Chapter VIII: Letter VI: The Pyramids of Gizeh, 17th January, 1843

I have ordered ten camels to be here to-morrow evening, that we may start for Cairo the day after to-morrow, before sunrise, with the original monuments and plaster casts, of which we have already collected a considerable number, and we shall deposit them there, till our return from the South. This will be the commencement of our departure for Saqâra. A series of tombs, only recently discovered, belonging to the Dynasties which immediately succeed that of Cheops, has already delayed our departure once. The 5th Dynasty, which in Africanus appears as the Elephantine Collateral Dynasty, and as such was not to be expected here, now lies complete before us, and in substance such as I already had constructed it in Europe. The gaps have been filled up with three kings, whose names were hitherto unknown. At the same time, several kings, who had hitherto been merely visionary, were added to the 7th and 8th Dynasties, from which we had hitherto obtained no monumental names. The reference to the 5th Dynasty as the immediate successor of the 4th, is of invaluable importance, and would in itself alone richly repay us for our residence of many months in this place. We are still always occupied with buildings, sculptures, and inscriptions, which by the Royal Rings being more exactly defined, will be placed in a flourishing epoch of civilisation, between _three_ and _four thousand_ years before Christ. These numbers, hitherto so incredible, cannot be too frequently called to the remembrance of ourselves and others; the more criticism is thereby challenged, and compelled to make earnest researches on the subject, so much the better for the cause. Conviction will immediately follow in the steps of stimulated criticism, and we shall then at length approach the results which are connected with it in all branches of antiquarian research.

A roll of papers will be sent to you along with this letter, which contains several drawings, that we have taken from the sepulchral chambers in this place. They are excellent samples of the oldest Architecture, Sculpture, and Painting which the history of art can produce, and the most beautiful and best preserved that we have found on the whole field of tombs. I hope that we shall one day see these sepulchral chambers arranged in perfect order in the New Museum in Berlin. That indeed would be the fairest trophy that we could carry out of Egypt. Their transport will certainly be attended with some difficulties, for you will easily see by their dimensions that ordinary means would not in this case be sufficient. I have, therefore, as a preliminary step, written a letter direct to his Majesty the King, and inquired whether it would not be possible to send a vessel here expressly for this purpose, either next year, or at the conclusion of our expedition, with workmen and implements, to take these monuments to pieces in a more skilful manner than we are capable of doing, and to bring them, with the other collections, to Berlin.

Six of the subjoined sheets contain drawings of a sepulchral chamber, which I myself discovered beneath the sand, and whose colours are preserved almost as fresh and perfect as you see them in the drawing.[12] It belongs to a Prince Merhet, and as he was a priest of CHUFU (CHEOPS), and as he had called one of his sons CHUFU-MER-NUTERU, and possessed eight villages, the names of which are combined with that of Chufu, and as the situation of the tomb is on the western side of the Pyramid of Chufu, and the style of the representations are in perfect keeping with it, it is more than probable that Merhet was a son of Chufu, from which circumstance all the representations become still more interesting. This prince was at the same time superintendent of all the royal buildings, therefore he filled the office of “Chief of the Board of Works” (Oberhofbaurath), a high and important position at that period of most magnificent buildings, which we have frequently seen occupied by princes and royal relatives. We may therefore conjecture, that he also himself superintended the building of the largest Pyramid. Is not this alone sufficient to justify the attempt to transfer the beautifully-constructed sepulchral chamber of this princely architect to Berlin, which otherwise will, sooner or later, be destroyed by the Arabs, and be used to build their ovens, or be burnt in their lime-kilns? There, it would at least be preserved, and be accessible to the admiration or the study of those who are eager after knowledge, so long as European art and science teach us to value such monuments. To reconstruct it, a space must be left perfectly free of 6 m. 30, (19 feet 8 inches) in breadth, 4 m. 60, (15 feet) in height, and 3 m. 80, (12 feet 5½ inches) in depth, and this might surely be reserved for it in the New Museum.[13]

I observe, that such chambers form only a small portion of the entire structure of the tomb, and were not intended for the reception of the mummy. The tomb of Prince Merhet is above 70 feet long, 45 broad, and 15 high. It is solidly constructed of great square stones, with slanting outer surfaces. The chamber is alone left vacant, and one, or, as in this instance, two square shafts, leads from the flat roof through the building down to the living rock; at the bottom of which, about 60 feet deep, rock-chambers open at the side, in which the sarcophagi were deposited. I have carefully preserved the venerable remains of the skull of the ancient prince of the house of Cheops, which I found in his mummy chamber. We found, alas! little more, as this tomb also, like most of the others, had been long ago broken open. The entrance originally was closed by a slab of stone. The chamber above ground alone remained accessible at all times, and was therefore ornamented with representations and inscriptions. Here the sacrifices offered to the dead were brought to the occupant of the tomb. It was generally dedicated to the worship of the deceased, and so far corresponded to the temple that was erected before every pyramid belonging to a king, for his worship. Like those temples, these chambers have also their entrance always from the east. The shafts, like the Pyramids, lie behind, to the west, because the deceased was believed to be in the west, whither he had gone with the setting sun, to the Osiris of Amente.

The seventh sheet finally, contains two pillars, and their architrave, from the tomb of a royal relative, who was at the same time the prophet of four kings, and whose name was Ptah-nefru-be-u. The tomb was constructed later than that of Prince Merhet, in the fifth Manethonic Dynasty. It belongs to an entire group of tombs, whose architectonic plan and connection with one another is very remarkable, and which I have, therefore, completely divested of sand, and brought to the light of day, while previously neither the entrance, nor anything but the extreme summit of the outermost encircling walls, were visible.

I also send you the whole plan of this tomb, besides one of those contiguous to it, but I think I shall only bring away with me the architrave, and the beautifully painted pillars of the most southern chamber, which can be easily removed. On the architrave appears the name and titles of the deceased, who is also represented at full length on the four lateral faces of the pillars. AMI, the father of the deceased, appears on the front sides of the northern pillars; ASESKEF-ANCH, his grandfather, on that of the southern. The pillars are twelve feet high, slender, and as usual, without capitals, but with the abacus.

I have entirely isolated the whole chamber at the tomb of Prince Merhet; but for the present I have relinquished the idea of taking it to pieces, as this is not the most favourable season for its removal. I have therefore caused this tomb, as well as the other, to be refilled with sand; and when I arrive at Cairo to-morrow, I shall obtain an order, to prevent any of the tombs that have been opened by us, from being robbed of their stones. It is really revolting to see how long lines of camels from the neighbouring villages come here daily, and march off again, loaded with building stones. Fortunately—for is not everything for the best—the accommodating Fellahs are more attracted by the Psammetic tombs, than by those belonging to the most ancient Dynasties, in which the great blocks are not sufficiently manageable. I begin, however, to have more serious fears for the tombs of the 5th and 7th Dynasties, which have been built with stones of a more moderate size. Yesterday a beautiful standing pillar, covered with inscriptions, which was just going to be sketched, was overturned by the robbers behind our backs. They do not seem to have succeeded in breaking it to pieces. The people here are so degenerate that their strength is quite insufficient, with all their assiduity, to destroy what their great predecessors have erected.

A few days ago, we found a small obelisk erect, in its original position, in a tomb from the commencement of the 7th Dynasty. It is only a few feet high, but in good preservation, and with the name of the occupant of the tomb inscribed upon it. This form of monument, which is first conspicuous in the New Monarchy, is thus removed several Dynasties farther back in the Old Monarchy, even than the Obelisk of Heliopolis.