 237
Ghost-Knives, 23l a figure, Myc. 37 (Jan. 27), 114 (No. 49)
Giza Tomb of Dyn. I, Petrie’s mastaba V, 139 Cheops, 124(a)
Glazed Pottery, Arab, 12b ring, open, 235 (7)
Gourd, prototype of stone vessel, 132c prototype of stone vessel, 131c
Granite, Isesy, King, sealings, 19, 32
building material, 69a, 70-72, 87b
casing, J
construction, 79-87 Jackal, slate figure, 114 (No. 45)
destroyed before Roman period, 13b Jackal-Nome, 109 (No. 11)
finished, MPT (7-8), 26, 70-71, 79c, 83c, 84-86 Jars,
pyramid G 111, 19, 24, 70-72 stone vessels, types I-VIII, and models
G 111-a, 56 (3), 70 pottery, types I-XX, and models
unfinished, MPT (3, 5, 9, 13, 24), 18c, 79c, 80-87 painted jar, 238c
dressing of, 71, 86-87, 236-237 Jar-stands,
in MPT (10-11),17, 26 stone vessels, type XIII, 198-199
free walls, 87b pottery, type XXIV, 220
pavement, MPT (29), 27-28, 29b, 87b Jar-stoppers, 238 (f)
pillars, MPT ( 7 ) ,84-88 Jequier, Gustave, 242c
Greaves, 5, 7 Jomard, 8a
Green, F. W., 136b K
Grenfell, B. P., 20b
Grinding Powder (Paste), 115, 117-1 18, 180a Kay, Prince, model vessels, 55, 199(5).
Group Statues, 124a Kerb-socket, for door-post, 94
Guiding Lines, Kernel Structure, MPT inner temple, 27, 30-31, 87b
for construction, 76-79, App. E Khaba, the Horus, vessels of, 102c, 103c, 200
for reliefs, 118 khalûfa, Sudan building material, 90 note 1
for statues, 115-116, 119 Khamerernebty I, 248; flint wand, 102, 124 (f), 233b
Khamerernebty 11,248; 110 (No. 17), 127c
Khasekhem, King, 121a
H Khasekhemuwy, 121a, 139b-c, 142a, 153-154, 190b-c, 191
Kitchen, MQT (6-7), 58-59
Hall, of niches: MPT (29a) 28c Knives, flint, 230
small temples, 68 Knob-feet, on pottery, type XXXIII (3), 224; type XLII, 228
of pillars, MPT (27), 27 see also Ring-Handles
Hammers (Stone), 86-87, 236-237 Kohl-pot, 22a
found, MPT (10), 16; MPT (17), 17
used in quarrying, 69-70 L
in dressing granite, 86-87 Leg, amulet, carnelian, 235 (9)
in making statues, 115-116 Lepsius, R., 4, 8, 114
Hand (Open), amulet, faience, 235 (17) Levelling-marks, 16-17, 76-79, App. E
Handkerchief (?), in statues (Nos. 1 ,2 , 18, 19), 108, 110, 124a Levers, 74b, 75c, 272
Hard Stones, in stone vessels: porphyry, syenite, breccia, 139- Lever-holes, in limestone blocks, 75
140, 183, 188 under edge of granite blocks, 80c, 82, 272
Harpoon, copper, 2323 Lever-knobs, on granite, 82b-c
Hathor, statues (Nos. 9-15), 109-111 Limestone, used in Myc. temples,
Headdress, royal, kinds of, 69
with uraeus, statues (Nos. 1, 2, 18, 22, 23, 25-29), 108-115 blocks of, excisions in, 75c
without uraeus, statue (No. 17) (cf. Nos. 9-12), 109-110 quarrying, 69-70
Head-rest, 238 sizes, 70b
Headers, crude-brick, masonry, 89-90 transport, 74b
Hearst Egyptian Expedition, 4, Chapt. VIII passim blocks, displaced from, MPT (29),22a-b
Herodotus, 5, 7 from G 111, 22
Hetepsekhemuwy, King, 102-103 construction, core-walls, 74-79
Hippopotamus (?) - Head, amulet, slate, 235 (9) free walls, 87-89
History, of MPT, 29-33 column-bases, 41a, 4647, 58c, 67a, 92
of MVT, and pyramid city, 53-54 nummulitic (local),
Hoelsher, Uvo, 87, 92, 100, App. D MPT platforms, causeway, core-walls, 69
Houses, in MPT, 50-53 MVT platform and core-walls
Hunt, A. S., 20 MPT inner temple of Mernera, 27, 31, 69
Huni, 239 MQT platform
INDEX 289
pavement, see Pavement N
pillars, 27, 88b
roofing slabs, MPT (29),22a Nebra, King, 102-103, 122 (pp), 179b
used in crude-brick masonry, 94-95 Neterymuw, King, 103a, 122 (pp), 153
used in backing granite, 80a New Kingdom Pot, 22b
white (Turah), in kernel structure, 27,30-31, 69,87b Newberry, Percy, 117
accessory in crude-brick masonry, 94-95 Neweserra, sealings, 19a-b, 32
dressing of walls, 88a-b, 232 levelling marks, 77c
Limestone, used in statues, 126c Nezemankh, of Dyn. 111, 121-122
hard pink, 112 (No. 33) Niches, in crude-brick,
fine white, 113 (No. 43) MPT (5), 25b
pink drab, 115 (No. 52) MVT (court), 40c, 90
see also 119-124 MQT 1 , 9 , 1 2 , 58(c), 60(g),61 (h)
Limestone, vessels, 130b, 139-140 temple III-b (5), 65a
Myc., 180b-c, 188 temple III-c (3, 6, 7), 67a-b, 68
Myc. blue-veined, 187 Niches, in stone,
see also Basins and OfferingBasins MPT (3),25b
Limestone, misc., MPT (8), 26b, 84b
cylinder-seal, 234 MPT (20), 23-24
head-rest, 238c MPT (29),28
muller (?), 238c Nomes, see triads (statues Nos. 9-15)
see also Decree, Stela
Lintel, door,
limestone, in crude-brick, 94b, 95c 0
red granite, MPT (7), 26, 84b Objects, in Myc. temples, 96-107
wood, in limestone, MPT (30-35), 27a date of, 102-105
wood in crude-brick, 94b, 85b classification, 107
Lion’s Paw, 37 (Jan. 16, 18), 114 (No. 47) Offering Basin, rectangular, small, 99c
Logs, roofing, 91-93 in small temples, 60 (g),63c, 66a
Lost Arts, 106-107 see also Basin (Tank)
M
OfferingBench (Table), altar, 99c
Mace, Myc. statue No. 9, 108 MPT (20),23-24
Mace-heads, 101b-c, 102c (Chephren), 106c MVT (2), 41
Magazines, of temples MQT (9, 10), 60(g),61 (i)
MPT (10), 15-17 temple III-b (4), 64c
MPT (16-20), 17-18, 23, 26b Offering Bench (Low), altar, 99c
MPT (22-24), 19a, 26b limestone slab on floor, MQT (9, IO), 60-61
MPT (30-35), 21c, 26-27 mud platform, MQT (9), 60-61
MVT (III-6 to 18), 35-37, 42
MVT (III-3,5, 17-19), 35-37, 42-43 Offering Jar, traditional, pottery type IV
MVT (11), 47 (3) Offering Room, 68,98-102
MQT (11), 61 MPT (8),26a; MPT (ZO), 23-24; MPT (29),22-23, 27-29
temple III-b (5), 65a MVT (2), 41c, 4 6 4 7
temple III-c(10), 67b MQT (9), 60(g); MQT (10),61 (i), MQT (12),61(h)
mastabas, 68 temple III-b (4), 64c; III-b (5), 65a
floor areas, 101c temple III-c (6, 7, IO), 67a
loft, 17a-b, 26-27, 42, 61 Orientation, Egyptian tombs, 6
