RLH Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> MJ wrote
>
> Petrie did not have the lower reaches of the
> Descending Passage floor cleared of debris,
> consequently – and as Petrie himself admits in his
> book – his measurement of the floor’s length is
> unreliable.
> --------------------------------------------------
> ------------------------------
>
>
> Maybe I don’t understand but Petrie came after
> Smyth so where did all the debris come from by the
> time Petrie came along?

Hello RLH,

I can't recall the precise details, so please don't quote me on this.
The gist is.
In the early 1800s Howard Vyse and/or Caviglia had the Descending Passage cleared of debris that clogged most of its length beyond the DP/AP junction.
By the 1860s the Passage beyond the DP/AP junction had filled up again and Smyth did not have it cleared - hence the absence of data on the Pyramid's Subterranean section in his Life and Work at the Great Pyramid.
In the 1880s Petrie had the Passage cleared only sufficiently to allow access to the Subterranean Chamber, etc., (hence his difficulties with measring the floor length).
In the early 1900s John and Morton Edgar had the Passage cleared completely (except for two large blocks of stone (1 limestone, 1 granite).
I don't know what the situation was when M & R arrived on the scene in the 1960s.

In each case the debris encountered consisted not just of sand but also pieces of stone.
I read somewhere that the Arabs kept re-filling the Passage with sand and stones to prevent people entering the Subterranean Chamber (I can't remember whether this was in the interests of health and safety or they were just being difficult towards European explorers ) and the consistent reports of the nature of the debris does suggest that this was indeed the case.

I hope this goes someway to answering your question.

Regards,

MJ

We can't all be right, but we could all be wrong ...