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Diary Transcription:

microfilm: West diary, begin page 1

Sunday, December 29, 1912

A cold disagreeable day, with some rain in the afternoon.

In shaft G 2381 A, two and one half stones were removed, the last two about 1.5 meters in length. In pit G 2379 A, the chamber was found to be open. In the debris that filled the chamber were found a few copper chisels and a model copper axe.

Work was also continued along the east side of Lepsius 23 [= G 2000]. The offering niche at the north is the thickness of four courses of stone above the ground - and above the level of the small mastabas in front. It is likely that the builder of this mastaba intended to have the northern niche on the same level as the southern - the four courses of stone being just equal to the slope of the land. The niche is clearly unfinished, and this makes it probable that the ground level in front was not raised to the proper height (the height of the niche) by a terrace. The mastabas in front of the niche resemble in the character of their masonry Dynasty 5 work; this strengthens the hypothesis that the ground in front of this niche was not filled in; that the small mastabas were built later; and that Lepsius 23 [= G 2000] was accordingly not built over these smaller ones.
The arrangement of the small mastabas is important and interesting:
[ILLUSTRATION]

microfilm: West diary, end page 1

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
    12/29/1912
  • Author
    Louis Caulton West, American, 1882–1972

Tombs and Monuments 6

  • G 2000

    • Site Name Western Cemetery
  • G 2379

    • Site Name Western Cemetery
  • G 2381

    • Site Name Western Cemetery
  • G 2501

    • Site Name Western Cemetery
  • G 2506

    • Site Name Western Cemetery
  • G 2507

    • Site Name Western Cemetery

People 1

Modern People

  • Louis Caulton West

    • Type Author
    • Nationality & Dates American, 1882–1972
    • Remarks Worked on the MFA-Harvard expedition from 1912-1914 according to the preface of George A. Reisner's, "A History of the Giza Necropolis, Vol I." Harvard graduate, c.1912.