Chiselling into the Mummy Tomb

Hokitika Guardian, 10 March 1923, Page 4

Chiselling into the Mummy Tomb

THE GREAT SECRET. LUXOR, Jan. 24. The excavators of the tomb of the Pharaoh Tut-ankh Amen of 3,270 years ago had a day’s rest to-day, no work being done at the tomb. 1 have been out all day with Mr Engelbach, who succeeded me as In-spector-General of Antiquities, and made a long tour of the xvhole Theban necropolis. 1 was much struck by the amount of work both of excavation and conservation carried out. under his direction. A.- we rode along the sun-baked embankment which serves as a road to the necropolis we encountered a rolling and humping Ford car, the first ever seen on this ancient soil, which proved to contain the excavating party, Mr Caitor, Mr Burton, and Mr Lucas, on their jolting way down to the river to -pend a quiet (lay at the Winter Palace Hotel on the other side of the Nile. On their return at sunset I met them again surrounded hy an admiring crowd of tourists and about to holt hack to the peace of their house among the desert lulls. Mr tarter tells me he has had a most difficult time keeping inquisil ix e visitors at arm’s length, hut 1 heal he has kept Ids temper admirably in often trying cireilinstances. It is no joke having such responsibilities on line’s shoulders. Most of the antiquities from the main chamber have now been removed to the workshop, and the way is nearly clear for the opening of the sealed chamber, where the reyal mummy may lie, soon after Lord Carnarvon’.*, arrival at the end of the week. Besides this chamber is another side room full of boxes, furniture, musical instruments, and so forth: hut these are not being disturbed at present. Wlinl the sealed chamber contains U the subject of excited speculation, ami excavators are wondering whether luiiiukli \uien alone or his predecessor Snien I. ha la is also there, lor the latter's name occurs in ii|x( ripi ioiisl uiiml. t liough uni prominently. Most ol the inscribed objects give only the names of Tut-ankh Amen and his queen, hut the queen is unlikely to he lound. because she wu- *-1 ill a girl al her husband's deal li. (In the other hand, three gieut .Slate couches suggest three burials. 4 1;!.e:e are more than one of other : ieet-. an .. toudi undoubtedly has been robbed and a few years later tidied up by priests or necropolis officials, and these pi : ii-. per -linages have evidently gathered up the royal linen and ornaments and so forth sent loved about by the ihieves and ciamniod I hen hack hurriedly into hexes and caskets. There is a general feeling of disappointment so far that lhe tomb has not provided much now historual iulormn-. lion, hut all agree that artistically many of the objects are astonishing, though again some are mediocre. Mr .lack Joel, for instance, having -een a few of the latter removed from the tomb, told me lie would not give the price of a donkey for the lot ; hut lie had not seen the glorious things then still ill the tomb. M r Carter i s a very I ired man, and as he left the terrace of the hotel where the hand was playing and fair ladies were sipping tea to return to those ■ -il.'iil Theban hills which rose hazy and inx si erioos out of th esuuset across , ihe Nile, he told me he wished the job was finished. !t s a dog s lit**. Mr Howard Carter and his assistants are making clearing spaces lor Ihe peiict rat ion of the concrete wall oi the innoi chamber of the tomb. The tirst lilnw. with sledge-hammer and chisel, will be struck by Lord Carnarvon soon I after bis arrival at the end ot this In anticipation of a great rush c i’l"-- despatches when the mortiiarx . e’laniber is opened lie iv_-vplia.li G..v----e: ill has installed extra telegraph line- ami has increased l lie present fore:' of intern tors at the small udoI, -intion at I.uxor from l-i to go. including sa ' • : the mo-4 expert men ironi Cairo. . 1 Specie! trains will he run from Cano to carry the expected inilu.x of tourists. , There are scores of instances in which the nest highly imaginative fiction has, been put to Might hy cold truth. I particularly like the story of the ; £l.ll'.out) pearl necklace xvltieh was j stolen at Hat-ton Harden by the ''lev- j crest lev "I thieves in London. A lew . days later a working man picked up | the jewels in the gutter. They were i m a match box. j A police inspector to whom he took | them told him to take them away as j they were imitation pearls. The man j then visited several public-houses and tried hard to sell them for a pot of beer. j At Eastbourne Colonel Murray eon- I eeived the idea of shooting his two j wives and their children, setting fire to the bouse, and shooting himself, j They all perished and were burnt to ashes, with the exception of one of the . women, xvho was shot at hut escaped miraculously. But for that the identity of all these people would have been a mystery to this day. Colonel Murray’s real name was Money, and he lived at Clapham Junction.