Magical Set, 233-234 Ostrich Egg
Malachite, 238(e) beads of, 235 (2)
Mallet, 88a prototype of stone vessel, 132c
Mariette, A., 4 Outer Wall of MVT (11), 46
Masonry, see Construction
Mason’s Debris, 9-11, 21, see Debris P
Medum Tombs, date of, 122c Packing, see Floors
Melek El-Azeez Othman Ibn Yusef, 8 Painted Tomb, a t Hierakonpolis, 136
Mernera, King, MPT inner temple, 31 Painted Pot (Jar),
decree, 15b, App. F Myc., name, 238 ( j )
Meyer, Eduard, 246-247 New Kingdom, 22b
Miniature Stone Vessels, 142
Model Vessels, Paste, rubbing (friction), 115, 116-118, 180a
stone, 175-178 (Fig.44), 184 (Fig.52), 199 Pathway,
22, 36 (July 19; Dec. 25-28), 45c, 55, 233 paved, MPT (5),25; MVT (court), 40
workshops for, 104c unpaved, 30, 56
pottery, 228-229 Pavement,
deposits, 13, 15c, 17-18, 60c, 66 granite, MPT (29), 27-28, 29b, 87b
copper, 36 (July 19), 231 limestone,
Model Tables, copper, 233 MPT (5), 25c, 30b
Moritz, Prof., 19 MPT (7), 15a
Moslem Cemetery, 38 (March 18),43 MPT (26),26c, 88c
Mud, see Crude-brick, Plaster, Sealings, Jar-Stopper MPT (28), 26c, 88b
Muller (?), 238c MPT (29), N end of room a, rooms c and d, beyond the
Mycerinus, structures built by, granite pavement, 27-28
MPT, 29-30, MVT, 39; MQT, 56-57; temple III-b, 64 MVT (court pathway), 40
objects made by, 105a MQT (1, 6, 7), 58c, 59
Mystics, 4 mud plastered, see Floor
290 INDEX
Penetrations, Quarry, hard stones (granite), 71c
excavations in older deposits and structures made in making in Dyn. I, 138
later burial places or the foundations of later structures; marks, 82-83, App. E
also holes dug by treasure-hunters, sebbalchtn, and Queen, pyramids, 55ff
quarrymen statue, 109 (No. 8)
12, 12a, 23, 34, 37 (Jan. 18) Quibell, J. E., 120, 124, 153
Pepy I, King, sealings, 19, 32
Pepy 11, King, decree, 31, 38 (March 24), 49 (1), App. F R
Peribsen, King, 103a, note 1 ; 143 Radedef, King, 4, 241c
Permanence of Crude-brick Structures, 44 Rafters, wood, 92-93
Petrie, Sir Flinders, 4, 102-103, 122, 123a, 133b, 139-140, 143 Railway, in excavations, 10, 11c,35
Pillars, Ramp, stone, MVT, 40-41
granite, 26, 70c, 84-88 MQT, 58a
limestone, 27, 88b ‘Ra-wer, sm-priest, frag. alab., 38 (Feb. 18-23), App. F
Plan Marked on Foundations, 87c Reed-Burials, Roman, 19-20, App. B
Richards, T. W. (Harvard U.), 232
Plane, see Construction
Restoration,
Planks, see Wood MPT inner temple, 28-29
Plaster, sulphate of lime, MVT, 4 6 4 8
“floating” stone blocks, 74c, 80c, 82a, 86 (S), 88a MQT, 62
“pointing” granite joints, 82c Ridges, rough dressed on granite, 80c
whitening mud plaster, 62 (k),65a, 67c, 90c Ring-Handles, pottery type XL, 228
cones of, 238 Ring-stands, see Jar-stands, 220
Plaster, mud, Rock Stratum, under MPT, 74
in crude-brick masonry, 90c Roman, burials and objects,
covering crude-brick walls (whitened), 25a, b, 26b, 30b, 12-13, 19-20, 21, App. B
33b, 40a, b, 62 ( k ) , 65a, 67c, 90c Roof,
on floors, see Floor granite, 86c
Plundering, MPT, 33b; MVT (111), 45; MVT (11), 49 (7) limestone, 19c, 22, 28c, 31c, 88
Point, bone, 237 wood, in crude-brick, 40-42, 45b, 91-93, 95b
Pointed Joints, granite, 82c see also Door
Polish, see statues, states VII-VIII Rose Quartz, crystal, jar, 188
Pollard, W. P., 80c Rubbing Stones, 86-87, 115-118, 236-237
Porphyry, vessels, see Hard Stones Rubbing Process,
statuette, 113 (No. 40) statues, 115-118
Portal Structure, see MVT (11) vestibule inscriptions, 118 ( 6 )
Portico, see MPT ( 7 ) ,MVT (1), MQT (2),TempleIII-c (4)
Portraits, S
of Myc. and Chephren, 127-128 Sand Erosion, 8-9, 12
of gods, 127c Sandys, 5
Pot, painted, 22b, 238 ( j ) Sarcophagus, see Coffin
containing Athenian coins, 13 Saw, copper, used on stone, 118 (5)
containing models, 55 Scarab, amulets, faience, 234 (15)
Potter’s Wheel, 106b, 174c, 202a Schaefer, Heinrich, 34a
Pottery vessels, Scharff,Alexander, 245, 246
hand-made and wheel-made, 106,174,202-229 Schiaparelli, Prof. E., 4
classification, 202, 206-207 Scraper, flint, 230
prototype of stone vessels, 133, 151 Screen-wall, 26, 41a, 58c
provenience of Myc. vess, 202-205 Sculptors, A and B, 128-129
types of Myc. vess., 208-229 Seal, in hand of goddess, 109 (No. 11)
Pounding Stones, see Hammers see also Cylinder Seal, Button-seal, Sealings
Seal Impressions, 19, 32
Predynastic Period (P. D.),
divisions of, 130c Sealings, on doors, 19, 32
sebakh, decayed crude-brick, etc., excavated as fertilizer, 48c
stone vessels, 130-137, 144
sebbakhîn, those who dig sebakh
arts and crafts, 119-120
Senexemib, mastaba complex, tools from, 88a-b, 233
Private Statuettes: in MVT: Nos. 41-44, 46, 51;114-115 Sethe, Kurt, 121b
Proportions, see Canon Shelf (Loft), in magazines,
psS-kj, 233-234 stone, MPT (31-35), 26-27
Pulley, 272 MQT (11),
61 (j)
Pumice (?), see Paste (rubbing) wood, MPT (16-19), 17a-b (Fig. 17)
Pyramid, tomb, parts of, 3 MVT (III-10,
13, 14), 42
G III, 5, 20a, 70b, c, 72a, 73c Shells, mussel, 237 (a)
G 111-a, 55, 63b, c, 70b Shepseskaf, King,
G III-b, 55, 62-63 structures built by,
G III-c, 55, 63, 65 G III, limestone casing; MPT (29), limestone; the
Pyramid City, Myc., 49-54 crude-brick temples of MPT, MVT (111), MQT, III-b
Pyramid Mystics, 4 and III-e; and probably casing of G 111-a
temple equipment, completed by, 102, 107
Q stelae of, 13, 15, 31, App. F
Quarry, limestone, frag. statue, 37 (Jan. 16)
of Myc., 4,9, 69-70, 74 alab. head, 112 (No. 23)
of Chephren (? Cheops?), 69-70 tomb a t Dahshur, 232c
methods used, 69-70, 75-76 perhaps began unfinished tomb a t Giza, 4a
marks, 78-79, App. E Silver, see Cylinder-seal
INDEX 291
Slab-altar, see Offering Bench Temples (Funerary Chapels),

