PHAROAH'S LEVEE.

Shannon News, 20 February 1923, Page 4

PHAROAH'S LEVEE.

After Three Thousand Years. | VISIT OF FIFTY NOTABLES- j EVIDENCE OF SUDDEN ! DEATH. i AND HURRIED BURIAL. __— (Received Monday, 7.10 p.m.) LONDON. Feb. 19. At Luxor, 50 notables, including- tho Oueen of the Belgians. Prince Leopo.d Lord and Lady Allenby and the Doav_ aWer Sultana of Egypt, visited Tutankhamen's tomb. All expressed themselves as dazzled at the magnificence ol the mortuary, chapel. The heat in the tomb was intense., The Queen stayed 40 minutes and was then forced to come outside. Field. Marshal Al. lenby and the Belgian Crown Prince soon discarded their coats and went about in shirt sleeve's. As there were only eight inches, between the wads of the tomb and the huge gold coffn in which the Pharaoh lies, the visitors were forced to squeeze sideways when inspecting its beauties. It was curious to sec the. mummified- monarch thus holding a levee of people mostly from lands which the King .never knew, whose' civilisation took ten centuries to reach a stage of culture equal to his oAvn. Tutankhamen apparently died unexpectedly and was buried hurried. ly as the pictures on the wall, of the mortuary v chapel arp unfinished. The. artists ,were unable to complete the scheme of decoration, though what has been done is of exquisite colouring. Perhaps for the same reason, the tomb only consists of four rooms, the first, 'the'antechamber, the second, the an. nex leading from the ante-chamber, thirdly the mortuary chapel and fourthly, the annex to the chapel, which is filled with a dazzling array of art treasures. These testify t v > the whole-hearted manifer in which Tutankhamen accepted the Amen faith when he apostasised from the solar monotheism of Akhcimto.n

The sarcophagus is a huge erection, thirteen feet high and sixteen feet long, 1 overlaid Avith a golden and blue glaze. Probably it • will not be opened for several Aveeks, and possibly not until'next winter, as the coming seasou is unsuitable for arch .eologj.cal work. It is noAV known that the sarcophagus consists at least of. five' sections, Avhereof the outer is the most decorated. Each side is adorned with four guardian figures and religious texts. Isis, with wings outspread, covers one end, and the Goddess Nepthys adorns the other. An eye-witness states that it was.a' weird impression passing the two black-faced figures of the king Avhich stand as sentinels at the mortuary chamber, through a hole in the wall big enough to aI'.OAV a tall man to enter. Then they came upon the huge canopy o.f the'' sarcophagus, in the bright glare of the electric light.

, The feet of the dead king face south. The tomb of the chamber is about four feet below the 1 ante-cham-ber. -It does not seem high as one looks into it from the b-.-jk-ii J •"!-- ways, but appears to be much higher when inside and one fails to distinguish the roof in the fitful flicker of the electric torch. The wall is decorated in a -rich, yet soft, "colour scheme. The design included figure inscriptions, though there has not been time yet to decipher them. Besides the sarcophagus there were twfc> sacred oars for the King's use when his mummy Avas re-vivified by the reentry of the spirit and faced with the necessity of crossing streams to reach the fields of Osiris. > There is also another canopy, stilo, arranged in its cloak of gold inset with gems. By the side of this second sarcophagus is a .kingly collection of jewels and an exquisite alabaster vase of even more, perfect design and craftsmanship than, those in the ante-chamber. It is decorated with statuettes of Nephthys and'lsis. The fourth chamber is smaller than the mortuary chapel and about the sue of the .uivuexe. At the end is the first descending passage to the tomb, the contents whereof are still unexplored. The contents of this fourth room are much less croAvded than in 'the earlier annex, the objects standing in order. If thieves reached .them, they seem to have done nu damage to the contents, which give, an extraordinary lict-ure of the Avealth oil TiicU khamor.'s realm. Two loAc'y caskets decorated with figures of Isis and Nephthys, contain canopic jars with the entrails' of the deceased. i There is a large, box, completely co,v- '< ered with gold, Avhich is six feet'high i and four feet aiuarc. decorated AVith embossed figures. There are also several boxes of inlaid ivory and ebony and half a dozen funerary boats about four feet long, ami, lastly, the sledge c,ii Avhich the king's mummy Avas drawn to the tomb, and which is exquisitely decorated. Practically every ' object in the fourth room bears Tutankhamen's cartouche. Inside the first canopy ol the sarcophagus is a vest of gold wire at rung AVith gems, and armlets. Attached to" it are the Royal regalia. RESI'LEADEiVf MAUSOLEUM. SERIES OF SHRINES GUARD KING. LONDON, Feb. 17. A special message from Luxor states that the opening of the sealed chamber of Tutankhamen's tomb revealed a resplendent mausoleum of the King. The spacious and beautifully decorated chamber Avas completely occupied, by an • immense shrine covered Avith gold and inlaid with blue faience work. It towers nearly to the ceiling, and fills the great sepulchral hall. Within a short span of four walls is yet another .shrine, cjosed and sealed, bearing the cypher of the royal necropolis, and by evidence of the papyrus of Rameses IV, there must be a series of shrines covering the remains of the King lying he sarcophagus.

Around the outer canopy stand great protective emblems of mystic type, and upon the floor are seven oars for the King's use on the waters of the Elysian fields. Among the innumerable articles of beautiful workmanship and untoid value which are stacked in the chamber is the head of a bull, emblematic of the under-world; also miniature coffins containing statuettes as servants for the dea'd in the coming world, and other curious emblematic ( figures. It is reasonably certain that tli>

construction of successive tabernacles, which baffled the ancient robbers, makes their immediate opening impossible, and that the actual . sight of: Tutankhamen's remains, and the spot where he lies must be postponed indefinitely.