Omm Sety claimed to be the reincarnation of an ancient Egyptian--and stunned archaeologists with her knowledge of long-buried sites, to the point that she convinced even the most hard-nosed of them that she had, indeed, lived a life in ancient Egypt. Not only did she find many buried ancient sites for archaeologists, she had a great deal to say about the Egyptians, and in this interview William explores her beliefs about the secrets of ancient Egypt with Omm Sety's Egypt co-author Catherine Dees. Dorothy Louise Eady, also known as Omm Sety or Om Seti (16 January 1904 -- 21 April 1981), was Keeper of the Abydos Temple of Seti I and draughtswoman for the Department of Egyptian Antiquities. She is especially well known for her belief that in a previous life she had been a priestess in Ancient Egypt, as well as her considerable historical research at Abydos. Her life and work has been the subject of many articles, television documentaries, biographies. A New York Times article described her life story as "one of the Western World's most intriguing and convincing modern case histories of reincarnation" In the early 1970s, shortly after Nasser's death, Omm Seti disclosed that she believed the location of Nefertiti's tomb was known to her but showed some reluctance in disclosing its "most unlikely place" because Sety I didn't like Akhenaten for his attempt to suppress traditional Egyptian religious practices. "We don't want anything more of this family to be known." She described the location of the tomb as being close to Tutankhamun's, which was counter to the then prevailing opinion that no more new tombs would be found in the Valley of the Kings. In 1998 the ARPT group led by Nicholas Reeves began exploring in the area of Tutankhamun's tomb, based on two anomalies found during a sonar sounding in 1976.During the dig two undisturbed seals of the 20th dynasty scribe Wen-nefer, a well known person whose seal has been found on many Valley tombs, were discovered. A radar scan in 2000 produced evidence of two empty chambers, but the work was halted pending an investigation into the theft of antiquities. In 2006 Otto Shaden, on a completely unrelated dig, accidentally burst into one of the "anomalies" (later numbered KV63), which contained particularly fine examples of mummification supplies used for a royal burial, presumably nearby. Reeves' opinion is that the second "anomaly" is likely to be an undisturbed tomb. Whilst the general public tend to focus on the beauty of Ancient Egyptian artefacts, scholars highly value texts which reveal more about history and religious beliefs. Since Edgar Cayce, a clairvoyant of Presbyterian background, asserted whilst in a trance state that a Hall of Records was to be found in the area of the Sphinx, there have been repeated attempts to find its supposed location In 1973 Omm Sety recalled asking Sety I about these Halls of Records. He replied that every temple had a book repository ("Per-Medjat"), but that the one attached to the Temple of Amun-Ra in Luxor contained all the important documents "from the time of the Ancestors," including those that survived the political upheaval at the end of the 6th dynasty.[92] In 1952 Omm Sety translated for Abdul Kader inscriptions from Ram statues he had uncovered from the temple at Luxor. They had been found in the area where Seti located the Hall of Records. Contrary to normal practice for this type of statue, there was no writing on the back, suggesting that they had once been placed against an otherwise unknown wall or building. Based on Sety's description and the location of the Rams, both she and Dr. Zeini believed that the Hall of Records is likely to be located under the modern building which houses the Arab Socialist League.

• published: 30 Nov 2013
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