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Vol.36.p.1008

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Diary Transcription:

page 1008

microfilm: begin page 1008

Tuesday, June 18, 1940
Hawagat's furniture in L.G. 71. The Mudir spent the night in the tomb L.G. 71.

Wednesday, June 19, 1940
Guards in cleaning the car's roads between His Majesty the King's Rest House and G 7000 X.
The Mudir and Miss Perkins spent the night in L.G. 71.

Thursday, June 20, 1940
Guards in filling sacks with sand and putting them in magazine No. 4 for the objects from the Hetepheres tomb.
More boxes from Cairo containing Mr. Blanchard's Antiquities arrived and we are replacing them in their rock cut tomb G 7752.

Friday, June 21, 1940
Nothing.

Saturday, June 22, 1940
Guards in cleaning the car's road north of L.G. 71.
Today we sent to Cairo to the Sudan Government in Cairo four boxes containing the pottery from the Sudan to be sent to Mr. Arkell.

Sunday, June 23, 1940
Nothing.

Monday, June 24, 1940

work on
(1) In the men's tomb north of the camp
(2) in the car road south of the Great Pyramid

(1) In the men's tomb. In removing the dirty sand from the front of the tomb because of the bad smell. Cleared.

(2) Car road: In cleaning the car road south of the Great Pyramid.

Friday, June 28, 1940
Today Mrs. Reisner and Miss Mary Reisner left to Palestine and from Palestine they will take the airplane to India and from India to America by boat. They left Egypt because of the war.

Friday, July 5, 1940
Mohammed Said and family left for Quft because of war.
Also left to Quft: Mahmoud Ali, Haddad [Hadad Adawi], Ahmed Mahmoud and Hamid Genawi.

Tuesday, July 9, 1940
This morning a loaded lorry came with boxes of Mr. Blanchard's antiquities and we put them in G 7752.

Saturday, July 13, 1940
Two loaded lorries came with boxes of Mr. Blanchard's antiquities and we put them in G 7752, and these are the last boxes.

Today was Miss Dorothy Ginger's birthday and she made a tea party for all the men at the Camp and to all the Hawagat. In the tea party was a magician (a Hawi) and he was playing very good.

Tuesday, July 23, 1940
Mohammed Said arrived from Quft.

Thursday, July 25, 1940
Mr. A. Harrison working in the expedition Valanture.

Wednesday, July 31, 1940
Guards in building the hut for the guard of Blanchard's tomb. The hut will be on top of the mastaba G 7760. The guard is El Hagg Said Hassan Ali.

August 1, 2, 3, 1940
Guards in building the hut for the guard of Mr. Blanchard's Antiquities.

Sunday, August 25, 1940
Guards in cleaning the car's road in front of L.G. 71. Also they are continuing cleaning on August 26, 1940 and August 28, 1940.

microfilm: end page 1008

Details

  • Classification
    Documentation-Expedition diary pages
  • Department
    Harvard University-Boston Museum of Fine Arts Expedition
  • Credit Line
    Harvard University–Boston Museum of Fine Arts Expedition
  • Display Page Dates
    06/18/1940 through 08/25/1940
  • Mentioned on page
    Ahmed Mahmud el-Nahi
    Anthony Arkell, British, 1898–1980
    Austen St. Barbe Harrison, English, 1891-1976
    Dorothy Ginger
    Evelyn Esther Perkins, British
    George Andrew Reisner, American, 1867–1942
    Hadad Adawi
    Hamid Genawi
    Mahmoud Ali
    Miss Mary Reisner, American, 1902–1963
    Mohamed Said Ahmed [Diraz]
    Mrs. Mary Reisner, American
    Ralph Huntington Blanchard, American, 1875-1936
    Said Hassan Ali
    Hetepheres I (G 7000 X)
  • Translator
    Mahmud Said Ahmed [Diraz]
  • Author
    Mohamed Said Ahmed [Diraz]

Tombs and Monuments 3

  • G 7000 X

    • Site Name Eastern Cemetery

  • G 7752

    • Site Name Eastern Cemetery

  • G 7760

    • Site Name Eastern Cemetery

People 17

Ancient People

  • Hetepheres I (G 7000 X)

    • Type Mentioned on page
    • Remarks Wife of King Snefru, founder of Egypt’s Fourth Dynasty, and mother of King Khufu, builder of the Great Pyramid. Her burial was hidden in a secret chamber (labeled G 7000 X) nearly 90 feet underground, and contained beautiful pieces of gilded and inlaid wooden furniture, silver jewelry, and a large alabaster sarcophagus that was found to be mysteriously empty.

