EGYPTIAN ANTIQUITIES. 603 



little farther the dishes with dried food. In a corner there were two 

 cases; the one inclosed perfumes in alabaster vases, carefully labeled 

 in hieratic characters, the other contained scepters, canes, a wooden 

 mirror, and arrows whose points were astonishingly well preserved. 



Thus far it is impossible to say whether this tomb was that of a man 

 or of a woman. It contained arms and toilet objects. The only indica- 

 tion we found was the seal with which the perfume chest had been 

 sealed; it bore the family name of King Tesch Senbet. As soon as all 

 these objects were numbered, and when their respective positions had 

 been sketched, and when finally that chamber had been emptied, the 

 opening of the sarcophagus commenced. Large dags of white Tourah 

 limestone covered the entire floor of the chamber of offerings, forming 

 at once the floor of that chamber and the cover of the sarcophagus. 



As soon as the first stone had been removed there appeared a wooden 

 coffin, gilded, decorated on both sides, and ending in a slope. An 

 inscription in gold reached the whole length of the cover. It gives us 

 the name and the title of the deceased ; the princess (or royal daughter) 

 Noub Hotep ta Khroudit. 



The case of the coffin, also decorated with gold leaves, was made of 

 natural wood; the golden bands bearing the inscription were inclosed 

 in a line of green paint. The inscriptions of the coffin were immediately 

 copied, and then detached with the greatest care, for the paste which 

 held them crumbled, so that they fell off at the slightest shock, and it 

 was impossible to transport them with the wood. The mummy, although 

 untouched, had suffered very much from moisture, and nothing remained 

 but a mass of bone, jewels, and dust, inclosed in the remains of an 

 envelope of plaster, entirely gilded. But the objects had not been 

 displaced at all, and by removing them carefully it was easy to find the 

 use to which each part was put. 



On the left were the canes, the scepters, the flagellum, and a curious 

 instrument, frequent in the bas-reliefs of temples, but never before 

 found in so complete a state. On the head of the royal mummy there 

 was a diadem of silver inlaid with stones, an urseus, and the head of a 

 golden vulture. On the breast I found a necklace decorated with about 

 fifty pendants of gold, inlaid and terminating in two heads of golden 

 hawks of natural size. Toward the waist there was a poniard with a 

 golden blade, and on the arms and feet were golden bracelets ornamented 

 with pearls, carnelians, and Egyptian emeralds. 



I shall not dwell on the description of these funereal trappings; the 

 jewels, though very heavy, are of inferior workmanship compared with 

 those of the preceding discovery. The inlaying and embossing are 

 comparatively crude. 



The head of the mummy was, as usual, placed at the north of the 

 tomb; on the left of the feet was a box of canopes, worked with gold 

 like the coffin, and covered with texts. 



Among the titles of the Princess Noub Hotep it is never mentioned 

 that she had been queen, and yet I found in her tomb all the attributes 