Slate, development of, 98-100
statutes of Myc. (Nos. 3, 7 , 9-15, 17, 45), 108-114 furniture of, 98-102
amulet, 235 (9) Tepy-em-ankh, priest of Myc. pyramid, 5
vessels, 129-140, 188 Tety, King, sealings, 19, 32a
Sledge, 74b, 75a Thevenot, 7c
Smythe, Piazzi, 4 Thoeris, amulet, ivory, 235 (13)
Sneferuw, Threshold, 94, 95c
stone vessels, 102c, 103c, 179b Toeris, amulet, ivory, 235 (13)
pyramid city, 49 Topography, of site,
see also 99, 122-123, 200 MPT, 24-25
Sphinx, great, a t Giza, 3, 129c MVT, 4 4 4 6
Squatting Statuette, 113 (No. 43) Transport, of stone, 74b, 75n
Stairway, Tray, pottery type XXVI, 223a
MPT (23), 19a, 93a Treasure-hunters (Seekers), see Arab
MVT (III-380), 40b Trenches, excavation, 9-11, 34-35
MQT (5),59-60 see also Quarry
Stand, see Bowl-stand, Jar-stand Tube Borer (cylindrical), copper, 84b, 86c, 117-118, 180
States I-VIII, see Statues Types of Stone Vessels,
Statues, 108-129
PD. Dyn. I Dyn. II Dyn. III Dyn. IV Myc.
list of, from MPT, 108; MQT, 108; MVT, 109-115
frags., MVT, 45b; temple III-b, 63b-c I . . . . . . .p. 131-2 . .142. . . . .154-5 . . .164. . . .175-6 . .191-2
coloring, 127 II . . . . . .p. 132-3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .192
rooms for, 23, 4 2 4 3 III. . . . . .p. 133 . . . .142-4. . .155. . . . .164-5 . .176. .. .192-3
states I-VIII, 115-1 16 IV . . . . .p. 134 . . . .144. . . . .155. . . . .165. . . .176. . . .192-3
breaking of, 49 V . . . . . .p. 134 . . . .145-6 . . .155-7 . . .165-8 . .176. .. .194-5
Steatite, VI . . . . .p. 136 . . . .146-7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .195
beads, 235 VII . . . . .p. [136] . . .147-8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .195
cylinder-seal, 234 VIII . . . .p. [136] . . .148. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .195
Steindorff, Georg, 4, 104, 117-118, 121b I X . . . . .p. 137 . . . .148 . . . . .158-9 . . .168. . . .177 . . . .195-6
Stelae, of Shepseskaf, 13, 15, 31, App. F X . . . . . . .p. [137] . . .148-51 . .159-61 . .170-1 .. 177. . . .196-7
Step-Pyramids, at Giza, 55c, 62-63 XI . . . . .p. 137 . . . .151-2 . . .161-2 . . .171-2 . .178. .. .197-8
Steps, to magazine shelf, MPT (17), 16 (Fig.4);MQT (11), XII . . . .p. 137 . . . .152-3 . . .162-3 . . .172-4 . .178. . . .198
56 ( j )
Stone Implements, U
stone-borer (crank), 106b, 130b, 138, 179-180
see Hammer, Drill, Rubbing Stones, Flints Unfinished Statuary, 105a, 115-1 18
see also 71a unfinished Stone Vessels, 104c
Stone Used in Structures, 69-72, 73-89, 94-95 Unfinished Temples, 29, 56, 64, 105a
see Quarry MPT ( I O ) , 15-16, 26b
Stone Vessels, MPT (granite casing), 18c, 79c, 80-87
history of, 130-178, MPT (27), 19-20, 26c, 88a
original P. D. vessels, 130-131 MPT (30-35), 21, 26-27, 88a
development, Dyn. I, 137-140 see also MVT, and small temples
Dyn. II, 153-154 Uraeus, on statues Nos. 1, 18, 22-24, 25-49
Dyn. III, 163-164 wanting on, Nos. 9-12, 17
degeneration, Dyn. IV, 174-175
Dyn. V, 199-201 V
inscribed vessels, 102-103, 179
list and range of types and subtypes, 140-142 Vault, crude-brick, 92c
see also Types Vestibule, MVT (111)40; MVT (11), 48 (5)
Myc. vessels, 178-199 (see Table of Contents) Village, oriental, growth and decay, 50 (2)
frags., found in MPT, 15, 20, 21, 22 Volcanic Ash, vessels, 139-140, 188
functional classification, 190-191 Vulture Headdress, queen's, 108 (No. 8)
types and materials, 180-181, 189-190 Vyse, Howard, 4-9, 14, 55, 63, 65, 101b
type XIII, 178, 198-199
Stone, unidentified, 114 (Nos. 34, 37) W
Stretchers, in crude-brick masonry, 89-90 Wand, flint, 233-234
Surface Debris, see Debris, 10b, 12, 22, 63-64, 65 Water, see Quarry
Surface of Decay, Water-channel, 34
weathered upper surface of debris of decay Wedges, wooden, 70a
10, 12, 22, 34, 35 (July
7), 45a, 47c Weight, granite per cu. m., 80c
Syenite, see Hard Stones Weights, granite blocks, 72a, 80c
limestone blocks, 70b
T Weill, Raymond, 121-122
Table, Wheel-made Pottery, 106c, 174c, 179c, 202a, 208
dished-topped, see stone vessels type XII a Whitening, see Plaster
flat-topped, see stone vessels type XII b Width of Room, limited by roofing material, 28a, 92a
see also Offering Bench Window,
Tank, see Basin stone, 88c
Technical Processes, crude-brick, 94a
statuary, 115-118 Wine-Jars,
stone vessels, 130, 148, 179-180 alabaster, 155c
see Construction, Crude-brick, Pottery, Quarry pottery, 208-209
Wood, 238 Workmen's Shelter,
beam (rafter), over columns, 92-93 MPT(11), 26
beam, sheathed in copper, 36 (July 18), 231 (9) MPT (38-39), 33a
columns, see Columns Workshop, for stone models, 104c
doors, door-casing, door-posts, door-sockets, see Door
plank (upper door-socket), 95c Y
planks (over roofing logs), 92a, 93
roof, see MPT (1-3, 13-24) and all roofs in other temples; Yellow Limestone, 25c, 69b-c, 188
41-42, 45, 91-95, etc.
roofing logs, 91-93 Z
models (scenes from life), 105c Zer, King, 138
prototype of stone vessel, 131 Zoser, King, 87 note 3, 101b, 120 (aa), 249
statues, 114 (Nos. 49-50), 125b see Firth
PLATE1
a. Mycerinus Pyramid Temple, seen from the Second Pyramid, looking down to south. Previous to excavation,
December I , 1906.
b. Mycerinus Pyramid Temple, seen from the Second Pyramid, looking down t o south. After excavation. April 16, 1907.
PLATE2
a . M y c e r i n u s P y r a m i d T e m p l e , outertemple,s e e n f r o m t h e ThirdPyramid,l o o k i n g d o w n t o e a s t . P r e v i o u s t o e x c a v a t i o n ,
December I , 1906.
seen from Temple,

