THE VALLEY O F THE KINGS

FRAGMENTS D'UN MANUSCRIT I N A C H E V ~

INSTITUT FRANCAIS D ' A R C H ~ O L O G I E ORIENTALE D U CAIRE

R-

'&*

&--

._*,

-a
&nu
1 laroslav Cernf avait souhait4 consacrer aur ouvriers de la nbcropole thb
Baine trek grands ouvrages, oh ii ~ o u h ict o n b a m ce qu'me vie de patientes
reehmhes hi avait perrnis d'apprendre; le premier traitait de la topapa-

- phie de k ndcropole, .du corps des ouvriers, de Ieur organisation, et des pin-

lcipaux chefs de travawr qui ont marque de l e u p e r s o d t B le village et

4es &antiers de la rive gauche. Ce volume, heureusement, avait. &B achevd
avant ie decks de son auteur ;nous avons pu le mettre sous presse et l'imprimer,
avec l'aide de quelques amis de C e r q qui ont bien vodu contribuer A la
correction matbrielle des Bpreuves, sans avoir rien d'essentiel A y changer.
Le second voiurne devait traiter de k Vdee des Rois : ies tombes roydes
et ieur creusement, ieur amhnagement, leur decoration; le chantier des
ouvriers et leur travail quotidien; i'enterrement des pharaons, puis, on peut
le supposer, le pillage des tornbes roydes, sous la X X e dynastie, et les grands
procks du temps de Ramsbs IX et de ses successeurs; l'ouvrage se serait
certainement achevb par le rBcit du transfert des momies royales dans la cachette
de Deir el-Bahari, et par leur fabdeuse redecouverte, 1la fin du sihde dernier.
De ce second volume, seds ont Bte achevhs les cinq chapitres publihs ici.
Du trosikme tome de cette immense entreprise, qui devait decrire la vie
quotidienne dans ie village de la ((Place de VBritBo, rien n'a Bte Bcrit.
S'ils ne representent donc qu'une faible part de ce qu'aurait Bt6 ce volume
sur ia Vallhe des Rois, ces cinq chapitres sont cependant si riches, en emmbmes, qu'il nous a semblh nkcessaire de les Ewer aux lecteurs; avec la restriction, naturellement, qu'ii s'agit d'une aeuvre posthume, et qu'il est probable que l'auteur, rhvisant ses premikres rbdactions lors de l'blaboration des
chapitres dthrieurs de son livre, en aurait sans doute modifih, complhtB,
enrichi, certains aspects. TeL qu'ils sont, ils contiennent nhanrnoins une
telle s o m e d'informations et d'idBes origindes, que chacun sera plus sensibie
Q ce que ce'livre apporte,
qu'aux
quelques
lacunes que
la suite des travaux
- y fera peut-&re
-pq
a a-4
-- - apparaltre.
-.

...

Sol~sla fonne oh il nous est parvenu, le manuserit de J. Cernj requkrait

une trbs skrieuse revision; je m'y suis activement employk, et le conseiller
culture1 auprhs de l'Ambassade Britannique au Caire, M. Norman Daniel,
a trhs arnicalement accept6 d'associer ses efforts aux miens. En joignant
nos connaissances d'anglais moderne et d'bgyptien ancien, nous avons tenth
d'bliminer de ce manuswit, dont ie dernier chapitre, en parbicdier, Ctait
ebcbre sous uhe f o m e p r o h i r e , tout oe q i pouvait paraftre ambigu, ou
dtait exprim6 sous w e f o m pue Cemf aursit sans d w t e corrigle i u i - 6
s'ii avait pu revoir kmnquihment son premier b x h . Pukme a t Btat h a 1
ne pas se trouver trep Bsign6 de ce que l'auteur await souhait4 mir
i r n p r h m hi-mhme, et puisse, surtout, sa penske n'avoir jamais Btk involontair-nt
trahie.
Le Caire, avril 1973

Serge SAUNERON

THE VALLEY OF THE K I N G S

.--.yk
2

The tombs which the people

n Of the King's Tomb, as
this constant addition to their title shows, were mainly concerned with,
were an situated in a vdey of the Theban mountain now d e d the Valley
of the Kings (BibQn e l - M d ~ ) . In this valley lay practically d the tombs
of the kings of the XVIIIth-XXth Dynasties. The tombs of the XVIIth Dynasty
consisted of underground chambers surmounted by brick pyramids placed
on the slope of the mountain overlooking the Nile plain, in the northern
part of the Theban necropolis, near the present village of Dra' abh 'n-Nagac;
but Amenophis I abandoned this site and had his tomb dug out somewhere ('1,
further west amidst the mountains. His successor Tuthmosis I was the first
to move his tomb into the Valley of the Kings and d l his successors down
to the end of the XXth Dynasty -with the exception of Ekhnaton -followed
his example.
Geographidy the new site is not far from the inhabited part of the west
of Thebes, since only one mountain ridge north-west of Deir el-BaFri separates
it from the plain. This very ridge, however, secludes it from any life. The
high vertical rocks all round, barren of any vegetation, the absolute stillness
of the pfaee and the pyramid-like highest peak of the Theban mountain towering just above the vdey, give it a majestic character and make it eminently
suitable for the last repose of dead Pharaohs. Such qualities, however,
could hardy have been the sole or the main reason for the choice of the site.
It seems far more likeIy that the safety of the tombs and their riches was the
chief aim. The tombs in the Nile vdey, too near the living, had proved too
(I)

The tomb claimed for him by Carter (.TEA 3 1191 61, 147-153) does not quite correspond

to the desoription of the tomb of Amenophis I given in Pap. Abbott 2, 2-4.

much of a temptation and had been easy prey for the tomb-robbers. The
new site, though remote, was overlooked from the surrounding heights and
codd be easily guarded by the police of the necropolis.
One disadvantage the Valley of the Kings did have. The chapels serving
for the cult of the deceased kings codd no ionger be built over the tombs
in the narrow valley. They had to be divorced from the tombs proper and
left in the Nile plain, where they were buiit in the form of more or less extensive funerary temples, ranging from the temple of Sethos I (at Kurnah) in
the north to that of Rarnesses I11 (at MedPnet Habu) in the south.
The exact position of a royal tomb in the Vdey codd, however, hardly be
kept secret. The hollowing-out of the tomb in the rock and its decoration
required a number of men and some length of time during which the men
involved could impress on their memory the position of the tomb, which was,
also, marked by the heap of broken stone extracted from the tomb. Some
secrecy might have been achieved by Queen Hatshepsut who wandered farther
afield and had first dug out a s m d tomb in a distant valley half-way up a
, having placed a heavy stone sarcophagus in the burial. chamhigh c M ( ~ )but,
ber, she abandoned the site again for unknown reasons, in favour of the Vdey
of the Kings. Complete secrecy was attained only by Tuthmosis I11 for three
ladies of his harem, whose tomb in another distant valley was found and
ransacked by robbers as late as 1916 (a), and by some of the high-priests
of Amun, contemporaries of the XXIst Dynasty, whose tombs have remained
undiscovered down to the present day (8). If, however, hope of protecting
the tombs was r e d y the reason for moving the royd cemetery to the Valley
of the Kings, it was an illusion, and the hope was not fulfilled.
The Valley of the Kings is only the beginning of a water-course which
in geologicai times the waters of the torrentid rains gradualiy cut through
the limestone mountains on their way towards the Nile. In reverse direction,
therefore, this water-course affords natural. access to the Vdey of the Kings.

'')

($1

CARTER,ASAE 1 6 [1916], 179-182, and JEA 4 [1917], 114-118.

WIKLO~K,
The Treasure of Thrm Egyplian Princesses, New-York, 1948.

ta) The mtimmies of the hq$-priests Hribar, Pi'onkh and Menbeperre' were not in the
Cachet& royals and no object is known which might have come from their tombs.

The road to it branches off from the Nile plain north of the hill .of DraCAbh 'nNagac first in a north-westerly direction - this part of the valley being
called WAdiyyhn -but graduaily it bends towards the south-west to reach
the head of the valley, the Valley of the Kings. Shortly before reaching
it, another valley branches off towards the right. This leads to the s o d l e d
Western Valley which was chosen for the tombs of the kings Amenophis I11
and Ay of the XVIIIth Dynasty.
At a short distance from this bifurcation the end -in reality the beginning- of the w$dy, the Valley of the Kings, is reached. This entrance
was, as Lepsius did not faii to observe ('1, originally barred by a siight rise
of the valley-bed and it was here later pierced by the hand of man to form an
artificid road ca), no doubt for the transport of stone sarcophagi and other
heavy funerary furniture (3) to the royd tombs. For this, the way by W$diyyhn
was the only one possitsie and for the burid procession it was the easiest
way to the tomb.
Past the narrow entrance, the Valley of the Kings forms a kind of amphitheatre delimited on praticdy all sides by vertical cliffs. Stones and rubble
descend in gentler slopes intersected by ravines formed by torrents and
joining the bed of the valley. This bed forms here roughiy a triangle in
the middie of which stands a low knoll, but the bed of the valley continues
some distance south until it reaches the vertical, cliffs in a narrow gorge.
We s h d be little concerned with the royal tombs of the XVIIIth Dynasty,
our main subject being the times of the XIXth and XXth Dynasties. The
tombs in the Valley of the Kings and in the Western Vdey have a separate numbering from the rest of the Theban tombs; it is the numbering
introduced by Wilkinson in 1829 and continued for the tombs discovered
L E P ~ SB+,
,
289.
As early as Pococke's day the valley of the Kings* was clascended by a narrow steep passage, about ten feet high which seems to have been broken down thro' the rock, (Pococm, A
Deamption ofthe East, I (London, 1 7 4 3 ) , 97. A photograph of the present state in Th. DAVIS,
The Tomb of Hamhabi ete., P1. II.
GratEto no. 83 which records the dragging of the eternal monumenh of Bienrs'-[miaman],
i.e. of Meneptab, is quite near.
()'
Wmmsoa, Modern Egypt and Thebes, 11 (London, 1 8 4 3 ) , 201, note j-.He seem to have
numbered them differently in his earlier notes.
(')

'

('1

since his h.The fobwing is the list of t&

dynasties :

No.

1 Ramesses VII
2 Ramesses IV
3 Ramesses 111 (abandoned)
4 Ramesses XI
5 Ramesses I1 (abandoned)
6 Ramesses IX
7 Ramesses I1
8 Meneptah
9 Ramesaes VI
10 Amenmesses

II Ramesses 111
13 Chancellor Bay
14 Queen Twosre, usurped by Set.&
15 Sethos I1
14 Bameslsos I
17 Sethoa I
18 Ramesses X
19 Prince Mentbikhopshef
47 Siptab
.. . .
57 b e m w

of the two Ramesside

Ijaremhab, no. 57
Ramesses I, m. 16.
S&s I, no, 17
Il, no. 5 (abrmdaned)
Ramesses 11, ns. 7
Meneptah, no. 8.
Amenmesses, no. 10
Sethos 11, no. 15.
Siptab, no. 47
Queen Twosre, usm@ hy Setpakht,
no. 14
Chansellor Bay, no. 13
R a k ~ s e sIll, no. 3 (abandoned)
R a w III, no. 1 1
Ramesses IV, no. 2
&amel,ses VI, us. 8.
h e s r r e vp, Re, 1
Remnesreee IX, no. 6
h e e Menkhikhopshef, no. 19
Rameases X, no. 18
Ramesses XI, no. d

As far as the inscribed and therefore identifiable tombs are eancerned,

they d belong to kings who actudly reigned over the couuiry, with the
to a b g ' q . s p n af the; hie XXth Dynasty
exception of no 19 which bel-s
and no 13 of the Chamllor Bay, the king's protector rtnd an d - b p h n t
p m n in the reign of S i p a .
The attention of s c ~ a r shas been attracted chiefly by the inscriptions
and representations covering the w& ~f the tombs aad thou& aniy few

tombs have been exhaustivdy published, &plete' information in this respect cap probslbiy be collected, though iabmiously, since it is scattered
throyyhsut Egyptologid literature (1). A systematic study, however, has
hardly s k b d and the many problems posed by the texts and representations
of the royd tombs await their solution ( 9 ) .
Even less satidictory is the available information as to the archaeology of
the Valley of the b g s in general and of individual, tombs in particular. The
accounts of excavations and work done in the Valley and in the tombs are either
completely lacking or quite superficial; as a rule the discovery of a tomb is
their main interest and finds of objects not belonging to royal funerary equipment are hardly mentioned. Only two plans of the Valley, both by Baraize,
can be traced in Egyptologid works (8). P h s which can make some claim
to be precise exist far ifew tombs, for o t h m we s W have hardy more than
mere &etches,
the
of 4k.e t o d s as &aight, a d all
lan@ 3s 3@.-+es.
d
.hcw8te plans made according to modern mdhods
wodd Probably show -like in the rock temples of Abu Sinibel - that there
were hardly any straight lines or true right angles. Some more striking
archaeological features have occasionally been mentionned in the descriptions
Champoilion
Lepsius (1' , and
of the earlier Egyptologists (Wilkinson
Weigaii(7)),and in the accounts of Th. Davis' excavations (8). There is nothing
1')
('1

Detailed bibliography in PORTER-MOSS,

2nd ed., I, part 2.
A remarkable beginning has been made by GUPOW in ZA[S 7 2 (19 3 6), 12-39. Piankoff's

works b i t themselves to edition of texts and translations.

