DOI Artikel:
Naville, Edouard: Egypt Exploration Fund, [3]: Excavations, Work at the Temple of Deir el Bahari
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.10055#0018
4
Egypt Exploration Eund.
mounds, as I have said, reached a height of more than 40 feet, and a part
of them still remains. They have been formed partly by falls from the
mountains above, but chiefly by the Copts, who heaped upon the floor
of the platform about twenty feet of rubbish and stones, raising the
ground to a level with the terrace and court above, in order that they
might build their convent over it ; added to all this was the debris
thrown there by Mariette when he cleared the southern part. Occasion-
ally, during the digging, we met with a layer of Coptic rubbish from
the convent. In this we found ostraca or inscribed pieces of limestone,
such as had been unearthed the year before. Below this layer there were
some Coptic burials, consisting of mummies well wrapped up, with a piece
of wood along the back to keep the body straight, but without any orna-
ments or other antiquities. A few of them were of a better class, the
face being covered with a rough mask wearing a diadem of flowers, and
the body with a cloth on which were painted the two hands, one holding
a glass and the other an ear of corn, evidently the two Christian
symbols of bread and wine. I believe, therefore, that these mummies
were of Christians, and probably of some dignitaries of the convent,
although there were some old Egyptian symbols upon them, such as
the figure of Anubis. This strange mixture of heathenism and Chris-
tianity is characteristic of Coptic art. Some of the mummies of this
kind were of men, others of women. Two of them have been brought
to London.
Close to the wall of the colonnade we found remains of Pharaouic
burials,-wooden statuettes, and broken coffins, and among them a very
fine mask of sycamore wood, which has also been sent to London. These
remains come from excavations made there as early as the last century.
There are several mummy-pits in the floor of the colonnade, but they
have all been plundered long ago. The temple of Deir el Bahari having
been used as a burial-place from the XXIInd Dynasty onwards, it has
proved an excellent mine for mummy-diggers since Pococko's time.
A large part of the original collection of Boulaq came from there. We
know that the French Consul, M. Maunier, who, I believe, worked for
Mariette, got out of the temple as many as sixty coffins. I have not
yet come across any undisturbed burial-place, but I still hope to do
so. The small objects discovered last year or this winter are actually
the refuse of former diggers, or come from the settlements of embalmers,
of which I shall have to speak further.
The colonnade on the west side of the middle platform exactly corre-
sponds to that on the wall of which are the sculptures of the naval expe-
Egypt Exploration Eund.
mounds, as I have said, reached a height of more than 40 feet, and a part
of them still remains. They have been formed partly by falls from the
mountains above, but chiefly by the Copts, who heaped upon the floor
of the platform about twenty feet of rubbish and stones, raising the
ground to a level with the terrace and court above, in order that they
might build their convent over it ; added to all this was the debris
thrown there by Mariette when he cleared the southern part. Occasion-
ally, during the digging, we met with a layer of Coptic rubbish from
the convent. In this we found ostraca or inscribed pieces of limestone,
such as had been unearthed the year before. Below this layer there were
some Coptic burials, consisting of mummies well wrapped up, with a piece
of wood along the back to keep the body straight, but without any orna-
ments or other antiquities. A few of them were of a better class, the
face being covered with a rough mask wearing a diadem of flowers, and
the body with a cloth on which were painted the two hands, one holding
a glass and the other an ear of corn, evidently the two Christian
symbols of bread and wine. I believe, therefore, that these mummies
were of Christians, and probably of some dignitaries of the convent,
although there were some old Egyptian symbols upon them, such as
the figure of Anubis. This strange mixture of heathenism and Chris-
tianity is characteristic of Coptic art. Some of the mummies of this
kind were of men, others of women. Two of them have been brought
to London.
Close to the wall of the colonnade we found remains of Pharaouic
burials,-wooden statuettes, and broken coffins, and among them a very
fine mask of sycamore wood, which has also been sent to London. These
remains come from excavations made there as early as the last century.
There are several mummy-pits in the floor of the colonnade, but they
have all been plundered long ago. The temple of Deir el Bahari having
been used as a burial-place from the XXIInd Dynasty onwards, it has
proved an excellent mine for mummy-diggers since Pococko's time.
A large part of the original collection of Boulaq came from there. We
know that the French Consul, M. Maunier, who, I believe, worked for
Mariette, got out of the temple as many as sixty coffins. I have not
yet come across any undisturbed burial-place, but I still hope to do
so. The small objects discovered last year or this winter are actually
the refuse of former diggers, or come from the settlements of embalmers,
of which I shall have to speak further.
The colonnade on the west side of the middle platform exactly corre-
sponds to that on the wall of which are the sculptures of the naval expe-