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Diary Transcription:

microfilm: begin page 53

Tuesday, March 5, 1912 (continued)

Winch with box carrying about eight baskets of dirt mounted and working in pit of Lepsius 23 [= G 2000].

Work on pit of b1 (G 2130) [see page 49 typewritten diary, page 73 handwritten diary] has disclosed mouth of pit. Fine masonry lines the pit. Pit has been plundered and is now filled with sand as was Nefer pit (G 2110).

Space between G 2190 and G 2170 finished as far as planned. Extending clearing westward along northern end of G 2170 as far as G 2150.

Shovel gang has worked through Steindorff's dump and underlying debris to southern end of G 2200 [= G 5080] and is beginning to work out debris from the south northwards.

Magazines for small camera arrived and Bedawi resumed photography of pits. Rowe is in charge of recording of pits; Fisher is in charge of mastaba plans and map.

Wednesday, March 6, 1912

About 1 o'clock the gang in front of G 2200 [= G 5080] [see page 49 typewritten diary, page 73 handwritten diary] came on the chamber of that tomb (name [GLYPHS in handwritten diary] Seshem-nefer) in fine white limestone cut in relief and colored (colors badly preserved). No sign of a statue chamber. The mastaba is a rebuilt one.

[ILLUSTRATION]
a. Khufu masonry
b. later Khafre masonry.
Stone thieves have torn

microfilm: end page 53

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
    03/05/1912; 03/06/1912
  • Mentioned on page
    Badawi Ahmed (expedition photographer)
    Clarence Stanley Fisher, American, 1876–1941
    Georg Steindorff, German, 1861–1951
    Louis Earle Rowe, American
    Nefer (G 2110)
    Seshemnefer [II] (G 5080)
  • Author
    George Andrew Reisner, American, 1867–1942

Tombs and Monuments 7

  • G 2000

    • Site Name Western Cemetery
  • G 2110

    • Site Name Western Cemetery
  • G 2130

    • Site Name Western Cemetery
  • G 2150

    • Site Name Western Cemetery
  • G 2170

    • Site Name Western Cemetery
  • G 5080

    • Site Name Western Cemetery
  • G 5090

    • Site Name Western Cemetery

People 7

Ancient People

  • Nefer (G 2110)

    • Type Mentioned on page
    • Remarks Owner of G 2110. Appears in chapel relief (south, west, and east walls; not all instances with inscription preserved), identifed as [(sAb) nxt-xrw HqA Hwt jmj-r sSw Xrt-a nswt Hrj-sStA nswt m swt nb sS pr-aA] strong-of-voice (of the judiciary), chief of the estate, overseer of scribes of the portfolios of the king, secretary of the king in all places, scribe of the Great House; in situ in G 2110. Displaced fragments of relief (three unregistered fragments + 36-12-2 = MFA 31.780), upper part of standing figures of Nefer and Wenankhes; originally from G 2110, south wall of chapel (lower part of figures still in situ). Displaced blocks of relief from south door jamb (Louvre B 51) and north door jamb (MFA 07.1002) inscribed for Nefer, identifed as [jmj-r Xkrw nswt nb xrp aprw nfrw jmj-r stj DfAw jmj-r pr-aHAw wr mDw Sma rx nswt jmj-r prwj-HD] overseer of all royal ornaments, director of crews of recruits, overseer of the two places of provisions, overseer of the house of weapons, great one of the tens of Upper Egypt, royal acquaintance, overseer of the two treasuries; originally from G 2110, chapel entrance. Displaced false door tablet with crossbar = lower lintel (Museo Barracco 1) inscribed for Nefer, identified as [jmj-r sSw aprw jmj-r pr-HD] overseer of scribes of the crews, overseer of the treasury; originally from G 2110, west wall of chapel. Limestone drum lintel (UPM_E13531) inscribed for Nefer, identified as [jmj-r sSw aprw xrp aprw nfrw sS a nswt jmj-r pr-HD] overseer of scribes of the crews, director of crews of recruits, royal document scribe, overseer of the treasury; found reused in G 3015, originally from G 2110, chapel entrance. Limestone reserve head (MFA 06.1886) attributed to Nefer; found in G 2110 A.
  • Seshemnefer [II] (G 5080)

    • Type Mentioned on page
    • Remarks Owner of G 5080. Pillars and jambs of court entrance and north and south false doors inscribed for Seshemnefer, identified as [jmj-r sSw a nswt Hrj-sStA n wDt-mdw nb nt nswt jmj-r kAt nb nswt sS Xrt-a nswt sS a nswt n sbAjt nswt Hrj-sStA n Xrt-a nswt jmj-r (pr) aHAw m prwj] overseer of royal document scribes, secretary of every royal decree, overseer of all royal works, scribe of the royal document-case, royal document scribe of the royal instructors, secretary of the royal document-case, overseer of (the house of) weapons in the two houses; also appears in chapel relief (west, south, and east walls); in situ in G 5080. Red granite sarcophagus (33-4-19 = Cairo JE 60541) inscribed for Seshemnefer; found in situ in G 5080 B.

