AERAGRAM

Newsletter of the Ancient Research Associates ✦ Volume 7 Number 1 ✦ Spring 2004

Seeing Beneath the Surface by Glen Dash

Archaeological excavation is slow, painstak- he basic technology to see beneath Staring up the mouth of the Central Wadi. ing work. Remote sensing can be a help- the soil has been around for This wide gully washes down from the desert across the Plateau. Fourth Dynasty decades. “Remote sensing” tools ful adjunct with its indirect look below the pyramid builders may have hauled stone such as magnetometers, surface pen- surface based on geophysics. This past fall T through the wadi from the harbor up to the etrating radars and electromagnetic induc- we put some remote sensing techniques to construction site. Using remote sensing we tion machines are routinely used in geologi- hoped to find traces of hauling tracks. The the test in a pilot season of the Giza geo- cal, environmental, and criminal investiga- fresh tracks visible in the photo were made physical survey, sponsored by the National tions. But their use in archaeology has been by Tremaine and Associates’ ATV towing a boom with remote sensing equipment over the Geographical Society with AERA (Ancient relatively limited. Part of the reason is their ground. The minute figures on the right at the Egypt Research Associates), the University complexity. In order to do remote sensing edge of the wadi include the ATV, its driver, of Birmingham’s Institute of Archaeology, well, the operator needs to know some- and another Tremaine staffer. A clearer shot and the California firm of Tremaine and thing about electromagnetism, geology, and of the equipment is shown on the next page. archaeology all at the same time. The results of the remote scanning in the wadi Associates. Here AERA board member Glen One goal of our 2003 geophysical pilot can be seen in the illustration on page 9. The Dash describes the work carried out by pyramid on the horizon is ’s accom- season was to bring together people from Tremaine and Associates. panied by one of his queen’s pyramids. The all these disciplines to explore unexcavated structures at the bottom of the photo are tombs areas of the Giza (Continued on page 6) in the Islamic cemetery. Tools for Probing the Past: Tremaine’s Technology Season 2004: Honing the Details

During our fall 2003 geophysical conductive, on the order of 10 to 50 mS/m. meters, 3.5 to 4 meters, and 8 to 10 meters By the time you receive this newsletter we will have completed another season of excava- EM sensors can be used to measure soil below the surface. To do that a 24 foot aeragram pilot season Tremaine and Associates tion and will be immersed in analysis. As during our Millennium Project, we did a broad Volume 7 Number 1, Spring 2004 “looked” below the surface using their conductivity as a function of depth. The tech- boom was required (see photo below). sweep across a large area and intensive excavation in selected places, shown on the map nique works as follows: The farther apart the Tremaine’s system also combines EM below. We look forward to reporting these findings in our next newsletter. Editor remote sensing technology system. This Wilma Wetterstrom is how eScan™ works: transmit and receive coils are, the larger the sensing with real time kinematic Global Harvard University volume of soil being sensed. Therefore, the Positioning Sensor (GPS) technology. As the Wall of the Crow North side of the Wall of the Crow aeragram is published by aera, remaine’s system uses a venerable spacing between the transmit and receive system is moved, its location is continuously Research Associates. It remote sensing technology known as coils can be adjusted to measure progres- logged to a precision of 50 centimeters North Street Gate House reports on ongoing research and other “electromagnetic induction,” or simply sively larger volumes of soil. The Tremaine vertically and 1.5 centimeters horizontally. Between Gallery Set developments on the for T III and the Eastern friends and supporters of aera and others EM, as its geophysical sensor. EM works as system uses three receiving coils spaced at Therefore, through post processing, maps Town. Our camp interested in ancient Egypt. follows: A coil of wire in the shape of a sole- three different distances from the transmitting of both soil conductivity and topology can stood here for the last few years, ren- Ancient Egypt Research Associates noid is suspended over the surface to be coil. This allows three measurements to be be produced. The system used here logged dering this area an PO Box 382608 sensed. A time varying (sinusoidal) electrical made simultaneously over three different soil data at a rate of four readings per meter. archaeological terra Cambridge, MA 02238-2608 current is passed through the coil, creating volumes. Post measurement processing can Under optimal conditions, the entire system incognita. E-mail: [email protected] a time varying magnetic field in its vicinity. If then be used to derive a profile of soil con- was capable of traveling at speeds greater Western Gate a second “receiving” coil is placed adjacent ductivity with depth. The system deployed at than 6 miles per hour. To learn about the aera is a 501(c) (3), tax-exempt, non- to the first, some of the magnetic field pro- Giza used three receiving coils spaced so as results of the survey work see the article profit organization dedicated to research on ancient Egypt at the Giza Plateau, and to duced by the first (or “transmitting”) coil will to allow measurement at depths of 1.5 to 2 starting on page 1. Glen Dash making the results of those studies available pass through the coils of the second, induc- to as wide an audience as possible. ing a current in it through a process known Tremaine’s eScan™ system maps soil conductivities as a function of depth using Electromagnetic

