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ON THE 16TH [OF OCTOBER,
1817] I recommenced my excavations in the valley of Beban el Malook,
and pointed out the fortunate spot, which has paid me for all
the trouble I took in my researches. I may call this a fortunate
day, one of the best perhaps of my life; I do not mean to say,
that fortune has made me rich, for I do not consider all rich
men fortunate; but she has given me that satisfaction, that extreme
pleasure, which wealth cannot purchase; the pleasure of discovering
what has been long sought in vain, and of presenting the world
with a new and perfect monument of Egyptian antiquity, which can
be recorded as superior to any other in point of grandeur, style,
and preservation, appearing as if just finished on the day we
entered it; and what I found in it will show its great superiority
to all others.... I caused the earth to be opened at the foot
of a steep hill, and under a torrent, which, when it rains in
the desert, pours a great quantity of water over the very spot
I have caused to be dug. No one could imagine, that the ancient
Egyptians would make the entrance into such an immense and superb
excavation just under a torrent of water; but I had strong reason
to suppose, that there was a tomb in that place, from indications
I had observed in my pursuit. The Fellahs who were accustomed
to dig were all of opinion, that there was nothing in that spot,
as the situation of this tomb differed from that of any other.
I continued the work, however, and the next day, the 17th, in
the evening, we perceived the part of the rock that was cut, and
formed the entrance. On the 18th, early in the morning, the task
was resumed, and about noon the workmen reached the entrance,
which was eighteen feet below the surface of the ground. The appearance
indicated, that the tomb was of the first rate: but I did not
expect to find such a one as it really proved to be. The Fellahs
advanced till they saw that it was probably a large tomb, when
they protested they could go no farther, the tomb was so much
choked up with large stones, which they could not get out of the
passage. I descended, examined the place, pointed out to them
where they might dig, and in an hour there was room enough for
me to enter through a passage that the earth had left under the
ceiling of the first corridor, which is thirty-six feet two inches
long, and eight feet eight inches wide, and when cleared of the
ruins, eight feet nine inches high. I perceived im-mediately by
the painting on the ceiling, and by the hieroglyphics in basso
relievo, which were to be seen where the earth did not reach,
that this was the entrance into a large and magnificent tomb.
At the end of this corridor I came to a staircase twenty-three
feet long, and of the same breadth as the corridor. The door at
the bottom is twelve feet high. At the foot of the staircase I
entered another corridor, thirty-seven feet three inches long,
and of the same width and height as the other, each side sculptured
with hieroglyphics in basso relievo, and painted. The ceiling
also is finely painted, and in pretty good preservation. The more
I saw, the more I was eager to see, such being the nature of man:
but I was checked in my anxiety at this time, for at the end of
this passage I reached a large pit, which intercepted my progress.
This pit is thirty feet deep, and fourteen feet by twelve feet
three inches wide. The upper part is adorned with figures, from
the wall of the passage up to the ceiling. The passages from the
entrance all the way to this pit have an inclina-tion downward
of an angle of eighteen degrees. On the opposite side of the pit
facing the entrance I perceived a small aperture two feet wide
and two feet six inches high, and at the bottom of the wall a
quantity of rubbish. A rope fastened to a piece of
wood, that was laid across the passage against the projections
which form a kind of door, appears to have been used by the ancients
for descending into the pit; and from the small aperture on the
opposite side hung another, which reached the bottom, no doubt
for the purpose of ascending. We could clearly perceive, that
the water which entered the passages from the torrents of rain
ran into this pit, and the wood and rope fastened to it crumbled
to dust on touching them. At the bottom of the pit were several
pieces of wood, placed against the side of it, so as to assist
the person who was to ascend by the rope into the aperture. I
saw the impossibility of proceeding at the moment. Mr. Beechey,
who that day came from Luxor, entered the tomb, but was also disappointed
of advancing any farther.
The next day, the 19th, by means of a long beam we succeeded in sending a man up into the aperture, and having contrived to make a bridge of two beams, we crossed the pit. The little aperture we found to be an opening forced through a wall, that had entirely closed the entrance, which was as large as the corridor. The Egyptians had closely shut it up, plastered the wall over, and painted it like the rest of the sides of the pit, so that but for the aperture, it would have been impossible to suppose, that there was any farther proceeding; and any one would conclude, that the tomb ended with the pit. The rope in the inside of the wall did not fall to dust, but remained pretty strong, the water not having reached it at all; and the wood to which it was attached was in good preservation. It was owing to this method of keeping the damp out of the inner parts of the tomb that these apartments are so well preserved. I observed some cavities at the bottom of the well, but found nothing in them, nor any communication from the bottom to any other place; therefore we could not doubt their being made to receive the waters from the rain, which happens occasionally in this mountain. The valley is so much raised by the rubbish, which the water carries down from the upper parts that the entrance into these tombs has become much lower than the torrents; in consequence, the water finds its way into the tombs, some of which are entirely choked up with earth.
