"to the members of the French Commission, and it was "excavated by Lepsius for a distance of 56 mètres. Beyond "this point he had not the patience, or perhaps the means, "to go; and an idea grew up that the corridor did not lead "to a tomb at all, but was an underground passage from "the Valley of the Royal Tombs to the Temple of Dêr el"Bâhari.

"A clearance of the rubbish near the mouth of it, made "by Mr. Davis last spring, settled the question. Here a "number of small articles were found which showed not

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only that it was the entrance to the tomb, but that the "tomb was that of Hatshepsu. The work of clearing out "the tomb itself was at once taken in hand, and has but "just been brought to a conclusion. The mouth of the "corridor happened to be in the path of a watercourse, the "result being that whenever a thunderstorm took place the "water poured down a sloping passage, filling it with "boulders of stone and breccia almost harder than the "rock itself. All this it has been necessary to move foot by "foot for a distance of no less than 194 mètres. The "latter part of the work of excavating has been particularly "difficult owing to the foul air and excessive heat of the "interior.

"The direction taken by the long corridor of the tomb "is most remarkable. The entrance is in the axis of the "temple of Dêr el-Baharî, which stands on the other side "of the cliff, and it was natural to suppose that the corridor "was intended to lead to the temple. Instead of doing so, "it suddenly curves southward, and, after continuing for "more than 60 mètres in a southerly direction, once more turns to the west. At a distance of 56 mètres a chamber "is reached—the extreme point attained by Lepsius; then, "after another 60 mètres, there is a second chamber, and "after 36 mètres more a third. From this third chamber a "passage curves inward and leads to the burial chamber,

The

"in which two sarcophagi have just been found. "sarcophagi are of hard sandstone, which has been polished like a copper disk, and are covered with beauti"fully formed hieroglyphics. From these we learn that "one of the sarcophagi contained the mummy of Hatshepsu, and the other that of her father Thothmes I. "The lids of the sarcophagi lie on the floor, and by the "side of that of Hatshepsu is a canopic jar of polished "sandstone.

"The sarcophagi are empty; the mummy of Thothmes I., "in fact, was one of those which were found in the pit at "Dêr el-Baḥarî, and is now in the Cairo Museum. The mummy of Hatshepsu may still be lying in one of the un"explored side chambers of the tomb, where it would have "been deposited for the sake of safety in some period of "danger. But the work of completely clearing out the "burial chamber and such chambers as exist will be a long one. The rock through which the Tomb has been cut is "bad-the cause, probably, both of the length and of the curious curvature of the corridor-and the chambers are "blocked with fragments of it which have fallen from the 'ceiling. This is more especially the case with the third "chamber, the roof of which was originally supported by 'columns, whose heads now appear above the masses of "fallen rock. It would seem that the sides of the chamber

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were coated with limestone, since square blocks of fine "limestone have been found among the débris, painted with "representations of scenes from the Book of the Dead. "The chamber is 40 feet to 50 feet in length, and there are "several side chambers opening from it. These are still "filled with fallen rock and rubbish, but enough is visible "to show that they also were panelled with painted lime66 stone.

"Until the débris is removed, it will be impossible to "tell whether any objects of historical importance await

"the explorer. In the third chamber, however, fragments "of large and beautiful vases have been picked up; and "the fact that the sarcophagus of Thothmes I. has been "found by the side of that of Hatshepsu throws a new light "on the history of the tomb, and explains why it has no "connection with the temple of Dêr el-Baharî. It was "made, as we now learn, not by the queen, but by her "father. Indeed, a fragmentary inscription on a vase from "the third chamber has even suggested the possibility that "it was of still older origin, constructed in the earliest "years of the XVIIIth dynasty, and intended to be the "common burial place of the Royal family. Whether this "suggestion is right or wrong cannot be definitely settled "until the summer, when the work of removing all the "rubbish from the chambers may be expected to have 66 come to an end." Since the above was written the tomb has been completely cleared out, but the mummy of the Great Queen has not been found.

