Configuración de los elementos del plan de marcación

Damage to ancient Egyptian monuments increased as entire monuments were sometimes demolished and removed for their stones. Columns in particular were in great demand for building churches and mosques as can still be seen today. Al- Baghdadi (Al-Ifadah: 102) saw in Alexandria more than 400 pillars similar to the ‘Pompey’s Pillar’, which came from the area around it, and which were broken up and piled on the beach to protect the coastline against the waves and to prevent the enemy’s ships from beaching. This destruction was said by Al-Baghdadi to have been committed by Qraga (Qaraqush ?), the Governor of Alexandria during the reign of the Ayyubid Sultan Salah Al-Din Yousuf Ibn Ayub (Saladin) 1169-93. Al-Baghdadi found unacceptable the use of pillars to protect the shore as the reason for demolishing the archaeological material, calling this act “a work of childish folly committed by those who do not distinguish between a beneficial act and a heinous one”. Al-Baghdadi lAl-Ifadah: 105) directed much of his anger at those who were busy in Memphis demolishing all sorts of ancient buildings in search, not so much for stones, but for the metal (copper) which he suggested was used by ancient Egyptians to “bond the stones together”. The use of copper dovetail clamps to bond stones is indeed attested in ancient Egyptian masonry (Arnold 1991: 124).

Al-Idrisi f Anwar: 39) laments the demolition of several small pyramids in Giza and the removal of their stones for building Cairo walls and bridges by Qaraqush, the

vizier of Saladin. In the time of Saladin, a man named Ibn Al-Shahrzuri, with a group of treasure hunters, worked their way into a cave known as the Magharat Al-Judhu° ‘Cave o f the [date? tree] trunks’ close to Al-Haram Al-Muwazar ‘the Pyramid of KhafraVChephren’ where they found “very many unusual marvels”. This identification of Al-Muwazar pyramid as that of Chephren is confirmed by Al-Idrisi himself (Anwar: 58). The exploitation of stones from the Giza pyramids was not a new phenomenon even then, as many such stones were reused by king Amenemhet I of the 12^ dynasty in building his own pyramid at Lisht (Goedicke 1971).

Al-Idrisi (Anwar: 33f), quoting among others Abu Al-Salat Ummayya Al-Andalusi (d. 1134) (Al-Risalah: 27) tells the story of the Caliph Al-Ma’moun (Ruled 813-817) who came to Egypt in 816 to quell an uprising. He was enthusiastic about reading books on sciences and wisdom. During his visit to Egypt he searched in vain for someone to tell him about the pyramids, so he ordered an excavation. When the pyramid of Khufu was finally opened after long struggles using fire and vinegar (Al- Idrisi Anwar: 128) they found behind the opening a green water jar full of gold, one thousand dinars (i.e the jar held about four kilos of gold), which turned out to be exactly the amount of gold spent on breaking into the pyramid. The jar was said to be made of zabariad ‘chrysolite’ and Al-Ma’moun took it home with him to Baghdad together with all the other things he had collected from Egypt (Al-Idrisi Anwar: 129). Once inside the pyramid they found ascending and descending corridors. At the top they found a cubic room, the length of each side being eight cubits. In the middle was a sealed marble container, and when its lid was broken open they found a decayed body. Al-Ma’moun, curiosity satisfied, prevented them from exploring further. This description is reasonably correct in spite of its confusion of burial chambers. The top room referred to here may be the second burial chamber known also as the Queen’s Chamber as its measurements are almost correspondent with this account (5.80 x 5.30 m, height 6 m) (For recent measurements see Lehner 1997: 112).

According to Al-Idrisi (Anwar: 36, 124f), the first time that the Moslems/Arabs were said to have been able to understand the nature and history of the pyramids, was during the rule of Khumarawayh (884-896). It was he who searched for the original entrances to the pyramids, and his workers spent two years excavating before they found a standing marble stela which looked like a door (false door). When they removed it they found on the back writing in hieroglyphs, qalam al-barabi. This was read, translated, Arabised and turned into a poem:

Some of what exists reached my knowledge,

but I have no knowledge of the Unknown which Allah knows. I excelled in the craftsmanship of whatever I wished to endure, And I perfected it, but Allah is Stronger and Mightier.

Sixty months I spent travelling around. Surrounded by a devastating army. Until I passed by all humans and djinis.

And was stopped by waves of the great dark sea. I became certain that there is no thoroughfare Beyond my place and no further travel.

I returned to my kingdom and rested in Egypt, For days bring miseries as well joys.

