EXCAVATIONS IN THE VALLEY OF DÊR EL BAHARI
BY HOWARD CARTER
The panoramic view given in Pl. XIII clearly shows the nineteen
different sites that were excavated and examined in this particular part
of the necropolis during 1909 and 1910. Many were experimental
excavations made on the chance of there being hidden tombs, but as
several sites gave no results it is unnecessary to describe them.
_Site 3._ A tier of tombs, plundered, and most of them used in later
times, probably by Copts, as dwellings.
In the corner of the court of the principal tomb of this series, under a
fallen stone divisional wall (original), was a number of long and
well-made pottery cones, uninscribed; the position and state in which
they were found, the wall having fallen and covered them at an early
period, gives us reason to suppose that they belong to the tomb and are
of the XIth Dynasty (see Fig. 6, p. 8). Besides these cones, a very
rough sandstone table of offerings without inscription, two Coptic pots,
one with a wooden lid, some fragments of leather sandals, and a granite
colour-grinder, were found dispersed in the drifted sand.
_Site 4._ A large tomb, facing west, high up on the mountain slope, with
a causeway some twenty-five metres broad, walled on either side with
rough stones, and leading down the face of the hill.
Like the tomb itself the façade is hewn in the rock; its right and left
wings and overhead retaining wall, now mostly destroyed, were built of
mud-brick.
The passage and chambers being open for many centuries the task here was
to clear the façade court, into which its walls had fallen and been
covered with rubbish drifted in from the desert above. It was discovered
that the floor of the court, owing to the sloping rock bed, had been
levelled and made good with stone rubble faced with lime mortar. The
enormous fissures in the rock which ran through from side to side along
its transverse axis had been treated in the same way. In the centre of
the court, before the tomb entrance, was a large square shaft, sunk into
the rock and formed mostly out of the natural fissures, previously
mentioned, which had been utilized by the ancients in its construction.
At the bottom of this shaft was the sarcophagus chamber, with its
doorway blocked by a sandstone portcullis of one piece, measuring two
metres high and one and a half metres broad. The sarcophagus chamber
was rectangular in shape, low, and just large enough to receive the
burial, i.e. the sarcophagus with the funereal equipment. At the
south-east side of the court, buried beneath the fallen bricks of that
side wing, is a small unfinished chamber.
The total area of the court had some two metres of earth covering it,
and in the upper surface there were many cylindrical beads, a blue paste
scarab (uninscribed), and two rough limestone heart-scarabs covered with
blue paint. On the floor-level were fragments of funeral boat figures in
wood, and a torso in limestone of one of the original occupants of the
tomb (Pl. XVIII. 1 and 2). Covered by comparatively recent workings were
two iron spear-heads.
In the shaft, which was filled with earth, were more cylindrical beads,
some gilt, a black amber head, an obsidian eye-pupil from a coffin, a
fragment of a crystal bead, the head and fractured pedestal of the
limestone torso found in the court (Pl. XVIII. 1 and 2); also many burnt
pieces of wood from coffins and figures including a rough table of
offerings in limestone. The fractured pedestal had upon it the following
partially erased inscription:--
[Illustration: hieroglyph]
The sarcophagus chamber was plundered and three parts full of rubbish.
Access to it was obtained in ancient times by means of an opening forced
between the top of the portcullis and lintel of the doorway. Its
contents were smashed and burnt. Beads and small fragments of the
objects of the burial were all that remained.
The side chamber of the court, mentioned above, was completely choked
with drifted sand and had no antiquities in it at all.
Though among the objects found there were many of the XXIInd Dynasty, or
even of a later period, the larger portion were certainly of the
original XIth Dynasty burial; which, judging from the scanty remains,
must have been very fine in quality, and of some high state official,
but there was no inscription to tell us who he was.
_Site 5._ A depression in the surface of the hill slope, which proved to
be a rock-cut court with sepulchral chambers on both sides and at its
northern end (Pl. XV).
Almost at the commencement of its excavation the men came across the
small chamber on the east side, containing the coffin of an adult burial
untouched since the time it was deposited there. The entrance to this
chamber was walled in with stones mixed with bricks and pieces of
pottery, and it was found intact with the exception of a small opening
at the top accidentally made by the workmen before discovering its real
nature.
