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The reason for bringing so many kings of different dynasties into this tomb is not accurately known; but the following circumstances afford ground for reasonable conjecture.

“After Rameses II., the last great warrior of Egypt, had laid aside his javelin and bow, in the fourteenth century before Christ, luxury and indolence were followed by their usual concomitants, poverty and discontent. The artizans and labourers, instead of joining in one common effort to improve the condition of the country, had recourse to violence and robbery. The pillage of the tombs for the sake of their precious contents became a common practice, and in the reign of Rameses IX., of the twentieth dynasty, about the eleventh century before the birth of Christ, an inquiry was instituted to ascertain the extent of the depredations. The robbers were arrested and arraigned, and several of them were condemned to die by their own hands—a common mode of punishment in ancient Egypt. It was discovered likewise that the tombs of the Pharaohs, which had hitherto been respected, were, like the rest, subjected to danger.”