Dec.3] PROCEEDINGS. [1889.NOTESONA TOUR IN UPPER EGYPT.*
By F. L. Griffith.
WestSilsileh.
On this side of the river the quarries are less striking and
extensivethanon the east, but inscriptions are very numerous.
Various textscontained in the Grotto of Horemheb and in the
NileStelae of later Pharaohshavebeenpublishedby Champollion,
Lepsius,andothers. Mr. Petrieand I remained on the west side
for more thana day and a half, andguided by Wiedemann's valu
able bibliographiesemployedourselveschieflyin the tombs ; owing
to their convenientsize we were ableto copy rapidly,andhad nearly
exhaustedthe place beforeit became necessaryto move on. We
weresurprised to find how fewlinesof these copiousinscriptions
hadeverbeenpublished.
It will be seen thatall or nearly all of the tombs in West Silsileh
belongto the period of the XVIIIthdynasty, fromThothmes I
to Amenhotep II : a large numberof them datefromthe joint reign
of Hatshepsetu (formerly called Hatasu) and ThothmesIII. In
some casesthe titles of Thothmes III are inscribed on the right
sideof the lintel, and those of Hatshepsetu on the left ; sometimes
theirrelativepositionsare reversed. In nearly everycasethe titles
of Hatshepsetu havebeenmoreor less completely erased,apparently
by Thothmes III. The most instructive example is in No. 57.
Khuenaten'sheresyalsohaa left its record in the continual deface
mentof the name of the god Amen. I have, moreover,notedin
oneinstance(stela 3 outside No. 33) an erasure of the name of
Sebek, possiblyby a fanatical inhabitant of Edfu ; in others the
principal figures havebeen maltreatedor chiselled out for some
reason that I have not been ableto discover. Altogether the
Silsilehtombshavesufferedalmostas much frommaliciousdeface
ment as from any other cause, yet the soft sandstone hollowed
andundermined by the river is not very favourablefor their perfect
- Continued fromVol. XI, p. 234. ThePlatestherewerewronglynumbered
owingto an unfortunate oversight,II and III being transposed. Thestelaof
SetiI (PI. IV) has been publishedRoug£,Insc.Hierog.,263-5,our rough copy
is therefore quiteuseless.
89