Eastern Town Eastern Town aera Board Members as electromagnetic induction. The electrical Induction (EM) sensors which are mounted in the boom trailing behind the ATV driven by President and Treasurer current induced is a function of, among Maggie Trumbly. ’s pyramid stands in the background. Area just outside the Mark Lehner other things, the distance between the coils, Western Gate Semitic Museum, Harvard University Oriental Institute, their alignment, and the proximity of nearby Cofounder and Secretary objects. Matthew McCauley McCauley Music Inc. It is this last variable that makes EM use- A house compound- in the Eastern Town. ful for geophysical surveys. Since most soils Directors We discovered and James Allen, The Metropolitan Museum are at least partially conductive, the mag- mapped this district Glen Dash, The Dash Foundation for in 2002. netic field produced by the transmitting coil Along the west side Archaeological Research will cause electrical currents to flow in the of the soccer field. Jon Jerde, The Jerde Partnership When we excavated Soccer Field George Link; Brobeck, Phleger, and Harrison soil. These currents will affect the amount of two test trenches Bruce Ludwig, Ludwig & Company signal picked up by the receiving coil. If the here in 2003 we Peter Norton, The Peter Norton Family two coils are fixed relative to each other and found evidence of Foundation walls suggesting moved over a surface, the change in cur- large houses. © Ancient Egypt Research Associates 2004 rent in the receiving coil can be used as a measure of the soil’s apparent conductivity. 0 25 50 meters Abrupt changes in apparent conductivity are known as “anomalies” and can be a marker of past cultural activity. The conductivity of soil is a function of Thanks to All who Made the 2003 Geophysical Pilot Season Possible many factors including its porosity, clay con- The geophysical pilot season was possible because of financial sup- AERA’s crew included archaeologists Dr. Mary Anne Murray, Ana tent, and the degree of water saturation. At port from the National Geographical Society and Koch. Tavares, Tobias Tonner, and Glen Dash. Tremaine and Associate’s the molecular level, the conductivity of soil We are grateful to Dr. , Undersecretary of State and team included archaeologist John Lopez, geophysicists Dr. Mark is largely due to the number and mobility of Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities. We thank Armstrong and Dr. Yi Liao; geologist Dr. Ken Lajoie; engineer dissolved ions and is measured in units of Mr. Adel Hussein, Director of Giza and Saqqara, and Mr. Mansour Rod Sorenson; GIS specialist Shannon DeArmond; EM techni- millisiemens per meter (mS/m). Sands tend Bureik, Chief Inspector of Giza, for their kind assistance. We thank cians Maggie Trumbly and Randy Yonemura. The University of to have low conductivity, around 1 to 10 mS/ Essam Shehab, Fedahi Helmi, Reda Abdel Haleem, and Shazli Birmingham group included Meg Waters, Steve Wilkes, Emma m. On the other hand, clays tend to be more Ahmed who represented the Supreme Council of Antiquities. Hancox, Kate Bain, Tim Evans, Mark Kincey, and Glynn Barrett.

3 2 AERAGRAM 7/1 Spring 2004 became the third largest producer of video in the frivolous business of video games he Back to Archaeology AERA Board Member Profile games and Glen became a minor celebrity. had learned a great deal about the serious In 1995 his career took yet another unex- He appeared in the People Magazine column business of emissions. At that time video pected turn. Glen and his wife Joan were len Dash used to write regularly for Conformity. An engineer- semester at MIT Glen had worked at the Innovation Center, a labo- “Up and Coming” (photo below right) and game devices were one of the few consumer on a “grand tour” of archaeological sites at ing professional’s journal, it deals with certification of electri- ratory for aspiring inventors, and helped develop a low cost version even received fan mail. electronics that were regulated so that their the invitation of Prof. Larry Stager, direc- Gcal products and the regulations to which they must conform. of a video game. At that time nearly all video games were played on Celebrity was short lived though. In emissions did not interfere with TV recep- tor of the Harvard Semitic Museum, and Glen’s own professional life, though, has had little to do with con- coin-operated machines. The few available for home use were rela- early 1977 Executive Games collapsed after tion. Glen soon co-founded Dash, Straus his wife Susan. Dr. Stager, Harvard Dorot formity. Over two decades, spent mostly as an electrical engineer, tively primitive. Peter Stepanek, president of Executive Games who having been quickly eclipsed by aggressive and Goodhue, Compliance Design and Professor of the Archaeology of Israel, has Glen went through odd career twists and turns along with tumultu- contracted the work, specified that “Television Tennis” be played on competitors, Atari and Coleco, who could Compliance Engineering, in order to sell run an excavation for many years at the site ous highs and resounding crashes. In 1995 with one more career a conventional TV and cost no more than $25 in parts. By the end produce games faster for less money. this expertise. of Ashkelon. He mentioned to Glen that turn, life settled into the relatively even keel where it has been of the semester Glen, with the help of four of his fraternity broth- The company flourished for ten years, people had tried unsuccessfully to carry out coasting along ever since. Glen established his own archaeological ers, had developed a working prototype of the game. After many From Laws to Gadgets to Emissions eventually with 70 employees in a wood remote sensing at the site. As Glen listened, foundation and became an expert in remote sensing. Since then he redesigns they got the cost of parts down to the target $25. Now an unemployed video game developer, farmhouse—a nonconductive structure, he began mulling over this problem. Within has provided funding and resources for excavations and carried out The work continued through the summer on into the fall after Glen heeded his parents’ pleas to get a necessary when testing electromagnetic the next few days he decided that with remote sensing surveys which combine his engineering expertise Glen had gone off to his ill-fated first real job. When he quit in “real education” and become a lawyer. He emissions—in Boxboro, 20 miles north- his technical expertise and understanding with a long-standing interest in archaeology. He has joined us in September, he had no trouble returning to the television tennis enrolled in a joint law and business pro- west of Boston. Facing a recession in the of archaeology he could probably develop the field at Giza three times, most recently this past fall for survey project, this time as Chief Engineer at Executive Games. Thus gram at the Harvard Law School and MIT’s early 1990s, Glen and his partners sold remote sensing techniques that would work work which he describes in an article starting on page 1. began a remarkable roller coaster ride that would crest and then Sloan School of Management. But this out to Inchcape, PLC, one of world’s largest here. He would train himself in geophysi- tumble within less than a year and a half. turned out to be another short-lived career. cal surveying methods and possibly be From Archaeology to Engineering As Glen and his team prepared the product for its launch, Peter By the time Glen graduated he knew he able to develop better equipment. While Glen has spent most of his adult life as an electrical engi- Stepanek was aggressively marketing it. When the game was finally would never be a lawyer. His summer work Thus was born a new mission and neer, he first considered a career in archaeology. Actually it was ready late in the fall, well over 400,000 units were already commit- clerking with a Boston law firm had con- the Glen Dash Archaeological palaeontology that really captured his interest but MIT, where he ted. The game was a runaway success and soon the only problem vinced him that the law was not for him. Foundation. was enrolled as an undergrad, offered no courses in the field. After facing Executive Games was keeping up with demand. The small He passed the bar exam but never walked Since then Glen has worked Glen took several anthropology classes as his second choice, he was company could not manufacture units fast enough. Department into a courtroom as another’s lawyer. with teams in Israel, Greece, and hooked and set out to go on a “dig.” But his first excavation con- stores were so eager to get the games on their shelves that their Having tried a “real career,” and found Cyprus, in addition to the Giza vinced him that he was not cut out to be a field archaeologist. truck drivers would park in Executive Game’s manufacturing facil- it not to his liking, Glen decided to do Plateau Mapping Project. On the In the summer of 1973 he joined the excavations at remote ity in Boston waiting for their order. Executive Games something he loved, tinkering. He would Gulf of Corinth, he helped in Tepe Yahya in Iran, directed by Prof. Carl Lamberg-Karlovsky of be a “poor inventor rather than a rich law- the search for the lost Classical Harvard University. Early into the three-month-long season it was yer.” He started his own firm in 1981 and Greek city of Helike, destroyed clear that Glen with his dyslexia could not recognize flat surfaces; in over the next two years he and his partner and submerged by an earthquake his efforts to follow an ancient floor surface, he was cutting through worked on a series of marvelous inventions and tsunami in 373 BCE. Using hundreds of years of deposits. Prof. Lamberg-Karlovsky wisely that almost made it. They developed one of magnetometry, he mapped nearly pulled Glen out of the field and transferred him to a “desk job” the earliest cordless phones and even a rudi- the entire island of Yeronisos off where he worked as registrar for the rest of the season. By the end mentary camcorder, but these gadgets never Glen Dash, featured in People Magazine in of Cyprus, now thought to be the of the summer Glen had dropped all notions of making a living as made it to the marketplace. One of their 1975 with “Television Tennis.” location of a palace for VII. an archaeologist but never lost his interest in ancient civilizations. inventions, the first true three-dimensional Back in the U.S. Glen is working at his- Upon returning to MIT in the fall he decided to major in electri- display, worked very well—images floated companies. For the next few years Glen toric St. Ignatius Church in Port Tobacco, cal engineering, the other field that held his interest. In fact, one of exquisitely in space—but there was no mar- worked as an employee of his own firm. Maryland. With remote sensing, he hopes the main reasons he chose MIT was for its strength in this discipline. ket for it. Casting about for other opportunities to locate a tunnel believed to have been As a child growing up outside of Chicago, he was deeply impressed Glen’s fledging business might have after he sold his company, Glen began used as part of the Underground Railroad.