the Third
b. Mycerinus
Pyramid
Pyramid, looking down to east. After excavation, May 18, 1907.
PLATE3
a. M. P. T., court (5),

with layers of debris, looking north, b. M. P. T., entrance doorway looking
(2), east, stela 07-1-21 as
January 9, 1907. found, January 6, 1907.
c. M. P. T., portico (7), pillar-sockets south of temple axis, d. M. P. T., portico (7), pillar-sockets of western row, north
lookingwest,May10,1907. side, looking west, May IO, 1907.
ootway T., P. of e. M. court, June, 1907.

a. a. M . P . T., p o r t i c o (7) a n d screen-wall, l o o k i n g s o u t h , F e b r u a r y 7, 1 9 0 7 . b. b.M.P.T.,court(5), N.W.quarterwith doorway(12), looking northwest,
February 7, 1907.
PLATE4
c. c.M.P.T.,court(5),eastwall,southpart,emplacementsforgranitecasing, d. d.M.P.T.,court (5),portico (7)andoffering room(8),fromeasternside of

looking down to N.E., June, 1907. court, looking west, June, 1907.
a. M. P. T., causeway corridor, western end, looking south, June, 1907. b. b.M.P.T.,causewaycorridor,westernend,lookingwestintotemple,June,1907.
PLATE5
C. c.M.P.T.,northerncorridor,(13),lookingeast,February10,1907. d. d.M.P.T.,northerncorridor(13),northwall,blackgranitecasing,lookingN.E.,
May 27, 1907.
PLATE 6
b. b.M.P.T.,northerncorridor(13),southwall,crude-brick
casing partly stripped of plaster, looking down t o W. S.
W., October, 1923.
a. M. P. T., northern corridor (13), north wall, granite

casing, looking down to E. N. E., October, 1923.
c. c.M.P.T.,northerncorridor(13),southwall,blackgranitecasing,lookingsoutheast,October,1923.
PLATE 7
a. a.M . P.T.,m a g a z i n e (17),l o o k i n gd o w n north, b. b.M.P.T.,corridor(15),lookingwest,fragmentsof

January 22, 1907. statues as found, January 23, 1907.
c. c.M.P.T.,magazine(18),lookingnorth, d. M. d.M.P.T.,corridor(15),lookingeast,kneesofstatue
January 22, 1907. N o . 1 , a s f o u n d , January 23, 1907.
a. a.M.P.T.,fragmentsofstatues,outsidemagazine(20),lookingsouthwest, b. b.M.P.T.,magazine(20),fragmentsofstatuesindrain-hole,lookingnorth,
April14,1907.
January 20, 1907.
PLATE8
c. M . P. T., alabasterh e a d a n d other fragments, outsidedrain-hole, looking south, d. d.M.P.T.,nearviewofalabasterheadandotherfragments,lookingnorth,April14,1907.

