![]() ![]() At the time he was probably constructing a pyramid of his own. From what we have seen so far, we think it was created in the reign of Sneferu ( c.2675-2633 BC), the king at the beginning of the 4th Dynasty. ‘Including Wadi el-Jarf and Ayn Sukhna, we now know the location of three harbours on the Red Sea,’ says Pierre, ‘and Wadi el-Jarf is the earliest of them. Massive limestone blocks were used to seal the galleries. Galleries G1 and G2 are visible to the left, while G4-G6 can be seen centre right. The satellite photographs pointed to the existence of additional harbour infrastructure, with subsequent excavations confirming the discovery of a major site.Ī view of the rock-cut galleries at Wadi el-Jarf, as photographed using a kite. Eventually, after combining clues in visitor accounts with a trawl of images on Google Earth, the galleries were relocated in 2008 at Wadi el-Jarf. Unfortunately, no one had recorded exactly where these galleries lay. As such cavities could be used to store boats, they were one of the signature features of the pharaonic harbours Pierre was seeking. Since 1823, a handful of explorers and visitors had noted the existence of rock-cut galleries in the desert, and speculated about their purpose. An early success at Ayn Sukhna allowed the excavation of port facilities dating back to the reign of Khufu’s son Khafre ( c.2597-2573 BC), but there was another site that also intrigued Pierre. He was seeking traces of pharaonic harbours created to support maritime expeditions either east into Sinai or south towards Ethiopia and the Land of Punt. Pierre Tallet started searching the Red Sea coastline in 2001. Here we see the west side of the pyramid, with the Western Cemetery, which contained officials and retainers, visible in the foreground. Seeking to understand how this remarkable monument was constructed has long been a source of scholarly fascination. Now these two archaeologists have collaborated on a book shedding new light on one of the most renowned archaeological monuments in the world (see ‘Further reading’). Some of these accounts overlap in a remarkable fashion with the results of archaeological work led by Mark Lehner, President of AERA (Ancient Egypt Research Associates), at Giza. The papyri comprise logbooks and other bureaucratic records that detail the activities of teams engaged on Khufu’s mortuary complex. ![]() Instead, they were recovered more than 130km away, in Egypt’s Eastern Desert near the Red Sea shore. It speaks volumes about the scale of Khufu’s grand design that these texts, which were compiled by individuals involved with construction operations, were not found within the pyramid or even at Giza. ![]() But then, in 2013, fragments of the earliest papyri documents ever found were recovered by an archaeological team led by Pierre Tallet, Professor of Egyptology at the University of Paris-Sorbonne. Until recently, these sparse words provided the only contemporary textual glimpse of construction operations.Ī decade ago, hoping to secure an eye-witness account of work on the Great Pyramid would have seemed like archaeological wishful thinking of the highest order. Instead, just a few graffiti naming work gangs were daubed in suitably discreet spots. ![]() Unlike some later pyramids, and the famous tombs crowding the Valley of the Kings, the interior of the Great Pyramid is not lavishly adorned with hieroglyphics. Despite the monument’s impressive statistics, though, there is one thing it is notably short of: text. Within lay an intricate network of chambers and passages, which showcase the skill of Egyptian masons. Its four sides were each approximately 230m long, while the edifice incorporated some 2.3 million blocks and originally stood almost 150m high. By any measure, the pyramid that served as his tomb was a staggering accomplishment. To the Ancient Egyptians it was the Akhet Khufu or Horizon of Khufu, named after the 4th Dynasty king who reigned from roughly 2633 BC to 2605 BC. ![]()
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