Page 94 - HISTORY ANGKOR

D I S C O V E R I E S

Giza’s Untouched

Royal Tomb

In 1925 a royal grave from one of Egypt’s earliest dynasties was

found—intact—in the shadow of the Great Pyramid of Khufu.

oward Carter’s The boss had to be in-
sensational 1922 formed, but there was one
discovery of King problem: Reisner was, at
Tutankhamun’s that moment, not in Egypt,
o
T
m
Htreasure-filled Tomb b p h e f of of r e s but in Boston, carrying
e
t
H
Hetepheres
e
G

t
a at Giza a
i
z
tomb sparked a fascina- out his duties as profes-
tion with all things ancient E G Y P T sor of Egyptology at Har-
E E
G
T
Y
P
Y
G
Egyptian across Europe and vard University. His team
the United States. started digging in his ab- THE INTERIOR of
Hopes were high that sence and found an irreg- Hetepheres’s tomb in
more exciting discover- ularly cut, narrow shaft Giza, near Cairo, was
ies were coming, not least three iconic pyramids, was that went down 85 feet. It packed with grave goods
when it was first seen
among the archaeologists being systematically exca- was filled with rubble. This
by George Reisner in
working in sites across vated by an international sign was a strong indication January 1926. Water had
Egypt. A spirit of intense group of scholars. A part of that they had discovered a damaged many of the
rivalry marked relations this vast terrain fell to the tomb—but since Giza had objects, but several items
were later painstakingly
among this group of largely American archaeologist been extensively looted
reconstructed.
Western scholars, who George Reisner. On Febru- over thousands of years, the
MUSTAPHA ABU EL-HAMD/
all jockeyed for the most ary 2, 1925, Reisner’s pho- chances of an intact burial MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS, BOSTON
promising sites while jeal- tographer, Mohammedani were very low.
ously monitoring their Ibrahim, was working near On Saturday, March 7, as
competitors’ progress. the Great Pyramid, erected Reisner was preparing his
From the early 1900s, the by Pharaoh Khufu in the Monday-morning lecture, At 3:30 p.m. it was ob-
Giza plateau, site of Egypt’s mid-third millennium b.c. thousands of miles away his served that the rock sur-
Ibrahim looked down and team finally excavated the face on the south . . . fell
noticed his tripod was full shaft and were awe- away at an angle, and
resting on a white layer of struck by what they found. immediately afterwards
plaster, possibly the top of T. R. D. Greenlees recorded the top of the door to a
a structure hidden below. the moment in his diary: chamber was revealed.

February 1925 January 1926 April 1926 March 1927
Reisner’s team After nearly a year’s Based on an inscription Reisner opens the
begins excavation of delay, Reisner leads his found in the tomb, tomb’s sarcophagus
a tomb at Giza, but team into the tomb. its owner is revealed: and finds it empty.
Reisner orders work They begin to classify Hetepheres, mother of The fate of the queen
halted in March. its fragile grave goods. Pharaoh Khufu. remains a mystery.

ARCHAEOLOGIST’S SKETCH OF THE GRAVE GOODS IN HETEPHERES’S TOMB, 1926
ALAMY/ACI