by the Time Life book Engineering, in its series on science. He Glen Dash foundered after two years of near successes investing in start-ups, one of which is Glen’s foundation has helped support a decided that when he grew up he would be an engineer like the had it not been for the FCC. In 1981 the the publishing company that puts out number of projects including ours at Giza. men featured in the book and MIT, which figured prominently in Federal Communications Commission set Conformity. The journal was a perfect vehi- He joined our board of directors in 1999 Engineering, was the place to do it. forth new regulations for consumer elec- cle for Glen since by that point he knew and has been a great resource on all things In electrical engineering Glen found his metier; he loved the tronics. Personal computers, peripherals, much about the regulations for electronic technical. field. But after graduation in 1975 he was “bored to tears” in his and other electronic devices could no longer devices everywhere in the world. Indeed he If the past is any indication of the future, first real engineering job, endlessly measuring end resistance in elec- interfere with television and radio recep- has published extensively on the subject and we can expect that Glen’s career will take trical parts. He lasted only a few months. That might have been the tion, which meant that their electromag- some of his works have been enduring refer- yet another turn. We just hope that it does end of his electrical engineering career, had it not been for video netic emissions had to be suppressed. And ences for electrical engineers working on not draw him away from archaeology. games—not playing them, but developing them. During his last Glen was the man to do it. While working electronic devices around the world. Wilma Wetterstrom

