Jan.9l PROCEEDINGS. Ti8<hG. WlLLOUGHbY FRASER, F.S.A.§ I. The alabasterquarriesof the ancient kingdomare known to
us by name fromthe inscription of Una, an official, whobornunder
the reign of Teta, grewup to hold importantofficesunderthe kings
PepiandMer-n-ra,andtheyare also mentionedin the tomb of the
" Colossus on the sledge " at Der el Nakleh oppositeRhodah.
Themonumentalstelaof Una was found at Abydos, andis now
in the Ghizeh Museum(Salle3, No. 49). Unatellsus that he was
sentby Mer-n-ra to bring a great blockof alabaster, andfurtherhe
entersintodetailstellingus that he cut it out in 17 days, andwhilst
thisworkwas going on, he appears to have prepareda boat for its
transport,which he says wasmadeof accacia (Shndz), and gives
its dimensions as 60 cubits in length and 30 in breadth, which
reduced to English measuresgivesus a very largeboat, 104 feet
longand 52 feet broad(takingthe cubit at 2o-8 inches).
Thatit was a boat, not a raft, we gatherfromthe important scene
foundby Monsieur Naville thisyearat Der el Bahari, where the
transport of Hatshepsu's obelisks is depicted, large boats being
clearlyshown.
Unamentionsthatthisworktookplace in the third monthof
the inundation, andhe was evidently pressedfor time, for when he
got his boat andblockto the port oppositethe pyramid of Mer-n-ra
at Saqqarah, the inundation hadso far fallen thathe was unable to
get his boats acrossthe basin betweenthe Nile andthe western
desert. Unfortunately he does not say how he got over this
difficulty,so we must leavehimthere.
Thesecondmentionof Hat -nub is at a later date.
In the time of Tehuti-hotep, wholivedin the Xllth dynasty,and
wasburiedat Der el Nakleh, we see represented a large statuedrawn
by groups of men, and an inscription, nowunfortunatelydestroyed,
toldhowa great statue 14 cubits, or nearly 24 ft. 3 in. high, was
brought back from Hat-nub amidst the general rejoicingof the
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