61. Entrance of South Pyramid. Casing destroyed below it.
In most cases it would have been difficult to photograph the sculptures directly, owing to the difficulties of placing the camera, and the exact time of the day required for the oblique sunlight. Paper squeezes were therefore taken in preference, and a box of these, weighing a few pounds, served as moulds for producing in England a set of plaster casts which weighed a hundred times as much. By waxing the paper several successive casts can be made from one mould, and from a set of the casts I took photographs, which can be printed interminably, and which are far more clear and distinct than if they were made directly from the stained and darkened sculptures. The paintings were of course photographed directly; where near the outer air enough light was obtained by reflectors of tinned plate; but in distant interiors, such as the tombs of the kings, an explosion of the proper amount of magnesium powder, mixed with chlorate of potash, gave excellent results for light.
62. North Pyramid, and Southern in Distance.
Having finished the Theban work, I then went to Dahshur, and there made a survey around the two large pyramids; but unfortunately I could not obtain the permission to uncover the bases of the pyramids in time to measure more than the southern one. This pyramid is interesting, as it retains the original casing over most of it, and gives us some idea of what the other pyramids looked like before the plundering by Arabs, and perhaps older thieves. The outside is peculiar, as being of a steeper angle below than above, and hence it is often called the ‘blunted pyramid.’ The results of the survey were that it was all designed in even numbers of cubits. The base was 360 cubits, the height 200, divided into 90 cubits steep, and 110 cubits of flatter slope. The space walled in around it was 100 cubits wide. Another small pyramid on the south of it was 100 cubits square.
While at Dahshur I also found an interesting point about the ancient roads. The road from Sakkara to the oasis of Ammon was marked out by banks of gravel swept up on either side, leaving a clear space 50 cubits wide. The other road from Sakkara to the Fayum was marked out by milestones all along, there being a larger tablet at each schoenus, or 4 miles, while at each 1000 cubits, or third of a mile, was a lesser pillar on a stone socket.
63. Way-marks on Fayum Road.