TAA i.2.4.41
Carter's general notes and observations on the alabaster vessels and wine jars in the Annexe.
The whole text is fully struck through on this page but is not indicated in the transcription. On this page, strikethrough formatting is reserved for the author’s edits and deletions within the main body of the text, which would otherwise be difficult to distinguish.
Draft, Carter, Howard 1933. The tomb of Tut.ankh.Amen vol. 3. London: Cassell, 103.
© Griffith Institute,
University of Oxford
Note upon the Alabaster Vessels and Wine Jars
Dec. 11.
The alabaster (calcite) vessels are/<were> very numerous and are remarkable
both for their size and diversified shapes. To describe all of them would
be tedious, I shall, therefore, refer only to the <main> types, drawing particular
attention to some of the most decorative and peculiar forms. . . .
From the sediment, lees or dregs found on the bottom of the Jars, they
appear to have contained . . .
They were originally fastened down with stone stoppers or lids (some
actually luted on to the mouths of the vessels) which were bound with
rush to the rims and necks.
Theft of metals on the part the tomb-plunderers/<robbers> was one form of tomb-plundering,
It/<we now have evidence of another form of pilfering which> deserves notice,/<.> thatw/<W>ith a very few exceptions the lids and stoppers
<of the alabaster jars> had been removed, thrown aside, and the contents of the Jars taken.
As is thus suggestive, p/<P>ilfering of this kind could hardly be put
against the metal-robbers, as it therefore implies some other
kind of thief, who was in all probability <was also> largely responsible for
the confusion found in this Chamber. <During the déblaiement> It became obvious that
the alabaster vessels as well as the wine-Jars were <originall[y]> arranged on the floor
of the Chamber from the centre to the Northern end - the wine-jars
probably first and northernmost. The lighter objects stacked on top
of them. One cannot easily consievesic {concieve} sufficient reason for the
metal-robbers to have disturbed them, nor would one suspect that
bringing vessels to take away the <considerable amount of> liquids that the jars held, too, the
quantity of liquid they held/<contained> must have been considerable. This
leads one to suspect some other persons, even perhaps officials, who
had access to the chamber before the subsequent closing of the
tomb. Since these heavy vessels were on the floor, under objects
of lighter nature, to have removed the lids and stoppers and pour out
the liquids would have necessitated considerable derangement
of the material/<equipment> in the Chamber and be the cause of much of the
confusion such as we found.
Many of the pottery wine-jars were found broken; but there was
no evidence that the wine had been taken <stolen>. Moreover, it is doubtful