Excavations at the Palace of Amenhotep III at Thebes

Author(s): Ambrose Lansing

Source: The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin , Mar., 1918, Vol. 13, No. 3,
Supplement: The Egyptian Expedition 1916-17 (Mar., 1918), pp. 8-14
Published by: The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/3254041

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 BULLETIN OF THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART

Theban tombs. At the end of the season's ried through to better advantage. His
material for two volumes describing the
work, in May last, as his study of a number
of the tombs had been carried to comple- Tomb of Puyemre is at the present moment
tion, it was deemed advisable that he well advanced in preparation, while the
past year has seen the appearance of the
should spend the present winter in England,
where for various reasons the preparation first volume of this series, devoted to the
of his results for publication could be car-
Tomb of Nakht. A. M. LYTHGOE.

EXCAVATIONS AT THE PALACE OF AMENHOTEP III

AT THEBES

IN
INthe
the continuation
continuation by theby Museum
the Museum
these were the symmetrical plan of the
Expedition,
Expedition, in I916-I7,
in I916-I7,
of its investigation building, which developed as the excava-
of its investigation
of
ofthethe
site
site
of the
of Palace
the Palace
of Amenhotep
of Amenhotep
IIItions progressed;
III its isolation from the other
at Thebes, the area excavated lay along structures of the period; the type of deco-

FIG.
FIG.3.3.
HIERATIC
HIERATIC
INSCRIPTION
INSCRIPTION
ON FRAGMENTS
ON FRAGMENTS
OF A POTTERY
OFJAR,
A POTTERY
MENTIONING JAR,
THE MENTION
CELEBRATION
CELEBRATION OF THE
OF SECOND
THE SECOND
JUBILEEJUBILEE
OF AMENHOTEP
OF AMENHOTEP
III IN THE THIRTY-
III IN THE THIRTY
FOURTH YEAR OF HIS REIGN

the
the edge
edgeofofthethe
cultivation
cultivation
northnorth ration
of theration
of ofthetheofceilings
theinceilings
the main halls,
inre-the main halls, re-
parts
partscleared
clearedin in
previous
previous
seasons,
seasons, ferred
ferred
and prob-
and to later
prob- toon;later
and finally
on;theand
fact that
finally the fact that
ably
ablyforms
formsthe
the
northern
northern
limitlimit
of theof some
some
build-
the of the
ofbricks
build- thein bricks
its walls were
infound
its walls were found
ings
ingserected
erectedhere
here
during
during
the king's
the king's totobear
reign. bear
the impressions
reign. the impressions
of stamps inscribed
of stamps inscribed
Fragments
Fragments ofof
sandstone
sandstone
and traces
and traces
of sun-"The
of sun- House of Amon in the House of Re-
dried brick construction over a large area joicing," i.e. a chapel to Amon in the
were surface evidence that a building of "House of Rejoicing,"-the latter being the
considerable importance was at this point. regular designation of the palace.' In
A beginning was made on the western some of the impressions Amenhotep's name
edge, the bare desert beyond affording a was coupled with this definition of the
convenient dumping place, and before building.
much had been cleared something of the This opinion as to its character proved
nature of the building became apparent. to be justified, and the purpose of the build-
The regularity and shape of a number of ing was definitely settled when the clear-
long rooms, which were the first to be ing had been continued to the southeast
cleared, had seemed to indicate an exten- corner of the great enclosure in which the
sive storehouse; but several additional fea- structure was found to have stood (see
tures which soon appeared gradually con- plan, fig. 4). There, among the objects
firmed the assumption that its character thrown out from a series of rooms probably
was that of a temple or chapel. Among 'See BULLETIN for October, 1912, p. 186.
8

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 op ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ o

' * * i X * ~ *__ _ r - r . . . . .
rrrrrr ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ o s, *Age _
0_ . . ,, ,. ,., . ,, ,~~~~~~

fO?E Co u

KR
N"

4 ----11

l . WX0Mi-CTrp Y 0 f f i ." < . .M I

FIG. 4. PLAN OF THE FESTIVAL HALL OF AMENHOTEP III AND THE SURROUNDIN
MUSEUM'S EXPEDITION, SEASON O

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 BULLETIN OF THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART

occupied by the priests, a great mass in the western3

of end of the enclosure, the re-
fragments of pottery vases and mainder jars wasforming a great open court entered
found. Some were of the blue-figured through a gateway in the eastern end of the
types found in the harim buildings of the enclosure-wall facing the Nile valley (see
palace in the season of I910-I I. Others plan, fig. 4). The section of this court
were decorated with polychrome repre- nearest the facade of the building proper
sentations of garlands hung about theirwas on a higher level than the rest, divided
necks. But by far the commonest were from it by a low retaining wall, the result
undecorated jars of the common amphora being a low terrace with a ramp leading
type. Many of these had been provided up to it at the center. Part, at least, of
with a hieratic inscription on their shoulders the terrace was smoothly paved with mud
stating the nature and purpose of their brick.
contents, and from the fragments it was The chapel, or central hall-for the
possible to put together a good many com- greater number of the chambers of the
plete inscriptions. Such is that in figure 3. Festival Hall resemble storerooms rather
It reads: "Year 34. Beaten (potted?) meat than rooms of a religious character-lies in
for the repetition of the heb sed, from the the center of the building. There are
yakhit of Tahutmes, son of the slaughterer several doorways in the fagade, but the
Kay." Yakhit may be translated 'stock- main entrance, unlike the others, is pro-
yard,' or something similar. The heb sed vided with a small antechamber (A on
is the jubilee celebrated in the thirtieth year plan) projecting two meters out from the
of the kings' reigns. The expression facade. Mud-brick benches within on
"repetition of the heb sed," dated as it is in either side suggest a shelter-porch for the
the thirty-fourth year of Amenhotep's doorkeepers or attendant priests. Here
reign, would then refer to his second jubi-were found sandstone fragments of the
lee, for records already existed both of themain entrance-doorway, which were in-
jubilee in the thirtieth year and of a thirdscribed with the titulary of Amenhotep;
in the thirty-sixth year.1 Professor but they are too few to make it possible to
Breasted surmised2 that his second jubilee determine whether the inscription con-
was celebrated in the thirty-fourth year, tained anything more than the usual for-
as in the case of Ramses II, but hitherto mulae.
there has been no direct evidence of this The entrance leads into the largest hall
fact. in the building, the first hypostyle (B on
Moreover, from the fact that sandstone plan). It is rectangular in shape, running
fragments were found bearing part of an east and west, the roof supported by six
inscription referring to the festival, which columns. Of these only the foundations
seem to have belonged to a door frame of exist, and it is impossible to determine with
the building, as well as from the fact that certainty whether the columns themselves
the majority of the inscribed pottery frag- were of wood or of stone. The size of the
ments are of the thirty-fourth year, there sandstone foundations however, suggests
seems considerable likelihood that the build- that the columns were probably of the
ing was erected for the special purpose of same material. To the north and south
the jubilee. At least, we may safely draw small doorways lead into small chambers.
the conclusion from our collective evidence A doorway at the western end of the first
that the structure is the "Festival Hall," hypostyle leads into a second hall of the
perhaps constructed for, but certainly em- same nature-this one smaller, having only
ployed for, the celebration of Amenhotep's four columns (C on plan). In these two
second jubilee, in the thirty-fourth year of halls the ceilings were decorated with the
his reign. regulation temple-pattern of yellow stars
The main part of the Festival Hall lies on a blue ground. There were also traces
3Really northwest, the axis being as usual
1 Breasted, Records II, ?? 870 ff. directed to the river and not due east (actually
2 op. cit. 47? south of east).
10

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 THE EGYPTIAN EXPEDITION, 1916-1917
of the vulture-pattern in the first hall. all of practically the same dimensions, and
But here, as in the rest of the building, the are only to be distinguished from the many
preservation left much to be desired, the other similar rooms of the building by the
walls existing but a small height above their fact that they are on a higher level. Of the

FIG. 5. THE SOUTH END OF THE FESTIVAL HALL, LOOKING EAST

foundations (for example, see fig. three, the central one is reached from the
5), and
nearly all the doorways being despoiled of by a staircase of seven steps, the
hypostyle
their thresholds and jambs. The walls room itself being 55 cm. above the level
were undecorated-so high as they are of the hall. It is stuccoed in yellow, and

FIG. 6. SANDSTONE TANK WITH REMAINS OF STEPS, IN A VILLA NEAR THE

FESTIVAL HALL

preserved, at least-but had been given

fragments a with kheker decoration
of plaster
coat of plain white stucco over werethe mud
found here. The two chambers on
plaster. either side are provided with only four
The west side of the second hypostyle is steps, and are thus not so high as the
formed by the entrances to three long, nar- central one.
row chambers (DDD on plan). They are One is led to presume that these three
II

