DISCOVERY OF A QUEEN'S JEWELS AT THEBES.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLII, Issue 93, 21 April 1908, Page 6

DISCOVERY OF A QUEEN'S JEWELS AT THEBES.

(By Professor Sayce.)

Mr Theodore M. Davis's excavations in. the Valley of the Tombs of the Kings at Thebes have again been rewarded by the discovery of Royal treasure. In a chamber cut out of the a-ock at we bottom of a shaft some 30 feet deep he and his assistant (Mr Ayrton) have discovered the jewellery of Queen Ta-usert, the grand-daughter of Ramses 11., and the last Sovereign of the nineteenth Egyptian dynasty. The'chamber was filled with clay washed into it before the entrance to the, shaft had been closed, and concealed by the fallen debris of the din above, and in,the course of centuries theclav had become almost as hard as/ stone. The work of extracting the jewels that were embedded in it has consequently been long and arduous, more especially as they were strewn m different directions. The tomb, it would seem, was originally that of some private individual, and the jewels must have been removed f r.om the Queen s own tomb and thrown into it for some unknown reason. Probably they were at the time in a wooden box, which has now perished. • , Tne inscriptions on some oft the jewellery' make it clear that Ta-usert was married to-Seti 11., the grandson of Ramses II.; some of the objects, in fact, belonged to that Pharaoh. Two large golden epaulets, for example, bear the King's name, and are formed of poppy heads hanging from a plate, which itself hangs from a golden ',bar, or.rather screw. At the two ends of this latter are a rosette and a blossom of globular shape, ~ which are screwed on to the bar. Then, again, there is a pair of silver bracelets on which is a representation of Seti on (his thr-onej with a fly-whisk in his hand, while the Queen stands in front of him.' They appear to be pledging one anotner in wine cups, and behind each is a bouquet of flowers. A great number of gold rosettes has also been discovered inscribed with the names of both King and Queen. They were probably attached to a dress, since a stud of gold with a hook has been passed through the centre of each. The cartouches of Seti are further found on six plaques of gold, which formed: part of a pectoral, and there is a large gold ring .with the vulture-god-dess inlaid in precious stones and surmounted by the symbol of the sungod, which also has upon it the name of Sefi, and must therefore have been the signet of cnat monarch. Another ring, which is an exquisite product of art, consists of open gold work forming the name and title of Ramses 11. We must thus see in it an heirloom of the "Pharaoh of the Oppression." ■AH the~other jewels belonged to Tauseft. Among them are'some hundred* of openwork balls and pendant poppy beads, which were srtung alternately on a series of threads so as to foi;m a pectoral, which, as everything is/ of .solid gold, must have been of considerable weight. There are no less than seven finger rings of various sizes and all of gold. Three of them are set with scarabs containing the Queen's name ;■ two of them consist of double rings supporting the Royal cartouche, while one very beautiful one is formed of four strands of gold wire, the chaton consisting of an inlay of eight precious stones. Along with the rings were several gold bracelets, two of such small-size that they must have been intended for the Queen when a child; round the edges of two others runs a line of minute bead work. Besides the Queen's own earrings, four so-called "mummy earings" have been discovered. Xine of these is of silver, and another, which is of gold, is inlaid witk the cartouche of the Queen. Among other gold ornamen s are sacred eyes, small/figures of Seti, Apis, and .': the hippopotamus-goddess, flies, flowers, lions, and poppy heads, which must once have been attached to a chain, as well as two or three similar objects or silver. The gold circlet of the Queen's crown has also Jbeen discovered, and a unique object is a pair of silver gloves for the hands of the mummy. ; Several cornelian amulets haye1, moreover, been brought to light, together with some exquisite little Jotus flowers in blue fayence which fit into miniature vases of electron. - At a little distance from the tomb the excavators : have laid bare me foundations of 4ome workmen's huts, most of which had a pot let into the floor, for the safe keeping, it may be,' of the money of the day. Rubbish pits in the neighbourhood of the huts have yielded a number of interesting relics, including a bouquet., of papyrus • blossoms stitched in order to keep the petals in place, and a clay seal attached to a red string, which >it is difficult to believe was not made yesterday, many inscribed pieces of limestone have also been found on which the overseers of the workmen kept their accounts. They are likely to give us an insight into an undertaker's wages in the age of the Exodus, as well as into the prices of the materials he used and the food that he ate.