1s In Lorn's paper Lea tombemx de T h o u i d 111 et d'Arnhopiris 11 et la caciaetle royule de Biban&M~lauk, in Bull. Inst. Eg., 3 ah., No. 9, P1. I, dso separately, and in ~ T B and
R NEWBEBRY,
The Tomb of Thoutmdni IV (Westminster, 1901), frontispiece. Besides these there is the Biban
el-Muluk sheet of the 1/1000 map of the Egyptian Government Survey.
('1 W I L ~ S O Topopphy
R,
sf T k (London, 1 835), 100-1 2 3 ; Moden,Egypt and T h , 11
(London, 1863), 201 ff.
('1 Camra.~orv,Letsm krites d"Egypie d de Nubie (Paris, 1833), 221-267, et flotiab, I, 606676.
('1 L E ~ sB&$e
,
mu &ypteta (Berlin, 1852), 987-991, z+nd LD, Tea%, 111, 198-224.
WEIGALL,
A Guide to the Antiquities of Upper Egypt (London, 1910), 186-228. BAIKIE,
Egypiicm Adpi& in the Nile Valley (London, 1932) ad& 9little in the way of fresh observations.
(q DAVIS
(and others), The Tomb oJ Sipfah (London, 190 8) for no. 6 7, and The Tomb of Hamhabi and T o u u t 4 n k h ~(London, 1912) for tko. 57.

to draw upon as to th6 technique of the work in' the tombs though some
account of these has been kept in an article by Somers Clarke, (o and many
of the observations made for Old Kingdom ~eliefsby %, Ransom Williams (2)
are valid dso for the royal tombs in this Vdey. A short but competent attempt
at describing the development of the royal tomb and its arrangement and
decoration has been supplied by SteindoriT and Wolf (3). The account which
follows is only a compilation collected from the information in the works
of the scholars just quoted(".
The entrances of the tombs face the bed of the vdey, as a rule at ground
level, but in the case of no. 2 (Ramesses IV) and no. 9 (Ramesses VI) a little
above it. The access to the entrance leads through a passage in part or
entirely in the open. In the tombs of the earlier XIXth Dynasty (Haremhab,
Ramesses I and Sethos I but also Amenmesses) it is a steep staircase, from
Ramesses I1 (his no. 7) onwards a less rapidly descending plane. The tomb
of Sethos I1 (no. 15), at the south-western end of the v d e y and the entrance
of which is cut into the vertical diff, has no access in the open at d, while
that of Twosre (no. 14), not far from it and also at the foot of a vertical rock,
has only a short (about 5 m.) access. The same is true of the later unfinished tomb of Ramesses I11 (no. 3). No. 10 of Amenmesses is the earliest
where the access in the open consists of two pardel flights of steps (6) with
an indined plane in the middle, no doubt to make the transport of heavy
objects down into the tomb easier. The same two flights of steps are found in
the access of no. 11 (Setnakht, taken over by Ramesses 111), no. 2 (Ramesses
IV) and no. 6 (Ramesses IX). The end of the access is for a short distance
covered by the overhanging rock. The access to no. 10 (Amenmesss), no. 9
(') Somers CLhRm, O
f the mst& 4 in makin& and o r n a m i n g an Egyptian rock tomb, in
Arcblogia, 55, I (1896), 21-32.
('1 C. Ransom WIUL~HS,
T hDm&
of the Tomb of P e r - ~ b(New York, 1932), excellently
summarized and commented upon by S C H ~ OLZ
R , (193&),cob. 490-492.
S T E I ~ O Rand
P P Wow, Die Thebunisck Gr&mmIt (Gliiokstadt and Hamburg, 1936),

73-94.
(') Good published photographs of the valley are rare ; the best probably in Th. DAVIS,
Th
Tomb oJHannhabi, Pls. I-XW. It is interesting to compare his P1. VI with the old view in LD,
I, 95.
C6) They are there only in part cut in the rock and mostly made of stones.

(Ramesses VI), no. 1 (Ramesses VII), no. 1 9 (Menthikhopshef), no. 18

(Ramesses X) and no. 4 (Rarnesses XI) has no steps. The access to no. 1 8
is very spacious.
When the access passage had descended far enough for the height of the
rock wdl in front to reach about 4 m., the door (the entrance proper) of the
tomb was cut. In earlier tombs the two jambs bear inconspicuous inscriptions
including the names of the king, though the entrance of no. 1 6 (Ramesses I)
is without any sculpture. In Lter tombs the lintel bears representations
as well. Probably the entrance was originally destined to be covered after
the burid, so as to make the site of the tomb unrecognizable. The tomb no.
1 0 (Arnenmesses) in fact was so well hidden that the workmen digging out
a tomb for Setnakht (no. 11, later taken over by Ramesses 111) ran straight
into it, unaware of its nearness. Since the time of Ramesses I11 any attempt
at concealing the tomb seems to ham been given up; the entrance of no. 6
(Ramesses IX) at any rate is so imposing that it could not possibly be entirely
hidden from sight at any time.
Behind the entrance lay a corridor or corridors, chambers and pillared halls
separated from each other by doors indicated by protruding door-frames
cut in the rock. The size of the interior of the tombs varies considerably.
It is usually assumed that it depended on the length of the king's reign : the
king whose reign was short had only time to hollow a s m d tomb, while
kings with long reigns codd exceed what was considered the standard size
by adding at the end of the tomb already finished further corridors and hdls.
This logical conclusion is not always confirmed by actual facts. It is true
that the tombs of Ramesses I (no. 16) and of Ramesses VII (no. 1) are s m d ,
corresponding to their short reigns, and the tombs of Ramesses I11 (no. 1I ) ,
Sethos I (no. 19) and Rmesses XI (no. b), large and grandiose, but the
tombs of Twosre and Ramesses VI, whose reigns codd not have been very
iong are relatively large dso. For a correct comparison it would be necessary to calculate the cubic contents of passages and halls and take into
account the degree of completion of the decoration of each tomb. Either of
these two requirements is, however, impratidle; especidy for the first it
would be necessary to know the exact measures of d parts of each tomb.
Thus the followipg table is limited to show the reigns of kings, as far as

known, in one column and the length of to&

Ramesses I1 67 yrs
Ramesses 111 32 yrs
Ramesses XI ca. 29 yrs
Ramesses IX ca. 19 ym
Sethos I ca. 14 p s
Meneptah ca. 13 yrs
Twosre
Siptab
Setnakht
Ramessea
Ramesses
Etamesses
BLamesses

in ihe other, both in &ma-

* RamessesIII, no. 1 1 124 m.

115 m. (exd. open passage)
Meneptah
Haremhab

* Twosre
* Ramewes VI
Ehamesses I1
" Sethos I

ca. 11 yra

* Rameases XI

V
ca. 10 yrs
VI
X ca. 9 yrs
VII ca. 7 yrs
Sethos I1 6 p
h e s s s s IV 6 yrs
Ramesses I ca. 2 yrs

Siptah
* Amenmesses
* Rameases IX
* Ssthos I1
* Ramesses IV
* Ramesses VII
* Ramesses I11 (no. 3)

* Ramesse& I
* Menthikhopshef
* Ramesees X

114 m.
.I Ii m. (exd, open passage)
104 m.
99 m. (exd. halls at end)
98 m. (excl. the passage
past the hall)
93 m.
8 9 m.

76 + x m.
7 4 m.
7 2 m.
67 m.
40 m.
37 m. but the surface is greateF than that of RamessesVII
2 9 m.
20 m. but unfinished
no measurement mailable

The axis of the XVlllth Dynasty(%)had usudly been bent at a usually rightangle, the axis of the royal tombs of the XIXth and XXth Dynasties is straight.
The change starts with the tomb of Ekhnaton at el-Amarna(a)and is evidently
this king's innovation. The burial chamber of the eariier tombs was situated
( I ) An asterisk denotes Wjlkinson's mwurement, the others have been read off on pdished
pians and sections of the tombs.
(') For a more detailed history and development of the plans of royal tombs, see hm~om
and Wow, Die Tfinirrelte Gr&bmwZf. 79 ff. See also GUPOW in Z B 72 (1936), 14 ff.
(" P
PM IV, 226, from Bommm, h a m and J k m m , MIFAO 8, p. 5, &. 4.

after the bend and the rays of the sun h d therefore no h e s s to

i; it lay

in the darkness of the Underworld. Ekhnaton made the Sun-god dso the
god of the dead, and by straightening the axis of his tomb let the sun penetrate
as far as end of it (11, at least theoretidy. The tomb of Ay in the Western
Vailey (m. 23) already fohws the Amarna example and afker Tut'ankhaman
the straight axis is the d e . Ody in fhe tomb of Rameeses I1 (no. 7) did
the pillared haUs at the b a d &e at ri@t anglers to the axis. A deviation of
axis is f o d ia $he. t m h s of Haredab (no. 57) and Sethos I (no. 17)
where in the left-hand corner of a pillared l
d a flight of sieps descends into
fu;rther corridors and rooms, the axis of which is, however, either approximately (as in no. 57) or precisely (in no. 17) pardel to the initid axis:
A similar change of axis in the tomb of Ramesses I11 (no. 11) has a special
rwon
This W was begun by his p h a r Stzddcht, but after a
10)- IB w-w thepefOTe abanwhile ntlll imtoL.bkmlb d h m m a L
doned and Sebakht usmped the taznb of Twom (no. l.4). I l a m m III
in his turn started to prepare no. 3 as his tomb, but abandoned it on account
of the bad quality of the rack. He took up again the unfinished tomb na. 11 :
At the spot where tho tomb of Amemssss had been encountered, a room
expmdmg to the right was ho&wed out, and from the farther right-hand
corner, the tomb was continued on an axis exactly pardel with that of the
original part of the tomb (see fig. after Wi3kinson (3)).
The quality of the mck is m t the same throughout the V d e y . Tomb no. ILi
(Twosre) is carved in tbe good h e s t o n e of the v d d cliff; ekewhere, however, the p a & y can be tw bad that the work has been abandoned, .as in no. 3
of Ramesses 111 - though even in the ex-tomb of Sebakht (no. 11) adopted
by R a m e s s ~111, the nature of the rock was u n f a v o ~ hfor sculpture. The
yellow h e s t o n e in tomb no. 9 (Runerses VI) is interrupted by layers of
&nt pebbles. These have been neatly cut through everywhere by sharp
tooh and do not seem to have constituted any serious problem for the workmen.
This plausible axplanation is due to Steindod and Wolf (op. at., 83) and is accepted by
G w w in ZAS 72 (1936), 16, n. 6.
('1 Di&reat.bxm W e
&
by
l Srn~ri~mw
and Wow,q.at., 86. The distribution of the
repreeentations and immiptlo;~sis tbs
of tbe clump of axis,
.
.
(')

(a)

Wdkhson EdSS XLV, AS.

44

UL(.L:,

I .

In the tomb no. 8 (Meneptah), however, in the near left-hand corner of h d

E. a block of silex was encountered (1) which it was not possible either to cut
through or to extract; it was therefore left protruding from the w d .
The difference in gradient of the access to the tombs between the earlier
XIXth Dynasty and the ktter tombs has already been mentioned. The same
difference can be observed in further parts of the tombs :the descent in no. 8
(Menepa) is very rapid, the descent of no. 11 (Setnakht-Ramesses 111)
is less than that in no. 1 9 (Sethos I); the slope in no. 1 5 (Sethos 11), no.
9 (Ramesses VI) and no. 6 (&messes IX) is very g r a d d .
The first h d in the tombs of Harembab and Sethos I (nos. 59 and 1 7
respectively) was deepened into a pit, 10 m. deep in no. 19. This feature,
common in XVIIIth Dynasty royal tombs, was a device to misguide possible
intruders. On the top, the continuation of the tomb was disguished by a w d
covered with reliefs continuing the scenes of the other wails of the hall.
Experience must have shown that the intruders could hot be deceived, but
found their way to the treasures of the bwid h d and its annexes. The
practice was therefore abandoned after Sethos I, though its additional advantage had been that the pit contained the water and rubble penetrating into
the tombs during torrential rain, and prevented it from reaching the burial
room. Thus the very first tombs which were given a pit, those of Ramesses
I1 and of Menepw, have suffered badly from water, especially the htter
tomb which has a ravine at ib mouth, but also that of Jhmesses I11 (no. 11)
in which the w& of the back rooms have been destroyed ahnost to the top.
This destruction took place, however, probably only after the tombs had
been rifled and left open.
Despite the varying number of corridors and subsidiary rooms the plans
of all Ramesside royai tombs are essentially identicai fa). A few, however, give
an impression of double tombs in that an initial series of corridors and a
pillared h d are foilowed by another set of corridors these latter ending
in another pillared h d . In the case of no. 1 4 of Twosre and of no. 7 of Rames-

1')
(')

A similar Aint probably is that mentioned in 0.Cairo '651, 2-3 ; see below, p. 18.
The most dissimilar is no. 3 prepared for Ramesses I11 but abandoned in favour of no. 11
MMM 111, p. 1I).

(see the plan in LmBsnm,

- 11 ses VI the explanation is perhaps that the former was usurped for the burial
of Setnakht and the latter aheady contained the body of its original owner,
Rarnesses V. For the tombs of Sethos I (no. 17) and Ramesses I11 (no. 11)
there is, however, no such explanation.
It is surprising how many of the royd tombs are unfinished, indeed it
can be said that ody about half received their k s t touch ('1. For the archae
logist, however, the parts left in varying stages of finality are of importance
since they enable him to establish the proceeding followed to make the
tomb. The first party consisted of miners who hollowed the tomb to roughly
the shape and dimensions required. They were followed by another party who
cut the surfaces straight with chisels. To mend the faulty places and to
obtain a fairly even surface, the walls and the ceiling were then covered with
plaster which was again rubbed quite smooth, probably with stones. On
of the
the surface prepared in this way, the draughtsmiln dmw the ou4i.l.n~~
inscriptions and representations in red; these were then redrawn and corrected in black by a chief draughtsman(3). From this point three different
courses were open, d i exemplified in chronological order in the XIXth and
XXth Dynasty tombs in the Valley of the Kings.
In the two earliest, those of Haredab (no. 59) and Ramesses I (no. 16),
the figures and signes were coloured, by which the find stage was reached.
In the tombs of Sethos I (no. 17) and Ramesses I1 (no. 9) they were sculpted
in low relief by chiselling away the background and rounding off the sharp
edges(&). Only then were the sculptures coloured by painters who did not

(') Unfinished : nos. 57 (Harembab), 16 (Ramesses I), 1 7 (Sethos I), 8 (Meneptah), 15

(Sethos 11), 14 (Twosre), 6 (Ramesses IX), 19 (Prince Mentbikhopshef), 18 (Ramesses X), Ir
(Ramesses XI) and the abandoned no. 3.
('1 Only in the tomb of Sethos I (no. 1 7 ) there are places where imperfect rock was cased
with stone.
1') Sketched in red and corrected in black, e.g. in no. 17 (Sethos I). Drafts in red can be
seen in no. 15 (Sethos 11) and no. 4 (Ramesses XI). The two stages on the jambs in no 6
reproduced in colour in G U I L ~ TLe, tombeau de Ram& IX, P1. 111; from the tomb of Harembab
in DAVIS,
P1. XLIX and LV.
(') A w
all partly in black draft, partly sculptured in Dans, The Tombs of Harmhabi etc., P1.

XLVII, L, LI, LVIII-LXI.

always m d I y respect the h of the dtdpt&e. In no. 1 7 the sculpture

ms first whitewashed & over a d then painted, &!tm
es I1 d subsequent tambs adopt the relief en cmux which then b
d g
d and
exclusive. In this, not the background, but the inside of the figmw aad s i p s
was removed ('1, and ody then were they coloured.
The style and quality of the work dso vary considerably. The beauty of
the sculpture of no. 1 7 (Sethoa I) quds that of the Abydos temple of Sethos
I, and is unsurpassed by any other tonab in the Y d q , thd* the styIe of no.
57 (Haremhab) h o s t reaches it. A very good sf$^. ia
dqdayed by no.
15 (Sethos 11) while that of Setnakht in the tomb of Twosre (no. 1 4 ) can
still be d e d good. In no. 1 9 of prince Mentmhopshef the reliefs are well
executed and their colouring is delicate ; the plaster has been ground, laid
on and smoothed with great care. Compared with these the style and execution
of reliefs notably in no. 11 (Ramesses 111), no. 1 (Ramesses VII) and no.
18 (Ramesses X) are inferior. There is marked sindarity of style between
no. 2 (Ramesses IV), no. 9 (Ramesses VI) and no. 1 (Ramesses VII). This
is hardly surprising since they are chrono~ogidyneighbours and were probably executed by the same d&.
Besides the threa' mma &wdy mentioned of ~ppi.op&t%md an d e r
tomb by a later king (no. 1 4 of Twosre by Setnakht, no. 9 of Ramesses V
by Ramesses VI and no. 11 of Setnakht by Ramesses 111), there are significant
cases of erasure in the tombs of the latter part of the XIXth Dynasty, a dear
proof -if such were needed -of feud in the royal family. Thus in no. 1 0
of Amenmesses the inscriptions and figures on the w d s were deliberately
erased, possibly by Setnakht when he chanced upon no. 1 0 while tunnelling
a,tomb for himseif (no. 11). In the tomb no. 1 5 of Sethos I1 the cartouches
and figures at the entrance have in some cases been erased and then again
re-cut while the name of the owner Sethos I1 was,mstored; so b o in no. 47
of Siptab the erased cartouches were later re-established. F i w in tomb
no. 1 4 of Twosre the figure of the queen is accompanied by that of a king
whose original cartouches Meneptab-Sipa were kter replaced by those
('1 In the abandoned tomb of Ramesses
sculpture has penetrated into rock.

