DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4863#0066
APPENDIX B
THE FACADE AND COURTYARD OF THE TOMB
TOO little attention has been paid to the exterior of Theban sepul-
chres, partly because the researches necessary involve considerable
expense for little reward, partly because great pains and wide knowledge
are necessary to recover any details at all of the original features from
amidst the tangle of later interments, in the interests of which the ancient
constructions were exploited without scruple. It is fit, therefore, that a
more detailed account of our work on the site of Tomb 3o should be pro-
vided than properly belongs to a description of the tomb. It is important,
too, to investigate the exact form which the portico assumed, bearing in
mind its unique character and that for long it afforded to the magnates
of Thebes a model of solid dignity, the influence of which may have been
much greater than appears at present.1
The Facade. Not only the form of the decoration (false doors at
slight intervals and rounded tablets) but also its execution (the backward
lean and the incised inscriptions in monochrome) shows that this is treated
as an exterior wall, though sheltered by a colonnade. The multicolored
columns of inscription in relief—one on each side of the false doors and
therefore doubled between them—which make so pleasant a variation,
suggest, however, that the proposed shelter was taken into consideration.
The only indication we have of the mode of completion towards the
top is a shelf cut in the rock, which is observable at one point, /J.i5
meters above the floor. Considering the quality of the rock at this level,
1Many Ramesside tombs had decorated frontages, some had peristyle courts (e.g., Nos. 23, 4i, i83),
one at least a columned porch (No. 5i), and one a portico (No. 216).
5i
THE FACADE AND COURTYARD OF THE TOMB
TOO little attention has been paid to the exterior of Theban sepul-
chres, partly because the researches necessary involve considerable
expense for little reward, partly because great pains and wide knowledge
are necessary to recover any details at all of the original features from
amidst the tangle of later interments, in the interests of which the ancient
constructions were exploited without scruple. It is fit, therefore, that a
more detailed account of our work on the site of Tomb 3o should be pro-
vided than properly belongs to a description of the tomb. It is important,
too, to investigate the exact form which the portico assumed, bearing in
mind its unique character and that for long it afforded to the magnates
of Thebes a model of solid dignity, the influence of which may have been
much greater than appears at present.1
The Facade. Not only the form of the decoration (false doors at
slight intervals and rounded tablets) but also its execution (the backward
lean and the incised inscriptions in monochrome) shows that this is treated
as an exterior wall, though sheltered by a colonnade. The multicolored
columns of inscription in relief—one on each side of the false doors and
therefore doubled between them—which make so pleasant a variation,
suggest, however, that the proposed shelter was taken into consideration.
The only indication we have of the mode of completion towards the
top is a shelf cut in the rock, which is observable at one point, /J.i5
meters above the floor. Considering the quality of the rock at this level,
1Many Ramesside tombs had decorated frontages, some had peristyle courts (e.g., Nos. 23, 4i, i83),
one at least a columned porch (No. 5i), and one a portico (No. 216).
5i