5 4 AERAGRAM 7/1 Spring 2004 Seeing Beneath the Surface area north of the Khafre Causeway. Glynn into the soil. A receiving device, located Khentkawes’ Tomb The Soccer Field (Continued from page 1) Barrett did a survey of the Menkaure nearby, “reads” the current in the ground It is certain that the large Royal Adminis- Plateau with remote sensing tools. With Pyramid and Queen’s Pyramid GI-C using which varies depending on the substances trative Building found in 2002 extends National Geographic sponsorship and LiDar, a laser scanning technique. In this that it passes through. Some materials con- under the Abu Hol sports club (area B in in collaboration with Dr. Zahi Hawass, installment I report only on the Tremaine duct electrical currents readily, such as clay; Khentkawes Town the map on the facing page). Excavations and the Supreme Council of Antiquities, survey using electromagnetic conductivity. others impede it. An abrupt change in the to date have mapped the northern end of AERA assembled a multi-disciplinary team current, called an “anomaly,” may signal Selim Hassan’s 1932-1933 excavations to the east of Khentkawes’ this building, exposing an area 25 meters (listed on page 3) that included AERA Tremaine’s Survey cultural material such as walls. (See page tomb revealed houses and other structures. Map from S. Hassan; in length and close to 50 meters wide. The crew members and staff from Tremaine Tremaine uses equipment that “sees” under 2 for a detailed explanation of Tremaine’s 1943, Excavations at Giza IV (1932-33) (Cairo: Cairo structure could be a royal palace dating to University Press). and the University of Birmingham. The the surface with “electromagnetic induc- technique.) the reigns of Khafre and Menkaure. Birmingham group carried out radar and tion” (EM). In the simplest terms, a trans- Mark Lehner, as archaeological director Tremaine’s remote sensing results are magnetometry surveys of part of the areas mitting device suspended over the ground, of the geophysical survey, selected a number shown on the next page in the upper left covered by Tremaine plus a survey of the generates an electrical current that flows of areas across the Giza Plateau for remote corner. One obvious feature is the L-shaped sensing (see map on the left). Some of these Satellite photo, taken November 11, 1999, were of special interest to our project, or of A-1 courtesy of www.spaceimagining.com. F interest for understanding cultural features on the plateau. The team chose some loca- tions as test sites. Only a portion of the sur- Khentkawes Town veyed area is discussed here since the data East Wall anomaly, which seems to align with the are still being analyzed. Royal Administrative Building. If the L is Menkaure Valley Temple the juncture of the building’s south and Khufu’s The Khentkawes and Menkaure Pyramid west walls, then the structure would extend Pyramid Valley Temple Towns Walls almost 100 meters from north to south. In 1932 and 1933, Selim Hassan found Walls The feature is approximately one meter an orderly collection of houses that lined below the surface, about the same height as the causeway running east from the tomb 0 20 50 meters the remaining exterior walls of the building. of Khentkawes, a queen who lived at the A-2 end of the 4th Dynasty (shown on facing The Workers’ Cemetery Queen’s page and marked A-1 on map on the left). The “Workers’ Cemetery” (area C-1 and C- Pyramid G1-C Khafre’s (See AERAGRAM 5/2, Spring 2002.) When Above: Tremaine’s results superimposed 2 on map on facing page and next page) sits Causeway Temple Sphinx Hassan uncovered the walls, they stood over Hassan’s map of the Khentkawes and on the eastern slope of the Maadi forma- E chest high and still bore traces of red, white, Menkaure Valley Temples. The “shaded tion. Currently being excavated by Dr. Zahi relief” format creates an artificial texture. Khafre’s and black paint. These features were not Hawass, the cemetery is thought to be the Pyramid Right: George Reisner’s map of the Menkaure backfilled and over the intervening 70 years Pyramid Valley Temple. Tremaine’s eSanTM final resting place for some of the workers Menkaure’s Pyramid A-1 they deflated, leaving little remaining today readily detected the north and east walls and who built or serviced the Giza necropolis in some internal features. Map from Reisner (see Khentkawes except for dark patches on the ground. the 4th and 5th Dynasties. reference 3, page 13). Menkaure Valley Temple Menkaure A-2 Nearby is the Menkaure Pyramid Valley The remote sensing results are shown in Valley Temple Wall of Temple (see facing page). George Reisner the maps of C-1 and C-2 on the next page. the Crow began excavations here in the summer of the U.S. and elsewhere, each site has its own the temple in complete horizontal levels, Rectilinear anomalies dot the areas sur- Lost City of D C-1 the Pyramids 1908 and found a temple that had been unique characteristics and tests of this sort but rather, excavated the western part first, veyed. The darkened anomaly to the north- in service from the 4th to 6th Dynasty. are usually advisable. then the southern, backfilling the western east in the diagram on the left could be an B During that time it had been destroyed by On this page Tremaine’s data are super- area as he worked. Lastly, he cleared the outcrop of bedrock or a spoils pile. As one flooding, was rebuilt, and then invaded imposed over Hassan’s 1932-’33 map. The court in the east and the northeast sec- moves to the south and west, the conduc- from the east by small irregular houses and features found by remote sensing corre- tions, which he may have left exposed. Sand tivity rises from a lower (yellow) to a higher Total area surveyed by Tremaine granaries. Sand layers intervene between the spond well to the structures Hassan mapped seems to have gradually filled and covered level (red). This could be a result of bedrock C-2 Areas discussed in the article indicated with letters: 4th and 6th Dynasty levels testifying to a in the Khentkawes town. The northern this area, resulting in a shallower, less dense (higher conductivity) dipping under a layer period of neglect or abandonment. and eastern walls of the Menkaure Pyramid overburden than the layer covering the rest of sand (lower conductivity). The several A Menkaure Pyramid Valley Temple and Khentkawes Town D Central Wadi Because these two sites had been previ- Valley Temple also show clearly. Within the of the temple. This could account for the rectilinear features in the diagram may B Abu Hol soccer field E Sphinx Temple ously excavated, they served as ready test rectangle lie possible Valley Temple struc- fact that the north and east walls show read- reflect tomb shafts or voids. In addition, C Workers’ Cemetery F Mena House golf course beds for the Tremaine technology. Though tures or perhaps artifacts resulting from ily in the image above, whereas the east and there is an abrupt transition from yellow to Tremaine’s system has been widely used in Reisner’s backfilling. He did not excavate south walls are less visible. (Continued on next page)

7 6 AERAGRAM 7/1 Spring 2004 Left: Results from Seeing Beneath the Surface Sphinx Temple the soccer field (Continued from page 7) Below left: red forming a distinctive 90° angle, pos- Tremaine’s map of sible evidence of quarrying. Royal Administrative an unexcavated Building At the southern end of the Workers’ area of the Workers’ L-Shaped Cemetery. This figure Cemetery (Area C-2 below) Tremaine’s anomaly may E surveys detected a number of features be the corner maps conductiv- Sphinx of the Royal ity changes by color. along with one truly huge anomaly, Administrative Contrast this presen- Building approximately 50 x 15 meters, oriented tation of the data to the northeast-southwest. Areas of high with the shaded relief conductivity probably reflect bedrock method in the figure on the facing page. closer to the surface. Lower conductivity 0 10 20 30 meters Bottom: This unex- rectilinear anomalies may indicate air- or cavated portion of the sand-filled voids in the bedrock. Workers’ Cemetery The Sphinx, Sphinx Tunnels

