s completely
hiding the entrance.

In this condition the tomb was found by Mr Davis in February 1908. Mr
Davis had been working on the side of the valley opposite to the tomb of
Rameses III., where the accumulations of _debris_ had entirely hidden
the face of the rocks, and, as this was a central and likely spot for a
"find," it was hoped that when the skin of rubbish had been cleared away
the entrance of at least one royal tomb would be exposed. Of all the
XVIIIth-Dynasty kings, the burial-places of only Thutmosis II.,
Tutankhamon, and Horemheb remained undiscovered, and the hopes of the
excavators concentrated on these three Pharaohs.

After a few weeks of digging, the mouth of a large shaft cut into the
limestone was cleared. This proved to lead into a small chamber
half-filled with rubbish, amongst which some fine jewellery, evidently
hidden here, was found. This is now well published by Mr Davis in
facsimile, and further mention of it here is unnecessary. Continuing the
work, it was not long before traces of another tomb became apparent, and
in a few days' time we were able to look down from the surrounding
mounds of rubbish upon the commencement of a rectangular cutting in the
rock. The size and style of the entrance left no doubt that the work was
to be dated to the end of the XVIIIth Dynasty, and the excavators were
confident that the tomb of either Tutankhamon or Horemheb lay before
them. Steps leading down to the entrance were presently uncovered, and
finally the doorway itself was freed from _debris_.

On one of the door-posts an inscription was now seen, written in black
ink by one of the Government inspectors of B.C. 1100. This stated, that
in the fourth year of an unknown king the tomb had been inspected, and
had been found to be that of Horemheb.

[Illustration: PL. XXII. The mouth of the tomb of Horemheb at the time
of its discovery. The author is seen emerging
from the tomb after the first entrance had
been effected. On the hillside the workmen
are grouped.]

[_Photo by Lady Glyn._

We had hoped now to pass into the tomb without further difficulty, but
in this we were disappointed, for the first corridor was quite choked
with the rubbish placed there by the inspectors. This corridor led down
at a steep angle through the limestone hillside, and, like all other
parts of t