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Vol.13.p.308

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Diary Transcription:

microfilm: begin page 308

The so-called "Trial Passages" of Petrie, east of the Great Pyramid.

North of the Khufu boat, on a north-south axis, there is what was taken by Petrie for a system of Trial Passages, closely resembling on a smaller scale, the system used in the Great Pyramid.
These are now seen to belong to another pyramid which was, above ground, completely destroyed by Khufu in building his causeway and excavating the boat. Its position is indicated on page 307 by a dotted outline, the area being a guess based on the idea of its proportional plan being the same at that in the Great Pyramid. Its west face must have nearly lined up with G I-a, G I-b, and G I-c. It has received the number of G I-e, although clearly earlier than G I in date.
Supposing that it is similar in plan to G I-d, the ruined temple foundations might be found by scraping the rock to the north, and the pit corresponding to G 7000 X might well be searched for in the neighborhood of the King's house.
The accompanying sketch sections are from Petrie, "Pyramids and Temples of Gizeh," plates III and IX. Compare also Vyse, "Pyramids of Gizeh", vol. II, page 130.

[ILLUSTRATION]

At the north, as Petrie remarks, the rock is cut to receive the sloping course of masonry, as occurs in most of the major buildings of the period at Giza.
The bottom of the descending passage appears unfinished.
This may point to the existence of a pit burial as in G 7000 X.
Col. Vyse quotes Perrings's suggestion that this may be connected with a pyramid foundation.
It is possible that the idea of the "well" is to provide a slot for a heavy portcullis to block the burial.

[ILLUSTRATION]

microfilm: end page 308

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
    04/07/1925
  • Mentioned on page
    John Shae Perring, British, 1813–1869
    Richard William Howard Vyse, British, 1784–1853
    Sir William Flinders Petrie, British, 1853–1942
    Khufu
  • Author
    Thomas Richard Duncan Greenlees, British, 1899–

Tombs and Monuments 7

  • G 7000 X

    • Site Name Eastern Cemetery

  • G I-a

    • Site Name Khufu Pyramid Complex

  • G I-b

    • Site Name Khufu Pyramid Complex

  • G I-c

    • Site Name Khufu Pyramid Complex

  • G I-e

    • Site Name Khufu Pyramid Complex

  • Khufu Boat Pits

    • Site Name Khufu Pyramid Complex

  • Khufu Pyramid

    • Site Name Khufu Pyramid Complex

People 5

Ancient People

  • Khufu

    • Type Mentioned on page
    • Remarks Second king of Dynasty 4, son of Snefru. Builder of the Great Pyramid at Giza, the only one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World still standing. Known two thousand years later by the Greeks as King Cheops. Horus name: [mDdw] Medjedu. Full birth-name: Khnum-Khufu.

Modern People

  • John Shae Perring

    • Type Mentioned on page
    • Nationality & Dates British, 1813–1869
    • Remarks Civil engineer. Nationality and life dates from Who was Who in Egyptology.

  • Richard William Howard Vyse

    • Type Mentioned on page
    • Nationality & Dates British, 1784–1853
    • Remarks Army officer, excavator, author and benefactor; Drew up plans of Zawiet el-Aryan in 1837. Nationality and life dates from Who was Who in Egyptology.

  • Sir William Flinders Petrie

    • Type Mentioned on page
    • Nationality & Dates British, 1853–1942
    • Remarks Father of British Egyptology.

  • Thomas Richard Duncan Greenlees

    • Type Author
    • 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.