exhibits several rec- The Wadi, the Sphinx, and the Harbor Temple, and Khafre Limestone ramps tilinear anomalies Valley Temple. Dr. The Central Wadi (D on map, page 6; facing page, bottom), lying B B including a truly Zahi Hawass and enormous one about between the Mokattam and Maadi formations, probably served as Mansour Bureik 50 x 15 meters. the principle conduit for non-local materials used in pyramid build- located the eastern ing. The sandy wadi surface could hide hauling tracks or even walls extension of the Near-surface bedrock, As bedrock dips under the Possible outcrop of bed- limestone ramps in built to control flash floods. The eastern end of the wadi may have shown in red, produces a sand, conductivity changes. rock or spoils pile. front of the Khafre Khafre Valley Temple higher conductivity than emptied into an ancient harbor which could have extended from an the loose sand to the east. Valley Temple. area to the east of the Khafre Pyramid Valley Temple, up along the eastern edge of the Menkaure Pyramid Valley Temple, and down This abrupt right angle may be evidence of along the north side of the Wall of the Crow—a distance of more eastward. Part of a group of enigmatic structures here, the ramps quarrying. than 250 meters. slope downward, with one disappearing under more than 3 meters C-1 Tremaine surveyed the eastern and western sections of the of overburden at an elevation less than 14 meters above sea level. Central Wadi. The results are shown in the figure on the bottom of Tunnels pass under the ramps. Four anomalies were located in the area in front of the Sphinx the facing page. The eastern section was largely devoid of changes In surveying the area directly to the east of the Sphinx, Tremaine and Khafre Valley Temples. The upper diagram shows the results of in conductivity which could indicate a relatively uniform layer of found several distinct anomalies. Number 1 in the image above on Tremaine’s survey. The lower one highlights the anomalies. sand overlying the wadi floor. To the west, more variation in con- the right does not correlate with any features visible on the surface ductivity was recorded. The L-shaped anomaly could be due to and seems to align with the northern end of the Sphinx ditch. This of an unknown nature, probably a void. Drilling and bore scope quarrying. could be an ancient wall. Anomaly 2 is likely to be the remnant of inspection may be appropriate here. The anomalies labeled 4 are The Sphinx, Sphinx Temple, and adjacent Khafre Valley Temple a low wall which once bordered the eastern edge of a stage built in likely evidence of modern road building, perhaps pipes or cables (E on map, page 6; above) have buried features that Dr. Zahi 1969 and removed in 1996. Number 3 is a short, linear anomaly laid parallel to the road edge. Hawass is still discovering. Remote sensing could be useful in 0 10 20 30 meters detecting these. During excavations in 1980, Dr. Hawass found The Central Wadi. The eastern section was The Golf Course that a relatively smooth bedrock terrace extends some 35 meters largely devoid of changes in conductivity, The golf course (F on map, page 6; top, These rectilinear features east of the Sphinx Temple. This terrace probably runs no more than possibly because of a relatively uniform next page) is twenty green, grassy hectares are probably voids in the layer of sand overlying the wadi floor. bedrock filled with either 10 or 15 meters beyond the excavated area, based on core sampling of archeological terra incognita. The 9th and The L-shaped anomaly could be the air or sand. They could be done in 1980 by the Egyptian Institute of Underground Water and 18th holes lie at the very foot of the Great tombs or related structures. result of quarrying. the Ministry of Irrigation. One coring taken 50 meters east of the Pyramid of Khufu. Thus, there is every rea- C-2 Sphinx Temple revealed deposits 16 meters deep: a thick blanket of son to expect that features associated with sand, then dense, dark clay, and finally a hard surface from which pyramid building will be found here. the core drill pulled up red granite. Before urban Cairo encroached on this Anomalies What is visible in the area today on the surface is shown in area, the golf course was part of a sandy the map above. Further excavations by Dr. Hawass and Mansour D plain that spread out along the base of the Bureik revealed more of the eastern exten- Giza Plateau. Today it sits approximately 18 Apparent conductivity sion of two limestone ramps at least 26 meters above sea level. Early in the last cen- Low High 0 10 20 30 meters meters in length leading from a terrace in 0 10 20 30 meters tury this area was inundated by Nile floods. front of the Khafre Pyramid Valley Temple However, in (Continued on next page)

9 8 AERAGRAM 7/1 Spring 2004 Seeing Beneath the Surface The golf course lies (Continued from page 9) at the very foot of Of Gangs and Graffiti: ancient times flood levels were lower. Thus the Great Pyramid of Khufu. The it is possible that Old Kingdom occupation map shows its pres- could be found beneath these 20th century How Ancient Egyptians ent surface features, flood deposits. Indeed, basalt paving stones many of which were associated with the Khufu Pyramid Valley detected by Tremaine, Organized their Labor Force Temple were found reportedly more than as shown in the dia- 2 meters below the alluvial layer in sewage gram immediately ow did the ancient Egyptians organize Competing Gangs while thirteen names of another gang, “The below. trenches dug by the British American con- their society and mobilize labor for Looking at the record of the masons’ graffiti Drunkards of Menkaure,” were on the sortium AMBRIC in the late 1980s. Hbuilding the Sphinx and pyramids? that Vyse and his collaborator, J. S. Perring1 north side of the temple. (Our Czech col- Geophysically the golf course is a dif- This is one of the questions that has driven made, Egyptologist Ann Roth2 noticed a league Vassil Dobrev5 would read “drunk- ficult target. In addition to the flood lay- our research at Giza, even before we turned curious pattern. The name of one gang ards,” thw, as “laborers.”) ers, the golf course has been continuously Mena House Golf Course a trowel of dirt. Working in Egypt we are occurs on the north side of the relieving Anomaly Field Check The Zau: From “Great” to “Last” loamed, seeded, irrigated, and landscaped. Water pipes fortunate to have texts that shed light on chambers’ stack, and the name of another, Water spigots & valves All these factors create layers of high con- Electric boxes & pumps this question. Some of the most compelling on the south side. The end walls are divided Another hieroglyph appeared with the gang Electric conduit on ground ductivity which can mask features below. Bunkers, disturbed ground were left by the laborers themselves: graffiti in half, each bearing the name of the gang names painted on Menkaure’s temple. It Tremaine’s golf course survey data are hidden within the monuments on the stone from the nearest side wall. The division sug- was the word za (plural zau), a subdivision shown in the diagrams the right. Most of Right: At first blush, walls. From their writings and other texts, gests that two gangs competed, and cooper- of the gang. The hieroglyph is a cattle hob- what was detected was modern, such as the most of features that Egyptologists have pieced together a picture ated, in transporting the stones. In addition ble, a rope tied in a series of loops used to Tremaine detected, dark, linear features which are irrigation of a labor force organized into a hierarchy to these names, there is a single graffito of keep the animals moving together (shown the dark areas, pipes. But the nature of the vertical feature appear to be modern, of work gangs that built monuments, ser- “The Friends of Khufu Gang.” on the left). is yet to be determined. as can be seen in the viced the mortuary temples, and possibly The za was known throughout nearly The areas bordered in red are places map above. But look worked in the palace. three millennia of Egyptian history. During where the Tremaine device could not go. at the diagram below. the Old Kingdom there were five which What shows up within these rectangles are Gangs and Graffiti are often listed in a particular order, with mostly artifacts of computer processing. Below: Subsurface Some of the first clues to the organization names that roughly translate as “Great;” profiles, such as this However, a computer derived 3-D sec- of labor came from Khufu’s pyramid. Above “Asiatic;” “Green” or “Fresh;” “Little” or 3-D cube, can be tion shown at the bottom of the page created by exploiting the granite-lined King’s Chamber five small “Small;” and “Perfect,” “Lowest,” or “Last.” reveals a distinct layer 2 to 3 meters below Tremaine’s ability to F rooms are stacked one over the other, never A cattle hobble, the hieroglyph for za, a subdi- Bilingual texts of the Graeco-Roman the surface. According to Mark Lehner, this map soil conductiv- meant to be seen, although the ancient vision of a work gang. period translated za with the Greek word, is the elevation at which the archaeological ity as a function of builders left a small tunnel leading up to phyle, “tribe.” This would suggest some 0 50 100 150 meters horizon from the 4th Dynasty would be depth. the lowest chamber. Between 1906 and 1907 George natural tribal or community system, were it expected—about 15 or 16 meters above sea In 1832 Howard Vyse blasted a verti- Reisner3 found similar marks on the huge not for the fact that the rulers of Greek city level. (Fifteen meters above sea level is one cal passage that breached the whole stack. limestone core blocks of the Menkaure states created artificial tribes in the late 6th of the “bench marks” for the 4th Dynasty Water pipe Vertical feature Track of EM remote Above the top chamber, huge gabled lime- Pyramid Temple. Menkaure’s builders had Century BC. in this area.) By way of comparison, the Up sensing equipment stone beams span the width, so that the begun to apply a casing of hard granite The Labor Hierarchy base of the Wall of the Crow is approxi- Up weight of the pyramid above presses down over the blocks but stopped, presumably mately 15.4 meters above sea level and the on the lower ends of the beams, rather than upon the king’s death. Under the successor, The builders’ graffiti seem to reflect a sys- base of the basalt pavement of the Khufu Elevation directly onto a flat ceiling. This may have , workmen hastily finished the tem in which the royal house assigned a Pyramid Valley Temple, about 14.5 meters. of our site been the 4th Dynasty builders’ attempt to temple wall in plastered mud brick. When crew of two competing gangs to one area of Remote sensing will not take the place relieve the stress on the King’s Chamber. Reisner peeled off this thick casing he saw the pyramid complex. The same za names of intensive excavation but it is a very useful Hence, the name relieving chambers. the brightly painted leveling lines, cubit were repeated in each gang. But only the tool. Tremaine’s work demonstrates that it When Vyse went into the upper cham- notations, and graffiti in glyphs 30 centi- first four are known from the masons’ can provide a head start by locating buried bers he saw bright red marks left by the meters high, naming work gangs, including marks of the 4th Dynasty, suggesting that features and offering clues to their nature. ancient builders: leveling lines, axis mark- “The Friends of Menkaure Gang.” the “Last” za was not used until later. We look forward to more insights when ers, cubit notations, and the names of work Again Ann Roth4 found evidence that In Menkaure’s upper pyramid temple Tremaine completes its analysis. gangs (aper in Egyptian, determined with the gangs competed with each other. From additional hieroglyphs following the za

