CHAPTER IV

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