April14,1907.
PLATE9
a. M. P. T., crude-brick walls, south of western end of causeway, b. b.M.P.T.,room(11),lookingsouth,January9,1907.

looking east, June, 1907.
c. M. P. T., looking west from room (26) to d. d.M.P.T.,corridor(28),slopingfloor,looking

c.M.P.T.,lookingwestfromroom(26)toroom(31),October18,1923. north, April 5, 1907.
e. e.M.P.T.,room(36),Romanstaironsand,lookingeast,April4,1907. f. f.M.P.T.,room(36),doorway,lookingdownnorth,April
April 4, 1907. 12, 1907.
PLATE10
a. M. P. T., inner temple and magazines of outer temple, looking down to east from the pyramid, June, 1907.
b. b.MP.T,inertmpleandconstrucionplae,lokingorthJ,une,1907. P. T., inner temple and construction plane, looking north, June, a.MP.T,inertmpleandmagzinesof utermple,okingdowtneastfromthepyramid,June,1907.
PLATE 11
a. a.M.P.T.,room(29),granite pavementandgranite casingofpyramid,looking northwest, October 20,1923.
b.M.P.T.,room(29),granitepavementandwallsofTurahlimestone,withroom(27),beyond,
lookingdowntoeast,October17,1923. 1923.
PLATE12
M. P. T., statue No. I, great alabaster statue of Mycerinus.

PLATE
13
a. M. P. T., head of statue No. I, great alabaster statue of Mycerinus, front view seen from below (view-point
beholder standing on floor).
of
b. M. P. T., head or statue No. I , great alabaster statue of Mycerinus, front view seen frotn opposite
face (point of view of sculptor).
PLATE
14
a . M. P. T., head of great alabaster statue (No. I) of Mycerinus, right side, three quarters
view.
b. M. P. T., head of great alabaster statue (No.1)ofMycerinus, profile of right side.

Plate15
M. P. T., head of great alabaster statue (No. I) of Mycerinus, left side, four different views.
a. M. P. T., knees of great alabaster statue (No. I) of Mycerinus. b. b.M.P.T.,feetofsmalleralabasterstatue(No.2c)ofMycerinus.
Plate16
c. c. M.P . T., t o r s o of s m a l l e r a l a b a s t e r s t a t u e ( N o . 2 a), front. d. M. d.M.P.T.,torsoofsmalleralabasterstatue(No.2a),back.

a. a. M. P. T., seal impressions in mud, from room (No. 22). b. b.M.P.T.,sealimpressionsinmud,fromroom(No.22).
Plate17
c. c.M.P.T.,inscribedfragmentsofalabasterstatue-bases. d. d.M.Q.T.,fragmentsofalabasterstatueofqueen.
Plate18
M. P. T., flint knives and flakes from temple magazines.

a. and b. show both sides of same objects.
PLATE19
a. Flint wand from M. P. T., 14.
b. M. P. T., limestone stela of Shepseskaf.
c. Perring's sketch, wooden

. coffin-lid of Mycerinus.
e.
d. M. P. T., limestone stela from entrance. f.
h.
1.
e.-i. M. P. T., fragments of limestone stelae from portico (7).
g.
PLATE2 0
a.-c. M.
P. T., black granite hammer from magazine (17).
g. g.M.P.T.,models,alabasterandcrystal.
h. M. P. T., copper, faience, and shell.
d.-e.M.P.T.,pot, ypeX V,fromro m(36). ,M. P. T., pot, type XXV, from room (36).
f. M. P. T.,models, pottery, types R. W. XLIII, XLIV, i. i.M.P.T.,plasterconesfrommagazine(16)and(18).

from room (18).
PLATE21
a. M. P. T., diorite bowl,

room (27)- sub.
b. b. M . P. T., diorite bowl, r o o m (27)-sub. c. c.M.P.T.,dioritepan,room(27)-sub.
e. M. P. T., Athenian silver coins, from entrance corridor.
d. d.M.P.T.,alabasterandlimestonevesselsfromroom(26)-sub.
f. M. P. T., Roman coin, Arabic coins, iron wedge, etc., from room (27) and adjacent.
a. a.M.P.T.,mummyNo.23,fromroom(27).
c. M. P. T., mummy No. 23, near view of hand with coin.
b. b.M.P.T.,mummyNo.23,laidopen,coininhand.
Plate2
d. M. P. T., Roman coin, scarabs, etc., from room (27). e . M. P. T., Roman coins, scarabs, etc., from room (27).
f. f.M.P.T.,room(27),mummyNo.23,asfound.
PLATE23
b. M. P. T., room (27), mummies Nos. 70-77, looking

a. M.P.T.,room(27),mummiesNos.54-57,looking
down southeast.
down north.
e. M. P. T.. faience rings and

cowrie bracelet from debris
c. M. P. T., amulets from in room (27).
mummy No. 56.
d. M. P. T., amulets from mummy No.47.
g. M. P. T., scarab seals and

backs from room (27).
h. M.P.T.,amulets from room (28).

f. M. P. T., glass bottle, amulets, and
beads from mummy No. 71.
PLATE 24
a. a. Mycerinus Valley Temple, sand in the valley before excavation, site of t e m p l e marked +, May 30, 1908.
b. b.MycerinusValleyTemple,afterexcavationofwesternpartoftemple,lookingnorthwest,February9,1910.
PLATE25
a. Mycerinus Valley Temple, surface of decay of the portico and the offering room, after removing sand,
looking west, June 20, 1908.
b. Mycerinus Valley Temple, after excavation of western part, looking southeast from the unfinished
pyramid, February 9, 1910.
PLATE 26
’-
a. Mycerinus Valley Temple, western party after excavation, looking west (cf. Pl. 25 a), January 28, 1910.
b. Mycerinus Valley Temple, view as Pl. 26 a, after removing the north wall of room (I) of the Second Temple,
February 7, 1910.
PLATE 27
a. M. V. T., northern magazines looking south over corridor (20), before opening the old door-
way t o room (2), January 25, 1910.
b). M. V. T., as in a, above, after opening doorway to room c. M, V. T., view from south end of corridor ( 2 0 ) ,
(2), February 7, 1910. through ( 2 ) and (4) t o (21), February 6, 1910.
d. M. V.T., southern magazines and corridor (4), looking north with southern wall of the Second Temple in the
foreground, February 7, 1910.
a. M. V. T., western wall with rubble revetment, looking north, February 4, 1310.
b. b.M.V.T.,rooms(17),(18),anddoorway from(4)to(21),lookingsouth,
February 6 , 1910.
Plate28
c. c . M . V . T., d o o r w a y s , f r o m ( 4 ) t o (3),( 4 ) t o (19),( 4 ) t o ( 1 8 ) , a n d t h e t h i e v e s ’ d. d.M.V.T.,thieves’holeinrooms(4)and(18)inforeground,rooms(I-4)to
holein(4),lookingdowneast,February6,1910. (I-11)
in background, January 21, 1910.
PLATE 29
--
a. M. V. T., causeway corridor west of temple, with drain b. M. V. T., doorway from (21) to western corridor, dropped
in floor,
looking east, February 13, 1910. lintel of First Temple half cut away, and above this the
brickwork of the Second Temple, looking west, February
5,1910.
c. M. V. T., deposit of alabaster splinters from statues, found d. d.M.V.T,westernendofroom(III-7),exposedlimestone