Later on, at the opposite side of the court, another small chamber was
disclosed, but it proved to be unfinished.
Lastly, at the end of the court, a large chamber containing burials of
seven adults and one child was found to be untouched. The sealing of the
entrance was in perfect condition and was constructed like the other
with similar stones and bricks (Pl. XIV. 1 and 2). The chamber was about
two-thirds full of rubble, upon which the coffins were deposited, the
first two having a slight excavation made for them. The first two
coffins were placed side by side with their heads towards the east: they
were covered by a pink shawl and chain garlands of leaves; with, beside
the first one, a bouquet of cornflowers. This was evidently the last
tribute paid to the dead placed in this sepulchre (see Pl. XVII. 3). The
rest of the coffins, seven in all, belonging to a previous interment,
and of a different type, were lying north and south with their heads to
south. They were crowded together as if to make room for the latter
burials. Some of these latter coffins had pieces of mummy-cloth upon
them; the last of all some fragments of a decayed garland.
The east side-chamber was quite clean, and the coffin in it was placed
exactly east and west with its head to the west.
After the removal of the coffins the large chamber was carefully
explored. At the far end the commencement of an uncompleted pit was
found, and at the entrance the remains of the early brick wall that
originally closed the doorway were uncovered.
From the style of this tomb, the brickwork that closed the doorway,
together with the pottery and some cones found in the rubbish, it
clearly belongs to the earlier epoch of this district, the roughness of
form being mostly owing to the inferior rock in which it is hewn (a
conglomerate of lime and flints striated with _Tafle_). The beginning of
a chamber on the west side of the court had been abandoned on account of
some large flint-boulders embedded in the conglomerate which had
prevented further progress, and the chamber on the east side was made in
its stead. Neither of these cuttings seem to belong to the original
design; they were most probably made by the usurpers found within the
tomb: the fact that the floor-level of the completed side-chamber was
the same as that of the rubbish drifted into the courtyard and tomb
before its usurpation, I think, corroborates the above conjecture.
The burials in detail are as follows:--
1. _A_. (Pl. XVI. 3). A coffin containing inner case and mummy of a man
named [Illustration: hieroglyph] Pa-de-Amen, [Illustration: hieroglyph]
son of Pa-de-khonsu by the lady [Illustration: hieroglyph] Maartu.
_Outer Case._ Of wood, top of lid flat, with the face, head-dress,
ornamental collar, and vertical line of hieroglyphs down the centre,
painted.
_Inner Case._ Of thin wood, very roughly made, and painted white, with
the four ‘Amenti’ figures painted in colour upon the chest. The vertical
inscription on the front gives the _de hetep seten_ formula to Osiris,
and the name [Illustration: hieroglyph] Reth-ar-es, which seems to have
no connexion with the other names mentioned on the outer case.
The mummy was swathed in (1) the outer covering, consisting of a pink
shawl bound by three longitudinal and seven transverse yellow bandages,
(2) the inner covering of numerous narrow swathing bands bound round the
body as well as crossways, with folded pieces of linen napkins and
pieces of shawls stuffed in the hollow parts. Among these numerous
wrappings were pieces embroidered with small blue patches woven into the
fabric, some had their edges fringed, and many were much worn and
darned.
The body was of a male adult, middle aged, with the hands placed at the
sides.
1. _B_. A coffin containing a mummy of a lady named [Illustration:
hieroglyph], Maartu (Pl. XVI, Fig. 1).
The coffin is far more elaborate than the former one, and generally
finer both in workmanship and painting. The scenes painted upon it are
of the deceased witnessing the weighing of her heart against the feather
of truth in the presence of two apes representing _Thoth_, the devouring
monster _Lord of Duat_, the goddess of truth _Maat_, _Horus_, _Osiris_,
_Nephthys_, and two children of _Horus_. Below, the spirits of _Ash-Mut_
and winged figures of _Ra_ on either side.
