Therefore this hall was boarded
up, only a little doorway being left by which the workmen could enter.
Certain statues, of Seti II. and others, too large to be moved, were
also roughly boarded over, as were some great funeral boats on either
side of the entrance. The rest of the place, which might be two hundred
feet long with a proportionate breadth, was empty save for the colossi
of Amenhotep III. and his queen Taia that stood beneath the gallery at
its farther end.
It was an appalling place in which to sleep, but better, reflected
Smith, than a sarcophagus or those mummy chambers. If, for instance,
he could creep behind the deal boards that enclosed one of the funeral
boats he would be quite comfortable there. Lifting the curtain, he
slipped into the hall, where the gloom of evening had already settled.
Only the skylights and the outline of the towering colossi at the far
end remained visible. Close to him were the two funeral boats which he
had noted when he looked into the hall earlier on that day, standing at
the head of a flight of steps which led to the sunk floor of the centre.
He groped his way to that on the right. As he expected, the projecting
planks were not quite joined at the bow.
Pages:
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60