[_Photo by R. Paul._

To pass this portion of the shrine which lay in the passage without
doing it damage was no easy matter. We could not venture to move it, as
the wood was rotten; and indeed, for over a year it remained in its
original position. We therefore made a bridge of planks within a few
inches of the low roof, and on this we wriggled ourselves across into
the unencumbered passage beyond. In the funeral-chamber, besides the
other portions of the shrine, we found at one corner a splendid coffin,
in the usual form of a recumbent figure, inlaid in a dazzling manner
with rare stones and coloured glass. The coffin had originally lain upon
a wooden bier, in the form of a lion-legged couch; but this had
collapsed and the mummy had fallen to the ground, the lid of the coffin
being partly thrown off by the fall, thus exposing the head and feet of
the body, from which the bandages had decayed and fallen off. In the
powerful glare of the electric light which we carried, the bare skull,
with a golden vulture upon it, could be seen protruding from the remains
of the linen bandages and from the sheets of flexible gold-foil in
which, as we afterwards found, the whole body was wrapped. The
inscription on the coffin, the letters of which were made of rare
stones, gave the titles of Akhnaton, "the beautiful child of the Sun";
but turning to the shrine we found other inscriptions stating that King
Akhnaton had made it for his mother, Queen Tiy, and thus no immediate
reply could be given to those at the mouth of the tomb who called to us
to know which of the Pharaoh's of Egypt had been found.

In a recess in the wall above the body there stood four alabaster
"canopy" jars, each with a lid exquisitely sculptured in the form of a
human head. In another corner there was a box containing many little
toilet vases and utensils of porcelain. A few alabaster vases and other
objects were lying in various parts of the chamber, arranged in some
sort of rough order.

Nothing, of course, could yet be touched, and for several days, during
the lengthy process of photographing and recording the contents of the
tomb _in situ_, no further information could be obtained as to the
identity of the owner of the tomb. The shrine was certainly made for
Queen Tiy, and so too were the toilet utensils, judging by an
inscription upon one of them which gave the names of Tiy and her
husband, King Amenhotep III., the parents of Akhna