III (no. 3)

the layer of plaster was so thin that the

of Sethos I1 (4.- All these hets will be discussed in a later chpter and an
attempt will there be made to draw conciusions born them as to the history
of the end of the XIXth Dynasty.
It might have been thought that the tomb was cleared of the rubbish accumulated in the corridors and h d g during the work and swept dean. That
was perhaps the case when the tomb was finished before the king died, but
in tomb no. 57 of &emw whwe the work was stdl going on at the death
of the k i q 4 t h w h e n did not trouble to remove the stone spiinters and
the d6br.k of d kinds which c d e r e d the ground... a gangway had been
cleared across the rooms in order to make the access to the sarcophagus
Though elsewhere
easy for the bearers of the m m y and of the offerings ))
the debris might have slipped in from outside after the tomb had been left
open, in no. 57, however, any such rubbish would have been held up by
the deep shaft separating the &st staircases and passages from the back
rooms. No observations as to the origins of the rubbish were made during
the dearance of other royal tombs in modern times.
The texts and representations found on the w d s of the royal tombs are
no concern of this book, and reference can only be made to Grapow's artide (8)
on the subject. With one or two exceptions they are of purely religious
character. It seems that over a long period they were copied on the w d s
from the same original manuscripts on papyrus, since they d dispiay the same
mistakes and gaps which must a3ready have existed in the papyrus original.
The earliest component of the texts is a book d e d ((Amduat))by Egyptologists, which describes chiefly the passage of the sun through the nether wodd
during the twelve hours of the night. It is found already in the pillared burid
chamber of the tombs of Tuthmosis I11 (no. 2 4 ) and Amenophis I1 (no. 35) cLJ
of the XVIIIth Dynasty and is found again in the same position in the later
tombs. In both no. 24 and no. 3 5 the book was copied in the same simple
lines as it used to be written and drawn on papyrus, so that the w a h resemble
('1

For the final verdict on this point see GARDINEB

in JEA fiO

(1958), 15.
(')

Ca)

MASPEBOin Th. DAVIS,The Tumbs of Harmhabi ete., 6 1.

GBAPOWin zAS 72 (1936)' 1 7 ff.
In fragments also in the earlier no. 38 of Tuthmosis I.

(1956), LI, and again in JEA 44

a huge unrolled papyrus book. The papyrus original of Amduat was or was
meant to be an old one, since the background on the wail is painted yellow;
a new papyrus would certainly have been indicated by a white background,
white or off-white being the colour of fresh papyrus.
The foregoing aims at being no more than an introduction supplying the
background useful for understanding the textual evidence concerning the
making of the royd tombs, which will be the subject of the following chapters.
Without such an introduction the written evidence is too fragmentary to be
understood and set forth in a coherent picture ; on the ather hand the written
documents breathe into archaeological observation a little of the H e which
the rich inscriptions of the tombs themselves fail and were never intended
to supply.

O F A ROYAL T O M B
T H E E&C&V&TJ,UN
.*
.., = x,. - .
r

The death of a king and the accession to the throne of his successor marked
an important point in the Me of the gang of the Tomb : the tomb of the
old king had to be finished as quickly as possible or at any rate got ready
for the burial, and the work on the tomb of the new king begun. The two
important events always took place at the same date and were announced
to the gang without delay.
The accession of Sethos I1 done seems to have been reported : [Year 1 ,
Xth] month of winter, day 1 6 , the scribe Paser came rn-th the good tidings saying :
Usikhqmre"-setprdChm arisen as ruler ('1. This may be due to the special
circumstances of the case, for the note was written some months later when
the work on the tomb of Sethos I1 had already been begun and a mention
of the death of Amenmesses was no longer of any interest. Alternatively,
however, the reason might have been that Amenmesses was regarded as a
usurper by his successors and even a mention of his death avoided.
When Sethos I1 died the [chiefl Medjay Nakhtmin came, saying: (The)
f a h has*
up to heam,nam~lySethos, (and) another has a k in h b p h
Nakhtmin perhaps did not yet know the name of the successor, but the chief of
Medjay Mentmose did, when he announced the death of Ramesses I11 :
[Third month of summer, day] 1 6 . . . [the day that] the chief of Medjay Ment
nwse eame [to say to] the people of the Tomb : (The)f a h hmJEown [up to heaven,
namely - - -1 king Usimacrd'-miamiin, son of Rs" Rames8es-~ule-oof-~n,[and
# %

.-

--,*,

. -

-m
y - - . .

('1 0.MMA lh.6.217, 1-3 (= Hiemtic O&auu, 91. W, 1). The date is discussed by
Ga~nxmain JEA 5 (1918), 191.
('1 0.Cairo '515, vol. 11, 22-28, in part repeated in IV, 2-3, where 4 dcry 29 R is a scribe's
mistake for (day 19 R. See on these passages GABDMERin JEA 5 (1918), 190.

t h king] UsimaCre"-setpewmiin,son of Ra' Ramssewnhrn.iin, [the sovereip], 8428

on the t h r m of Rae in his p a h ('), while a note in the journal on an ostracon,
faleon has Jloewb up to heaven ( 9 ) .
under that date, says simply Ow sad: (Th)
At the accession to the throne of Ramesses VI, in year 1, d numth
of winter, [day 4. [On that day] eame the city-gourn, [vizier Neferronp (3)
to] the entrance of the Tomb a d read to them a bt& saying that Nebmuis'Anten (hi)k*hef-Rame88es-nibm.iinJ 1h god (and ruler of) o n had a h ar the
great ruler of the whole land, and they ~ e j d (exceedingly.
~ )
And L sad : Let
the g a q eome clp (6). The reason for rejoicing might have been less the prospect of new work than that of imminent good payment, for immediately
the thrm captains went (4 to receive the dws (htr) of the Tomb. Hearing that
Rarnesses IV had ascended the throne [the gang] of tb Tomb also spent the
dcsy jubilbrtin8 until SUTHB~ c8), though in this case we have no record of a
subsequent remuneration.
No work was done on the day when the news of the accession of RamessesSiptah arrived, and on the three days following: Thy r e j d and the g a g
mt to the Valley of the Kilags (Skt) in thefirst m t h ofmbter, day 23, to work(9),
and the days of work and rest resumed their usual pattern. The work done
then could not have been work in the tomb of the new Pharaoh but probably some last touches in the tomb of Sethos 11, for a suitable place in the
Vaiiey for a tomb of Ramsses-Siptab had to be carefully selected &st and
this required some time.
Thus it is only in the third month of inwndath, day 12, some three months
after his accession to the throne, but pdskbly more, that the first day of work
('1

P.

T&

Cat. 1949

+ 1 9 4 6 , vo. I, 10-15.

Far this and the following, see 6 ~ & fin

ZdS 7 2 (1936), 111.

0. DM 39,16.
Neferronpe was the vizier of Ramesses VI, see HELCK,ZUT Ymallung, 464.
(') This, of course, could only have been the tomb of Ramesses V.
Nh:, a writing of nhm.
(')
0. Cairo '726 + BM 50722, 1-7 (= Hieratic Ostraea, Pl. LXVIII, 1).
(') This must be approximately the meaning, but the act& verb used by this slovenly writ
ten text is obscure.
P. Turin Cat. 1 9 1 9 + 1946, vs. I, 1 6 (= ZAS 7 2 [1936], 111).
(v) 0. Cairo '515, vo. 111, 6-9.
(')

(3

in the tomb of Sethos I1 is recorded : fha gang m

k
e
d (in) tha Place of U & b
prurec-setpari' ('1. About the same deky probably took place at the beginning of the reign of Ramesses-Siptah : the fmrth month of wintw, day 21
was the h y of k i n g chkls to the gang (2) and on the same day also ra) was
instructed the luork of Sekiaa'enre'-setprii',son of Rk, h d of appearances Ramma-

Siphh. Under Ramesses IV more than 'fifteen months elapsed - there

seem to have been some diiiicuities about the payment of the grain rations
in the meantime (4)before we hear that in year 2, second month of inundation, day 17 . .;
C;r:~y-gowmrN$erronpe anre to Nd and aiio ttre k i y ' 8
b a t h Hh' and the king's butler A d W , son of T&hy and on the morrow
they went up to the Valley of the Kings (Skt Pt]) to search for a pbaoe f o piercing
~
ct

domb for Usinaacre"-setpenamiin(6).

The verb g m p J a h m h--!, (( to search fore, seems. to indicate

a careful probing of the terrain in the Valley. Such care was necwsary to
woid the unpleasant experience of the workmen of king Setnakht who,'
while tunnelling what was then to be his tomb (no. 17), broke into the tomb
of Amenmesses (no. 10); no one seems to have suspected its existence at that
spot (9). The word P-a x 9, sd (a), describes fittingly the first stage of the work
when the passage and r o o k af the tombs were driven i n k the rock (9). The
nuinbem of the gang e n g t ~ g don this work are therefore sometimes quite
3 &, hrty, (( (underground) stonecutter )), a titie
appropriately called
which has already been dealt with in Part A of this book (I0).

(')
(')

0.Vh4A 16.6.217 (= H.O., LXIV, I), 8-5.

0. Cairo '515, YO.JY,5.

,,,,,, t7
h

Cairo '515, YO.V, I, but the month

0.Berlin 12631, 15; 0. DM h6, 18-19.

' (9 0.

1')
(')

is a restoration.

0.DM 65, 16-16.

DM 15, 16.17.

(9 0.

(a See above, p. 12.

Properly sd (Wb. IV, 373, 8 ff.),

6 break

(to pieces), used also of breaking through the

walls of a fortress or through mountains while exploring them. It is used of I)

I
+ng
the tomb of rhs high-+6
in 0. Cairo '263, 8 ; of breaking
n-)f
I I)
tk$rst dour of the King's totub in 0. Cairo '676, 5.
m (= s d - a ) , estone-brearD) The men occnpied at thjs work are onee called I)
kers B, P. Turin Cat. 1 9 0 , vo'. I, 7.
(lo) A Community of W
orkmen at Tirebes, p. 2 5 1 ff.

h1

flZ

- Joun.~dsof the work 'were kept lay *Wctmd r n d y (mmetimes extensive)

bagments of these covering periods of wrying lenpth of the.XIXth and XXth
Dynasties haire survived on pdpyri and o~traca. It might have been thought
that they would also supply some infortnation about the fype of m k done;
unfortunately their authors and the higher authority to which they were
passed on were interested rather in meagre statements, whether at any particdar date work was done or not, and whether or not workmen were absent
from work (with their identity) and'for what reason. Thus a working day is
h o t s invariably characterized by a simple note 3 e -- #, m k , without
further details, and ody seldom do we come across short notes about the place
or'some incident of the work, like the ostracon saying that in y ~ a r1,fir&
m t h of k m m , day 12, the bouMsr of s i h
_',- )wcas f m d m
(the) right (1). It is probable that a refereme is here made to a large and
hard boulder similar to one which the wdrkmen of Meneptah came across
in his tomb (no. 8) and because of its size we~;eforced to leave protruding
from the waU (91. The recto of the ostracon contains the name of Rarnesses IV,
but his tomb (no. 2) cannot be implied here, since its position was determined
only in year 2 of his re* (a), dor caa it be tomb no. 11 af Ramesses I11 who
had been buried h a t e h5.t mon& crf iirmdaaian, day 34, more than
seven months earlier, and whose tomb was by now d e d and covered with
rubble. On the other hand the ostracon which has preserved this trifle of
information was found in.the Vdey of the b g s , and therefore a tomb situated there, now unidentifiable, must be referred to. It may be pointed out
that some work was going on in the Vdey between the date of the death of
Ramesses I11 and that of the furing of the site for the tomb of Ramesses IV.
In the third month of inundation, day 7, the gang is recorded as having
been present there (4) and on the 15th day of the first month of summer,
therefore three days after the finding of the boulder, the high-prkt R D W ~ S ~

(L

..

0. Cairo '651, vo.

See above, p. 10.
- ('1 See above, p. 1 7 . A further fact speaking against the identity is that the slone found
on (the) right was in reality on what we calI tin the leftt,, see below, p. 24.
(')
0.DM 4 2 , 8.
('1

('1

.
. .
-83
p a p a q nap.) ppoqs p w 'qxok-xaqapi a ~ rq
3 apem azaM Lay$ 381p U BrnlsaBns aAF)-wp
a93 "xO&
W~ @ a b aW
4 E\I '&
' L $ S t l T -8
'0f (u gF Pe-%-ApPu!
3@
B ' ~ ~ O
Z JV ~ ~ 'O ~~ L~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ o ~ ~ ' ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ (v) ~
& "@~g., o q q '0 b,
b0-s

'tl ' Z S H

.k

.s %s H

.e++
t 'i-9 ~a ' O
'O + I 'F9 M
a 'O

o ~ ! ~ ~ J ~

(s)

