This was not good news to the nine sweating men who now had to pull the great weight back up the stairs again.
“The casket is too heavy for us to pull it back up. We are going for help, Mose,” Ugele shouted. “We shall be some little time. Hopefully you are not in need of water, my friend. The water bag will not pass between the sarcophagus and the wall.”
This was not good news for Mose. In his impressionable mind, thoughts of his own personal entombment alive were quick to realise themselves. Shafts of light shone either side the gods faced façade which now stood between him and home, but there was no space to slide by. He heard the voices recede, then silence an awful silence. Although he had light enough to see by, it was ever so quiet there, in the depths, alone.
Buried alive! In Pharaoh’s tomb. There could be worse places. The thought was not comforting.
Mose began to fidget. He could feel his heart beating heavily and more rapidly. It was audible, echoing about the stark, flat walls around him. He felt like screaming. He held his head in an effort to suppress his feelings. The perspiration was running from him. If he remained in this place he would drive himself mad. In panic, he took hold of the lip of the sarcophagus and in a futile effort tried to pull the thing towards him.
Then a thought finally dawned. He could see there was sufficient room between the top of the sarcophagus and the roof of the corridor for him to climb in. Presumably likewise there was room at the other end also for him to climb out.
When Ugele and his men at last returned with reinforcements, Mose was sitting at the top of the stairs in the shade, much rested and relaxed after his ordeal.
“Mose!” Ugele cried on seeing him and with some relief. “Is this a miracle?”
“No more than my own ingenuity, Ugele. You give me up for lost too easily, I fear.”
“You do us wrong, Mose. You knew we would get you out. Just a matter of time.”
“A matter of time? Time enough for me to go mad! Thoughts of entombment before my time. A living hell. You could not understand this if you had not experienced lying within, like me, walled up and all alone in the darkness.”
“Enough drama,” said Ugele. “Let us to our task with some urgency now, before the light fades.”
There were now at least twenty hands on the ropes. It took some considerable effort to dislodge the box from its three point grip but ultimately muscle triumphed over dead weight.
With the massive object once more at the top of the stairway, Ugele and three others ran down to the bottom and cut away all the offending steps. To ensure that the next attempt would be successful, Ugele also instructed the men to remove the upper door lintel and cut away the doorjambs. All could be replaced later.
Once more Mose descended to the entrance of the corridor and the rest of the team manoeuvred the great quartzite box towards and over the lip of the stairway. They took the strain of its weight on the ropes and let the sarcophagus creep slowly towards the darkness. This time it slid into and down the corridor without mishap, finally tilting onto the floor of the first room.
As it slid into the room, Mose placed wooden rollers on the floor beneath it. The team waited a moment to allow their eyes to become accustomed to the dim light and then Ugele instructed them to turn the great box to the right towards the lower part of the room that which was to become the burial chamber. The manoeuvre was more difficult than expected. Without leverage of some kind it proved impossible. Ugele sent for a stout pole. While this was being fetched, he took out his copper chisel and cut a small cavity at the base of the wall opposite the entrance. When the pole arrived, he stuck one end of it into the hole in the wall, brought the side of it against the corner of the sarcophagus and, with the help of four other men, levered the box towards the elbow of the L-shaped room. It was carefully manoeuvred down into the burial chamber, the goddesses facing in the directions set for them by religious law, and set upon four calcite blocks one at each corner. The great quartzite sarcophagus at last was in its final resting place.
Their last act was to bring in the broken sarcophagus lid, now repaired with a copper dovetail, and place the reconstituted piece against the wall at the head end of the stone casket.
When Ugele left the tomb that night he felt relief and, at the same time, loss. He had completed his assigned tasks successfully and on time. The inside of that holy place now awaited Pharaoh. Ugele himself would not set eyes on it again.
