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Subject: Giza

Date: Wed, 30 Oct 1996 16:45:29 -0500

From: rellis@brynmawr.edu (Richard S. Ellis)

To: scotty@nut-n-but.net

Mr. Heavener,

I am not an Egyptologist, but I'll answer your questions briefly.

>I am required to have at least two interviews for this paper,

***This strikes me as a curious requirement, sinnce practically all research, especially at your level, is done from published sources. Still, . . .

>Do you believe that the builders of the pyramid had advanced

>knowledge that let them move the massive stones that make the pyramid,

>or do you believe as many do that the use of ramps helped the egyptians

>drag the stones to the working area of the pyramid?

***The latter.

>Ddo you believe that the pyramid was intended as a tomb for King Khufu?

***Yes; certainly later texts refer to pyramids as tombs.

>If you do could you explain why the tomb had no hylergliphs, and no treasures to speak of?

***There are remains of texts from the Pyramid and Valley temples, mostly taken to other places, but recognizable. By the way, I don't want to be nasty, but if you are going to ask for help like this, you might check the spelling of so standard a word as "hieroglyphs." As for treasures, the easiest explanation is that it had been robbed; but we don't know how much stuff they had in Old Kingdom tombs, anyhow--certainly a good deal, to judge from the re-buried tomb of Hetepheres.

> What I don't understand is how some say that the tomb was looted, but al-amum [al-Ma'mun] <--(spelling) when he blasted his way around the granite plugs that block the grand gallery he was the first person to enter the kings chamber since the pyramid had been sealed.

***Is it certain that he was correct about this? The plugs don't block the grand gallery, but the ascending passage below. I don't think he "blasted" his way, since he was doing this in the 9th century CE.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Richard S. Ellis

Professor of Archaeology Department of Classical and Near Eastern Archaeology

Bryn Mawr College

101 N. Merion Avenue

Bryn Mawr, PA 19010-2899

rellis@brynmawr.edu

ph:(610) 526-5343

(610) 896-6189

fax:(610) 526-7479