Arabic Diary, Vol.1, p.11

Diary Transcription:

Diary Translation: begin page 11
Thursday, October 23, 1924

(1) We floored the area in front of the porch;
(2) We sent Atta, Ahmed Abd Allah and Hamid Qenawi to purchase wood and to bring the remaining 5 railway cars. They found out that that the cars are still in the workshop and are not ready yet. They purchased oil for the rails and cars, and 5 wrenches for the bolts and knots;
(3) We sent a telegram to Reis Mahmud, saying:
“[To] Reis Mahmud Ahmed, Al-Qala, Qeft
Send buckets, so we can have them before the arrival of the workmen. Sayyed”
(4) And also we sent a letter to Reis Mahmud. We enclosed two lists of the workmen present at the camp, so he would know about how many buckets to bring.
(5) We took the silver bowl of [Pyramid] VIII out of the chemical compound. We washed it with water.

Friday, October 24, 1924

(1) Today we were flooring the area to the south of the porch and the court.
(2) And then today we exchanged the artifacts in box B.N.S. 310, which came from the corner of Pyramid VI and was supposed to be sent to the Government, with other artifacts uncovered at the corner of Pyramid XV. These artifacts are two pottery plates, a pottery bowl and a faience cup.

Saturday, October 25, 1924

(1) We packed some stone blocks from Pyramid I in order to send them to Boston. We also packed [objects from] Pyramids III and VI; they will be sent to Khartoum;
(2) We were flooring the court;
(3) Then today Mohamed Effendi Abu El-Sood arrived and saw the steel rails. He told us that these rails are not enough;
(4) We wired L.E. 176.68 to Reis Mahmud from the Ottoman Bank. This money is for the workmen’s wages, the steel rails and the buckets;
(5) At 11:00 am, Tawfik traveled to Misr [i.e. Cairo] after he painted the car, and put up the new cover of the seats and couch;
(6) We sent Hussein Elawi and Yassin to the mound that is near the house of the captain. They dug another grave and found that it dates to the Coptic Period because it contains Coptic pottery and glass vessels.

Sunday, October 26, 1924

(1) We packed four boxes: these are boxes MFA 257, 258, 259 and 260;
(2) Then we sent Qenawi down to Mohamed Effendi Abou el-Sood in Misr [i.e. Cairo] in order to let him know that all of the four keys, which he brought to us earlier, are right side keys. So we needed to exchange two of them with two left side keys;
(3) Then we sent Hussein Elawi with a letter to Inspector Firth;
(4) Then today we received a telegram from Sedeek, saying:
“Mena House, Sayyed Ahmed, employee of Reisner
The camels could not carry everything. We crossed with them to the west. Ask the Director to send us a car from the workshop. Sedeek Said”

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