600 EGYPTIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



enriched with gems; collars of gold, amethyst, emerald, and lapis: a 

 pearl of glass; four couching lions in gold, etc.; vases of carnelian, 

 lapis lazuli, obsidian, and alabaster, some of them enriched with gold; 

 and many objects of less historic interest, though not inferior in work- 

 manship to the great pieces, conclude the list of the find. The perfec- 

 tion of the handiwork and the state of preservation are especially 

 striking in these treasures. No enamel has fallen off, no shock has in 

 the least destroyed the most delicate work, while the technique of the 

 jewelry is so perfect that nothing could surpass it. 



After the discovery of the treasures, the work was actively continued 

 and all the environs of the northern pyramid were literally riddled by 

 diggings over a surface of about 6 hectares. 



These researches led to the discovery of a large number of pits of 

 secondary importance, and finally to the finding of five large wooden 

 boats 10 meters in length. 



While I was exploring the surface I was likewise engaged on an 

 underground gallery,- which, parting from the eastern pit of the x>riu- 

 cesses, proceeds toward the center of the pyramid through the sand 

 bed which forms the subsoil. Already 140 meters of the principal 

 galleries has been hollowed out without finding the royal tomb. A 

 vertical distance of 10 meters has been explored. The excavation of 

 the approaching season will certainly yield results worthy of attention. 



In the surrounding wall of the northern pyramid I discovered over 

 the tombs of the principal princesses the ruins of crude brick masta- 

 bas, entirely similar to those which the first diggings brought to light. 

 Near these ruins, in the surrounding debris, I found several fragments 

 of bas-reliefs bearing the title of " Eoyal Daughter." There is, accord- 

 ingly, no doubt that these mastabas were formerly funeral chapels of 

 princesses. 



Two deep pits, a little north of these monuments, each inclosed a sar- 

 cophagus of alabaster, superb pieces of stone, probably taken from 

 the quarries of El-Amarana. Unfortunately they had no inscription. 

 One of the two contained four empty alabaster vases. 



To the south the excavators brought to light three large mastabas 

 of unbaked bricks, situated in the inclosure between the wall and the 

 loot of the pyramid, some fragments of bas-reliefs, and two pits, one 

 of which inclosed anonymous canopes, placed in a granite chest. 



In the southern part of the necropolis, near the village of Menchiyeh, 

 I commenced, on the 10th of April, an examination of the soil com- 

 prised within the inclosure of the southern pyramid. In the initial 

 work I came across fragments of bas-reliefs with the name of Amen 

 emhat III, of the twelfth dynasty, probable successor of Ousertesen 

 III; then, proceeding methodically, I made borings in the ground in 

 the same way that I had examined the surroundings of the northern 

 pyramid. 



On the 17th of April a pit was discovered within the inclosure, near 

 the wall, in the prolongation of the eastern side of the pyramid. In 



