70 



KNOWLEDGE 



[April I, 1891. 



pylons are covered with battle-scenes, representing the 

 Syrian campaign of Eameses II., including the battle 

 under the walls of the city of Kadosh on the Orontes. 



In the interior of the temple, in addition to the seated 

 colossi already mentioned, eleven gigantic standing statues 

 in red granite have already been unearthed, and there 

 must be three more beneath the floor of a mosque which 

 still occupies the south-western corner of the temple. 

 These, on accoimt of the religious prejudices of the people, 

 cannot, for the present at least, be imearthed. 



The mutilation of the faces of the figures is probably 

 due to the fanaticism of the early Christian hermits of the 

 Thebaid, who regarded them as idols. Fortimately there 

 is no such danger from the Moslems, who, though icono- 

 clasts, do not regard the statues as images or idols, but 

 believe that they are the bodies of their own ancestors, 

 who, as a punishment for their sins, were turned into 

 stone by Allah. The other day one of these statues was 

 imearthed, and the next day at early dawn three Arab 

 women were found solemnly walking round it, and per- 

 forming suitable funeral cei'emonies, as if around the body 

 of one of their own dead. 



The following extract from a translation of a private 

 letter addressed by M. Grebaut, director-general of the 

 excavations, to his learned predecessor, Professor G. 

 Maspero, of Paris, was printed in the Times of March 2 : — 



" Ha%dng found, in situ, at Deir-el-Bahari, a royal 

 sarcophagus of a queen, and seeing that the surrounding 

 ground had not been disturbed, I thought it worth while 

 to make further excavations on the spot. 



" At a depth of 15 metres we came upon the door of a 

 rock-cut chamber, in which were piled, one above the 

 other, 180 mummy-cases of priests and priestesses of 

 Amen, together with a larger number of the usual funerary 

 objects, including some fifty Osirian statuettes. Of these, 

 we at once opened ten, finding a papyrus in each. 



" There are a great many enormous wooden sarcophagi, 

 C(mtaining mummies in triple mummy-cases, aU very 

 richly decorated. Among these we have found a priest 

 of Aah-hotep. These sarcophagi are of the time of the 

 21st dynasty. What we have found is, therefore, a 

 ' cache ' of the same period as that of the royal mummies 

 discovered in 1881, and made by the same priests of 

 Amen. 



" Notwithstanding that the soil has remained untouched 

 for 3,000 years, some of these sarcophagi are broken, and 

 manj' of the gilded faces of the superincumbent efSgies 

 are injured. The way in which they are piled up, their 

 damaged condition, and the general disorder, point to a 

 hurried and wholesale removal, as in the case of the royal 

 mummies. We find, for instance, a mummy-case in- 

 scribed with one name, enclosed in a sarcophagus inscribed 

 with another, while probably the inner cases may prove 

 to belong to a mummy with a name diil'ering from both. 

 May we here hope to find some royal miimmies for which 

 there was not space in the vault discovered ten years ago ? 

 I scarcely dare to hope it. 



" At a first glance it would seem as if the high priests 

 had abstained from burying the mummies of their more 

 humble predecessors with those of royalty. Everything 

 must, however, be opened and studied. 



" About midway in the shaft now open may be seen the 

 door of an upper vault ; and, to judge by certain indica- 

 tions, there is also probably an intermediate vault ; had 

 we, however, only the 180 sarcophagi contemporary with, 

 or anterior to, the 21st djmasty, it would be a magnificent 

 haul, the greater number of the sarcophagi being really 



splendid and in perfect preservation. There are also 

 some charming things among the minor objects. 



"The name has been purposely erased, or washed off, 

 from several of the large sarcophagi, and the place left 

 blank, as if the scribe had not had time to fill in that of 

 the new occupant ; but we may probably find the names 

 of those later occupants on their inner mummy-cases. 

 One of the largest of these sarcophagi is surcharged with 

 the name of the High Priest of Amen, Pinotem. 



" As soon as we have cleai'ed the lower vault I shall 

 attack the upper chamber, or chambers." 



ILcttcrs. 



[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for the opinions or 

 statements of correspondents.] 



PERPETUAL CALEXD.A.RS. 

 To the Editor of Knowledge. 

 Sir, — I was much interested in Mr. Prince's calendar, 

 inasmuch as I designed one myself on much the same 

 lines a few years since. Mine, however, seems to have 

 some advantages for finding the days of the week in past 

 centuries (especially in the Old Stjde). I therefore en- 

 close a copy and the rules for using it, in case j'ou should 

 think it of sufficient interest to reproduce for the readers 

 of Knowledge. — Your obedient servant, 



Akxold S, Hansakd. 



Rules for Using the Table. 



I. — The numbers in the ring next within the names of 

 the months are the last two figures of the years ; the 

 numbers in the ring next inside this are the days of the 

 month. The numbers on the movable disc refer to the 

 first two figures of the years {i.e. when the given date is 

 within the years 1700 and 2099 N.S.). 



II. — To "find the day of the week of any given date 

 (N.S) where the first two figures of the year are given on 

 the movable disc ; firstly, bring that number opposite to 

 the last two figures of" the given year ; secondly, note 

 which day of the week is thus brought imder the small 

 arrow at "the top of the movable disc, and bring that day 



