mastabas with pyramidal roofs sheltered the remains of the princes and
princesses of the royal family. The Pharaohs themselves were buried
either separately under their respective brick pyramids or in groups in
a temple, as was the case with the first three Thûtmosis and Hâtshopsîtû
at Deîr el-Baharî. Amenôthes II. and Thûtmosis IV. could doubtless have
found room in this crowded necropolis,* although the space was becoming
limited, but the pride of the Pharaohs began to rebel against this
promiscuous burial side by side with their subjects. Amenôthes III.
sought for a site, therefore, where he would have ample room to display
his magnificence, far from the vulgar crowd, and found what he desired
at the farther end of the valley which opens out behind the village of
Qurnah. Here, an hour's journey from the bank of the Nile, he cut for
himself a magnificent rock-tomb with galleries, halls, and deep pits,
the walls being decorated with representations of the Voyage of the Sun
through the regions which he traverses during the twelve hours of his
nocturnal course.

* The generally received opinion is that these sovereigns of
the XVIIIth dynasty were buried in the Bibân el-Molûk, but I
have made several examinations of this valley, and cannot
think that this was the case. On the contrary, the scattered
notices in the fragments of papyrus preserved at Turin seem
to me to indicate that Amenôthes II. and Thûtmosis IV. must
have been buried in the neighbourhood of the Assassîf or of
Deîr el-Baharî.

A sarcophagus of red granite received his mummy, and _Ushabti's_ of
extraordinary dimensions and admirable workmanship mounted guard around
him, so as to release him from the corvée in the fields of Ialû.
The chapel usually attached to such tombs is not to be found in the