DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.22370#0025
II. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE TOMB
and
EXPLANATION OF THE !
A. ARCHITECTURAL FEATURES AND
SYSTEM OF DECORATION.
(Plate I.)
The tomb is excavated in a good stratum of
the limestone rock of the Gebel Shekh Abd el
Kurneh, and consists of six distinct parts.
The slope of the hill has been cut back several
yards so as to form an imposing
(1) Facade with a level platform or court in
front. "Where the rock was uneven above the
doorway, a wall of stones has been raised,
partly to protect the entrance to the tomb
from debris falling from above, and partly to
give the facade a more finished appearance.
The wall was probably originally covered with
a coating of plaster and painted,1 but in its
present state it is entirely devoid of any
architectural or other ornamentation. In the
centre of the facade a plain doorway 9 feet
6 inches high by 4 feet inches broad (the
thickness of the wall being 8 feet) has been
cut, which gives entrance to
(2) The vestibule. This is a rectangular
chamber, measuring 67 feet 10 inches long by
7 feet 8 inches wide. The ceiling here is flat,
and the height of the chamber about 11 feet.
In the centre opposite to the entrance to the
tomb an opening has been cut which forms a
1 I have found evidence of several facades of tombs at
Thebes being coated with stucco and painted: the facade
of the tomb of Sen-mut {temp. Hatshepsut) was certainly
painted, and that of the Vezir User {temp. Thothmes III.)
was richly sculptured.
CENES AND INSCRIPTIONS
doorway, emphasized by jambs and lintel
(raised about 1^ inches from the surface of
the wall). This opening leads to
(3) The long narrow passage with curiously
sloping ceiling. It measures 88 feet 5 inches
long by 6 feet 10 inches broad, and the ceiling,
which at the doorway is 9 feet 6 inches high,
slopes upwards to the inner end, where it is
exactly 25ft. high. At the end of this passage is
(4) A small shrine cut in the rock, 18 feet
5 inches above the level of the floor ;
it is consequently inaccessible to the visitor.
It probably contained a statue of Rekhmara,
and was closed by a granite false-door, which
was removed from the tomb by Champollion,
and is now preserved in the Museum of the
Louvre. This little shrine measures 4 feet
6 inches deep by 3 feet broad, and it is 5 feet
2 inches in height. In the floor of the long
narrow passage have been cut
(5) Two vertical shafts, which lead to
(6) The sarcophagi chambers. These were
both opened by the officials of the Gizeh
Museum in 1894, and I am told that they were
each about 16 feet in depth. No remains of
any kind were found in them.
With the exception of some incised hiero-
glyphs upon the lintel and jambs of the door-
way to the long narrow passage, and upon the
false-door at the inner end of the tomb, there is
no sculptured ornamentation. The decoration
consists entirely of painting applied to the
limestone, which had been prepared for its
reception by a thin layer of stucco.
and
EXPLANATION OF THE !
A. ARCHITECTURAL FEATURES AND
SYSTEM OF DECORATION.
(Plate I.)
The tomb is excavated in a good stratum of
the limestone rock of the Gebel Shekh Abd el
Kurneh, and consists of six distinct parts.
The slope of the hill has been cut back several
yards so as to form an imposing
(1) Facade with a level platform or court in
front. "Where the rock was uneven above the
doorway, a wall of stones has been raised,
partly to protect the entrance to the tomb
from debris falling from above, and partly to
give the facade a more finished appearance.
The wall was probably originally covered with
a coating of plaster and painted,1 but in its
present state it is entirely devoid of any
architectural or other ornamentation. In the
centre of the facade a plain doorway 9 feet
6 inches high by 4 feet inches broad (the
thickness of the wall being 8 feet) has been
cut, which gives entrance to
(2) The vestibule. This is a rectangular
chamber, measuring 67 feet 10 inches long by
7 feet 8 inches wide. The ceiling here is flat,
and the height of the chamber about 11 feet.
In the centre opposite to the entrance to the
tomb an opening has been cut which forms a
1 I have found evidence of several facades of tombs at
Thebes being coated with stucco and painted: the facade
of the tomb of Sen-mut {temp. Hatshepsut) was certainly
painted, and that of the Vezir User {temp. Thothmes III.)
was richly sculptured.
CENES AND INSCRIPTIONS
doorway, emphasized by jambs and lintel
(raised about 1^ inches from the surface of
the wall). This opening leads to
(3) The long narrow passage with curiously
sloping ceiling. It measures 88 feet 5 inches
long by 6 feet 10 inches broad, and the ceiling,
which at the doorway is 9 feet 6 inches high,
slopes upwards to the inner end, where it is
exactly 25ft. high. At the end of this passage is
(4) A small shrine cut in the rock, 18 feet
5 inches above the level of the floor ;
it is consequently inaccessible to the visitor.
It probably contained a statue of Rekhmara,
and was closed by a granite false-door, which
was removed from the tomb by Champollion,
and is now preserved in the Museum of the
Louvre. This little shrine measures 4 feet
6 inches deep by 3 feet broad, and it is 5 feet
2 inches in height. In the floor of the long
narrow passage have been cut
(5) Two vertical shafts, which lead to
(6) The sarcophagi chambers. These were
both opened by the officials of the Gizeh
Museum in 1894, and I am told that they were
each about 16 feet in depth. No remains of
any kind were found in them.
With the exception of some incised hiero-
glyphs upon the lintel and jambs of the door-
way to the long narrow passage, and upon the
false-door at the inner end of the tomb, there is
no sculptured ornamentation. The decoration
consists entirely of painting applied to the
limestone, which had been prepared for its
reception by a thin layer of stucco.