(rt

roj hssa3au s r a q u o a 30 uogasm

$d"63xa 'pam$- sf afq;qnr aqp
oa $9
; $ m ~ h r sy 11 *paqma asam s~@qp m smoos Ino 2 u p q o q mj
.qqod.aq~
U ~ raqq
M
pasleamu! aq Llpqord ppoa sfr~l +oq~ Luauq~ofi
p
m v u rahi3n$01dap 30 MOP 1011 p p zopp.103 aqljo q l p p MOJJBU asyl
03a1s "anols ffu!pa~q uy $le2na aq -lswal a q a q 30, Isom .- ppw
uam jo aaqumu p m s Lp~-eje Lpo lleql pdhq sawas '1.1 * m h q pne ra3uol
a m a q p o p aql 30 a3mqna a q 01Llem aql p n panaq@uei
~
Lpnpd p q
aql se 2u93wa arom pue aaom Smmomq raljtq qql ' p o l aql mcy aIqqnr pue
s q q q aql ? q ~ n m ~pue
a 'qaor aql ow! p a SEM 3y SB PO) aq3 jo p a p arI)
am@ e q . & q ~ q :sqsq ow 30 pprm103
..
aleq qmm 8 d aql jo ~ { O J A
a+ W'6[7 mi-@
f?. 7!
1 fqiqT q.
wpii~dp qaq aapr q d s a a - 2 d aqq JO apt?04aql sl mu axdl paq;coA L q l a m p q a q aql jo sap!s
lfa~pule
aql lepl ua*a pus ' L ~ a ~ ~ d qmol
s a a aql 30 (map jo pupd
nle9m3 a q m ~ q app
)
p m l$ya aql Buop paqrom bqp qsqp alqssseod s!
11 - q m o y n axq
~ m q d g+wdae yr papom 8 n 9 a q jo qiy & p m ty&
aql lleql EenopqpF a q w em araqp peq~~ a aas
~ pq p @M : a m - % qaJaM
~
OM$ aql leqp Bugugp rcy. ' a a M ~ q'spnnod amos am aasaqA *paq.w&3 d
-1 30 qy qap aqp aFq& wq4 ~q
' ~ m msy: qmaq
. aq~
jo app pmq
~ (qj) 2so nots
q$p ayl aaq~aqmJWI:, IOU $1. 91 a3qs % ~. ~ &
. q nsln ,s g .jyaw

to the Gier, asking'him among other things to mb to the deputy-o@cem

efti5e.tmkksandmq b q E y (eapw) raeIsisMd
(fkzelp=fil'
1. i) the b& (1) were destined for tho work in the Tomb like t h e
copper chisel beside which they were mentioned.
It seems therefore that the debris was evacuated either in baskets made
of wicker-work or in leather sacks supplied to the workmen or made by
them. Yet the amount of stone chips extracted and evacuated from the Tomb
was not measured by numbers of these sacks (or basfEets) but by a measure
called "! I dny, dso written abbreviated as [ or [ This is undoubtedly
identid with the measure found in the same two forms in some XVlIIth
Dynasty hieratic ostraca from Sh&kh 'Abd el-Kurnah and which has been,
though with some hesitation, determined as a measure unit of area with a
literal meaning ((section of areao c2). Two further XVIIIth Dynasty ostraca,
one very probably, the other cerhidr also from &urnah, show, however,
this explanation to be wrong. The first (3) records under a date in the reign
\ nnnn,
of Tuthmosis I11 the m k of the r u w r o p o h k e r s to have been
80 dny, and the necropolkkers (hrtyw-ntr) were exactly the men who
hollowed out underground tombs and whose work could not possibly have
been measured in area. In other words dny was nrrt a measure of area, but of
capacity. All doubts are removed by a second ostracon in which some
work done on a large stom is stated to have been
I I "\ 2
-.
IIII"[=I
n
n
n
n
(61, 6 cubits by 2 cubits, &pth 4 cubits, ma&
48 dny
1
and the multiplication of the three dimensions given (6 x 2 x 4) shows
that dny was a measure of capacity of one cubic cubit. This result suggests
-a, dnyt a basket which has
that the word dny (6) is nothing else than
thus become a standard measure for stone chips.
Eu**

[.

..

cr

:::-1

::::

=4

('1
('1

P. Beatty IlI,vo. 4, 11.

HAYES,Ost& c;nd Name Staned fmthe Tomb of S ~ t i (No.
t
7 1) at T h , b0-4 1.
0 . Gardiner 51, 2-3 (= H.O., LVI, 5).
0. Gardiner 26, h (= H.O., XX, L), from Mond's excavations at K d .

::::

('1 Of the last figure

only a tiny trace remains, which however, agrees well if indeed it
is not the only possible.
('1 Registered with an erroneous meaning by Wb., V, L66, 8 (the only example given being
0. Gardiner 51).
(? Wb., V, 467, 2 f. This word too is often written without the feminine endine, see furhw-

-o$

q4

'2 6q 4dypm 03 303~0~1

g q p s am $eql

~ aq1 f3nwowa~o
3 ~ 30 Rw snopqo arT.) pm q q n 3 3 ! ~ 3 a

Iuam@l~s
aq? 6q pamm s! JpsaJ aEqmosw pne 3wu

ST$

l~qmmpojnn

To return after this disgression to the gang tunnelling in the King's

'% (11, plan (21, which must have
Tomb, they followed in their work a
been established by some higher authority, perhaps by the king. himself
and his court in consultation with scholars whose business it was to know
what a royal tomb should be like. The necessary instructions or drawings
might have been brought by the cornmitee of higher officials sent to search
for a suitable site in the Vdey of the Kings. The note on an ostracon (a), dated
to a cc year 5 )), that the c i t y - g m m and vizier Nefer[ronpe] came to %\@
make ca phn of ths Tomb, in view of its late date probably does not record
the making of a plan in advance, but rather a final drawing of the Tomb at
or near its completion.

\\

('1 0.Turin 5660, vo. 1 and 0. Strasbourg H 1 1 2 , YO.5 , both concerning the tomb of a
prince in the Valley of the Queens.
(') Snl, Wb., N , 1 7 9 , 2.3.
(9 0. Cairo '565, 3-4.
(') This meaning of the verb + (JVb., IV, 1 7 7 , 1 0 ff.) also in 0.Beblin 10663, 2.

Two plans of a royal tomb have actually come down to us and their legends
in connexion with some other documents recording measurements of tombs
and progress of the work done in them help to establish the Egyptian terminology of various parts of the royal tomb. The knowledge of the terminology
in turn is useful for a proper understanding of the records of work at present
avdable, or of such as will probably be made accessible by future excavations
and search in Egyptian collections.
The pkns in question are :

1. Plan of the ostracon Cairo Cat. 25184 published in photograph by

DARESSY,
Ostraca (CGC), Pl. XXXII, and discussed by the same author in
Rev. arch., 3rd series, 32 [1898], 235-40. According to Daressy (1) it was
found during the clearance of Tomb no. 9 (Ramesses VI), but this is probably
an error, for the drawing suits only the plan of tomb no. 6 (Ramesses IX)(1'
and one would rather expect it to have been found in or near no. 6 which
is the more recent of the two tombs c3). This was probably a working plan
kept by the scribe supervising the work and was thrown away when the tomb
was finished (4. .:I il;r:.prt
DARESSY,
Ostraur (CGC), p. 35.
The characteristic feature of the plan of the ostracon are two small chambers on the right
and left sides of the first passage such as are found only in Tomb no. 6.
Compare what Daressy says (I.c., p. 112) about the confusion which took place during the
transport to Cairo between the ostraca from Tomb no 9 and those from no. 6.
('1 The hieratic legends have faded considerably. The present author was able to use a careful
copy made by Gardiner.
('1

('1

2. Plan of the Turin papyrus Cat. 1885. This was identified as being the
plan of Tomb no. 2 of Ramesses IV as long ago as 1 8 6 7 by Lepsius and his
and GARDINER
in JEA
identification was confirmed by a thorough study by CARTER
4 [19 171,130-1 56 (q. In fact they were not so much questioning the identification as interested in the accuracy of the plan and in elucidating its legends.
The plan is drawn on the recto (that is, inside the roll on horizontal fibres)
of the papyrus and p r a c t i d y only the haif right of the longitudinal axis of
the tomb is preserved so that approximately an equal height of the papyrus
is lost at the bottom. The present height being 24.5 cm., the original height
was probably about 49 em., even more than the n o d full he@t of 4lr;
4 5 cm. of Ramesside papyrus roils. It is undoubtedly because of this uncomfortable height that the roil was later hdved, when the tonab plan was no longer
of any interest and the blank verso was destined for jotting down various
notes, The careful drawing in colour of the plan and the character of its
legends suggest that this was the find plan of the tomb immediately after
the burial of the Pharaoh.
The information derived from the two plans can be supplemented from the
following materid :

3. Measurements of a royal tomb on the verso of the Turin pkn, published

Pap. de Turin, Pl. LXXI, in transcription and
in facsimile by PLEYTE-ROSSI,
and GARDINER,
JEA 4 [I9171, 144-149. They considered
discussed by C~RTER
the possibility of this tomb being the same as the tomb of the recto, that
is no. 2 pf Ramesses IV. But while the measurements of the recto agreed
mhsfactoriiy with Carter's measurements taken in the Tomb no. 2 , out of
thirty-fow me;lsurements given on the verso, eighteen were u definitely at fault,
in comparison with the measurements in no. 2. In view of the likelihood that
the jotting on the verso were made when the pkn of the tomb of Ramesses
IV had been discarded as untopid, Gardiner wodered if the measurements
of the verso did not refer to a later tomb, specifidy to no. 9 of Ramesses VI
(made originally for Ramesses V) or no. 6 of Ramesses US, but having no
.

(I)

('1

There is also an earlier bibliography.

M~LLBB,&rdic. POI., 11, 5, and kswf, JEA 31 [1945], 30, no. 5.

reliable measurements for the former, gave up further investigation (1). The
tomb no. 1 (of Ramesses VII) being excluded by the character of its inn*
disposition, it is a phi probable that the tom% knvisaged on the verso of t b
Twin papyrus was no. 9 at the time when it was Being made for Ramesses V,
the more so as the tomb of the latter
n-1 ( !
1 ],,,
seems to be mentioned further on the verso of the papyrus, Col. 11, 6.

[w

4. Verso of the Turin papyrus Cat. 1923 0) enumerating work done'in a

royal tomb measured in [ dny(t). It will be shown below that the tomb in
question is t i o d no. 9 ultimately of Ramesses VI whose 4 p w . 2 + is mentioned in line 11 of the text.

5. Berlin ostracon (unnumbered) almost certainly joining at the bottom

Q . Nash 10 (4 eonhining measurements of a royd tomb. After four p a g e 8
and two h d s , the second of which has four columns, two furth'er passages
are mentioned, all features which satisfy only the comparison. with tomb
no. 9 of Ramesses VI. Of the measurements of the last hails of the tomb
very little is preserved on the verso of 0. Nash 10.
6. Verso of Pap. Cairo J. 86637, Col. 111, contains measurements of the
first four elements of a royd tomb. There are no dues to the identification,
except that the paheography which points to the reign of Ramesses 11, and
the four passages enumerated and followed by the (hall of) waiting correspond with the front part of the tomb of this king (no. 7). If so, however,
thr, text was written before the work had progressed beyond the first h d .

7. Ostracon Brit. Mus. 850 5 published in f a c s - d e in Irascrkth in Hieratic and Dematic Charueter, Pl. VI ; transcription in R.O.,PI. LXQWII, 3.
' ( f ) The conditipa wodd not have been better as regards the comparison with tomb no. 6 of
h
te pIan i Chmmrw, L hbeuu Be R a n d E,P1. I, though probably fairly
Ramesses IX,s h e a
accurate, contains no a& .figures. A compwison of the verso of the T&
papyrus with the
measures of 0.Cairo 25184 is impossible owing to the fact that the two documents have preserved no comparable measurements for any part of the'tomb.
('1 With one fragment added from each Cat. 2073, 2082 and 2083.
It will be referred to as 0. Berlin B.
. (q. IlnpubIished, now Q. BM 65944.

The hieratic text gives measurements of a royal tomb, consisting of two passages, a burid chamber and two side chambers, and the only tomb in the
Valiey which conforms to this is in no. 16 of Ramesses I ('1. The palaeopphy
of the text, however, does not seem to favour such an early dat;!; the measure
ments were perhaps jotted down kter, when the tomb might have lain open.

8. Four Cairo ostraca recording the progress of work made in a royd

tomb :
no. '581 recto, of year 2, writted by the scribe Kenhikhopshef,
probably in the reign of Meneptah;
no. 538, 4-6, of year 6; because of the date and the mention of the
vizier Precemhab clearly of the reing of Sethos 11;
(c) nos. '536 and '539, with a text partly identical dated, in year 1;
vizier Hori is mentioned, the reign, therefore is probably that of RamessesSiptah.
In the documents enumerated above we have, therefore, dimensions of
all or some eiements of the following tombs of the Valley of the Kings : no.
16 of Ramesses I, no. 7 of Ramesses I1 (?), no. 8 of Meneptah, no. 1 5 of
Sethos 11, no. 47 of Ramesses-Siptab, no. 2 of Ramesses IV, no. 9 of Ramesses
V and VI, and no. 6 of Ramesses IX. The figures for tomb no. 2 have been
compared with the actual measurements of the tomb by Carter and Gardiner;
how far the others agree with the reaiity must be left until an accurate survey of the tombs of the Valley has been carried out. The rest of this chapter
d be concerned with the terms of the various parts of a royd tomb.
For general understanding it is necessary to say at the outset that the
technical terms as well as the inscriptions and reliefs on the walk present
the tomb as the way of the sun-god, with whom the dead king is identified;
the underground passages and halls correspond to the night journey of the
sun and lead to the burid chamber in which the king reposes, to be reborn
like the sun in the morning.

(')

This was independently pointed out to the author by W.R.Dawson (letter of 23. xr, 1957).

The passages or corridors of the royal tomb are accordingly d e d 1

(also with a further determinative n)or fully written out 1[l;
e
n(o,
Their number, including the open descent, varies
sl:@r, ((god's passage,
between two and four. The open descent
1y s k, the first god's
1e o PI, first god's
p a g e (I)has a specific name 1) s
9
passage which is upma (the) Sun's path or
[ly 1ee o the god's
p s a g e of (the) Sun's path (5). Who the god was is evident from an isolated
a4
expanded example of )f -h,[sg-n1r] s
[? I] 1 1 e \ \ & [)I,
the first [god's pcassage] of Pre^ which k [qm] (the) Sun's path
It
was therefore the sun-god who was imagined to pass though these
corridors (1' .
The further passages, from now underground, continue the numbering.
The second god's passage is I)? I I ' (81, or with the Late-Egyptian
-?
ordinal numeral 1 r I
I I (9), or slmply
I I , d(I0), or even
11 [.I, two (I1).
Since it follows the first passage, the open descent, it is also
described as I?1
, : ?)
f 1 i-,god's passage which k behind it (i2), but
dso
the othergod'spawge (18) or even

yk1
: y&

+,

Po(

0O
A
g

)f&--\\[a]1P?n,

)fk-

E.g. 0. Cairo '536, 6.7; '537, 2.3.

GARDINER,
JEA 4 [1917], 134-5, and Wb., IV, 356, 1 4 . But sl: alone, contrary to Wb.,
IV, 356, 13, cannot have this meaning ; in the only known example Pap. Turin 10 7, 16, four
stone cutters do something under it.
Turin plan, Y, c. In 0.Cairo '536, 3, simply the god's p s a g e .
0.Berlin B ; P. Cairo J. 86637, vo. 11, I ; fpy omitted 0.Cairo '581, 2 ;with !rr omitted
0. Cairo '537, 2 ; both fpy and !ir omitted 0.BM 8505.
(5) 0. Cairo plan ; Turin plan, vo. I, 1, damaged but perhaps so, see GARDINER,
JEA 4 [1917],
1 45, with commentary.
('1 0. Cairo '263, according to Daressy's reading; the originai is now illegible.
Since the time of Sethos I the texts of the ilitany to the sun, are placed on the walls of
ZAS 72 [1936], 20.
the first and seeond passages, see GMWW,
P. Cairo J. 86637, vo. 11, 2 ; with addition
probably which is behind it, namely
Behind the first passage, 0. Cairo '581, 3.
( 9 ) 0. BM 8505.
('') Turin pbn, vo. I, 3.
(I1) P. Turin Cat. 1923.
(IsJ
0. Bedin B ; also 0. Cairo '537, 3.
('"
0. Cairo '536, 4.
('1

(')

I\\\,

e9 t k
f[&q;k~n

0 t h

@ t;..ogs

8'(l),

probably ithe [semdj god's passap of

a
The third g o d ' s p s a g e ,
&o
a

fit?

