Card/Transcription No.: 258-1

No. 258. 1

A NICHE cut in the centre of the west wall, facing the head
end of the sarcophagus, 125 cents. above the floor of the
Burial-chamber.

THE NICHE takes the form of a roughly cut shallow recess, of
rectangular shape, 24 cents. high, 20 cents. wide and 10
cents. deep. It was closed by the means of three irregular
splinters of limestone, which were plastered over flush with
the surface of the wall, and then painted over to match the
colour decoration of the wall.

THE NICHE CONTAINED a recumbent figure of the jackal-like dog
Anubis, resting upon a brick (pedestal), facing north, and
made, like the brick (pedestal) itself, of unbaked clay. The
figure of the jackal-like dog Anubis was completely swathed
with strips of fine linen varying in width from 2 to 5 cents.
- the linen on the figure was discoloured, while that adhering
to the plaster employed in closing the niche was almost white.

THE FIGURE OF THE JACKAL-LIKE DOG ANUBIS measures 13.0 cents.
in length from root of tail to tip of fore feet, and 9.5
cents. high from pedestal to the tips of its ears (= 7 x 5
digits). The eyes and eye-brows have been tinted with a lemon
yellow pigment; exuding from the surfaces of both body and
limbs are minute globules of resinous material, suggesting
resin or the like was mixed with the clay; the fore-feet have
five toes, the hind-feet four toes only.

THE BRICK (pedestal), 14.1 to 14.9 cents. long, 5.3 to 5.6
cents. wide, and 4.8 to 5.2 cents. thick (=8 X 3 X 2½ digits),
bears no incantation nor inscription whatsoever! - possibly
because the recumbent figure of Anubis occupied all the
available space.
It rested upon a second brick, of similar dimensions but only
2.7 cents. thick (= 1½ digits), and this brick was placed upon
a third thin slab of unbaked clay of somewhat irregular shape
and showing traces of red paint on the bottom surface. The
second brick and third slab of clay were in all probability
for the purpose of raising the first brick (pedestal)
sufficiently high as to prevent the long drooping tail of the
Anubis figure from touching the floor of the niche.
Like the Anubis figure the two bricks and slab of clay shew
traces, minute globules, of a red resinous material exuding
from their surfaces (one of these globules when passed through
a flame gave out a resinous odour).