Glen Dash directs the Dash Foundation for North the hieroglyph , compounded with the Reisner’s records she found that the two glyph were thought to represent smaller Archaeological Research. Learn more about name of the king). graffiti naming the Friends of Menkaure divisions. In texts dating after Dynasty 4 him in an article starting on page 4. occurred on the south side of the temple, each za has (Continued on next page) East 11 10 AERAGRAM 7/1 Spring 2004 iiin Division Division

One za of four divisions (40 men) could How Many Workers Could Have I Za This was a flexible system; the modular have slept in each of the galleries of Sets III, Slept in the Gallery Complex? II, and IV. Division Division labor units could be added, subtracted, and II overlapped to adjust the numbers. Gallery Gallery No. of No. of Total No. Set Length Men* Galleries of Men III (meters) Gangs and Galleries I 55 50 11 est.† 550 iiin Division Division IV Turning now to our site, do the great gal- II 35 40 8 320 III 35 40 8 320 leries (on facing page) in some way reflect IV 35 40 11 440

Za the organization of zau and divisions?

iiin Division Division TOTAL 1,630 Manor The modularity of the galleries, which we The believe were barracks, brings to mind a *Our crew demonstrated that about 40 people could comfortably stretch out in Gallery III-4 ing hierarchical organization. dur l Gang our 2002 season.

Consider the number of people who †Gallery Set I was partially destroyed by floods iiin Division Division could have slept in the galleries (see table on in antiquity; hence the number of galleries is an Hypostyle Hal estimate. the right). The total for the whole complex

Galleries Za

is around 1,630, just about the size of the Who then lived in the galleries? They iiin Division Division larger expeditionary forces sent to distant do not seem to be residences except for a Above: The gallery complex covers 5 hectares and is a series of long, narrow structures with thick quarries in the late Old Kingdom.10 If more possible foreman’s house at the back end mudbrick walls, aligned side by side in four sets. The bulk of each gallery is a nearly empty hall men were squeezed in, say 50 per gallery, of each gallery. Instead they are rigid, bar- which we proposed was used as a barracks. At the east end of Gallery Set II is a large house, the whole might accommodate closer to racks-like. It seems reasonable that they the “Manor,” which may have been home to an overseer. Across the street is a large hall studded Division Division with columns that once supported a roof—a hypostyle. It served some specialized function, per- 2,000, the size of a crew in the larger of the were housing for zau, but not the average haps food processing and preparation, such as drying. Right: A diagram showing the way in two estimates above. This would be too few laborer. In the article on the next page we Za