When we had passed through
the little aperture, we found ourselves in a beautiful hall, twenty-seven
feet six inches by twenty-seven feet ten inches, in which were
four pillars three feet square.... At the end of this room, which
I call the entrance-hall, and opposite the aperture, is a large
door, from which three steps lead down into a chamber with two
pillars. This is twenty-eight feet two inches by twenty-five feet
six inches. The pillars are three feet ten inches square. I gave
it the name of the drawing room; for it is covered with figures,
which, though only outlined, are so fine and perfect, that one
would think they had been drawn only the day before. Returning
into the entrance-hall, there is on the left of the aperture a
large staircase, which descended into a corridor. It is thirteen
feet four inches long, seven and a half wide, and has eighteen
steps. At the bottom we entered a beautiful corridor, thirty-six
feet six inches by six feet eleven inches. We perceived that the
paintings became more perfect as we advanced farther into the
interior. They retained their gloss, or a kind of varnish over
the colours, which had a beautiful effect. The figures are painted
on a white ground. At the end of this corridor we descended ten
steps, which I call the small stairs, into another, seventeen
feet two inches by ten feet five inches. From this we entered
a small chamber, twenty feet four inches by thirteen feet eight
inches, to which I gave the name of the Room of Beauties; for
it is adorned with the most beautiful figures in basso relievo,
like all the rest, and painted. When standing in the centre of
this chamber, the traveller is surrounded by an assembly of Egyptian
gods and goddesses. Proceeding farther, we entered a large hall,
twenty-seven feet nine inches by twenty-six feet ten inches. In
this hall are two rows of square pillars, three on each side of
the entrance, forming a line with the corridors. At each side
of this hall is a small chamber: that on the right is ten feet
five inches by eight feet eight inches; that on the left, ten
feet five inches by eight feet nine inches and a half. This hall
I termed the Hall of Pillars; the little room on the right, Isis'
Room, as in it a large cow is painted . . . that on the left,
the Room of Mysteries, from the mysterious figures it exhibits.
At the end of this hall we entered a large saloon, with an arched
roof or ceiling, which is separated from the Hall of Pillars only
by a step; so that the two may be
reckoned one. The saloon is thirty-one feet ten inches by twenty-seven
feet. On the right of the saloon is a small chamber without any
thing in it, roughly cut, as if unfinished, and without painting:
on the left we entered a chamber with two square pillars, twenty-five
feet eight inches by twenty-two feet ten inches. This I called
the Sideboard Room, as it has a projection of three feet in form
of a sideboard all round, which was perhaps intended to contain
the articles necessary for the funeral ceremony. The pillars are
three feet four inches square, and the whole beautifully painted
as the rest. At the same end of the room, and facing the Hall
of Pillars, we entered by a large door into another chamber with
four pillars, one of which is fallen down. This chamber is forty-three
feet four inches by seventeen feet six inches; the pillars three
feet seven inches square. It is covered with white plaster, where
the rock did not cut smoothly, but there is no painting on it.
I named it the Bull's or Apis' Room, as we found the carcass of
a bull in it, embalmed with asphaltum; and also, scattered in
various places, an immense quantity of small wooden figures of
mummies six or eight inches long, and covered with asphaltum to
preserve them. There were some other figures of fine earth baked,
coloured blue, and strongly varnished. On each side of the two
little rooms were some wooden statues standing erect, four feet
high, with a circular hollow inside, as if to contain a roll of
papyrus, which I have no doubt they did. We found likewise fragments
of other statues of wood and of composition.
But the description of
what we found in the centre of the saloon, and which I have reserved
till this place, merits the most particular attention,
not having its equal in the world, and being such as we had no
idea could exist. It is a sarcophagus of the finest oriental alabaster;
nine feet five inches long, and three feet seven inches wide.
