The wooden coffin in Menkaure's pyramid

In 1837 Howard-Vyse's team found the broken lid of a wooden coffin in the antechamber of GIII (the antechamber was called 'large apartment' by Vyse). Near the coffin was a partial human skeleton.

The inscripions on the wooden coffin read:

"Osiris king of Upper and Lower Egypt Menkaure, living forever, born of heaven, conceived of Nut, heir of Geb; your mother Nut spreads herself over you in her name of 'mystery of heaven'; she has caused you to be a god unto your foes, king of upper and Lower Egypt Menkaure living forever."

The orthography and other philological points indicated that it was from the Saite Period (c. 650 BC). this contradicts it being Menkaure's of course.

This material from a post by Robert Bauval at the Hall of Ma'at

Hall of Ma'at

The stone sarcophagus it was found in was lost at sea while being transported to England in 1837.

The grave robbers were busy at the Giza pyramids... you do have to wonder just how long after the pyramids were finished that grave robbers went after them. I don't think they would have been looted during the building phase and probably not while the area was still an active worship site for the funeral rites of the kings -- any work on them would have been immediately obvious and punishable by death.

However, by the time of Herodotus, they were no longer cult centers... the robbery undoubtedly came about the time that people started stripping limestone from the Giza pyramids to build houses in Cairo.

Howdy Byrd

I would think they may have been plundered in the first or second intermediary period, certainly by the time of Hyksos. if not then when the Roman's/Greeks started to plunder stone from Abu Ruwash.

Has anyone ever made a pronouncement of when they think they were first robbed?

Question on Menkaure's do you know if it was robbed by a tunnel or bypasing corridor blocks?