EGYPTIAN DISCOVERIES

Hokitika Guardian, 17 February 1923, Page 4

EGYPTIAN DISCOVERIES

•VALLKA' OF THK KINGS. LONDON, Dec. 18. A complete account is given in the “Daily Mail” by the I'iarl of Carnarvon of the wonderful discovery of ancient royal treasures he and his assistant, Mr Howard Carter, have made in the Valley of the Kings at Luxor. Kgypt. j Lord Carnarvon arrived in London yesterday afternoon, accompanied by his daughter, Lady Kvelyn Herbert. He wrote the following article during the journey home, and gave it to The Daily .Mail for publication. He gives new details of the funeral treasures of Tut-anhh Arnen, King of Kgypt front L'ldS to l.'ldO u.c., including lifesized portrait statues and carved alabaster vases lit) inches high, and says such exquisite taste and finish have scarcely been dreamt of. much less seen. Lord Carnarvon doubts whether any former lind hits ever exceeded this in magiiL | tmle. .Moreover, lie believes that beI hind a wall in the tomb lies King Tub i itnhlt Amen himself. This chain Her will be unsealed in January. (Note. —A ! cable on Friday said the Chamber had I been opened). j On the edge of the cultivation on Hie western hank of the Nile, and extemlI ing for some five miles in length and I about a mile ami a quarter ill depth. lies tli; Necropolis of ancient Thebes. I Here the arid plain and foothills an everywhere doited villi burial pitwith a royal mortuary temple here am i here, while mingled among these relief ■il ancient days stand the mini house: ol the modern inhabitants of Curnah. The limestone cliffs, which in rertaii part reach a height; of oOOft or more aic ahu honeycombed with an otidles: -.accession t ol destroyed and plundcret tombs. In this area sonic of the great esf, richest, and most powerful inhabi tnuts of ancient Kgypt were buried lienee this cemetery has been tbe hupp; hum ing ground for generation upoi generation of native robbers. At the northerly end of this vast cemetery, by following a winding trael or road for about 2! miles leading m in a south-westerly direction, we conic to the most celebrated portion of tin Theban Necropolis. This is the Valley of the Kings, or in Arabic "Itibaii e Aloluk.” For centuries this spot has beet visited by countless travellers, arebaeo legists and tourists. Before the Chrsitian Kra Creek travellers were in the habit of going there some "I them inscribing their iianier on the walls, while allusion is math' to those tmnlis by ancient Creek historians. VAST TOAi It-DCOI IS. these fouihs. especially those of tin later I’aiuesside Kings, were always visible. The vast size of their doors ami H" >|eeorat ions over the lintels make it almost impossible to believt-' that t-lio-e burial' were hidden bem-aMi .rocks and dust. We are told.in the Abbni! and Alnyei I’apyri that in late Bancssele times lie robl’iing of these sepulehiattained such v umlalous proport; ut. that n (.'('iiimisf-ion was formed to examii e and report mi tiie «tato of the Royal HyApparently sums of the thieve? were ciuglit r- nrl Miil.'tblv n OUiiished. A list of tombs visit..,| and examined is given, but. curiously enough, the tomb of Tut-ankli .Amen is not meiii limed. The Kings ei the ISih Dynasty scented to exorcise a certain care in concealing their last resting-places The opening to Llie tonili was snuillei andeoulil not have been half so apparent ns those of their 1 fftl l and 2Htl Dynasty successors, 'lhis ua- rnnn especially tie habit among the earliei Kings of the IMli Dynasty. In It:Li we found the wholly plunder "c! tomb of Amenhotep I. This ivn: situated on the |ilateau aliove and fa: away from the Royal Valley. Si cunningly was this hidden that yoi could pass within a few yeanD of tie opening and yet not perceive thu then' was a tomb anvywhere near. In these eases it was customary t.< remove aM the chips to some distance in order not to arouse suspicion. Still I have mi limit t that even in lat'. Kgypliei) times all the :oynl ioirihwere known to the cemetery oilicials.

