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Vol.14.p.001

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Diary Transcription:

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Tuesday, November 17, 1925

The renewal of my permit for Giza pyramids has been delayed but Mr. Edgar the acting Director General of the Service des Antiquities has informed me that I may proceed until formalities have been completed.
Two weeks ago we warned workers in the village to be ready on November 15 and on that day telegraphed them to come. The telegram arrived at Quft late in the day and they left last night. This morning, ninety-two men arrived and spent the day settling down in their old huts.
The Thomson-Hurston people had the Lister engine and the electric generator coupled and running this evening. This plant is in the hut which we have constructed about 10 meters northwest of the "new tomb" (G 7000 X).
I instructed Said Ahmed to begin tomorrow morning on the group of tombs Lepsius 15, 16 and 17 lying isolated west of cemetery G 4000. Those tombs have never been completely cleared. The reliefs are exposed in places. The whole needs to be roofed and placed under lock and key. The relation to the mastabas on the north and west needs to be established. At present we are not ready to begin on G 7000 and after we have begun there the clearing of this group will enable us to employ the men during phases for recording in cemetary G 7000.
I have been ill with "shingles" (herpes) since the beginning of September and unable to make a thorough examination of the area east of G 7510 where lies the next work in cemetary G 7000.
I have assisting me, Mr. T.R.D. Greenlees, and Mr. Alex Hawes. Lieutenant Commander Wheeler is employed on map work. Mr. Bonello is copying plans and maps. Mrs. Reisner, Mary, and Mrs. Wheeler are living in camp.

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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
    11/17/1925
  • Mentioned on page
    Alex B. Hawes
    Campbell Cowan Edgar, British, 1870–1938
    Joseph Bonello
    Miss Mary Reisner, American, 1902–1963
    Mrs. Mary Reisner, American
    Mrs. Noel F. Wheeler, British
    Noel F. Wheeler, British
    Said Ahmed Said [Diraz] (Reis)
    Thomas Richard Duncan Greenlees, British, 1899–
    Thomson-Hurston Company
  • Author
    George Andrew Reisner, American, 1867–1942

Tombs and Monuments 7

People 10

Modern People

  • Alex B. Hawes

    • Type Mentioned on page
    • Nationality & Dates

  • Campbell Cowan Edgar

    • Type Mentioned on page
    • Nationality & Dates British, 1870–1938
    • Remarks Egyptologist and Greek scholar; Acting Director General of the Department of Antiquities. Nationality and life dates from Who was Who in Egyptology.

  • 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.

  • Joseph Bonello

    • Type Mentioned on page
    • Nationality & Dates
    • Remarks Draftsman for the Harvard University--Boston Museum of Fine Arts Expedition

  • Miss Mary Reisner

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

  • Mrs. Mary Reisner

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

  • Mrs. Noel F. Wheeler

    • Type Mentioned on page
    • Nationality & Dates British

  • Noel F. Wheeler

    • Type Mentioned on page
    • Nationality & Dates British
    • Remarks Wheeler was a Lieutenant Commander in the Royal Navy according to George A. Reisner's, "A HIstory of the Giza Necropolis, Vol. I."

  • Said Ahmed Said [Diraz] (Reis)

    • Type Mentioned on page
    • Nationality & Dates
    • Remarks Head Reis for the Harvard-MFA expedition, 1908–1926. In his "A History of the Giza Necropolis I," George A Reisner described Said Ahmed Said as "the most gifted foreman who ever worked for the expedition." Father of Mohammed Said Ahmed [Diraz] (Head Reis 1936–1939), Mahmud Said Ahmed [Diraz] (Translator), Ahmed Said Ahmed [Diraz]. Family name, Diraz, was supplied by Said Ahmed Said's grandsons in 2006.

  • Thomas Richard Duncan Greenlees

    • Type Mentioned on page
    • Nationality & Dates British, 1899–
    • Remarks Thomas Richard Duncan Greenlees, born South Africa, Sivaratri, March 10, 1899. British subject with a Scottish father and an English mother. For a brief period during 1925 he was a staff member of Harvard University--Boston Museum of Fine Arts Expedition, who later joined the Theosophist movement in India. Greenlees received his MA degree in 1922 from Oxford, where he studied Egyptian, Coptic and Arabic. April 2,1925, Greenlees appointed Assistant Curator of Egyptian Art at MFA.

Institutions 1