DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4104#0041
32
ABYDOS III.
and are from 20 in. to 10 ft. 3 in. apart.
Sixteen of them are on the right wall, with an
average distance of 7ft. between them, and nine
are on the left Avail, with the average of 7ft.
lOin. These, as far as I know, are the only
examples of such niches yet found, and certainly
prove that the Egyptians used a smoky lamp of
some kind. Probably a potsherd or small saucer
with a little water under the oil served well
enough. Had the tomb been finished quietly
these holes would doubtless have been worked
out and all sims of smoke oblitei^ated.
Near the hall of pillars the work was left still
more unfinished, the corners quite round, and
the corridor not duo; out to its full size.
54. The great hall must have been very
imposing before some earthquake or other
disturbance caused it to fall in. The nine
columns, three by three on either side, are
nearly regular and the little irregularities seem
to give a feeling of greater size. Most of the
pillars are exactly 4 ft. square, but in some
cases there is a slight variation. On the north
side of the hall, all three pillars of the east line
and the second and third of the middle line had
crushed down and so the top had fallen in,
55. Directly through the hall from the
corridor is the entrance of the passage descend-
ing to the final room, I. For a few yards from
the hall of pillars the cutting in this passage is
carefully done, but after that the work was
merely forcing a hole onward as fast as possible,
without any attempt to finish the top, bottom,
or sides. In the corridor D, near the entrance
to the hall of pillars, the sides and top are quite
unfinished, and it would seem as if the first men
Avent on at full speed till they reached the spot
Avhere they Avished to make the large hall.
Here, of course, many more men could be
employed at once in digging through between
the pillars, Avhile the first gang pushed right on
to the room at the end. From the place Avhere
the passage left the hall a fresh start Avas made,
and the rock cut carefully right into the
sides and corners. Then everything suddenly
stopped.
56. The explanation of this must be that
the serious illness of the king caused the Avork
to be pushed on as rapidly as possible, and then
his death, coming sooner than was expected,
made it necessary to use the unfinished tomb.
The Avhole tomb Avas most carefully searched;
but the only things found Avere several small
pieces of sheet gold that Avere lying in the great
hall, and some larger pieces that Avere found just
at the entrance, and perhaps lost when the body
Avas removed to his Theban tomb.
57. The next question Avas Avhere could the
hundreds of tons of excavated earth be hidden ?
It is certain that a man Avho could plan a tomb
Avith such skill Avas not going to publish its
existence by leaving huge piles of rock chippings
exposed in the neighbourhood. Fits Avere sunk
on and round all the gravel piles, to see if the
rubbish had been hidden by making piles of
chippings of the same form as the natural
mounds, and covering them over Avell Avith
gravel. All the gravel piles, hoAvever, proved
to be of natural formation.
Some distance up on the cliff stone had been
quarried, and there Avere quantities of stone
chippings. Those on the surface Avere certainly
not from the tomb, so a pit Avas dug to see if
under these there might be some from the strata
cut through by the tomb.
While the man Avas digging his boy was carry-
ing the baskets of stone a little to one side and
throAving them into a heap. Just a feAv baskets
had been throAvn out Avhen he brought back
a small scrap of bronze. It Avas a badly
broken head of Osiris. By this time I Avas
satisfied there Avas no rubbish from the tomb
here, so iioav a new problem presented itself.
Quarrymen do not usually carry small bronze
images to their Avork. At once more men Avere
called up and told to clear aAvay all rubbish to
the ground.
58. A feAv hours' Avork enabled us to see a
!*»»*.<,;•-
■■■
____________
ABYDOS III.
and are from 20 in. to 10 ft. 3 in. apart.
Sixteen of them are on the right wall, with an
average distance of 7ft. between them, and nine
are on the left Avail, with the average of 7ft.
lOin. These, as far as I know, are the only
examples of such niches yet found, and certainly
prove that the Egyptians used a smoky lamp of
some kind. Probably a potsherd or small saucer
with a little water under the oil served well
enough. Had the tomb been finished quietly
these holes would doubtless have been worked
out and all sims of smoke oblitei^ated.
Near the hall of pillars the work was left still
more unfinished, the corners quite round, and
the corridor not duo; out to its full size.
54. The great hall must have been very
imposing before some earthquake or other
disturbance caused it to fall in. The nine
columns, three by three on either side, are
nearly regular and the little irregularities seem
to give a feeling of greater size. Most of the
pillars are exactly 4 ft. square, but in some
cases there is a slight variation. On the north
side of the hall, all three pillars of the east line
and the second and third of the middle line had
crushed down and so the top had fallen in,
55. Directly through the hall from the
corridor is the entrance of the passage descend-
ing to the final room, I. For a few yards from
the hall of pillars the cutting in this passage is
carefully done, but after that the work was
merely forcing a hole onward as fast as possible,
without any attempt to finish the top, bottom,
or sides. In the corridor D, near the entrance
to the hall of pillars, the sides and top are quite
unfinished, and it would seem as if the first men
Avent on at full speed till they reached the spot
Avhere they Avished to make the large hall.
Here, of course, many more men could be
employed at once in digging through between
the pillars, Avhile the first gang pushed right on
to the room at the end. From the place Avhere
the passage left the hall a fresh start Avas made,
and the rock cut carefully right into the
sides and corners. Then everything suddenly
stopped.
56. The explanation of this must be that
the serious illness of the king caused the Avork
to be pushed on as rapidly as possible, and then
his death, coming sooner than was expected,
made it necessary to use the unfinished tomb.
The Avhole tomb Avas most carefully searched;
but the only things found Avere several small
pieces of sheet gold that Avere lying in the great
hall, and some larger pieces that Avere found just
at the entrance, and perhaps lost when the body
Avas removed to his Theban tomb.
57. The next question Avas Avhere could the
hundreds of tons of excavated earth be hidden ?
It is certain that a man Avho could plan a tomb
Avith such skill Avas not going to publish its
existence by leaving huge piles of rock chippings
exposed in the neighbourhood. Fits Avere sunk
on and round all the gravel piles, to see if the
rubbish had been hidden by making piles of
chippings of the same form as the natural
mounds, and covering them over Avell Avith
gravel. All the gravel piles, hoAvever, proved
to be of natural formation.
Some distance up on the cliff stone had been
quarried, and there Avere quantities of stone
chippings. Those on the surface Avere certainly
not from the tomb, so a pit Avas dug to see if
under these there might be some from the strata
cut through by the tomb.
While the man Avas digging his boy was carry-
ing the baskets of stone a little to one side and
throAving them into a heap. Just a feAv baskets
had been throAvn out Avhen he brought back
a small scrap of bronze. It Avas a badly
broken head of Osiris. By this time I Avas
satisfied there Avas no rubbish from the tomb
here, so iioav a new problem presented itself.
Quarrymen do not usually carry small bronze
images to their Avork. At once more men Avere
called up and told to clear aAvay all rubbish to
the ground.
58. A feAv hours' Avork enabled us to see a
!*»»*.<,;•-
■■■
____________