Chap. II.

EGYPTIAN.

37

QUARRIES CONTAIN*

ItARLET . or CLEOPATRA.

I TABLET. OF PTOLEMY SOTEB.

^QUARRItJ SUPf 0SEC§^ ENCHORIAL WRIT!NC.f orijYjiAMibs on woof A

-*"* ^osa***'*

l'ig. 49.

MASSARA QUARRIES.

The manner in which a quarry was worked is deserving of our attention. It wascommenced by levelling the surface of the rock and marking out a square area of sufficientdimensions to afford the quantity of stone required; around this was cut a deep trench ;at parallel distances, 7 or 8 feet apart, according to the size of the stones, otherparallel trenches were made, and then similar lines at right angles, dividing the wholeinto as many squares. After this the blocks were cut to their required thickness : layerafter layer was thus removed, according to the depth of the quarry, or as long as it yieldedgood stone.

At other times, after the square was marked out on the top of the intended quarry,which was usually selected on the side of a hill, or where its face was perpendicular to theplain below, an horizontal trench was driven through the middle of the square, and thenthe masses of rock were detached on each side of this first groove ; and as each layer wasremoved, new trenches were cut, until the whole assumed the character of a series of stepson each side of the centre, which rose from the bottom to the top of the quarry,resembling the form of a pyramid. The same machinery which lifted the stones fromtheir beds or steps answered to elevate them to their new position.

Limestone continued in use for many years, after which a fine sandstone was employed,which was discovered to be of far greater durability. The quarries of Silsilis are extensive,and situated between Edfoo and Gebel Silsileh . From them most of the sandstone wasobtained which was used in the Egyptian temples and other public buildings.

Tourah and Massara Stone Quarries — The Troici Lapidis Mons. The Pasha has here arailroad for conveying stone to the river, which is then transported to Cairo , a distance ofbetween six and seven miles. These quarries supplied the stone to many of the pyramids andtemples, and afforded employment to a vast number of men. On a range of sand hills, onthe edge of the Desert , which extends the whole length of the quarries, was discovered up-wards of 150 sarcophagi, made of compact limestone, which no doubt contained the bodiesof those employed in extracting the stone. One sarcophagus was formed of earthenware ina single piece, having a lid of the same material. Many skeletons without coffins orsarcophagi were also found : these bodies appear to have been interred in their clothes, orwrappers of coarse woollen cloth. There were also heads of oxen, with the horns, andseveral hundred coffins, and many tombs covered with slabs of calcareous stone, wherethe bodies were preserved in bitumen, and the coffin not made use of. Among theseveral articles within them was the model of a pyramid in calcareous stone, 26^ inchessquare at the base, and of the same height; also two pieces of bronze, which resembled theheads of hatchets. There were several inscriptions to the local divinities, put up whenfresh work was commenced in the quarries, the earliest supposed to refer to the reign ofAmonemhe IV. : another to the time of Necho.

At the Tourah quarry is a tablet, dedicated to the Son of the Sun, Amonemhe, belovedof Phtah, the rampart of the south, and of Anubis : the opening of the quarries is alsoalluded to, and orders given for the cutting the good and white stone, which is calcareous,for the temples of the gods. Some of the tablets are in the form of a propylaeon, having thehieroglyphic inscription on the lintels : one refers to Amenophis II. , and has been inter-preted as commanding the opening of the quarries to draw the good and white stone forthe repairs of the temples for a series of years; the whole apparently being under the directsuperintendence of a military chief, “ attached to the heart of the king, for his knowledgeand skill in architecture, one who lud adorned the temples in Mesopotamia and in Libya ,and was put over the Bearers of Egypt , of all the gods of the north and of the south.”Libya and Mesopotamia are said by M. Champollion to have been conquered by Ame-noph II., or by his predecessors. These tablets are signed by the royal scribe, Saph. thearchitect or surveyor engaged to design the public buildings.

Another of these tablets refers to Amenoph III., or Memnon , who is seen offering asymbolic eye in a basket which he holds in both hands. In the hieroglyphic inscription, he is

i> 3