M. Naville's workmen came upon a very interesting "foundation deposit " which they discovered in a small rock-hewn pit. It consisted of fifty wooden hoes, four bronze slabs, a hatchet, a knife, eight wooden models of adzes, eight wooden adzes with bronze blades, fifty wooden models of an implement of unknown use, ten pots of alabaster, and ten baskets; above these were a few common earthenware pots, and over all were some mats. All the objects bear the same inscription, i.e., the prenomen and titles of queen Hatshepset.

VI. Dêr el-Medinet. The temple built in this place owes its name to the Coptic Dêr, or Monastery, which stood near here when Thebes was the home of a flourishing Coptic community, and was dedicated to Saint Paul of Pikolol, of whom, however, nothing is known. The monastery must have contained a society of considerable size, for it is said to have possessed two stewards. The small Egyptian temple which stands between the Colossi and Medînet Habû, was begun by Ftolemy IV., Philopator, and continued by Ptolemy VII., Philometor, and finished by Ptolemy IX., Euergetes II. It is built of the ordinary sandstone of the district, and though in many respects it resembles most of the funeral temples built by the Ptolemies, it is a beautiful little example of its class. It appears to have been dedicated to more than one of the goddesses of the underworld, but Hathor was regarded as its tutelary deity. The capitals of some of the columns are Hathorheaded, and over the doorway of the large chamber are the heads of the Seven Hathors, who, in their forms of cows, supplied the deceased with food in the underworld. In one of the chambers is a relief representing the Judgment Scene, which forms the Vignette of the CXXVth Chapter of the Book of the Dead, and has been described above. (See pp. 150-156.) The chief interest of the scene here is that it proclaims the nature of the building, and proves how anxious

the Ptolemies were to officially adopt, and to maintain the principal religious views of the Egyptians. The temple

was much visited by travellers in ancient times, as the number of names written on the walls testify, and by both Greeks and Copts it was regarded as very holy.

THE DISCOVERY OF THE ROYAL MUMMIES AT
DER EL-BAHARî.†

In the summer of the year 1871 an Arab, a native of Kûrna, discovered a large tomb filled with coffins heaped one upon the other. On the greater number of them were visible the cartouche and other signs which indicated that the inhabitants of the coffins were royal personages. The native, who was so fortunate as to have chanced upon this remarkable "find," was sufficiently skilled in his trade of antiquity hunter to know what a valuable discovery he had made; his joy must however have been turned into mourning, when it became evident that he would need the help of many men even to move some of the large royal coffins which he saw before him, and that he could not keep the knowledge of such treasures locked up in his own breast. He revealed his secret to his two brothers and to one of his sons, and they proceeded to spoil the coffins of ushabtiu ‡ figures, papyri, scarabs and other antiquities which could be taken away easily and concealed in their abbas (ample outer garments) as they returned to their houses. These precious objects were for

A minute and detailed account of this discovery is given by Maspero in "Les Momies Royales de Déïr el Bahari" (Fasc. I., t. IV., of the Mémoires of the French Archæological Mission at Cairo).

‡ Ushabtiu figures made of stone, green or blue glazed Egyptian porcelain, wood, &c., were deposited in the tombs with the dead, and were supposed to perform for them any field labours which might be 'ecreed for them by Osiris, the king of the under-world, and judge of dead.

several winters sold to chance tourists on the Nile, and the lucky possessors of this mine of wealth replenished their stores from time to time by visits made at night to the tomb. As soon as the objects thus sold reached Europe, it was at once suspected that a "find" of more than ordinary importance had been made. An English officer called Campbell showed M. Maspero a hieratic Book of the Dead written for Pi-net'em; M. de Saulcy sent him photographs of the hieroglyphic papyrus of Net'emet; M. Mariette bought at Suez a papyrus written for the Queen Ḥent-taiu, and Rogers Bey exhibited at Paris a wooden tablet upon which was written a hieratic text relating to the ushabtiu figures which were to be buried with the princess Nesi-Khonsu. All these interesting and most valuable objects proved that the natives of Thebes had succeeded in unearthing a veritable "Cave of Treasures," and M. Maspero, the Director of the Bûlâk Museum, straightway determined to visit Upper Egypt with a view of discovering whence came all these antiquities. Three men were implicated, whose names were learnt by M. Maspero from the inquiries which he made of tourists who purchased antiquities.

came.