Horemheb, dressed in his official regalia, stood in the embalming room. He was there to preside over the wrapping of the mummy. By this time he had had quite enough. He looked forward to when all the formalities were behind him. To add to the general’s discomfort, Ay, who was to oversee the funeral ceremonies, had waited until this late stage in the proceedings to deliver a long list of disparaging comments. He grumbled about the size of the tomb. He criticised the unlikely second coffin. He pointed out the mismatched sarcophagus lid its obvious repair. He complained of the poor likeness in the canopic stoppers. Few details escaped his critical eye. The criticisms had been very public this, no doubt, to appease Ay’s new queen and the old man proffered no solutions.
It was all most irritating. After all, the general had toiled long and hard to ensure that everything was in readiness and on time. Perfection had been an impossible goal from the start and he had never promised it. Now this practically senile old man, shortly to be confirmed as Pharaoh, who had made no effort to help in the preparations, had the audacity to decry the general’s achievements in public.
Horemheb seethed to himself, ‘I’ll be glad when the dry, salty bastard is finally put away. Then, perhaps, this silly old man will turn what remains of his fragile mind to thoughts of his own passing, and I with securing the kingship for myself.’
The old man’s rantings had generated an impatience within the general that he knew he would have to take steps to control. If his involved conspiracy was to succeed, he may not indulge himself in this kind of emotion. He must avoid drawing attention to himself. He shrugged his shoulders and concentrated on the scene before him.
The salts had been removed from the king’s body. The cadaver lay between the two priests. It was totally naked but for a frail golden diadem encircling the dead king’s temple. The skin had taken on a bluish grey colour. As it had shrunk, it had wrinkled. The originally youthful features had taken on the appearance of old age.
Behind the priests, running parallel with the king’s stone embalming bed, there were two long tables. On one lay neatly arranged piles of papyrus and rolls of bandages of differing linens and widths. On the other lay a host of jewellery and golden decorations of various shapes and colours, large and small, from the complex to the simple, placed in rows, all arranged in the prescribed order in which they were to be applied to the body.
One of the priests cradled the boy king’s head in his hands. The other removed the diadem and placed it on the jewellery table. He picked up a linen skullcap of beads sewn together to form a frame of cobras and carefully fitted this over the shaven cranium. He secured it in place with a broad, flexible gold temple band which, with his fingers, he locked in place by gently but firmly bending it to the contours of the king’s head. A padded wig was placed over this and secured at the back of the head using perforations in the temple band to tie it in position. On the wig were attached the symbols of royal dominion the uraeus of the Lower Nile, with its long, snaking body and cobra head, and nekhbet, the vulture of the Upper Nile. A thin wrapping of bandage was placed over these and the diadem was replaced.
Horemheb shifted uneasily from one foot to the other. The process was interminably slow. But he was responsible for ensuring absolute adherence to custom and the security of the dead king’s grave goods. He whispered a sigh. This was but one of several distasteful duties he must fully endure.
The priests turned to the feet. A wrapping of linen was applied to each toe and then golden toe stalls, engraved to the likeness of the toes themselves, were placed on each and gently s
queezed to grip the linen. The feet themselves were then wrapped and gold sandals carefully placed on them, the front of the pointed soles bent upwards to help keep the toe stalls in place.
The two priests moved to the hips. One took hold of the shrivelled penis. He extended it forwards while the other took care to bandage it delicately but sufficiently robustly to ensure it supported itself erect. (Ithyphallic symbolism is an essential element of deification. The Pharaoh is, after all, a creator of gods.)
The process continued in ordered stages decoration for a limb, a bandage enclosing it, a bangle and a dagger laid on the bandage, another strip of linen to enclose the pieces, another gold plate on this, and another bandage.
As the work proceeded, the lesser priests, standing in the background, read incantations and spells from the texts of the great papyrus, ‘The Chapters of Coming Forth by Day’. These lessons would help lead the king through the long and dangerous road to his eternal paradise.
The general tensed the muscles in his back and shifted his position once again.
The two priests by the bed continued the ritual. In part intended to suppress the king’s lifetime indiscretions, in part adding to the strength of the spells, each additional piece placed within the mummy wrappings became symbolic protection for the king’s trials during his forthcoming journey through the underworld.