along southern wall of (I-6), January 23, 1910. core-wall (Mycerinus), January 11, 1910.
e. M. V. T., steps i n doorway from (4) to (3) and exposed f. f.M.V.T.,easternendof(5)anddoorwayto(4),looking

limestonecore-wallin(18),lookingdownW.S.W., down E. N. E., February 6, 1910.
February 5, 1910.
PLATE30
a. M. V. T., rubble lining of thieves’ hole in room (IS), b. M. V. T., doorway from court through screen wall to
looking east, January 13, 1910. room (III-1), slab threshold, looking east, February 7,1910.
c. M . V . T., eastern side of portico, looking down to north, d. M. V. T., west wall of (II-1) with doorway to room (2),
showing foundation of parapet of portico, also adjoining showing threshold slab of First Temple, looking down
screen wall, February 2 0 , 1910. N. E., February 6, 1910.
e. M. V. T., doorway from room ( I ) to room (2), looking f. M. V. T., doorblock of crude brick in doorway from
west into room ( 2 ) , February S, 1910. (II-2) t o (II-4), seen from (II-4,) looking north, January
25, 1910.
PLATE 31
a. M. V. T., court, N. W. quarter, house walls over court and

western wall of court, looking west, January 2 6 , 1910.
b. M. V. T., court, N. W. quarter, looking west, after partially

exposing older niched wall, February 7, 1910.
C. M. V. T., court, N. W . quarter, niched wall of court, looking west, February

17, 1910.
PLATE 32
a. M. V. T., room (I-23), decayed arm of wooden statue in b. b . M . V . T . , c o u r t ,N . W . q u a r t e r ,p o t t e r y o n f l o o r o f ( I - 5 7 - b ) ,

d e b r i s ,l o o k i n g N . E . ,J a n u a r y2 0 , 1 9 1 0 . looking west,February 5,1910.
c. c. M. V . T . , court,g r a n a r i e s ( 4 0 ) , ( 4 3 ) , ( 5 3 ) , (54), ( 5 5 ) , l o o k i n g d . M . V . T . , c o u r t , (I-57-sub),p l a s t e r o n n i c h e d w a l l a n d

east, February 15, 1910. alabaster jar thrown out of magazines, looking north, Feb-
ruary 10,1910.
e. M.V.T.,court,N.
W.quarter,samestageas31-c, February f. f. M . V . T., s h a t t e r e d t r i a d ( N o . 13), a s f o u n d i n d e b r i s o f c o u r t ,
13, 1910. looking east, January 19, 1910.
PLATE3 3
- - - - I--
a. Mycerinus Valley Temple, court, southern half, looking east, M a r c h 5 , 1 9 1 0 .
b. Mycerinus Valley Temple, court, looking north, March 11, 1910.

PLATE 34
a. M. V. T., room (I-302

sub), pottery on floor of court, b. M. V. T., court, middle drain basin and pathway, look-
looking down east, February 26, 1910. i n g west, March 9,1910.
c. M. V. T., room (I-320), fragments of large alabaster d. M. V. T., vestibule, ante room (III-377), limestone decree
statues under floor, looking south, February28, 1910. of Pepy II,
looking east, March24,1910.
e. M. V. T., vestibule, northern magazine corridor, (III-380), f. M. V. T., court N. E. quarter, looking north, April I, 1910.
stair, looking north, April1,1910.
PLATE35
a. Mycerinus Valley Temple, vestibule and houses east of temple, before removing wall of vestibule of Second Temple,
looking N. N W . , March 15, 1910.
b. Mycerinus Valley Temple, same as a, after removing wall of vestibule of Second Temple, March 15, 1910.
b. b.M.V.T.,laterhousewalls above(III-4), (III-5),and(III-17), looking north, July11,1908.
Plate36
a. a.M.V.T.,corridor(4),thefourtriadsasfound,lookingnorth,July10,1908.
c. c.M.V.T.,corridor(4),triadsNos.9and12,partly
exposed,lookingdowntoS.W.,July10,1908.
PLATE37
a. a.M.V.T.,corridor(4),triadsNo.9(infront)andNo.12onright,lookingsouth,July12,1908.
b. b.M.V.T.,corridor(4),triadsNo.10(behind)andNo.11onright,lookingnorth,July11,1908.
PLATE 38
a. M. V. T., nome-triad No. 9, front view. b. M. V. T., nome-triad No. IO, front view.
c. M. V. T., nome-triad No. 11, front view. d. M. V. T., nome-triad No. 12, front view.
PLATE39
M.V.T.,triadoftheHare-nome(No.9),upperpart.
PLATE 40
a. a.M.V.T.,triadNo.9,rightside,halfview. b. b.M.V.T.,triadNo.9,leftside,halfview.
c. c.M.V.T.,triadNo.9,rightside,threequartersview. d. M. V. T., triad No. 9, left side, profile.

PLATE4 1
M.V.T.,triadoftheThebanNome(No.10).
PLATE4 2
a. M. V. T., triad No. a.M.V.T.,triadNo.10,rightside,1-4view. b. b.M.V.T.,triadNo.10,leftside. 1-4 view.
c. c.M.V.T.,triadNo.10, IO, right side, half view. d.M.V.T.,triadNo.10,

leftside,profile.
P L A T E4 3
a. a . M . V . T., t r i a d o f t h e J a c k a l l - n o m e , N o . 1 1 , u p p e r p a r t , l a r g e scale.
b. b.M . V . T., triadN o . 1 1 , leftside, profile.
c. M. V. T., triad No. c.M.V.T.,triadNo.11,rightside,halfview. d. M. V. T., triad No. d.M.v.T.,triadNo.11,leftside,halfview.

PLATE44
a. a.M.V.T.,triadofnomeofDiospolisparva(No. 12),upperpart.
b. b.M.V.T.,triadofnomeofDiospolisparva(No.12),faces
of the king and the nome-goddess.
PLATE 4 5
a. M. V. T., triad No. 12. right side, profile. b. M.V.T.,triadNo.12,leftside,profile.
c. M. V. T., triad No. triadNo.12,rightside,halfview. d. d.M.V.T.,triadNo.12,leftside,1-4view.

