OTHER ANTIQUITIES DISCOVERED
BY HOWARD CARTER
In the removal of the lower strata of Site 14 the mass of sand,
amounting to many thousands of cubic metres, contained but few things to
which any great importance could be attached. In fact, days were passed
while extricating the masonry of the ‘Valley’-Temple without hardly a
single object coming to light. Among the few things discovered the most
important were:--
1. A genealogical stela in limestone, measuring 44 x 29 cms., coloured,
and of the ‘Household of the mother of the _Mer Shen_ of Amen,
Zed-Amen-auf-ankh’ (Pl. XLI). It mentions the following personages:--
The Lady Nes-ta-nebt-Asheru.
The Priest of Amen in Karnak, Hor.
His mother, the Lady Nes-ta-nebt-Asheru.
The Priest of Amen-Ra, Hor, son of the Priest Pedemut.
Her mother Ta-bak-en-ta-Ashat-qa.
The Governor of Thebes Hor-se-Ast, son of Zed-Aah.
The Chief Royal Scribe Bak-en-Khonsu, son of the Mayor of Thebes Auf-aa-hor.
His mother, the Lady Mes-per, daughter of the Priest of Amen-Ra Hor, son
of Zed-Amen-uah-es.
The Chief Royal Scribe Hor, son of Zed-Amen-uah-es.
The mother of the Lady Nes-ta-nebt-Asheru, Nes-Khonsu-pa-khred.
The Priest of Amen-Ra Nekht-ef-mut.
Her mother, the Lady Ta-aa, daughter of the Priest of Amen Hor-kheb, son
of Ahat.[22]
2. Along the sloping base of the boundary of the ‘Valley’-Temple, on the
north side, were three small mud-brick feretories or shrines. They were
‘lancet-arch’ in form, measuring 50 cms. high, 40 cms. broad, and rather
more in length, with, in front, a small arched opening (Pl. XLII. 2).
One was built against the wall, a little above the pavement level, and
facing north; the others were some distance from the wall and facing
east. In one were a few dried dates and leaves (Pl. LXXIX), and near by
at a lower level were the bones of a gazelle. These feretories may have
been shrines erected to pet animals buried there, and possibly are of
quite late date.
3. A stamped brick of Amenhetep II.
4. A stamped brick of Thothmes III.
5. Part of the back and leg of a bifold wooden chair, inlaid with ivory
and ebony, and of an earlier date than the XVIIIth Dynasty (? XIIth
Dynasty).
6. A wooden box, painted white, measuring 50 x 30 x 30 cms., which has
on the under side of the lid four entries in hieratic (Pl. XLII. 4).
They mention a date ‘third month of winter season, day 10’; a ‘Scribe of
the Necropolis’; an ‘Overseer of workmen’, called Amen-renpet; an
account of three vases of liquids; names of officials, and an account of
grain, together with the name of a wood.[23]
7. Two burials of poor people. One was enveloped in rushes bound
together with rope, the other with reeds (Pl. XLII. 3). The bodies in
both cases had a single winding sheet, but show no signs of
mummification. They appear to belong to a late epoch.
8. A wooden Osiride figure (Pl. XLII. 1) covered with bitumen and
wrapped in linen. The arms, crossed over the breast, have in the right
hand the _Flail_, and in the left hand the _Crook_, which are made of
copper. Period XVIII (?) Dynasty. (It is similar to the bitumened
figures found in the tombs in the Valley of the Kings.)
9. Shawabti figures of the Intermediate period in model coffins (Pl.
XLIII). The most important specimens were:--
_A._ A wooden sarcophagus with figure wrapped in linen. The inscription
in linear hieroglyphs gives the _de hetep seten_ formula to Osiris, for
offerings for [Illustration: hieroglyph] _Nefer-ur_. The figure is
dedicated by his ‘sister’ [Illustration: hieroglyph] _Sedemt_.
_B._ A clay coffin with wooden shawabti, the lid crudely anthropoid in
shape, and roughly decorated with green and yellow in the design of the
_Rîshi_ coffin type (see Pl. XLIII); the rough figure inside has green
stripes painted upon it.