The sovereigns of this dynasty showed an especial solicitude in preserving from injury and outrage the mortal remains of their predecessors. They continued the custom, which had prevailed since the spoliation of tombs came to light under Rameses IX., of a periodical inspection, carried out officially, the results of which were recorded on the spot by a scribe. Her-hor chose for his own family burial-place a lonely spot not far from the terraced temple of Queen Hatasu. A mass of broken rock almost hid the entrance, whence, by the descent of a perpendicular shaft, 25 feet deep, by 7 feet wide, a subterranean gallery of 200 feet in length was reached. Beyond was the vault, which measured about 25 feet by 14. There were either six or seven sovereigns of the twenty-first dynasty; and the last but one of them foreseeing, it is not unlikely, that a time of trouble and danger was at hand, gathered into the gloomy unadorned recesses of the gallery and vault of his family tomb the coffins of many illustrious predecessors. He then appears to have finally closed the tomb and suffered himself to be buried elsewhere. It was here that the remains of so many Egyptian sovereigns, both of the twenty-first and of earlier dynasties, were found in the great discovery of 1881. The little we know concerning even the names and succession of the priestly dynasty has been chiefly derived from this their family burial-place. We find that four of them married wives who were princesses in their own right. One of these queens, wife of Pinotem II., fourth king of the dynasty, is buried with her new-born babe by her side. The papyrus, containing portions of the ritual, which according to custom was laid in the sarcophagus, is in perfect preservation; it is beautifully written, and is full of richly-coloured illustrations, of which the tints are as fresh as if laid on yesterday. The last sovereign buried in this tomb was the wife of the king who finally closed it. With her were found the usual funereal papyrus, vases, and small statues; and besides these there was the rich and beautifully adorned canopy under which her body had been conveyed across the river to the city of the dead, and in a hamper by her side was the funeral repast of meat and fruits, which, being dedicated to her, show her to have been the last occupant of the family vault. With the mummy of the deceased queen was interred a mummied gazelle, that had probably been a pet with her in her lifetime. Both vault and gallery were now full, and the king closed it; his own tomb and that of his successor, the last monarch of the dynasty, are unknown. [Illustration: Mummy of a Gazelle.] FOOTNOTES: [73] Sometimes supposed to have been the turquoise, but it is doubtful whether correctly so. [74] The wording of the judgment seems to imply a judicial suicide.