RESEARCH IN EGYPT

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 82, 5 April 1924, Page 16

RESEARCH IN EGYPT

EIGHT BETWEEN "THE TIMTR" AND OTHER PRESSOR™

On the eve of the opening ol the coffin of Tutankhamen in the Valley of the; Kings, the fight between "The Times," of London, for the monopoly .of the news ot. the excavations and the independent i^ress has assumed .proportions which tnreaten to affect the whole future of scientific research in Egypt, stated the Luxor, correspondent of the "Christian Science Momtor," pn . nth 'February. Howard Carter, who found the tomb of lutankhamen, and who (at that time) was directing the- excavations there is naturally involved. What may be ■ described as less than a state of war exists between those who are for the faithful carrying ont of "The .Times" contract and the representatives of tie independent Press which demand news. i-he group of correspondents now1 at I Luxor who are fighting "The Timtes" contract have endeavoured to induce the new Egyptian Government to enter the lists op their side against Mr. Carter. lii a large measure they have succeeded, and Mr. Carter has been greatly hampered in! all he has ,done. , At times his work has been brought very nearly to a standstill; The result has been that all the staffs, including the Metropolitan Museum experts and, the Oriental. Institute of tha bnvvrersity of Chicago, have also been held up, and.they have lost'not only their own time, but that which they are devoting without charge to the Egyptian Government for the benefit of natural science. . ' ■ : ; _ According to the contract between Mf. Carter and "The Times," all the newsrelating to the excavations and the relics found in Tutankhamen's tomb is distributed through "The Times" syndicate. Efforts have been made in Egypt to bring the Egyptian Press .into the fipht against this new monopoly, and partial success has been achieved, inasmuch as some iigyplian newspapers have joined with the independent foreign-Press representatives at Luxor in their protest against "The Times", contract ■ •

■It may be said, however, that this attitude is not general on the part of the Arabic and Egyptian Press, which it must be said, cares very little about news relating to Egyptology: The whole .fight against "The Times'" grows out of the competition for foreign news. In this competition, the odponents of "The Times" contract have endeavoured to take advantage of antiBntisb. bias a