Modern People

  • Ahmed Mahmud el-Nahi

    • Type Mentioned on page
    • Nationality & Dates
    • Remarks Brother of Atito Mahmud el-Nahi.

  • Anthony Arkell

    • Type Mentioned on page
    • Nationality & Dates British, 1898–1980
    • Remarks Revd.; archaeologist. Nationality and life dates from Who was Who in Egyptology.

  • Austen St. Barbe Harrison

    • Type Mentioned on page
    • Nationality & Dates English, 1891-1976
    • Remarks Traced plans surveyed and drawn by Alexander Floroff

  • Dorothy Ginger

    • Type Mentioned on page
    • Nationality & Dates
    • Remarks Friend of Reisner's secretary Evelyn Perkins; often present at Harvard Camp, Giza, during the 1930s and 1940s; later married a Mr. White to become Dorothy Ginger White.

  • Evelyn Esther Perkins

    • Type Mentioned on page
    • Nationality & Dates British
    • Remarks Secretary to George Reisner

  • George Andrew Reisner

    • Type Mentioned on page
    • Nationality & Dates American, 1867–1942
    • Remarks Egyptologist, archaeologist; Referred to as "the doctor" and "mudir" (Arabic for "director") in the excavation records. Nationality and life dates from Who was Who in Egyptology.

  • Hadad Adawi

    • Type Mentioned on page
    • Nationality & Dates

  • Hamid Genawi

    • Type Mentioned on page
    • Nationality & Dates
    • Remarks Guard at Giza (from Quft).

  • Mahmoud Ali

    • Type Mentioned on page
    • Nationality & Dates

  • Mahmud Said Ahmed [Diraz]

    • Type Translator
    • Nationality & Dates
    • Remarks Diary translator. Son of Said Ahmed Said [Diraz] (Head Reis 1908-1926). Brother of Mohammed Said Ahmed (Head Reis 1936-1939). Family name, Diraz, was supplied by Said Ahmed Said's grandsons in 2006.

  • Miss Mary Reisner

    • Type Mentioned on page
    • Nationality & Dates American, 1902–1963
    • Remarks Daughter of George and Mary Reisner

  • Mohamed Said Ahmed [Diraz]

    • Type Author
    • Nationality & Dates
    • Remarks Head Reis for the Harvard-MFA expedition, 1936–1939. Son of Said Ahmed Said [Diraz] (Head Reis 1908-1926) and brother of Mahmoud Said Ahmed [Diraz] (Translator) and Ahmed Said Ahmed [Diraz]. Family name, Diraz, was supplied by Said Ahmed Said's grandsons in 2006.

  • Mohamed Said Ahmed [Diraz]

    • Type Mentioned on page
    • Nationality & Dates
    • Remarks Head Reis for the Harvard-MFA expedition, 1936–1939. Son of Said Ahmed Said [Diraz] (Head Reis 1908-1926) and brother of Mahmoud Said Ahmed [Diraz] (Translator) and Ahmed Said Ahmed [Diraz]. Family name, Diraz, was supplied by Said Ahmed Said's grandsons in 2006.

  • Mrs. Mary Reisner

    • Type Mentioned on page
    • Nationality & Dates American
    • Remarks Wife of Dr. George Reisner, mother of Miss Mary Reisner.

  • Ralph Huntington Blanchard

    • Type Mentioned on page
    • Nationality & Dates American, 1875-1936
    • Remarks Reisner had a tomb with iron door prepared in 1940 for Mr. Blanchard's antiquities. The role of Mr. Blanchard is not mentioned, but he is perhaps the antiquities dealer of the same name who was based in Cairo. This is perhaps the same Mr. Blanchard who is mentioned in H. Lyman Story's diary, Jan.-Feb. 1915. Identity confirmed with additiona detail in 2020: Fredrik Hagen and Kim Ryholt, The Antiquities Trade in Egypt 1880–1930. The H.O. Lange Papers (Copenhagen: Specialtrykkeriet Viborg, 2016), esp. pp. 68-70, 160-61, 205-206.

  • Said Hassan Ali

    • Type Mentioned on page
    • Nationality & Dates
    • Remarks Guard at Giza (from Quft). Possibly same person as Said Hassan.