A BLAZE OF GOLD

Auckland Star, Volume 55, Issue 1, 2 January 1924, Page 5

A BLAZE OF GOLD

IN THE INNER SHRINE. BEAUTY OF THE CATAFALQUE. CURIOSITY AT FEVER HEAT. LONDON, January 1. The correspondent of the "Morning Post" at Luxor says that the journalists there yesterday inspected the inner shrine catafalque in Tut-ankh-amen's tomb. The place was illuminated by a 10,000 candlepower electric lamp. The exquisitely carved golden canopy, which is about 7* feet high, was dazzlingly fine. There is an interior shrine and an exterior shrine. The latter is 17 feet wide and 9 feet high, and in the brilliant light its walls wore a glorious shimmer of gold work, and bluish-green faience. A gold-studded linen pall hung between the two shrines. It is noteworthy how during 3000 years the linen has been torn asunder by the weight of gold rosettes until the pall now is a pathetic heap of rust-coloured linen, golden flowers strewing the floor between the canopies. Mr. Carter, however, hopes to be able to reconstruct the nail.

The catafalque is made of light white wood heavily plastered with bitumenised pitch and ornamented with gold. Having been free from aid aud dust throughout the centuries, the j second shrine is breathtaking in its beauty. Imagine a box 10ft long, Gft high and Bft wide, the whole exterior a radiant mass of gleaming gold, + he surface of which is daintily carved with a scene depicting Tut-ankh-amen receiving gifts from Osiris, with hawks spreading protective wings above. The front is ablaze with inscriptions, figures and hieroglyphics, but the top is divided into mystic squares, some dull green, others brilliantly golden. There are two bars across the front doors of the second shrine. The seals and string have been removed from the doors, but the bolts are still in position and hide the final secret. The day, however, is not far distant when the contents of the sarcophagus will be revealed and curiosity is rising to fever heat as the moment for the unveiling approaches. Closer inspection shows that the paintings on tho walls of the mortuary chapel are endowed with delicate grace, which marked the emancipation of artists from the conventions and followed the renaissance of art under the Twelfth Dynasty. A noteworthy figure on the walla represents the high priest. This figure, like the picture of Tut-ankh-amen, was apparently drawn from life. It shows that he was a handsome youth, and was probably regent and the most influential man" in Egypt—(A. and N.Z.)