I am the owner of all the pyramids in Egypt, And the first builder of its temples.

I left in them, signs of my efficiency and wisdom. Which shall never decay or disappear.

They hold great treasures and wonders. Time is sometimes kind and sometimes harsh.

My seals shall be opened and my wonders uncovered. By a follower of a prophet coming at the end of Time, In the House of Allah, who guides his affairs.

So he rises and is begged by those who glorify him. Eight, nine, two, four and ninety,

This is known to astrologers.

Afterwards, seventy years will pass.

And then the temples shall be abused and destroyed. Inside them are all my treasures.

But I see they shall be covered in blood. I carved my speech in rocks that I cut. Which shall remain long after I perish.

Al-Idrisi goes on to say that when this text was interpreted and read to Khumarawayh, he no longer desired to reach what was inside the pyramids. He was

curious about the calculations of the period referred to, but nobody was able work this out.

Al-Idrisi (Anwar: 14If) also quotes Jabir Ibn Hayan’s book Al-Naqd. that Egypt and its pyramids are the most precious treasures on earth. Jaber is quoted describing the unique nature of some of the hidden treasures of the pyramids. One pyramid had thirty pharaonic glass jars full of red elixir, each one containing a pound in weight. The other pyramid contained fine gems of different colours so old that they were no longer recognisable. Al-Idrisi (Anwar: 72-73) also tells about the treasure hunters who recently (ca early 13^^ century) opened a hole in the northern facade of the third pyramid (Menkaure). It took them six months and all they found inside was a dead man with inscribed gold leaf in an unknown script. An eyewitness who took part in this event relayed this account to Al-Idrisi.

Al-Idrisi (Anwar: 75) was told by Abu Al-Futuh Ibn Abi Al-Hassan Al-Matalibi, the chief of the treasure hunters, that he went out with a group to the “Mountain of Al- Qena near Helwan”?. They crossed a lake surrounded with rushes and reeds and walked for about two miles to the east until they saw a mountain with five stone statues of horses. At the base of the eastern side of the mountain was a small pyramid, the height of two persons, built of white stone. He was told by another chief of treasure hunters that there were seventy pyramids in the area.

Al-Idrisi (Anwar: 141) also tells the story of a group of treasure hunters who entered a pyramid during the reign of Al-Afdal (ruled 1186-1196). They lost one of the group and as they were giving up on him after three days, his head appeared out of a wall and he was red and was shouting in a loud voice which was not in Arabic: “al- sabkh tabkh birisamah tulul”. They fled and a search was started for someone who could interpret this kalam kahini (priestly speech. Hieratic). After a long search in all the monasteries, a monk was found who interpreted it as “This is the fate of those who violate the sanctity of kings in their homes”. This is a further piece of evidence that Moslems/Arabs believed that they could have ancient Egyptian deciphered by monks in monasteries though in this case the decipherment itself is doubtful.

2.8 Summary

Egypt was, and still is, held as the land of hidden treasures, a perception encouraged in Arabic writings by the Qur’anic descriptions of the fabulous wealth of the Pharaoh and of Qarun from the tribe of Moses. Ancient Egyptian pyramids.

temples, tombs and their surroundings were perceived as depositories of vast wealth protected by magic. This is not a naïve perception as modem archaeological work has also shown that such precious materials were in fact deposited by ancient Egyptians, a prime example being the tomb of King Tutankhamun. Temples were also depositories of treasures, for example Dendara Temple (Cauville 1990: 16) and Tod Temple (Vandier 1937). In the case of Dendara, it must always have been a place famed for its treasure as it was reported by Al-Dimishqi (d. 1328) (Kukhbat: 328) that a hoard of precious metals including gold was found by a stranger, digging illegally, who was caught and handed over to the authorities in Cairo together with a hundred sacks full of the treasure. This treasure hunter was imprisoned.

For treasure hunters, it was fatal to attempt to reach these treasures without the appropriate skills and tools, yet thousands lost their lives and money in the quest. As the state came to depend on the financial yields of the treasure, the profession of treasure hunters was organised by the state from the time of Ibn Tulun in the ninth century. From then on, permits to excavate ancient sites were required, in addition to the presence at all times of an official representing the ruler.

Materials collected from Egyptian sites, in particular those which did not at the time have monetary value, were sometime kept by rulers as curiosities.

Ongoing attempts, from medieval times to the present day, to curb the illegal quest for treasures have always failed in spite of regulation and severe penalties, as can be seen today from frequent present-day newspaper reports.