which Egyptian labor may have been hierarchically organized. men, however, to build a pyramid, since consider the possibility that they were a iiin Division Division probably twice that many were needed. military barracks. Mark Lehner How Ancient Egyptians Organized … Rotating Service, Sacred Ritual even the order of magnitude. Some clues, Crew References (Continued from page 11) The graffiti appear to indicate that zau though, come from inscriptions in the later 1 Vyse, Howard; 1840, Operations Carried Out at the Pyramids of Gizeh in 1837, Vol. 1 (London). two divisions, designated with hieroglyphs rotated in and out of service. Another indi- Old Kingdom, when pyramids were much 2 Roth, Ann; 1991, Egyptian Phyles in the Old Kingdom: The Evolution of a System of Social that mean “strong,” “first,” “noble,” and cation of rotating service comes from the smaller and involved far fewer blocks. They Division Division Organization (Studies in Ancient Oriental Civilization 48). Chicago: Oriental Institute. pp. 125-7, fig. 7.2. “rising.” Ann Roth6 believes that there were Abu Sir Papyri, 5th Dynasty accounts from inform us that the royal house mounted 3 Reisner, G.; 1931, Mycerinus, The Temples of the Third Pyramid at Giza. (Cambridge: Harvard University Press), pls. XI-XII. at least four divisions in each za of the the pyramid temple of , located quarry expeditions ranging from 300 to Za 4 Roth, Ann; Egyptian Phyles…, pp. 127-30, fig. 7.3.

8 Division Division Menkaure Temple. For other projects there in Abu Sir near Sakkara. The documents 1,600 to 2,400 men. 5 Dobrev, Vassil; 2003, “Administration of the Pyramid.” In, Zahi Hawass (ed.), The Treasures of the may have been more or less depending on show that Egyptians used the same zau For Giza we can offer high and low Pyramids. (Vercelli: White Star). 6 Roth, Ann; Egyptian Phyles… pp. 142. the labor required. Many representations of system for the pyramid temples and that estimates for the number of men needed

7 Roth, Ann; 1991, Egyptian Phyles…, pp. 120-21. the za cattle hobble glyph have ten loops, these zau served periodically. In effect, the to erect the pyramids (not including infra-

iiin Division Division 8 Eyre, Chris; 1987, “Work and the Organization of Work in the Old Kingdom.” In. M.A. Powell (ed.), suggesting ten divisions. identities of social groups attached to the structural support such as provisioning Labor in the . (New Haven: American Oriental Society), pp, 5-47. The smallest unit of labor, the divi- pyramid were similar, whether constructing and preparing food). For an upper figure 9 Lehner, Mark; 1997, The Complete Pyramids. (London: Thames and Hudson), p. 225. 10 Eyre, Chris; “Work ….” p. 14. Za

sion, may have consisted of ten individu- the monument or serving in its temple long of 4,000 laborers we could start at the top als, as reflected in the Old Kingdom title, after it was completed. Perhaps building the of the hierarchy and assume two crews of Division Division 9 “Overseer of Ten,” referring to the head pyramid was as much a sacred ritual as the 2,000 men. There would be 1,000 men Gang An Alternative Interpretation of a division. This title might also mean daily service in the temples. in a gang (half of a crew), and 200 in each Vassil Dobrev1 recently suggested that the zau were not subdivisions of larger crews and

“Overseer of One-Tenth” of a gang, with Documents from later periods indicate of five za, or 250 in each of four za. This Division Division aper gangs but rather, the reverse. The crews and gangs were assembled as needed, two divisions per za, times five za7. that many or most people owed service to leaves 20 or 25 divisions of ten men each. whereas the four or five zau appear to have been broader and more permanent affiliations of The general picture, then is a hierarchy the royal house on a temporary basis. Such For a low figure of 2,000 men, we start both high and low status folk. We might think of the zau along the lines of college sororities Za of crews, gangs, zau, and divisions (see dia- obligatory labor gets confused in the ques- at the bottom and accept that “Overseer of and fraternities (so more like the Greek phratry or brotherhood), to which we might belong no iiin Division Division gram on the facing page). For Dynasty 4 tion as to whether the Egyptians used slave Ten” indicates a division of ten men, which matter what school or dormitory we were in, or year we attended college. Ann Roth sees a royal work crew composed labor to build pyramids, but all the evi- is, by the way, the most that can efficiently Dobrev attributes the confusion to ancient Egyptian grammar. In the workmen’s graffiti, aper gangs are listed first because they were compounded with the name of a . In of two gangs, each consisting of four or five dence points to people rotating in and out work on an average-sized pyramid block.

zau, with four or more divisions. Obviously, of the unskilled labor force. If we assume at least four divisions per za, Division Division Egyptian any glyph combined with the pharaoh’s name moves forward according to “honor- large pyramids like those of Khufu and that is 40 men per za. With four or five ific transposition.” The gang name therefore appears first, whereas it was actually the za that Khafre might have required many crews. Order of Magnitude zau, a gang would be 160 men and a crew, had first place as the broader category. Za

(See “An Alternative Interpretation…” on We do not know how many men belonged 320. At least six or seven such crews would Division Division 1 Dobrev, Vassil; 2003, “Administration of the Pyramid.” In, Zahi Hawass (ed.), The Treasures of the the next page for another view of the za.) to these units of labor organization, or be needed to build the pyramid. Pyramids. (Vercelli: White Star), p. 30.

13 12 AERAGRAM 7/1 Spring 2004 Zau of What? The Royal Guard?

