A QUEEN'S JEWELS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 13722, 11 April 1908, Page 5 (Supplement)

A QUEEN'S JEWELS.

DISCOVERY IN A THEBES TOMB.; Professor Sayck, writing in the Times, says: —Mr. Theodore M. Davis' excavations in the Valley of the Tombs 01 the Kings at Thebes have again been rewarded by the discovery of Royal treasure. In a chamber cut out of the rock at the bottom of a shaft some 30ft 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 cliff above, and in the course of centuries the clay 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 in different directions. The tomb, it would seem, was originally that of some private individual, and the jewels must have been removed from 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. The inscriptions 011 seme of the jewellery make it clear that Ta-usert was married to Sell 11., the grandson of Ramses II.; some of the objects, in fact, belonged to that Pharaoh. Two large golde'i epaulets, for example, bear (he 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 throne, with a fly-whisk in his hand, while the Queen stand;, in front of him. They appear to be'pledging one another 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 oLgold with a hock ha.* boor, passed through the centre of each. The cartouches of Seti ate further found on six plaques of gold which formed part of a pectoral, and there is a, large gold ring with the vulture-goddess inlaid in precious stones ari surmounted by the symbol of the sun-god, which also has upon it the name of Seti, and must therefore have been the signet of that- monarch. Another ring, which is an exquisite product, of art, consists of open gold-work forming the name and titles of Ramses 11. We must thus see in it an heirloom of the "Pharaoh of the Oppression." All the other jewels belonged to Ta-usert. Among them are some hundreds of openwork balls and pendant poppy-heads, which were strung alternately on a series of threads so as to form 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 cartouches, 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. Beside,? the Queen's own earrings, four so-called "mummy ear-rings" have been discovered; one of these is of silver, and another, which is of gold, is inlaid with the cartouche of the Queen. Among other gold ornaments 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 of silver. The gold circlet of the Queen's crown has also been discovered, and a. unique object is a pair of silver gloves for the hands of the mummy. Several cornelian amulets have, cover, been brought to light, together with some exquisite little Ictus-flowers in blue fayence which fit into miniature vases of electron. • At a little distance from the tomb the excavators have laid bare the foundations of some workmen's hut?, 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 ken found 011 which the overseers of the Workmen kept their accounts. They are likely to give us an insight into an" undertaker's wages in the ago of the Exodus, as well as into the prices of , the materials he used and the food that he i