His researches in the neighbourhood of the Fayum at this time commenced to bear fruit; and many questions were answered regarding the ancient Lake Mceris.  It was in this season also that the ever memorable excavations conducted at Tel-el-Amarna were first begun.  This place is situated in Upper Egypt on the site of the capital, which had been built by Ahmenhotpu IV.  Here were discovered many clay tablets in cuneiform characters containing documents in the Babylonian language.  These were found in the tomb of a royal scribe.  The list contained a quantity of correspondence from the kings or rulers of Palestine, Syria, Mesopotamia, and Babylonia to Ahmenhotpu III. and IV.  There were Egyptian garrisons in those days in Palestine, and they were accustomed to keep their royal masters well informed as to what was going on in the country.  Among other cities mentioned are Byblos, Smyrna, Appo or Acre, Megiddo, and Ashpelon.  During this season many relics of early Christian art were discovered.  In many cases a pagan picture had been in part painted over, and thus given a Christian significance.  Two figures of Isis suckling Horus are, with slight alterations, made to represent the Virgin and the Child.  A bas-relief of St. George slaying the dragon was discovered, which closely resembled that of Horus slaying Set.

During the following season of 1888-89, Petrie resumed his excavations round the pyramid of Hawara, which was supposed to be the site of the famous Labyrinth.  Work had been begun here in the season previous, and it was now to be crowned with great success.  All the underground passages and secret chambers under the pyramid were examined, and the inscriptions discovered of King Ahmenemhait III. prove that this was without doubt the pyramid of the monarch of that name.  It was discovered that the Romans had broken into the recesses of these secret chambers, and many broken Roman amphorae were unearthed.  Later Professor Petrie examined the pyramid of Illahun, which stands at the gate of the Fayum.  It is probable that this was on the site of the ancient locks which regulated the flow of the Nile into Lake Moris.  Many of the antiquities here discovered bore inscriptions of King Usirtasen II., and, in the same locality, was discovered the site of an early Christian cemetery dating from the fifth or sixth centuries.  A few miles from Illahun, the same indefatigable explorer discovered the remains of another town belonging to the eighteenth or nineteenth dynasties.  A wall once surrounded the town, and beyond the wall was a necropolis.  The place is now called Tell Gurah, and the relics give inscriptions of Thutmosis III. or Tutankhamon and of Horemheb.

In the same season of 1888—­89, Miss Amelia B. Edwards, who had been sent out by the Egypt Exploration Fund, brought to a conclusion the excavations which had been carried on for several seasons at Bubastis.  It was discovered that the temple itself dated back to the reign of the famous Khufui (Kheops), the builder of the great Pyramid, since an inscription with his name on it was discovered, together with one inscribed to King Khafri (Chephren).  The monuments discovered on this site were, for the most part, shipped to Europe and America.