~):III~(~),

~~--!!&~P~&~[-~][~I-_III(~),
e

and

y & 1+%%a
A -

c2).

-~(1$~---111(~)

or

(the) otha, third god's pasage

had oblong niches near-the ceiling h o s t immediately past the door. These
-IW_L
were r e & ! \ -n
[.--ym+] [ ~ l + J ~ ' ~ ' ! h [ e ~th] ,
tua& in which [the god's] of the e a t repose on the right, and Teh! ![gi
'"'-'A
me--*ji;*m]
+_~[']IY.! h [ e i ] , the sanctuaries in which [the
god's] of the west repose (6) on the left. Since the iight hand side is here east
and the left west, the back of the tomb was necessarily north, in complete
disagreement with the true cardinal points, since the long axis of the tomb
of Ramesses IX, on the plan of which these two indications are found, runs
NW-SW. It seems, therefore, h o s t c e r t that the entrance of a royd
tomb was always supposed to be in the south and its end in the north,
irrespective of the aduai situation of the tomb.
In the f w t h god's passage, 1 ) X " ~ f ( or
~ )- ! ,! 1 $ ~ - - 1 l l l ,
mtb,fourth god's passage there was in the tomb of Ramesses IV the
I 1f
beginning of a slide y
the passage's mouth (9) which
ieads down to the burial chamber. At the end of the fourth passage before
the door to the first hall which follows is reached there is on either side a
$mail recess,
n, room, (10) collectively d i e d 5 n
, t m doorkeeper's

a \\

T,

II

0. Cairo '536, 6.
0. Cairo, plan.
ca) P. Cairo J. 86637, vo. 11, 3, where I I 11 f is an obvious mistake for I I I f.
('1
0. Berlin B.
('1 0. Cairo '537, 7-8. In P. Turin Cat. 1 9 2 3 : 1 1 1 .
('1 0.Cairo, plan. The restoration of %rn is not certain. flmy is apparently the Late-Egyptian
1
plural of Bm, W6. III, 280, 10.
of 0. Cairo '288, 2, are perhaps also these
niches. In the tomb of Ramesses IX their decoGtion regresent a peat number of obscure deities
(GUILMANT,PI. XLI [left] and LII [right]).
17, P. Cairo J. 86637, vo. 11, 8 .
1 1 I I only, Turin plan, vo.
0.Berlin B ; similarly, but damaged, Turin plan W, b ;
I, 4 ; 1111. P. Turin Cat. 1923.
I
Turin plan, W, c : )f
in X, c. The term is discussed by G ~ a g s a ,JEA d
[1917], 137.
Turin plan, W, d.
(I)

('1

--

rk ~ - ~ ~ ; rv.jt
o #
p&:,:'~
- ~ ~'n -o* ' ~ ~ 9 9'r80 ~ 'a3 (s)
'01 'ISEN '0 '8 Y J a 8 '0 (r)
'CZ6'c

5 17

m q d oFe3 -0uo paBemp !g '1 .on O ~ !Eq 'X 'mid r q q (P)

-3u3 u y n j 'd v r L]
. m q pus hmq '16 ' & B I V R T I ~aas
~
'nsassamex jo qmo) aq* m paqyasu!nfl ,,( .
L@ut~~!saqpsar Jaypas3 pne pnyqpn! k a n y
r u w o ~a,+"p
qt
u,
&w
u q d o q ~ 3-0no p a p q sassaaar aqI jo a n 0 .(alqrfda~pamaas s d r s paqay3sJq aql p+po
a v uo $noql) suwo~S~+JOOP
wy : (aPesssd qlmoj aql rq -as!) p
tzqm '[u =]
spear 61pa7qnopm 8 'fl W e 8 '0 2 'I '0" ' $ 2 6 ~-383 'WJ, .d (11

'2

21 zy5 1 \

,,,

~ureqm30q waq

.PI

oe, pe

' i . .

' V ! ~ ~ Y .h
X

d.5

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x
11

... **T=y' P q epl 0.1 p%lfmpP

=ti i
~ . * I ~ F%~9.*I

9&

lptl 9

313h%k[u

',)@F
/O IIOYLW b~sd$u;d45 S F .IW 1w a i
JQ H-(xe.
epl 01 ssame Brrlpred madaaq~oop

. -pq $9
aql 'qmol aql

jewels with which the mummy of the king was covered than to the large gilt
shrines endosing the stone sarcophaps.
The room which on the Turin p k n lies behind the burial chamber was
again a god's passage since its length was greater than its .width. But the
qudfication which it receives on the plan, namely 'b,
bj
11
1,
the
god's
passage
whkh
is
(the)
Shubti-ph
(o,
is
inaccurate,
&
since there is ample evidence that it was not usual for the shabti-figures to be
deposited here, but in the two smdl rooms adjoining this god's passage on
the right and left (2). In another legend of the plan (31 the room is referred to
A * ,M
n-nlm,
simply as the god's passage
$a
,
whkh is on the
i n w side of the H o w of Gold (i.e. of the burial chamber).
The long recess on the right side of this passage was 1 & 2
1, the Resting-ph of the gods (" where statuettes of various gods in their
shrines were placed.
The two smdl rooms adjoining the passage were each called n t n,
t r e a s u ~(6). On the Turin p h n only the right-hand room is preserved but
this is called by its legend m t n 1Jh 1 1 , the bfthund treasury (6): This
is important information, since it shows that the ancient Egyptian's standpoint, while orienting himself in the royal tombs, was different from that
of the modern visitor or archaeologist. These call right and left of the tomb
the sides lying right and left of them as they enter and progress towards
the end of the tomb. The ancient Egyptian, however, viewed the situation
as if standing in the last room of the tomb and looking towards the entrance.
Thus what is for us the right-hand treasury was for him tlas hfi-hand treasury.
This is in complete accordance with what we have found c7) about the theoretical cardinal points of the royal tomb, the entrance of which was supposed
to lie in the south. It is well-known that Egyptians, while viewing the cardinal

<

A
- m

Turin plan, Z, b.
See GARDINRII's
comment JEA B [1917], IIrO-141.
Turin plan, P, 1.
(') Turin plan, Z, c.
In the tomb of Ramesses I the n nI I , two freusuries of 0. BM 8505 are adjoining
the burial chamber ; see the plan in BIFAO 56 [1957], after p. 202.
Turin plan, Z, d, and similarly P, 3.
(q See above, p. 28.
('1
(')

points, faced the south, and this is exactly the position of an observer standing
in the last roam of the tomb and looking towards the entrance.
The foregoing constatation has for us an unpleasant consequence. It
obscures the meaning of py 1 ,?,,the rsy (41, which according to the Turin
plan was in the passage lying immediateiy behind the burial chamber (91, more
place,
precisely 9 1f h l , on the right of this passage and had its 1
there (3). This can no longer be the small treasury room on the left (from
the visitor's point of view). It is true that this latter lay correctly on the
1-ght of the Ancient Egyptian, but the 1.ight was also the west, and a room
situated here could not possibly have been called & I ,?,, lit. the s o u t h
m. It is, however, at present impossible to say more than that R rsy was
something connected with or referring to the south, though placed on the
west side of the passage room.
. The very last room of the tomb of Ramesses IV too is a god's passage.
The plan calls it y ~ 1 ~ n = - ~ l l ~A t l ~ ~the nd
l r god's
n ,
h
at
the
buck
of
the
House
of
Gold
(6),
but
also
the
n
t
n
-M/
passage which
iiiI n, treasury of the end (-room) @).
In the tomb of Ramesses VI the second hall, the chuht hull, is followed
again by two passages leading to three hdls, the final part of the tomb.
Either passage is referred to as another god'spsage (1', but the first of them,
is ekewhere caiied a rn Y; 5 first (i.e. god's passage) of (the) wpt, and
k followed by )f -b,
I I, the other, second god's passago (8).
The feminine W1 7 , q t , of which we have two examples (8), can hardy
be the common word meaning job (lo), since this is written h o s t invarialdy

<

A,

'

Listed by Wb.,11, L53, 13, cautiously as lrsomething in a royal tomb,.

Turin plan, Z, b.
:
TTuria p b , P, 2.
As supposed by GAEDINER,JEA L [1917], lLl-162.
(9 Turin plan, P, 4.
Turin plan, Y, d, and Z, e.
(') 0.Nash 10 and 0. Berlin B.
0. Cairo 7269, 2-L.I)
V
y e s behind the cIscrrio6-hull also in P. Turin Cat.
- 1
1923, vo. 6.
( 9 ) 0. Cairo '269, 2 and P. Turin, Cat. 1923, 6.
(lo) As in G A R D I ~ R ' Stranslation in JEA L [I 9171, 1 3 L.
(')

('1

.-

x: # and never determihed with 7 . This latter suits better the word

wpt, u judgment o, (fit. useparate, deckitm,) (1) and the determinative 9" majr
be derived from \ Ie ?, h ~ t since
, the words written with w began
iri Late Egyptian with 1 and no longer with w. Sirice bWI clearly
wpt, t front
refers to the innerhost parts of the tomb, and the word
(of the forehead) n means among other .thinks also the mith af the sky,
there is another possibiiity that we have -here to do with this very word.
It wodd then designate here the zenith of the sun's nightly journey which
must have lain in the north; in the north also was imagined the end of the
tomb, as we have seen above
The first of the two passages is said to have
mr = 1, ky(t),at its end, that is a portal, the frame of the door
had a ,)n
ieading to the next passage.
What is past this first, in reality fifth, counting from the entrance of the
1 p 1 L,
(that) which is behind it
tomb, is d e d ohee 'summa*
In the tomb of Rameases V.J this consisted, besides &hesecond (in reahtj
sixth) passage, of three rooms, the first of which must have been < A 1;
n,the hall of Tmth (" since it is in this room (5) that the king is represented adoring the goddess of truth, Ma'e ('j).
. The smai1 cells present on both sides of the first passage in tombs nos. 6
(Ramesses IX) and 11 (Ramesses 111) may have had special names each
referring to the objects and scenes represented on their d s and no doubt:
deposited in them. In the tomb of Rameses I11 they wexe inscribed in hie-'
ratic above the doors in the middle, illegible now but some of them seen and
copied by Champoilion (7) :

y,

On the right :

1st cell: no inscription recorded

2nd cell: m n,t m y

(')

ts)
("
(')
(')

('1
(')

arms;

furniture, vessel, basketa etc. ;

Wb., I, 302, 13.

above, p. 30.
P. Turin Cat. 1923, vo. 8.
P. Turin Cat. 1923, vo. 9.
See

At point (40) in Hall H on the plan in PM I, 8.

L ~ ~ B U RHypogh
E,
royaux, 11, pl. 49.
CEAMPOLLION,
Norim, I, 407-4 10.

' P J #ch!~
By!
4 qs @J$ : L '9 k g o O q 3 '0 JD 1XOSm @BQTq* ' @ a a Xfl*
M@op
a P M a V m m s d q J a d ?YA'!l ' 0 9 z T J W * O
f1'62T WU'O
amqm@ja OF s e a mq+p a w aqnomrn sp(3 epiraa -8 '2 f B 'g f .s 2 It?'& wjd
w
qj uo WON'aab11airv3 aas '81qwam aql z o ~.g *on 'LTZ' 0 ~ '03 u
-96-96 'qnu!s&
'8Pg c . q m p u v ~.l&x 'enama~arasaas pro^ IuaraRp a s! ~ o q l n eJAIYZ
prono, aql jo
y d o 3 ~ 2 q m ma g jo malqord aqq amasqo u
oq smaas 'gg J -on '09 'I .uunro

yrrd

yt\x*rd

,,

3 ,
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quamlwq s,rahum3 .g -on ' ~ q g '0 ~ -0
' L I T - ~ T T ' [ T ~ ~ Tswz
I L '~=s~lnsno:,~pr~aaaf(~So
~
lf00t7e p 7 ~ Z ~T d ~ 0r(7
p a
JO m u a ~ ~ a
~ T V I P ~J O ~ LP'G-STT([L T6 TI P
~q P ~ ~ S T P
OM.) ~ Q J
-5 '15 '11 "w eas ' a s ~ a oaJojaq 1 u a d p n I jo
clil:w (tu) u rod (s)

ms "

uaas aq

X] t

[S

p 11

*OUy

-9*a ' s p q aqljo ~ o o gLqao;r aql

@JO1S@lJ

(,)

f ~

( ~ SeAleal
1
O
w j0 ':q8 ' y y *
r d 8- UOpooA perI m o d
1@q
mas aq m uqd upma aql m o y . p o d aql 30 s m p t ? e q s w m
qX$ sv !(p)(j)R:y 'I=JIL1
sw ~ w J 0 6 a p paql ;roj p ~ eql
o p ~q
petro~~uam
uaaq 6 p w q sep $1 u qam! (-mop) 9 CpqI 1 5 ~1 p m q+p~
p m 'up~lq"j6~~ ' 5 11, E B v e q qasa <partq ~ n sw a d Xq zaqo
qasa mog p q w d a s
' q - ~ pue
~ q w8essed 'qr;ao$a q j~s p d snoFA a u

-I,txcr

30

:o eql ao pop-

d p y srao!ldpmq $aoql. ~ n acuaA sroop

Ramesses 111, where sockets can be dearly seen in the ceiiing, at the door
between the &st and second passages (B and E), or in no. 19 of Prince
Mentbikhopshef. The doors however were made and put in late, in the tomb
of Ramesses V about the time of the burial of the king : Year 2, s d month
of the inunduth season, day 1 . On that day Sekheperme" a m ' d at he W&t of
N i !c i12(11, being in f u w a l . The doors of his tomb were earpented (9)
in the t 3 d month of inunduth season, day 2
There was no waiting for one stage of the work to be finished, in order to
commence the next stage, and while the workmen were stid breaking stone
and quarrying at the head of the tomb, behind them in the first passages
of the tomb plasterers were already preparing the surface of the w d s and
draughtsmen laid on the sketches for the decoration as soon as the plaster
. -- .was dry.
---.

-,1

A I?
e -.

Thus certainly, as against Spiegelberg's (Zarei B e i f r e , p. 13, W )

x
though with queries, was essentially correct.
(l) !,,\O(!
e
Y.
111
The verb ndh of making door also in 0.Be*
(q 0. Cairo '25.4.

('1

-#

Daressy's

10663, ro. 5.

