of the Pyramids and Temples in tlia Sudan. 



339 



the king his figure had been made very large, a custom common among 

 •savage or semi-savage tribes ; the figures of the vanquished were small, 

 and were huddled together. 



To make certain that the mummy chamber was not in the pyramid 

 itself, the stones from one corner, about half way up, were removed, 

 and a boring was made to the length of several feet ; but it was soon 

 evident that the core of the pyramid was not made of masonry, but of 

 stone, sand, lime, &c, roughly mixed together. This being so, the 

 hole was filled up, and the stones replaced in the casing work. 



As soon as this trial work was done, by the help of the British 

 officers, about forty men were collected, and, provided with a few tools 

 and a good number of baskets, we began to search for the pit which 

 led to the mummy chamber, which seemed to be below the ground. A 

 trench was dug round all four sides, and at length a large flat slab of 

 hard stone, 10 feet by 6 feet by 10 inches, set in lime, was found on 

 the S.E. side of the pyramid ; this was broken through, and the layers 

 of lime and sand .which came beneath showed that we had reached the 

 mouth of the pit or shaft. We toiled through 60 feet of rough con- 

 crete in about four weeks, and at length reached a rectangular chamber 

 about 9 feet cube, hewn, like the pit, out of the solid rock ; the roof of 

 this chamber was supported upon square pillars. A narrow passage on 

 the S.E. side of the chamber led into another chamber which had 

 square pillars likewise ; both chambers were half filled with sand. On 

 the sand at the foot of the shaft or pit we found some bleached 

 bones and a broken wine jar, upon which were inscribed the words 

 01N02 P0AI02, i.e., "Khodian wine." The bones were like the 

 bones of a small sheep, but they fell into dust when touched, and I 

 could not therefore bring them home. The broken wine jar is a most 

 interesting object, for it enables us to arrive at the date when it was 

 put into the tomb. We know from several sources that Ehodian 

 wine was used extensively during the latter half of the second 

 century B.C., and the shape of the letters on the jar-neck points to 

 that date. The jar, then, must have been taken up to Gebel Barkal 

 from Alexandria, probably by boat, between B.C. 150 and B.C. 50, and 

 broken in the chamber, which no doubt served as a funeral chapel, at 

 the last feast of offerings held there. I do not think that this date is 

 the date of the building of the pyramid, for it is a well-known fact that 

 commemorative offerings were made in these chapels as long as funds 

 for the purpose were forthcoming. Tombs of royal personages and of 

 people of high rank were kept open by the priests for the express 

 purpose of inducing relatives and friends to contribute offerings, 

 chiefly in kind, at stated seasons of the year, and if a proof be wanted of 

 this statement it is sufficient to refer to Diodorus Siculus,* who says in 

 his history that he visited the halls and the chapels of the royal tombs 

 * He yisited Egypt B.C. 57. 



