DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.55201#0058
SEASON OF I92O-I921
45
joints of beef supplied for her ghostly life, and they had broken the
lid of the sarcophagus to get at her body. Beyond this, however, the
sarcophagus, the coffin, and the statuette had suffered no material
damage, and all three have come down to us almost as fresh and
clean as the day they were made. From some other grave broken into
by the same robbers they brought the coffin of a certain lady Kemsit
(not the queen of the same name) and put it here in (Ashayet’s cham-
ber, wedged in on top of her sarcophagus. Then they sealed the door,
filled the pit, and replaced the paving slabs above.
We owe much to those guardians, but our gratitude was not un-
mitigated. The coffin of Kemsit was the first thing we removed; it
was closed and apparently still intact, and our hopes were high of
finding untold treasures within it. We carried it to the Expedition
house unopened, and at the first chance we had, we set it up in the
photographic room. Cameras were assembled, notebooks made ready,
and everybody collected around. The word was given, the lid raised,
and we all peered in—to see a miserable little pile of rags and nothing
else!
Evidently the thieves had broken into the tomb of Mayet also,
but they were either half-hearted in their work or they were inter-
rupted, for they accomplished nothing. After taking out all of the
boulders with which the pit was filled, except a few of the heaviest,
they had heaped the chamber itself with dirt and stones to the height
of the sarcophagus, the easier to move the lid. Then they cut the
copper bands from the corners of the sarcophagus and prepared ropes
for lifting the lid. Possibly they had started to work on it, for it was
chipped along the edges and a piece of their rope was found inside.
But that is as far as they went (pl. 7).
When we opened the big sarcophagus the little whitewashed wooden
coffin of Mayet lay within. Beside it there had been tossed a pile of
linen cloth, which we took for a pall such as we had found the year
before in the tomb of Wah. Inside we found a second coffin with
strips of cloth holding the lid in place, and within this second coffin
lay a pile of linen bed clothes covering the little mummy (pl. 11).
There Mayet lay upon her side with the eyes of her plaster mask
gazing through the eyes painted on her coffins. The coffins were small,
but the wrapped mummy with its mask was much smaller, and as
we came to unwrap it we found that, small as it was, it was mostly
padding at head and foot to disguise the tiny proportions of the
pathetic little infant within. Through hours of alternate unwrapping
and photographing we tried to stave off the disappointment we felt
45
joints of beef supplied for her ghostly life, and they had broken the
lid of the sarcophagus to get at her body. Beyond this, however, the
sarcophagus, the coffin, and the statuette had suffered no material
damage, and all three have come down to us almost as fresh and
clean as the day they were made. From some other grave broken into
by the same robbers they brought the coffin of a certain lady Kemsit
(not the queen of the same name) and put it here in (Ashayet’s cham-
ber, wedged in on top of her sarcophagus. Then they sealed the door,
filled the pit, and replaced the paving slabs above.
We owe much to those guardians, but our gratitude was not un-
mitigated. The coffin of Kemsit was the first thing we removed; it
was closed and apparently still intact, and our hopes were high of
finding untold treasures within it. We carried it to the Expedition
house unopened, and at the first chance we had, we set it up in the
photographic room. Cameras were assembled, notebooks made ready,
and everybody collected around. The word was given, the lid raised,
and we all peered in—to see a miserable little pile of rags and nothing
else!
Evidently the thieves had broken into the tomb of Mayet also,
but they were either half-hearted in their work or they were inter-
rupted, for they accomplished nothing. After taking out all of the
boulders with which the pit was filled, except a few of the heaviest,
they had heaped the chamber itself with dirt and stones to the height
of the sarcophagus, the easier to move the lid. Then they cut the
copper bands from the corners of the sarcophagus and prepared ropes
for lifting the lid. Possibly they had started to work on it, for it was
chipped along the edges and a piece of their rope was found inside.
But that is as far as they went (pl. 7).
When we opened the big sarcophagus the little whitewashed wooden
coffin of Mayet lay within. Beside it there had been tossed a pile of
linen cloth, which we took for a pall such as we had found the year
before in the tomb of Wah. Inside we found a second coffin with
strips of cloth holding the lid in place, and within this second coffin
lay a pile of linen bed clothes covering the little mummy (pl. 11).
There Mayet lay upon her side with the eyes of her plaster mask
gazing through the eyes painted on her coffins. The coffins were small,
but the wrapped mummy with its mask was much smaller, and as
we came to unwrap it we found that, small as it was, it was mostly
padding at head and foot to disguise the tiny proportions of the
pathetic little infant within. Through hours of alternate unwrapping
and photographing we tried to stave off the disappointment we felt