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 BULLETIN OF THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART

chambers are sanctuaries; in the storerooms,

absenceif such they are, were thor-
of inscriptional evidence the most oughly likely
despoiled of their contents at the
conjecture is that they were devoted to time when the agents of the heretic king
the service of the Theban triad, Amon, were engaged in wiping out all traces pos-
Mut, and Khonsu. sible of the cult of Amon.
North of this central rectangular block The main enclosure-wall bounds the
complex of buildings on the west. North
of it, however, there is another series of
long, narrow rooms (at P, on plan). These
open from their southern ends upon a wide
passage which separates them from the
great enclosure, and extends the full length
of its north side. About the center of this
passage, or street, is situated a building
of considerable dimensions (RR on plan),
provided with a large colonnaded court.
It is possible that it may be the office of
FIG. 7. SKETCH OF A PART OF A WOODEN the steward in charge of the stores. Here
CORNICE, INLAID WITH BLUE AND GREEN they could be received, checked, and dis-
FAIENCE TILES
tributed according to their nature to the
proper magazines.
of the Festival Hall lies a series of cham-
South of the central hypostyle halls the
bers of the "storeroom" pattern. One plan is not so complete, for a watercourse
would have expected the clearance of these has cut away a good deal of the building,
rooms to have produced substantial re- and it seems likely, too, that one corner-
mains of their former contents, but such wasthat between the facade and the south en-
not the case. Quantities of fragments ofclosure-wall-was never built. Here build-
large alabaster vases were brought to light,
ings predating the Festival Hall still exist,
on a lower level than the latter. A whole
house may be seen in the plan, with a large
room (S) provided with a column for sup-
porting the roof, and a bathroom. In the
latter was a stone slab upon which the
bather stood and from which the water
drained into a neighboring basin (fig. 9).
The quality of this house makes it im-
probable that these buildings were the
dwellings of the workmen engaged in build-
ing the Festival Hall. Possibly, however,
the plan of the latter was enlarged after its
construction had commenced, and these
FIG. 8. RESTORATION OF WALL DECORATION houses had to be sacrificed.
OF BLUE FAIENCE TILES, AND SPIRALS ON At T on the plan are rooms similar to the
GILT PLASTER storerooms north of the central hall. In
them, and in the debris of the walls cast
the inscriptions on which, and down by the on
likewise water, were found large num-
a broken offering-table, bear evidence of bers of blue faience wall-tiles. Plaster, in
the Amon persecution during the reign of which they had been imbedded, adhered
the king's successor Akhnaton, for in all to their backs; and there were traces of
cases the Amenhotep name is chiseled out. gold leaf on their faces near the edges.
The vases themselves were wantonly The decoration of which they were a part
broken. In view of these facts we may was evidently completed in gilt plaster,
perhaps be justified in supposing that the the spaces between the tiles being filled by
12

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 THE EGYPTIAN EXPEDITION, 1916-1917
a spiral pattern (fig. 8), as in the decoration that some examples of the sealings were
of the palace of Akhnaton at El Amarna.' found intact with the mouth of the am-
The tiles had evidently been torn from phora still imbedded.
the walls by the plunderers who afterward In a small house close by (at X, on plan),
stripped off the gold leaf; for in most cases
they were found lying in piles close to-
gether. It is uncertain what position this
decoration had; for no evidence of its pres-
ence on the walls up to their existing height
was found. A cornice, also, was found
nearby which probably had stood originally
over the lintel of a doorway. This cornice,
which was of wood inlaid with small tiles,
had been nearly destroyed by white ants,
so that the whole could not be preserved;
but it was possible to determine the dimen-
sions, and the order of the tiles which
decorated it. In design (fig. 7) it is of the
regular cavetto type; the feathers, all of the
same pattern, being composed of five tiles FIG. 9. BATHING SLAB AND DRAIN IN A
each, blue and green in color. The roll isHOUSE AT THE SOUTH END OF THE FESTIVAL
represented by rectangular tiles of two HALL
sizes, and imitates the binding seen on the
ordinary roll. The tiles were let into the there is a kitchen with a fireplace and
wood, plaster being used to fix them, and oven (fig. o).
the intervals were filled with plaster over- Between the southeast corner of the
laid with gold leaf. enclosure-wall of the Festival Hall and
As on the north, the south side of the the cultivation are remains of houses (at
enclosure was flanked by a long passage, Y, on plan) which must have been of some
of the same width as the other. At its
west end it gives access to houses, now in
great part washed away by the wadi run-
ning past the south side of the group of
buildings.
The east end of this way, that is to say,
the southeast corner of the main enclosure,
is the place where the great quantity of
broken pottery vases and jars mentioned
above was discovered. The majority were
found in a deep, doorless chamber (U) built
against the enclosure-wall, into which they
had evidently been dumped from the rooms
(at W, on plan) within the enclosure,
FIG. 10. FIREPLACE AND OVEN IN A HOUSE
which is on a higher level. Moreover,
SOUTH OF THE ENCLOSURE
most of the jars had been sealed with mud
stoppers on which had been impressed such importance. An interesting feature o
stamps as "Potted meat," or "Wine for of these is a tank (Z) hewn out of a blo
the Jubilee," or "Honey." Some were un-sandstone with limestone steps leading
stamped and others smeared over with down to it (fig. 6). In this respect it
color. In some cases the jar had beenresembles the villas depicted in the tombs
opened by simply cracking off the neck in- at El Amarna. Curiously enough, in the
stead of breaking away the sealing, sodebris near it a small fish in limestone was
'Cf. Petrie, Tell el Amarna, Plate X, 2. found.

