mud-brick enclosure of King Khasekhemwy

 

In February 2009, we will face one of the biggest challenges in our efforts to conserve the Second Dynasty (ca. 2700 B.C.) mud-brick enclosure of King Khasekhemwy (a.k.a. the Fort). It will soon be time to do something permanent about the large and ugly gap in the interior face of the west wall, the last, but more serious, threat to the long-term survival of this intriguing monument. We ha...ve long known it was going to be a big job, but the true measure of this task only became fully apparent last season, when we began to flatten the dishevelled ground surface of the interior, which was no small job in itself, since it covers an area of about 47x57 m (or roughly 51x62 yards, the size of half an American football field).

http://interactive.archaeology.org/hierakonp…/field08/2.html

The walls of the internal chapel in 1905 being trenched, sat upon and used for general storage! (Courtesy of Garstang Archive, University of Liverpool

Garstang's men at work in 1905 (Courtesy of Garstang Archive, University of Liverpool).

 The last threat to the survival of the Fort, the yawning gap in the center of the interior west wall is also the most difficult to deal with and more than a little frightening! Ridges and furrows disfiguring the interior of the Fort are relics of the 1905 excavations