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Vol.13.p.310

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Diary Transcription:

microfilm: begin page 310

It is impossible to discuss this subject without mentioning the important text from Dahshur stated by Dr. Borchardt to have been found in position under water at the south-east corner of the town walls 2200 meters east of the pyramid alleged to belong to Snefru. Borchardt says he did not himself see this Dynasty 6 decree in position, he relies upon the work of a quarryman employed locally whom he "knew as tolerably trustworthy," confirmed by feeling the place under water from which it was said to have come and which agreed with the size of the stone. See (ZAS 42, page 1)
The inscription on this stone is a decree of Piopi Meryre to secure the safeguarding for Snefru of "the city of these two pyramids." It begins
[GLYPHS]
Supposing the decree to have come from the town wall as alleged, it would certainly imply that Snefru had some interest in the protection of the "city of the two pyramids" although certainly both Snefru's pyramids were not at Dahshur as might have been gathered from this very vague series of references to [GLYPHS] may be supposed to refer to the same as [GLYPHS]. The uncertainty of provenance in the case of this most important document detracts greatly from its value in such a question of the ownership of a pyramid quite remote from its stated "urspringliche Zustand." (compare the sketch-map on page 2 of Borchardt's article). Is it clear that this city has any connection with the pyramid under consideration(?) Until the results of its excavation are available all statements based on this assumption are apparently premature.

To sum up:
At Dahshur
1) Several tombs whose owner's names are compounds of Snefru
2) One tomb whose owner is [TRANSLITERATION] and two ([TRANSLITERATION and TRANSLITERATION]) himself an inspector of the Snefru pyramids
3) This pyramid is named as the southern (i.e. almost certainly at Meidum).
4) Snefru mentioned in Dynasty 6 decree possibly from Dahshur
7) Tomb of [TRANSLITERATION] quoted Petrie (M.A.F. I 190)
8) Petrie quotes statement causeway leads from pyramid to temple cont. name (ZAS 38.121)

At Giza
1) Several tombs whose owner's names are components of "Snefru"
2) At least one whose owner is himself a priest in one Snefru pyramids
3) No such qualification
5) G 7000 X almost certainly royal and blocked as no royal tomb yet found.
6) Snefru's family and nobles moved to Giza after his death (and burial there?)

microfilm: end page 310

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
    Ludwig Borchardt, German, 1863–1938
    Sir William Flinders Petrie, British, 1853–1942
    Pepi I
    Snefru
  • Author
    Thomas Richard Duncan Greenlees, British, 1899–

Tombs and Monuments 1

People 5

Ancient People

  • Pepi I

    • Type Mentioned on page
    • Remarks Second king of Dynasty 6.

  • Snefru

    • Type Mentioned on page
    • Remarks First king of Dynasty 4. Father of Khufu.

Modern People

  • Ludwig Borchardt

    • Type Mentioned on page
    • Nationality & Dates German, 1863–1938
    • Remarks Egyptologist. Nationality and life dates from Who was Who in Egyptology. (1863-1938) German Egyptologist; he was bom in Berlin, 5 Oct. 1863, son of Herman B. and Bertha Levin; he trained as an architect at the Technische Hochschule, 1883-7; he assisted in the Egyptian section of Berlin Museum 1887-8; between 1890 and 1897 he was in charge of building works at Konigsberg; Doctor hon. c. 1897; he studied Egyptology under Erman (q.v.) and first visited Egypt in 1895, working at Philae under Capt. Lyons(q.v.); following de Morgan's great project to catalogue the standing monuments of Egypt ,he inaugurated a less grandiose scheme in conjunction with Maspero (q.v.) for the great (Catalogue Général of Cairo Museum; he became attaché to the German Consulate in Cairo; Borchardt founded and directed the German Institute of Archaeology, 1907-28, on his retirement, he founded his own institute which later became the Swiss Institute; he also contributed a great many texts and much useful information to the Berlin Dictionary; using methods partly derived from Dorpfeld he excavated the sun temple of King Nyuserre at Abu Gurab, 1898-1901, and the pyramids of Abusir; he also excavated and established reconstructions of Amarna houses, 1913-14; Borchardt was the first person to make an intensive study of Egyptian architecture as a subject on its own; he also discovered the workshop of the sculptor Thutmose at Amarna and enriched Berlin Museum with many fine objects from this excavation; another interest of his was chronology; he was a member of the German Arch. Institute, 1898, and a bibliography of his writings, 214 nos., was issued in 1933 to celebrate his 70th birthday; he published, Die aegyptischen,.-, Pflanzensaule1897; Denkmaeler des Alten Reiches (ausser den Statuen) im Museum von Kairo, pt. 1, Cat. Gén., 1901; Das Re- Heiligtum des Konigs Ne-woser-re (Rathures), pt. 1, Der Bau, 1905; Zur Baugeschichte des Amonstempels von Karnak, 1905; Nilmesser und Nilstandsmarken, 1906; Das Grabenkmal des Konigs Ne-user-rec , 1907; Works of Art from the Egyptian Museum at Cairo. With explanations by L. Borchardt, 1908; Das Grabenkmal des Koenig Nefer-ir-ke3-rec, 1909; Das Grabdenkmal des Konigs S'a3hu-rec, 3pts, 1910, 1913; Statuen und Statuetten von Koenigen und Privatleuten im Museum von Kairo, Cat. Gén., 1911-36; Die Annalen und die zeitliche Festlegung des Alten Reiches der Aegyptischen Geschichte, 1917; Quellen und Forschungen zur Zeitbestimmung der Aegyptischen Geschichte, 3pts. 1917, 1935, 1938; Die Altaegyptische Zeitmessung 1920; altaegyptische Festungen an der zweiten Nilschnelle, 1923; Portraets der Koenigin Nofret-ete aus den Grabungen 1912/13 in Tell el-Amarna, 1923; Agypten. Landschaft, Volksleben, Baukunst, with H Ricke, 1930; Allerhand Kleinigkeiten ... zu seinem 70. Geburtstage am 3. Oktober 1933, 1933 Beitraege zur Aegyptischen Bauforschung und Altertumskunde, with Ricke, 1937; Die Entstehung des Generalkatalogs und seine Entwicklung in den Jahren 1897-1899, 1937; Aegyptische Tempel mit Umgang, 1938; he died in Paris, 12 Aug. 1938, and was buried in Cairo. ASAE 39 (1939), 43-7 (portr.) U. Leibovitch); Chron. d .Eg. 14 (1939), 141-3 U. Capart) JEA 24 (1938), 248 (G. Steindorff); NDB 2, 455 (H. Ricke).

  • 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.