Horemheb, resigned to his duty, moved his feet further apart, folded his arms across his chest, closed his eyes, and bowed his head.
Picture it...
Eight amulets in chased sheet gold are laid on the chest, these fastened by strings about the neck: two human headed, winged serpents, one uraeus, one doubleuraeus, and five vultures.
A wrapping of linen. More amulets in the form of holy symbols: two in green feldspar, one in blood red carnelian, one in sky-blue lapis lazuli. A wrapping. Three amulets: two golden palm leaf symbols placed either side of the neck, and a serpent of chased gold. A wrapping. Four amulets: one of red jasper, one of gold, one of green feldspar, another of gold inlaid with coloured glass. A wrapping. A double headed falcon collar is placed so as to enclose entirely the chest and the shoulders: The collar of Horus in chased sheet gold. A wrapping. Three pectorals: a scarab, an eye and a falcon, gold, enamelled and inlaid with coloured glass. On the chest, an elaborate collarette of tiny blue glass and gold beads. A wrapping. Three pectorals: ornately crafted in gold and glass inlay and arranged across the chest, to the right, one of the falcon, to the left, the scarab in the name of the king with the wings of a falcon, and in the centre, hung on a bead necklace, an eye pendant.
Horemheb adjusted his stance once more, pressing his hands into the small of his back. The readings from the great papyrus paused for a moment. He nodded at the priest to continue.
A wrapping. Another pendant: three large, brilliant blue, gold backed scarabs, marguerites and lotus blossoms in glass hanging beneath, the entire creation hanging from a necklace of five rows of coloured beads secured by an elaborate gold clasp. A wrapping. A gold pendant: Nekhbet with her wings at rest suspended from an intricate gold and lapis chain link neckband, the pendant inlaid with green glass, lapis and carnelian, orbs of carnelian clasped in her gold talons. A wrapping. Two great collars: one with the bodies of the vulture and the serpent and, laid on this, another of the vulture, both of these backed with a multitude of engraved gold tiles, each infilled with coloured glass. A sheet of papyrus. A large chased gold pectoral: a serpent with huge enclosing wings which are bent by the priest to enfold the neck of the king and fix the massive breastplate in place. Several wrappings. Three gold bangles: decorated in semiprecious stones, these are laid on the stomach and on the chest, again secured from the neck. A large pectoral of a hawk: this in chased sheet gold with two gold amuletic knots laid either side. A wrapping. A golden pectoral of Horus: this positioned in the centre, entirely embracing the chest with its wings and inlaid with hundreds of tiles of coloured glass. A papyrus sheet. Another pectoral: a falcon in chased sheet gold.
Horemheb moved once again, standing more to attention this time. Once again the general folded his arms across the rise of his belly.
A wrapping. A large scarab: made of black resin with a gold base and coloured glass inlay, suspended from the neck to the navel on a long gold wire. A wrapping. Covering the entire chest of the king’s body, an arrangement of four large gold collar shields, each individually secured about the king’s neck with gold thread: a vulture, another with the heads of a vulture and a serpent, another serpent, and a collar with two identical falcon heads facing away from each other. On the arms, gold bracelets and broad, colourful bangles over each wrist: six to the left arm, seven to the right. They cover each dry, shrunken forearm to the elbow. On the fingers of each hand, long gold finger stalls, like thimbles: the priests slide rings of solid gold over each but only two on the left hand will stay in place. They put the remaining rings to one side. A wrapping for each hand, each finger, each arm, then both arms are folded across the chest, the eight remaining rings placed between them: three near the left wrist to complete symbolically the decoration of the hand, five adjacent to the right. On the hips, first a girdle: of gold and glass beadwork, drawn up around the king’s legs and laid about his waist. On this a pectoral: an eye in bright blue glass suspended on a necklace of gold beads. A wrapping. A chased gold girdle: suspended from it an articulated gold apron of glass beads with, tucked carefully beneath the girdle and to one side, a gold dagger in its gold sheath. More wrappings. An anklet of gold, inlaid with coloured glass. A wrapping. A gold collar of dark blue glass. A wrapping. A second girdle of chased gold. A wrapping.