VII. The Temple of Menthu-Hetep Neb-hapRā. In the winter of 1903-4, Professor Naville and Mr. H. R. Hall, M.A., of the British Museum, continued their excavations at Dêr al-Baharî on behalf of the Egypt Exploration Fund, and in the course of their work they were so fortunate as to discover the remains of the Temple of Menthu-Hetep. This discovery is the most important which has been made for some years, for the temple of Menthu-Hetep is the oldest at Thebes, and its ruins throw a flood of light upon temple construction and ornamentation at a period of which extremely little is known. It is too soon to attempt to sum up the additions which the discovery will make to our knowledge, for the excavation of the temple will not be completed until probably 1907. The excavators, however, drew up a statement on the subject, which appeared in the Times of April 23rd, 1904, and from that the following remarks are taken :—

:

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"After four years of excavation, the beautiful temple " erected by the Queen Hatshepsu or Hatasu of the "XVIIIth dynasty (B.C. 1500) was entirely cleared of the "chaotic mounds of rubbish and Coptic walls which almost "hid it from view. But after the conclusion of the excava❝tions an unexplored space still remained to the south of "the temple, between it and the southern horn of the semi"circle of cliffs which rise at the back of Deir-el-Bahari. "This space was likewise covered by confused mounds of "rubbish. During the winter season of 1903-4 the syste"matic exploration of this untouched tract has been begun "by us, working on behalf of the Egypt Exploration Fund, "and has already met with a success which promises well "for further work on the same site. The chief result has "been the discovery of another temple side by side with the 'great building of Hatshepsu; this is the most ancient "shrine yet discovered at Thebes, being the funerary "temple or mortuary chapel of the King Mentuhetep "Neb-kheru-ra of the XIth dynasty (B.C. 2500). Frag"ments of architraves, etc., bearing the name of this king "had previously been found at Deir-el-Bahari by MM. Mariette, Maspero, and Brugsch Bey, so that it had "always been known that an XIth dynasty building existed "hereabouts. Also some fragments of octagonal sandstone "columns, lying on the rubbish, had been conjectured to "belong to this building, and the present excavations have "shown this conjecture to be correct. But the precise "condition and nature of the building itself were unknown "until now. It is in an unexpectedly good state of pre“servation, and is, as far as can be seen, one of the best preserved of the few Egyptian temples which can show

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any structures in situ older than the time of the XVIIIth "dynasty. It has already yielded results of great importance to our knowledge of Egyptian art and architecture, "A large number of the sculptured slabs which once

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"adorned the walls of its pillared hall, some in good "preservation, others fragmentary, have been found among "the ruins. These originally depicted the coronation of "the king in whose honour it was built, his reception of "the magnates and chief warriors of his court and of "tribute bearers, his servants driving the cattle belonging "to the domain of his temple, and cutting down reeds to "build boats with, the procession of funeral boats on the "Nile-all scenes appropriate to the ante-chamber of a "royal tomb at that period. These reliefs vary in artistic quality; some are of the rough style which has usually "been supposed typical of the work of the XIth dynasty, "but others are of very good work, equal to the best XIIth dynasty, delicate in touch and at the same time bold and free in style. Further, the aspect of the new temple forces "us to modify various speculations which have been made "with regard to the origin of the peculiar style in which "the great temple of Deir-el-Bahari, that of Hatshepsu, was "built. One of the greatest charms of this temple is "the unconventionality of its design, with its ramps or ascents leading up from court to court, its colonnades

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on either side of the ramps, and its simple 'proto"Doric' columns, like those of the tombs at Beni Hasan. "Hitherto this design has been unparalleled in Egypt, "and various theories have been propounded to account "for it. It has been supposed that the great queen wished "to model her temple on the terraced hills of Somaliland "(Punt), from which her famous naval expedition brought "back the strange animals and plants, the frankincense and "myrrh, which are depicted on the walls of her temple. "The real explanation has only come to light with the discovery of the temple of Mentuhetep. This was built on "an artificially-squared rock-platform, approached by an "inclined ramp, flanked by colonnades (only one has as ' yet been excavated). The pillars of the colonnade are of

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