f Akhnaton, Pharaoh of Egypt.'
(Wm. Blackwood & Sons, 1910.)]

In January 1907 the excavations in the Valley of the Tombs of the Kings
at Thebes, which are being conducted each year by Mr Davis, brought to
light the entrance of a tomb which, by its style, appeared to be that of
a royal personage of the XVIIIth Dynasty. The Valley lies behind the
cliffs which form the western boundary of Thebes, and is approached by a
long winding road running between the rocks and rugged hills of the
Lybian desert. Here the Pharaohs of the XVIIIth to the XXth Dynasties
were buried in large sepulchres cut into the sides of the hills; and the
present excavations have for their object the removal of the _debris_
which has collected at the foot of these hills, in order that the tombs
hidden beneath may be revealed. About sixty tombs are now open, some of
which were already known to Greek and Roman travellers; and there are
probably not more than two or three still to be discovered.

When this new tomb-entrance was uncovered I was at once notified, and
proceeded with all despatch to the Valley. It was not long before we
were able to enter the tomb. A rough stairway led down into the
hillside, bringing us to the mouth of a passage which was entirely
blocked by a wall of built stones. On removing this wall we found
ourselves in a small passage, descending at a sharp incline to a chamber
which could be seen a few yards farther on. Instead of this passage
being free from _debris_, however, as we had expected on finding the
entrance-wall intact, it was partly filled with fallen stones which
seemed to be the ruins of an earlier entrance-wall. On top of this heap
of stones lay one of the sides of a large funeral shrine, almost
entirely blocking the passage. This shrine, as we later saw, was in the
form of a great box-like sarcophagus, made of cedar-wood covered with
gold, and it had been intended as an outer covering for the coffin of
the deceased person. It was, however, not put together: three sides of
it were leaning against the walls of the burial-chamber, and the fourth
was here in the passage. Either it was never built up, or else it was in
process of being taken out of the tomb again when the work was
abandoned.

[Illustration: PL. XVIII. The entrance of the tomb of Queen Tiy, with
Egyptian policeman standing beside it. On
the left is the later tomb of Rameses X.]