Round the case, on the two outer sides and end, is a band of coloured
hieroglyphs; and in the interior on the bottom, a painted figure of the
goddess _Mut_ surmounted by the winged _Horus_.
All the inscriptions give the _de hetep seten_ formula invoking the gods
in favour of the deceased, they also give her name and parentage
[Illustration: hieroglyphs], Maartu justified before Osiris.
[Illustration: hieroglyph], Daughter of Amenhetep-en-auf. [Illustration:
hieroglyph], Her Mother, the Lady of the House Nanu-nes-her.
The mummy was enveloped in a well-preserved dark terra-cotta coloured
linen shroud, tied underneath and held in position by several narrow
bands of brown and yellow linen, making a rich piece of colour and
delicious harmony in contrast to the clean white and decorated interior
of the coffin. Lying at the head was a fillet of leaves, like a diadem,
sewn together and adorned with tiny petals of flowers (Pl. XVII. 2). The
swathings under the shroud were similar to the first mummy (1. _A_),
with the exception that the linen was coarser and the bandages broader
(185 mms.). Among the folds were four _Amenti_ figures and one _Bennu_
bird in wax (Pl. XVII. 2); these were placed on the right vertical
nipple line and on a level with the base of the Xephisternum.
The body was of a female adult of approximately thirty-five years of
age. The hands were placed between the thighs.
2. _B_. Coffin containing a mummy of a man named [Illustration:
hieroglyph] Pa-de-Khonsu.
The decoration of the coffin and the manner of mummification of the body
were both similar to 1. _A_. Some of the linen bandages had markings in
light and dark blue, and red striated with dark blue running the whole
length, woven into the stuff; and, like the others, many of the bandages
were mended.[13]
The genealogy of these three persons was as follows:--
Amenhetep-en-auf = Nanu-nes-her (of coffin 2. _B_)
Pa-de-Khonsu = Maartu (of coffin 1. _B_)
Pa-de-Amen (of coffin 1. _A_).
The meaning of the bandages being in so many cases carefully darned and
mended might be explained by the inscriptions found on the walls of the
tombs of the New Kingdom--a part of the ritual and last words of the
relatives before the mummy when depositing it for ever in the tomb.
‘Woe, woe.... Alas this loss! the good shepherd has gone to the land of
Eternity; he who willingly opened his feet to going is now enclosed,
bound, and confined. He who had so much fine linen, and so gladly put it
on, _sleeps now in the cast-off garments of yesterday_.’[14] The mummy
bandages are strips torn nearly in every case from larger pieces like
shawls and garments.
The second group of coffins, 3. _B_ to 7. _B_ (see Pl. XV), are of
slightly smaller dimensions, painted black, and of a much rougher type.
Only one of them had traces of design upon it, and that was in yellow
upon the black background. The mummies they contained, though in good
preservation and simulating the others in fashion, did not in general
display the same care as in the former series. The linen in which they
were wrapped had similar markings and mends, but they were of a coarser
nature, and in some cases the materials were quite worn and old rags.
Coffin 3. _B_ bore the _de hetep seten_ formula, but the name of the
deceased was omitted.
The mummy in coffin 7. _B_, of a man not more than thirty years of age,
had on the left arm, tied at the elbow, a very fine blue glazed steatite
scarab (Pl. XVII. 1, also Fig. 9, p. 27).
The small child’s coffin, 8. _B_, was of plain wood exceedingly roughly
made, and it contained the remains of a young boy prepared in the same
manner as the others.
This last group may possibly have relationship in common with the
others, even though their class does not appear to be of so high a
standing; but unfortunately we have no inscription or real indication to
tell us; the existing evidences show two distinct families but tend
towards their being within a short period of one another--perhaps not
more than a century.
_Site 6_ had openings to tombs, but proved unproductive.
_Site 7_, in the open courtyard of a large tomb of the XIth Dynasty;
many decayed funeral boats and granary figures, as well as pottery cones
and potsherds, cast out in past times, were the only reward for its
excavation.
_Site 8._ Here were tombs with mud-brick buildings in front of them,
like dwellings of embalmers. Beads and amulets, and a broken _Tazza_[15]
(table) in pottery, all of different periods, were here unearthed.
