DOI Artikel:
Naville, Edouard: Egypt Exploration Fund, [5]: The excavations at Deir el Bahari during the winter, 1894-1895
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.10057#0048
3G
Egypt Exploration Fond.
of any kind, except a few hieratic signs. Evidently the person for whom
the tomb was made never was buried in it, for there were no signs of
plundering. It is therefore quite possible that this large tomb may have
been intended to be that of the Queen Hatshepsu, but that she never
was buried there. If we remember the hatred with which Thothmes III.
pursued his aunt's memory, and his efforts not only to wipe away the
record of her life but even to annihilate her lea, or " double," in the other
world, can we suppose that he would have allowed her body to be
buried sumptuously in the tomb which she had prepared ? Would ho
not rather have deprived her of burial ? It is not unnatural to suppose
that this tomb, discovered in the passage close to the Hathor shrine,
was that which Hatshepsu had prepared for herself.
While completing the clearance of the same passage, the workmen quite
unexpectedly came across a large foundation deposit in a small rock-cut
pit, about three feet deep. The pit was covered with mats, under
which lay first a few pots of common earthenware ; then about fifty
wooden objects, the models of an implement, the use of which I do not
understand. We called them winnowers ; but they may be sledges, used
for threshing the corn; each one bears the cartouche of the queen
with the mention that she is a worshipper of Amon at Deir el Bahari.
Under the winnowers " were fifty wooden hoes, four bronze plaques, a
hatchet, a knife, eight wooden models of adzes, and eight larger adzes,
with bronze blades ; at the bottom ten little pots of alabaster, and also
ten baskets, which are stands for pots. The things have no artistic
beauty; there is no precious metal or stone among them, but they are
interesting as historical evidence. I believe they are among the most
ancient and the largest foundation deposits ever discovered.
Some rebuilding was done last winter. In the sanctuaiy a heavy
lintel, thrown down by mummy-hunters, nearly closed the entrance from
the first chamber to the second. This lintel has been raised, and the
door rebuilt. I was thus enabled to clear the first hall of the sanctuary
down to the pavement, as well as the two next chambers. In doing so
I discovered an interesting piece of sculpture, a great part of which has
unfortunately been destroyed by the Copts. It shows the garden of the
temple, the ponds of water in the neighbourhood, and the fishes, birds,
and water-plants living in them. Curiously, these ponds, of which there
are four, are called "ponds of milk, which are on both sides of this god
(Amon) when he rests in his temple." One may wonder how it was
possible to have ponds and a garden in such a desolate place as Deir el
Bahari, at a mile's distance from the nearest well in the cultivated land.
Egypt Exploration Fond.
of any kind, except a few hieratic signs. Evidently the person for whom
the tomb was made never was buried in it, for there were no signs of
plundering. It is therefore quite possible that this large tomb may have
been intended to be that of the Queen Hatshepsu, but that she never
was buried there. If we remember the hatred with which Thothmes III.
pursued his aunt's memory, and his efforts not only to wipe away the
record of her life but even to annihilate her lea, or " double," in the other
world, can we suppose that he would have allowed her body to be
buried sumptuously in the tomb which she had prepared ? Would ho
not rather have deprived her of burial ? It is not unnatural to suppose
that this tomb, discovered in the passage close to the Hathor shrine,
was that which Hatshepsu had prepared for herself.
While completing the clearance of the same passage, the workmen quite
unexpectedly came across a large foundation deposit in a small rock-cut
pit, about three feet deep. The pit was covered with mats, under
which lay first a few pots of common earthenware ; then about fifty
wooden objects, the models of an implement, the use of which I do not
understand. We called them winnowers ; but they may be sledges, used
for threshing the corn; each one bears the cartouche of the queen
with the mention that she is a worshipper of Amon at Deir el Bahari.
Under the winnowers " were fifty wooden hoes, four bronze plaques, a
hatchet, a knife, eight wooden models of adzes, and eight larger adzes,
with bronze blades ; at the bottom ten little pots of alabaster, and also
ten baskets, which are stands for pots. The things have no artistic
beauty; there is no precious metal or stone among them, but they are
interesting as historical evidence. I believe they are among the most
ancient and the largest foundation deposits ever discovered.
Some rebuilding was done last winter. In the sanctuaiy a heavy
lintel, thrown down by mummy-hunters, nearly closed the entrance from
the first chamber to the second. This lintel has been raised, and the
door rebuilt. I was thus enabled to clear the first hall of the sanctuary
down to the pavement, as well as the two next chambers. In doing so
I discovered an interesting piece of sculpture, a great part of which has
unfortunately been destroyed by the Copts. It shows the garden of the
temple, the ponds of water in the neighbourhood, and the fishes, birds,
and water-plants living in them. Curiously, these ponds, of which there
are four, are called "ponds of milk, which are on both sides of this god
(Amon) when he rests in his temple." One may wonder how it was
possible to have ponds and a garden in such a desolate place as Deir el
Bahari, at a mile's distance from the nearest well in the cultivated land.