L A T E R S T A G E S OF WORK I N THE TOMB:

The work required for each part of the Tomb between the cutting and smoothing of its wdls and c e b g by the quarrymen and the find completion is
plan inserted into the rectangle
well s m a r b d irl the iegsd of tbe T*
e
representing the @a1 of fititing. According to this legend the hall was
hiZZ9 a r m with outlines,
r h7D , p m with (the) c h i d , and
e , completed. The three
e I:,
filled with c o h ~ to
s ~be 2 I[
e\
stages are in perfect agreement with archaeological. examination of the
finished 4 s . The stage which has been omitted in the iegend and which
preceded
these three actions is that of covering the surfaces to be decorated
with a thin layer of gypsum and whitewash.
The materid used for this purpose was A A
h or A 1
&,
(cgypsumu ('1. The meaning of the word has been established beyond any
doubt and it has been shown that it is a loan-word from the Akkadian
&qfu from which dso our ((gypsum, itsekf has descended through Greek.
Kd makes its first appearance in the el-Amarna period; since the use of
gypsum in Egypt, however, is of a much older date, there muat have been
a native word, so far unidentified, in the language. G y p s y was suppKed

--

A~A~AX

1') Wb., V, 82,7. The scribe of 0.Cairo '521 spells

kdd, throughout except twice @.(r and 8)when he uses the correct kd, and the scribe of 0. AG 28, 3 , writes
Presumably they were both thinking of k& (Wb., V, 82, 16), a sort of bread.

('1

By SPIEOBLBBB~,
ZAS 58 [1923], 51-52.

I A ~

aAM!)-

(I)perhaps
,
to be transcribed (dl (2);
by A Ah, # or A
e
that these were cc gypsum-makers D and not (c gypsum-workers )>, that is the
men who applied the gypsum to the walls of the King's Tomb, d become
clear forthwith. The earliest datable occurrence of My is about the reign of
Menept& when A ']h1= #$ H , gypsumakers', two men appear (3) in an
enumeration of the people who will be brought as men of (the) gang and
craftsmen to t b sdtlemsnt of the King's Tomb. Since the men of (the) gang
are isted separately, it seems as if the two ((gypsum-makers* were then
# $, wajtmm. Two men are assigned to practically
included among
every kind of specialisation in the list, which gives the impression that each
one worked with or for one of the two d s of the gang, right and left.
In the first and second year of one of Meneptah's successors, in d probability Rarnesses-Siptab, it is the workmen themselves who made the gypsum
required. In the space of some two months no less than seventeen men are
A
noted, usualiy in pairs, as absent (wg) 9 I
& 1 I1: making
gypsum (4,. They are all known to have been s men of (the) gang )) and gypsum
was prepared separately for the right and left side
The workman o e
Ra'weben, of the right side was assigned to the job more often than any other,
perhaps not entirely because of his skill. Once he is said to make gypsum with
'Apahte (61, who was a son of the chief-workman of the right side P e n ~ b .The
next two times, Ra'weben worked done ('1 ; did 'Apahte manage to dodge
this work? Nonetheless the output of Ra'weben over an unspecified period
\\

r- A

y,

(') IF%., V, 82, 8. Roughly spdhgthe.former is the XIXth Dynasty, the latter that of XXth
Dpmtywzq d d i q t h d w w d , b ~ t o d t h . e n do b t h e ~ ~ t hisi tpsdywritten
(P. Turin Cat. 2018 and P.-R. 61). ,
Once P. Turin Cat. 2018 A, Ia, 7 actually has A
((
(3) 0 . Cairo '581, vo. 2. The publication is to be corrected accordingly.
()'
0. Cairo '531, 1.3.4, aPd p s h .
(') The right side is dealt with on the verso, the left on the recto of the ostracon in question
(0. Cairo '52 1). In the very early accounts on 0 . Cairo '6 15 and '6 16 (both from the reign

A,A\-

\A\ .,

of Ramesses 11) the two chief-workmen Nebnder and K&a, as well as (the draughtsman) Pashed
eaeh sepmtsiy receive same quantities of gypsum, thougb we do not know whether this was
made by their workmen or by crgypsum-makers,.
0. Cairo '521, vo. 3.
(q 0 . Cairo '521, vo. 8 and 11.

wras i&rior 'to that of Penainan, allso of tlie ari@t, side (4);
the v,mrkmra Peraamun : gypmm, 205; recez'uedfiom Ra'mben : gypsurn,

id@.

aps again with fi!mttn, hi did better :

(?)I : gypma 805: RwiiPed from fib
: f8.1. fjidarly, one day, the output of the
+ . l j ~ rRha ~ Q m:j
i k r k m h &sa, s i n d Ra'mse, their mntemporary, toWlad 80 m. The
figures are the number of a , a khar or u sack 9, bg vd&h gypaita~was flwayi
immured, md 905 kAar was perhaps the quantity expmbd tb be made over
a given period.
It is again in connerction with Racweben and %WO &.her wcmkmen fh& we
learn on t h e separate dates of what their ma+ g p m m c-isted.
They
;:, , htcmzig8
are recorded as absent from work in the Tomb pi4 A
. The reiidiw of the verb 1 i d ~ m4&;
is no doubt as
to its meaning. In bmt the ~ a w ' ~ s m w
'b
b ' g w u n d fit& &st
Qo be c$cined, & which it mixmi *easiEy wi& ' w d m to +dam gypsum
p~stei.(b3.-' - .
The -3htc h ppolbf h a t them was one gypsmb&r
~ Q Xe d of t h e two
~(kideii'~
ia 8 j o m d - o f work of the'T~nlbdated in yea% 5 and 6 af an unknown
b n ~ pr6bddy
,
of h w e s 111. Thoryfh it we get acquainted with A
Uddfr~- - - (8) who
h!e+AmhZ!4ZYB---9
rhud hare been working for the u right side )), sine0 at the same h e appears
W-w
~
Y
Y d (tb)
P bfl
~
B e k s n m o ('1. As the title of Hednakhte we must therefore restore gpm*
k [ o j the ri&] and this is what he is actualiy d e d in an ostracon(8);
a&ordiog to another ostraconQ) he was a son of Peatwme. We can
expat .&o.meet deliveries of gypsum behq recorded wpamtely for eaoh

'

~blk~--92&Z~-~*Pbl~~

See Ann. S m . 27 [1927], 196.

0,.&h'788, 5.6. S d a @ 0. AG 32, 7 r irrg ( a b ~ ~ in
t ) 6 r 6( a 0. Cairo '806.
(')
0. Gardiner 237, 6.
(9 See on gypsum, Lucks, An&
Egyptian Materials, 7 and 76-79.
(') P. Greg, vo. B, 39.
('1 P. Greg, B, 14.
0. Cairo '605, 5-6.
(9) 0. Pwhr 3 9, 2-3.
(I)

(I,

gypsum.

siden, and indeed we have such records covering the best part of the XXth
Dynasty ('1.
The practice of workmen themselves making gypsum was certainly not
followed during the XXth Dynasty when special agypsum-makers)) belong
to the smdt, 4 conscript labourn, doing various jobs for the a gangn, In a Est
--a of theyear 29 of Ramesses 111 ~ , I ~ ~ k ~
A ,%-&, (q who mktw gypmm : Wenennofie, son of Psntwim rs),
follows the water-carriers, gardeners, fishermen and wood-cutters, and precedes the door-keeper, the washermen and the potter. For unknown reasons
there was therefore at that time only one ((gypsum-maker))(3). This was
exceptional and did not last long. The list was compiled in the third month of
the inudatbn season, dcay 2 (4and already some two months later, in the
second mmth of minter, day 10 to be precise, took place "o 7 19 c &
Ak A
e
9 & appointing Uss'mr~haWt8ar ~ ~ l c e he r had
been water-carrier before this new assignment (6). In the 8th ye* of Ra7 # y , mm+~laboerrfrom outsib is divided in two
messes XI the lh &, right and left, and each has one gyp8um-makerJ Nesaman and Pekhoir
respectively, though their place in the iist is not always the same (4. Also in
17th and 18th'year of Ramesses XI, the two gypsum-makers are referred
to as the two m m of t h hsconseript labour fm outside (*I.
Consequently the quantity of gypsum supplied by the gypsum-maker is
recorded dong with the products of another member of the ((conscriptLbourn,
the potter ('4.

((

<

O\*-.lll

~ b r t h e & k s i d e : 0.Gardiner 131, 1 2 ; P. Turin Cat. 2048,vo. I, 5 ; Giwnob 51, 1 4 ;

for the lgrt FP,Greg B, I4, Giomab 50, 3 ; for the right and SJt in the same document :
P. Turin P.-R. 99 ; Gionurb 53, 96 (twice). Separate deliveries in the XIXth Dyn. in 0.Cairo

'803, 7-9; '805, 1-2.

('1 RAD 87, 1-2.
(*)

" - -' -" ( A ~ ) A ~ J ~ ~ ~ mho

- L ac&~ , os gypsum-

Unless the other was Bekenkhons -,,

&, in the column just peceding (RAD 45, 7-8).

(') RAD 46, 7.
('1 0. DM 330, 1-2.
(" R D 45, 3.
(q
('1

(*I

P. Turin Cat. 2018 passim.

RAD 66, 10-11; similarly one of them in 67, 10-11.
P. Turin Cat. 1961, 6 ; 2064, vo. I, 5 ; P. Turin 99,II, 5.7; 150, VO. 5-6.

& ~ , &

The gypsum made was brought straight to 'the Valley of the Gngs where it
was required : B w h t -- f 1 , to (ths) Ploin : right, 5 khar of p m ,
bj, 5 khar (1' .
Quantities of gypsum delivered and recorded Gary considerably, the extreme
low and high figures being I/,, and 6 k h r . The data necessary for working
out the quantity expected to be produced by one ilgypsum-maker r are usually
missing: we are not told the length of time during which the gypsum was made
and often whether the amount recorded was delivered by one gypsum-maker
only or by two. Nevertheless the quantities -all in k h r - shall be fisted
below; further research wili perhaps bring some precision into the matter :

Ill

0 . IFAO 1307, 1 2 ;
0 . Gardiner 131, 2 ; YO. 2. 6 ;
0.Berlin 9897, 3 ; 0. DM 390, 4; 0 . IFAO 1307, 10 ;'
0.Chicago 17007, 11, 3a; 0. DM 330, 3.7; 0. IFAO 1307, 8 ;
0. Turin. 6631, 4 ;
0. h d . 230, 4 ;
0. &ch. 2 4 , L.6;
0. Gard. 113, 1 6 ; 230, 3 ; 0 . Cairo '605, 6 ; P. Greg A, 1 ; B,
24.25 ;
0 . Gard. 230, 2 ;
0 . DM 46, YO. 7 ;
0 . DM 37, 7 ;
0. Chicago 17007, 5 (3);
0. Cairo '618, 1 ; 0. DM 46, YO.7 ;
0. Parker H 9, 3; 0. Chicago
17007, 6 ;
- -0.
17007', .7 ; .
0 . IFAO 1307, 14;
. .
0. Cairo '665,-8-0. (twice) ; .
. . .
0. Cairo 805, 1-2;
0 . DM 4 6 , 1 3 .
-

0. Cairo '803, 7-9.

The reference is ikrlk when it is certain, or almost so, that it refera to one man.
Probably abo P. Greg A, 2, where 1 khar is supplied, but.1 m w r d :are 7/,, so that the
amount was 1
. .
('1

(a)

How irregular the output was is well shown in the case of the newly appointed
g y p s m a k e r Usip3arebaakhtff). The entries were d e far every ten days.
Within the first decade after his appointment he delivered on two separate
days '1, and
khrrr mpgegi~dy,but at the end af tJm bn aaJg stretch he
was
in twtww, and so he was at the. aard of the second deeade having
delivered nothing at all, and ody six days kter he supplied again 3j, khur.
to a &60
made a record of the deliThe gypsum was af mursra d
very ; it was b w th s& k t the men at wofg in the T a d m k d it (9).
Unfo-tdy
r&tiv&y few recurds d gypsum 9vrpphes are d&ed by ar
r e p 4 y w . The reeorda &d in years 1@I, 2 tb) and even 5 ( 8 ) are what
can be expected since gypsum was required practically from the beginning
of the work in the Tomb until the last room in it had its walls covered with
plaster. The ostracon which again and again records making plaster in year
1 (3) is especially valuable : the Tomb could not possibly have been entirely hollowed out then, and we have here clearly a proof that plastering went on whiie
the workmen at the head of the tomb were still busy breaking the rock.
For Ramesses 11, 111, and XI high dates are attested when gypsum was
stiU made and supplied (9,when the King's Tomb must have already been
finished. This is probably m a t e d required far the tamhs of queens' and princes in the Valley of the Queens or perhaps other ~in~i?dding,for it is natural that the gypsum-makers were not ieft idle, even whenthiTomb was finished.
In 17th and 18th year of Ramesses XI they were occasionaUy kept busy with
cutting s t m m ( 8 ) .
other jobs, transport of wood ('1 and LA

&A,

%kg,

(I)

('1

0. DM 330.
0.DM 32, vo. 5 . 6 ; 0.Chicago 17007, 5.&7;

a. A s h l p p k 563, vo. 1 ; P. Greg

. ' .:' :' :-- -. .- .

A,

2 ; B, 25.
0. Cairo '521, 1 ff.
(1' 0.Gardiner 113, 6 ; 131; 0. DM 40, 18; W. 7 bis.
(I)P. Greg B, i L etc.
Year 3 5 of Ramesses 11, 0.Chicago 17 007 ;years 26, 26, '29 aad 3 1 of Ramesses III
in 0.DM 171, 6 ; 0.DM 32, vo. 5, 6 ; 0.DM 330 and 0. DM 3 7 , 7 respectively; year 1L
of Ramesses IX in 0.Cairo '299, 1.2 (found in the Valley of the Kus@ and Oherefore certainly
referring to same w d there, perhaps to the to& 04 prippm Men~ikhqdaef).
Ir) JLdD 65, 8.10; 67, 18.
E?I ,? .
('1 RAD 66, 1 i .
..-.
1'

I 0

h-

The expression Y A 1 ,: , fterally giving plaster (l),does not refer to

to the actprd laying of pla&er on
the issuing of gypsum to the workers,
the wall. In one of the corridom in the tomb of Ramesses IX jotted down
on the wall in hieratic i s : ~ I ~ o c c ~ ' ; ' ~ \ ~ ~ ~ ~ ) l
Fourth m t h a$ inunduth, day 22, latji~ggypsum in the god's passage r2).
The inscriplion transpires through -the whitewash which was iaid subsequently over the plaster on all the walls. This coating@)filled up the pores
of the caarser gypsum~piastmunderneath @) and when this was done the
w d s were ready for the draughtsmen to start on the decoration.

[I)

0.Turin 565&, &,

('1

LEPSBUBE,
Hypg68s r q a w ,

I (from tbe ValSsy of the h e e n s ) ; 0.Cairo '299, 1.2.3-11.

111, Pi. 9 ;Gwm, L tambeuu a5 Ram& ZX,P1. LXIV, right.
('1 Also of gypsum, though of finer quality, see LUGAS,
Anc. Egyptian Muhiah, 354.
'1 Obsemabie e.g. in the tomb no. 11 where in the part axcnted by Ramesses 111, that is
&ea tb dsviation of the axie d the tsslb, tbe eeeraer bmwnbh p h b r is overlaid by a smoother
white one.

