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 the tomb, it was carefully worked.  It was not until two days later that enough clearing had been done to allow us to crawl in over the rubbish, which was still piled up so nearly to the roof that there was only just room to wriggle downwards over it with our backs pressing against the stone above.  At the lower end of the corridor there was a flight of steps towards which the rubbish shelved, and, sliding down the slope, we were here able to stand once more.  It was obvious that the tomb did not stop here, and work, therefore, had to be begun on the rubbish which choked the stairway in order to expose the entrance to further passages.  A doorway soon became visible, and at last this was sufficiently cleared to permit of our crawling into the next corridor, though now we were even more closely squeezed between the roof and the debris than before.