In 1881 he proceeded to Thebes, and began his investigations by causing one of the dealers, 'Abd er-Rasûl Aḥmad, to be arrested by the police, and an official inquiry into the matter was ordered by the Mudir of Keneh. In spite of threats and persuasion, and many say tortures, the accused denied any knowledge of the place whence the antiquities. The evidence of the witnesses who were called to testify to the character of the accused, tended to show that he was a man of amiable disposition, who would never dream of pillaging a tomb, much less do it. Finally, after two months' imprisonment, he was provisionally set at liberty. The accused then began to discuss with his partners in the secret what plans they should adopt, and how they should act in the future. Some of them thought that all

trouble was over when 'Abd er-Rasûl Aḥmad was set at liberty, but others thought, and they were right, that the trial would be recommenced in the winter. Fortunately for students of Egyptology, differences of opinion broke out between the parties soon after, and 'Abd er-Rasûl Aḥmad soon perceived that his brothers were determined to turn King's evidence at a favourable opportunity. To prevent their saving themselves at his expense, he quietly travelled to Keneh, and there confessed to the Mudîr that he was able to reveal the place where the coffins and papyri were found. Telegrams were sent to Cairo announcing the confession of 'Abd er-Rasûl Aḥmad, and when his statements had been verified, despatches containing fuller particulars were sent to Cairo from Keneh. It was decided that a small expedition to Thebes should at once be made to take possession of and bring to Cairo the antiquities which were to be revealed to the world by 'Abd er-Rasûl Aḥmad, and the charge of bringing this work to a successful issue was placed in the hands of M. Émile Brugsch. Although the season was summer, and the heat very great, the start for Thebes was made on July 1, 1881. At Keneh M. Brugsch found a number of papyri and other valuable antiquities which ‘Abd er-Rasûl had sent there as an earnest of the truth of his promise to reveal the hidden treasures. A week later M. Brugsch and his companions were shown the shaft of the tomb, which was most carefully hidden in the north-west part of the natural circle which opens to the south of the valley of Dêr el-Baḥari, in the little row of hills which separates the Bibân el-Mulûk from the Theban plain. According to M. Maspero, the royal mummies were removed here from their tombs in the Bibân el-Mulûk by Aauputh, the son of Shashanq, about B.C. 966, to prevent them being destroyed by the thieves, who were sufficiently numerous and powerful to defy the government of the day. The pit which led to the tomb was about forty feet deep,

and the passage, of irregular level, which led to the tomb, was about 220 feet long; at the end of this passage was a nearly rectangular chamber about twenty-five feet long, which was found to be literally filled with coffins, mummies, funereal furniture, boxes, ushabtiu figures, Canopic jars," bronze vases, etc., etc. A large number of men were at once employed to exhume these objects, and for eight and forty hours M. Brugsch and Aḥmad Effendi Kamal stood at the mouth of the pit watching the things brought up. The heavy coffins were carried on the shoulders of men to the river, and in less than two weeks everything had been sent over the river to Luxor. A few days after this the whole collection of mummies of kings and royal personages was placed upon an Egyptian Government steamer and taken to the Museum at Bulák.

When the mummies of the ancient kings of Egypt arrived at Cairo, it was found that the Búlâk Museum was too small to contain them, and before they could be exposed to the inspection of the world, it was necessary for additional rooms to be built. Finally, however, M. Maspero had glass cases made, and, with the help of some cabinets borrowed from his private residence attached to the Museum, he succeeded in exhibiting, in a comparatively suitable way, the mummies in which such world-wide interest had been taken. Soon after the arrival of the mummies at Bûlâk M. Brugsch opened the mummy of Thothmes III., when it was found that the Arabs had attacked it and plundered whatever was valuable upon it.

* The principal intestines of a deceased person were placed in four jars, which were placed in his tomb under the bier; the jars were dedicated to the four children of Horus, who were called Mesthȧ, Ḥāpi, Tuamautef and Qebḥsennuf. The name "Canopic" is given to them by those who follow the opinion of some ancient writers that Canopus, the pilot of Menelaus, who is said to have been buried at Canopus in Egypt, was worshipped there under the form of a jar with small feet, a thin neck, a swollen body, and a round back.