13

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 BULLETIN OF THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART

This
This villa
villaand
and
traces
tracesof of
others
others
adjoining
adjoining
is
is aa plain,
plain,rectangular
rectangularspace
space
of large
of large
dimen-
dimen-
it
it extend
extendslightly
slightly
in in
front
front
of the
of the
eastsions
east
wallwith
sions wall
with nono
erections
erections
in itinexcept
it except
the rooms
the rooms
of
of the
thegreat
greatenclosure.
enclosure.
TheThe
ground
ground
inthe in
in southeast corner and what seems
front
frontof ofthe
the remainder
remainderis bare
is bare
desert, to have
desert,
unless been a covered passage along the
unless
the denudation has destroyed all that south side. It may be supposed that the
priests, in whose charge the hall was, lived
existed there; for in this region there is little
debris above the original level. in these rooms and approached the temple
through the passage in private.
The forecourt itself, of the Festival Hall,
AMBROSE LANSING.

THE WORK OF THE ROBB DE PEYSTER TYTUS MEMORIAL

FUND AT THEBES

LAST
LAST season
season
was again
was largely
again spent
largely
in Kenamon
spent in
Kenamon (No.
(No.93),
93),keeper
keeperofof
the
the
cattle
cattle
of of
satisfying
satisfying the the
endless
endless
demandsdemands
of the tombofAmon
Amon
the (figs.
(figs.12
tomb 12and
and13),
13),
whowhohad
had
thethe
good
good
of
ofPuyemre,1
Puyemre,1 wherewhere
the mass
the mass of fortune
of fragments fortune or
fragmentsorthe
thegood
goodtaste
tastetoto
employ
employ
on on
thethe
recovered
recovered invited
invited
reconstruction while af- decoration
reconstruction while af- of his tomb one who must have
fording
fording scanty
scanty
material
material
for the solution
for the been the best designer of his day, if not
solution
of
ofthe
theproblems
problems
involved.
involved.
The absence, of his era. To this unknown genius his
The absence,
at
atthe
thefront,
front,
of E. of
J. Mackay,
E. J. Mackay,
who has been
whocontemporaries
has been or his successors did the
engaged
engaged in the
in work
the work
of preservation of signal honorof
of preservation of making facsimiles of what
Theban tombs under a fund generously they considered to be his masterpieces, for
given by Robert Mond, put his trained study or for reproduction elsewhere. Nor
mason at my disposal, and the surveillance does their selection differ much from one
of the delicate work of rebuilding and con- that would be made today.
servation occupied more time than I like A tedious task involved in the complete
to think of. But the responsibilities of publication of this remarkable tomb was
having exposed ancient monuments to haz-the re-excavation of its subterranean burial
ards of weather and theft, though often chambers for more exact measurement.
lightly regarded in Egypt, have always A description of these galleries, which are
been taken seriously by our Expedition. so rough in character that, as planned on
Points of debate, too, which had been re- paper, they must perforce be an embellish-
served to the last owing to their unattrac- ment of the originals, will feebly show the
tive and tedious character, had to be dealt labor involved in emptying and planning
with, since publication was imminent. But them, filled as they were with repulsive
tedium, like happiness, has no history for relics of the dead and nauseous odor of
the public, and it is to be hoped that fur- bats, and so remote from light and air that
ther reference to this tomb will be by way it smote the conscience to consign children
of citation of a published volume. The to the task of removing or turning over the
photograph of a reconstruction in color ofdebris. From a side-chamber in the great
a decorated doorway of the tomb, which hall of this rock-cut tomb one descends by
was not available for the last report a yearthirty rude and very steep steps to a level
ago, is included here (fig. II). This willgallery. One could also have gained this
show how much can be done by patient by a narrow passage which by tortuous
collection of stone fragments and scraps of ways descends from the floor of another
evidence to restore shattered walls, bril- part of the tomb and debouches into the
liantly on paper and not unpleasingly in gallery by a hole half-way up its wall.
actual masonry. One's progress to the local under-world
The balance of my time was spent on the from this point is continued by stumbling
not less large and interesting tomb of down a second twisting flight of steps at
the far end, and so reaching a hall with a
'See also report on this tomb in Supplement
to BULLETIN for May, 1917. ceiling supported on four rough pillars of
14

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