[Illustration: FIG. 9. SCARAB FROM TOMB NO. 5.]
_Site 10._ A tomb with large open courtyard facing south. This was
completely excavated. On the east side of the main door was a low single
brick wall; between it and the east corner a shallow round hole in the
floor, like that for a foundation deposit (see tomb No. 16). In the east
wall of the court was a small chamber, its entrance passage was three
parts full of sand, while the chamber itself was comparatively clean. It
must have been open anciently for many years as the ceiling, walls, and
even the pots in it, were covered with mason-bees’ nests. Mingled with
the rubbish were pots of peg-top shape (Pl. XVIII. 10), broken pieces of
coffins, funereal cones (see Fig. 6), and human bones, all of different
dates and occurring here accidentally. The pieces of coffin were eaten
by white ants, a pest certainly foreign to this part of the Theban
necropolis, and for that reason I believe these wooden fragments came
from some other portion of the Theban necropolis. There is reason to
suppose that the courtyard was never finished; there were many huge
stones protruding out of the rock and jutting into the yard. In this
yard more pottery was found, with among them two small pieces of linen
tied up and containing pellets, like masticated corn mixed with grains
of wheat.
_Sites 11 and 12_ produced nothing of further interest than a palm-tree
in front of one of the tombs (12) which had been planted there in Nile
mud brought up from the cultivation.
_Site 13_, a large rubbish heap formed of the débris thrown out by the
ancient workmen when making the neighbouring tombs.
Here our hopes were to find a grave covered and protected by stuff
thrown over it. Such indeed was the case, for within a few days the
greater part of the mound was cleared away and the mouth of a cutting
exposed. Naturally this raised great expectations, as the chances were
that it would be undisturbed. But, as nearly always happens to the
excavator in such cases, it is the unsuspected that occurs; the tomb had
never been completed!
_Sites 15 and 16_ were on the open desert close to one another. 15
proved to be unfruitful. 16, though it at first appeared to be more
promising by there being plenty of artificial chippings, had but little
interest outside the fact that it led to a cutting of an already
pilfered tomb. At the entrance of this cutting, in a small hollow in the
_Tafle_ rock, on the west side, was a ‘pocket’ of barley, which was at
first a puzzle, as it did not seem accidental. Afterwards, on thinking
that it might be of the nature of a foundation deposit to the tomb, the
opposite side was carefully searched, and a corresponding ‘pocket’ with
barley was eventually found; thus proving the conjecture to be correct,
and showing that the tombs here, like the royal ones in the Valley of
the Kings,[16] had foundation deposits as was customary also in the
temples.
At the doorway of this tomb a pottery pan offering like a ‘Soul House’
was found (Pl. XVIII. 16).
_Site 17._ Here a pair of rush sandals and a pottery female figure were
the prizes of the last day’s work of the season of 1909 among the
sepulchres of this region.
In Pl. XVIII. 3 are shown examples of each type and shape of the XIth
Dynasty pottery found in the above excavations. There were only two
other examples of a later date (Coptic), and they were of the most
common form; the numbers on the illustration refer to the sites they
came from.
Continuing the work in the year 1910, the large mounds immediately east
of the footpath leading to the Biban el Mulûk were thoroughly
investigated. These extend north and south on the hill slope below the
great rock-cut tombs which are situated under the cliff at the top. This
work was divided into two sites, Nos. 18 and 19 (Pl. XIII) and placed
under two reises. It produced practically nothing, being only an immense
covering of stone chippings upon the _gebel_ thrown out from the tombs
above. Among this accumulation, which varied in depth from one to five
metres, many horns of animals suggesting sacrifices, leather thongs from
implements, broken timber, and _balanites_ kernels (Pl. LXXIX) were
found; in fact the refuse from the workmen who had been employed upon
the sepulchral caverns above. Thus, in the two seasons, this half of the
north side of the valley between the eastern foot hills at its mouth and
the mountain path may be said to have been thoroughly explored, leaving
but small chances of undiscovered tombs.
