DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.547#0016
INTRODUCTION. xv
even this did not apparently prevent vengeance from being wrecked
upon her body. Champollion-Figeac * says that from observations
made on the spot by M. le Bas and M. Verinnac, it was evident
that (1) the funereal pit wherein the queen was buried was violated
at a very remote period, (2) that the sarcophagus had been opened,
(3) that the mummy had been drawn out, (4) that it had been
burnt very near the sarcophagus, (5) and that charred bones were
to be seen among the debris.
The coffin appears to have had two occupants, the mummy of
the queen, and that of a man of high rank; and various alterations
were made in the inscription to make it suitable and applicable
to the latter. Throughout the inscription the queen is generally
addressed as " thou, thee," Hail to thee, etc., with the fem. suffix <s
or g=>. Inside the coffin, \ \ is frequently used; but that is owing
to the fact that it was considered of common gender. The letters
that are found most frequently altered are —h— s, and o t; the
first, —h— , is made into k^_ , and the second, o, into *=%: and
these alterations were intended to make the suffix masculine^
From the former it would be impossible to say whether the —*—,
or the *-=—, had been cut first, but from the latter we learn
certainly that the feminine suffix o t had been written first. In
this case the addition to the character which was intended to
make it masculine was inscribed after the sign ^ t had been made.
Where the letter s=s occurs as the fem. suffix it has usually been
altered into ^2>. The name of the queen remains unaltered, but
the signs § if > " Pi-Mentu," have, in some parts of the inscription,
been added to the cartouche containing her name. These form a
cognomen of the royal scribe Amen-hetep, who, in later days,
1 Monitew, Jnillet 25, 1883 ; "Egypte Anciemie," p. 375. He imagined that the tomb
and funereal well had been closed up again with huge stones during the XXVIIIth or XXIXth
Dynasty.
even this did not apparently prevent vengeance from being wrecked
upon her body. Champollion-Figeac * says that from observations
made on the spot by M. le Bas and M. Verinnac, it was evident
that (1) the funereal pit wherein the queen was buried was violated
at a very remote period, (2) that the sarcophagus had been opened,
(3) that the mummy had been drawn out, (4) that it had been
burnt very near the sarcophagus, (5) and that charred bones were
to be seen among the debris.
The coffin appears to have had two occupants, the mummy of
the queen, and that of a man of high rank; and various alterations
were made in the inscription to make it suitable and applicable
to the latter. Throughout the inscription the queen is generally
addressed as " thou, thee," Hail to thee, etc., with the fem. suffix <s
or g=>. Inside the coffin, \ \ is frequently used; but that is owing
to the fact that it was considered of common gender. The letters
that are found most frequently altered are —h— s, and o t; the
first, —h— , is made into k^_ , and the second, o, into *=%: and
these alterations were intended to make the suffix masculine^
From the former it would be impossible to say whether the —*—,
or the *-=—, had been cut first, but from the latter we learn
certainly that the feminine suffix o t had been written first. In
this case the addition to the character which was intended to
make it masculine was inscribed after the sign ^ t had been made.
Where the letter s=s occurs as the fem. suffix it has usually been
altered into ^2>. The name of the queen remains unaltered, but
the signs § if > " Pi-Mentu," have, in some parts of the inscription,
been added to the cartouche containing her name. These form a
cognomen of the royal scribe Amen-hetep, who, in later days,
1 Monitew, Jnillet 25, 1883 ; "Egypte Anciemie," p. 375. He imagined that the tomb
and funereal well had been closed up again with huge stones during the XXVIIIth or XXIXth
Dynasty.