Its thickness is only two inches; and it is transparent when a
light is placed in the inside of it. It is minutely sculptured
within and without with several hundred figures, which do not
exceed two inches in height, and represent, as I suppose, the
whole of the funeral procession and ceremonies relating to the
deceased, united with several emblems. I cannot give an adequate
idea of this beautiful and invaluable piece of antiquity, and
can only say, that nothing has been brought into Europe from Egypt
that can be compared with it. The cover was not there: it had
been taken out, and broken into several pieces, which we found
in digging before the first entrance. The sarcophagus was over
a staircase in the centre of the saloon, which communicated with
a subterraneous passage, leading downwards' three hundred feet
in length. At the end of this passage we found a great quantity
of bats' dung, which choked up the way so that we could go no
farther without digging. It was nearly filled up too by the falling
in of the upper part. One hundred feet from the entrance is a
staircase in good preservation; but the rock below changes its
substance, from a beautiful solid calcareous stone, becoming a
kind of black rotten slate, which crumbles into dust only by touching.
This subterraneous passage proceeds in a south-west direction
through the mountain. I measured the distance from the entrance,
and also the rocks above, and found that the passage reaches nearly
halfway through the mountain to the upper part of the valley.
I have reason to suppose, that this passage was used to come into
the tomb by another entrance; but this could not be after the
death of the person who was buried there, for at the bottom of
the stairs just under the sarcophagus a wall was built, which
entirely closed the communication between the tomb and the subterraneous
passage. Some large blocks of stone were placed under the sarcophagus
horizontally, level with the pavement of the saloon, that no one
might perceive any stairs or subterranean passage was there. The
doorway of the sideboard room had been walled up, and forced open,
as we found the stones with which it was shut, and the mortar
in the jambs. The staircase of the entrance-hall had been walled
up also at the bottom, and the space filled with rubbish, and
the floor covered with large blocks of stone, so as to deceive
any one who should force the fallen wall near the pit, and make
him suppose, that the tomb ended with the entrance-hall and the
drawing room. I am inclined to believe, that whoever forced these
passages must have had some spies with them, who were well acquainted
with the tomb throughout. The tomb faces the north-east, and the
direction of the whole runs straight south-west....
The Arabs made such reports of this discovery, that it came to
the ears of Hamed Aga of Kenneh; and it was reported to him, that
great treasure was found in it. On hearing this, he immediately
set off with some of his soldiers to Thebes, generally a journey
of two days, but such was his speed in travelling, that he arrived
in the valley of Beban el Malook in thirty-six hours by land.
Before his arrival some Arabs brought us intelligence, that they
saw from the tops of the mountains a great many Turks on horseback
entering the valley, and coming toward us. I could not conceive
who they could be, as no Turks ever came near this place. Half
an hour after they gave us the signal of their approach, by firing
several guns. I thought an armed force was sent to storm the tombs
and rocks, as no other object could bring the Turks there; at
last, when this mighty power reached us, I found it to be the
well-known Hamed Aga of Kenneh, for some time commander of the
eastern side of Thebes, and his followers. Accordingly I was at
a loss to conceive what he wanted there, as we were on the west,
and under another ruler; but I suppose, in case of a treasure
being discovered, the first that hears of it seizes it as a matter
of privilege. He smiled, and saluted me very cordially; indeed
more so than usual, I presume for the sake of the treasure I had
discovered, of which he was in great expectation. I caused as
many lights to be brought as we could muster, and we descended
into the tomb. What was on the walls of this extraordinary place
did not attract his attention in the least; all the striking figures
and lively paintings were lost to him; his views were directed
to the treasure alone; and his numerous followers were like hounds,
searching in every hole and corner. Nothing, however, being found
to satisfy their master or themselves, after a long and minute
survey, the Aga at last ordered the soldiers to retire, and said
to me, "Pray where have you put the treasure?" "What
treasure?" "The treasure you found in this place."
I could not help smiling at his question, which confirmed him
in his supposition. I told him that we had found no treasure there.
At this he laughed, and still continued to entreat that I would
show it to him. "I have been told," he added, "by
a person to whom I can give credit, that you have found in this
place a large golden cock, filled with diamonds and pearls. I
must see it. Where is it?"
I could scarcely keep myself from laughing, while I assured him
that nothing of the kind had been found there. Seeming quite disappointed,
he seated himself before the sarcophagus, and I was afraid he
would take it into his head, that this was the treasure' and break
it to pieces, to see whether it contained any gold; for their
notions of treasure are confined to gold and jewels. At last he
gave up the idea of the riches to be expected, and rose to go
out of the tomb. I asked him what he thought of the beautiful
figures painted all around. He just gave a glance at them, quite
unconcerned, and said, "This would be a good place for a
harem, as the women would have something to look at." At
length, though only half persuaded there was no treasure, he set
off with an appearance of much vexation.
From Belzoni's
'Narrative of the Operations and Recent Discoveries within the
Pyramids, Temples, Tombs and Excavations in Egypt and Nuibia'
(1820).
