rther part in a movement which
had got so far out of her hands. She was now nearly sixty years old, and
this, to one who had been a mother so early in life, was a considerable
age. It seems that she sometimes paid visits to her son at El Amarna,
but her interest lay in Thebes, where she had once held so brilliant a
Court. When at last she died, therefore, it is not surprising to find
that she was buried in the Valley of the Tombs of the Kings. The tomb
which has been described above is most probably her original sepulchre,
and here her body was placed in the golden shrine made for her by
Akhnaton, surrounded by the usual funeral furniture. She thus lay no
more than a stone's throw from her parents, whose tomb was discovered
two years ago, and which was of very similar size and shape.

After her death, although preaching this gentle creed of love and simple
truth, Akhnaton waged a bitter and stern war against the priesthoods of
the old gods. It may be that the priesthoods of Amon had again attempted
to overthrow the new doctrines, or had in some manner called down the
particular wrath of the Pharaoh. He issued an order that the name of
Amon was to be erased and obliterated wherever it was found, and his
agents proceeded to hack it out on all the temple walls. The names also
of other gods were erased; and it is noticeable in this tomb that the
word _mut_, meaning "mother," was carefully spelt in hieroglyphs which
would have no similarity to those used in the word _Mut_, the
goddess-consort of Amon. The name of Amenhotep III., his own father, did
not escape the King's wrath, and the first syllables were everywhere
erased.

As the years went by Akhnaton seems to have given himself more and more
completely to his new religion. He had now so trained one of his nobles,
named Merira, in the teachings of Aton that he was able to hand over to
him the high priesthood of that god, and to turn his attention to the
many other duties which he had imposed upon himself. In rewarding
Merira, the King is related to have said, "Hang gold at his neck before
and behind, and gold on his legs, because of his hearing the teaching of
Pharaoh concerning every saying in these beautiful places." Another
official whom Akhnaton greatly advanced says: "My lord advanced me
because I have carried out his teaching, and I hear his word without
ceasing." The King's doctrines were thus beginning to take hold; but one
feels, nevertheless, that the nobles fo