Gold from the Valley of the Kings

On Wednesday 30th January I flew to Luxor to spend the next 12 days as part of the Pacific Lutheran University Valley of the Kings Project directed by Don Ryan. The work this season will focus on the clearance of KV 49, which was discovered in January 1906 by Edward R. Ayrton (1882–1914) working for Theodore M. Davis (1837–1915).

Working in the Valley provides a good opportunity to highlight some objects in the Egypt Centre collection that originate from here. These objects are currently on loan from the Swansea Museum, having been donated by Miss Annie Sprake Jones of Bryn Myrddin, Abergwili (Carmarthenshire) in the late 1950s. The objects had been left to Miss Jones by her brother, Ernest Harold Jones (1877–1911), after his death (fig. 1). Harold Jones, as he was more commonly known as, was first employed by John Garstang (1876–1956) as an illustrator for the 1903–1904 season at Beni Hasan. After this, he took on responsibilities directing excavations at Beni Hasan, Hierakonpolis, Esna, Hissaya, Abydos, and various sites in Nubia. In 1907 he parted company with Garstang and joined the expedition of Theodore M. Davis (1837–1915) in the Valley of the Kings.

Fig. 1: Portrait of Harold Jones

First to be discussed is a small box containing gold leaf fragments (SM.1950.3.9), believed to have come from the gold shrine discovered within KV 55 (fig. 2). This tomb, which was found in 1907 by Edward Ayrton working for Theodore Davis, is perhaps the most controversial burial place in the Valley of the Kings. KV 55 had been looted in ancient times, but it had also suffered from flooding and moisture. This caused the large decorated wooden panels, which were gilded with a thin layer of gold leaf, to disintegrate soon after their discovery. Visitors to the tomb at the time noted that there was gold dust everywhere. Miss Jones reported that during a visit to the tomb her brother asked Theodore Davis if he could take a handful of 'souvenirs'. Davis' response was "Certainly, take two"!

Fig 2: Fragments of gold leaf from KV 55

The second object to be presented is a fragment of glass (SM.1959.3.2) bearing the cartouches of the Eighteenth Dynasty pharaoh Amenhotep II (fig. 3). According to Miss Jones, this fragment also originated from KV 55. Yet SM.1959.3.2 joins with a white amphora vessel (Cairo CG 24804) excavated by Victor Loret (1859–1946) within the burial chamber of Amenhotep II (KV 35) in 1898. The debate surrounding the provenance of this fragment has been discussed by Bosse-Griffiths (originally in 1961, reprinted in 2001) and Aldred (1962). More recently, the article by Nicholson and Jackson (2013) nicely sums up the various possibilities. In particular: (1) that the vessel was originally deposited in KV 55 before being moved to KV 35 along with the mummy of Queen Tiye (the "Elder Lady"), with the fragment collected by Jones overlooked by the ancient Egyptians since the vessel had been broken by looters. (2) The vessel originated from KV 35 with the Swansea fragment having been recovered by Jones during his clearance of Davis' spoil heap.

Fig. 3: Glass fragment with the cartouches of Amenhotep II (SM.1959.3.2) 

Harold Jones is well known for the beautiful watercolours he produced for a number of tombs in the Valley of the Kings, particularly those used in the publication of the tomb of Siptah (KV 47). Some of these watercolours and objects originating from excavations in which Harold Jones participated are currently housed in the Carmarthenshire County Museum. At an unknown date Kate Bosse-Griffiths (1910–1998), the first Honorary Curator of the Egypt Centre collection (formerly known as the Wellcome Collection) acquired two lesser-known watercolours produced by Jones. One of them depicts the modern cultivation with a mountain range in the background, perhaps the Theban hillside where he spent his formative years (fig. 4). The story of Harold Jones was rather brief as he succumbed to Tuberculosis in 1911 at the age of 34. The bilingual inscription on his Luxor gravestone reads:

GWYN EU BYD Y RHAI PUR O GALON

BLESSED ARE THE PURE IN HEART

Fig. 4: Watercolour perhaps depicting the Theban hillside.

Bibliography
Aldred, C. (1962) ‘The Harold Jones Collection’. Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 48: 160–162.
Bierbrier, M. L. (2012) Who Was Who in Egyptology. London: The Egypt Exploration Society. 4th edition.
Bosse-Griffiths, K. (2001) ‘Finds from “the Tomb of Queen Tiye” in the Swansea Museum’. In Amarna Studies and other Selected Papers, ed. J. G. Griffiths. Freiburg (Schweiz); Göttingen: Universitätsverlag; Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht. 97–107.

Bosse-Griffiths, K. (2001) ‘Gold-leaf from the Shrine of Queen Tiye’. In Amarna Studies and other Selected Papers, ed. J. G. Griffiths. Freiburg (Schweiz); Göttingen: Universitätsverlag; Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht. 108–110.

Davis, T. M. ed. (1910) The Tomb of Queen Tîyi. Theodore M. Davis’ excavations: Bibân el Molûk. London: Constable.
Delaney, C. (1986) “A Son to Luxor’s Sand”: A Commemorative Exhibition of Egyptian Art from the Collections of the British Museum and Carmarthen Museum. Dyfed: Dyfed County Council. 

Evans, N. (2014) ‘A Welshman in Egypt: Harold Jones: Tombs, Treasures, Artist Extraordinary’. Ancient Egypt: The History, People and Culture of the Nile Valley 84: 26–33.

Nicholson, P. T. and C. Jackson (2013) ‘Glass of Amenhotep II from Tomb KV55 in the Valley of the Kings’. Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 99: 85–99.

Pinch-Brock, L. (2007) ‘The Short, Happy Life of Harold Jones, Artist and Archaeologist’. In Who Travels Sees More: Artists, Architects and Archaeologists Discover Egypt and the Near East, ed. D. Fortenberry. Oxford: ASTENE; Oxbow. 31–39.

Reeves, C. N. and R. H. Wilkinson (1996) The Complete Valley of the Kings: Tombs and Treasures of Egypt’s Greatest Pharaohs. London: Thames and Hudson.
Schlick-Nolte, B., R. Werthmann, and C. E. Loeben (2011) ‘An Outstanding Glass Statuette Owned by Pharaoh Amenhotep II and Other Early Egyptian Glass Inscribed with Royal Names’. Journal of Glass Studies 53: 11–44.