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Diary Transcription:

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Friday, February 6, 1925 (continued)

(2) Street G 7500 and G 7510 (continued)
eldest daughter of the King (=Hwfw, Khufu), her husband might well have been heir to the throne and on his death Khafre have followed him as being husband of the (?) second daughter Meresankh. This position would account for the owner's wealth so clearly manifested in this huge and beautiful mastaba. The reliefs are everywhere of great delicacy and beauty and the colors often remarkably fresh. This is a scale sketch of the stela of Hetepheres.

[ILLUSTRATION]

stela of [GLYPHS] facing west G 7510

Just east of this stela there is a pit (G 7510 Y) from which at the depth of 3.20 meters clear sand is coming. From the depth of 1.80 meters came a set of late (Dynasty 30?) canopic jars of limestone, the heads on the lids being beautifully carved. One of these bears the following text [GLYPHS] in rough black ink characters giving the name of Ankhpekhrad. Others contain a few fragments of hieroglyphs. From this pit came also a very fine black polished stone saucer, a number of fine beads of blue, green and yellow faience, and many fragments of ushabtis of blue glaze (perhaps Dynasty 30) one bearing the inscription [GLYPHS] with the name of [TRANSLITERATION].

This pit also contained a few fragments of relief from G 7510 chapels, in the upper debris. It will be sketched in together with the chapels of the great mastaba when all are cleared. To the south of these chapels the plan of G 7631 (q.v.) is now almost clear and a plan is given overleaf. West of it there is a small chapel not yet excavated, and to the east a deep pit wherein is the entrance to a large chamber on west. The mastaba is constructed of smaller stones than those in the greater mastaba. The stela is of the general type of Dynasty 6 and bears traces of sculpture on south.

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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
    02/06/1925
  • Mentioned on page
    Ankh-haf (G 7510)
    Ankhpakhered (in G 7510)
    Hetepheres (in G 7510)
    Khafre
    Khufu
    Meresankh III (G 7530-7540)
  • Author
    Thomas Richard Duncan Greenlees, British, 1899–

Tombs and Monuments 3

People 7

Ancient People

  • Ankh-haf (G 7510)

    • Type Mentioned on page
    • Remarks Owner of G 7510. Husband of Hetepheres.
  • Ankhpakhered (in G 7510)

    • Type Mentioned on page
    • Remarks Limestone canopic jar (25-2-147) inscribed for Ankhpakhered (one of incomplete set of four including 25-2-148, 25-2-149, others uninscribed); found in G 7510 Y.
  • Hetepheres (in G 7510)

    • Type Mentioned on page
    • Remarks Wife of Ank-haf (owner of G 7510) and eldest daughter of Snefru and Hetepheres I. North false door inscribed for Hetepheres; in situ in G 7510, interior chapel.
  • Khafre

    • Type Mentioned on page
    • Remarks Fourth king of Dynasty 4. Son of Khufu. Builder of the Second Pyramid at Giza and probably of the Great Sphinx as well. Known two thousand years later by the Greeks as King Khephren. A number of diorite and greywacke statues and statue fragments depicting the king have been discovered in Khafre's valley temple, including Cairo CG 9-17. The fragmentary head of an alabaster royal statue (MFA 21.351 + MFA 33.1113) is attributed to Khafre.
  • 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.
  • Meresankh III (G 7530-7540)

    • Type Mentioned on page
    • Remarks Owner of G 7530-7540.Granddaughter of King Khufu, builder of the Great Pyramid, and wife of either Khafre or Menkaure. Her unique underground chapel (labeled G 7530-7540) preserves beautifully carved and painted scenes of the queen and her royal family, as well as servants, artisans, and funerary priests. The scenes also depict the sort of rich burial goods that would have been placed in Meresankh’s tomb: statues and fine furniture; boxes containing food, clothing, and jewelry; even a representation of the black granite sarcophagus that was actually found in situ in her burial chamber. Chapel entrance architrave, jambs, reveals and drum inscribed for Meresankh, idenitifed as [mAAt Hr stX wrt Hts nbwj xt Hr wrt Hst DHwtj smrt Hr mrt=f sAt nswt n Xt=f Hmt nswt mrt] seer of Horus and Seth, great one of the hetes-scepter of the Two Lords, khet-priestess of Horus, great of praises of Thoth, companion of Horus, his beloved, king's daughter of his body, beloved king's wife; in situ in G 7530-7540. Appears in chapel relief of main room: seated holding lotus (south wall); standing with her mother (east wall), idenitifed as [wrt Hts] great one of the hetes-scepter; on pillars (north wall), idenitifed as [tjst Hr] intimate(?) of Horus; seated at offering table, standing north of false door and on central pillar, and with her mother and son (west wall), idenitifed as [Hm-nTr DHwtj wrt Hts nbtj Hm-nTr bApf Hm-nTr HwtHr nbt jwnt smAwt mrjj nbtj] priestess of Thoth, great one of the hetes-scepter of the Two Ladies, priestess of Bapef, priestess of Hathor Mistress-of-Dendera, consort of him who is beloved of the Two Ladies; in situ in G 7530-7540. Also appears on all walls of offering (west) room; in situ in G 7530-7540. Architrave on north wall of north room inscribed for Meresankh; uninscribed statues may also represent Meresankh (along with other female family members); in situ in G 7530-7540. Black granite sarcophagus (Cairo JE 54935) inscribed for Meresankh, idenitifed as [xrp sSmtjw SnDt] director of butchers of the 'Acacia House'; in situ in burial chamber of G 7530-7540. Incomplete limestone statue of Meresankh (MFA 30.1457) and pair statue of Meresankh and Hetepheres II (MFA 30.1456); found displaced in debris of main room. Mother ([mwt=f] his mother) of Nebemakhet (owner of G 8172 = Lepsius 86). Appears in relief of inner chapel (above doorway in eastern wall), identified as [mAAt Hr stX wrt Hts wrt Hst Hmt nswt] seer of Horus and Seth, great one of the hetes-scepter, great of praises, king's wife; in situ in G 8172. Also mentioned in the tomb of her steward Khemetnu (owner of G 5210).

Modern People

  • 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.