The Galleries – GI, GIII (GIII.3, GIII.4), GIV, TBLF, SSM

The so-called Galleries, or “barracks,” form the core of the Heit el-Ghurab site. They are enclosed to the southwest by a large stone wall, and to the north by a monumental structure known today as the Wall of the Crow (Heit el-Ghurab in Arabic). Seven years after the discovery of the bakeries (see below, Area A7-B) a series of smaller test trenches were excavated across an area within what was later recognized as Gallery Set II (The Big Leap Forward, TBLF). ¹ Four sets of galleries were identified during the major “Millennium Project,” ² when the overall “footprint” plan was revealed by removal of the overburden layers. Each gallery set has 9–12 individual buildings (numbered west-east). Gallery Set I (GI) (to the north) was heavily damaged by repeated flooding events, and during the Late Period a major cemetery grew up in this area, south of the Wall of the Crow. The full east-west extent of Gallery Set II is known but at present there has been no focused investigation other than in the far east end in the Manor (see below). Gallery Set III is the best known, because two of the buildings, Gallery III.3 and Gallery III.4, ³ have both been fully excavated, as has the “Hypostyle Hall” (HH) on the eastern end (see below). Gallery Set IV is known only from the footprint plan, except for the bakeries on the east end which were fully excavated (see below, Area A7-B).

Three “streets” run east-west: North Street runs between Gallery Set I and Gallery Set II, Main Street runs between Gallery Set II and Gallery Set III into the area east of the Galleries (see below), and South Street runs between Gallery Set IV and a small set of buildings just inside the southern part of the enclosure wall (the South Street Magazines, SSM). At the west end of each street, outside the galleries, there is a “gatehouse” (see NSGH, MSGH, and SSGH below).

All the galleries appear to have been set out following a uniform plan, even if the entrances are in different places. Excavations in Gallery III.3 and III.4 revealed a set of smaller rooms in the south end that were apparently used for food preparation, cooking, and some small craft jobs such as (possibly) copper tool repairs, but most of the space in each gallery building is open, with evidence for columns (probably wooden) running along the center. In both Gallery III.3 and III.4 there was a raised bed platform near the northern door, possibly for an overseer or guard. ⁴ One hypothesis is that these spaces were used as a communal sleeping space for crews or work “gangs” of men. The identity of these crews is unknown, but over the years we have postulated that they may have been workers or expedition crews associated with pyramid construction.

¹ M. Lehner, “The Big Leap Forward.... What Did We Get?,” AERAgram 2, no. 2 (1998): 1–2 & 6–7.
² M. Lehner, “Interim Report from the Field: A Royal Plan Emerges,” AERAgram 3, no. 2 (2000): 1 & 6–10; M. Lehner, “The First Year of the Millennium Project: Unveiling a Royal Plan,” AERAgram 4, no. 1 (2000): 1–2 & 6–7; M. Lehner, “Great Giza Galleries! Year Two of Millennium Project,” AERAgram 4, no. 2 (2001): 1–2 & 6–7; W. Wetterstrom, ed., “The Gift That Worked: The Millennium Project,” AERAgram 6, no. 1 (2002): 1–2.
³ Abd el-Aziz in M. Lehner and W. Wetterstrom, eds., Giza Reports. The Giza Plateau Mapping Project. Volume 1. Project History, Survey, Ceramics and Main Street and Gallery III.4 Operations (Boston: Ancient Egypt Research Associates, 2007), 193–234; For botany see Murray in ibid., 257–58; W. Wetterstrom, ed., “A Gallery Unveiled,” AERAgram 6, no. 1 (2002): 4–5; W. Wetterstrom, ed., “The Gallery Complex Gives Up Some Of Its Secrets,” AERAgram 16, no. 1 (2015): 12–16.
⁴ M. Lehner and F. Sadaranghani, “Beds for Bowabs in a Pyramid City,” in The Archaeology and Art of Ancient Egypt. Essays in Honour of David B. O’Connor. Eds. Z. Hawass & J. Richards, vol. 36, Annales du service des antiquités de l’Égypte (Le Caire: Conseil Supréme des antiquités de l’Égypte, 2007), 59–81.