The glory of the PharaohsWeigall, Arthur E. P. Brome (Arthur Edward Pearse Brome)
History
The glory of the Pharaohs
Weigall, Arthur E. P. Brome (Arthur Edward Pearse Brome)
Egypt -- Antiquities
In this condition, the tomb was found by us in February, 1908. We had
been working on the side of the valley opposite to the tomb of Rameses
III., where the accumulations of _débris_ had entirely hidden the face
of the rocks, and, as this was a central and likely spot for a “find,”
it was hoped that when the skin of rubbish had been cleared away the
entrance of a royal tomb might be exposed. After a few weeks of digging,
the mouth of a large shaft, cut into the limestone, was cleared. This
proved to lead into a small chamber half-filled with rubbish, amongst
which some fine jewellery, evidently hidden here, was found. This has
been published by Mr. Davis in facsimile, and further mention of it here
is unnecessary. Continuing the work it was not long before traces of
another tomb became apparent, and in a few days’ time we were able to
look down from the surrounding mounds of rubbish upon the commencement
of a rectangular cutting in the rock. The size and style of the entrance
left no doubt that the work was to be dated to the end of the Eighteenth
Dynasty, and the excavators were confident that the tomb of either
Tutankhamen or Horemheb lay before them. Steps leading down to the
entrance were presently uncovered, and finally the doorway itself was
freed from _débris_.
On one of the door-posts an inscription was now seen, written in black
ink by one of the Government inspectors of B.C. 1100. This stated that
in the fourth year of an unknown king the tomb had been inspected, and
had been found to be that of Horemheb.
We had hoped now to pass into the tomb without further difficulty, but
in this we were disappointed, for the first corridor was quite choked
with the rubbish placed there by the inspectors. This corridor led down
at a steep angle through the limestone hillside, and, like all other
parts of the tomb, it was carefully worked. It was not until two days
later that enough clearing had been done to allow us to crawl in over
the rubbish, which was still piled up so nearly to the roof that there
was only just room to wriggle downwards over it with our backs pressing
against the stone above. At the lower end of the corridor there was a
flight of steps towards which the rubbish shelved, and, sliding down the
slope, we were here able to stand once more. It was obvious that the
tomb did not stop here, and work, therefore, had to be begun on the
rubbish which choked the stairway in order to expose the entrance to
further passages. A doorway soon became visible, and at last this was
sufficiently cleared to permit of our crawling into the next corridor,
though now we were even more closely squeezed between the roof and the
_débris_ than before.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account