All have certainly been opened and heavily plundered, but the tomb of Tul-ankli Amen without doubt is by far the least disturbed that lias evei vet been found or probable ever will be. KAIM.IKH KINDS. In modern times -. ti i i is, from the beginning ol the ll'tli century) Hclzoni, ('ha moot lion. Diimielion l.epeilis, Schiuhovi.illi, l.oiet. Davis ami others have- all excavated there. Some of these aebacologists were successful, while others bad little tn show for their labours. Although .Mr Carter and myself had been working there systematically lor 8 -easoii-, until this autumn we formed a part of the bitter class. The most successful excavator of late years \va- .Mr Theodore Davis, of Heston, who started work there about the year l!ll)l under the direction of Mr Carter, who was then Inspector of Antiquities cf Upper Egypt. After Mr Carter resigned the inspectorate the work was still carried on by Mr Davis under the supervision at various times of .Messrs Quibell, Ayrton, .Jones and Hurton. Mr Davis was for the lirst few years brilliantly successful. .Scarcely a season passed uit limit his rehearsals being rewarded hv rich finds. r l botbmes 1\ Ilatehipsut, the ■‘ouches'’ of Vtiia and Tlmia, and King Klaienaton were a few of the successes that fell to Ids l-.t. i(i- lasi discovery was the painted tomb of I loreinheb. This he published under the title of •The Tomb of Hohemheh and Tutankli Amen,” the reason tor this title being that he had found n lew objects belonging to the latter King in the Hohemlieb tomb. !t was in the year 101 ) that Air Davis gave up his concession to dig in this locality, lie had for his last four or live years been singularly unsuccessful. In return for his very real services tin* Egvpi mu (•ovemment gave Mr Davis many fine and interesting obiee’s. some oi which he presented to the P„,-toil .Museum.

The almost universal opinion ol nrchaeologist s and ol’ Sir (i. Mnsperu . tlion Director of the Cairo Museum - * was that this locality was practipally exhausted. As far as was known the onlv Kinys' tombs missing wore those of Tliotbines 11. a somowhat shadow.' King Snienkhara and Tnt-nukh Amen. I’oallv it was vorv donhtfnl if any of those Pharaohs’ tombs wore 'till to he found, ns there at.- in the valley several open and plundered tomhs to which a name cannot be given.

However, Mr Carter still thought there was at least a ehanee ol finding some great dignitary if nothing else, and the Government having given me a more favourable concession titan was granted to Mr Davis, we decided to start excavating at once. During the war. in the intervals of Mr Carter’s military work in Cairo, he managed to dig a little every .'ear. hut. its I previously stated, it was only this autumn (November -1 that I received a cable telling me that be had at last struck something very

