25. The foundation deposits may be considered together. They came from two temples—the large one within the walls, and the small temple of Thothmes III, which lies to the north of the town, and west of the hill of Paheri. In the latter the deposits were very numerous for so small a temple (v. [Pl. XXVI]). Under each corner of the main wall was one of the little pits filled with sand, which have now become so familiar, and at a metre’s distance along the side wall was another and larger deposit. The pits were about ·60 m. in diameter; in two, there was at the bottom a recess, filled with the small cups of brown clay. The objects are all closely similar to those found in the other deposits of this reign at Koptos and Nubt. One shape of pot, however ([XXI], 14), has not been seen in a foundation deposit before, and the flat tiles (15 cm. long) of blue glaze, one in each deposit, must be mentioned. All the deposits were carefully unearthed, and the position of the different objects noted, but there was no obvious design in the arrangement.
The deposits found under the great temple are of more interest; those of Amenhotep II, under walls covered with inscriptions of Rameses II, give one more instance of the latter’s usurpations. Deposits of two other distinct classes contained no inscriptions of kings’ names, and cannot be dated. Their position is shown in the very rough sketch of the plan of the temple in [Pl. I].
The contents of the different deposits is given below:—
N. 1. A polygonal sandstone mortar ([XXI], 46), twenty small cups (43), three small round dishes, three taller pots (44), flat tablets of red and green glass, a bronze pan (30), five long glass beads (38), the green glaze figure (29) like a small ushabti, a small green glaze model of an ox with the legs tied together, the bronze models (33, 34, 35), a tile of dull green glaze, a model clay brick, a small piece of bitumen, and a piece of resin which burns with a smell like myrrh.
N. 4. Sandstone mortar, eye in green glaze (28), the other objects as in N. 1, but with the addition of tablets of calcite and lead.
N. 5. contained the glaze block (40), a bronze knife, a little brick of myrrh, and pottery, as in the others.
N. 2. and N. 3. consisted each of a single object, one a small oblong block of iron 1½ inch long, and the other a tablet of blue frit (like 37).
These last two deposits clearly do not belong to the same builder as the rest.
The deposits of Amenhotep II contained alabaster models, the inscriptions identical with those of Thothmes III, excepting the change of cartouche.