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De Morgan describes the
discovery of the undergound galleries:
"The
meticulous examination of the ground of these galleries disclosed,
on the sixth of March, a rectangular cavity excavated in the
rock at the foot of the sarcophagus. The terrain was loose, and
the foot of one of the workmen sank into the middle of the debris.
After a few blows with a pickaxe the hiding-place-for such it
was- revealed its treasures; jewellery of gold and of silver,
gems and precious stones were there, mingled with the fragments
of a casket in which they had been enclosed. This square box,
of about 30 centimetres along the side, existed only in a state
of dust, but we found the gold leaf with which it had been encrusted,
and the hieroglyphs of silver which had composed the name of
the owner of the treasure."
The map (left) shows
the layout of the two galleries which held the burials of princesses.
Although the mummies
had disappeared in antiquity (most likely carried off by tomb
robbers), De Morgan was still able to make amazing discoveries
of royal jewels (both of Princess Sithathor and Queen Meret).
De Morgan continues:
"The
ancient people, at the time of the burial, knowing full well
that the riches accumulated in the sarcophagus, in the offering
chambers and on the mummies themselves, would one day fall a
prey to robbers, had carefully hidden the bijoux of Princess
Hathor-Sat in a place where no one would suspect their existence.
It was thus that they escaped the ancient robbers, and that,
thanks to the meticulous care with which the least dust was raised
from the galleries, that they were discovered by the Department
of Antiquities."
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