promising— ‘‘a tomb closed and sealed.” Arriving in Luxor, we at once start ed opera tXons. A staircase of some 1* steps had first to be cleared. While we were doing this various damaged objects such as pottery, broken wood, llower.s' were lound. At the bottom of ibo staircase we came upon a wall covered with seals. Some bore the name of Tut-nnkh Amen, while on others the roval seal of the nine cap fives, with the jackal reposing above, j was discernible, ft then became ap ! parent that the tomb had certainly been opened, if not plundered in an cient davs and had been resealed by the officials of the Necropolis. After affixing a movable wooden grille over the door, a task that took I all one dav, we proeeedcd to clear the passage. This was blocked with stones and rubbish right up to the ceiling. It. was rpiite easy now to see uheie the robber had entered. Along this passage, which was J metres 'Jbl't bin) in length, various objects were found, a broken box wit i ti.e names of Khueiiatcn hmcnkhaia and his wife being possibly the most important piece. Ilroken pottery, » few bits of broken jeweller.'. "‘ l< .kins, flowers, and other odds and emb were here recovered from the rubbish. At the end of the now cleared pas sage another sealed door was visible. I After taking a photograph we decided in take down a small portion. This was done, and by the uncertain , light of a candle a wonderful sight was exposed to our excited eyes, ('ill j couches, boxes of all sorts, and other objects in the dim light were just vis s i hit;. , Luckilv just above us was the large , tomb of'llameses VI. Tins is a favoiiritu tourist tomb, and is lit by olei - ■ trie light. Having lapped the wire 1 and enlarged the opening we were able 1,, cuter and examine by the electric - light what proved to be the first : chamber. \W had at lir>t thought that , had was a biding place or “cache’ where we should probably find some • roval and semi-royal mummies, bidden there to save them from the sacreb- , mjotts hands of the robber... but the , more we examined the contents ol ibis , hrst chamber tin; more convinced ■ became that it was the Lomb of King | Tnt-ankh Amen. 'flic lirst thing Hud one noticed , against the wall facing the door were il7tee gigantic carved gilt wood beds the end- of the beds having carved - bead-, one head in particular with a large ivory tongue and teeth looking , most weird. I'poii these beds were heaped chads. . boxes, smaller carved couches, and some wonderful sticks beauhlully carved and inlaid. Some of the boxes made of el.nny illbiid with ivory. - covered with inscriptions. Others Were inlaid wilb gold and porcelain. Ilmcat h the central couch w.-r» heaped -0 or .'III while wooden boxes containing inuininilied legs ol inultoii. ,t- gec-c. venison, and the like. I’.,•tween two of the couches we noticed four of the most beautilul ala--I,aster vases ever found : in fact. 1 mav sav nothing to touch them bis ever eo'tne In light before. They "■ i oresc-'i* vases oil a stand with l«' ; '" floweri’ dropping out of the motif n and , ar „ carved <M|l of n solid block <d ?daThey stand ’ !V ’ notber of the beds was the . ehair of stale or throne of the King. . This is one of, if not (pule, the mn-i wonderful Kg.vptinn works ol art ever . found. The back Is a picture of toe ;' j e and (.Ir.i'en represented m Hie well-known A mama style. Ah 'be . figures on His chair are e:n \"< "■ . carnclian, lapis, turquoise, am.l ot.nei : so!,ii-pr« w ions stones inlaid in the gilt wood. The Alon, or sun. throws bis ~ rays over the King and (.hiceii as il to protect them. A little bit farther on we came across . a wooden bead and biol of the K'ng. oroliaiilv a model ol the King’s bead ami shoiilders whereon to try Id-e roval i wigs. I’ropoed against the wall is a. , most beautiful portrait sbawabti ol I the King everywhere a mass of I oxes -onie ooeued and nlnmb'l'ed. others , seemingly untouched. At. the present . nioumnt, owing to the piohision >u articles, ue have not a notion or a '. iboiisan.lt!' part of the contents of even ibis chamber. Aim ing on a little farther, we Inn •I chariot bodies in gilt wood inlaid with semi-previous stones. The wheels . ;,re in a heap on one side, while the poles are stacked against Urn wall. ,\t the other end of the chamber l jiere i- a el arming box wilb paintings I, m it ()! if.. King bunting lions, ga'/.elle-, etc: this contain- the robes ol ;ln iMiMiauh. At ilie* northern end the lirst ihin.is lliat -trikes our cy.- are two 111 >— sized portrait statues ol the King in bitumenised wood. The features are most deficalely carved; on bis brow Is 11 ~ ~,mil of Kgypt. around bis neck Is ti H . gilt collar emblem ol royalty ; lie is clad in the "slionti,” a sort oi stiff kilt. In one band be bolds a long gilt stick, while in the oilier he clasps, in a somewhat menacing manner. a gill mace. His bare loot - which are most exquisitely carved and modelled -are shod in solid gold sandals. lie this time Hie absence oi any coffin had made us feel that in all probability the tomb was not a cache, a- I bad "first of all thought, but the actual burial place of Ihe king. After further examination, beneath the farthest southerly couch we discovered a small bole in the wall. YKT TO lIK KX Hi.OH KD. Looking through this bole, an n v - of confusion was visi'.lc : tallies, chairs, beds, boxes, alabaster statues, vases. laieiue.s—all jumbled together and piled on top of each other, in -one- places to a height oi ~uit" oft. U wa- quite impossible to malic a closer examination without doing harm, and had we tried to enlarge the hole it is probable that the wall would have come down upon our beads, as most of it was banging unsupported by anything more than cement—that is. as far as could be seen. A further careful scrutiny of the first (bomber revealed to us at the northern cud between the two staluecl the King a walled and plasiered-up entrance, again covered with the royal cartouche and the seal of the Xoerop,,j(— 1,, cue place a robher bad made a small bole and bad evidently entered: the hole had been carefully plastered up and sealed by the inspectors. In all probability behind that wall we shall come to the funerary chamber of King Tut-nnkh Amen. and -hould we be fortunate enough to find hi- sarcophagi!- and coffins undisturbed. then those that are privileged to !„, pre-ent will look upon a sight that ha- never vet been witnessed by any living per-oii.