PLATE46
a. Triad No. 12, inscription, left half.

b. b.TriadNo.12,inscription, righthalf.
c. Triad No. 9, inscription.
d.TriadNo.10,inscription.
f. Triad No. 13.
e. Triad No. 11, inscription.

g. Fragment alabaster stela, from M. V. T., I-323.
PLATE4 7
a. M. V. T . , room (I) of Second Temple (portico of First Temple), showing four bases and other fragments of
alabaster statues as found, looking west, July 16, 1908.
b. M. V. T., alabaster statues No. No.19andNo.18,backand

right side (in camp courtyard).
c. c.M.V.T.,alabasterstatueNo.19,frontandleftside.
PLATE 48
b. M. V. T., alabaster statue IS, top of head, looking down.
a. M. V. T., alabaster statue 18,

front view.
c. c.M.V.T.,alabasterstatue18,torso,profile. d. M. V. T., alabaster statue 18, left side, profile.

PLATE49
M. V. T., head of alabaster statue No. 18, six views.

Plate50
M. V. T.,alabaster head No. 22, four views.

Plate51
M . V . T., alabaster head No. 22, four views, including back of head and top of head.
PLATE5 2
M. V. T., alabaster head No. 23, four views.

PLATE 53
M. V. T., alabaster head No. 23, four views.

b. Statue partly exposed, looking down to S. W., January 19.
a. a.Lookingsouthoverthieves'hole,January19.
Plate54
c . Statue standing in bottom of hole, looking down south, January 20. d. Same as c, near view.
pair (No.
slateof 17)
in M. V. T.,Discovery
corridor (4), bottom of thieves' hole, January 19, 1910.
M.V.T.,theslatepair,statueNo.17,theupperpart.(Torsoandheads),front. (Torso and heads, front).
Plate5
a. Right side. b. Front. c. Left side. Plate56
M. V. T., the slate pair (No. M.V.T.,theslatepair(No.17),threeviews.
PLATE5 7
M.VT ,thselatpeir(No1.7),twoviews.
b.Leftside,profile.
E
a.rightside,profle.
PLATE58
M. V. T., the slate pair (No. 17), upper half, right side, profile.
Plate59
M.V.T.,theslatepair(No.17),fourviewsoftheheads.
b. b. Upper half, in open air.
a. Upper half, in open air.
Plate60
0
d. Heads.
c. Upper half, in open air.
M. V. T., the slate pair (No. 17), four views.
PLATE61
--
a. a. M. V. T.,room(II-2),west e n d , l o o k i n gd o w n S. W ; statuettes b. b.M.V.T.,sameasa,lookingwest. J u l y1 7 ,1 9 0 8 .
Nos.27,29,32,39,andofferingtable,July17,1908.
c. c.M.V.T.,corridor(4),oppositeroom(5),lookingdownS.E., d. d.M.V.T.,room(3),S.W.corner,lookingdownwest,statuette
s t a t u e t t e sN o s . 3 1 , 3 5 , 3 7 , a n d 4 3 , J u l y 14,1 9 0 8 . No. 28, January 21, 1910.
e. e. M . V . T . , c o p p e r p a n u p s i d e d o w n o n s o u t h w a l l o f (8), l o o k - f. M. V. T., deposit under copper pan, looking down S. W.,

ingd o w n t o S.E . , J u l y 1 9 , 1 9 0 8 . f.M.V.T.,depositundercopperpan,lo kingdownS.W.,July 20,1908.
PLATE62
a. No. 25, state I. b.No.26,stateII.
c. No. 27, state 111.
e. No. 28, state IV. f . No. 32, state V. g. No. 35, state VI.
d. No. 29, state IV.
h.Nos.33,state
Vand31,state
IV. i. i.Nos.
36,state
VIand30,state
IV. j. No. 42, state VIII.
M. V. T., unfinished statuettes of Mycerinus.

PLATE 68
a. a.Nos.37,stateVIIand34,stateV. b. No. 43, left side.
c. No. 38, state VII. d. No. 40, state VII. e.No.43,limestone. f. No. 44, red granite.
k. No. 41, state VII.
g,h,i,j.No.48,ivory,fourviews. No. 48, ivory, four views.
M. V. T., statuettes and figures.

PLATE64
a. Slate jackal, No. 45.
b. No. 24 a, alabaster. c.No.47,alabaster.
d. d.DecreeofPepyII,lefthalf.
e. e.DecreeofPepyII,righthalf.
f .N o .4 6 ,a l a b a s t e r .
g. No. 15b, slate.
j. j.ImpressionofsealNo.2. h. No. 14, slate. i. No. 46, alabaster.
k. Impression of seal No. 3. l.SixvewsofeaNlo1.,silver. Six views of seal No. I , silver.
M. V. T., miscellaneous objects.

PLATE 65
b. b. Flintwand andmagical modelsofCheops.
a. Flint wand of Cheops.
c. Smaller flint wand and other objects.
e. Copper models and bent blade. f. Copper tools aud models.
d. Copper vase.
g.Coppermodels,Nos.5-7. h . h.Massofcoppertools,No.11. i.CoppertoolsNos.9and10.

and
M. V. T., magical models, tools and vessels.

PLATE 66
a, a. M.V. T.,beads and amuletsfromroom (I-50).
c. c. M . V.T., magazine(III-12), vessels as inb, lookingd o w n t o east,

January 28, 1910.
b. b. M. V. T., magazine(III-12),broken stone vessels o n

floor, looking down to W. S. W., January 26, 1910.
PLATE67
a. M. V. T., alabaster vessels, types I, V-c, V-b.
b. b.M.V.T.,alabastervessels,typesIV,V,VI.
h. b.M.V.T.,misc.,stonevessels.
a. a.M.V.T.,alabastervessels,typesIX-XIII.
Plate68
c. M. V. T., alabaster, large type I. d. M. V. T., blue-veined limestone, types IV, V.

a. M. V. T., diorite vessels, types V, IX, S I . b. V. T., diorite
M. vessels type X.
Plate69
c. M. V. T., alabaster, diorite. alabaster.
W
d. M. V. T . , porphyry and syenite, type I.

b. b.M.V.T.,porphyry,syenite,etc.,typesIV,V,X.
a. M. V. T., porphyry and syenite, type 111.
Plate70
c. M. V. T., flint bowl of Neb-ra and Hotepsekhemuwy. d. M. V. T., basalt vessels, types I, 11, IV, X.
c. M. V. T., pottery, type I.
b, b.M.V.T.,alabasterjar.
a.M.V.T.,alabaster models. d. d.M.V.T.,pottery,typeXXV.

