PYRAMIDS OF SACCARA. 237 
We had no sooner left .the sepulchres of the chap. 
Ibis, than we observed Mr. Hammer, on horse- ' 
back, coming towards us, followed by a large 
party of Arabs, who were dragging after them a 
large stone, which had closed the mouth of one 
of the Mummy-pits. It was a very fine hiero- Hierogiy- 
glyphical tablet ; and as Mr. Hammer wished ^ "^ ^ 
very much to send it to the Orzewia/ Academy of 
Vienna, we assisted him in moving it towards 
the djerm, and succeeded in getting it on board. 
I was afterwards sent to Rosetta, and to the 
English fleet ; but we are yet ignorant whether 
it ever reached its destination. In the fear that 
it may have been lost, and at the same time in 
the hope of making known to whom it properly 
belongs, if it now exist in other hands than 
those for whom Mr. Hammer intended it, a few 
words may be added as a description of it, ac- 
companied by an engraved representation of the 
stone. 
It seemed, from tlie rude and angular style 
of the sculpture, as well as from the substance 
itself, upon which the characters were engraved, 
to be of the highest degree of antiquity. It 
was a slab of common grey limestone, about 
four feet in length, and two in breadth. Cer- 
tain of the inscribed characters (for example. 