The men were then removed further westward, close to Hatshepsût’s
Temple, where parallel trenches, twenty-five to forty metres broad, were
dug. They began at the base of the slope and were carried up, in some
cases, nearly to the foot of the vertical cliff; the excavations were
continued until the rock surface had all been exposed.
_Trench 20_, begun from the temple temenos, yielded the following
results:--
1. On the flat of the valley bed, between the temenos and the rising
ground, was disclosed the mutilated foundation of a large wall (Pl. XIX.
1), extending east and west, two metres wide, and built of crude bricks
stamped with the cartouches of Amenhetep I and Aahmes-nefert-ari (Pl.
XXIII. 20).
2. Over and along the side of the wall were many irregularly built mud
dwellings for workmen, made of stray bricks of the XIth and early
XVIIIth Dynasties; they no doubt were the rest-houses of the builders of
the Queen Hatshepsût’s temple.
3. Among the huts, in a depression roughly enclosed by limestone blocks,
were the roots and stem of a date palm, set in black soil. Below the
roots of the tree were several pots and a broken limestone statuette,
placed as offerings for the welfare of the palm (Pl. XIX. 2). The pots
contained a mud sediment. The statuette, which seems to have been used
also as an offering, has the following inscriptions upon it:--
Down front of dress [Illustration: hieroglyph]
On front end of throne [Illustration: hieroglyph]
On right side of throne (1) [Illustration: hieroglyph]
(2) [Illustration: hieroglyph]
(3) [Illustration: hieroglyph]
(4) [Illustration: hieroglyph]
(5) [Illustration: hieroglyph]
On left side of throne (1) [Illustration: hieroglyph]
(2) [Illustration: hieroglyph]
(3) [Illustration: hieroglyph]
(4) [Illustration: hieroglyph]
(5) [Illustration: hieroglyph]
On back of throne [Illustration: hieroglyph]
They mention the ‘True Royal Scribe, Scribe of the Altar of the Lord of
the Two Lands’, Amenemhat, called _Keriba_ (the Son of) ‘Scribe of the
Altar’ Amenhetep. It was dedicated by Amenemhat’s brother, ‘Who made to
live his name,’ ‘The Royal Scribe,’ Userhat.
4. A few metres above, in the first part of the hill slope, hewn in the
_Tafle_, was a chamber (No. 21). The interior had been plastered and it
appears to have been a kind of office for the clerk of the works for the
Queen’s temple. It contained a broken rush and wicker-work stool,
fragments of a mat, a basket, torn fragments of papyrus, clay pellets
for seal impressions, and a donkey halter. Leading up to the entrance
was a small causeway. The fragments of papyrus, forty-three in number,
when fitted together, proved to be part of Chapter XLI of the ‘Book of
the Dead’, a list of different names of Osiris.
5. Higher up, on the top of the low foot-hill, was a series of cells
built against the second incline. In one of these was a washing slab
made of sandstone, with a hole in the corner of its sunken bed to allow
the water to drain into a cesspool below; this was perhaps the
bathing-place for the workmen (Pl. XX. 2).
6. On the second incline, eight metres above the bath, was part of a
‘serpentine’ wall (Pl. XX. 1), a peculiar structure not uncommon in
building operations. Such a wall was found near the unfinished part of
the north colonnade of the Queen’s temple. Another example was found
this season in Site 14. Its specific purpose is not thoroughly
understood, perhaps it was an economical method of making enclosures for
the working staff. In this particular case the bricks used for it belong
to different periods--the XIth Dynasty brick (black mud without straw)
and stamped bricks of Amenhetep I, Aahmes-nefert-ari, and Hatshepsût;
the latter shows that it cannot have been earlier than the date of the
Thothmes family.
7. A natural fissure in the hill near by had been, in late times,
converted into a group of small tomb-chambers (No. 22). They had in them
the plundered remains of burials like those of site No. 5, found in the
season’s work of 1909 (p. 23).
_Trench 23_, the next trench (parallel and east of 20), produced little
or nothing. More stamped bricks of Aahmes-nefert-ari and Amenhetep I
were found, and the beginning of an unfinished tomb-shaft in which was a
boulder bearing the name, written in black ink, [Illustration:
hieroglyph], Mentu-hetep.