e . e.M.V.T.,pottery,
typesXXVandII.
Plate71
f. f.M.V.T.,eastwallmagazinecorridor(III-20),fragments g . M. V. T., mag. (111-IO),

crushed pottery on floor, looking h. h.M.V.T.,pottery,typesVIIIandIV.
of stone vessels under collapsed wall. west.
PLATE 7 2
a. M. V. T., pottery, selected types from whole temple.
h. M. V. T., pottery from room (I-302

sub).
PLATE7 3
M. Q. T. Small pyramids III-a to III-c, seen f r o m Third Pyramid, looking d o w n S. W . , M a y 1910.
M. Q. T. Small pyramids III-a and III-b with excavated temples, looking down to south, M a y 1910.
PLATE 74
M.Q.T. Temple of small pyramid III-a, looking down to south, May rgro.
M.Q.T. Temple of small pyramid III-a, looking down to east, May 1910.
PLATE 7 5
M.
Q. T. Small pyramid unfinished
III-c, burial chamber, looking south, May, 1907.
M. Q. T. Small pyramid III-b,

temple, looking down to west, May, 1910.
a.M.Q.T. a.M.Q.T.SmallpyramidIII-c,templeprevioustoexcavation, lookingdowntosouth- b.M . Q .T. b. M. Q. T. Small pyramid III-c, surface of decay, beginning of excavation of debris of
west,June,1924. decay inportico, looking down tosouthwest, July, 1924.
Plate76
c. M. Q. T. c.M. Q. T. Small pyramid III-c, temple afterexcavation, looking down tosouthwest, d. M. Q. T. b.M.Q.T.SmallpyramidIII-c,temple,lookingN.N.W.,August,1924.
August,1924.
P L A T E7 7
~-
a. M. Q.
T. TempleIII-a,room(9),slabaltar,looking b.M.Q.T.Temple III-a,room (9),northern offering-
down to S. S. W. place,lookingN.N.W.
c. M.Q.T. Temple 111-a, looking west on axis to pyramid

from room (9).
d.M.Q.T.TempleIII-a,doorwayfrom(9)
to(3),northwall,printofdoor-leafonwall.
e. M. Q.
T. TempleIII-a,room(9),eastwall,southernpart,brickwork,
looking down to east.
PLATE78
a. a.M.Q.T. TempleIII-a,room(2),portico,lookingN.N.E. b. b.M.Q.T. TempleIII-a,rooms(7),(6),(4),(5),lookingwest

from room ( 7 ) .
c.M.Q.T. Temple III-a,

looking east along axis from doorway d. d.M.Q.T. TempleIII-a,room(11),lookingdowntoS.E.,in
of room (12). foreground top of course I of pyramid casing.
e.M.Q.T.TempleIII-a,room(9),lookingnorth.

Reisner Mycerinus

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Reisner Mycerinus

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Reisner Mycerinus

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

MYCERINUS

GEORGE A. REISNER, Ph.D.

GARDINER MARTIN LANE

1. DISCOVERY AND EXCAVATION OF THE MYCERINUS VALLEYTEMPLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

1. THEUSE OF FUNERARY TEMPLES AS DEPOSITORIES OF OBJECTS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96

1. LIST OF THE STATUARY FOUND IN THE MYCERINUS TEMPLES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108

1. HISTORYOF THE DEVELOPMENT OF EGYPTIAN STONEVESSELSFROM THE PREDYNASTIC PERIOD TO

(a) Type I. Wine Jar .

1. Débris in great court. mud wall well preserved. section . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

1. THE ROYAL CEMETERY AT GIZA

2. THE IDENTIFICATION OF THE THIRD PYRAMID

2. PREVIOUS REPORTS ON THE MYCERINUS PYRAMID TEMPLE

3. THE MYCERINUS PYRAMID TEMPLE AT THE BEGINNING OF OUR EXCAVATIONS

4. THE PROGRESS OF OUR EXCAVATIONS AT THE MYCERINUS PYRAMID TEMPLE,

5. THE DEPOSITS OF DÉBRIS IN THE MYCERINUS PYRAMID TEMPLE AND THE

( B ) THEDEBRIS IN THE PORTICO

( D ) THEDEBRIS IN THE MAGAZINES

I n the western end, in a hole through the floor:

( F ) ROOM(36) AND THE TEMPLE

6. DESCRIPTION OF THE TEMPLE AS AT PRESENT EXCAVATED

7. HISTORY OF THE CONSTRUCTION AND DECAY OF THE TEMPLE

1. DISCOVERY AND EXCAVATION OF THE MYCERINUS VALLEY TEMPLE

(B) SEARCHFOR THE VALLEYTEMPLE

2. DESCRIPTION OF THE MYCERINUS VALLEY TEMPLE

(2) T h e Great Open Court

(3) The Sanctuary, Pl.

(4) The Northern Magazines

(5) The Southern Magazines - Statue Rooms

(6) The Exterior Corridor

(7) The Decay of the First Crude-Brick Temple

(5) The Portal Structure or Vestibule

(6) General Decay of the Second Temple

(7) Plundering of the Second Crude-Brick Temple

(2) The Different Periods of the Houses

Abutting on this bonded complex were the well-built walls of

( A ) THEIDENTIFICATION OF PYRAMID III-a

(1) The Unfinished

(3) The Later Alterations and Repairs

2. THE TEMPLE OF PYRAMID III-b

(2) The Crude-Brick Temple- Shepseskaf

3. THE TEMPLE OF PYRAMID III-c

Room (2), in floor debris:

4. COMPARISON OF THE PLANS OF THE TEMPLES OF PYRAMIDS

( B ) RED GRANITEAND BLACKGRANITE

(2) Making the Bricks

(3) Sizes of Bricks in the Mycerinus Temples

Room (13) S. wall Room (13) N. wall Room (10) Court

“above zero” ......... Hr

The red granite casing blocks found complete measured:

(4) Free-Standing Walls

(2) Foundations of Crude-Brick Walls

(4) Doors and Windows

1. THE USE OF FUNERARY TEMPLES AS DEPOSITORIES. OF OBJECTS

(2) Dynasty II:

2. DATE OF THE OBJECTS FOUND IN THE MYCERINUS TEMPLES

3. ARCHAEOLOGICAL VALUE OF THE OBJECTS FOUND IN THE MYCERINUS TEMPLES

1. LIST OF THE STATUARY FOUND IN THE MYCERINUS TEMPLES

( A ) THEPYRAMID (M. P. T.)

(C) THE MYCERINUS