LIST OF 'GYPSUM-MAKERS' KNOWN ARRANGED CHRONOLOGICALLY

AS FAR AS POSSIBLE ('1

'

yr. 5 & 6 (of Ramesses 111)

$ same man

nkzyzym
Hednakhte
P. Greg, vo. B, 39
(0. Parker H 9, 2-3)
(0. Cairo '60 5, 5-6)

$&*-

tom

-MetI

Bekenwernero
P. Greg, B, 1 4

RAD 45, 7-8

*St=&

Usimar6'nakhte
Wennennofre, son of Pent0. DM 330, 2 (appointed) w6re
(0. IFAO 1423, 4)
R4D 47,l-2. P. Mag. Vienna,
vo. 11, 12
0. DM 37, 7
0. Berlin 9897, 3

(y.. 31)
F. 5
yr. 8 of Ramesses XI

x-)IZ*

Wk'f-11

Nesamiin
P. Turin 2018, B, 11, 5
and passim

Pekhoir
P.Turin2018A,vo.I,15;
C, vo. 1
same man

&aM]e&

Whl
h-ll* . '
Pekhoir

M \\

u y y y y l

yr. 17-18ofRamessesXI

. --

Wendaimont
RAD . 65, 8 ;. -66,
11
. .
- -

I .

-..

RAD -- 66,-- 11;

67,
-- _

il

'..
- *!L - . - . L . A , i :
.
-.-" - . - .
Undated references are in brackets ; * precedes the name when it is not known to which
c side the man belonged.
.1

('1

THE LIGHTING OF T H E WORK

In the initial stage of the work in the King's tomb the glaring sunshine
reflected through the entrance from the limestone U s outside enabled the
workmen to see without difficulty. As, however, the work progressed,
~ to give
e wayr to eomplete
the bright daylight turned dimmer and ~
darkness in the tennind. part of- &be sloping pusage and in the burid
chamber.
Some kind of artificial. light was therefore required f d y early, and its
supply by means of lamps issued to the workmen plays no s d a part in the
records of the King's tomb.
The work (clamp u must not evoke such bronze torch holders as have been
found in the tomb of.Tuteankhamon('1, not even the only lamp ever earcavated at DQr el-MedPna; namely the lamp found in the antechamber of the
tomb of Kha' (1' . The objects issued to the workmen for light, lighting (5)
are designated as bbs (Wb., 111, 230, 3), a word surviving in the Coptic
ZHBC : ~ H B C
ulamp
, )) "1. The word is commonly spelt
J e fi I 1at the end
of the XIXth Dys. and kter ; earlier scribes write 1& 1p 2 (6) and determine

The Tom6 o j Tut.ankh.amsn, I , P1. W,opposite p. 219.

SCBI~P~III, La tmnba intatta dell'archi~to Cha, pp. 11, 1Bt-145, and fig. 127, 128 ;
BRU~RE,
R a p t 1924-1925, p. 15, fig. 9. Now in Cairo Museum as the sole object retained
there from the tomb of Khae,and not at Turin as stated by Esm-RbAm, p. 217, n. 7.
(a) Feminine st:t, 0. Cairo Cat. 5h2, 13; 543, vo. 1; P. Tur. 46, 21 (= RAD 58,16);
0.Cairo Cat. 31h, 3 ;without the article: P. Turin, Cat. 1900,III,3; 2057 2106, vo. 2.
It is apparently the word Rt of Wb., IV, 333, 12-13.
('1 As b
t recogabed by Bnuosc~,Wb., III, p. 1031.
(" 0. Cairo Cat. 616, I r ; 813, 3; 819, 1.
('1 (;aRmu & &GE,
(11

it then with a ('1 more often than with 1(=I). The cord a, being the usual
determinative of objects made of threads or of yarn, it is dear that Ebs supplied
were not whole cc lamps 9, but rather ct wicks B or t candles , as the word has
dso been not improperly translated c8). Nothing can be found in the documents of the King's tomb about their s h e or length, but we cannot be far
from the truth if we imagine them to be identical with or very similar to
the candle from Tut'ankhaman's tomb (41, which is described in the following
way : ((Torch wn~htifigof a length of Enen twisted up, and bound in a
spird by a strip of h e n , 6 [cent.] wide. Space between turns about 3
[cent.]. Bottom bound by wider linen, coming 1.8 [cent.] above cup (6)
The length of the a torch)) is not stated but should be abont 3 5 cent.
Since it is highly improbable that euch a candies, or c torches were held
in the hand during work, or wen M burning on the floor OP oa a stone, we
can assme that they werb p ~ w e din slidow c u p sc bouts, singly or two
dr W e e P a (ime, ce~ordingto tbe iniansiy of Light required,
1 so that the whole, now a real 6 lamp n, must have closely resembled
the lamp depicted in a tomb at D&r ei-MedPna (fig. 1) a). It
must, however, not be concealed that no mention of such cups
or b o d s having been actually found can be w e d in the meagre
Fig. 1.
records of those who excavated the royal f6mb9 at Thebes (*I.
It might therefore seem that these lamps were, as in Herodotus' time, like
tsaucers Wed with d t and oil on the top of which was pkced the wick
itself, (9). This however was not the case. Fat of some kind was indeed necessary to make t b candles buim and it cart e d y be understood why bbs 8

,.

'

!Y

1') 0.Cairo Cat. 6 3 1, vo. 9.t ;and especially the scribe Kenwopshef, 0.Cairo Cat. 5 26,
vo., passim ; 816'1-3, vo. ; 817,1.8, vo. 2 ;818,1-3. H(:)b(w)s(:) so determined : 0.Cairo

Cat.
(')

(')

("

(')

(=)

('1

793, 3 (XIXth) ; 820, W. 2 (XXth).

0. Cairo Cat. 819, 1.
GIRDIIIER,.TEA 22, 178.
CARTER& MACE,
TAB Twnb $ T u t - t a & h t ~ ~I,~ P, 1. LXXV, d d g t D d $ .
From Carter's card index deposited at the W t h Inetitutc at Oxford.
Calculated from a photograph h Carter's card index (see preceding note).
V~IER
La, tombe de NeJer-Aboer, PI. VII and XXI.
For Middle Kingdom true lamps, see HAYES,The &q~crPfggypt,I, 960.4, and fig. 167.
Herodotus 11, 62, and WADDELL'S
commentary, H e r o h Book II, pp. 181-3.

hJ
u dry (9canam, are m k i o s e d ady o m s @). Bat the praktiee was to p m
them - the technid term was 1& - szfnn, u to anoint
-in considerable numbers some time before use. Such greased candles were d e d bbs
agnn, t( anointed candles r "), and stored in- t( the m a k i n e , from which they
were then issued from time to time according to need.
sgnn (61,
The materid used for the greasing of candies is sometimes (I &
properly meaning u ointment )), a term which throws no Eght on its nature. Once,
under Ramesses XI, it is d e d (I p 1 smi which wodd be very strange if
the word dways meant ((cream,, as has been generdy accepted('). Another time
e r $ -the workmen ask for
e i,
fmhfat (or tallow)fbr lighting
and on two other occasions [ o 1[ or
o
nhb (Y B sesame oil B ('4;
Of the mi, u cream, mentioned above, 1 hin is sappbed, which was supposed
to be enough to grew ths t m t y caradlea with(I2). N&od was brought inm '
mnt-uuse (Wb., 11, 66, 4-10), the customary recipient for this ("1 and other
]
408 cs&
(lb).
fats. One mnt is said once to have been [ f ~ gtwz&ng
In year 6, probably of Sethos IIIi6); the quanw of sesame oii issued for the

It,,

Itl,
T

a ,:,

Wb., IVY 489, 10-18.

0. Cairo Cat. 819, 1.
tS) ~learly'asverb : 0.Cairo J. 89616, 1; 72853, vo. 9 ; Cat. 830,vo. 1.3; RAD 68, 1.
1'1 0. Cairo J. 72853, vo. 11-12; 72451, 2.
(" O..Cairo J. 7%153,1-2, 7-8. vo. 1; RID 58, 15-16; 0. Cairo Cat. 613, 3.
The
first document shows that rgnn covers n@-oil.
&ill
64, 1.
(7) Wh, IV, 130, 1-5 ; cf. h w , U M J p. 212.
Smi is listed immediately after n!r+ and
cd in P. Harris 1 5 a, 9 ; 52 b, 15 ; 63 c, 17; in 1 0 a, IP, asad 55 b, 12, next to mi&.
Larga 0. Toronto, Tksbm O~hwcu,p. 16 I.
(O) 0. Cairo J. 72851, 2 ; 72454, top, and 1
,
("1 h,
Gp-p,
19 and 138-5; EAYSS,JNES10,93,andn. 142 (both quoted
by CbmRos, LEMJ p. 128).
("1 'd and n:th are shown to be two different categories of material fm Zigking by the two
entries in the Medhet Habu Wendar (Med. Ha& 111, 146,288 and 9343). The b a t rendering
perhaps would be a n i w l ~ dand ve~etabbfd.
("1 R4D 66, 2.
(Is) 0. c a i r o ~ i t 50hiIP,6;va.
.
I,7 ;II,'9;-613,4;624, I i 2 ; 0.DM95,1; 3 5 9 , 2 ; bbO,5.
(''1 0. Cairo J. 72456, top.
Supposing that mi and n# were approximateiy eqtsivalent
this wodd give 80 kin as the con-t of a mnt. 4 One mnt, eon&
for candles, dso 0. Cairo
Cat. 6 3 f , thidmess; U,7;and ve. 1.; 613, 4.
:
,.,-. .
(")
0. Cairo J. 72453.
('1

(')

.I,.

purpose was considerably less, undoubtedly because the meien'ng ths ointmsnt
(sgnn) was repeated at short intervals :
on XI. 16 : 6 hin for each A;
on XI. 26 : 6 % hin for the right, 6 hin for the left;
on XII. 15 : 6 hin for the right, 6 hin for the left side ;
same day : 2 hin for the right, 1 hin for the left;
on 11. 8 : lhin(l1.
The quantity of sesame oil issued on the first three dates is roughly the
same, though the intervals between issues are unequai. This is probably
due to the fact that the number of working days (though not that of calendar
days) was aiso approximately the same.
The greasing of candles was not done without supervision and the care
with which the details of the attribution of fats was recorded aims evidently
at avoiding any misuse of the material. Indeed, mi, 'd and nbh werk d
edible fats and much appreciated by the members of the workmen's community.
The greasing with mi under Ramesses XI was therefore done
/-j$,
befire ths magitrates (2) and all the sesame d of the 0. Cairo J.
7245 was ~ ~ v from
e d the' dspuy A+akhY [m of (4) 1 Ndwnen. Another
time the ointment (sgnn) for this purpose is in charge of' the chi$ and
the p ~ d i a n(q,.
While the supply of the fuel and the greasing was wen controlied, the
consumption of candles
1 brought (4) or a
.?e 4, d r a m (6) from th
17bagazCm was watched no less strictly and recorded no less carefully. One
can hardly imagine a d d e r reading than the lengthy accounts concerning
(often abbreviated as GI,))I'( txmmptirm
their delivery and the n% e '

4 z,

-L

The entry for I. 6 which follows is obscure owing to lacunae.

RAD 64,l.
(') P. Tur. 2057
2106, vo. 2-4.
('1 E.g. CairoCat. 5 1 1 , 4 ; 516, 2.7.15.19.23; vo. 1 ; 524, vo. 1 1 ; 544, 1 ; 547, 3;etc.
E.g. Cairo Cat. 543, vo. 2 ; 543, vo. 7.11.14; etc.
(6) E.g. 0. Cairo Cat. 536, vo. 2 and passim ; 539 passim ; 541 passim ; 542 passim.
('I) E.g. Cairo Cat. 511, 7.9.10; 516, 3.4.5.6.11.15.16.17.20.21.22.25-28; vo. 1 ;
543, vo. 3. etc. Also in XXth Dyn. once (P. Tur. 104,11).
(')

made of them on every working day. On doser study, however, even they
yield information of some interest, not only about the lighting, but also about
the work in the tomb in generd and its organization.
Lamp accounts which can in all probability be assigned to the reign of Ramesses I1 (1) are scarce and too fragmentary. Seven pieces(=)display the characteristic cursive hand of the scribe Kent~ikhopshef; unfortunately one
only is dated in a regnal year, its year 3 being in all. probability that of
Meneptah .
Several other ostraca belong to the end of XIXth Dynasty : three ( 8 ) of
a year 5, six(&)dated in year 6, the Iast of them (Cairo Cat. 5 16) passing
from VI/23, the last date of the recto, to VI/25 of year 1 on the top of
its verso and thus probably marking the passage from one reign to another(61,
and one of yew 2 . Six ('1 further pieces seem to belong to this group,
but the regod year is either not-indicated or lost. It is this series, or more
precisely the accounts of year 5 (", that are the most informative and will
therefore repay doser examination.
The foilowing may serve as an example of the commonest type of entry :
Fourth month of the inundation seasrm, day 16. C m m p t i o n of candles made
on that dicy : 16, 16, 32, 13, 13, malting 26, total 58. Fortunately not d
entries are as laconic as this. A more explicit entry in the same account ('0)
runs thus : First month of winter season, day 5 . Consumption of candles made
on that day :right 6, left 6, making 12 ;right 6, left 5, total 1 I, etc. and shows

('1 Cairo Cat. 50%verso on account of the possible date of c yew 20

X Q on recto ;63lbemuse
of the mention of guardian w w e y and draughtsman Nebsc (verso 2 and 3) ; 813, solely on
paiaeographical grounds.
(1' 0. Cairo Cat. 540, 539, 816, 818, 817, 814, and 249.
(9 0. Cairo Cat. 581, 542 and 543 vo.
'1 0.Cairo Cat. 511, 544; J. 72L5L and 72459 ro. and Cat. 547, 516.
(1' If so it cannot be the change from the reign of Sethos I1 into that of Siptah, since this was
commentary
announced at Thebes on V/19 (0. Cairo Cat. 5 15, vo. 11, 21-28, and GARDINER'S

JEA 5, 190-191).
Cairo Cat. 536 vo.
0 . Cairo Cat. 548, 570, 551, 5LL, 550 and
That is, 0.'Cairo Cat. 541, 542 and 5L3 vo.
0. Cairo Cat. 542, 4.
0. Cairo Cat. 5h2, 12.

