Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1888-07-22
ARCHAEOLOGY.
THE FINDS IN THE FAYuM-soME IN
TEREsrIEG DISCOVERIES.
Details OF Mr.. Pstris's work-A fragment
Of the 1liAd - Dangerous
ExcsyatinR.
Letter 70 tho London Tlmes.l

last decade, Mr.. w. NJ. Flinders Petrie
has at length brought his arduous Fsyum
campaign to close. The last report on
Mr.. Petrie's explorations left him
at Beyahfiu, where he had sue
ceeded in identifying not only
the shattered remains OF the two
colossi described by Herodotus (chopter
149, Book ii. J, but also the twin pedes-
tails upon which they stood and the
sloping Enclosure walls by which each
statue was surrounded, thus solving the
problem of their apparent but impossi-
bic position ON the tops OF pair OF
pyramids. From Beyahmu Mr.. Petrie
moved on to Hawars. about four miles
distant in southeast direction, and 1t Is
from this point that we again take up
the thread Of his adventures.
At Havana there is dilapidated brick
pyramid which enjoys the reputation OF
having never bean opened, aRd en- CT
tensive area OF level ground thickly
honeycombed with the foundations OF
brick buildings. These foundations and
this pyramid were conjec!urally ldenh-
fed by Lepsius nearly fifty years ago
with the remains OF the Labyrinth and
the tomb Of tho founder. The mean
nsrs Of the ruins and tue poverty OF the
material have, however, caused hrs iden-
tincstion 10 be received, ut AL events, OF
late years, with considerable mistrust,
and it was with view TO settling
this interesting question that Mr.. Petrie
rni1rated to Havana on the 24th OF Inst
January, with following OF ffty-three
mea snd boys, and pitched his tent IN
the shadow of the pyramid. AS far as
the Labyrinth was concerned, first
glance at the ruins in the plain was
enough. His practical knowledge OF
epochs of building in the Nile Valley
and OF the date of bricks as determined
by their dimensions and quality, showed
him at once that these foundations
represented Oh extensive village OF the
period Of Roman rule in Egypt. De
hestated, nevertheless, before entirely
rejecting Lepsius's hypothesis. The
general aspect of the site corresponded
fairly we'll with the descriptions of the
Labyrinth in Herodotus and Strabo
and this, ct ell events, could be said OF
no other place in the Fayum. Strabo
saws: eve have here in the Labyrinth
a work equal to the pyramids, and ad-
Joining il the tomb of the King who con-
structed the Labyrinth. After proceed
ing beyond the first entrance OF the
canal about thirty or forty stadia thSro
is table shaped plain with village and
large palace composed Of as many
palaces as there we're formerly homes
= At tue end OF this building,
which occupies more than stadium, is
the tomb, which is quadrangular
pyramid, each side OF which is about
four plethra in length and of equal
height (Book XVII, Chapter l., sec
ton 81 So also Herodotus, at the end
of his famous DESCRIPTION of this marvel
lous building, which, in his opinion,
surpassed oil the greatest works OF the
Greeks, expressly says "At the corner
Of the Labyrinth stands pyramid forty
fathoms high, with large figures en-
graved on il. which is entered by sub
terranean passage" Book H., Chapter
CXLVlII.)
Here. then, was the tablelsnd, and
here, on the verge Of the tableland, was
the pyramid. Stripped of tho stone
casing with which it must have been
covered when Herodotus saw it engraved
with "large figures it still answered,
without more discrepancy than might be
allowed for surface loss, 10 the measure
ment given 10y Strabo-that is to say, tho
four plethIa of tue Greek geo9rapher
equal 400 feet, and the present dimen-
sions Of the square of the pyramid are
about 34S feet each way. So Ar. Petrie
decided to lay siege to the place by open
ing the pyramid and excavating below
the Roman remains in the "table
land" The results Of this last test were
extremely interesting. The Roman
houses proved TO have been built upon
foundation composed OF mass Of the
finest white limestone chips, clearly the
qcbris OF soms vast building. Digging
through this dSbrts, Mr.. Petrie every
whore discovered below the chips 3 most
carefully. prepared foundAtion-such a
foundation as was never dreamed Of ia
Ramesside times consisting III some
pl.ces OF kind of concrete made OF
rammed stone chips, and in other places
Of clean, levelled sand. He then tracked
out TO the edges Of the site, and ascer-
tsined that the building must have
covered al immense area Of some forty
or fifty acres in extent. Fragments of the
original pavement were also found here
and there IN siiu. Having sounded
these depths of ruin sounded and
jredged, and brought up nothing, not
the merest scrap OF inscription or mold
ing-he came to the conclusion that not
even the most thorough sitting OF the
whole "tAbleland" was likely to pro-
duce anything more. As for the stone
chambers Uncovered by Lepsius, and by
biA identified as part OF the Labyrinth,
Mr.. Petrie testifies that they were
constructed in pit dug through
the great bed OF concrete, aud
are therefore undoubtedly subse-
quent to the original building. They
also closely resemble some tombs of Ro-
man epoch which are found in the same
To sum up, Lepsius was
correct as to the site, but wrong as to the
runs, anu IL IL now SlchI tluui altoI
having served for many centuries as 4
quarry for the architects Of Medinet-ol-
Fayum, the most renowned building OF
all antiquity has SO utterly persisted that
only its foundation remains to preserve
the measure of its greatness.
The opening of the pyramid (the ira
ditional sepulchre of Amenemhat H.,
q" Moeris" Of the Greek writers) was
longer aud far more arduous under
taking than the exploration of the Laby
rinth, OF which that Pharaoh was tic
builder. The stone casing, as before
is entirely gone, and all that
now remains is crumbling structure of
sun-dried bricks, to which Lepsius half
century ago. aud Vassali sometwenty- five
years later. did much damage without dis
covering the entrance. A vast number
uf bricks have been knocked away on the
north aud east faces, while on the south
side the pyramid presents the APP
pearance of a mere mound OF ruin. Tn
ss 1t looked, hr. Petrie de-
cided 10 attack it scientifically, not
the mass like his predecessors,
but tunnelling patiently to the centre
from the north face. His method is boat
shown by the following extract from one
Of his private journals written few