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thick wall. Beyond this wall and the edge of the platform on which the building stood was an outer colonnade of square pillars, but the pillars no longer exist. In the rock below the pavement of this colonnade a number of tombs were hewn; each consisted of a pit from twelve to fifteen feet deep, which led to a small rectangular chamber, wherein originally stood a limestone sarcophagus. In these tombs

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The Temples of Menthu-hetep III. and Ḥatshepset at Dêr al-Bahari. (From a photograph by H. R. Hall, Esq.)

women who were both priestesses of Hathor and members of the royal harim were buried.

In the winter of 1904-5, Prof. Naville and Mr. Hall, assisted by Mr. Ayrton and Mr. Currelly, directed their energy towards that portion of the site which was behind the temple, for it was important to find out how the building was connected with the mountain of Dêr al-Bahari. Mr.

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Hall, who was in charge of the work from Nov. 21, 1905, to Jan. 18, 1906, assisted by Mr. Currelly, discovered a series of brick, stucco-lined chambers, built over a well of the XIth dynasty, and the South Temenos wall of the temple. This wall is of the same type as the southernmost wall of Hatshepset's temple, but it now seems to be the North Temenos wall of the temple of Neb-ḥap-Ra. The walls of this type at Dêr al-Baharî are therefore of the XIth dynasty. When the site at the west end of the temple was attacked, at the spot beyond the tombs of the priestesses, an open space was discovered, bordered by columns, six on each side. In the course of the work numerous small objects were found, including fragments of reliefs of the XIth dynasty, and a head of Menthu-hetep from an Osiride figure. When the open space was excavated, the dromos of a tomb, probably that of the king, was visible, and here was found the magnificent stele of Usertsen III which is now in the Museum at Cairo. In clearing the western end of the temple-platform Messrs. Hall and Ayrton, assisted by Mr. Currelly, discovered in 1904 a building of the XVIIIth dynasty, which turned out to be the fore-court of a shrine of Hathor ; it was hewn out of the rock, and was lined with painted and sculptured blocks. In February, 1906, whilst the building itself was being cleared, a statue of a scribe of the XIXth dynasty was found. Further search led to the discovery of a small chapel, about ten feet long and five feet wide, which was wholly covered with painted sculptures. The roof is vaulted, and is painted blue, and strewn with stars in yellow. In this chapel stood a beautifully formed cow, in limestone, painted reddish brown with black spots. The head, horns, and flanks bore traces of having been overlaid with gold. The cow is supposed to be standing among reeds, grass, and flowers, and these reach up to her neck; she is in the attitude with which all are familiar from the Vignette in the last section of the An

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The Cow of Hathor discovered by Prof. Naville at Dêr al-Bahari

(From a photograph by E. Brugsch Pâshâ).

Papyrus. On her head she wears the head-dress of Hathor, i.e., the lunar disk and two feathers. No cow of such beautiful workmanship and such size has hitherto been discovered, and it is probably the first time that a goddess has been found undisturbed in her sanctuary. Beneath her is a figure of the king as a boy, whom she is suckling, and under her head we see the king as a grown-up man. Behind the head of the cow is the cartouche of Amenhetep II, the son of Thothmes III, whose sculptures cover the walls. The authorities in Cairo were at once informed of this important discovery, and soldiers arrived the same night to guard the "find." As soon as possible both the cow, symbol of Hathor, and her shrine were removed to Cairo, and the monument has been established in a suitable place in the Museum. The excavations mentioned above prove that the site which Prof. Naville has been clearing at Dêr al-Baḥarî is a most important one, and it is much to be hoped that the Egypt Exploration Fund will receive a sufficient number of subscriptions to make the complete examination of the temple of Neb-ḥap-Ra possible. This Fund has continued and completed Mariette's work on the temple at Dêr al-Bahari, and it has laid bare the oldest temple at Thebes, namely that of Neb-hap-Ra, and it would be a sad pity if the remainder of the work on this ancient site had, for want of funds, to be left undone.

VIII. Dér al-Madinat. 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 Madinat Habû, was begun by Ptolemy 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. 269-276.) The chief interest of the scene here is that it proclaims the nature of the building, and proves how anxious the Ptolemies were officially to 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 testifies, and by both Greeks and Copts it was regarded as very holy.

IX. The principal cemeteries at Thebes are :-(1) Drah Abu'l-Nekka, which lies between the Temple of Seti I. and the Temple of Dêr al-Baḥarî; graves were made here at the time when the princes of Thebes began to acquire power, i.e., so far back as the XIth dynasty, and many officials under the XVIIIth dynasty were buried here. The coffins of the Antef kings (XIth dynasty), now in the Louvre and British Museum, were discovered here, and here was made the marvellous "find" of the jewellery of Аāḥ-ḥetep, wife of Kames, a king of the XVIIth dynasty, about B.C. 1750. A little more to the south is the necropolis of Asasif, where during the XIXth, XXIInd, and XXVIth dynasties many beautiful tombs were constructed. Most of the tombs are in a ruined state, and do not repay a visit.

(2) Shekh 'Abd al-Kûrna, which contains a

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