Full attention being required by the Birâbi excavations, the third
parallel trench was not begun until after an interval of ten days, when
the good services of Mr. Cyril Jones were obtained for this express
purpose. Mr. Jones, with thirty men and sixty boys, steadily continued
the work as before, the base of his trench (No. 26) reaching as far as
the north-east corner of the temple inclosure wall. The part ascending
the valley side was barren and only exposed a plundered XIth Dynasty
tomb (No. 30), re-used as an habitation, and afterwards as the place of
a later burial consisting of a wooden _dug-out_ coffin. But, on turning
round the corner of the temple enclosure, he discovered a most
interesting historical cache, a foundation deposit of the Dêr el Bahari
dromos (for the exact position of this deposit see Pl. XXIV). For this
deposit a circular hole, three metres deep and 140 cms. in diameter, had
been made, and lined with a mud-brick wall with rounded and plastered
coping (Pl. XXI. 2). The interior was filled with greyish (local) sand
sprinkled with grains of corn. But for some reason the whole of the
deposit was not placed in it. The tools and implements were found in a
smaller hole, simply dug in the ground a few feet away, and like the
former pit it was filled with sand and grain.
In the main pit the objects, placed in groups under alternate layers of
sand, were discovered in the following order:--A few inches below the
surface, the skull of an ox (Pl. XXI. 1), and underneath it a group of
pottery, whole and broken, one pot containing grain, another containing
fruit of the _Nebbek_ tree. Then came the jaw-bone and fore-leg of an ox
(Pl. XXI. 1), a piece of bread, a square sample of wood, an ebony
symbolical knot (Pl. XXII. 2. E), and an alabaster pebble (Pl. XXII. 2.
N) elaborately inscribed. In the third batch another symbolical knot, of
cedar wood, two samples of fine linen, broken pottery that had contained
oil, wines and foodstuffs, and two samples of coarse linen. Lastly, a
rush mat, a pitcher-carrier, a second rush mat, and under it a second
pitcher-carrier, masses of broken pottery, including a vessel containing
a sample of mortar. Below these was plain sand reaching to the bottom of
the pit.
Those of the second hole, mostly implements, were placed apparently not
in any particular order, and are given in the following list, and
illustrated in Plate XXII. 2:--A bronze axe (A), graver (B), and chisel
(C); an adze with a bronze blade bound by leather thongs to its wooden
handle (F); a wooden mallet (D), hoe (G), brick mould (H), and peg (J);
two sieves, one of palm-leaf with coarse mesh (K), the other of
_halfa_-grass, with fine mesh, and made of horse or donkey hair (L); a
rushwork jar rest (?) (M); a smelting crucible made of sun-dried mud
(I), and lastly a pottery dish and jar. Many of these models were quite
large, about three-quarter actual size, and all in a most perfect state
of preservation. The two knots (Pl. XXII. 2. E) have engraved upon them
[Illustration: hieroglyph], the ‘Nebti’ name and prenomen of Hatshepsût.
The alabaster pebble (Pl. XXII. 2. N) has also the following
legend:--[Illustration: hieroglyph]. It mentions that Queen Maat-ka-ra
(Hatshepsût) made this monument for her father Amen-Ra, when she
measured out for Amen the Dêr el Bahari temple. Among the broken débris
of pottery found in the main cache were two fragments bearing the words
[Illustration: hieroglyph] ‘wine’, and [Illustration: hieroglyph] ‘roast
meat’.
Types of the pottery are given in Plate XXII. 1. These vessels of red
pottery have nearly all been dipped into colour of a terra-cotta hue.
The lip, rim, and neck of the jars (D, F, H), the upper half of the
bowls (E, G, I), the interior and rims of dishes (A, B, C), are all
coloured in that manner.
There is no doubt that the pots were intentionally smashed when
deposited, and that the probable reason for this breaking was to
disperse their contents during the ceremony over the sand. From this
cause most of the pots and potsherds were found adhering to one another,
due to the spilt unguents as well as to the blood from the
flesh-offering having dried and caked them together. This may be a
reason for the more perishable objects being placed in a separate cache.
