Bulletin of the American Geographical Society of New York Volume 19 (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1887 Excerpt: ...the two epochs, separated in place and in time. In this tomb, too, we have a local interest, for one piece of stone from the foot of the sarcophagus, stolen from the place by some thievish Arab long before Maspero explored it, has been identified with a limestone slab now in the Abbott collection at the rooms of the New York Historical Society, where it is numbered 380. It shows the peculiarly variegated border, said to be unique in coffins of the period, and is covered with cursive hieroglyphs, containing, among other things, the name of Horhotpou himself. The most surprising discovery of all has been that, so widely published, of the 36 royal mummies in one cavern, a little to the south of Der-el-Bahri. It came about through the consummate generalship and intrepidity of Maspero, who, after squeezing the secret out of one of the robber-band w ho had been rifling the tomb at their leisure, and selling its notable contents piecemeal, was obliged, because of his departure for Europe, to leave the actual investigation of the place to his associate, Emil Brugsch-Bey, brother of the renowned Egyptologist. He found a royal burial-chamber of unaccustomed structure, and with contents simply astounding. "Der-el-Bahri" (Monastery of the North) is a name given in Byzantine times to a religious house erected on the ruins of a splendid temple-tomb; this was built by the famous queen Hatshepsu, sister of Tutmes II. and III. of the XVIIIth Dynasty. We do not know that she was buried there. Most of the kings of this period had their tombs, as is well known, cut out of the rock at the sides of the valley called Bab-el-Muluk, "king's gate,"--or "Valley of the Tombs of the Kings," behind the ridge of Der-el-Bahri. Recall the characteristic featur...