(9 0.
(1'
('1

813.

that the first two frees in the former en*,

16, 16, indieate the consumption by the %& and bft sides sf the gahg rapectivdy, the third
figure 32 being the sum of the t ~ And
. again f3, 13 equally refer to
the consumption by the two sides with the sum 26. The blal 58 finidly
i s the total of the two preeedings sums 32 and 26. It wodd have
remained a mysbq why t w ~ u n t txzmsumed
s
are recorded for either side
am the sanne &be, if lueUy for uq bbm were n ~ some
t
pare ent~ias(1)
which make it quite certain that the first two amounts and their btal (IS,
16, 32) .refer to + E,e e L , m b g , while the next goup of three +wes
(13, 13, malting 26) is the consumption of candles c+ e n r, ha an
f
6

Thus the carrde accounts supply the information as to the dates of work,
for it was n a t d y only on working days h a t candies were used. We further see that the wo.sking day was d i v i d d t k trwa parts, the momkg and
the ,g-f
dearly with a break in btwwa f~ rest and probably a
(of flie day). The llght and
med. This was the noon " a, lit.
left sides waded simdbeousb, though at a &&rent place in the tomb,
for no separate amounts for the right and left sides wodd have been
neceswy and practidie, if their members had mrked together. Since
there are always two figures, for the r&t and the left, the two sides had
the same working days. On three days@)no figures are given for the afternoon; and both sides therefore had rtn afternoon free; it is d e l y that the
scribe would have inadvertently omitted the figures three times. The number
d
ccsmume82 M &a m n i n g i s . a p p ~ ~but
y ,edy approxiBaately,
the safnw as in the h o o n ; the n u d e r of working hours seem* t M o r e
to be the same for both parts of the day. We should iike to know, of course,
how many hours the working day had, but this is impossible to estimate,
s had the same ien@ as that of Tut'ankheven if we assme that the d
aman, since we are not told whether one candle ody o r severai were
burning at the time. But that the candles had a constant length at a given
period is probably a safe condusion : the number of candles used by the

0. Cairo Cat. 5 3 9 , I, 4 and 5 ; 5h1, 1 2 .

Abbreviated r in P. Turin 1 0 4 , 1 1 (MI& Dyn.).
ca) 0. Cairo Cat. 5 h 2 , 3.4.6.

('1

('1

two sides is very often the a m e and the whole complicate system of accountancy (1) would otherwise have given no real picture of the amounts consumed of candles, and would have made any comparison of consumption
on different dates impossible.
That the consumption was fairly constant over a short period is understandable. On the other hand if at unfrequent intervals the consumption
varied, this can probably be ascribed to the changing exigencies of the work :
more and more iight was required as the work moved away from the entrance
and more light was required for the work of draughtsmen and sculptors
than for that of miners.
Thus, for instance, the consumption over four days in the year 3 (of
Meneptah?) (9was 1 0 , 14, 14 and 12. In another ostracon, however, the
year of which is lost but which is written in the hand of the same scribe (3),
the consumption over a period of 22 working days varies considerabiy between
the minimum of 12, with the next higher figures of 1 5 and 1 8 , and the
maximum of 4 3 1/2 candles, the average being 27 candles per day, which
was approached by 28 on one day and by 30 on four. If, however, we assume,
that the three days with the low consumption (under twenty) were half-days
-we have seen that there were such -we obtain an average of 32, which
is much nearer to that of three other ostraca, still of the same scribe, showing
the average of 4 6 1/2, 3-6 and 46 1/2 candies respectiveiy (4). At all events,
these averages .are considerably higher than that of the year 3 and the need
for light had dearly increased.
A similar high average occurs in two ostraca of the year 5 of a king at
the end of XIXth Dyn. They wiii be tabulated fully below to illustrate
the relation between the amounts consumed of the right and ieft sides and
between the figures for the morning and the afternoon.
(I)

The accuracy more than once goes as far as counting half (a lamp), 0. Cairo Cat.

516, 7 ;

539, I, 10.11; 11, 7.8; 5bO., 1.5.

0. Cairo M. 588.
0. Cairo Cat. 539.
('I 0. Cairo Cat. 8 16, 818 and 817, the latter with daily figures of b 6, b 7 and 4 7 candles.
(I)0. Cairo Cat. 581 and 5L2.
'9 0. Cairo Cat. 540.

('1

morning

kj

right

0. Cairo Cat. '541 17

15
16
15
17
15

0. Cairo Cat. '542

12
11
15
16
16
16
13
17
15
15
16
15

+ [I71
+ 15
+ 17
+ 15
+ 17
+ 15
+ 12
+ 14
+ 16
+ 16
+ 16
+ 16
+

13
17
15
15
14
15

1131
11

+
+
+
+
+
+
+

[I31
11

1161
14
15
11
13
13

+
+
+
+
+
+

1161
14
13
14
14
0

66
58
61
58
66
43

max. 66
min. 43
average 5 8 4/2

max. 6 1
min. 37

"'

average 52 1/2

These high figures would well agree with the year date. ((Year 5 )) was
the last year but one of the king and we can wen imagine the workmen occupied deep inside the tomb, which was in complete darkness. Unfortunately
this explanation is spoiled by very low consumption on a further three days
(6, 8 and 12 candles respectively), a drop which is not easy to account for.

1')

('1

Disregarding the three half-days.

Additional figures for the aftarnoon.

Some unusual. circumstance must have been the cause, for, in the following
two months('), the daily consumption went up again, even if not to the former
height; exact figurw cannot be given, owing to the bad state of preservation
of this part of the ostracon. Another piece, dated year 5ra) again reaches an
average of 30 (if we disregard one day with 10 as a probable half-day) candles
over 10 working days, with a minimum of 2 4 and a maximum of 51.
An interesting attempt was made in year 6 not to overstep a consumption
of 32 maximum per day c3). For how can one explain otherwise that, out of
2 3 working days, on not less than 15 the recorded consumption is 32 ?
Two days with 16 each are again half-days ; besides that there are one with
20, two with 2 8 and two with 30. The frequent recurrence of the figure
3 2 is significant, and also the fact that the consumption never passed
beyond it during this stretch of time.
In the year 1 of the new reign we find 32 as maximum once, as far as
all other figures are considerably lower, the minimum
our records go
being 4 candles in one day. Similarly also in year 2 (5). This has already been
explained above as due to the fact that the work in a new royal tomb could
still largely benefit from daylight during the first year or so.
The ostracon is often small and records the consumption of not more than
a few days, or even of one day only, usually without naming the regnal year (6).
Such a note could hardly serve any other purpose than that of compiling
extensive records iike the above-mentioned, extending over a month or two.
Into the journal of the work, written on papyrus, such as was sent to higher
anthority, ody the candh given to the m k on this day were transcribed under
appropriate dates (7) ; the consumption on various days did not seem to be
worth mentioning.
0. Cairo Cat. 542 vo.
0. Cairo Cat. 543 vo.
0. Cairo J. 72451 completed by Cat. 545.
(') 0. Cairo Cat. 516.
('1 0. Cairo 536 VQ.
(9 0. Cairo Cat. 548, 570, 551, 511, 550, 813.
(') P. Greg: (of years 5 , 6 and 7 of an unknown king, probably of the beginning of the XXth
Dynasty) A, 4; B, 8-13.27.36;C, 4; vo. A, 3.6.9; B, 1.17.20.23.28.37; C, 3.16.19,
with numbers last in most cases.
(I)

(1'

The candles were brought to the King's t a d by khe foremen ('1 or by

the guardian (2) in whose c h v bhey bad bmn in 6 8 stodowm. The number
d canctlw bs+
vwks accordiq fro the
w k h uay reeorded at
the time. Tlins, for example, when the d d y consumption is 32 candles for.
many days, the number of candles d~awnvaries between 120 (3) and 99
candles, in other words an approximate supply for not more than 3 or b
working days is provided; at a slightly lower consumption, varying between
2 3 and 1 6, the supply had been 12 5 (7 3 for the right and 7 2 ior the left (5));
therefore for about 5 days. When the n d e r of m d l e s needed daily was
dropping from 24 to as few as 4, the supply too went do^ from 116 (58
for each side) to less than half, 4 8 (24 per side)
This is very fttle as
compared with 279 in year 5 of Sethos I1 ('), but those were very busy days
when the daily consumption was as high as 66 candles. It is therefo~echar
&at the men re
U e , the foremen and p.polmh1y deo the scribe, endeavowed not to draw a iaqg?r rider at a h t
b eodd m i l y be wakhed;
as long: w they remained in the storehouw they were the responsibility of
ih guardjan.
It can hardy Ire a mere chance that candie accounts dating to the XXtb
Dynasty (q are rare and rather perfunctory as compared with the detailed
accountancy of the end of the XIXth, and it would aeem that less value was
attached to them then than in the earlier periocks.
One other feature of the candle accounts perhaps deserves mentioning.
It is curious how often the My figures are divisible by 8 a d the haif-day
and the left aides of the
figures by 4, or very nearly 50, both for the

m~w,

(1)
('1

0. Cairo Cat. 515, vo. bottom h e .

0. Cairo Cat. 542, vo. II, 9.

0. Cairo J. 72654, 12.

Ibidem, 1. 10.
('1 0. Cairo Cat. 511, 6.
,J
(a) 0. Cairo Cat. 516, 2 and 23.
(')
0.Cairo Cat. 543, 9 ; 0. Cairo Cat. 813 records a quite exceptional draw of 328 candles.
("
On palaeographical grounds the following ostraca seem to belong to XXth Dyn. : 0.Cairo
Cat. 25266 (year 31, 25300 (year lost), 25304 (year net given), J. 72658 (year 32, certainly
of Ramesses 111) ;D1IS 207 (year 7 of one of the successors of Rclmesees Ill). Also P. Tur. 76,
6.5.8; lob, 11; Cat. 2063 ( o i n t and
~ candles, under a b e Itrre4side kin&.
(3)

()'

'"O$JI. 'W (v)

W, na3 naqap 12 Pue mYDq @Yg 4lrrS ~
1 uaqap
%
@?P
@Q 0'1 afi n V p 522 pup *V@.cols
f l ? ~ @Y2 uo
%6
q g 01 08 03 SEA u n l 30 uaqap OF r a q 'no l ~ 01a b ~p m j aq1 jo sraqmam
aqr) b p o pep uamqJom k e u v r o ay1 aIyM ' T ~ O Maq.) op o) par)mdxa aram o q ~
.pppswq ~ q y l s p e u a s pey qqyg a q ~ q s!p sareys naqr) nr a:,naragp
panpemn s r q aoj paraBo aq urn r)eqr)norr)erne~dxaL p a q ~- m q r o a@mrs
~
aaqdm q3p.i 'L~no
eqp n q r ) qrofi aaotu dn r)nd or) peq J ~ y a e
Vap % 6 qsa PeY
05'
'(~118 'wPP
~ ~ * P A ? ~ * $?V
J
a a q p aqp r)qt 41. 11. r)~-mqeijyqr) &mrd.ms
..
~ s o ma% ' d p p q m m 30 aq 0.3
amasqo L ~ a ~ w d s aoor)
p sn o) pne pasquo:, am ne4 ((IUswamq 30) 62 real

aql jo no=qw
pn0.f ' q v OIy la ay.anu w
#'&& aqr) P ~wG180~ [ 8 9 ? ~ ~
aull
1 P q (9)
qas - e naqaMlq
~
leqa .reap aM a:,no . s a l p m apl hq 01 t banom o ayr)
!on Lpyra:, SI (q,m?zpi
arIg qw i C q m a l o j aql q q f i

SO

jnq

'p?~.~ayrm
aqlr

\-

J03 WP
' a9
2 af
aql f t,)
' I * JO
papmq'1 aq or) ),( q t
~ I paqddns
M
asodmd srqr) roj araM p w 'porn
9 3 9210
a d 1 \ &.P
4Y1 w. paanbaa sapnm aqr) a p m sanpsmaqr) namqroa raya ~ l e qsmaas 11
q.mw 30 m q p 3 p nsgqnflas
Aanr)ua:, y l n m o go srosmaa~da z m n v q d B 3 atp p d s a r s q q u! loql
p a q s q q v a aq p p o 3 11 !J 9T#~"ra)~! aq ??pod '11 . P O * s ' h 9 I3 no qJoM
paey a y l JOJ q9noua 6 ~ 9 : a are
a s r r z o ~ q 3 q nomeas 9q hrpro:,:,e
pax.IeA ' I Q -t [
p u '~I cl '(
k q aql mj smoq 30 qr)8ua1
aql I o Y - w
7 <BJV
~2 01111 p a p p p 'SJ'IO am 'SM Lep mqdL2g
ay& . :pq%~01 saw03 awepya ~ ~ ~ e ~ o qa aoy up jmFinn &)3ppq0.1d e se
pa~aprsao:, aq m S.asano:, jo 'eg& .noarig u! s m y m o j pue
8 u m . I aqj
~ ~ u! ~ W p
A m o q m o j aaaq peq a a q g st? m a s lmmp 11 *&e9
C

no

who we know was then the foreman of the right side, is put down as receiving e 26 deben ,;presumably he received this instead of 24 like the other
3 chiefs. But no mathematical operation will probably ever. obtain the
sum total : 516 deben. This is ail noted on VI. 9. In year 30, on I. 25 was
the day of huding over candles beridsa the H m o of Amen-in-op and to this
probably belong the figures on the verso : (thc) right (&), 231 deben;
(the) Zej, 230 deben, the weight of candies issued to the gang, though it is
not clear whether for illumination during the work or in their homes. The
workmen were supplied with candies in the same way as they were supplied
with clothes and thread. One weight (1) bears the inscription : It will be
required as candles from Seba.
It has been noticed that neither the royal tombs nor Egyptian tombs in
generai show any trace of ancient smoke which one would expect the lamps
or candles of the workmen to have produced. The addition of salt to lamps,
reported by Herodotus@),has been explained as intended to absorb any
water which might have been present in the fuel('), in order to prevent them
from smoking. As far as the work in the royal tombs is concerned, no
lamps, but only candles soaked in oil or fat were used, and no supply of
salt is recorded in connexion with lighting, as one might expect in view of
the care with which d l the consumption connected with lighting was
recorded. Yet it must have been salt which prevented the wicks from smoking :
it was used for this purpose until fairly recently ( 4 ) .
( I ) Weight IFAO 672.
The ready candles weighed in deben like the raw material threads
used for their confection are found also elsewhere, 6.8. 0. DM 207.
Herodotus, 11, 62.
W~DEMANN,
Herodors d m Buch, 260-2 6 1, and Das olre hypkn, 1 89.
(') It is worth while to reproduce in this connection a passage which I owe to J.-CI. Goyon
from a Le t r h r des m h g 8 ~s1 (Paris, 1823), pp. 27-28: here comes the [ ---- ] from sheet
no 18: (Pour em@her que Iss l a m p q u i n q ~ sne fassenr point de fuwuie. Mettez du sel dans
un verre d'eau, jusqu'A saturation, c'est-A-dire, jusqu'it ce que l'eau ne veuille plus dissoudre de sel. Dans cette saumure vous tremperez vos mbches A plusieurs reprises et les ferez
shher. Ensuite mettez cette eau salbe dans une bouteille, ajoutez-y une &ale quantith d'huile:
secouez bien votre flacon afin de mblanger parfaitement le contenu, puis laissez reposer, et
dbcantez l'huile ainsi purifibe. Cekte huile ne fera plus de fumbe, quand m&me ce serait de
la plus mauvaiae quaiitR, ou qu'on serait oblige de brdler de I ' h d e toute fraiche,.

TABLE O F CONTENTS

.................................
excavation of a royal tomb ...........................

15

CHAPTER3. -Plans of royal tombs and related documents

...............

23

CHAPTER4. -Later stages of work in the tomb : plastering

..............

35

....................................

43

CHAPTER1. - The Valley of the Kings

CHAPTER2. -The

CHAPTER5. - Lighting of the work