The bones, shown in Plate XXI. 1, are those of a young beast, the
ossification being that of an immature animal. They measure:--
_Skull._ Length from top of occipital tuberosity to end of the
pre-maxilla, 457 mms. (approximate); width of frontal bone between
orbits, 150 mms.; length of jaw, from the mandibula condyle to end of
the sub-maxillary bone, 380 mms.
_Fore-leg._ Length of scapula, along scapula axis, 317 mms.; length of
humerus, from the head to the tip of outer condyle, 283 mms.; length of
radius, from head to the lower end, 287 mms.; maximum length of the
great metacarpal, 215 mms.
Other details of interest brought to light by these excavations in these
trenches are recorded below:--
1. A potsherd with charcoal sketch of a Sinaitic ibex upon it.
2. A fine ostracon, bearing, in hieratic, a receipt dated in ‘The 11th
year (? Thothmes III), third month of Summer, 24th day’, for various
articles given by the ‘Mayor’ Aahmes.
3. Fragments of a shawabti figure, of white and violet glaze, bearing
the name and title ‘Royal Scribe of the Altar’, [Illustration:
hieroglyph], Ky-nefer. Date XIXth Dynasty.
4. A group of broken shawabti figures, blue faience, of [Illustration:
hieroglyph], Zed-Khensu-auf-ankh. Date XXIInd Dynasty.
5. Three jar seals--(i) bearing on top two cartouches, with only the two
signs [Illustration: hieroglyph] visible; (ii) has the cartouche
[Illustration: hieroglyph]; (iii) on the top surface is a
cartouche-formed impression but illegible, and painted on the side is
the commencement of the cartouche [Illustration: hieroglyph] in yellow
on a blue ground.
6. A child’s toy--an interesting little pack-horse with removable
packages, made of clay and housed in a pot. The packs are supported by
four vine-leaf stalks which are stuck into the animal’s sides (Pl.
XXIII. 1).
7. From the rubbish of the court in front of Tomb 30 a small bundle of
linen containing a steatite scarab, a strip of plaited rushwork, and
some diamond-shaped pieces of leather with minute multicoloured
bead-work sewn upon them.
8. In two places the trenches cut through temple refuse heaps, one high
upon the north side of the monument, the other at the north-east corner
of the temenos. These heaps are certainly of great interest, and should
one day be carefully worked through, for in them there are numbers of
broken votive offerings, brought by the populace to invoke the aid and
assistance of the local divinity. They consist of bronze, earthenware,
blue glaze, Hathor heads, cows, _menats_, model bunches of grapes,
rings, balls, sistrums, sphinxes, scarabs, scarab-shaped and cowroid
beads (one bearing the name of Aahmes I), amulets, such as ears, eyes,
and _Ankhs_, dishes, bowls and vases, some of which are of very large
dimensions.
A full series of pottery is given in Pl. XXIII. 2.
_Types._ B, C, D, E, G, K, L, M are of rough red pottery.
A, F, lightly burnt mud and lenticular in shape.
I, red pottery, coloured white, and ornamented with black and red.
J, red pottery, whitened.
N, red pottery with black and red rings (fragment).
Plate LXXIX. 1 gives two examples of fig-basket found in the refuse
heaps mentioned above.
Towards the end of the exploration of 1911 an attempt was made to
discover the corresponding dromos deposit to that revealed by the work
of Mr. Cyril Jones in 1910. The exact measurements of the position of
the former one were taken, and laid down on the opposite side of the
dromos; the spot thus indicated was dug, and within a few hours the
second cache was exposed. It resembled the former one in every way, the
only variant being that the inscription upon the alabaster pebble in
this case was slightly different. It reads:--[Illustration: hieroglyph],
‘The Good Goddess Maat-ka-ra, living, beloved of Amen Ra, Lord of the
thrones [of the two lands].’[17]
This completes our three consecutive seasons’ researches on the north
side of the Dêr el Bahari Valley, which is mainly occupied by the early
tombs of the XIth Dynasty.
WORK DONE IN THE BIRABI