Modern People

  • Badawi Ahmed (expedition photographer)

    • Type Mentioned on page
    • Nationality & Dates
    • Remarks Expedition photographer at Giza.
  • Clarence Stanley Fisher

    • Type Mentioned on page
    • Nationality & Dates American, 1876–1941
    • Remarks Archaeologist and architect. Nationality and life dates from Who was Who in Egyptology.
  • Georg Steindorff

    • Type Mentioned on page
    • Nationality & Dates German, 1861–1951
    • Remarks Egyptologist and Copticist. Nationality and life dates from Who was Who in Egyptology. (1861-1951) German Egyptologist and Copticist; he was born in Dessau, 12 Nov. 1861, son of Ludwig S. and Helen S.; he was educated at the Universities of Berlin and Gottingen, and was Erman's (q.v.) first student; Ph.D. Gott., 1884; afterwards appointed assistant in Berlin Museum, 1885-93; Professor of Egyptology at Leipzig, 1893 until 1938, where he founded the Egyptian Institute and filled it with objects from his excavations in Egypt and Nubia; Steindorff made a special study of Coptic and was with Crum (q.v.) the leading authority in the world during his lifetime; he was also interested in art and published books and articles on this subject as well as on Egyptian religion; he explored the Libyan Desert, 1899-1900; excavated at Giza, 1909-1 1, and in Nubia, 1912- 14 and 1930-1; he edited the ZAS for 40 years and contributed many articles to it; his studies in Coptic were of the utmost importance and his Coptic Grammar still remains a standard work of reference and perhaps the most popular ever written in this field; in philology as a whole he was in the first rank and established the rules which are gener- ally accepted for the vocalization of Egyptian; in 1939 he was forced to emigrate to America when the Nazis were in power in Germany, and started another career there at the age of nearly eighty; he continued his studies in the museums of New York, Boston, and Baltimore and the Oriental Institute of Chicago; Hon. Member of American Oriental Soc.; at Baltimore he compiled a 12-vol. MSS Catalogue of Egyptian antiquities in the Walters Art Gallery, which formed the basis for a later pub. work; both his 70th and 80th birthdays were the subject of tributes, see below; his published works are very numerous and his bibl. lists about 250 books, articles, and reviews, the first of which appeared in 1883, the last in the year of his death nearly 70 years later; Sassanidische Siegelsteine, with P. Horn, 1891; Koptische Grammatik mit Chrestomathie, Worterverzeichnis und Literatur, 1894, rev. ed. 1904; Grabfunde des Mittleren Reiches in den Koniglichen Museen zu Berlin. I. Das Grab des Mentuhotep, 1896; Die Apokalypse des Elias, eine unbekannte Apokalypse und Bruchstücke der Sophonias-Apokalypse. Koptische Text, Ubersetzung, Glossar, 1899; Die Blütezeit des Pharaonenreiches, 1900, rev. ed. 1926; Grabfunde des Mitt, Reiches in den Koniglichen Mus, zu Berlin, II. Der Sarg des Sebk-o. Ein Grabfund aus Gebelên, 1901; Durch die Libysche Wüste zur Amonoase, 1904; The Religion of the Ancient Egyptians, 1905; Koptische Rechtsurkunden des Achten Jahrhunderts aus Djëme, Theben, with W. E. Crum, 1912; Das Grab des Ti. Veroffentlichungen der Ernst von Sieglin Expedition in Agypten, vol. 2, 1913; Aegyten in Vergangenheit und Gegenwart, 1915; Kurzer Abriss der Koptischen Grammatik mit Lesestücken und W?rterveyzeichnis, 1921;Die Kunst derAegypter. Bauten,Plaslik, Kunstgewerbe, 1928; Aniba, 1. Band with R. Heidenreich, F. Kretschmar, A. Langsdorff, and W. Wolf, 11. Band with M. Marcks, H. Schleif, and W. Wolf, 1935-7; Die Thebanische Graberwelt, with W. Wolf, 1936; When Egypt Ruled the East, with K. C. Seele, 1942; Egypt, text of Hoyningen-Huene, 1943; Catalogue of the Egyptian Sculpture in the Walters Art Gallery, 1946; Lehrbuch der Koptischen Grammatik, 1951; while in America he also wrote a Coptic-Egyptian Etymological Dictionary; The Origin of the Coptic Language and Literature: Prolegomena to the Coptic Grammar; The Proverbs of Solomon in Akhmimic Coptic according to a Papyrus in the State Library in Berlin, with a Coptic-Greek Glossary compiled by Carl Schmidt, he also edited many editions of Baedeker's Egypt, making it a standard work for all travellers and the best general guide available; he died in Hollywood, California, 28 Aug. 1951. AEB 28, 29; Bulletin Issued by. the Egyptian Educ. Bureau, London, n(. 58, Sept. 1951. 25 (anon);Chron. D'Eg.27 (I952), 391;JA0S 61 (1941), 288-9, Eightieth Anniversary. of Prof.Steindorff,J.H Breasted Jnr.;66.(1946), 76-87, The Writings of Georg Steindroff , J.H.Breasted Jnr.; 67 (1947) , 141-2,326-7; JEA 38 (1952), 2; Kürschner Corr .; The Times , 30 Aug. 1951; ZAS67 (1931), 1, Seventieth Birthday Tribute; ZAS79 (1954) , V-VI (portr.)(S.Morenz); E. Blumenthal,Altes ?gypten in Leipzig, 1918, 15-31 .
  • George Andrew Reisner

    • Type Author
    • 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.
  • Louis Earle Rowe

    • Type Mentioned on page
    • Nationality & Dates American
    • Remarks Docent at Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, beginning 1907; then Assistant in the Egyptian Department, 1910-1912. Field Assistant on Harvard University-Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Expedition in 1912. Director of RISD, 1912-1937.