Vol.13.p.264

Diary Transcription:

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Friday, February 27, 1925 (continued)

(3) G 7000 X
once to be incomplete. A pair of bull's horns was noticed towards the south. The rock surface here was execrable, being largely composed of a reddish orange sand which had apparently tricked into a crack while the limestone was forming. The limestone itself was saved for examination and analysis. In the southeast corner of the pit walls there is a black substance, which was also collected for later study. The chamber content was partially obscured by sand and crumbled rock fallen from the ceiling. This also partially filled the two pots.

It was possible when the photographs of the chamber as found had been secured to examine the contents more closely:

A large rough limestone boulder, not from roof or walls, had apparently been thrown into the chamber, possibly with a view to smashing the offerings and releasing their "k3's" [TRANSLITERATION]. This crushed the bones of the bull's skull and damaged the reed mat.

The two horns first seen belonged to the head of a bull laid at the south side of the chamber with the snout towards the west. Many of the bones of this head were in fair condition though the inner cerebral plates were badly crushed. With and under the head were the two fore feet of the bull. The whole had been wrapped in a white reed mat, shreds of which were to be seen everywhere around some over and some under the bones. In one place, at the south, a cross piece was seen [ILLUSTRATION]. The mat was a very flimsy texture.

The pots were of similar make and texture to those of which fragments had been found mixed with the pit-block. That to the west had no rim or neck and lay on its side, bottom to the northeast. That on the east stood on its pointed bottom leaning over towards the southeast and supported by a block of the second course. The contents of both pots were sent up for analysis.

A number of small pieces of charcoal were found towards the south wall and, later, many others under the south block of lowest course. These may have been from the burning of fragment woods as an incense at the consecration of the offerings. It should be said here that the elements of this doorblock were beautifully smoothed and perfectly regular in shape, the irregularities in the ceiling being stopped by small stones in cement.

Pot No. 8 in the plan, i.e. that to the east, was over the reed mat enwrapping the metacarpals etc. of the bull.

At the northwest corner of the chamber a number of small stones resting on a lump of rock emerge from crumbled ceiling debris.

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