The general placed his hands on his hips and moved his feet further apart.
Three plain sheet gold symbols: one ellipsoid and placed coincident with the position of the embalming scar, another in the form of the letter T, the third a Y. On the legs, four gold bangles placed along and between them. A wrapping. A bangle and collarette: of gold and coloured glass, with golden falcon heads at the shoulders. A wrapping. Two more bangles and two more collarettes. A wrapping. Another collarette. A wrapping. The headpieces from the king’s diadem along with a gold anklet. A wrapping. An iron dagger with a gold haft, inlaid with coloured glass, and a gold sheath, these laid alongside a ceremonial apron of large gold plates, inlaid with coloured glass. A final wrapping.
The jewellery table was empty.
A long and very audible sigh from Horemheb ensued. The general quickly remedied this momentary display of disrespect by drawing himself smartly to attention, bowing his head once again and closing his eyes.
The ritual continued. Without pausing, the two priests finished the padding and outer wrapping of the body. The direction and order of each binding followed a set procedure and they worked together from the feet upwards, one taking the bandage and one moving the body alternately until it became fully cocooned.
The mummy now was bound so tightly it was as rigid as a log. It also was heavy. With some effort the priests lifted it up by the shoulders and slid it off the foot of the funeral bed until the feet rested on the stone floor. Leaving it temporarily leaning against the bed, they turned to face the general.
Horemheb opened his eyes.
At his feet, standing in a specially made wooden cradle, stood the magnificent mask of heavy gold. On the priests’ signal he bent down and, with the help of the two guards standing by his side, raised the object. The priests took the mask from the general and approached the mummy from the front. As if performing the coronation itself, they solemnly lifted the mask above the mummy’s head and slowly lowered it on its shoulders. The long beard of gold and inlaid blue glass was attached to the chin. With the help of the guards they carefully lifted the mummy back onto the bier.
Parannefer’s final holy act was to place a golden ba bird on the mummy’s abdomen. A last prayer was recited and solemnly he led the party from the chamber.
The great cedar doors closed behind them and the royal guards took their places eithe
r side. There they would stay, standing vigil until it was time for the funeral celebrations.
The general remained behind, alone in the chamber.
Numerous articles of inestimable value had passed him in a blur. He hadn’t been counting. There could be no reason to suspect indiscretion. From now until the final sealing of the tomb the entire event was too solemn and the process too ordered and prescribed. Any errors or falsehoods would disturb the smooth passage of the king to the afterlife and all would suffer when their time came. There would be no exceptions. Of this he was certain.
The general moved over to the head of the bed. As he looked down the high-eyebrowed forehead, the face glowed eerily blue grey in the light of the oil lamps, and the great black orbs of its eyes burned back into his. He drew a sharp breath and stepped back in alarm. ‘He lives! Truly, he lives!’ The reality would haunt him the remainder of his days.
Later that night, Horemheb walked over to the foundry one last time and checked the line-up of grave goods set ready for shipment the following morning. The huge gold coffin glowed in the light of the dying furnace. He smiled gratuitously. Its magnificence set the standard for his own casket.
‘Yet more grand,’ contemplated the general. ‘This one shall become so much tomb robbers’ booty. That much is certain.’ The thought pleased him so much he almost spoke it aloud, but checked himself a human shadow flickered across the foundry floor to his left. He turned to confront it, his hand resting on the hilt of his dagger. He was about to draw the blade when he recognised the crouching figure.
Ankhesenamun had not heard the general enter the foundry and remained totally oblivious to his presence. She was kneeling before the standing gold ka statue of her husband which was now positioned on its plinth within a small golden shrine, its doors wide open. As Horemheb drew closer he could hear her whisper.
Tutankhamun Uncovered Page 24