Hermione Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I can't imagine that any serious academic really
> said the things that appeared in that report. I'm
> wondering whether it's the result of some form of
> mistranslation, and/or some form of
> misunderstanding on the part of the reporter ...
… and, in fact, it seems that this might – to some extent, at any rate – be partly the case.
This is the report dated 25th November 2013 (87435), by reporter Nevine El-Aref.
And
this is a report dated 27th November 2013 (87647), again by reporter Nevine El-Aref.
The following excerpts are colour coded for ease of reference.
Quote
(87435) (Mohamed Abdel Maqsoud) The results cast doubt on the construction date of the great pyramid and consequently the pharaoh for which it was built. The results suggest that the pyramid was built in an era preceding Khufu's reign.
"This is totally false and nonsensical," said Ahmed Saeed, professor of ancient Egyptian civilisation at Cairo University. He explains that accurate scientific research dates the cartouche within an era after the reign of Khufu.
Compare this with the later story:
Quote
(87647) Mohamed Abdel Maqsoud, head of the ancient Egyptian department, asserted in a press release on Wednesday that a multitude of scientific research from the past two centuries shows that the Great Pyramid belongs to King Khufu, the second king of the fourth dynasty, and that it was built during his reign to be used as his royal burial place for eternity.
[ … ]
Ahmed Saeed, professor of ancient Egyptian civilization at Cairo University, supports Abdel Maqsoud, saying that what the German amateurs have claimed is totally false and nonsensical.
He elaborates on the writing of the King's name in graffiti, maintaining it could have been written by the pyramid builders after construction, which might also explain why the king's short name and not his official title is inscribed.
It looks to me very much as if, on the 87435 story, the reporter got his original notes confused (if it was a case of not being able to read shorthand, I can only sympathise … been there and got the T-shirt myself so many times), or that the sub-editors confused the paragraphing.
Whatever the explanation, the result is that Saeed seems to be contradicting at least part of what Maqsoud has just said.
On the 87647 story, however, the situation emerges rather differently. It is made clear that what Saeed is condemning as “false and nonsensical” are the statements of the German researchers.
Moreover, Maqsoud, in 87435, appears to be saying that the GP was built
before Khufu's reign. But, in 87647, he appears to be saying that the GP was built
during Khufu's reign.
Nevertheless, in 87647, Saeed is still reported as having stated the following:
Quote
He elaborates on the writing of the King's name in graffiti, maintaining it could have been written by the pyramid builders after construction, which might also explain why the king's short name and not his official title is inscribed.
Alternatively, he suggests the cartouche could have been written during the Middle Kingdom era, due to the style of writing used.
He said that graffiti left by visitors on the walls of monuments have helped Egyptologists to know the short names of several kings that they otherwise wouldn't have known, among them Djoser. New Kingdom graffiti left on the walls of the monuments at Saqqara revealed that King Nesri-Khet was in fact Djoser.
But does Saeed fully appreciate the reasons for the presence of quarry marks? Frank Dörnenburg discusses these marks in
The Horus Name: Quote
The quarry marks were not meaningless idle doodlings, the ancient Egyptian equivalent of "Kilroy was here". They had a function: to assign blocks to the different groups of workers. From discoveries in workmen's tombs, we know that the workforce was divided into four large groups, each one working on one side of the pyramid.
The inscriptions in the chambers represent precisely these four teams (Phylae), which are:
• The gang, The Horus Mededu-is-the-purifier-of-the-two-lands
• The gang, The Horus Mededu-is-pure (or the purifier)
• The gang, Khufu-excites-love
• The gang, The-white-crown-of Khnumkhufu-is-powerful
So what would be the point of putting these marks on the blocks
after they had been put in place, as Saeed appears to be intimating?
(In the article
The faked name (The wrong name) , Dörnenburg explains the reasons why not all the instances of Khufu’s name in this part of the GP are visible:
Quote
This is clearly the end of a Khufu [name] - vanishing behind the heavy floor blocks. Those and other inscriptions can be traced into the cracks and joints of the walls, they are written in places where no faker of the world could write. The only way to put the inscriptions there would be by lifting the up to 70 t heavy floor blocks, scribbling the fakes and putting the blocks back into position - impossible!)
Hermione
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