4 Bird Notes from the Nile. 



where, under the fine drifted sand and 

 deep into the rocky heart of the mountain 

 of Goubat el Hawa, we searched for the 

 secrets of the past, and where during 

 our " play-time " we could watch the 

 birds. 



Anyone interested in Egyptian history 

 and art will realise how fascinating exca- 

 vation work is, and how exciting the 

 moment when, after much toil and trouble, 

 some treasure is brought to light. During 

 the winter (igoi-2) we excavated twenty- 

 five tombs, and found many wonderful and 

 beautiful things of various ages. Most of 

 these tombs seem to have been made in 

 the time of the ''Early Empire" some 

 5,000 years ago, and to have been succes- 

 sively reoccupied at later dates, as we 

 found pottery and other things of the Vth, 

 Vlth, Vllth, XlXth, and XXVIth Dynas- 

 ties, as well as of Ptolemaic, Greek and 

 Roman, and also early Christian times. 

 All the tombs are rock-hewn and, with one 

 exception, with little trace of ornament, 

 but the relics which they contained were 

 of great value and interest, and some 

 of them very beautiful. Among them 