yramid building required far more The text in the front reads “Escort (ra- now I will briefly cite a New Kingdom and workers than the 1,600 to 2,000 that shemsu) of Gangs of Young Recruits.” The Middle Kingdom example. Pwe estimate the Gallery Complex inscription above the group gives At Amarna, the 18th Dynasty capital might have accommodated (see page 13). the name of the gang, compounded with of Pharaoh , a long rectangular Most likely the laborers slept elsewhere, per- the cartouche name of the king, something complex on the southeastern edge of the haps in tents or makeshift shelters out on like “The Gang, Sahure is Noble.” The central city has long been identified as mili- the plateau. If so, who stayed in the galler- house sign at the front is part of a damaged tary and police quarters4 (see maps on fac- ies? Who ate all the fish and meat, includ- group of glyphs that probably read, Per-A’a, ing page). The northeastern corner of this ing prime beef, documented by abundant literally, “the Great House,” the origin of complex features six galleries nearly sixty faunal remains found here? One hypothesis our word, “pharaoh,” which is to say, the meters long. These are securely identified as worth considering is that the galleries palace. Similarly, hieroglyphs at the back horse stables on the basis of cobbled floors, housed elite troops who accompanied the of the lower group in the scene from the tethering stones, and thick manure layers king on his visits to the pyramid project. Amenemhet pyramid read, “Escort of the in the streets outside. Since there were no Fragments of relief decoration from August Places of the Palace.” horses in Old Kingdom Egypt there is little contains a series of long columned halls that W. B. Emery identi- building, granary, and possible barracks with elongated rooms— demolished Old Kingdom pyramid temples Is it possible that the our Giza galler- to inform our Gallery Complex. However, fied as barrack blocks.5 Barry Kemp objected: “This would…imply occur in a smaller fort along the Second cataract. offer a glimpse of the troops attached to ies were military barracks for troops of the separated from the stables by broad courts official provisioning for communal living, whereas on comparable Our site shares some of the same features as these examples of the royal escort. In the early 20th century royal guard or escort such as we see in these and a deep well pit are what the excavators sites small modular houses seem to have been the norm.”6 We military barracks. The Gallery Complex has the long gallery-like excavators from the Metropolitan Museum scenes? The bakeries and food processing identified as the “dormitories” of the guard should consider this at Giza, but note that our site is immense, rooms. The large house on the east side of the complex, the Manor, of Art in New York pulled a series of frag- facilities flanking the Gallery Complex personnel. These take the form of long more like Amarna than the Nubian forts. could have served as a “commandant’s” house. Just south of the gal- ments of Old Kingdom troop scenes from make sense as part of the provisioning—the gallery-like rooms, with a width to length Elsewhere in the Buhen fort Kemp identified a large columned leries is a complex of magazines and in the nearby royal building, the stuffing of Amenemhet I’s Middle caterers for these special troops. The dete- ratio of 1:5, paved with brick and entered structure as the “command building,” and a dense group of rectan- a court of sunken grain silos. The barracks hypothesis is promising Kingdom pyramid at .1 They were rioration and abandonment of the Gallery by stone thresholds. The dormitories lie gular chambers as grain storage cellars entered from above (see illus- and in future seasons we will put it to the test with intensive exca- among other fragments of Old Kingdom Complex, even while the site was still occu- northeast of a house with three pillared tration on the facing page). The same three features—command vations in the Gallery Complex. M ar k Lehner pyramid temples and tomb chapels pied, also squares with this hypothesis. The halls that the excavators identified as the inexplicably dumped into the core of the galleries could have fallen into neglect when “Commandant’s House.” Magazines and References later pyramid. We see guards in procession, the troops’ rotations in and out of the gal- large circular granaries occupy a court to 1 Goedicke, Hans; 1971, Re-Used Blocks from naked except for streamers around the waist leries declined as the royal entourage’s visits the south. the Pyramid of Amenemhet I at Lisht. (New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art), pp. 56-78. or attached to a girdle, or short kilts with became fewer and fewer. The pattern of barracks, command 2 Goedicke, Hans; Re-Used Blocks… No. 42, pp. the open end at the back and tied at the house, and granaries is also found in Middle 68-74. waist, or just a belt with two hanging loops. Barracks in the Archaeological Record Kingdom forts near the Second Cataract in 3 Borchardt, L.; 1913, Das Grabdenkmal des Königs Sáhu-re`, Vol. II. (Leipzig: Hinrichs), pl. IX. They carry weapons, mostly long staffs Finally we must ask if this hypothesis bears Nubia. One of the largest, the Buhen fort, 4 Pendelbury, J. D. S.; 1951, The City of but also bows in their cases. Two men each comparison with Stables Akhenaten Part III, Vols. 1-2: The Central City and the Official Quarters. (Oxford: Oxford carry what might be a battle axe and sling. what archaeologists 0 50 100 m University Press), III.1:133-35, III.2: pls. I, XXI. The artists bunched them in groups of have identified as 5 Emery, W. B., H. S. Smith, and A. Millard; 1979, ten—reminding us of the title “Overseer of barracks elsewhere Fortress of Buhen: the Archaeological Report. (London:), pl. 3. Ten”—followed by a lone man who might in the archaeological 6 Kemp, B. J.; 1989, Ancient Egypt: Anatomy of a be the commanding official. A larger frag- record, particularly Granaries Civilization. (London: Routledge), p. 169. ment shows two groups of ten in two reg- in Egypt. This is a Above: Scene of troops attached to the royal isters.2 A hieroglyphic label at the front of task of scholarship Barracks escort. On a block fragment from the valley the upper group reads “Following of gangs in progress. For temple of King Sahure’s 5th Dynasty pyramid Barracks (aperu) of recruits (or “youths;” the word is at Abusir. After Borchardt (see references). neferu, the same word as in the name of the Buhen, a Middle Far left: This long rectangular complex, on Kingdom fort near “Last” za). the far left, has long been identified as mili- the Second Cataract This is very similar to the label and the Command Stores tary and police quarters at Amarna, the 18th in Nubia. Drawing Building grouping in another fragment from the Dynasty capital of Pharaoh Akhenaten. from Emery, Smith, Valley Temple of the 5th Dynasty pyramid and Millard, p. 70 Commandant’s 0 200 400 m Left: The central city of Amarna. Drawings of King Sahure at Abusir3 (see facing page). (see references). House from Pendelbury (see references).

15 14 AERAGRAM 7/1 Spring 2004 AERAGRAM Ancient Egypt Research Associates PO Box 382608 Cambridge, MA 02238-2608

Inside This Issue

Seeing Beneath the Surface ...... 1 Tools for Probing the Past: Tremaine’s Technology ...... 2 Season 2004: Honing the Details ...... 3 Thanks to All Who Made the Pilot Geophysical Season Possible ...... 3 AERA Board Member Profile: Glen Dash ...... 4 Of Gangs and Graffiti: How Ancient Egyptians Organized their Labor Force ...... 11 An Alternative Interpretation ...... 13 Zau of What? The Royal Guard? ...... 14

Mark Lehner (left) shows Ed Fries the Lost City of the Pyramids, orienting him with field drawings. Ed, just retired from direct- ing X-Box, the Microsoft game division, is assisting with AERA development. In late February he came with his family to see our

Photo Photo by Brian Hunt project in full operation.