Although the contents of the outer chambers arc certainly not in their original untouched state, for the two outer chambers hear somewhat tire aspect of a house entered by burglars, vet 1 think that wo shall find that what is missing in these tombs for the most part consist-, of the gold and silver bowls, vases, and jewellery that formed a great part of the funerary equipment of an l'.gvptian King. In some cases gold plating has been wrenched from various articles. Still, the nuantitv -if objects that we have seen in the first two chambers is quite extraordinary.

We have been indeed fortunate to j strike a period in Egyptian art that for grace, originality, and workmen- j ship lias never been surpassed. Jt should he remembered that in this King’s reign we see the best work of the A mama school and Theban art at its highest point. EXQUISITE ART. it is (|uite impossible to realise the perfection and beautifully graceful work of some of the objects. Such exquisite taste and finish had scarcely I,roll dreamt of, much less seen. And there still remains much to he Irani ahout the romantic period of Klmenaton, the so-called heretic king who changed the worship of Egypt from a multiplicity of gods to that of Ihe single one. Aton or the Hays of the Sun. l-'rom the mass of material and, it is hoped, from some Papyri which lie in one oi the numerous boxes, we mat hope to obtain most valuable information upon a period that is not oul\ somewhat mysterious but peculiarly fascinating. I (l " "ot suppose Unit any former lind lias ever exceeded this discovery m map-nit ude. When Muriel te discovered the celebrated Serapeum at Saqquarali, he speak'- of the invincible emotion that overcame him on entering those mys-

terious caverns. 1 ,i 0 .-.oppose that In.- loelmgs were any more poignant than ours when we suddenly realised what we had found. h, conclusion 1 must say that most n f the credit of the discovery is due to inv friend Howard Cartel, who. when'after many seasons ol lailorc aml disappointment I gut more aim more despondent, bucked me up and persutuh'd uie to go on excavating unJil as related above, hi- theories were proved to be right, and at last were brou'dif to a successful issue. TH E \SURE TOM I! SAKE. CAIRO. Dee. 17. Rain, except for a few drops, lias |,,i,| ,11' at 1 .uxor, fortunately fur the sjifet v of I lie priceless antiquities disco,cred by rd Carnarvon and Mr Howard < '.trier. ' • j•!,.. i,,.uly found loud) there of dutoih'i Amen is at the foot ol a water.,,,,l a smart sb.-wer would have In,-i, .ullicieiit to flood the chambers. IP,in lalls there once in about AO years. IVid'iy lii'dit was most anxious, for ky nmiaincd Hireateuiug, 'ml the weather i- now lovely. \ virulent seel mo ol the Am m ss coitiiou'- lil.elloiis. innuendoes against Lord Carnarvon ami -Mr farter. with a view to pressure on the Egyptian (loveriiment to prohibit the ex-portal ion of any anti(|iiities I ron, Tnt-anUli Amen’- tomb. Mr Carter has aullmrised me In publish an extract from a Idler to I ~,-,l f ‘aruarvon (mm M. Eaeall. who |7 |)i reel n,’ -( ■i-ot-ra 1 of F.-y|>t in n lii,. lilies, referring lo Ihe hostile tone ~|* rho Arabia I’res-. The I'dler say-: This campaign is liniinpertanl. Euig Knad and lie- Cabinel do not consider that it represents real Egyptian opinion. . • . » The tomb is being made wnlertigli .